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Superman, known to only a few as Clark Kent, was making his routine round over Metropolis. For once, the city was quiet, or at least as quiet as it ever got for his sensitive ears.
He was lost in thought, considering his next story at the Daily Planet and the million and one things Perry was asking him to do. Lois was also at the forefront of his mind, as usual. Though she now knew his secret, they were still figuring things out, and their relationship was changing every day.
Suddenly, as he flew along, all these things on his mind, he heard a small sob off in the distance. Usually, he tried to prioritize (he had to! The world is never truly calm), but something about this voice caught on a memory deep inside.
Changing course, he flew over to see. There he saw a young girl, probably somewhere between 10 and 15, curled up into a small ball on a rooftop (which Clark was very grateful for. He wasn’t above a little breaking and entering in life-threatening emergencies, but he tried to avoid it. That was more Lois’s thing.).
She didn't look up as he landed, simply too distraught and lost in her own little world. Clark hesitated, then walked up to her and gently sat down beside her, waiting for her to notice.
Finally, she began to speak. “I just can’t do it. I’ve tried and tried to lose weight and look nice, but I’m fat and ugly and people are just friends with me because they feel sorry for me. My real friends are back in Central City. My parents say just to let it go, that I’m pretty and don’t need to do anything, but I just don’t…”
She trailed off, tears flowing freely again.
Clark went completely still. He knew she hadn’t seen him yet, just heard him sit down. He suddenly had a recollection of himself, curled up in the floor of their barn, and his Ma coming and sitting with him, just like this. He always knew he was different than the other kids in Smallville, but that day, it had been the school field day. In Smallville, that was quite literal, meaning that a neighbor had donated a cornfield nearby for the races and games. Clark tried to avoid those things when possible, but Pete and Lana were finally able to talk him into it. He could still remember the jeers as he intentionally lost each event to protect his secret, knowing that he could obliterate them all if he wanted to. He had never felt more isolated, alien, and alone.
So Clark finally began to speak, suddenly realizing what to say. “When I was about your age, I realized I was different from the other kids around me. I can still remember sitting down and crying, just like you are now. It had been a terrible day, and I can remember my Ma, well, my adopted Ma but still my Ma, coming down and sitting with me just like this. She said, Son, I won’t pretend to know how you feel. But I will tell you this. Pa and I love you, you have friends who love you, and you are special to more people than you know. I can see you struggling through, knowing that you’re not the same. I’m not minimizing that.”
But then, she got right down in front of me, picking up my chin and looking straight into my face. “But know this. No matter where you are, or who you are with, you are special simply because you are you. Nothing about how you look or what you can or cannot do will ever change that.”
“So,” he said, still quiet but more emphatic now, “just like my Ma did, I’m going to tell you. I’m not you, and I can never completely understand what you’re going through. But I do know this - you are special, loved, and worthwhile just the way you are. Don’t ever doubt it. And if you ever do and need a friend, I’ll be there.”
“Really?” she said, incredulous but with a note of hope that hadn’t been there before.
Clark paused for a moment, then stood and said with a small smile, "Definitely. By the way, what’s your name?”
She quietly said, “Christy. What’s yours-”, finally looking up as she did so and stopping in surprise nearly mid-sentence.
In shock, she stuttered, “S-Superman?!”
Clark looked back, smile wide now, and flew away, leaving her filled with awe and with the hope that his suit stood for.