Sorry this is later than I indicated. My lovely three hours with no children turned into three hours with four children at a jr high volleyball game [DH was there along with his bro/sis in law and her sister and two little kids watching DH's niece play - and I did escape for about an hour when I ran into an old friend but...]
Anyway - thanks to the fabulous betas Alisha, Beth, Nancy and CarolynK.
[Edit: I did post in the
WHAM Warning Thread for those who would like a few more specifics about what kind of WHAMS will be in this fic. None are detailed there, but if you would like more information, please feel free to PM or email me.]
*~*3*~*
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
I could feel my eyes narrow. It was the brunette who'd been staring at me and Lana during orientation. "Your room?"
"Yeah, Einstein. My room." She glared at me. "I'll ask again. Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my room? Do I need to go slower?"
I glared back. Who did she think she was? "No, I understood you the first time. I just wondered what psychiatric disorder you're suffering from."
"Why on earth would you think I have a psychiatric disorder?"
"Because you're clearly delusional."
She scowled at me and walked all the way into the room, slamming the door behind her. She tossed her purse onto the top bunk. "I don't know who you think you are, standing in my room basically naked, but if you don't get out, I will call security."
"Go for it. And then they'll tell you that *you're* the one that's in the wrong room."
"What?"
"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my room?"
"Excuse me?" I could see the color rising in her face.
"Yeah, Einstein. My room. I'll ask again. Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my room? Do I need to go slower?" Somehow, I couldn’t stop myself. It was really a good thing my mom wasn't here or she'd grab me by the ear and drag me off for a good talking to. It amazed me that nothing else hurt me but one tiny Kansas woman grabbing my ear made it prickle for days.
"So you're a parrot?" She crossed her arms in front of her. "That still doesn't explain why you're in my room."
"This is *my* room, so why don't you get out and go find your own."
Her eyes narrowed. "I think you're the one who's delusional. This is *my* room."
"Would you like to see my room assignment form? Then will you get out?"
She held out her hand.
I sighed and moved to my desk. I pulled out the folder they'd given me when I registered the day before and pulled out my room assignment form. "See?"
She reached for it and I pulled it back.
"What do you say?"
"Excuse me?" It was a good thing *she* couldn't shoot fire out of her eyes or I would have been burned to a crisp right then and there.
"What do you say?"
She rolled her eyes and put on what had to be a fake smile. "Excuse me, kind sir, could I please see that paper, please, sir?"
"Much better." I handed it to her.
I saw her eyes narrow again. "This is impossible," she muttered.
"What?"
"This is your room."
I grinned for the first time since she'd opened the door. "Told you."
She walked to the other desk and pulled out a similar folder and another room assignment form. She glared at me as she handed it over.
I looked at it. Lois Lane. Could she be related to all the Lane stuff on campus? I shook myself. What was it she wanted me to see? I looked further. Dormitory: Weller Hall. Okay. Room number... I looked again. "This is impossible."
"I already said that, Captain Obvious."
"You're my roommate?"
"Looks that way. For now. You'll be moving out."
I scanned the rest of the paper then handed it back. "Nope. I'm staying. You can go."
"What makes you think I'm going anywhere?"
"Well, you're local. I'm not. There are no dorm rooms anywhere on campus and we both know it."
"I’m not local."
I'd taken note of her home address. "Pittsdale isn't that far from here."
"It's way too far to commute."
I shrugged. "It's a lot closer than Kansas."
"You can go live with my dad and I'll stay here."
"Nope. I want to live here and my form is correct so..."
"What do you mean your form 'is correct'? Are you implying mine isn't?"
I looked her up and down and raised an eyebrow. She really was an attractive young lady. In another universe – one without a Lana – I might have even asked her out. "You don't look like someone who should have checked 'male' on her forms."
"What?"
I pointed to the form. "It says 'male' under gender."
She looked at the paper more closely. "I am not a male and I certainly never checked male on any form."
"Well, I figured you're not a male. I'm not blind you know." The blouse she was wearing certainly emphasized that – without flaunting it.
I was glad I was invulnerable because the look she gave me could kill a lesser mortal.
Her face fell and she sank into the chair she'd pulled out when digging for her folder. "The name thing."
"What name thing?"
"Um... listen, before we go on... would you mind putting some clothes on?"
I glanced down. I'd forgotten I wasn't dressed yet. "Yeah, sure." I grabbed my things. "I'll be right back." I was back less than two minutes later to find her sitting at the desk with her face in her hands. She swiped at her face before turning to look at me.
"They had my name spelled wrong in the computers. They must have changed my gender, too."
"Easier said than done," I couldn't help saying, earning me another look that could kill. "Sorry," I muttered.
"They had me down as Louis instead of Lois. We got it straightened out yesterday when I checked in at the gym. I wasn't even supposed to be in Weller. I was supposed to be in an all girls dorm on an academic floor, but they must have moved me after they changed it." She sighed. "And, of course, there's no empty dorm rooms anywhere. I asked if my suitemates were girls and they said yes. It didn't even occur to me to ask about my roommate."
I sat in my own desk chair. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For giving you a hard time. I shouldn't have done that."
"I started it," she admitted, still refusing to look at me again.
"My parents raised me better than that though and I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted." She took a deep breath. "But what do we do now? One of us has to move and there's nowhere to go."
"I don't know."
"I'll call my dad. He might be able to do something."
"How could your dad help?"
She glanced at me but then returned to staring out the window over her desk. "He's a distinguished alumnus who's donated a lot of money to the school over the years. He has some pull."
"So you are related to all the Lane stuff around here?"
She nodded. "That's us. The Lanes. And this is just the latest in the series of mishaps that is my life."
"What do you mean?"
"My mom and sister were in a car accident when I was a kid. That's why it's the Ellen Lane *Memorial* Medical Building and the Lucy Lane *Memorial* Scholarship Fund. My dad made a lot of money on some invention to help with sports injuries and stuff."
"Wait. Is your dad Dr. Sam Lane?" I asked, incredulous.
"That's him. You've heard of him?"
"Anyone who's ever read the sports pages has heard of him."
She shrugged. "Anyway, he made a ton of money and donated a bunch of it to the school over the years. After my mom and sister died, he went into a deep depression and lost nearly everything when his partner took advantage of his misery. We managed to keep the house and cabin and enough to keep paying some employees he had but that was about it. He went back to private sports medicine practice and is doing very well again and even has some other new invention, but he signed over all the rights to everything from before without realizing he did it. Once he realized what happened, he sued his former partner and got a settlement – a pretty good one – but that's it.
"I've already been accused of getting into the journalism program because of who my dad is and not because of my abilities, which is a load of bull. I'm a good writer and I'm going to be a great reporter, but that doesn't matter."
She was a Journalism major? Well, we had that in common.
"And... Anyway, a bunch of other stuff I'm not about to confide in you that has made my life one mishap after another."
"I'm sorry to hear about your mom and sister and what happened to your dad." I really meant it.
She shrugged. "It's been a long time now. I still miss them, but that's just part of life."
"So what do we do?"
"I'll call my dad, but I doubt there's anything he can do. I already called him yesterday when I found out that my dorm assignment was wrong and he said the campus is overflowing."
"That's what I heard, too."
There was a knock on the door. "Clark?"
"Who's that?"
I groaned. "My girlfriend who happens to be one of our suitemates."
"The blond?"
"It was you looking at us."
She shrugged. "I looked at lots of people."
Another knock. "Clark? Can I come in?"
"Yeah, come on in."
The door opened and Lana came in. I saw her eyes narrow when she saw Lois. "Who's this?"
"This is Lois."
"What's she doing in your room?"
"Don't you mean what's he doing in my room?" Lois retorted.
"Excuse me?" The sarcasm dripped from Lana's voice.
I sighed. "There was a mix-up with Lois' paperwork and they've got us in the same room."
"Well, Lois. It's nice to meet you and I wish we'd have the chance to get to know you better, but since you'll be moving, I don't guess we will."
"I'm not moving." She turned one of those looks Lana's direction.
"You have to. Clark's not. We made arrangements to be suitemates a long time ago and this is a co-ed suite floor so... that means you'll have to find somewhere else to live."
I sighed again. "Lana, give her a break. She didn't do this. It was a mix-up."
"And I'm not moving so you'll have to get used to me," Lois told her.
"Well, Clark's not moving either," Lana shot back.
"Lana, can you give us a few minutes so we can straighten this out?"
I saw her glare at Lois then she turned to speak to me. "Can I see you for a minute?"
I walked over to the door. "What, Lana?"
"What are you going to do?" she hissed.
"What do you mean?"
"You have to get her out of here. Or better yet, she can move to my room and I'll move in here."
I sighed. "That's not going to happen, Lana, and you and I both know it. Our parents would flip and the money we're getting from them would disappear."
"We won't tell them."
"I'm not going to lie to my parents." I put my arms around her. "How's your roommate?"
"She's nice."
"What's her name?"
"Linda King."
"Linda King is your roommate?" Lois interrupted. "Oh this just gets better and better."
Lana didn't move from my arms. "You know her?"
"We've met. So you can forget any plans that you might have to make me move in with her so you two can be together. It's not gonna happen."
"So you're an eavesdropper?"
"If you didn't want to be heard, you should have moved a little farther away and whispered."
"Lana," I said, pulling her farther out into the living area. "We can't be roommates regardless. Our parents were upset enough when they found out we were suitemates and wondered how that happened. If they find out we requested it, they'll be even more upset."
"So what are you going to do?"
I sighed. "I don't know, but let me figure it out okay?"
She nodded and kissed me.
I heard Lois clear her throat behind me. "Do you mind?"
I pulled back. "Why don't you go ahead and go to the cafeteria and I'll catch up with you in a bit?"
"Fine." She kissed me again, more quickly this time. "Don't be long, okay?"
I nodded. "I won't." I leaned in closer to her and whispered. "I like cookie dough."
She grinned. "I know." Another quick kiss and she left.
I moved back into his room and shut the door behind me. "So what do we do?"
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I fought to keep the tears from spilling over. This was great. I was in the wrong dorm with a roommate of the wrong gender and Linda King was one of my suitemates. What else could go wrong? And it looked like I was going to have deal with Clark and Lana sucking face every time I turned around.
"I don't know, but I can't move home right now," I told him.
"I'm not trying to say that's what you should do, but why not?"
"I just can't, okay. It's too far away and it's not going to happen."
"Well, *I* obviously can't commute."
"No." I watched as he sat back in his chair.
He took a deep breath. "Well, there's one obvious solution, but..."
"We share."
"Well, I was going to say we stay roommates, but... yeah, basically."
"Do we report this to the campus people?"
"What will they do if we do?"
I sighed. "Probably make me move home and I can't do that."
"Then we won't tell them."
"We'll have to come up with some ground rules."
"Of course."
"Like no walking around in towels." That was one distraction I certainly didn't need. Joe wasn't going to be any happier about this than Lana was.
I watched a smile cross his face. What was that about?
"No walking around in towels," he agreed.
"Why don't you go meet Lana for dinner and we'll talk about it later?"
He nodded. "Sounds good. I'll be back in a bit – what about you?"
I shrugged. "I've got some food in the fridge..."
"We have a fridge?"
"No, *we* don't. *I* have a fridge."
"Ah."
"If you ask nicely, I'll share."
He laughed and then smiled at me. "I'll keep that in mind." He grabbed his keys and wallet and stuck them in his pockets. "Sure you'll be okay here?"
I nodded. "Yeah. My boyfriend may be by in a while anyway."
He grinned and winked at me. "Good thing I've already got a girl or I might be jealous."
I glared at him. "Whatever, Kent. Go find your girl and I'll see you later."
"See ya." And he walked out the door.
I climbed to my top bunk and stared at the ceiling. At least he seemed like a nice guy. Too bad his girlfriend and her roommate were evil.
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
How on earth was I going to tell Lana that Lois wasn't moving?
I jogged down the stairs and headed towards the cafeteria. She was not going to be happy about it.
Neither were my parents. How was I going to explain it to them? Actually, that might be the easier of the two. I contemplating finding an alley or something and taking off really fast and heading back to Kansas to talk to them, but I knew that wasn't really an option. We'd talked about it before I left and we agreed that any visits would have to be at night and then only sparingly. I didn't think the second day I was here would qualify as sparingly.
On the other hand, this was pretty big so maybe it did qualify as worthy of a trip home. Maybe tonight, if I could get away without anyone noticing.
Finally I made it to the cafeteria and spotted Lana. Deciding I didn't really want to eat, I just went to sit with her and a girl I guessed was Linda.
"Hey," I said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"So is she gone?"
I sighed. "No."
"When is she leaving?"
"She's not, Baby."
"Don't 'baby' me, Clark Kent." She refused to look at me.
"She can't move home and there's no other place to live on campus. What's she supposed to do?"
She finally looked me in the eye. "That is not your problem."
"Come on, Lana. Don't be like that."
She sighed. "You're too nice for your own good – for my own good – you know that?"
I grinned at her. "It's why you love me."
She finally smiled back. "Well, one reason." She looked at the other girl sitting at the table. "I'm sorry – Linda, this is my boyfriend, Clark. Clark, this is my roommate Linda."
I held out my hand and Linda took it. "Nice to meet you, Linda."
I didn't really like the way she looked me up and down as much as she could since I was sitting, but I realized I'd done the same thing to Lois – not something I would normally do, but I was being kind of a jerk at the time. I hoped I hadn't made her as uncomfortable as Linda was making me.
"You know," she said. "I went to high school with Lois."
"Really?" I said. My first impressions were usually pretty good – and had been since I was little, my mom told me – and my first impression of Lois, claws towards Lana notwithstanding, was much better than my impression of Linda who seemed to be regarding me as a piece of meat. It wasn't the first time a girl had looked at me like that and Lana usually got very possessive, but she didn't seem to notice this time.
"Yeah. I wouldn't recommend letting her stay your roommate. If I were you, I'd let the housing people know as soon as you can," she advised.
That sort of set me on edge a bit. "I'll take that under advisement," I told her. "But usually I like to make my own mind up about people."
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," she said with a shake of her head.
I still wasn't sure what I'd been warned about, but one thing was sure – I was going to keep as much distance between myself and Linda as I could.
*****
TBC
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