Thanks as always to Carol who is the best BR ever! And thank you to everyone who leaves comments – they really do inspire me to write more (although I'm sure that's hard to believe with the current posting schedule).
From Chapter 39
“I'll see you later?” Lois asked me as I raced around her room picking up my clothes.
“Definitely,” I smiled at her. “We still have to finish our articles, don't we?”
“And that's why I'll see you later?” Lois asked me, but the smile in her eyes let me know that the question came from teasing Lois, not insecure Lois. I felt myself smile in return, glad that she felt confident enough in me, in us, to know that I wouldn't disappear after last night.
“Of course,” I told her. “I mean, if you weren't helping me write my paper, what other use would I have for you?” I teased her.
She glared at me as she tossed her pillow my way.
“I'll call you later,” I said, my voice softer, more tender this time. I leaned down to give her a brief goodbye kiss, then leaned down again for another kiss – less tender and less brief.
I moved away after that. “I really have to go,” I told her.
“I know. I'll see you later.”
For a moment, as I made my way out of her dorm, I worried again about my reaction to her – how little I seemed in control of my physical response to her. Then I remembered Mom's words about just being a teenager and I decided not to worry about it. Lois was my girlfriend and as long as we were both okay with our physical relationship, I shouldn't worry about it so much.
Chapter 40
“You're going to be great,” I told her, holding her hand tightly.
“Maybe,” Lois replied, sounding very unsure of herself.
“You are.” I assured her.
“What if I get up there and turn into a bumbling fool?” Lois asked.
“Not possible,” I told her. “I've never seen you turn into a bumbling fool before.”
“When was the last time you accompanied me to a disciplinary hearing?” she challenged me.
“Never, but still…”
“Still nothing,” Lois said, her voice firm, and I knew I was at least distracting her from her thoughts about the hearing.
“You know the trick, right?” I asked. “You just picture everyone in their underwear.”
“That would make Paul happy,” Lois giggled.
“Oh, and Paul… I bet he wears red silk undies,” I said, smiling.
“How did you know?” she replied so deadpan that for a minute I thought she was serious.
“Very funny.”
“Thanks, Clark. This helped,” she said as I opened the door to the administration building. The hearing was on the third floor. I wasn't allowed in, but I was planning on waiting for Lois in the hallway.
I gave her a tight hug outside the door. “I'll be waiting right here for you,” I whispered into her hair.
“Thank you,” she said, leaning back to look me in the eyes. “I mean it. I'm so glad you're here with me.”
“No problem,” I smiled at her. “There's no place else I'd rather be.”
She leaned over to give me a kiss before leaving me alone in the hallway.
************************
“It's been sixteen hours since little Melissa Patterson fell down the well, and still emergency workers have not been able to get to her. After an all night attempt to find a way to save the little girl without a risk of the old well collapsing around her, new strategies are needed. While food and water have been lowered down into the well to keep her strength up, the five-year-old must be terrified.” Thankfully, who ever had been playing the radio I was hearing turned it off.
I had been tempted to go help the little girl. Not that I knew what I would do to help. Besides, I needed to stay here for Lois. I just needed to forget to about the child, however scared and lonely she must be. No! I really did need to stay here.
I tuned in to the conversation in the other room.
“No,” I heard Grace say. “I never wrote an article at all.”
“So, Mr. Bender did not steal any of your work?” someone asked her.
“Well… no,” Grace admitted, sounding unsure of herself. “But he asked me to.”
“Or that was what you understood even though it never happened,” one of the professors corrected her.
I used my special vision to look inside, but aside from Lois, Grace, and Professor Matthews, I didn't recognize anyone in there. I could determine that the girl with the long hair and cocoa colored skin was Michelle, but only as she was the only other student in the room besides Paul.
“But it only didn't happen because Lois warned me about it first,” Grace said, her voice plaintive.
“How did Ms. Lane warn you?” another of the professors asked.
“I was out on the date with Paul – the one he agreed to after I agreed to write an article for him – and we bumped into Lois there. She came and told me that Paul had a habit of dating women who wrote articles he could use his byline on. So, I left Paul, had dinner with Lois and her friends, and never gave Paul anything.”
I wasn't one-hundred percent sure, but I thought I could probably burrow beneath the ground and save the little girl from below, but I didn't want to leave. Not now when Lois needed me. Besides, I had no idea how I could pull off the rescue without giving myself away.
“And how many articles did you write?”
“I'm not sure,” Michelle said, her voice unsteady. “Maybe a dozen or so.” I hadn't realized how distracted I'd been. I'd missed the rest of Grace's testimony. Was that what it was called? This wasn't an actual trial. Well, whatever it was.
“Why did you let him use your articles with his name?” one of the professors asked Michelle.
“I… I know it's stupid, but it's like Grace said. I thought he was cute,” Michelle answered, her cheeks flaming up.
I could go and borough the tunnel starting pretty far away, then show up at the place where all the emergency workers were and suggest the tunnel idea. They would start it closer in, but quickly hit the tunnel I had built. This way I wouldn't have done anything, but I would still speed up the rescue.
No. Lois needed me. This was not the time to go off and perform a rescue.
But that little girl had been trapped in the well overnight already. She must be so scared.
Gritting my teeth, trying to block out thoughts of the little girl, I turned my hearing into the proceedings next door again.
“Yes, that is true,” Paul said, the picture of innocence. “Professor Matthews submitted that article to me. I thought it was excellent, which is why I offered Lois the position on the paper. I sent the article to the copy editor, but somehow when the paper was being checked over before publication, the byline was changed to my name. It was just a typo. I explained the mistake to Lois and up until a week or so ago, she had told me she understood.
“But that's the only article where that happened, and as it was an honest mistake…”
“There was a typo that had your name on the byline with Ms. Lane's as a contributor?” one of the professors asked, looking like he wasn't buying Paul's story.
“Well, yes,” Paul said, stumbling a bit over his words, realizing how feeble that sounded, I'm sure.
“And these other young ladies, in addition to Ms. Lane, are all mistaken. They did not write the articles they claim they did?” one of the other professors asked.
“Yes,” Paul said again, but his voice was weak, and he blushed.
Maybe I could fly to Wilmont to rescue the little girl and be back before the hearing got out? It's not like Lois would know the difference. She didn't know I could hear what was going on anyway.
“Thank you for your time,” one of the professors said, cutting into my thoughts. “We will need a chance to talk this over, but will get back to each of you within the week.”
Okay, so no trip to Wilmont.
Less than five minutes later, Lois, Grace, Michelle, and Professor Matthews were exiting together. Paul had walked out a few moments before. He had glanced at me, before looking away, he had pretended he hadn't seen me, and nearly ran down the hallway.
“Clark,” Professor Matthews said with a smile. “It's good to see you.”
“It went great,” Lois told me. “At least I think it did.”
“It did,” Professor Matthews assured her. “You ladies were excellent – all of you were composed and well spoken.”
“Thank you,” Grace replied, blushing.
“Thank you for supporting us,” Lois added.
“Yes,” Michelle added. “I felt a lot better knowing you already believed us.”
“Well, in a few days, I'm sure you are going to hear that everyone in that room believed you, too. I hope you all have a great weekend,” he replied.
“You, too,” I said as he walked away.
“Shall we go someplace and celebrate?” I asked the girls.
“Please,” Michelle said. “I could use some chocolate.”
“Yes, let's pig out.” Grace smiled.
“I'm Clark,” I said, holding my hand out to Michelle. “I don't think we've met before.”
“Sorry,” Lois said, seeming to come out of the trance she was in. “This is Michelle. Michelle, my boyfriend, Clark.”
I smiled at her. Something about hearing her call me her boyfriend made me feel better about the decision not to head off to Wilmont.
“Lois! Clark!” someone called as we exited the administration building.
“Josh?” Lois asked. Sure enough, there were Josh, Alicia, Maddie, Star, and Steve a few feet away.
“We came to see how things went,” Star explained as they approached us.
“It was great,” Lois smiled. “Professor Matthews is sure they believed us.” She introduced everyone else to Michelle, and the whole group of us headed to the student union for ice cream.
************************
I couldn't sleep. I had been lying in bed for two hours now, but could not stop the thoughts in my head. I hadn't been able to get away from everyone soon enough. Melissa Patterson had been in the well for nearly twenty-four hours by the time we finished having our ice cream, and Lois, Michelle, and Grace had given their accounts of the hearing. I wanted to fly off to Wilmont, but felt like I was probably expected to spend the rest of the evening with Lois.
It didn't matter. Lois, Star, and I headed back to their room, and I suggested we turn on the radio. They announced just a few minutes in that the child had been saved. Even with the food and water they had been able to get to her, she was dehydrated and was spending the night in the hospital. She was in poor shape, although a full recovery was expected.
That was good news, I guess. Still, I couldn't stop wondering – if I had left when I first heard about it, if I had saved her hours ago, would she still be dehydrated? Would she still be in the hospital?
I had no way of knowing, of course, but I couldn't help but think that the answer to both questions was no.
I sighed again. There was nothing I could do at this point. I knew that. I understood that. And yet still I couldn't sleep. I wondered what she looked like. Did she have blonde hair? Brown? What color were her eyes? I had this image in my head of a green-eyed girl with blond ringlets. Not quite Cindy Brady type curls, but close. And she looked sad and bruised.
Shaking my head, I swung my legs out of bed. It was nearly four in the morning now, which made it three in Smallville. If I left now, Mom and Dad would still be asleep when I got there, but it wouldn't be too long before they were awake.
************************
“Clark?” Mom called from the doorway.
“Hi,” I said quietly, lifting the remote control to turn off the infomercial I'd been watching until they woke up.
“What are you doing here?” she asked me.
“I needed to talk,” I told her.
“Well come on into the kitchen. We can talk while I make breakfast,” she told me as she moved towards the base of the stairs. “Jonathan?” she called upstairs. “Clark's here.”
Mom placed a glass of buttermilk on the table, and then started to take out the skillet and food for breakfast.
“What's going on, son?” Dad asked me as he came down the stairs.
“Did you guys hear about Melissa Patterson?” I asked them.
“Who?” Dad asked.
“That poor little girl,” Mom said. “You remember, Jonathan. They talked about her on the news last night – trapped in a well for almost twenty-four hours. Clark, were you there?”
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “I should have been. I heard about it hours before she was rescued. Who knows how much better she'd be if I'd gone when I first heard about her?”
“Clark, we've talked about this,” Mom started.
“I know,” I cut her off. “The world and all its problems are not mine. But, Mom, she's five-years-old!”
“So, why didn't you go?” Dad asked.
“When I heard about it I was waiting for Lois to get out of the disciplinary hearing,” I explained.
“Well then you couldn't go,” Mom pointed out.
“I know!” I nearly yelled, but then blushed. “Sorry.”
“Clark, we've talked about this before. When you were dating Maddie. It's okay to put your girlfriend above the Boy in Black. There were already lots of emergency workers on the scene with that little girl. What could you have done anyway?” Mom asked me.
“I thought I could dig a tunnel to get to her from below. Then show up at the scene and find a way to suggest the idea to the rescue workers. They could dig their own hole, but then find mine fairly quickly.”
Dad smiled. “Impressive,” he admitted. “You do seem to have a knack for this sort of thing.”
“And yet, I'm ignoring it,” I pointed out.
“Lois needed you,” Mom pointed out.
“Only she was in the hearing. If I had gone right when heard about it, I probably could have been back before she was out.”
“But you wanted to make sure you were there when she got out,” Mom asked, although it came out as more of a question.
“I guess,” I said. “I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
Dad grinned at me. “So, things with Lois are pretty serious then.”
“What?” I asked. “No, it's just that…”
“You had a much harder time giving up the Boy in Black for Maddie than you seem to be for Lois,” Dad pointed out.
“Are you listening to me?” I asked, only slightly ashamed of the tone I was using with Dad.
“Yes,” Mom said, her voice an exaggerated version of calm that I'm sure she was hoping would transfer to me. “You feel guilty for not saving little Melissa. But you still did feel compelled to stay – a decision you could not seem to make for Maddie.”
I started to argue, but then realized they were right. Despite constantly saying I wouldn't, the best I had done when with Maddie was not listening to hear about places where I could help. I had always gone if I heard about something.
“So, what do you think it means?” I asked instead, hating the defeated sound I heard to my voice.
“I think it means Lois is very important to you,” Mom said when Dad motioned to her to answer.
“Well she is,” I replied. “I like her a lot.”
“You thought you were in love with Maddie,” Dad said.
“I was in love with Maddie,” I replied, not liking the implication he was making. “Lois is really important to me, but it doesn't change how I felt about Maddie.”
“No one was saying that it did, son,” Dad replied. “I'm just pointing out that you said you like Lois a lot, and yet you aren't willing to leave her to be the Boy in Black, and yet you were willing to do so for Maddie whom you loved.”
“I'm not in love with Lois!” I insisted. I'm not sure why the idea of it bothered me so much, but it did. It felt like it was too soon to fall in love, and given how little control I had over my hormones when with Lois, did I have to have no control over my emotions as well?
“Regardless of your feelings for Lois or Maddie, helping Melissa Patterson would have been nice, but wasn't necessary. And last I heard, they expected her to make a full recovery,” Mom said, still using her exaggerated calm voice.
“But I could have helped!” I pointed out again.
“Yes, but you didn't need to, and you were busy with something else,” Mom replied. “You can't be everywhere at once, Clark. Even if you decided to stop living a normal life and help out all the time, you won't be able to help everyone who needs it.”
“But…”
“So you're going to have to learn to live with not helping everyone who needs help,” Mom continued.
“I guess,” I conceded. “But if I'd been helping someone else…”
“You were,” Dad cut in. “You were helping Lois. And I'm sure she was glad you were there.”
“She was,” I admitted.
“And things went well for her?” Mom asked.
“Yeah, Professor Matthews doesn't think there's much chance that Paul will get off. I sort of listened in, and Paul sounded like an idiot, honestly.”
Mom laughed. “Good to hear that justice will be served.”
“I need to get out to the fields,” Dad said, looking at the clock.
“I should get back to Metropolis,” I replied.
“Clark…” Mom started, and I could hear the gentle lecturing tone to her voice already.
“I know. I can't be everywhere at once. It's not all my responsibility. It's okay to be a normal teenager,” I recited.
“Well, it's good that you hear us even if you're not really listening,” Mom said with a smile. I wanted to be insulted, but I knew it was true. I believed them and yet… well, I didn't really.
Not having an appropriate response, I gave Mom a kiss on the cheek and without a word headed back to campus.
