It Doesn't Do Well to Dream

Chapter 16

The Beanery wasn't the nicest coffee shop Peyton had ever visited, but it was the only one she managed to find in Smallville so she couldn't exactly be picky. And the coffee was good enough, she supposed. Not quite up to the standards of the coffee at Lex's mansion, obviously, but pleasant. Mostly she enjoyed a change in scenery while she worked on formatting correspondence. It wasn't a demanding task, not in the same way that her job back home was, with strict deadlines, intensive detail, and bullying bosses.

Peyton took a sip of her coffee and corrected the margin size for the letter. They had templates for these things, and people still managed to get the layout wrong.

"Oh, hey? Peyton, right?"

Peyton looked up to be met with a mess of spikey blonde hair and a friendly smile.

"Hi, yes. And you're... Chloe?"

Chloe grinned, seemingly pleased that Peyton remembered her name, and she dropped her backpack in the seat across from Peyton as she adjusted her hold on her own cup of coffee.

"Yeah. Um, do you mind if I sit? I swear I don't think I can function until I have at least a quarter of this thing in me."

Peyton eased her laptop closed with an affirmative response, spurred by curiosity. Clearly Chloe was attempting to start up a conversation, though Peyton wasn't sure why. She didn't exactly have a lot in common with high schoolers, nor did she think she'd be too interesting to them.

Though Chloe did have that Wall of Weird, as Clark put it. Peyton shifted in her seat. There was no way Chloe could have an inkling Peyton was different. The only person who knew for sure was Lex.

"Do you come here before school every day, then?"

Peyton cast her a friendly smile and glanced at the clock on the wall. Depending on when they started classes, she could have anywhere from five minutes to half an hour before she would probably need to leave.

"Not everyday," Chloe said, "but I needed the extra caffeine. I'm glad I did though, because I was wondering if you minded if I interviewed you? Just a short one!" She rushed to reassure. "The school paper could use another story, and you and Lex Luthor's arrival has been one of the most exciting things to happen recently."

Peyton raised a brow.

"It seems like a lot of stuff happens here. Besides the car accidents, your Wall of Weird was pretty full."

Chloe shrugged in a sheepish manner and looked away.

"Yeah, well, people aren't as open to my crazy theories as they are to a multimillionaire couple moving to a small Kansas town."

The comment almost caught Peyton off guard, but she smiled politely without showing surprise. They were a couple; at least in the eyes of the public. And while she wasn't eager to put an impromptu interview out there, Peyton agreed to answer a few questions.

It was a highschool paper, who was actually going to read it? And she figured Chloe was bold and polite enough to be rewarded.

Chloe's eyes lit up and she wasted no time pulling out a pen and notebook from her backpack.

"Oh, awesome! Thank you!"

Peyton put her laptop to the side and settled more comfortably with her coffee. Chloe sat up straighter with her notebook and her eyes sharpened as she clicked her pen and eyed Peyton. In a flash she transitioned from bubbly high schooler to investigative journalist.

"So, what brings a wealthy heiress from Metropolis to a town like Smallville?"

Peyton couldn't say she was entirely surprised this was the first question. She supposed easing into the interview and building a rapport wasn't something Chloe had time for with school starting soon.