Sometimes I want to just rip off these disquise like I did at the Spring Formal but I can’t, because you’ll get scared and run away again
“I let myself indulge my feelings for him and I ended up getting hurt.””At least you were brave enough to take the risk.””Oh yeah, that’s me, Cupid’s cannon fodder. Oh, three months. When I saw him in the hall, those feelings just came back. I even made up some lame story about meeting a guy in Metropolis to try and get a rise out of him.””Clark still really cares about you, Chloe.””I know. But he cares about you more.” – Chloe to Lana on her relationship with Clark, Heat
“I’m the girl of your dreams, masquerading as your best friend. So I decided it’s better to live with the lie than expose my true feelings for you.” – Chloe reading her letter to the ill Clark, Fever
Sophomore year, Chloe and Clark short term loan Washington began a habit of acknowledging Chloe’s crush but not letting it get in the way of their friendship. After the formal, Chloe made Clark believe that she thought it would be better if they just stayed friends and Clark agreed.
However, when Clark discovered that Chloe was still investigating his adoption, they had an intense argument about privacy with Clark eventually making Chloe cry by shouting at her to “find her own mother” instead. They later apologized to each other and Chloe confessed to Clark the pain she feels about being abandoned by her mother. However, when Lana Lang moved in with Chloe, their relationship only became more strained.
They managed to make up for a time, and while under the influence of a cave parasite, Chloe became wild and reckless and made out with a red kryptonite-affected Clark. She also told him she was sick of playing second-banana to Lana and that Clark needed to make a decision. He seemingly chose to attribute Chloe’s outburst to being infected and ignored her behavior when she was cured. When Clark applied for a job at the Talon coffee shop, Chloe convinced Lana to hire him.
When Clark fell ill, Chloe wrote him a letter telling him the truth about her feelings, and read it to him as he slept. However, she knew he was still in love with Lana. The three tried to resolve their awkwardness, but when Clark missed a Torch deadline, Chloe got upset and accused him of not taking anybody else into consideration. Clark quit the paper and they agreed to “put their friendship on hold”. However, when the Torch office was vandalized, Clark tried to help Chloe cope, but she was too angry and hurt by his recent actions. By the end of the school year, they had tentatively begun to repair their friendship, even as Clark and Lana began a relationship.
Chloe saw Lana and Clark kissing and was hurt that neither of them chose to tell her about it. In a moment of weakness, she agreed to betray Clark and continue to investigate him for Lionel Luthor.
Junior Year
The tension between Clark and Chloe carried throughout the summer and into their junior year of high school. When Clark ran away, Chloe was also in Metropolis at her summer job at the Daily Planet and ran into him in a club. Under the influence of red kryptonite, he threatened her if she told; she kept his secret all summer until events unfolded in Smallville that made her try and persuade him to return. However, he was violent and angry and Chloe let Lana and his parents deal with his return.