章 36: Masks and Misunderstandings
At this point, a small crowd had started to gather around, curious to see what was happening.
Whitney's jaw clenched so tightly it turned white.
He glanced around at the onlookers, and after what seemed like a moment of careful thought, he finally lowered his head and spoke, his voice barely a whisper.
"Kent," he muttered, his lips moving as if glued together, "...I'm sorry."
The crowd fell silent.
Soren glanced up, watching Clark's face for a reaction.
Clark stood completely still, his face serious.
His bright blue eyes weren't looking at Whitney—they were focused on Soren instead.
Soren caught a flicker of emotion in Clark's gaze.
Clark's eyes were clear and bright, reflecting the blue sky above.
They weren't the eyes of a regular human.
The pure, deep blue of his Kryptonian irises was unlike anything from Earth.
At the edges of his irises, the sunlight created a soft, glowing halo.
The sky, with its gently shifting clouds, was mirrored in Clark's eyes, and in them, Soren saw his own reflection.
...
Since winning the soccer game, Clark's days at school had visibly improved.
Almost everyone had seen what Clark did on the field that day.
No one could see Clark Kent as the clumsy, awkward giant anymore.
They had all been fooled by Clark Kent's quiet demeanor.
Low-key, silent, and gentle Clark Kent was actually an unstoppable beast on the soccer field.
Clark's popularity among the girls skyrocketed.
He had always been good-looking, which had already caught the attention of many girls.
But the rumors about him at school were so lame that whenever they thought of him, all they could remember was how he would stumble and fall every time he saw Lana Lang.
No one ever imagined that Clark Kent had secretly trained himself to have such a strong, fit body that others could only envy.
He was so muscular and powerful that just standing on the field made everyone stare at his sculpted, statue-like physique.
For the first time, Clark truly felt the attention from his classmates.
People he didn't know would greet him in the hallways, and when he opened his locker, there would be gifts and love letters from anonymous admirers.
Even the school's soccer coach had approached him several times, asking him to join the Smallville High School soccer team, promising he could even be the team captain.
Clark even got invited to a class Christmas party—a first for him.
He had never been invited to their parties before.
Every year, Clark would spend Christmas carving a rough pumpkin lantern at home, quietly celebrating on his own.
Now, Clark found himself in a completely new dilemma.
"I'm attracting too much attention," he thought.
From a young age, Jonathan had always taught Clark to stay low-key, to hide his abilities, and not to reveal himself too early to the world.
Clark had gotten used to blending into the crowd, like a drop of water in the ocean, unnoticed and invisible.
But now, it was impossible to live like before.
He and Soren were getting closer and closer.
They went to school together, walked home together, went to class, and ate together.
They were practically inseparable.
People always noticed Soren, and by extension, they also noticed Clark.
Clark thought it was because he was spending so much time with Soren that people were starting to give him some of the attention that rightfully belonged to Soren.
But, oh man… how could he possibly stay away from Soren?
Soren was like a warm, bright little sun.
Every time Clark saw him, his heart filled with joy and happiness.
He felt warmer around Soren than he did from the yellow sun's rays.
Clark and Soren went to a Christmas costume party at a classmate's house in town.
Soren excitedly dressed up as a Stormtrooper from Star Wars and convinced Clark to wear a Darth Vader costume he had somehow found, making Clark play the famous villain.
When Soren saw Clark put on the helmet and cape, transforming into the legendary Dark Lord, he laughed so hard his stomach hurt.
It was perfect.
Absolutely perfect!
Who would've thought Superman would dress up as Darth Vader at a Halloween party?
One's a superhero, the other's a supervillain, but even in the Darth Vader costume, Clark still managed to look convincing.
Inside the helmet, Clark asked in a muffled voice, "Do I look ridiculous, Soren?"
"No, not at all, you… pfft, hahaha!" Soren clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he cried.
He couldn't get a full sentence out and finally gasped as he put on his own helmet, "You look amazing, Clark!"
Clark just shrugged, not entirely convinced.
The two of them arrived at the party, but to Soren's disappointment, the so-called costume party wasn't what they expected.
Instead of dressing up seriously as movie characters like they had, the boys were just wearing cheap vampire fangs, and the girls were in sexy bunny costumes, mingling, singing, and dancing.
They looked completely out of place, like two clueless country bumpkins—one in black, one in white, both fully suited up—standing awkwardly on the edge of the dance floor.
Clark said, "Uh…"
Under the flashing lights of the disco ball, he saw John, the boy who sat behind him in class, making out intensely with Lily, another classmate.
Clark's innocent eyes widened in shock.
Soren added, "Uh…"
He realized he had seriously miscalculated.
Soren never imagined that what teenagers got excited about for Halloween parties was this.
When he'd heard his classmates talk about Halloween parties, they had all seemed so excited.
But now he realized they weren't excited for the same reason he was.
For these teens, it was the one time of year when girls could wear their most daring outfits and guys could enjoy the sight.
It was the most eagerly awaited holiday of the year for teenage boys.
Meanwhile, Soren had been thinking, "Awesome! I'm going to see lots of cool cosplay! I'll get Clark to dress up as a Star Wars character with me!"
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