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[Lana Cross]

Lana sighed as she left Parker High. It was being closed and this was the last day. She was comfortable there. It was a smaller school and it was decided it would be less expensive to transfer the students to other schools rather than make the repairs to bring the building up to code. Lana didn’t want to go to a larger school, but the school district had ignored the letters both her therapist and psychiatrist had submitted that said she would be disoriented and unable to function perfectly in such a setting.

In the front of her mind her life was going to change the next day and probably not for the better. In the back of her mind though; there was a rightness to the move. She was going to find something important at the bigger school. It was important enough that she was willing to try it, despite her fears. Lana stopped in a small park that was across from an older movie theater. She saw that they were having a Cary Grant movie festival that week ‘Bringing up Baby’ was playing that night and she thought she might like to see that so she bought a Gyro from a vending cart and ate it, watching people pass as she waited for the theater to open its doors.

A rather thin African-American, Lana had long hair to her hips done in fine dreadlocks. She had on a flounced skirt in flowered gauze and a crocheted vest. Her jacket was burgundy fleece with Moroccan couched gold embroidery around the front edges, neck, bottom and sleeve hems. She also had on a gray top hat and little rectangular hippy glasses. It was very retro but it suited her rather hippy-like style.

[Haden Kiley]

Passing a vendor which was selling Gyro, Haden found the one he was looking for a grinned wildly. One of the finer things in life, or rather in HIS life, were churros. Piping hot donut sticks which tasted heavenly despite it basically being sugar and air combined.

Haden heard about the Cary Grant showcase and decided to spend the evening soaking up the classics. It didn't help that he always managed to find pretty hot girls who hung on to Grant's fictional words like the Bible. Just as he was paying, his wandering eyes settled on a well-built tall African-American girl who was eating a Gyro and looking at the people passing by. She looked very bohemian in her choice of outfit. Kooky but somehow it worked on her. Doesn't hurt that she had a face on her like nothing he'd ever seen for sure.

Grabbing his foot long churro which had been cut into quarters and drizzled with cinnamon and caster sugar, he made his way to the girl and stood beside her. "You a Cary Grant fan?" He asked as he bit into one of the donut sticks, relishing the sweetness it brought to his whole mouth. He couldn't stop the pleasurable moan coming from his mouth as the sweet treat practically melted in his mouth. "Damn these things are good. Want some?" Haden reached the bag out to the girl.

[Lana Cross]

For a moment Lana stared blankly at the boy who had addressed her out of nowhere. Then she reminded herself that it wasn't normal not to answer people, but there was still a slight hesitancy when she answered as is she were being pushed into it. "I like classic movies and Cary Grant is excellent. I also like leopards," she said. The last part seemed odd unless you actually knew the film.

Lana sighed at the offer of a churro, but shook her head. "No, thank you. I shouldn't have one. It makes things worse," she said cryptically, though sugar affected her mild autism and she had trained herself to refrain from it whenever possible. She had also found that telling people that she suffered from the mental disorder tended to make them view her as retarded which she wasn't. She was in fact very smart.

"I am Lana... would you like to sit down?" she offered once she remembered that was normal as well. "The theater has another half hour until opening. Do you come here a lot? The have good festivals." They only charged 2.50 for their movies and played a lot of marathons on weekends and would run theme festivals almost every weeknight.

[Haden Kiley]

"Cool. Leopards are awesome." Haden shrugged. When Lana oddly refused the churro, well odd to him since churros had to be a little piece of what Heaven must taste like, he shrugged again before gobbling up the rest of the flour and sweet treats until all was left were the sugar dusts. "So you're gonna just be all mysterious and not tell me what this makes worst? I mean, unless you're diabetic or a four year old who'd go mental if she had a little bit of sugar, churros are like...little sticks from Paradise." He crumbled the paper bag in his hand and threw it into the nearest dustbin.

"Lana...Lang?" Yes, so Haden was lame, what could he do? Just because he was extremely popular with practically half of the junior population in Gould didn't mean he had to be suave to everyone. Besides, this girl didn't look like someone who would mind being in the presence of a dork. She was talking to him anyway. "Obviously I was kidding. I'm Haden by the way. Haden Kiley. I'm in Gould." He extended his hand out. He knew enough not to assume that not everybody knew of his existence. And this girl wasn't someone he knew so either she was new to Gould or she was a Silver. Most likely she was from Silver or just new because he would have been able to recognise her if she were a Gould. At the offer to sit down, Haden nodded. "Sure why not. And yeah. I do come here a lot. Every time there's a marathon." He admitted. He was a big movie buff but surprisingly modest enough not to spout off his movie knowledge to unsuspecting strangers. However he loved snipping random movie quotes to his friends who knew of his eccentric love for movies, old and new.

[Lana Cross]

"It doesn't go over well when I explain I am mildly autistic, but you don't seem the kind of person that would beat up someone for a mild mental disorder. But yes like a four year old I would go mental with sugar," Lana said, watching for his reaction. It would be a shame if he turned out to be a jerk, but she was used to it and for the most part didn't hide her problems. She want to make friends based on the truth not fiction.

"I have always thought of myself as more of Lana Turner than Lana Lang," she said with a twinkle in her eye as she was nothing like the very pale, voluptuous 'Sweater Girl' of the pin up era. "But really it is short for Alanna. I will be attending Gould too... tomorrow at least until Silver is reestablished."

Lana looked across the street and sighed as there was no sign of the ticket office being opened yet. "So besides movies and churros, what do you like to do?" she asked, having run out of things to say about her disorder and school.

[Haden Kiley]

She was autistic? Haden didn't know much about the disorder but to him, no disease really mattered on anyone so long as the person looked normal, he was fine with it. Deformed human beings freaked him out, embarrassingly. He was a jerk when it came to the more important things in life but once he saw a deformed baby, he ended up sobbing in his mother's arms and asked her to swear never to tell his father about his break down.

"I don't beat people up period. Especially not fine-looking women such as yourself." Sleazy, but true. She had a certain appeal to her that Haden found rare in girls these days.

When the girl mentioned Lana Turner, Haden couldn't help but chuckle. "You know your pin up girls I see. That's actually kinda sexy." He ran his thumb across the corner of his lips. He had some pin ups himself, vintage collection all in mint condition. And all stowed away in his walk-in closet. It wouldn't do to have anyone steal a glance at them. In a way, he was a geek when it came to things like that. Not that he was ever going to admit to it of course. "But I see what you mean. You're definitely no Lana Lang. You'd know when your boyfriend was Superman in the making and out him immediately." Haden joked.

"What do I like to do?" Women was his first thought of a reply but he held this tongue. This girl was classy despite her bohemian style. She wouldn't have anyone talk about women in a degrading manner. "I'm by the beach every morning before school to catch the waves. Sometimes I skip school when my friend tells me there's a big wave I have to conquer." He shrugged. "You smoke?" He asked, pulling a box of menthols from his pocket. He rarely did but he suddenly had the urge to at that moment.

[Lana Cross]

"Maybe not out him, but I would make him fly me to the top of the Empire State Building and then the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa," Lana said with a laugh though she was still blushing from the compliment. "She wasn't a very good reporter was she? Glasses aren't that much of a disguise."

"I think movies were much sexier when they were in black and white... I guess that's why I like the pin up girls," Lana admitted, crossing one leg over the other. She always wished she had the looks to carry off the forties styles, but she did best with the late sixties/seventies. "I would have loved being a USO entertainer. I love the Andrew Sisters."

Unconsciously Lana's nose wrinkled when he asked about smoking. She had always thought it looked sexy, but it was stinky and she didn't really like it. "Go ahead she said, hoping the breeze would carry it the other way.

[Haden Kiley]

"The whole premise of Superman dictates any logical explanation for a good disguise." Haden chuckled. Lana was pretty funny. "And you wanna got o those places, marry a pilot. At least he wouldn't go weak when you put a glowing green stone next to him." Haden wasn't dissing the man of steel because as a boy he really thought Superman existed.

"My sentiments exactly," he was growing to like Lana more. She had good taste. "Not many movies can match the standard of a classic black and white. And the Andrew Sisters were...well, I'm a guy. Give me a blonde, a brunette and a redhead in one group any day and I'll jump hoops you know?"

"I better change places then. I don't want any smoke blowing at you." Haden changed places before lighting up a cigarette. He made sure he blew away from Lana. "What about you? Any other interests?" He asked, genuinely interested in her answer. He didn't usually pay much attention to a girl's character unless she was fiercely independent right from the get go and Lana seemed to be just that despite her apparent shyness. And the fact that she was such a looker helped too.

[Lana Cross]

"I always preferred batman anyway. Anti-heroes are a lot more interesting than the ones that seem to have most things their way. And other than loads of money to play with, he had to do it without superpowers and intelligence. Sounds like a man that could make me happy until he went all dark and gloomy on me," Lana said with a pixie grin. She crumpled the paper her gyro had come in and tossed it into a nearby garbage can.

Lana grinned at the mental image of Haden jumping through hoops like a large jungle cat heading toward the Andrew sisters while singing in their USO uniforms. She appreciated his courtesy in making sure the smoke didn't get in her face. He was apparently much nice than the image he presented at first glance.

"I like to draw... mostly in pen and ink, I think I do all right though I wouldn't claim genius," Lana said quietly, not wanting to sound like she was boasting. It was the one thing that could always make her feel better. Somehow all the hurts and stress from the day faded withe the sound of her pen scratching against paper.

[Haden Kiley]

"Batman was okay..." Haden shrugged as he took another drag from his cigarette and blew it out away from Lana once more. "But my hero is the Powerpuff Girls. Can't go wrong with three little girls with rounded feet and hands kicking butt with sound effects not at all like kapow or whoosh." He grinned.

"Drawing," Haden was not surprised by her answer. She looked like an artist; eccentric, intriguing and slightly unhinged. There was something about her that Haden felt was untapped. "I pegged you as an artist." He waved the cigarette butt at Lana, burning the inside of his palm a bit in the process but turning it around again and sticking the butt in his mouth. He wiped his burnt hand on his overcoat before taking the cigarette out of his mouth to blow the smoke out.

"You have that...tortured soul thing going on about you. It's...cliched but I suppose I get it." The Gould junior grinned wickedly, showing Lana why he was sought after by many of the girls younger and older than him.

When people finally started filing in through the theater entrance, Haden took another long drag before dropping it down to the floor, stubbing it out with his shoe before signaling to Lana. "Come on. I think the show's about to start." The starting music for the movie was already playing through the old theater and without thinking, Haden slid his hand in Lana's, lacing their fingers through each other before moving in.