Sorry this is a day late. It's been a horrible week. Next post will be on Saturday as planned.
A giant thank you to Kelly, Beth, and Carol for all their help!
For those who don't know, buckeye balls are probably an American thing as they are chocolate covered peanut butter balls, kind of like a homemade Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (and much better). Pic
here. From Chapter 13Playing slowly and using only his right hand, Chad played the melody to the song, singing along quietly. He doesn't have the best voice, and he knew that, but right then, I couldn't think of a more beautiful sound.
“Sometimes I wonder, how I'd make it through, through this world without having you. I just wouldn't have a clue,” Chad sang.
I joined him for the next verse, my voice a bit stronger than his. “'Cause sometimes it seems like this world is closing in on me, and there's no way of breaking free, and then I see you reach for me.”
I leaned over to kiss him, effectively cutting off the rest of the song.
“This is the best gift ever,” I whispered.
“No,” Chad said, moving to put his arms around my waist. “You are the best gift ever.”
The phone rang right then, but neither of us paid any attention to it.
Chapter 14
April 1994“You look very small town,” Chad grinned at me as I came downstairs. I had decided on a pair of jeans and the only plaid shirt I could find in my closet. It must be from some sort of surveillance operation. It seemed like something that would blend in well with farmers.
That didn't mean Chad's teasing was appropriate, though. I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed before reaching for me to kiss me on my forehead.
We broke apart at the knock on the door. “Morning, Clark,” Chad said as he opened the door.
“Good morning. You guys ready?” Clark asked. They were both way too cheerful about spending a long weekend in rural America.
“We're all packed, if that's what you mean,” I said with just a hint of grumpiness.
“Good to see you've decided to keep an open mind, Lois,” Clark grinned at me.
I stuck my tongue out at him, too.
“So,” Clark said, “I thought I'd take your bags over first. Then we can decide if we want to all go over together or not.”
“What do you mean?” Chad asked.
“Well, the most comfortable way to fly with me is to have me hold you under the neck and knees, kind of like a baby. But, to take you both at once, I'll have to wrap an arm around each of your waists. That will be faster, but it is a little bit of a long flight and you may prefer to feel more comfortable.”
“How long will it take you?” I asked, torn between wanting to share this experience with Chad and the fact that Clark having an arm around my waist didn't sound very secure to me.
Clark shrugged, “Oh, not that long. Maybe five minutes.”
“So we can talk about it while you bring the luggage over?” I asked.
“Sure. But that will take a little less time. I can fly a little faster with the luggage than with you.” Clark said. “Or maybe not, but I don't feel comfortable flying that fast with other people.”
He grabbed all the bags before the thought occurred to Chad. “Does Rachel know that we know?” he asked.
Clark paused on his way out the door. “About Superman?” he asked. When Chad nodded, he added quietly, “I told her last night.”
“And?” I prodded.
“And,” Clark grinned sheepishly, “I'll be spending most of today making it up to her.”
“Is she really angry?” Chad asked.
“No,” Clark admitted. “I think she's a little hurt, but overall, she seemed to understand that it was actually easier to tell you than her. I know I have issues with people accepting me for who I am. Part of the problem, I think, is that I've always hidden it well so it surprised her.”
“But she loves you,” I said.
“Right,” Clark smiled. “We'll get past this.”
************************
“Okay, what did you decide?” Clark asked as he came back in.
Chad and I exchanged another glance. “We want to go together,” Chad said.
“You're going to hold hands the entire trip, aren't you?” Clark asked us, smiling.
“We were planning to,” I admitted.
“Okay, let's go,” Clark said leading us out the door and into an alley. “I don't worry too much about hiding before I take off anymore. The suit takes care of most of that, but since I'm taking off with you, and both of you seemed perfectly healthy, I think it would be best to not be too open. The less it's clear that Superman is friends with you the better,” he explained.
He wrapped an arm around each of our waists and waited until Chad took my hand before taking off. “Just let me know if you start to feel uncomfortable and we can stop for a minute,” Clark told us. “And don't worry. I won't drop you. Even if I did, which is extremely unlikely, I'm fast enough to catch you.”
Even just through his hand, I could feel Chad relax at these words, but I shook with laughter. “Is that supposed to be reassuring? "If I'm lying about not dropping you, trust me. I'll catch you.'” We all laughed, but in another second we were high enough that Chad and I stopped to admire the view.
“This is amazing,” I whispered a few seconds later. “How do you not spend all your time up here?”
“I did,” Clark admitted. “When I first realized I could fly, I spent almost every spare minute in the sky. Eventually… I guess I realized I wanted a life with everyone else and that wasn't going to happen if I was flying all the time.”
I didn't say anything. I got the impression from his tone that Clark spent less time up here as a teenager because it's so beautiful and more to get away from everyone else. It made me think again about what his adolescence must have been like.
It must have been so different than mine. Mine had been awful, but I had had Lucy going through it with me and later I had had Chad. It sounded like Clark's parents were incredibly supportive and he was still really close to them, but they couldn't really understand what he was going through.
He never talked too much about Lana, but I just assumed she wasn't much help with this, either. First off, she seemed a little self-absorbed to me – that was the only explanation I could understand for breaking up with someone just before the prom. Plus, Clark had probably never told her.
It was amusing in a sad way that our teenage years had both been difficult, but in such different ways. I squeezed Chad's hand a little tighter. Unlike Clark and me, Chad had had a storybook childhood. His parents were supportive and loved him, and he had gotten along well with his two older brothers. Even as a teenager, when everyone around us was complaining, Chad had recognized that he was lucky.
I realized that while I had been lost in thought, the scenery below had changed substantially. As opposed to the skyscrapers we had seen earlier, now there were fields below us, although I could see a city up ahead.
“What's that?” I asked Clark. “The city,” I clarified.
“Indianapolis,” Clark said.
“We're that far already?” Chad asked, but then added, “Although I guess you did say the whole trip would only take about five minutes. Still, that's so fast.”
Clark laughed. “You can perhaps understand why I'm not a big fan of commercial travel. Why fly in a small enclosed space when I can do it on my own much faster and cheaper?”
Chad laughed and I looked up at Clark to smile. I loved that he could flip so quickly from his earlier comment about spending time up here to joking. I wished I was always so good at keeping up a positive attitude.
************************
Clark landed in Rachel's garden. It was a joke. When I pictured a garden, I pictured the small area in my grandmother's yard where she had grown tomatoes and carrots. Rachel's garden was the size of my grandmother's house.
However, in this case, the size was a benefit as Rachel's neighbors were not that visible if we landed on the right part of her yard and, of course, Clark knew exactly where that was.
He led us towards Rachel's small house – it had the charming look of a cottage and opened the door without knocking. “Rachel's not here,” he told us. “She's busy getting stuff ready for the festival, but she'll meet us at my parent's place for dinner.”
He walked up the narrow flight of stairs into a small bedroom. It was simply decorated in blue with a small bed, a double, I thought, a night stand with an alarm clock, a small chest of drawers, and a small window. Clark set our bags down and I walked over to the window. It had a nice view of Rachel's garden, but it was hard not to think about how different this was than Metropolis. I hadn't done as much traveling as I would have liked and had never really been anyplace besides big cities and the suburbs of Metropolis. None of those places looked like this when you looked out your window.
As much as I still thought Kansas sounded dull, I had to admit it was beautiful. I was in trouble – Chad was going to be completely seduced. I just had to hope that this weekend was as boring as I was expecting.
“Does Rachel get a lot of visitors?” I asked Clark, turning away from the window.
Clark chuckled slightly. “No, but this is small town America. People have guest rooms. It's just… what they do. Honestly, not to fit into your image of everyone here being a hick,” I grimaced a bit at that, “but Rachel's situation is a bit unusual. Most of the people around here got married young and so few single people own their own homes.”
I smiled to show how open-minded I was being. “Well, Rachel isn't quite as much small town as I had expected before I met her,” I admitted.
“Come on,” Clark said. “I'll show you the rest of the place before we head over to my parents.”
“Are we flying there, too?” Chad asked and I smiled at him. It was clear that like me, he had found the experience more awe-inspiring than scary.
“No,” Clark shook his head. “Rachel got someone to bring her to the fairgrounds this morning so we could borrow her car. I try not to fly too much around here. There's too much chance of someone recognizing me.”
He left the bedroom and we followed. “This is the bathroom,” he said pointing to a door just left of our room. “There's a master bath in Rachel's room,” he pointed to a door across from us, “so she probably won't use this one at all. So, feel free to leave toiletries or whatever in there.”
He led us downstairs into a very comfortable living room done in greens and a small, but sunny kitchen. “Rachel is a pretty decent cook,” Clark said, “although we probably won't be eating here that much.”
“How come?” I asked.
“Well, during the day tomorrow and Sunday we'll probably be at the fair and we'll be spending this afternoon and evening at my folks,” Clark said. “Are you guys ready to go?” he asked.
I shrugged and Chad nodded eagerly so we all went out Rachel's front door to where her car was parked on the driveway. It was just what I expected from Rachel, now that I knew her. It was a small hatch-back – economical and practical, it was in good condition, but didn't look like it was the type of car that you'd wax every weekend or something.
“Do you mind if we stop by the fair grounds?” Clark said. “I'd just like to say hello to Rachel.”
“Of course,” I said turning around to see that Chad was somewhat oblivious to Clark's question as he took in our surroundings.
Rachel only lived a little ways out of town, I guess, as Clark pulled into a parking spot in front of a gazebo just a few minutes later.
I got out of the car and looked around. There was no doubt about it – it was pretty. The gazebo was lined with flowers that were just starting to bloom and the area around it was green. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought Clark had flown us to the set of Mayberry. It was exactly how Hollywood portrayed small town America.
As if to prove my thought, a slightly overweight, redheaded woman came rushing over. “Clark! I didn't realize you were going to be able to come home for the Wind Festival!” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him.
Clark smiled, “You know I can never pass up an opportunity for your buckeye balls, Mrs. Dayton.”
Mrs. Dayton pulled away to smack Clark lightly on the arm. “Such a tease you are. As if I didn't know that your mother makes the best buckeye balls in Smallville.”
Clark smiled good-naturedly. “Mrs. Drake, these are my friends from Metropolis, Lois and Chad Andrews. Lois, Chad, Mrs. Drake lives here in town. Her husband owns the hardware store over there,” he pointed behind us.
Mrs. Drake shook both our hands with more enthusiasm than I would have expected. “I've known Clark since he was running around chasing little Lana around the town square and he's always been the best judge of character, so I'm sure you're the finest of Metropolis. Welcome to Smallville,” she said.
She turned back to Clark. “I saw Rachel over by the soda fountain,” she told him. “I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you.” With a wink at Clark, she moved off to the hardware store.
“The soda fountain?” I asked. This really was Mayberry.
“Laugh all you want, Lois, but it's charming here. When was the last time you got such a friendly hello from someone in Metropolis?” Chad asked, and I groaned.
I grabbed Chad's hand to give it a squeeze before following Clark who was laughing at me - I could tell.
“Sheriff Harris,” he called a few seconds later. Rachel turned around and her face lit up.
“Why, it's the city boy,” she said and I thought her soft twang sounded a little stronger here than I had noticed in Metropolis.
“I'm going to get my wife some sugar,” Chad said as he tugged on my arm. “I think it might improve her mood.”
“I wanted to say hello to Rachel,” I whined as he opened the door to the soda fountain.
“I'm pretty sure Clark did, too,” Chad smiled at me and glancing outside, I could see he was right. They were holding each other close.
“You folks in town for the Wind Festival?” an older gentleman asked us.
“Yup,” Chad said, taking a seat at the counter. “I'm Chad and this is my wife Lois. We're friends of Clark Kent's.”
I looked at him like he was crazy. Why would this guy care that we were friends of Clark's, but I'd forgotten. I wasn't in Metropolis anymore – he did care. “You're friends of Clark's?” he said. “Well, then, I'll give you each free sodas for stories of what he's been up to in Metropolis. That girlfriend of his always brags about how he's turning the city on its ear, but you can't trust a word she says. She's too biased.”
I smiled. I couldn't help it. I knew Chad would tease me mercilessly later, but so far, everyone in Smallville had been overly warm and friendly. Even though I knew I'd never want to live somewhere like this, I could see why Rachel liked it. I could also see how Metropolis could never stack up to someone who truly loved it here.
“So, sodas for gossip about our city slicker?” the old man offered us again.
“I'll have a Coke and Lois will have a Diet Coke. She works with Clark at the Planet, so she can share lots of information about you,” Chad said and I smiled at him. Already, he was fitting right in here.
Placing two sodas in front of us, the man looked at me with interest. “Well,” I said, “I don't know what Rachel said, but it's hard to imagine she exaggerated. Clark is doing really well in Metropolis.”
“Is it true that Daily Planet is advertising him and that pretty partner of his?” he asked me.
I blushed slightly, trying not to laugh. “Who told you his partner was pretty?”
“Rachel. She says his partner is all sophisticated and pretty. And almost as talented as Clark,” he told me.
“Almost!” I said, but Chad put a hand on my arm to quiet me. Right. It was probably okay that Clark's girlfriend thought he was better than me. Slightly better than me. “Yeah, the Planet has an ad campaign for Clark and me.”
“You? You're Clark's partner?” he asked.
“Uh oh,” came Clark's voice from the door. “What sorts of stories are you sharing with Mel?”
“Clark, it's good to see you, son,” Mel came out from behind the counter to give Clark a hug. “A root beer?” he asked.
“Sounds great. Rach is going to join us in a second. So, a ginger ale, too,” Clark said, taking the seat next to me.
“How is she?” I asked.
“I think she's a little stressed right now, but once the Festival starts, her job will be finished, at least until clean up on Monday, so she'll be able to relax some,” he said.
“Is your dad going to run the grill station again this year?” Mel asked him.
“You bet,” Clark said, taking a swallow of his root beer. “And Mom is making pies. I can't wait to get home and steal a piece.”
Mel laughed. “If you snag me a peach pie, I'll keep you and Rachel in drinks for a year. Maybe two for you since you're not in town that often.”
“Your mom must be quite the baker,” I said. Mel was the second person to comment on his mother's cooking.
Clark smiled, “She's a great cook in general. Wait till you meet her. You'll love her, I promise. She's… well, no one in town has ever understood my desire to move to Metropolis as much as my mom.”
“Well, now, Clark,” Mel came back over with Rachel's ginger ale, “that may be true, but no one knows better than your mother that Smallville is a better place to raise a family.”
“Oh stop pressuring him,” Rachel said as she came in, but she was smiling at Mel and I had the feeling this was a common conversation. I wondered how many people here were waiting for Clark to "come to his senses' and move back to Smallville, marry Rachel, and settle down.
“Thanks,” she said to Clark as she sat down and took a sip of her ginger ale. He reached for her free hand as she turned to us. “Sorry I didn't say a proper hello earlier,” she said.
“It's okay,” Chad smiled at her and I smiled to show my agreement.
“How are things coming together?” I asked.
Rachel grimaced. “It always seems like a mess the day before, but I think it's coming together nicely. We're actually mostly done except for setting up the fireworks for tomorrow night. That's my biggest job anyway – coordinating with the fire department and the company that hosts the show to make sure everything is within regulations.”
“Doesn't sound like much fun,” Chad said.
“No,” Rachel admitted, “but it's worth it. The Smallville Wind Festival has the best annual fireworks in Kansas.”
“Is that true?” I asked Clark.
“I saw an international fireworks competition in Quebec one year where many of the entrants weren't as good, so I'd guess so.”
“You'll be happy to know that this young lady here says you haven't been bragging so much as telling the truth about Clark,” Mel said to Rachel, motioning to me. “She says he's doing just as well in Metropolis as you said.”
Clark flushed slightly, “Oh, I'm doing okay.”
Mel laughed. “Good to see Metropolis hasn't knocked the humbleness right out of ya'.”
Was he trying to say that city people weren't humble? I remembered my reaction to the fact that Rachel said I was almost as good as Clark and flushed a little.
“Okay,” Rachel sighed. “I've got to get back. I'll see you guys later?”
Clark gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Are you ready to meet my folks?” he asked us as Rachel walked out the door.
“And see a real farm,” Chad smiled at me.
“Come on, Toto,” I teased him. “We're finally in Kansas.”
