Thanks, Sara and Ann!

Sara -

Well, Chad and Rachel have been in Smallville together for a few months, so they have developed a friendship that is a bit closer than Lois and Rachel have. You'll definitely see that as Lois settles into Smallville her relationship with Rachel grows slightly, too (although it's not the same as with Clark).

I can't be 100% sure of this, but I'm pretty sure this is the only chapter with no Clark in it. The next chapter ended up being incredibly long, so there is a while before Clark shows up, but he'll be there.

Ann -

I've never actually lived someplace like that, but I do imagine that this is the way things are in farming communities. I'm sure there are exeptions to every rule and there are some farming communities where people tend to go to college, but my guess is that for the most part, they don't bother. It really does seem like a waste if you don't need the degree. And if that's the case, I can see marrying young and having children soon.

This is part of why Chad and Rachel have become friends - apart from knowing each other before Chad moved there, they both are different - and different than Clark and Lois in that they both love small town life, but don't have exactly the same ideals as everyone else. (This is also why they get along so well with Kents who seem to have similar ideals.)

How Lois will fit in here - whether it will turn out that she loves small town life as well, is a question. I can see why a Lois who settles into this "smaller" life would bother you. But remember, this isn't the same Lois we know. And even if she doesn't fit perfectly in Smallville, that doesn't mean she won't be commited to making it work for Chad.

I decided to keep my thoughts on corn to myself in the story, but I agree with you. There has been some research recently showing a link between corn and the growth of obesity in the US. As the Kents say, it is not just the corn we eat (which isn't that much, I don't think), but there is corn in so much of what we consume in this country. It's used for the oil that we cook with and it's used in seed for meat. I can't recall the percentage of steak that is actually nearly the same chemically as corn as cows largely eat corn, but it's a bit alarming.

On the other hand, I don't know what would happen to farmers if we stopped subsidizing corn. I imagine it could be disasterous and maybe what needs to happen is a slow backing off while farmers start replacing their crops with something else. But I don't know enough about this - I just know the health info which is a bit scary. (Although, I have admit, I miss the days when I thought having corn with a little bit of butter, salt, and pepper was not just tasty, but healthy.)