As always, thanks to Carol for being the best beta ever!!!
Also a thank you to everyone who is leaving me feedback. I really appreciate it!
From Chapter 10
“Ooh, you must be angry if you're calling me Michaelson,” Steve said and I realized for the first time that he liked goading her.
“Cut it out, Steve,” I said.
“Nice defense of the little woman,” Steve replied to me. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that he liked to goad Maddie. Maybe he was just in a bad mood.
“What happened, Steve? Did you have trouble satisfying the girl you kicked Clark out for?” Alicia asked.
Steve glared at her, too. “I never have that problem. I'm just tired.”
“Well, maybe if you slept more and spent fewer nights kicking Clark out of bed, you wouldn't be so tired,” Lois said.
Steve gave one last look around the table before getting up and grabbing his tray. I wanted to say I felt sorry for him, but I didn't really. He was being a bit of a jerk.
Chapter 11
“You know, I did apologize,” Steve said as soon as I came into the room.
“I know,” I started to say, but Steve continued to talk right over me.
“You didn't need to get everyone on my case. Why'd you even tell them our business anyway?”
I sighed. I had never actually dealt with Steve when he was in this type of mood before. I wasn't one-hundred percent sure what the best way to diffuse the situation was.
“I didn't actually,” I pointed out.
“What you do you mean you didn't?” Steve said accusingly. “Then how'd they all know.”
“You told them!” I said, and I could hear the anger seeping into my voice. “Right after you apologized, you said, "I asked Clark to leave last night' or something like that.”
Steve sighed and sank back onto his bed shaking his head. Unsure what to say, I got my poli sci and math books out. I was supposed to be meeting Maddie to study after dinner. I caught sight of Steve's face as I was doing so, though, and stopped. “Are you okay?” I asked him.
He nodded, somewhat listlessly. “Yeah, I'm fine.”
“Steve,” I said. “Really. What's going on?”
He sighed again. “It's nothing really. It's just… I flunked my first test and my dad is really on my case about it.”
“How does your dad know?” I asked, surprised he would tell his father.
Steve sighed. “We're kind of tight, I guess. I didn't really mean to, but I did. And before my dad's been mostly cool about that sort of thing. I thought he'd be that way here, too, you know? Understand that the first semester can be a little rough or whatever? But he wasn't. Gave me this big lecture on how he and my mom aren't paying for me to sleep around and be a big screw-up and how I'd better shape up.”
“I'm sorry,” I said. I couldn't imagine Dad ever giving me a lecture like that. On the other hand, I also couldn't imagine spending so much of my time meeting girls that I didn't have time to study. I couldn't even imagine doing that with Maddie. While we had spent most of our time together recently, we spent a lot of it studying.
“Maybe you need to find a girl who takes her classes seriously,” I suggested.
“What?” Steve looked at me like I had two heads.
I shrugged. “It's just… I guess I feel like I still spend lots of time with Maddie, but we often study so I don't think my grades are suffering because of it.”
Steve chuckled, “Yeah, I can see that. But sorry, bro, Maddie is so not my type.”
“Well, I didn't mean Maddie specifically,” I said with a laugh.
Steve sighed. “Even girls like her. I like girls who are a little more… Well, don't take this the wrong way, but a little more fun.”
I shrugged. “Too bad,” I said, “my way keeps me out of trouble with my folks.”
Steve chuckled again. “Do you ever get in trouble with them? I imagine you're the perfect son.”
I shrugged again. “My parents are really pretty great, and they don't get upset that easily. But I still get in trouble with them occasionally.”
“Like what?” Steve said, and I fell silent. The biggest argument we'd ever had was when they first found out about my Boy in Black activities. Of course, a lot of why they were upset then was because I wasn't the Boy in Black. I was going out wearing my normal clothes and not making the smallest effort to disguise myself should someone in Smallville look up and see me flying over town.
“They didn't like my girlfriend in high school,” I finally said. It was sort of true. Dad had told me in no uncertain terms that he thought Lana wasn't good enough for me. Mom had been a bit kinder about it, but I knew she felt the same way. Still, it hadn't been much of an argument. They had told me it was my mistake to make and some day I'd realize I'd want more out of a girlfriend than someone who cheated on me all the time. So, as long as it didn't affect my schoolwork or cause me to develop an attitude with them or whatever, they were going to let me keep making this mistake.
I still didn't know if they were right. I mean, Maddie was exactly the kind of girl that they wanted me to be with, and I knew they'd like her. She was responsible and kind and I couldn't see her ever cheating on me.
Still, as much as I liked Maddie, I missed something that I'd felt with Lana. I wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about the relationship that was different.
Steve laughed. “What was wrong with her?”
I shrugged. “I guess they didn't like how she treated me,” I said. “She cheated on me a lot.”
Steve gave me a strange look. “Why'd you stay with her then?”
I shrugged. “I liked her. And when she wasn't cheating on me, she was a really great girlfriend.” I paused and thought over my words. “I know. It sounds ridiculous, but that is how I felt.”
“Was she hot?” Steve asked with interest.
I chuckled. “She was the head cheerleader. Yeah, she was hot.”
“Hotter than Maddie?” he asked.
I flushed. I hadn't ever really considered that before. “Um… They're different,” I finally said. “Lana was more in-your-face pretty than Maddie is.”
Steve shrugged. “I guess you're right. Maddie is pretty hot in that understated way of hers.”
I shook my head. I wasn't sure I wanted to have this discussion with Steve. “Well, I'm meeting her to study right now. Do you…” I hesitated. Maddie would kill me for this. “Do you want to come?”
Steve raised an eyebrow at me. “And watch you make out with your girlfriend? No thanks.”
“We're studying, Steve,” I pointed out. Although, if I were to be honest, it was more than likely that if Steve didn't come, we'd do a little more than study.
“Nah,” Steve said. “But I think I'm going to stay in tonight and hit the books anyway. Make the old man happy.”
“Okay,” I said as I swung my backpack over my shoulder. “Have a good night.”
“I'm sorry about earlier, man,” Steve said as I opened the door. “Accusing you of getting everyone on my back.”
I shrugged, “It sounds like you were having a bad day.”
He nodded. “And I won't kick you out if you're asleep anymore.”
I smiled at him. “Well, that, I really appreciate.”
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I lifted the car up just slightly. I had to make it look really hard. The father of the little girl dragged her out from underneath. I blocked out my hearing. I didn't want to hear the sound of her being dragged. If I could help out openly, that wouldn't need to happen. I could easily lift the car with one hand and lift her up with the other.
I sighed quietly, although everyone was watching the girl, not me. I knew what I was doing was already too much. While not impossible, it wasn't common for teenage boys to be able to lift up cars single handedly. I just hoped Mom and Dad wouldn't be too disappointed.
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“You have two weeks,” Professor Matthews said as he opened class a couple of weeks later. Lois turned to me with a smile. I had no idea what he was talking about, but clearly Lois did. Why did that not surprise me in the slightest?
“I don't care the topic – anything related to either the campus or Metropolis in general works for me. It can't be any further a-field than that, though. You need to be able to investigate it properly.”
I perked up at the word “investigate”, but nothing compared to Lois. I could almost feel her straighten up next to me.
“The article will count for forty-percent of your final grade. You will be graded eighty-percent on the quality of your writing and twenty-percent on the topic you choose.
“For those of you planning to apply for the Daily Planet internship this summer, Perry White, the editor of the Planet, feels that writing is a skill that can be learned – and that is our job here, whereas investigating and having a "nose for news' is a trait that you are either born with or not. As a result, for the internship, he typically judges applicants more on their ability to bring in a good story than to write it well. However, he does expect that by the time he is hiring for full-time positions at the end of your schooling, you will have both skills down pat.”
“For this assignment, I would like a two paragraph description of your topic by the end of next week. These should be two short, concise paragraphs. One of the most important skills you can have as a journalist is conveying information quickly, so throughout the assignment, I am expecting crisp writing. You are more likely to be penalized for length than getting extra credit for handing in a long article.”
Professor Matthews looked around the room for questions, I guessed, before he continued. “Lastly, to make things interesting – anyone in this room is eligible to apply for the Planet internship, but only two students each year get recommendations from the journalism department. One will come from Professor Halkuff who will teach those of you who are still pursuing journalism next semester. The other will come from me and will be based on the grade to this assignment.”
Lois' hand shot into the air and Professor Matthews nodded at her. “How does Professor Halkuff decide to give recommendations?” Lois asked.
“Through a similar assignment as this one that will be given early next semester.”
“So, can the same student get recommended twice?” Lois asked. I bit back a laugh. Only Lois would think she had a chance at two recommendations.
Apparently, Professor Matthews agreed, as he gave a slight smile before answering her. “Occasionally, we do both recommend the same student, but typically only if one student really stands out. If there are two students that seem close, Professor Halkuff and I will each recommend one.”
I was still recovering from trying not to laugh out loud at Lois' question when I realized I had a question of my own. “How often does a student who did not get a recommendation get the internship at the Planet?” I asked once Professor Matthews nodded at me.
“Not often,” he said. “Occasionally, a student will decide to major in journalism late in the year and won't take these entry level courses freshman year, but will apply for the internship. It's rare that these students have the talent to win the internship, honestly, although they stand a good chance of a Planet offer after college. And, of course, occasionally a student will submit a really outstanding piece for the internship, but usually the best applicants are those we recommend and we offer the recommendation for a reason. Mr. White takes our recommendations seriously.
“When he is considering a student we haven't recommended, he always calls us to ask our opinion.”
I nodded. So basically, this assignment was my way in. It sounded like only two students would even be seriously in contention for the internship. I sighed. It meant I had to write a strong article now – and not only for my grade in this class. I shot a look at Lois. I wondered what the chances were that I could do better on the assignment than Lois, but doubted that I really could. My only saving grace was that the grade now was based on writing rather than topic.
From talking to Lois and reading a few of her assignments as well as the piece she had submitted to the Titan, I knew Lois' strength was her investigative skill, whereas I thought mine was more writing style. Of course, this also meant that I better be on the lookout for a really interesting topic for the Planet application, since that's where Mr. White looked first for making a decision.
I sighed. Given that, maybe I should just assume that Lois was going to get the internship. I shook my head slightly. I couldn't think that way. I had to at least try. Even if I didn't stand that much of a chance, I needed to try. This internship was a large part of why I had chosen Met U for school to begin with.
************************
“So, what are you going to write about?” Lois asked me as we walked towards the dorms after class. We had taken to not only walking together to class after lunch, but also walking most of the way back together as well. Surprisingly, since the conversation about Paul, we had had very few arguments.
I shrugged. “No idea. You?”
Lois shrugged as well. “I don't know either. I think I want to do something from the city, though. I figure being from here, I have a better chance of uncovering something good than other students and so many others will be confined to campus.”
I grimaced. She was right, and I was one of the latter students. Still, what was my choice? What was the chance that Lois would help me find a topic from greater Metropolis? Even if she did, she was clearly going to keep the best topic for herself.
“That makes sense,” I said, but even to my own ears, I sounded disheartened.
Lois patted me on the arm. “Don't worry, Clark. I bet you have the best story of the out-of-towners.”
I threw her a glance. She was on her high ego kick again, of course. “Right. Of the out-of-towners.”
Lois laughed. “Hey, there are two recommendation slots. Maybe you'll win the one next semester.”
Now I couldn't help it, and I laughed out loud. “So, you don't think I stand a chance for the one this semester?”
Lois shrugged. “Maybe,” she said, but she sounded doubtful. “You are a good writer, Clark.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Not as good as you, though, right?”
Lois shrugged again. “Not everyone is born with the raw talent I was.”
“Or the self-confidence,” I threw back, but was immediately sorry that I had. Lois' earlier smile completely disappeared and even her shoulders seemed to slump.
“You think I'm overly confident. Don't you?” she asked.
I sighed. “No, not really. I think you are very confident, but I also think you're very talented.”
There was a hardness to Lois' eyes I couldn't completely understand when she replied, “I need to have confidence in myself. No one else does.” With that, she turned away and walked quickly towards her dorm.
