Thursday Driving into town the following night Lois definitely was not dwelling on the kiss, or on whether she should be more ‘charitable’ tonight. She snuck a quick glance at the body in the passenger seat. She found it hard to consign the memory of their meeting to the forbidden corners of her mind. She really shouldn’t pull out that memory and mull over it, linger over the naked body, but she did. Much more often than was comfortable for her conscious mind.
Granted it was an appealing body. She shivered and nibbled her lower lip. But he was a farm boy. The king of plaid and the most innocent, naive nerd she’d ever encountered. If he ever made it to college he’d be eaten alive.
Turning back to watch the road she realised that she’d been reliving the corn-field encounter almost constantly since the kiss yesterday evening.
It’s only because of the tingle. And even that was probably just static electricity. Lois made sure to wear real leather soles tonight. Although she wasn’t sure why, it wasn’t as if she was going to line up again, was it. She’d done her duty ... and that was that.
“Lois, you’re pretty quiet. Is everything ok?” Clark asked.
“Huh!” She gripped the steering wheel tighter.
“It’s just, you haven’t made one snarky comment yet. Yesterday you spent the whole ride making fun of the pre-adolescent girls who’d gone all hero worship/school girl crush over me.”
“Well, yeah! That was pretty funny,” she smirked.
“So,” Clark paused and Lois glanced at him quickly, not at all happy with the teasing tone he used. “Are you gonna help save some more animals tonight?”
“What! Uh, no.” She frowned. “You think I’m going to waste another dollar on a cheap thrill?”
“Oh, so it was a thrill then?”
“No! Um. Just a figure of speech Smallville.” She looked at him and could see the victorious smirk on his face. She narrowed her eyes. He needed bringing down a peg or two.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It mocked her. The shiny dollar hiding in the grass. She glared at it, a firepit in her belly.
Lois had split from Clark the moment they arrived, as the previous two evenings. Her casual wanderings had entertained her for a serious amount of time before she’d felt the pull of the Kissing Booth.
As she’d approached and saw it empty again her heart had jumped in fear.
Oh, no. Not happening. But then a glint at her feet had caught her eye.
A dollar.
It was like fate ...
Mocking her.
She returned her gaze to the stand directly in front. A rather rounded and tall teenager approached the booth and Lois watched as Clark straightened himself up and smiled genuinely at the punter.
Lois found herself breathing deeply and then she slowly bent her knees, reaching down for the coin. As she gradually straightened back up and looked over at the red and yellow stall she suddenly felt ambivalent. Swivelling on her heels she took her newly acquired dollar and headed for the food to buy a self-indulgent hotdog before she dwelled on it for too long.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Time passed swiftly and Lois jumped in shock when Clark appeared beside her. “Done!” he stated.
“What, already?” She spun around and Clark laughed at her. A genuine smile lit up his face.
“Lois! Did you actually manage to get distracted from your peeping tom gig?”
“My peeping …” she stuttered. “What?” she widened her eyes innocently.
“Come on,” he shrugged. “Let’s have some fun.”
“Fun!” she trotted to catch up to him when he wandered off.
“Yeah. Fun. That’s why it’s called a ‘Fun Fair’ you know. We could go round the stalls.”
“Smallville, I’ve been here every evening. I’ve done every stall. I’ve even beaten some that are obviously rigged.” She raised her voice and turned on the last word directing it back at the stall she’d just left.
“Well there’s the dodgems.” He stopped and turned to her, teasing look on his face. She narrowed her eyes.
This is my chance to pay him back. “You’re on,” she replied deeply and menacingly.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After driving recklessly around chasing Clark for twenty minutes Lois finally pulled into the side and clambered out.
“OK. So you drive like a Granny on the road. What’s going on here?”
Clark just gave her that cheeky grin she recognised so well. “Admit it Lois. You enjoyed yourself. Even though you couldn’t get me.” She put her hands on her hips and huffed. “I heard you laughing, you can’t deny it.”
“Yeah, well.” She grinned. “It was fun. Shall we try something else?” She raised her eyebrows expectantly and Clark grinned back at her flashing his teeth.
“How about the ‘Gyro-spin’?” he suggested.
She nodded, sending her ponytail flapping and immediately strode off. She waited at the entrance booth for Clark to arrive and feigned ignorance, just as she had done for the dodgems, when the teller asked for two dollars. Clark handed over two dollars for each of them without question and then both passed through.
Lois grabbed a handle and pulled herself up into the small pod. When Clark climbed in beside her she suddenly felt claustrophobic. The pair of seats were enclosed in a wire mesh ‘pod’ and Clark took up most of the room. His shoulder, arm and leg brushed up against her. When the ride jolted suddenly, as it started, Lois grabbed Clark’s thigh in shock. Hoping that he hadn’t noticed she let go and looked out through the mesh and away from Clark.
The speed built up, the ride travelling round and round, and Lois’s body succumbed to the centrifugal force pushing it further into Clark. She kept trying to push back away but it was pointless. Her elbow kept digging into his side and her shoulder into his arm.
“OK, let’s try this,” Clark said and he lifted his arm. Lois immediately slid into the freed space, silently cursing the rules of Gravity. He brought his arm round her shoulders but didn’t rest his hand on her arm; rather he laced it into some of the wire mesh away from her. Lois realised it was much more comfortable now, but her heart was pounding out of control.
Lois, she talked to herself.
Get a grip. This is Smallville. He’s kind of handsome … in a drop-dead-boy-next-door-gorgeous way. And he’s most definitely got a, she gulped and flicked her eyes to the thigh she’d grabbed,
well toned body … which I most certainly do not remember every curve of. Lois immediately knew it was pointless to try and convince herself of the truth of that statement. She’d imagined and played over their meeting so many times that a vision of his … thigh … sprang to mind too easily.
Besides it’s not as if he’s really put his arms around me. The ride sped up even more and the pods began to lift up. Lois was pushed further into Clark, her body twisting. Clark twisted his body so that he lined up his chest with her back. He let go of the metal mesh and brought his arm around holding her still against him. The ride climbed higher. Lois felt Clark holding her tighter. She even felt a shiver run through him. She gulped again.
The pod began to descend and the spinning slowed. Within a minute the ride was stationery again, taking much less time to slow down than it had to speed up. She clambered past him immediately and rushed to the exit on unsteady legs.
Clark came up to her quickly. “Are you ok, Lois?” he asked.
She looked up at him and blinked then plastered on a teasing smile. “Ok? After that claustrophobic experience. Why would you think anything was wrong?”
“Well it’s just …” he shuffled his feet. “You’re all flushed and your heart is racing.”
“Must be the adrenaline of the ride, Smallville, it was quite a buzz.”
“Yeah, I’m not doing that again,” he mumbled. “I forgot it went up high.”
“What?” Lois laughed. “Big, strong farm-boy is afraid of heights?” When she saw confirmation in his face and answering silence she burst out laughing then turned and walked away, still chuckling.
So, that’s why he was shivering, she reasoned. Half of her was relieved because it sort of explained her reaction too.
It was just the ride. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
On the way home, yes the farm was home, it was quiet in the car. She couldn’t stand the silence so she opened her mouth on impulse and asked Clark again whether anyone had swooned.
“No-one swooned, Lois. It’s all perfectly innocent. And why are you even interested?”
“Just wondering if anyone caught your eye. You know, you need to get out of that barn more. You spend all your time moping up there, maybe some young filly will wake up that soul.”
Clark choked out a laugh. “Young filly. Are you comparing me to a prize stud horse?”
Lois glanced at him and away from the road, then back again. “Uh no. Although there’s plenty of Smallville girls who definitely subscribe to that opinion based on the flock of squawking seagulls that hovers around the booth while you’re on duty and then chatters about you for the rest of the evening while they giggle at each other and flirt shamelessly with all the young studs that man the booths.”
Clark frowned. Lois really was watching and paying attention.
“But don’t let it go to your head, Smallville. I don’t want to have to deal with your ego every night.”
“I won’t Lois,” he smirked. “You’d never let me anyway.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
So what's going to happen tomorrow night?
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