The Run-In (Open)

[roycie]

It was a pleasant and uncommon surprise not to be disgusted with a school lunch. As Royce carried her lunch tray to an empty table, she eyed the contents of her plate with a healthy level of mistrust. At her other schools she hadn't had the best experiences with cafeteria food, which was why ordinarily she had made her own lunch and simply brought it to school in her backpack. Or left school and bought it. But if that was the case, it was always too tempting not to come back afterward.

Setting the tray down, the girl took a seat and watched as students steadily filtered in and either got in line for their food or found a seat by their friends. Friends, Royce thought with a sigh, I wish I didn't look so pathetic sitting here on my own. She had never been the most well liked at her other schools but she had never been forced to eat her lunches in isolation either. There had always been at least a couple of groups willing to accept her. She lifted her fork and pushed some macaroni salad idly around her plate, unsure if she wanted to eat it or not. It looked alright, but she had never been much of a fan of mayonnaise.

Deciding against it, she set the fork down and decided to reach for the turkey sandwich sitting beside it instead. Bringing it to her mouth, Royce took a bite and chewed quietly while listening to the indistinguishable conversations of her peers. All the words blended together, canceling each other out and producing what could only be described as pure noise. No wonder adults seem to hate us so much, the girl thought with a scoff as she put the sandwich down and began to open a small carton of milk.

As she managed to pry it open, a dark haired girl with a ponytail bumped into the back of her chair and sent the open carton flying into a group of kids sitting at the table directly across from her. Royce closed her eyes as the sound of splattering liquid and cries of surprise erupted. Faces that turned to stare daggers at her were met with an unapologetic shrug and a wave of her hand. "Go ahead and keep that", she said jokingly, "It's on me. Er--well, you. Technically."

[clark]

Clark wondered why it was so hard to make friends around in this school. The teachers avoided him because he seemed like the nerdy teacher. He felt it right to eat lunch with the students. Maybe understand more about them. Their abilties. Their ethics and such. But no such luck prevailed in his case. He saw this young blonde girl sitting alone. She just embarassed herself in public. He smirked with the doubts that things could get any worse for her if a nerdy teacher sat by her side to eat lunch.

Clark didn't need to eat. In fact, he seldom did unless it was in public. He sat right next to the little blonde girl and put his lunchbox down. He smiled at the girl with his cokebottle glasses and glance at the other kids around.

[blue]"Mind if I sit here?"[/blue]

He sat down next to her and pulled out a sandwich. He had an extra carton of milk that he bought in retaliation to the accident she made. Kids need calcium. Giving her the carton he grinned. God he didn't know what to do with kids! He didn't want to look like a creep or anything.

[blue]"Here. I see you're adjusting rather nicely here."[/blue]

He said with a grin taking a bite out of his sandwich. He winked at the kids wearing the spilt milk as a souvenier for the day. He could tell that the glares were directed more at Royce then himself.

[roycie]

It was taking all the willpower in Royce's body not to just get up and leave the lunch hall. Only her pride kept her glued to her seat, eyes turned down and away from her classmates. She wondered if it would have been wiser to apologize rather than resorting to such lame sarcasm. Was anyone even fooled by her false confidence? Royce didn't have the nerve to look up to check. She leaned her forehead against her palm and took a deep breath. Seriously, could things get any worse than this today? she mentally asked herself.

Apparently they could and were. The girl looked up, surprised to find a teacher asking her for permission to take a seat at her table. The girl bit her lip and stared out of the corner of her eye to catch a couple of her unlucky classmates snickering at her ill fortune. Fate was not on her side as quite possibly the nerdiest looking teacher at the school sat down next to her. Her hands trembled a bit as she accepted the carton of milk he handed to her. Well... I suppose at least someone's being nice to me today, she thought as a small smile appeared on her face.

[white]"Thanks"[/white], she said as she met his grayish blue eyes. They reminded her of the sky on an overcast day. His mention of the earlier incident made her face flush suddenly with embarrassment. [white]"O-Oh..That"[/white], she stammered with a shake of her head. She fidgeted with the carton he'd given her, fighting the urge to throw it as a few guys at a nearby table whispered something about her that she assumed they didn't think she could hear. [white]"Well. I didn't mean for that to happen. I've been having the worst luck lately. But I suppose it's easier for them to start hating me now before they really get to know me."[/white]

Her eyes glanced up at his again and she smiled a bit easier than she had earlier. He seemed like a good enough guy, despite his old fashioned taste in eyewear.[white]"I'm Royce, by the way."[/white]

[clark]

Clark smiled and pushed his glasses up over the bridge of his nose.

[blue]"I'm Mr. Kent. I believe I have you for my Journalism class? You look vaguely familiar."[/blue]

Hey he could be wrong but he used complete honesty when he said that.

[blue]"Bad luck? Well I know all about that! There was this one time this morning where I-"[/blue]

He gasped and felt around his pants pocket. Moveing his hands up to his coat, he pulled out some keys from his left coat pocket.

[blue]"Ha! Thought I lost my keys. But yeah. Stuff like that happens all the time with me. Not much a surprise really."[/blue]

He smiled a warm smile at her.

[blue]"Everyone has their good and bad days though. Don't worry. I'm betting you'll fit in with the crowd in no time. I did when I was your age"[/blue]

He had to act like a goofball to keep his cover low key. Even a highschool full of adolescants could be smarter then the average civilian. Clark wanted to make sure he was annonymous in case there was ever something that went out of control at this seemingly fine school. Something didn't seem right though. He saw a convicted murderer teaching a Politics class. Was this a coincidence? Harvey Dent. The man spelled evil in capitalization from his voice to the way he treated people. He could tell he was up to no good.

There were a few other teachers that he really noticed. That man with the scars... He had to keep a close eye on him. He was also curious to know if he could trust that English teacher. It was truly unknown to Clark which side she'd choose if worst came to worst. He didn't quite trust her ego. Averting away from his seemingly endless thoughts he turned to Royce.

[blue]"So how old are you Royce?"[/blue]

[roycie]

What a typical way for an adult to introduce themselves, Royce thought as she nodded in response to the teacher's inquiry as to whether or not she was in his Journalism class. However, it did make sense for him not to want her to call him by his first name. That would have just been strange, for both him and her. Actually, this whole conversation and the circumstances leading up to it were a little peculiar to begin with. Come to think of it, why isn't he sitting with his colleagues? Maybe he's an outsider here too... Or this was merely out of pity. Did Mr. Kent have some sort of hero complex, needing to play the role of white knight in between lectures and his personal life? Either way, it made her curious about him.

He was a very strange man, that much was obvious by how absent minded he appeared to be about his keys. She tried not to let an amused giggle escape her lips as he felt around for them. For not looking to be that old, Mr. Kent was certainly acting like someone who ought to be ordering the senior special at a pancake house. But all she could do was grin back at him as he gave her that kind, warm smile. If he wasn't such a goofball with such silly glasses, she could see herself developing one of those excruciatingly cliche schoolgirl crushes on him. Truthfully, if you could look beyond his attire, he had very classically handsome features.

Agh! Don't be stupid. He's too old. It's only because he's being nice to you right now that you're looking at him that way in the first place! Her eyes shifted away from his to stare off into the distance, mentally chastising herself for being so weak. Her face grew more serious, not sure if she could trust herself not to allow her current vulnerability to cloud her better judgment. She really wasn't sure how right he was about her eventually fitting in with the crowd. Clearly he didn't know her very well yet. If there was anything she was unnaturally good at, it was pushing people away. It was a blessing and curse at times.

He regained her attention and eye contact with his question. A smirk appeared on her face as she answered him. [white]"You know, if I were just a bit older it wouldn't be okay for you to ask me that. Or so my mom's told me."[/white] The girl laughed, remembering how sensitive her mother was about her age. [white]"I'm seventeen. How old are you, Mr. Kent?"[/white] She was willing to bet somewhere in his late 20's, at the most early 30's.

[clark]

Clark grinned his happy go lucky grin at the pretty young girl. She seemed smart.

[blue]"So given what you just said, it's ok for you to ask me my age?"[/blue]

He took a small bite of his sandwich and continued on with the conversation. Laughing a little he continued.

[blue]"Just kidding! I'm 29. Getting old, huh?"[/blue]

He winked at her hoping her sense of humor wasn't as dorky as his was. This girl was obviously a nice person. But there was something else to her that made her clock tick differently. Cark couldn't quite put his finger on it. Now making direct eye contact with her again, his smile was almost blowing his cover. His glasses began to slip off his face, and for a moment, his eyes met hers. [blue]Oh no!...[/blue]

He quickly adjusted his glasses back onto his face hoping she didn't recognize one of the most famous people on the planet. For an alien pretending to be clumsy, that was an actual accident.

[blue]"Uh huh... Yeah. So do you have your drivers license yet? I hear all the kids these days get it when they're 16."[/blue]

He was such an idiot... He changed the subject to something totally retarded to talk about. He may be Superman. But he wasn't perfect... [blue]Nice going Clark...[/blue] He thought to himself in annoyance.

[roycie]

Royce smirked at the teacher's response to her asking about his age after hinting to him that she'd been raised to believe that it was impolite to ask a woman directly how old she was. It had really been more of a test than anything else. Would he shrink away at telling her just how much older than her he was? His answer didn't disappoint her. She laughed at his corny joke and quickly shook her head, indicating but not directly saying that she didn't consider him to be that 'old'. He was only a year older than her brother who lived in Gotham and still a great deal younger than her father. Royce finally opened the carton of milk she'd been holding and took a sip, careful not to leave one of those silly milk mustaches above her upper lip before looking back up at the man's expression. It made her heart skip a couple of beats.

He really was the best looking teacher she'd ever seen at school when he smiled. She blinked as his glasses slipped down his nose a bit, revealing a very attractive and strangely familiar face. Tilting her head to the side, she tried to recall who it was that he reminded her of. Maybe an actor or model? She opened her mouth to ask him if people ever mistook him for someone else when he asked her a question from out of left field. Her eyebrows gently lifted and her mouth closed, having momentarily been caught off guard by the sudden conversation shift. Driver's license? Beyond random... she thought. As she'd suspected, this man was definitely a bit off. If this was the way his mind worked, his class definitely wouldn't be one she could fall asleep in.

[white]"Er--no. I have a learner's permit. But my family was always moving around before I was enrolled here. So I haven't had a chance to learn everything and take the test yet. My dad was teaching me... but his work doesn't leave him with a lot of free time."[/white] Her eyes strayed from her teacher's eyes to the open milk carton in her hands. For as overprotective as her father could be, she always wondered why he scarcely made time for her outside of setting numerous rules outlining what she could and couldn't do. It seemed like he was more afraid of the trouble she'd cause for the family instead of the possibility of her getting hurt.

[white]"So what kind of car does a teacher like you drive?"[/white] she asked as she looked back up into Mr. Kent's face. She was eager to stop thinking about her family and possibly remember just who it was this person reminded her of. [white]"At least, I'm assuming you have one. Unless of course you've devised some other way of getting from place to place?"[/white] she added teasingly.