I was flying.
The sensation of floating above the ground was incredible.
Below me stretched the lights of a city at night.
Familiar streets.
Familiar buildings.
Familiar landmarks.
There was an overwhelming feeling of freedom and happiness.
The pleasure of being able to fly wherever I wanted was intoxicating.
For some reason, I decided to fly toward the neighboring house.
Into the bedroom of the Prom Queen.
I hovered above her bed, admiring her peaceful face, her eyes closed, listening to her quiet breathing.
It would have been pretty embarrassing if she snored.
Well, I understood why I’d ended up here.
Youth.
Hormones.
Libido.
When you’re young, nature has a way of making its presence known.
“You’re the one to blame, Clark.”
Lana Lang suddenly opened her eyes and turned toward me.
I woke up.
I was hovering about five feet above my own bed.
It took me approximately five seconds to understand what was happening.
Then gravity reclaimed me.
I crashed onto the mattress with my full weight.
The bed gave a horrible crack: First the two rear legs collapsed, then the front two.
I slowly pushed myself upright and looked down at the wreckage.
“Now that’s what I call an alien wet dream.”
And just like that, the new day had begun.
*
*
*
“Clark!
You were incredible yesterday!”
Chloe Sullivan practically attacked me the moment she saw me.
We were at the fairgrounds outside town, where the local farmers and craftsmen displayed the fruits of their labor for the annual county fair.
Since it was fall, most of the stalls were filled with fruits, vegetables, and other crops.
The grain had already been harvested, so it wasn’t exactly grain season anymore.
Livestock was displayed at a different location, farther from town and preferably downwind.
Livestock had a tendency to be dirty and smelly.
Very profitable, though.
People always had to eat, and you couldn’t exactly survive on apples and cucumbers alone.
Anyway, the moment my family began setting up our usual stand, two human whirlwinds descended on us.
One blonde.
One Black.
Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross.
“Who even thinks of showing up to the school dance naked and then beating up the Prom King right onstage?” Chloe practically exploded with excitement.
“That is going into Smallville High history!”
Pete was a little more restrained.
He gave me an approving slap on the shoulder.
“Respect, man.”
“Is that really the only thing anyone in Smallville is talking about now?”
I snorted.
“Not the only thing,” Pete replied.
“The main thing.”
He grinned.
“You basically lived out the dream of eighty percent of the guys in every generation of this school.
That’s worth talking about.”
“What about the sheriff catching our resident electric maniac near the school yesterday?
Isn’t that worth discussing?”
“It is!”
Chloe nodded enthusiastically.
“We already wrote an article about it for the Torch.
But he still couldn’t overshadow you, Clark!”
She rolled her eyes dramatically.
“You should have seen the way all the girls were looking at you when you walked away from that stage to thunderous applause!”
“You’re exaggerating.”
I smiled.
“If only.”
Pete sighed theatrically.
“Even I didn’t know you were hiding something that impressive under all those flannel shirts, Clark.
And trust me, the guys were looking just as closely.”
He grinned.
“Your popularity is about to go through the roof.”
“Don’t be jealous.”
I flicked him lightly on the nose.
“Spending several hours hanging from a scarecrow in the middle of a field wasn’t exactly fun.
You can take my word for it.”
“I believe you.”
Pete rubbed the tip of his nose.
“But look at the result.”
“Speaking of which,” Chloe suddenly leaned closer and lowered her voice conspiratorially.
“It looks like the Prom King and Queen broke up!”
“What?”
“After you left, Lana ran over to wipe the blood off Whitney’s face with her handkerchief, and he pushed her away.
Then he said something nasty.
Something very nasty.”
She shook her head.
He looked ready to pick a fight with anyone who crossed his path.”
“Fordman definitely lost some of that shine yesterday.”
Pete laughed.
“Lana left the dance alone too.”
Chloe suddenly turned her attention toward the crowd.
“And speaking of Lana…”
She spotted her.
Lana was walking toward the fairgrounds with a decidedly unhappy expression, repeatedly glancing back at Whitney, who was following behind her.
He didn’t look particularly happy either.
His nose was still swollen from yesterday, but it wasn’t too noticeable.
I’d been careful.
I hadn’t broken the cartilage.
If I’d landed the same strike a little higher and with slightly more force, it could have been fatal.
A broken nasal bone can be driven inward and cause serious brain damage.
Whitney was saying something to Lana, probably trying to explain himself, but she kept turning away from him and refused to listen.
They certainly didn’t look like the perfect couple anymore.
“That’s their problem.”
I shrugged and went back to work, arranging baskets of apples on our stand.
Lana noticed me.
For some reason, she changed direction and started walking straight toward us.
Trying to understand women was one of life’s more complicated pleasures.
“Hi, Clark,” she said when she reached us.
“Your visit yesterday was…
unexpected.
I wouldn’t exactly call it pleasant.”
“Hi.”
I sighed.
“Sorry I ruined your night.”
“I just don’t understand why you did it.
I already promised you a dance.”
She looked at me reproachfully.
“I’m sorry.
I acted like a jerk.”
I apologized again.
When dealing with women, apologizing was practically the only reasonably safe course of action.
And even that was only relatively safe.
I still couldn’t understand what she wanted from me.
She was looking at me expectantly.
What was I supposed to do?
As the “winner,” was I supposed to stand here and claim her as my prize?
I’d already asked her to marry me two days ago.
I didn’t get it.
Apparently, my confusion was obvious enough that Lana could see it in my eyes.
She sighed heavily.
“Don’t do that again.”
Her voice softened.
“Even if you don’t like someone, that’s not a reason to immediately punch him in the face.”
“Guilty.”
I smiled disarmingly.
“I’ll do better next time.”
I turned toward my father, who was working a few yards away.
“Excuse me.
I’m going to bring the rest of the boxes from the truck.”
Then I looked back at Lana.
“See you.”
I gave her a small nod and headed toward the vehicle, which was parked about fifty yards away.
I had barely reached it when Fordman caught up with me.
“Kent!”
He grabbed my shoulder.
“Whitney?”
I turned toward him, giving him my full attention.
“Give me the necklace, Kent.”
His tone was demanding rather than asking.
“It’s important to Lana, so…”
“Are you stupid, Fordman?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Yesterday you caught me off guard, so don’t get cocky.”
He hissed the words through clenched teeth, bringing his face close to mine, though he wisely didn’t grab my shirt.
“Anytime.”
I shrugged.
“Right now, if you’d like.”
Whitney looked around.
His fists clenched.
But he still didn’t attack.
“We’re not finished!”
He pointed a finger at me.
“We’re not finished!”
He backed away while keeping his eyes on me.
“Not finished!”
Then he turned and walked away.
Well, him I understood.
The guy was losing his mind.
He was the local alpha male.
He’d been humiliated in public, punched in the face, and hadn’t been able to fight back.
His entire life, his entire little world, was starting to crack apart.
So now he wanted revenge.
This definitely wouldn’t be our last encounter.
***
During the fair, Mom stayed behind the stand while Dad and I drove into town to the bank.
We needed to withdraw some cash and, while we were there, open a working account for me. New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
The moment we were alone, Jonathan gave me a stern look.
“What the hell did you do at school yesterday, Clark?”
“I broke the Prom King’s nose.”
I didn’t bother denying it.
“Clark…”
Dad sighed.
“How many times have I told you that you’re incomparably stronger than everyone else?
You shouldn’t fight.
You could accidentally kill someone without even meaning to.
Or seriously injure them.”
“Before that, he and a couple of his friends turned me into the Scarecrow.”
I remained calm.
“You know what the Scarecrow is at school, right?”
“That happened to you?”
Dad stared at me in disbelief.
“But you…”
“In theory, I could crush three of them, or ten of them, like ants?”
I finished the thought for him.
“That’s what you were going to say, right?”
“Not quite that crudely, Clark, but yes.”
“Do you know what the green meteorite does to me?”
“No.”
Jonathan’s expression became even more serious.
“Does it affect you?”
“It almost kills me.”
I looked at him.
“Just being near it is enough.
I lose all my strength.
I can barely move.
I become vulnerable.”
“When did you find that out?”
His voice was low and serious now.
“When that idiot put Lana’s necklace around my neck.”
I paused.
“The necklace made from the green meteorite that killed her parents.”
Dad and I were silent for a moment.
“He tied me to a post in the middle of a field and left me there.”
“Who got you out?”
“Lex.
He happened to be driving by.”
“Does he know?”
“I’m not sure.”
I frowned.
“He might suspect something, but that’s all.”
“Be careful, son.”
Jonathan sighed heavily.
“The Luthors are dangerous people.”
***
The bank had two surprises waiting for us.
The first was the six thousand dollars that had already been transferred into Dad’s account from the work I’d completed during the night and that morning.
That was about a third less than I’d expected.
I’d have to figure out later which clients had stiffed me.
Still, it was exactly six thousand dollars more than Dad had expected.
The average American salary was around four thousand dollars a month.
Six thousand was enough to buy a pretty decent car, even if it wasn’t new.
Dad was…
Well, he was overwhelmed.
He tried to be happy for me, but I could tell he was worried too.
I understood him.
“Are you sure this coding thing is safe, Clark?”
He hesitated.
“And legal?”
“I’m certain it’s legal.”
I sighed.
“As for whether it’s safe…
everything has risks.
Whatever you do in life, there’s always some risk involved.”
I looked at him.
“This isn’t any more dangerous than farming.
If anything, it might be safer.”
“Well, just be careful.”
Jonathan sighed heavily.
“You’re practically a grown man now.
You’re smart, and you’re writing programs…”
Then the second surprise arrived.
It turned out that an account in my name had already been opened at this bank.
My maternal grandfather had opened it for me.
And it wasn’t empty.
There were securities deposited in the account worth a considerable amount of money: Not millions.
But enough to buy the equivalent of our entire farm without any trouble.
Jonathan’s expression darkened considerably when he learned that.
“Dad…”
I looked at him.
“I think we’re going to have a serious conversation tonight.”
I paused.
“With Mom.”
“Definitely.”
He nodded.