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"I'm doing what?" Clark asked in shock, as he stared at Lana, who was smiling over her books innocently, clutching them to her protectively.
"A Kissing Booth," Lana grinned. "Come on Clark, it's for a good cause."
Clark spluttered as Chloe came up behind her and put a friendly arm on her shoulder. "So, you told him the good news yet?"
"Good news?! You call this good news?!! I can't! I won't!"
Laughter erupted from behind him. Clark closed his eyes. He knew that laugh. Pete slapped him on the shoulder… hard. "I guess they told you, huh, Clarkbar?" He snorted while Chloe giggled and Lana gave her best puppy eyes.
"It's all done, Clark. You didn't show up for the meeting so we gave you what was left." Lana grinned. Clark didn't know she could be so manipulative. In the back of his mind, he wondered if this was what Lex was starting to see in her. And why had he ever liked her anyway? Clark gave his fiercest glare.
Lana erupted in laughter. "You snooze you lose!" Chloe laughed, waving as she headed home.
Pete stood next to Lana, looking at her with admiration. "Man, remind me never to tick you off!"
Lana's face glowed with pride. "Well, I have to go. Nell is coming to pick me up for the weekend. See you!" She strolled off. “And she is looking far too pleased with herself”, Clark thought, as he crashed against a locker with one shoulder. He wondered idly if he banged his head far enough into it, he could cry mental disability and get out of it.
Pete laughed. "Man, talk about scorned women! She so got you, Clark."
"I hate you, Pete." Clark rolled his body so he could lean his head back against the locker and closed his eyes in mental anguish.
"Hey, look at it this way, when you’re done kissing all the dogs in the school, maybe you'll finally find someone new to date!" Pete quickly ran out of Clark's grasp and Clark was surprised at his speed for such a little guy. All Clark heard as Pete ran away was the barking sounds he was making.
Clark walked home, the normal human way, for most of the way, while he pictured the end of his life as he knew it. He'd heard the human expression that you could die of embarrassment and surely, that was how he was going to exit this life. Shifting the backpack on his shoulder, he sighed loudly. Looking around to see no one was around, he yelled, "FUCK!"
He sighed again. It felt a little better to curse, but it didn't change things. The senior fundraiser was next Friday night. There would be carnival rides, gaming booths, the dunk tank and …and him at the kissing booth.
Pete was right, every ugly girl in school would want to kiss him, like Mildred Matheson, who was practically cross-eyed and could sell the oil from her hair for money. Or maybe he'd have to kiss Kelly Robeson, who was fatter than their prize heifer! Then there was the flip-side of the nightmare, what if no one wanted to kiss him at all?! Or…or maybe Lana would drag Lex there and they could both laugh over his humiliation.
It was definitely time to put in some other college applications. Maybe there was a school in Africa or Australia he could go to? Or maybe Mexico? He could run home on the weekends? He groaned. There was no escaping the fact, his life as he knew it was over.
He didn't even realize when he got home and almost fell down tripping up the porch step. His mother and father looked up, saw the slumped shoulders and wondered what high school drama had befallen Clark this time.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Martha asked, smiling the best she could.
"Lana stuck me with the kissing booth." Clark grumbled, tossing his backpack into a corner.
"Hey!" Jonathan smiled proudly. "Wow, you'll have an excuse to kiss the prettiest girls in school!'
Clark looked up. "Come on, dad. No one like that will come near me. You don’t get it. I'm a joke in school. They call me “One-Game-Kent” or “Farm Geek”."
Jonathan frowned. "Now son, it can't be that bad."
Martha put an arm around Clark's back. "I’m sure only girls who really like you will “"
"See, that's the other side. What if no one comes up at all!?" Clark ran out the door in a burst of speed, causing the day's newspaper to fly off the table.
Martha sighed looking at Jonathan, "Poor Clark."
Jonathan shook his head. "There's nothing we can do for him, honey, but I hope it goes for the best."
"I suppose you're right. No matter what, we'll just have to be here for him," she looked with worry toward the door, then turned to the stove and shut off the burners. As upset as Clark was, he was definitely going on an interstate run. "And buy another pair of shoes."
Jonathan groaned. "Thank God he doesn’t have a twin." Martha nodded.
One of the great truisms in life is that, the harder you try to avoid something, the more impossible that becomes. By Monday, everyone at school knew he would be in the kissing booth that year. He was taunted, teased, barked at, puckered at and… shudder… waved at by none other than Mildred Matheson.
Just when he thought the week couldn’t get any worse, suddenly Friday night arrived. Making up his mind, that it was far better to be ignored than to have to kiss Mildred and possibly…gulp…repeatedly, he wore his plainest clothes with hopes of fading into the background. He fingered the chap stick Pete had given him as a joke, along with a can of flea spray, and hoped it was laced with some sort of kryptonite.
Chloe met him at the booth and tried to cheer him up. She was smiling and bouncy, holding a piece of cloth in her hands. "Oh Clark, don't be such a baby! Look, I managed to get Lana to cut you some slack and got you a blindfold. That way, if Mildred comes or Kelly comes over, at least you won't have to look at them close up, okay?" While she smiled apologetically at him she was looking up and down from the blindfold to his face and biting her lip nervously.
Clark was reminded why they'd been friends for so long. His anger toward her melted away, "Thanks, Chloe. And please, if you think that it's someone I don't want to know who it is…Could you blindfold me fast, before I see them, okay?"
Chloe grinned, happy to be forgiven. "Sure thing, Clark…Unless you want to be blindfolded for the whole thing?"
"Do I get a last request too?" He pleaded playfully, trying to make Chloe feel better.
She rocked back and forth on her feet. "Sure!" A playful grin broke out across her face.
"Shoot me!" Clark cried out, falling to one knee in front of her and shaking her gently by the shoulders.
Laughing, she tied the fabric around his head, securing it just above his eyes, and then sliding it to his neck, "Goofball." She giggled. "Okay, now, if I give you the warning, just slip it up over your eyes."
Clark nodded, gulping at the same time as he entered the booth. He hoped the chair plugged into a really, really strong electrical socket, like, direct to the power plant.
"Oh Clark, you'll be “" Chloe's voice faded off. Clark looked at her in pure fear where she stood at her post at the front corner of the booth. "Oh, that's just so wrong."
Clark's worst nightmare had arrived. It was Mildred. Her hair was done up in some sort of bun and looked shinier than usual and she was wearing a tight dress. Mildred was so nervous as she approached the booth, that she was actually snorting, full out piggy like snorts.
"OH Look at the time!" Chloe jumped before Mildred with the 'out on break' sign. She held it up. "It's time for Clark to go on break. I'm sure you understand how tired he is!"
"But, but…" Mildred stuttered and putting the sign up, Clark slid down the window and closed the booth.
A few minutes later, Chloe knocked on the window. "Okay Clark, she's gone."
Clark peeked out carefully and sighed with relief. "This one is on the house!" he leaned out and kissed her on the cheek. "I so owe you, Chloe! You're a lifesaver!"
Chloe smiled "Hey, what are friends for right?" She looked around nervously at the thickening crowd. "I think I'll go make sure she stays away. Oh, and I overheard someone a minute ago, apparently Kelly is at the hospital, so you got off lucky."
"What happened?" Clark asked with a mixture of concern and relief. Evidently, his heart had been beating too loud in his ears to pick up on passing conversations.
"She got food poisoning," Chloe shrugged, "again." With a little wave and pointing her finger, she took off toward Mildred.
Clark smiled after her, thanking his lucky stars once again for such a good friend.
"Hi, Clark," came a voice to his left. Clark looked over and grinned. It was Paula Swanson, voted prettiest girl in the school in last year's yearbook.
"Hi Paula, having a nice time?" Clark licked his lips nervously.
Paula smiled and took a step closer, leaning over the sill and showing Clark her cleavage. Clark gulped. "How much is a kiss?"
"Uh, um, a dollar," Clark fought to keep his eyes on Paula's big brown eyes. He was only half succeeding.
"For what kind of a kiss?" She winked.
Clark tried to remember to breathe. "Whatever you want, Paula." He knew he was smiling like a big idiot, but was having a hard time caring.
Paula put down a dollar, grabbed Clark by the collar of his shirt and kissed him. Clark's eyes shot wide open at her aggressiveness, then fell shut as he felt her kiss deepen. Paula tasted like cotton candy gum and…wait…that was her gum carried in by her tongue.
"Go Kent!" someone yelled and Clark felt Paula smile against his lips. She pulled away and licked her lips.
She winked. "I'll be back for the gum. Don't let anyone else touch it. Got me?"
"Uh, uh… sure Paula," Clark's mouth was so lax the gum almost tumbled out. He grinned and began to chew as he watched her walk away.
"Damn, Clark!" Pete yelled. "I can't believe you, man! You scored Paula Swanson!"
Clark smiled. "She gave me her gum…until she gets back."
Pete's mouth flapped open and shut. "Oh, you totally suck man!"
Lana chose this moment to walk up. "Hi, what did I miss?" She looked from one to the other curiously.
"Clark sucks. This is not fair. I want to do the booth!" Pete whined.
"Sure thing, Pete," Clark grinned.
"You mean it!?" Pete almost knocked Lana over in his haste to get Clark out of the booth. Within moments he was stationed inside and making cat calls at the pretty girls.
Lana shook her head. "Pete, Clark was supposed to do the kissing booth. Not you."
Lex arrived with a grin. "Lana, I'm surprised at you. Didn't you say this was a fund raiser?" He cocked an eyebrow at Pete. "Unless of course, the object is to pay Pete not to kiss you," Lex reached for his wallet.
Pete scowled and Lana giggled playfully. Clark howled with laughter, almost losing his gum. "Help me out here Lex, please? Clark is supposed to be in the booth, not Pete!"
"OH really?" Lex looked at Clark. It was one of those looks that made Clark tremble. Lex's eyes raked over him from his feet to his groin, to his chest, his lips and then finally, his eyes. Clark gulped and almost swallowed the gum.
"Hi Clark, I'm back for my …" Paula looked around. "Why is Pete Ross in the booth?"
"Hiya Paula," Pete leered staring at her breasts. Lex rolled his eyes and Lana crossed her arms in righteous indignation. Pete was about to drool any second.
Paula grinned. "Well, I guess this is a freebie, huh Clark?" She grabbed his face once more, stood on her toes and kissed Clark. He gasped and felt her tongue slide back into his mouth took the gum and then slip out. Paula pulled away. "Thanks for keeping my gum for me, Clark. See you around, huh?"
A gaggle of girls near her giggled as she walked away, the pretty ones always traveled in packs. Clark managed to limply raise his hand and wave goodbye. His mouth had gone into a dopey grin again.
He turned back to the others and his face fell. Lana's eyebrows were in her hair, her mouth gaping open. Pete looked ready to cry and Lex…wow…Lex was looking angrier than he'd ever seen him. Was that…jealousy?
Pete stormed out of the booth and shoved Clark as hard as he could. "You SUCK KENT!" Clark blinked in surprise at his reaction as he watched Pete go off in a storm cloud of anger.
"Pete!" Clark yelled, but Pete was long gone. Clark turned back to the others. Lana was shaking her head. And Lex's famous mask was down over his face, his lips were pinched and pale. He looked right through Clark, making Clark feel…feel like he'd done something wrong. Suddenly, he wanted to apologize to Lex, even though he wasn't sure what for.
"Let's go, Lex," Lana hooked her arm through Lex's and dragged him off.
Chloe walked past them saying 'hello' and then walked up to Clark, who was getting back in the booth. She looked confused. "What did I miss?"
"Paula kissed me, so Pete's mad, Lana's stunned, I suppose, and Lex…" Clark frowned. What was Lex? There was something he was missing, he was sure of it.
"Oh my young apprentice, so tall and yet so stupid." Chloe was shaking her head, giving Clark one of those looks again, that made him feel like he was the stupid hick farm boy everyone imagined him to be, instead of a super-powered alien who had to fight not to show off in such simple classes as advanced physics.
"Chloe, I don't get it…" Clark trailed off, watching the myriad of expressions on her face.
"Look, it's like this…" Chloe launched into a story about books and their covers and some other things that Clark totally did not get the relevance of. Why were human girls so complex? A great deal of time went by, in which Clark started to daze off to Chloe's voice. "Clark! Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" She looked mad again.
"Um, sorry Chloe, what did you say?" Clark smiled, hoping it would get him a reprieve.
Chloe shook her head. "I only hope Lex has enough money to buy you a clue."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Clark asked.
Chloe rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'll go grab us some food." She walked off, muttering under her breath about men being from Mars, and maybe Clark really was.
Clark watched the crowd mill by while he waited on Chloe. One of the football players, Gary Sanders, had him kiss his kid sister who looked to be about 12. She giggled the entire time, as Gary rolled his eyes. Clark watched in amusement as she dragged him off toward the gaming booths.
He had to kiss a few of his mom's friends who were here, thankfully they all wanted it on the cheek and told him what a nice boy he was for doing such a charitable thing. Some of the girls from school paid for kisses, but nothing like Paula. These were all simple brushes of lips across his own and involved lots of nervous laughter and blushing.
Clark thought back to Paula's kiss. Was it really that great? Or was it just her looks? Was he that shallow? Or maybe, it was that she'd been so aggressive. Clark smiled. Yes, that was it. He liked the way she just took the kiss when she wanted it. Clark had never really been good at the whole first move thing, anyway.
Actually, it was one of the best things about the booth. He just had to stand back and take it. There was no worrying about if he'd read the signals right or not. He smirked. If he could just find someone like that, then maybe he could really have a relationship.
Looking around, Clark saw that most of his school was paired off. They seemed happy about it too. No one looked as awkward or as nervous as he felt in any of his disastrous dates. The only time he was any good on a date was under the influence of red kryptonite or with some meteor mutant. Yet, carrying around red kryptonite wasn't a good idea. He'd be in jail in no time at all. The mutants were mostly dead, insane or in lock up too, so much for that.
Maybe he'd get lucky and Paula would ask him out. He winced. That would only cause hard feelings with Pete. And in a way, it was too sweet a kiss. If she was big on all that sweet gum, it probably wouldn't work out. He preferred spicy gum or sour.
"You seem deep in thought." Clark turned to see Lex, casually standing in front of him, with his hands in his pockets. Blinking, Clark wondered how long he'd been lost in his own thoughts. He looked at his watch and realized it was almost time to close up. The crowds were gone and there were just a few stranglers. Lex chuckled. "I guess you really were deep in thought. Everything okay Clark?"
Clark nodded, but he did so more in an effort to convince himself than Lex.
"Hey, you can talk to me, you know?" Lex leaned on the sill. Clark leaned forward, brushing his elbow against Lex's. He shivered and looked down. "Clark?"
"It's just…I was thinking."
Lex smiled. "I knew that, Clark." Then he frowned. "You were thinking about that girl? Paula was her name?"
"Yes…no….well, sort of, but not really." Clark tried to figure out how to put his thoughts into words. "She just got me started thinking about things, that's all."
"Like?" Lex prodded.
"Well, I thought maybe I really liked her, but…" Clark sighed. "I guess it’s more that I like how she…"
"How she came on to you?" Lex guessed.
Clark nodded slowly. "Yeah, and then I got to thinking some more and, I mean, what are my chances of that? You know me, Lex, I'm not good at first moves. I just…I wish that…"
"You wish that you didn't have to make the first move or worry about how it would be received or if it would be reciprocated?" Lex nodded in understanding. "I've had that problem; rather recently in fact, it's quite unlike me actually. I like to make the first move."
Clark chuckled. "No kidding, you're a control freak, Lex…no offense."
Lex smirked. "None taken, it’s a good thing in business, but difficult in personal matters at times such as these."
"Such as what?" Clark asked. Was there someone Lex was interested in? Oh, it was probably Lana. Clark sighed heavily and audibly. "I guess you mean Lana, huh?"
"Actually, no, it's not Lana. It's someone much closer to me than that. I've been weighing the pros and cons of whether it would be worth possibly losing their friendship only to find out that my feelings are only one sided."
"OH," Clark ran this over in his head. "I wish I could help, but, like I said, I'm apparently the guy who waits on the first move. But who's ever going to be as aggressive as Paula? And you know what?"
"What?" Lex looked at him with interest.
"She was too sweet" Clark stuck out his tongue. "I like spicy stuff or sour, if she's into cotton candy gum…"
Lex made a face. "You mean to tell me chewing gum comes in cotton candy flavor?"
Clark shivered. "Yeah, it was cool at first, all that interest and aggressiveness, but then, when I thought about it, well…"
"I understand," Lex offered. "Oh, hello again, Chloe."
Chloe smiled at them both. "It's about time to close “"
Lex interrupted her. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
She frowned. "Uh, yeah, sure. Hey Clark, can you start to count up?" They walked off together. Clark watched them go. Suddenly it hit him. It was Chloe. Lex was interested in Chloe. His stomach rolled and he gulped past the sudden feeling of nausea it gave him, like that one time he'd had 22 chili dogs in an eating contest when he was ten.
Trying to ignore it, he began to count out the money, changing the bills so they all faced the same way as he went. He made a little note of the amount and tossed away his soda cans and paper plates he'd left behind. It was getting dark. If he was lucky, he could just go home and go to bed, forget about the whole day.
"Hey Clark," Chloe leaned into the window smiling widely.
"What?" Clark asked, looking up despondently. This was it. Chloe was happier than he'd seen her in ages. Lex must have asked her out. He'd have to put on a happy face, but for some reason, that was the last thing he felt.
"You have to put the blindfold on. Hurry!" She waved her arms wildly at him.
"OH no!" Clark hurriedly put it on. It was his worst nightmare. Mildred must be back. Or maybe Kelly was back from the hospital! There was no escape. Maybe if he just tightened his mouth like a safe, he'd never feel it.
Chloe leaned it grabbed his arm and dragged him closer to the window. "Okay, pay up," she told someone. "Wow, that's a lot, are you sure?"
Clark groaned inwardly. Of course, Mildred had saved all her money up and was going to demand MULTIPLE kisses. Maybe he could go home and throw himself into a pile of kryptonite and end it all quickly on the way. His father would understand at least.
There was a touch of smooth finger tips on the side of his face. They were strong and sure, turning his face. Clark sniffed the air on reflex, ready to smell the oily residue that was Mildred's signature fragrance, like eau de oil tanker. But that was not it at all. The air was spicy, heavy and exotic. Oh god, was it Kelly?
No, it couldn’t be, the fingers were lean and digging into him, dragging his reluctant body forward. There was something about this scent that he knew. And the way he was being handled was …was …exciting.
Who was this? He tried to open his eyes to use his x-ray vision then inwardly cursed. Trust Chloe to find a lead-lined blindfold for him, since she knew about his abilities. If he'd been human, he probably would have noticed the weight of it.
The fingers drew him forward and now, he could feel breath against his mouth. It was heavy, almost panting. God, why was he getting so turned on by this?
Soft lips crushed his own, overpowering him, marking him and making his legs go weak. A tongue pushed into his mouth and the taste! Exotic didn't begin to cover the spices and the odd bitter taste that accompanied it. Clark felt his heart race.
Who was this?
The tongue swept over his, like a dragon seeking treasure, finding it and then hoarding it. He was pinned down, mapped and conquered. Clark felt his heart skip and he wondered if he was still breathing. His mouth was forced wider by tongue and by fingers that now gripped his chin tightly.
He whimpered. He was sure of it. Damn the stupid blindfold! This was the best kiss of his life. Whoever this was, no matter what they looked like… this was it. The person he'd been waiting for…this was what he wanted in his… mate, his mind supplied. A Kryptonian word sprang to mind and he murmured it.
The person whispered it back to him in amusement, pulling away at last. Then, they returned to lightly kiss along his jaw and then, like it had never been there, it was gone. Only the fingers remained, strongly holding him still.
"God," he heard Chloe whisper. "That was the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life."
He felt a sigh come from this other person…my mate, he thought, with clear conviction.
It couldn’t end like this. Please, no.
His hands ran along their arms. They were strong too and so smooth. He no longer cared what they looked like; blindly groping this person. He had to know. Clark reached back to take to damn blindfold off, to see this incredible person with his own two eyes, when he felt hands doing exactly what he had intended to do. They covered his, stopping them and then removed the blindfold.
Blinking away the stars from his eyes, he looked into familiar eyes, which he'd known for years. "Lex."
"Yeah, you okay?"
"That was…that was you?" He couldn't seem to even register it in his mind.
"Oh yeah, I got pictures! Want to see?" Chloe practically squealed from somewhere off to the right. Well, he thought that certainly explained away the stars from his eyes, but not what had happened to his heart… No, not at all.
"I should go," Lex said softly, but didn't budge. He was staring at Clark, but not coldly. like he was angry. It was more like he was searching, analyzing and suddenly, Clark understood perfectly what he was looking for, hadn't they just talked about this?
Clark smiled slowly. "My guess is you gave Chloe more money than you should have for one kiss. I think I owe you more, don't you?"
A slow smile spread across Lex's face. "I'll consider it a personal investment."
"Investment? Well, I better start to pay back on that, before the interest on it kills me." Clark teased back.
"Need a ride home, Clark?" Lex asked, looking pleased with himself.
"Yeah, and let's go the long way."
As Clark and Lex walked away from the booth, with their arms around each other possessively, Chloe Sullivan most definitely… squealed.
Kissing Destiny by Keikokin [ - ]
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