Three For Three From the Point by jessica
Clark let a lot of things go when he left Smallville. He left his flannel in the drawer, in case Caroline decided on "tomboy" in the future. Lana and the Talon and all the free coffee he could drink were still there. Dad excused him from chores one early August morning so Clark could see Pete off. He gave him a mix tape for the road and the promise of his vote. Lex drove them out to the bus stop, following the Sullivan's station wagon the whole way, and then Chloe was on a bus to Gotham.
Astrid came to Metropolis on the very same one.
She and Clark bond in the Met cafeteria over Jell-O and career aspirations. Not their job choice - Astrid's pre-Law - so much as their academic aptitude. Ethan and Clark have the matching Journalism majors, but Ethan makes clear, loud and often, that it's only his fall-back. "Fame is around the corner," he's fond of saying and even wrote a song about it. Franny's happiest when struggling and Clark wonders if it's the reason she chose art. Thomas is still undeclared, having overturned his parents and Julliard for Metropolis University and a second-hand Casio.
Astrid is blonde when they first meet, but she doesn't remind him of Chloe at all. She's quiet and doesn't like to talk about herself, but will argue any cause from Charlie Watt versus Ringo Starr to blackberry Jell-O on the cafeteria menu.
Her hair is black when they meet up for the Saturday basketball game. Clark didn't make the team - "Freshmen never do," Astrid explains - but he goes to every game. It's something else that's new, like the guitar strings that don't snap anymore or the glasses that Franny calls "ironic".
"Everyone is paying to be there," Lex said. "Nobody cares about being a freak on their own time." Clark's a different kind of freak these days and nobody cares about the one he's hiding.
Astrid's less a tomboy than Clark thinks of when he pictures female drummers. Her pink sneakers may seem appropriate for the gym, but Clark knows she's only wearing them because they match her skirt. Even Lex managed to dress further down for the game. Clark dragged him along with the implication that Ethan might be there. He got a thrill from Lex's jealous look and a bigger one from the jeans and he plans to milk it until Lex hears Ethan's diatribe against organised sports.
"Is it number 24?" Astrid waves his question off, but not as viciously as the first ten. "No, I got it. The one with the unibrow, right?"
She holds the laughter in with a strength she keeps hidden under the pink.
Turning to his left, Clark asks Lex, "Unibrows are a symbol of fertiility, aren't they?"
Lex shakes his head with a smile and Clark can see the escape coming."How about I get us some nachos, Clark."
"Yes, please."
He leans over for a kiss before Lex gets up, then turns back to Astrid. Clark turns back to the game, following Astrid's eyes this time. Unibrows aside, most of the guys on the court (and on the bench) are gorgeous. Clark wonders if that might get Ethan out to the next game.
There's a whistle and the players huddle around their respective benches. Number 17 - tall, blonde - stands alone in the middle of the court. He's searching the bleachers, stopping on Clark. Looking around nervously, Clark hopes Lex is still in the concession line. He turns back to point out 17 to Astrid. He doesn't have to. She sees him.
05/01/03