Sully’s Notes: Missing scene between Drone and Crush.

 

Passing Notes

By Sullivan Lane (katpicson@yahoo.com)

 

Pete nodded his head slightly to the beat coming from his MP3 player as he pretended to listen to Mr. Austin drone on about Greek mythology. He had placed the tiny earbud headphone in his right ear, run the wire over his ear, behind his back and into his back pocket, where his headphones were connected to the MP3 player he got for Christmas. It was a great way to pass the boredom. He used it in all of his classes.

 

Mr. Austin turned around to write something on the board and something came flying from his left side to hit his head lightly. Some around him held back chuckles. Pete looked at the floor. It was a wadded up sheet of paper. He looked at Clark to his left, who nodded with an amused smile toward Chloe, who sat behind him and to the right. Chloe was nonchalantly copying down everything Mr. Austin was writing on the board.

 

Pete grinned as he opened up the piece of paper and immediately recognized Chloe’s large, round penmanship and neon-orange pen.

 

So, what about this Spring Formal business? Are you going? – C.S.

 

Pete grinned even wider as he wrote down his reply:

 

I can’t go with you. I’ve got plans.

 

He threw the wad back at Chloe, and it hit her chest and landed on her desk.

 

Not thirty seconds later, the wad of paper popped Pete in the side of the head again, and this time the class was not as quiet with their laughing.

 

Pete turned around and whispered as loudly as he dared, “Chloe!” He had already gotten in trouble in this class for talking, and one more warning warranted a detention.

 

“Sorry,” she whispered back, not even looking at him and still writing.

 

Come on! Didn’t you have a fun time at Homecoming? It’ll just be another friend-friend thing. Please?

 

Pete looked back at Chloe, who gave him an exaggerated pout. He shook his head and looked at Clark, whose facial expression seemed to say, “What’s that all about?” Pete shook his head as if to say, “Don’t worry about it.”

 

Pete scribbled quickly.

 

I want to ask someone else. And hey, I heard Stan Gibson was thinking of asking you.

 

This time Chloe returned the note in the form of Stan Gibson himself, who sat behind Pete and gave him a disapproving look as he handed the folded note to him. “I’m not your mailman,” he said solemnly.

 

You’re asking WHO?! Is this asking someone else stuff an excuse to blow me off? Because that sucks. (I refuse to go with Stan. He’ll bring homework with him anyway.)

 

Pete looked at Chloe, who had a pained look on her face. It was the same face she made two weeks before Christmas, when she was dying to find out what Pete and Clark got her and they wouldn’t tell her.

 

What’s wrong with Stan? (And I’m going to ask someone, but I’d rather not tell you who it is in a note.)

 

Chloe had a secretive smile on her face as she read Pete’s latest message. She wrote her own response with a flourish.

 

Is it ERICA FOX? You so don’t have a chance. Just go with me, and we’ll snark at the cheesy decorations together. And pretend to be Remy Zero groupies. You know it’ll be fun!

 

Chloe knew Pete too well. He took a sideways glance at Erica, who sat behind Chloe, as he scribbled furiously.

 

“Mr. Ross!” Pete jumped at the sound of the teacher’s voice.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Tell us what you thought of this particular Greek myth, Pete,” Mr. Austin said, raising his eyebrows and gesturing to the board.

 

Pete looked at the board and then down at his desk, sliding the note under his textbook. He stammered out a few sentences, which seemed to please the teacher. As soon as the teacher’s back was turned again, he pitched the note to Chloe, who caught it deftly with one hand.

 

I have about as much of a chance with Erica Fox as you’ve got with Mr. Telescope.

 

Chloe frowned as she wrote her response, and Pete was watching her so intently that he didn’t notice Mr. Austin stroll up to Chloe’s desk and snatch the note.

 

She gasped.

 

“Miss Sullivan.” Chloe looked up, her entire face blanching and then slowly reddening.

 

“Yes?” she said meekly, regaining a bit of composure.

 

Mr. Austin glanced at the note, then looked at Pete, who was staring at his desk. “Will you please read aloud the introduction to Chapter Four on page eighty-three, Chloe?”

 

Chloe dutifully opened her book to the correct page and began reading, her eyes darting toward Mr. Austin throughout. Pete watched, horrified, as the teacher folded the note in half, ripped it twice and dropped it into the wastebasket next to his desk.

 

As soon as Chloe finished reading, Mr. Austin said, “Thank you, Chloe.” The teacher glanced at the wall clock and announced, “That will be all for today. Mr. Ross and Miss Sullivan, I expect you both to be in my detention this afternoon.”

 

The class began to rustle around. Chloe was still red.

 

“What was that about?” Clark asked, trying to hold back his laughter.

 

“Nothing, man,” Pete answered quickly, still embarrassed.

 

Clark looked at Pete and then at Chloe. “I want to know what the note said,” he told them.

 

“Forget it,” Chloe said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and heading for the teacher’s desk. She fished out the scraps of paper as Mr. Austin glared at her. She glared back as she stuffed the scraps into her jacket pocket. “You’ll never know.”

 

“Was it a love letter?” Clark pressed, still grinning.

 

“The contents of that note will forever remain a secret,” Pete affirmed. He caught Chloe’s eye and he knew that they were in agreement. From behind Chloe, Erica Fox gave Pete a quick smile before turning around and heading for the exit.

 

“Come here, Chloe, let me tell you something,” Clark said, a scheming gleam in his eye as he eyed her pocket.

 

Chloe looked at his suspiciously as she crammed her hands into her pockets. It was obvious he was going to try to wrangle the pieces of the note from her. But before she could react, the bell rang and she was able to slip by him and disappear into the crowds in the hall.

 

***

 

“For the record, this is all your fault,” Chloe told Pete as they walked toward Mr. Austin’s classroom after their last class.

 

“What?” Pete yelped. “You threw me that note in the first place.”

 

“First rule of note-passing,” Chloe informed him, “is to always look like you’re not passing notes. It was like you had tunnel vision on that note!”

 

“No, I didn’t!”

 

“OK, fine, you were staring at …” Chloe looked around to make sure no one they knew was is earshot. She lowered her voice. “You were staring at the extremely beautiful and charming potential Spring Formal date sitting behind me. Same thing.”

 

“Uh-uh,” Pete said, taking the stairs two by two. “This is all your fault for passing the note in the first place. Why couldn’t it wait until lunch?”

 

Chloe didn’t say anything.

 

“It’s all right. You didn’t want Clark to know you asked me. Because you’ve got the oh-my-gods for him.”

 

“Oh-my-gods? What is that?” Chloe asked.

 

Pete rolled his eyes and said in a squeaky, high-pitched voice, “‘Oh my god, he’s so dreamy! Oh my god, I think I love him!’”

 

Chloe punched him firmly, but harmlessly, on the shoulder. “I do not have the oh-my-gods for Clark.”

 

“Then why don’t you ask him to the dance?” Pete said. “You told me he already has an idea that you want to go with him. So just do it already.”

 

Chloe shrugged. “He’s still Lana-obsessed. It doesn’t help that they got paired together for the history project. More opportunities to revel in his own oh-my-gods.”

 

Pete sighed. “Do you like him or what?”

 

“Is that a real question?” Chloe asked.

 

“Just answer it.”

 

“Yes, I like him.”

 

“And does he like Lana?”

 

“Oh, come on! Get to the point already!” Chloe said, frustrated.

 

“I’m saying he’s got Lana’s attention now because he deliberately puts himself in her path. You need to do the same thing with him. Or get him to put himself in your path.”

 

“How do I do that?” Chloe asked. They had reached the classroom, but the door was locked. Chloe leaned against the wall next to the door and looked at Pete.

 

“He told you about that journalism convention in Metropolis in a couple of weeks. And you’re going with him, right? Ask him then.”

 

“No way,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “Besides, I think we should change the subject. You need to tell me about when all of this Erica Fox business started up.”

 

Before Pete could respond, someone approached and interrupted them. “Are you the only two in Mr. Austin’s detention today?” It was Miss Perkins, a guidance counselor.

 

Pete shrugged. “I guess so.”

 

“Mr. Austin had to go home early because his son is sick,” Miss Perkins explained. “You’ll have to take detention with Miss Geist today. Down the hall, room 213.”

 

Miss Geist’s detention was a godsend. She was the general detention teacher for the day, so there were thirty or so students in her classroom. She couldn’t pay all of her attention to Pete and Chloe. Pete and Chloe took seats side by side at a table in the back as Miss Geist took roll call.

 

Pete opened his math book and Chloe pulled out her English notes. The only sound in the classroom was the occasional shuffle of a page turning or a chair squeaking.

 

Pete stared at the formulas and equations in his book blankly. He probably should have paid more attention to Mr. Howell the math teacher and not to P. Diddy’s greatest hits. He sighed and opened to a fresh page in his notebook.

 

After five minutes of trying to figure out problem number 1, Pete gave up. He turned to the next page and scribbled a note.

 

Ask Clark out. Trust me on this. Either ask him, or be resigned to going with Stan Gibson and his homework.

 

He slid his notebook over to Chloe who glanced at it. She took it and wrote something very quickly.

 

No! He’s going to say no. Are you blind?

 

Pete read it, and shook his head. He wrote back.

 

I’m not blind, but maybe Clark is. Just ask him. The least he could do is say no, and then you could always play it off like a friend-friend thing.

 

Chloe’s face this time indicated that she was actually thinking about it. Then she grinned secretively as she wrote her response.

 

I’ll ask Clark if you ask Erica Fox, AND she says yes. And you have to ask her tomorrow.

 

Pete’s eyes widened, and Chloe looked pleased with herself. He closed his notebook and took out his history homework.

 

***

 

Pete whistled as he headed for the Torch office during lunchtime. Clark was