Dating by Deception

Jack watched them bicker from over the top of the comic book he was reading. He was editing her spelling mistakes, while she was trying to keep him focused on the subject of how to go about investigating their story her way. It seemed that she had already made up her mind and wasn't giving his idea the time of day. Those two had so much sexual chemistry that even a 16-year-old kid from the wrong side of town could see it.

Jack let out a little laugh as he went back to his comic book, but his mind didn't stay there for long. Absentmindedly flipping the pages, his thoughts couldn't help but drift back to the argument going on across the room. He obviously had it bad for her, and didn't know how to admit it. She obviously found him attractive, but stubbornly refused to admit it.

It was frustrating for someone to watch them interact day after day and never get together, and Jack was sick of the frustration. These two needed to just get over themselves and go out on a date. And if they weren't smart enough to figure that out, then he was just going to have to give them a little push. Or a big one, as the case may be.

Slowly, a plan started to formulate in Jack's devious, puberty driven mind. They'd never know what hit them.

* * * * *

"Hey, Clark, you busy tonight?" Jack asked as he passed by Clark's desk on his way to deliver some inter-office mail. He had a pretty good idea of how to go about putting his plan into place, but he was going to need a little help from Lois and Clark. They just didn't know it yet.

Clark looked up from his computer and thought for a second. "I don't think so. What have you got in mind?"

"Wanna catch a movie?"

"Sure. I think there's a new sci-fi movie playing downtown."

"Great, I'll meet you there at seven." Jack smiled. Clark was going to make this easier than he'd thought. Lois, however, would probably be a different story.

* * * * *

As Lois rounded the corner and headed toward the theater, she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd somehow been tricked into coming. Jack had insisted that she needed to be there for a story, but he'd been vague about the details. Every time she brought it up, he just skirted around the issue and told her to trust him. It was all very suspicious, but if it was going to get her a scoop, she was willing to feel a little foolish. Not that she wanted anyone else to know that.

Lois checked her watch. Jack had told her not to go inside until five after seven, and she was a little early. She paced back and forth in front of the kiosk as the minutes ticked by. What sort of big news story would break at a movie theater, anyway? It was probably one of Jack's little friends with a press-stopping story about lunch money theft or something. Why on earth did she let him talk her into this?

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Lois whipped around. "Well, it's about time. Now what exac... oh, it's you." Expecting to see a kid about Jack's age, she was surprised to find Clark standing in front of her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"I'm here on a story tip from Jack. You?"

"I'm..." Clark stopped. Jack sent her here? Clark started to wonder why Jack hadn't said anything to him until it dawned on him.

Jack was setting them up.

Clark pondered the absurdity of that thought. Jack thought he could just put the two of them in the same place at the same time, and... and what? What did he think they were going to do? Kiss? Profess their undying love for each other?

Clark knew Jack was naive, but this was over the top.

Besides, Clark didn't need any help from a kid. He knew he was in love with Lois. Absolutely, without a doubt, head over heels in love.

But things were more complicated than that. *He* was more complicated than that. And he knew that Lois didn't return his feelings. She'd proven more than once that she wasn't in love with him. She was in love with Superman. She was in love with a figment of his imagination. And nothing Jack said or did could change that.

Of course, Lois didn't need to know that. She didn't need to know that she was being pushed in a certain direction, and if Jack wanted to try, Clark wasn't about to stand in the way.

His mouth still open from his mid-sentence stop, Clark closed it, took a breath, and opened it again. "I'm just catching a movie. By myself.... Unless you wanted to sit together."

"Well, sure, Clark, but Jack said that I shouldn't go inside until..." Lois checked her watch for the hundredth time. "Now, actually."

"Well then, shall we?" Clark asked with a smile.

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