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“Clark! Alice! Thank G-d!” The parking lot of the high school was as bright as day with the flashing lights of all the fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, and tow trucks that crowded into it, not to mention all the flashlights belonging to concerned friends and parents trying to locate each other. Fortunately, it looked like the ambulances weren’t taking too many people away, at least not for serious injuries. A job well done, then. And although Clark had never really suffered too much from a longing for glory and recognition, somehow it still felt… nice to know that someone else realized he had helped. Someone besides his parents and Pete, someone who could actually help alongside him without Clark worrying that they’d get hurt.
“Are you okay?” Lex asked, looking over the two of them critically, as if he could spot their injuries from afar.
“You completely vanished!” Lana pointed out worriedly. “I was afraid you’d been trapped under the-the debris.” She looked as though she had been crying, and might yet burst into tears again.
“I told you it was just another one of those famous Clark Kent disappearing acts,” Chloe reminded everyone, a touch of snark in her tone.
“Seriously, where were you?” Lex persisted, getting that dangerous edge of curiosity in his voice. “We’ve been looking everywhere.”
“Well, um,” Clark began helplessly, “we…” He squeezed Alice’s hand and turned to her, hoping she might have some inspiration.
Alice merely cleared her throat and glanced away demurely, which Clark thought was no help at all—until he saw the expressions on his friends’ faces. They were taking in the couple’s tangled hair, Clark’s undone bowtie and missing top buttons, and Alice’s fallen dress straps—which she was discreetly trying to straighten—with new eyes. Lex bit the inside of his cheek in an attempt to keep from smirking, which was only half-successful. Lana looked thoroughly embarrassed and a little distressed. Chloe rolled her eyes so far back Clark was afraid they might get stuck there. Clark’s blush at their assumptions all but confirmed them.
“Honestly,” the blond snorted, with a bit more force than Clark thought necessary, “you’d think you would have at least noticed the miniature earthquake we had in the middle of the school parking lot.”
“I did,” Alice assured her with a shrug. “I just thought it was Clark.” This time Lex didn’t bother to contain his smirk, Lana seemed about to puke, and Chloe—Chloe had a very strange expression that could generally be placed in the category of irritation. Alice nudged Clark in the ribs. “Come on,” she told him. “I think you owe me some dinner.”
“Absolutely,” he replied quickly. “Um, I’ll see you guys later.”