"Something's wrong with Clark."
In the school newspaper office, Pete had barely walked in before saying this to Chloe.
Chloe was holding a stone and hadn't noticed what Pete had said. Seeing him enter, she excitedly said, "You won't believe what I found, Pete! The rings the school sold us are fake."
"We can talk about the fake rings later, Chloe. Clark's been acting really strange lately."
"What?"
Chloe asked in confusion, "What happened to Clark?"
"The motorcycle, the conflict with his father... His personality makes him seem like a completely different person. I just spoke with Mr. Jonathan. They've even considered the worst-case scenario, like him getting addicted to drugs."
Chloe shrugged. "Clark has always been strange. Maybe he's just gotten stranger lately. Besides, Clark would have to take drugs before he could get addicted to them. I don't believe he'd do something that stupid."
"I hope so."
Pete sighed. "I don't know the reason, so all I can do is guess. By the way, what was that thing you were holding?"
He looked at the stone on Chloe's desk.
"That's exactly the story I just uncovered—this ring!"
Chloe showed Pete the ruby ring in her hand. "These graduation rings sold by the school are fake. The truth is that the jewelry company used worthless meteorites instead of rubies to cut costs."
Pete looked at the ring on his hand. "Chloe, as much as I want to believe you, I have to remind you that the gem in the ring is red, while meteorites are green."
"Not meteorites from around Smallville—the ones found at Hobbs Lake. The meteorites there are entirely red. This one in my hand is a sample."
Chloe handed Pete the red-glowing stone. "Look at the patterns on it. They're the same as the ones in