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chapter two
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It turned out that inviting their new friend over on Saturdays became a ritual.
Chloe Sullivan was the missing ingredient that kept the Kent and Ross boys together, all three of them inseperable by the time they entered highschool the next year.
If they weren't working together at the school paper, then they were at the Beanery where they stayed late studying for the exam the next day. And if they weren't there, they were at Pete's house playing PS2, or at Chloe's house watching tv.
But most likely, they were at Clark's house, his barn actually, where they all agreed the loft being their safe zone; away from adult supervision, for the most part, and quiet enough where the three of them could bounce off their thoughts and ideas.
And as it turned out, Pete never did get around to asking Chloe out.
Funny how life happens, when the girl falls for your best friend.
Pete accepted this gracefully, noticing the way Chloe teased Clark, flirted with him surreptiously behind snarky remarks that were so often aimed solely at him. For a girl who had told them she didn't believe in love, Chloe seemed to exhibit the symtoms of a crush early on, from the first day she'd met Clark actually.
But they were still in highschool. And thoughts of love never went past what they already knew; anything more than friendship was too complicated.
Pete's invisible crush on Chloe was lost on the secret crush she carried, which was lost on Clark who had wasted his younger teenage years pinning for a girl who hardly knew he existed.
But that didn't matter, since they were still in highschool.
Days were an eager opportunity, weekends a blessing, and summers an eternity of youth and wilds.
This day, not unlike any other day, the three of were around the loft, each one a different text book in their lap. it was the beginning of September. Clark was at the desk. Pete on one side of the red couch, Chloe tangled in her notes on the other.
The day would pass slowly, moments spent when no one in the triangle spoke, just sat, thoughts mingling in the passing time.
Pete would look up and find Chloe, blonde chunky hair shading her eyes. She'd traded in her girlish shorts for tighter, form fitting jeans and blouses that revealed just how much of a young lady she'd blossomed into. Make up, even though she didn't need it, and the chunky sorts of bracelets and accessories that she insisted piling on whenever she went out.
And it was these times that Pete always found Chloe looking up at Clark.
Clark had changed over the year too. Taller, bigger, for sure. He towered over both of them now, Pete's head coming to his friend's shoulder, making Chloe's hit the top of Clark's chest. Clark had turned from the whimpy, gangly kid Pete grew up with into a good looking guy. One that plenty of the girls at school noticed.
Pete on the other hand had just gotten older, his growth spurt somewhat delayed. But he did have on advantage over them, he had insight.
"So," Pete said, breaking the sacred silence he liked so much until he saw her gaze at Clark's back a lttle longer than usual, "Chloe, has anyone asked you to homecoming?"
Her eyes shot towards him, and she looked down, blushing. "No. I'd die if I was seen in
a dress in public."
Pete laughed, and Clark turned around across the loft.
"Chlo," Clark said, a nickname they'd soon aquired for her, "you're a girl. I think you're allowed to wear dresses."
"Gee, thanks Clark for that insight."
Pete smirked. "Chloe, would you actually go if someone asked you?"
She shifted. "Well, maybe."
Pete smiled mischieviously. " 'Maybe' as in it depended on the circumstances, or 'maybe' as in it depended on the person who asked you?"
She glared full out at him. "I don't know, just maybe."
Clark frowned, still clueless. "I think she's bluffing. Chloe would never wear a dress."
Chloe glared at Clark too. "Is that a dare?"
Clark smiled along with Pete. "Maybe."
Chloe smiled and looked down at her text book, trying to concentrate. But it was obvious now that she was caught up in some sort of internal battle.
Pete knew.
"But of course you'd have to go as someone's date."
Both Chloe and Pete looked at Clark who was still leaning back in his wooden chair, rocking back and forth on its legs, face filled with mischief. Pete blinked at his friend, not sure if Clark was actually making a pass for their girl or...
But the mischievious grin stayed on Clark, and Pete knew, he had totally missed it.
Pete turned to Chloe, her hopeful expression fallen since Clark's teasing persisted. Since then she had been scribbling hard into her index cards, trying her best to look unaffected.
Clark winked at Pete and then went over by the wooden railing next to the stairway and leaned there. "If someone asks you to homecoming, then you totally have to go. Dress and all."
Chloe threw down her pencil and stared up at him defiantly. "You think I wont do it?"
Clark's smile slid into a sly smirk. "Nope."
"Well then you're totally going to lose, because I'm already going with someone."
Clark blinked. "Who?"
Chloe turned towards Pete who had been sitting silently until then. "Pete, will you go with me to homecoming?"
Pete's mouth parted, surprised, but thoroughly so. "Uh.."
"Hey, wait a minute. He has to ask you, not the other way around!"
Chloe stood up, throwing her text book at the couch, but before she could rebuttle the rules of the dare, Pete stepped between the two friends and looped his arm around hers charmingly.
"Chloe, would you like to go to homecoming with me?"
"Absolutely." She smiled, beautifully, and this year, without braces. Chloe seemed more confident now without them, never pausing to open up with her heart and smile at everything, everyone. Pete and even Clark felt funny when they were struck by one of her infectious grins.
Pete turned to Clark with a shrug and led Chloe down the stairs arm in arm.
*
Chloe picked out a dress the next evening, and she wore it to homecoming. Her best friend Pete as her date, and she remembered it as the best time she'd ever had in Smallville High's gym floor.
They danced until their feet ached, and it was only on the last slow dance that Chloe finally felt tired enough to actually rest her head on his shoulder.
As Pete held her close to him, he wondered if Clark would ever show up to the dance.
He had a feeling Chloe was waiting for him to.
And she was. Chloe tried to tell herself that the only importance of seeing Clark at the homecoming dance was so she could point her tongue at him and show him he had been wrong, how he had lost their bet.
Chloe had broken her rules, for him, wearing a dress in public, to a highschool social event nonetheless. The entire night was practically a violation of one of her inner statutes of being a social outcast/geek. But she'd done it. And she looked, different. Felt different. Pretty. And she didn't want Clark to miss it.
"You know, Clark told me you kissed him last year."
Chloe's head perked up from Pete's shoulder. "He did?"
"Yeah," Pete smiled, "In the barn."
She blinked several times and then shrugged. "It was kind of like a dare."
"That's not what Clark said."
Chloe dodged by burying her head in his shoulder again.
Pete sighed, and lifted her chin up, "Look, you should tell Clark how you feel."
She made a weak attempt of a laugh, her eyes betraying her. "What are you talking about? Clark and I are just friends."
His look steadied on hers.
She crumbled. "Okay so it's not a secret. But Clark's clueless and a big doofus. All he talks about is Lana. And let's both face it, I can't compete with the homecoming queen."
Pete frowned and both of them looked over at king and queen, Whitney Fordman and Lana Lang, slow dancing in the spot light. By the first month of their freshman year, Lana had inherited the title of the most popular girl in school. By then she was already dating the star quarterback, a senior, and already a member of the varsity cheerleading squad.
Lana was practically the archetype of the highschool dream girl. Every girl in school wanted to be her.
Except Chloe.
Chloe had always gone after her own role models, never succuming to the emulation of typical highschool girls. And if there were ever something Chloe envied about Lana Lang, it was the spell she had cast on Clark since age four.
It was hard to break.
Pete Ross looked back at Chloe then, spinning them around the floor in ways that made the gym go in circles.
"First of all, Clark's an idiot." Pete said, "You just have to forgive him for that, and make him realize how awesome you are."
Chloe made a depricating sound, so Pete backed it up. "Because you are awesome, Chloe. Clark's just not as bright as other guys."
She sniffled and tried to smile.
"And as smart as you are, I'm surprised some of those brains hasn't rubbed off on the guy."
Chloe laughed then, nice and hard. Pete did too after seeing her smile for real, the first time all night. He spun them again, and floated over the floor until they settled in the darker corners where they could dance by themselves. Between friends.
He held her close, and finished the song with her in his arms.
Clark never did make it to the homecoming dance, but that didn't mean Chloe never
stopped looking for him, over Pete's shoulder.
*
chapter three
1 //2//3//4//5//6
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