My apologies both for being slow in posting and in not responding to feedback. Real life has both been busy and emotionally draining. (Nothing awful, but not as good as I'd like, I guess.) I'm in a bit of a funk today as well which isn't helping. But I should have slightly more free time in the next couple of weeks, so at least my posting schedule should be better and hopefully I'll come out of this slump I'm in. Particularly as my writing has really suffered – even when I've had time I have no creativity recently.
A huge thank you to Carol who helped a ton with this and has been a great cheerleader while I've been down.
From Chapter 6
I just knew that I was enjoying talking to Maddie more than nearly anyone once else I had had a conversation of this length with since I got here. And with the stupid stand-off with those boys earlier, I was eager for something positive to happen today.
That was probably a bad reason for hitting on someone I was friends with and wasn't sure I was even attracted to, but I didn't care. Besides, I was no longer so sure that I wasn't attracted to her. She was pretty and smart. Maybe she was less bubbly and in-your-face beautiful than Lana, but that wasn't a bad thing, was it?
“Specifically?” Maddie asked, bringing me out of my internal dialogue. “I… um…” She blushed, dropping her head slightly.
To go with the theme of the conversation which seemed to be act/speak first-think later, I leaned forward and captured her lips with my own. Those boys completely left my head as I realized that Maddie was responding, and I moved closer to wrap my arms around her.
I had no idea what I was doing, and yet, it felt like the best decision I had made since I had gotten to Metropolis.
Chapter 7
I walked back to my room whistling. It was weird. I really hadn't been all that attracted to Maddie before tonight. She had seemed sweet and nice, but nothing particularly noteworthy. After our talk, though, she had seemed… more real, I guess. And that kiss… Well, I had never actually kissed a girl besides Lana before, but it was nice. Very nice.
Still, it had been a weird night, for sure. Between my run-in with those kids from earlier and Maddie's issues with the guy at the party, the kiss had been a nice diversion, nothing more.
Just before I walked into the dorm, I wondered if I should do a quick check on Lois and Alicia. Deciding that given what had happened with Maddie, my mom would box my ears for not at least checking one more time, I headed the other way. Lois and Alicia lived in different dorms, but the same quad, so it shouldn't take too long. At least I thought they'd likely be back in their rooms by now.
I found Alicia quickly. Actually, I almost bumped into her. She was on the way back to her room with some guy. I hung back to make sure she knew what she was doing, but she firmly turned him away at the door to her dorm and he seemed to take it well. I turned slightly and lowered my glasses to see inside Lois' dorm. I had only been by her room once – we had all stopped there before lunch one day as she said we had to see what Star had done to the room - she had decorated her side all in pink with those glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. Only instead of the way people usually applied those with random patterns, Star had actually produced a good replication of the sky above us at Met U in the fall. Lois had even let her extend the stars across the room so they were above Lois' bed as well.
Based on this one visit, I wasn't one-hundred percent sure which room was Lois', but I thought I'd find it quickly. Once I started looking, it only took me a second. Their room was the most discordant of the ones in there. Most people had only minor decorations, although there were a few rooms that went the other way and both occupants (usually girls) had really personalized their room. Lois and Star's room was all pink and girly on Star's side and neat and orderly on Lois' side with no decorations. She didn't even have a picture of her parents in her room or her best friend from high school. Then again, Lois never really spoke about friends from high school.
I smiled at the thought. Maybe she hadn't had any – I could kind of see her spending so much of the time focusing on the school paper and making sure her grades were good enough to get into Met U that she would barely notice the lack of social life. I thought she had mentioned being the editor of her school paper, and I could imagine her striding around the paper's office, barking demands. The other writers on the paper may not have liked her, but they'd respect her.
I shook my head. Who knew if any of that was true or if I had just constructed a life for Lois in my head? Besides, the newspaper office I had pictured was the one at Smallville High where I had been editor, but then we only had three people on the entire staff.
Star was in bed, snoring softly. Her frilly pink nightgown was poking out of the top of the covers. I stifled a snort. She hadn't been wearing pink tonight - what was with the secret love affair with pink?
Lois was not in bed and I looked around some more, trying to avoid looking into the hallway bathrooms. I didn't see her and started to head back to the frat house when I heard her voice on the other side of the dorm. I looked through the building and there she was arguing with the girl she had been talking to earlier. The girl looked put out and ready to leave, but Lois was holding her hostage.
I smiled slightly, glad to be witnessing rather than in the middle of one of Lois' arguments, and turned and headed back to my dorm.
************************
I was surprised when I got back to my room to find a sock on the doorknob. A sock? What the heck was that about? Apparently, someone had been having a wild party in our dorm as well.
Shaking my head, I slipped the sock off the doorknob and went to open the door. Luckily, just before I did, I realized what it was. Or at least, the loud groaning sounds coming from my room let me know what the sock was. I should have expected this, I guess. I mean, I hadn't been surprised at all to find Steve making out with a girl right after we arrived at the party, why would I be surprised to find that he had brought her back to our room?
Still, I felt a little annoyed. We had never discussed the rules for this. We never said a sock on the door meant you couldn't come in and we never discussed how long that was appropriate for. We had classes tomorrow and it was now three in the morning. I wanted to get to bed.
With a sigh, I turned around. I guess this was one of those days I could be glad I had those strange abilities, as I was clearly going to be sleeping in Smallville tonight.
************************
“Clark?” Mom shook me gently. “Clark, is everything alright?”
I blinked my eyes wishing she would stop shaking me. Even though I didn't need as much sleep as most people, I still liked to do so and it felt like I had just fallen asleep a few minutes ago.
“What time is it?” I asked her.
“Four,” she said, and I groaned. Of course, she had just gotten up to make Dad breakfast, but I had just gotten to sleep.
“Everything's fine, Mom. I just needed someplace to sleep tonight,” I told her.
“What are we paying for a room at that fancy school of yours for?” Dad asked from the doorway, but I could see him grinning. He already knew why I would need a place to stay.
“There was a party last night. Steve met a girl there and brought her back to our room,” I explained for Mom's benefit.
Mom and Dad both nodded, probably satisfied in the knowledge that their boy was the one who knew better than to bring a girl home right after he met her. For a moment, I wondered what would have happened if I had brought Maddie back to our room. We left the party before Steve, so that could have been us…
I felt myself blushing. What was I thinking?
“How was the party?” Mom asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Did you meet a girl there, too?” Dad asked, winking at me.
“It was okay,” I told them. “I didn't stay long. One of my friends was having a problem with some guy, so we left a little early.”
“Is she okay?” Mom asked.
“She's fine. He was just being a little pushy is all.”
“You didn't do anything visible to save her, did you?” Dad asked.
“It wasn't like that, Dad. It never got that far. She told him she had a boyfriend, I heard them arguing and showed up, so she clarified that I was the boyfriend, and he backed away.”
“You're the boyfriend?” Mom asked, with eyebrows raised.
“Well, no,” I said, blushing, remembering the feel of Maddie's lips against mine. “She made it up so he'd leave her alone. When I showed up, it was just convenient.”
“So, you walked her home?” Dad asked, still concerned, I could tell, that I had done something foolish to expose myself.
“Yeah. And that was it,” I said to make him feel better.
“Really?” Mom asked. I hated how she could always see right through me like that.
“Well, we talked for awhile afterwards,” I hedged. “But the guy was long gone and we were back in the quad where her dorm was, where it was quiet. So basically, yes, that was it.”
“Basically?” Mom asked, smiling. When I didn't answer at first, she added, “I'm just teasing, Clark. You don't need to tell us.”
“There's nothing to tell,” I said. “I mean, we kissed, but…”
“You kissed and there's nothing to tell?” Dad asked, clearly suppressing a laugh.
“It was just… it didn't mean anything,” I explained. “We both had had bad days and…”
“What was wrong?” Mom asked.
“Well, it was just that guy for Maddie, I guess. And my run-in with the kids earlier.”
“What kids?” Dad asked, his tone serious once again.
I sighed. Mom and Dad were so supportive of me, so I couldn't really complain. Still, sometimes Dad was so fast to worry about me. I knew it was only as he cared, but still…
“I went flying earlier. Not for a disaster or anything, I just felt the need to get away.”
“It sounds like something was already wrong before that then,” Mom said.
I gave a small laugh. “No, not really. Just another argument with Lois.”
“Lois? The journalism major?” Dad asked.
“Right. The same one I'm always arguing with.”
“But she's not the girl you kissed tonight?” Mom asked, her eyes shining with laughter.
“No,” I said as emphatically as I could. What was with everyone thinking there was something between me and Lois? “That was Maddie. Maddie, I actually get along with.”
“Right,” Dad said, grinning. “So you went for a flight after an argument with Lois.”
“Yes,” I said, glad to be off the topic of Lois so quickly. “And on the way back, I saw this teenager holding a knife on a little boy.”
Mom closed her eyes for a moment. She always knew immediately why I did the things I did. “Exactly,” I said to her look. “So I thought I'd try to do something.”
“What if he tried to stab you?” Dad asked. “Or did he?”
“He didn't,” I said just as Mom said, “Better Clark than the little boy.”
Dad nodded. I knew he didn't really agree, but he was trying to be supportive.
“Anyway, he didn't. Nothing happened really. I tried to talk to them, to get the teenager to drop it, but it turns out that he was holding the knife on the kid as he owed him money.”
“The little boy owed the teenager money?” Dad clarified.
“Yeah. Two grand, I think they said. For marijuana.”
“How old was the little boy?” Mom asked.
I shrugged. “About eight, I think.”
Dad gave a hollow laugh. “See, Martha. I told you Smallville was a better place to raise Clark than Boston.”
Mom rolled her eyes at him. Grandma and Grandpa Clark still lived in the house on the outskirts of Boston where Mom grew up, but I knew she had never really wanted to settle there. Similar to Chad, she had come here as a teenager and fallen in love with both Dad and small-town life.
“Anyway, it ended okay,” I told them. “We heard sirens and both kids ran away. But I was feeling… I don't know. I couldn't believe that such a young kid could… I guess it just brought my mood down,” I finally finished lamely.
“Oh, honey,” Mom said, moving to give me a hug. “We're proud of you for trying to help.”
“We sure are,” Dad said from where he was still leaning against my dresser. I smiled at him. Despite all his worries and how much I wished he'd stop worrying so much, I knew he meant that. He didn't want to worry about me, but he was proud of me for trying to help.
“So,” Dad asked with a laugh, “one kiss from… Maddie? Made it all better?”
I flushed. “I don't know. But maybe, yeah. I sort of stopped thinking about it.”
“But that's all it was?” Mom asked. “Do you want it to be more?”
“Mom!”
She laughed. “I'm kidding, Clark. It's okay to kiss a girl just for fun.”
“Thanks,” I said as deadpan as I could manage on two hours of sleep.
“Well, after your busy night of rescuing children and maidens in distress only to find interesting ways to bring them out of distress later, we'll let you sleep a little longer,” Mom laughed at me.
I decided not to respond, afraid it would just set them off on more teasing.
************************
I placed my lunch tray down across from Josh. I was waiting for Steve to show up. The sock had still been on the door this morning when I came back from Smallville. A quick scan had shown that Steve and the girl were asleep. It was not the same girl as the one I'd seen him making out with earlier – that one was a brunette and poking out from Steve's covers had been a blond head. I had grabbed some clothes and left for my political science class, so I hadn't yet seen Steve to let him know what I thought of his locking me out all night.
“Did you have fun at the party?” Josh asked as I sat down.
“I guess,” I said. “We left a little early.”
“We?” Lois asked, her eyebrows raised.
“Maddie and I,” I clarified, wondering if it sounded like we had hooked up last night.
“Clark was my knight in shining armor last night,” Maddie added as she showed up right then, placing her tray next to mine. “He pretended to be my boyfriend when one of the frat guys wouldn't leave me alone and then walked me home after since I didn't really want to stay.”
“Are you okay?” Lois asked.
“Yeah,” Maddie said. “I'm fine. Clark showed up before it got too serious. If it even would have.”
Steve and Alicia showed up together right then.
“You two both seemed to have a good time,” Lois smiled at them. “I saw you both leaving while I was talking to Ellen.”
Alicia blushed. “Yeah, I did.”
“What's his name?” Maddie asked.
“Chris,” Alicia said. “He's a biochem major and he was really sweet. He walked me home and…” she hesitated and I wondered. She must like this guy a lot as this was the most nervous I had ever seen her.
“And?” Josh prodded her on.
“We're going out tonight,” Alicia said. “So, I won't be able to make the movie.”
“And the girl you left with?” Maddie asked Steve. “Her name? When are you seeing her again?”
Steve shrugged. “Mandy, I think. And probably never.”
“You don't know her name?” Maddie asked, clearly disgusted. I decided that maybe now was not the best time to bring up my gripe about his locking me out.
“It was something like that,” Steve shrugged again. “It wasn't important.”
Maddie shot me a look as if to say, “I told you your roommate was a bit of a jerk.”
“Real nice, Steve,” Josh said, but Steve just shrugged again.
“We need to get to class,” Lois said to me as if we walked to class together everyday.
“I'll catch up with you,” I told her wanting to talk to Steve now rather than wait for later tonight. She shot me a dirty look. Was this a form of apology from yesterday? I sighed, but said nothing. I wasn't in the mood to play games with Lois today.
“Yo, Steve,” I called, realizing he had gotten up as well. He turned around and looked at me. “Have a minute?”
“Sure,” he said, waiting where he was a few feet away from our table.
“I'll see you later,” I said to Josh, Alicia, and Maddie. For just a moment, I had the urge to lean down and kiss Maddie lightly. Nothing big, just the type of kisses guys often gave their girlfriends, but I shook it off and went to join Steve.
Once I reached him, though, I changed my mind. Or something. It wasn't really a conscious decision, but I asked him to give me another minute and walked back to the table. “Want to meet for dinner tonight?” I asked Maddie.
She nodded, smiling at me. “Give me a call when you're ready?” she asked.
“I will,” I said, and I could feel that my step was a bit lighter as I joined Steve.
We put our dirty trays down on the conveyor belt and walked out together. “Listen, man, I'm really sorry about last night,” Steve said before I had figured out how to start the conversation. “I meant to take the sock off before we fell asleep, but I just forgot.”
“Thanks,” I said softly, sort of at a loss for words now that he had addressed the problem himself. “Maybe we should have some ground rules for this kind of thing,” I suggested.
“Sure,” Steve said. “Like we can't lock each other out more than twice a week?”
“That works for me,” I said, although I didn't really foresee myself locking him out of the room ever. “And maybe there's a time after which we're allowed in.”
Steve nodded. “Say 3 on weeknights and 4 on weekends?”
I smiled – this was easier than I had thought. “Do Thursday nights count as weeknights or weekends?” I asked. Given that Thursdays were typical party nights on campus, like last night, I thought Steve might have considered it a weekend night. Then again, he didn't have classes until noon on Friday, whereas I had poli sci at nine-thirty.
Steve shrugged, but then turned to me. “Oh, wait. You have a class on Friday mornings, don't you?”
I nodded.
“Oh, man, I'm so sorry. Thursdays definitely count as weeknights from now on.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling. I knew Maddie was right and Steve was not the nicest guy ever and clearly he was not someone I'd want one of my female friends dating, but he really wasn't all bad.
