Hey gang. I promised myself if I got essays graded, I could post this
. They're graded so here it is.
A couple of notes. I added dates into the first part. I meant to earlier but hadn't. They are:
Clark's parent's die: Dec. 1976
Lois walks home: Spring 1978
Summer Camp: Summer 1980
I am setting Lois' birthday in Dec. I have been reminded that on the show she mentioned she was a Libra
, but when I was researching it, I didn't find that and the best I could come up with was several December mentions in the comics or something like that [I forget what the wiki said exactly, but she's apparently had several different birthdays so...]. One major event in particular depends on her birthday being in late Dec. so in this universe it is
. I mean the event doesn't depend on it being in Dec, but since I put it in December, lots of other stuff goes from there, you know? And to change the date... *sigh*. It *is* an Alt-U after all
.
The format of this part is a bit different, but only for this section. The next one will be back to 'normal'. Thanks to Alisha for betaing and rebetaing this
.
~~~~~ indicates pretty much the next letter in sequence. Dates are used when more time has passed.
Chapter 2
*****
~~~~~
September 1980
~~~~~
Lois –
How's life in the big city? Things are going pretty well here. I'm with a different foster family now. The family I'd been with decided to move to Missouri while I was at camp so even if I'd remembered their address, it wouldn't have mattered. I guess I'm glad I managed to save enough money to go to camp so I wouldn't have to deal with it all then, while they were moving.
This family is okay. There's two other boys here, but their mom is getting out of rehab soon so they'll be going home with her. They may decide they don't want me anyway. A fire started the other day – I don't even really know how it happened – but I think I may have had something to do with it, I really don't know, but I think they're just looking for a reason to send me somewhere else. The problem with small towns? Not very many places to go...
Let me know how school's going. Were you able to get on the paper? I hope so.
Clark
~~~~~
Clark,
Yes, I was able to get on the paper. It's the only thing making things worthwhile here. I hate school, but it's a means to an end. When I grow up and finish college, I can move out. Heck, I could move out before I finish college. Maybe I'll get my GED when I'm 16 and get out of here sooner... but I hate to leave Lucy like that.
Dad's got a new girlfriend. At least he didn't have her over while we were there last weekend. I don’t think I'll like her.
Mom quit her job last week. She wasn't working much anyway. She's too busy getting drunk all the time.
I'm sorry to hear about the new foster home. Wish you could come here. I'm sure the fire wasn't your fault. Maybe you'll get a better home this time – one who wants you to stay.
I'll be thinking about you.
Lois
~~~~~
October 1980
~~~~~
Lois,
Well, I moved again. This time I'm staying with Maisie. She runs the diner in Smallville. Maybe I can stay here for a while. A fire started again at the last place. I swear I don't mean to do anything. I honestly don't know how the fire started, but I've been branded a pyromaniac now. I'm not, I swear.
Anyway – I'm glad you got on the paper. High school paper is better than junior high, but you have to start somewhere. I'm sorry to hear about your Dad's new girlfriend and your Mom's job. I worry about you.
Hey – maybe when we work at the Daily Planet we can write series of scathing articles about the foster care system...
Study hard.
Clark
~~~~~
September 1982
~~~~~
Clark,
High school! Finally! Did I tell you I got confirmation that I get to be on the paper this year? They don't accept very many freshmen but I got on! Daily Planet here we come!
Any other words of advice, oh great junior? I'm sure Smallville High School isn't anything like mine. There's probably more kids at my school than there are people in your town!
Dad moved back in last week. Mom is still clean. Neither one care about me or Lucy any more than they did before, but at least they're here.
I'm glad it seems to be working out at the Lang's place for you. They were your parents' best friends weren't they? The farm right next to yours? Do you ever go back there? Or did it get sold? You don't have to answer those questions if you don't want to. I'm sure it's still hard to think about your parents and all.
I wish we'd been able to go to Journalism Camp again, but Dad said no. He wouldn’t even send me to Science Camp this summer. I have a hard time believing we're still friends after spending a couple of weeks together two years ago. Guess that's just the way it goes.
Lois
~~~~~
Lois,
Yeah, sometimes it's hard thinking about my parents, but not like it used to be. It's been a long time now. No, the farm hasn't been sold. It'll be mine when I turn 18. Sometimes it's rented out but not usually. The Irigs live next door and they farm the land most of the time. Wayne is the executor of my parents' will and he's the one in charge of all of it until I'm 18. He pays rent to the bank into an account for me. Sometimes he uses the rent money to help me buy clothes and stuff. That's how I got a car. Did I tell you that? I got a car! It's almost as old I am, but it gets me from place to place. I'm working for Maisie at night and on weekends. It's kind of nice to be out of the house. The eidetic memory thing makes it easy to pass my classes. Though I have to be 21 to get full control of all the accounts and stuff. Unless I manage to graduate college before then.
Wayne and his wife were my parents' best friends. His wife died not long after my folks did. The Langs were friends of my folks though.
You're the only one I can tell this to. I think Lana wants me to ask her out. Like on a date. A real one. Where we end up making out behind the Tasty Freeze. I like her well enough I guess. I really only have 3 friends besides you. Lana, Rachel Harris [I think I told you about her; her dad is the sheriff] and Pete Ross. He's been my best friend since kindergarten. At least until I met this girl at summer camp. I really have no desire to date Lana though. She's a good friend, but can be very bossy and overbearing. She'd try to run my life if we were 'together'.
I wish we'd been able to meet up at camp again too, but that's the way it goes, I guess. Hope school is going well for you.
I love getting your letters. Please don't stop writing me now that you're a big reporter on a big high school paper!
Clark
~~~~~
Clark,
I love your letters too. I won't stop writing if you won't!
I'm sorry to hear about... well, you know. I won't write it down in case someone else reads this. You have more experience in that area than I do, I guess, since you're older and all, but I think you should go with your gut. If you don't want to, don't.
Mom and Daddy are still sort of making things work. With each other at least. Lucy and I still don't rank very high on the scale of importance, but at least we're not being shuffled back and forth anymore.
Did I tell you that if I go to summer school and take a class instead of study hall each semester, I can finish high school in three years? I'll graduate a year behind you instead of two.
I love love love being on the paper, but I can't wait until I can do 'real' reporting. I mean, what am I supposed to investigate here? What the mystery meat really is? It looks about like that stuff we ate at camp. We do get to go on a tour of the Daily Planet in the spring. I'll tell you all about it when we do. Maybe we'll get to meet Norcross and Judd or even Perry White!
Hope things get better with... well, you know.
Lois
~~~~~
Lois,
I'm going to have write this in a hurry and get it in the mail before anyone can find it. Lana found your last letter and has been bugging me relentlessly to find out what it is we were talking about. Make sure you do tell me all about the Daily Planet when you get there!
Clark
~~~~~
March 1983
~~~~~
Clark,
It was WONDERFUL! FABULOUS! Like going to DisneyWorld and everything all wrapped up in one. I wish I could describe it all to you, but I don't think anyone could do it justice.
Yes, yes. We went to the Daily Planet today! We saw Norcross and Judd from a distance and it looked like they were fighting about something. No idea what it could have been, but they didn't look happy. He's very cute by the way. Maybe she wants to go out with him and he's not interested.
Perry White spoke to our class today for a few minutes and then he was off, bellowing about some story having to do with the president. I didn't really catch what it was, but watch the Daily Planet in the next few days and I bet we'll see what it is.
I wish you could have been there. I took some notes and I'll get them into a better format and send them to you with a lot more detail than this letter has, but I wanted to get it to you as soon as I could.
Before you know it, Lane and Kent will replace Norcross and Judd as the best reporting team the Daily Planet has ever had!
Lois
~~~~~
Lois,
Sorry I didn't have a chance to write you back before your second letter arrived. Wow. That sounds fabulous!!! I wish I could have been there! Maybe if I save up enough, I can go to Metropolis for a couple of days next summer and we could go to the Daily Planet, if your parents will let us.
Shouldn't it be Kent and Lane? I am older you know.
Norcross and Judd... he's cute? Well, now that I know that, my life is complete. Seriously.
Wish I had time to write more, but I have to get to work. Thanks again for letting me live vicariously through you!
Clark
~~~~~
October 1983
~~~~~
Lois,
Judging by what I saw on the news last week, you may have been right about Norcross and Judd. Their wedding is all over the news. The next time something that big hits the journalism world will be our wedding.
Okay, okay, don’t take my head off. I won't propose until AFTER we win the first Pulitzer.
I finally agreed to take Lana out last week. It was... okay. Somehow I don't think we'll be settling down and living on my parents' farm like she seems to think we will. She still doesn't understand why I don't want to be a farmer like my dad.
Oh, well. I'll be eighteen soon enough and then out of here. I'll probably have to take her out a few more times to get her off my back. She pretty much assumed that we're going to the dance together next week. Sometime I'll have to tell her that Rachel and I have had a deal about senior prom for years. She won't be happy about that.
Gotta run.
Clark
~~~~~
Clark,
I'm sorry to hear about all that. Good luck.
Darn skippy about that whole proposal thing! I am NOT getting married until after our first Pulitzer and no kids until after the second.
Seriously, I don't know what happened obviously, but Norcross and Judd aren't at the Planet anymore. I saw a blurp on page B12 that they had moved on to 'other endeavors' whatever that means. That it wasn't on the front page or even in section A says something, I think. I wonder what it was.
Joe asked me to go to a dance last week. I said yes, but I'm not all that excited about it. Really I'm only going because I'm covering it for the paper. I think I told you about Joe. He's the backup quarterback this year. After Tom, the starter, graduates this year, he should get promoted.
Homework calls.
Lois
~~~~~
Lois,
I'm swooning here. (Soon to be) starting quarterback? What chance does a hack like me have?
The dance was all right. Lana disappeared for a while. I'm not sure where she was – I think maybe she was off with someone else, but I'm not sure. I don’t really care. I talked to Rachel – she's a good friend – and really barely noticed that she was gone.
My birthday is coming up pretty soon. I'm moving out that day. There's no school that day for some reason so... I've been fixing the house up. Leonard Lang, my foster dad, has been helping me. It should be ready by then. It wasn't in bad shape. I think I told you Wayne Irig has been in charge of it for me. There's been renters from time to time and he's tried to keep it up, but it needed new paint and a few repairs here and there, but it's not like it was falling down or anything.
I'm still hoping to come this summer, but I don't know that I can. I think I'm going to take a couple classes at Midwest to jump start my college career. Did I tell you I got accepted at New Troy State Metropolis too? I seriously thought about it, but the scholarship didn't cover room and board – just enough for a lunch plan – and for a lot of reasons, I really don't want to live on campus.
Maybe you could come to Midwest?
Clark
~~~~~
Clark,
I practically spewed my soda when I saw you wanted me to come to Midwest. Like my dad would pay for that.
And you're anything but a hack. You write better than most of the kids on my paper.
Thanks for sending those articles, by the way. Reading about hog futures put me right to sleep. Seriously, I enjoyed your piece on helping football players cheat.
I have to go to another dance tonight for the paper, so I probably should start getting ready. I'm going with Joe again, but just because neither of us had a date. We agreed a long time ago that we'll be better off as friends.
Time to go.
Lois.
~~~~~
May 1984
~~~~~
Clark,
Graduation is next week! I'm so proud of you! I wish I could be there to see you walk across that stage! I'm sure your parents would be so proud of you too!
Do you think you can make it this summer? I don't know what we'll do about my parents yet, but we'll figure something out. Just let me know.
I gotta run!
Lois
~~~~~
Lois,
I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm going to make it this summer after all. I'm going to work as much as I can. I have a full tuition scholarship to Midwest, but I still have to have money for food and clothes and gas and stuff. It's about an hour drive each way, maybe an hour and a half depending on traffic and stuff, but that's cheaper than living on campus.
I moved back in to my parents' house last week, the day after graduation. I know I said I was going to move in February, but I don't actually get control of everything until graduation. Wayne has apologized over and over because he didn't realize it was 18 *or* graduation – whichever came second. I did some work to the house already but it still needs more done. A lot more than I originally thought, but that's okay. Wayne is going to keep farming the land and paying rent. The money he's paid over the years has really helped in fixing the farm up. It just about cleaned it out though.
I know we've never called before, but if you ever need anything, call me. I have my own phone and my own phone number and my own phone bill now so...
Clark
620-555-5368
*****
TBC
