I felt my eyes get hot as he said those words, “you are not one of them” . I yelled “No!” and red blasts of heat shot from eyes, but the man was still not done ruining my life.

“Chief among your protective abilities is your enhanced strength, fueled by the yellow rays of Earth’s sun. ”

I rushed forward hitting the rocket causing it to shut off. Then I ran. I kept telling myself it wasn’t true; I was Clark Kent not some alien baby. I was Clark Kent and yeah, I could do some weird stuff, but I was Clark Kent. I busted through the corn and fell to my knees.

Pa came up behind me, “I know this is scary.”

“Why did you show me that? Why?” Tears were filling my eyes.

“I didn’t expect that, I only wanted to show you the ship. We thought you deserved to know. I thought it might help you understand.”

“I don’t want to be someone else”, the tears were streaming down my cheeks now. “I don’t want to be different. I want to be Clark Kent. I want to be your son. ”

“Clark, you are my son.” Pa held me tight for a long time after that. I knew that I couldn’t go back to not knowing but I would always be the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent.

Life didn’t actually change all that much after that, I was still Clark Kent, and I was still a teenager at Smallville High with my best two friends. Lana was still recovering from her accident and hadn’t made it back to school. I wanted to tell her and Pete everything, but I promised my folks I would keep quiet about my alien origins. So, for the next two years life went on without much of an incident. Lex left Smallville after his father got in an accident and Lex cashed out on the insurance policy. The word around school was that he caused the accident to replace the money his father stole.

I tried out for the football team and made it, but Pa told me I had to quit because it wasn’t fair to the other kids since I had extended abilities. So, I started to work for the school paper and found that I really loved the reporting and looking into things. Mostly, I just reported on football games and student debate clubs, no stunning exposés. But the experience is what I enjoyed most about the school paper. Overall, life was a great time to be a teen in Smallville, that all changed at the end of my junior year.

The day started like any other, farm chores in the morning then running to school and beating the school bus to the school. After school, I hung out with Pete and Lana for a bit before I had to get home to help Pa with chores. When I got home Pa had already started on the chores, I told him I was going to put my bag down and I would be back out to help him.

As I went inside to drop off my bags, I saw Ma in the kitchen and went to go give her a hug. She turned to me and opened her mouth to welcome me home, but no sound came out and she seemed to slow to a halt. It was then I realized that I couldn’t hear Pa’s heart. I dashed outside to catch him as he fell towards the ground. I yelled back to the house, “Ma! I can’t hear Pa’s heartbeat.” Pa had a close call with a heart attack and since then I have tried to always keep the sound of his heart in the back of my mind.

Ma rushed out of the house in tears as she knelt down beside me, “Oh Jonathan. Jonathan no no no.” Ma was sobbing, so I rushed inside to dial 911 and tell them what happened.

They were on their way, but it would take too long for them to get here, for a second that stretched for eternity I thought about running him to the hospital. I was frozen in that decision until I heard Ma starting CPR. That snapped me back to reality and I headed back outside.

“I can run him to the hospital.” I told Ma tears welling up in my eyes.

“Now, you look here Clark,” she said more than I had ever seen her, “you made a promise to your father. You don’t save his life by breaking it. I won’t stand for it. He would want you to stay hidden and protect yourself. Now help me with this CPR.”

I had to be careful while doing compressions, push down too hard and my increased strength my send my hands through his chest. So, I lightly did compressions until the EMTs arrived and loaded him into the ambulance. I wouldn’t see him again till the funeral. School suddenly had no meaning, Lana and Pete tried to help but they didn’t understand. I had so many gifts, I could see the blood clot while I performed CPR, but I could do nothing but watch as it killed my father.

The funeral came and went, and I still felt nothing. I felt purposeless, everywhere I went in Smallville reminded me of him and the times we would have together. My mother saw how this was weighing on me and approached me about an opportunity.

Metropolis University was going to be hosting students from various high schools in Kansas, and Smallville had been chosen to send one student for their study abroad program. The program would replace his senior year and help him to get some reporting experience in France. To be chosen for the program the student had to write an application essay and include a portfolio of his work.

I submitted my application and 2 weeks before the start of senior year, I received a letter with from the university detailing what I needed to do and bring, the letter also contained a bus ticket from Smallville to the Metropolis Airport where I would be meeting the rest of the group.

Now that I had a chance to actually leave Smallville, I started to worry about Ma being here all alone. I almost called the university to thank them for the opportunity and say I needed to decline but Ma hung up the phone on me before the line started ringing.

“Clark Joseph Kent, you are not giving up on this once in a lifetime opportunity just to watch out for Ma.” I tried to object but she didn’t let me get a word out. “Ben Hubbard has offered to help me with the farm, and I will have plenty of other things to keep myself busy. You, need to go find yourself so don’t you worry about me.”

I sighed knowing I had lost the battle, “Thanks, Ma. I love you and I will always be here for you, if you need me just shout and I will come no matter where I am in the world. ” I wrapped her tightly in a hug, as we sat there thinking about what came next.

The next few days I spent saying my goodbyes and packing up what I would need. As I said goodbye to Lana, she had a look like she wanted to say something and I could hear her heart racing, but all she gave me was a kiss on the cheek and a simple goodbye. Pete gave me a fist bump and told me I was going to do great. I waved to them as we got into the truck and drove to the bus station. Ma embraced me in a hug when we got there and told me to find what I needed to and capture it. Then she kissed me on the forehead, and I got out the truck and boarded the bus, leaving Smallville for the first time in my life.