Beyond the Sun

25

What with graduation only two days away, Annie had forgotten about the whole affair. She'd admittedly spent so much attention on trying to find any useful information out involving Clark's origins that she completely bypassed this important milestone of life. Shocking nearly everyone, because it was such a somewhat random choice of further education, Annie had been accepted into a physics and mathematics course. It meant she could commute if she wished to, or she could move closer to the campus. But more importantly: considering where this course could lead to, she'd no doubt be able to get in with some big shot science company and find out any information about possible past interactions with anything suspiciously alien.

That was what she was dearly hoping. When in fact she had no idea if that would happen. First things first: graduate. Secondly: graduate that course, from then...who knows what? She had always wanted to go into the sciences. It just so happened that it came hand in hand with maths, and she really had always struggled with maths. So, she guessed by the end of this all she'd become like some super maths whiz, yet again, that was what she was dearly hoping, whether that worked or not, who knows?

She had her future planned, but she still didn't know what Clark's plans were. If he was going to be travelling around trying to find answers to his past, how could he possibly study in college somewhere? Work, Annie presumed. He was going to work about the country, trying to find anything out on his own accord while she chipped in whenever she had free time at hand. Both knew that realistically, because of what her course entailed, that her free time would be few and far between. But she had given her word that she would help him. And she would, no matter what.

"You will be careful, won't you?" Annie asked while looking away from the sky and looking to Clark as he laid beside her. He looked at her with a knowing look, "Listen, indestructible or not, I'm still going to worry, okay?" Annie said while looking away from him with a quiet huff. Although as useful as that trait or skill was, Annie had always felt uneasy about him being so reliant on it. She had meant her much earlier words, only because he couldn't get hurt, didn't mean something couldn't appear to hurt him. Call it women's intuition.

Clark sat himself up and leaned against his hand as he looked down at her. Like most times, they had ended up on the roof of the barn. The building had slowly seemed to become their go to place for talking and contemplating. Annie laid looking at the stars, trying to ignore him, and failing miserably seeing as how he was just laying looking at her. "You be careful too."

"It's college, not a death match with a bear." Annie sniggered, Clark frowned and shook his head. "Sorry...but I will be, only if you are too! I mean it, even if you can't get hurt, it doesn't mean anything. There's more than one way to hurt someone, and that doesn't always involve a punch to the face, or a kick in the nuts." Annie said so frankly that Clark double took and looked at her worriedly. "Those are my moves... anyone dares to cross my kill zone at college, and I will go complete kung fu master on their asses."

"Have you hit your head?"

"No, why?"

"You're being surprisingly odd." Clark paused, "Odder."

"Hey!" Annie said while giving him a playful shove. "Do you know how teenage boys usually act? Do you remember Whitney the first day I returned to school? They usually act like that. Not all are gentlemen like you. You're a one of a kind, literally." Annie said with a smile while rolling onto her side and looking at him. "So, excuse me, if at college someone may get a little touchy feely, I will make my unhappiness known."

"You can't just punch someone, Annie." Clark said, "That isn't how the world works." Not to mention it was drastic, a little harsh, and quite uncalled for. Words could often work better than forceful actions.