Haha. I love that Buffy is torn between ogling Spike and panicking over the oral report at the same time. Good to know she's adept at multi-tasking. So brilliant that she schedules him for the same classes to "keep an eye on him." Smart thinking, that!

It's so sweet of Spike to save her, though slightly less sweet to choose the passage that he did! Though of course, that is one of the uglier ways women are degraded in the book, so I guess he was just following the teacher's instruction. Do kids really read things like The Handmaid's Tale in high school these days? Wow, things have changed since I last had a reading list, lol. Very interesting book. Spike must have eclectic tastes to have read it. But I may be being sexist in mentally deeming it a book that would be more interesting to women than men.

Author's Response: Hehe, it's like... "oh my god, I have this oral report I haven't studied and... ooo, pretty." She is a pretty smart person, too, though she doesn't have the self-esteem to know it (yet, and that's something our blonde boy will show her). The passage was meant to be as gritty as possible, I dunno why I did that but it just seemed to fit. And yes, I read The Handmaid's Tale for my senior year of high school (AP class, though). Really depends if you have the type of teacher that I had. Some teachers use the banned book list as their reading list. :) Definitely trying to interpolate Spike as having eclectic taste with the choice of book (this will be later expanded to music and films and beyond when the time arises). THT is no Epic of Gilgamesh. And you are being sexist, because I'm a male and I found the book incredibly fascinating. I could just possibly be in the minority, though, because I consider all cautionary tales and feminism fascinating (even 3rd wave feminism like *gasps* Buffy). I'd guess most Buffy fans would cite an interest as feminism. Thank you for reviewing. :D

Considering he was raised by monks, he should have a excellent education. Don't know how worldly he is but definately educated. How old is he anyway? Does his race age slowly or is he immortal? So many things to keep the watchers and us, excited and begging for more! Good Luck with classes, looking forward to more.

Author's Response: Oh, and thanks for reviewing. :D

I'm liking the story so far, the idea of Spike being a dragon is interesting. I'm a little leery of the Council of Wankers coming to investigate him???

Loved the Buffy thoughts, it seemed very much in character. Spike coming to the rescue and covering for Buffy was 'sweet'!!!

(The high school I went to would have burned that book, fired the teacher for letting that paragraph be read aloud, and given the student detention for the rest of the year for reading it out loud. The California school system must be so much more progressive and liberal???) :D

Looking forward to the next chapter!!!

Author's Response: It's one of the most challenged books in the US. I like it mostly because of that alone; the writing style isn't that great. But it does contain a plethora of feminist themes, and that's why I wanted to put it in, because a big part of Buffy was third wave feminism. I didn't think anyone would mind, considering there's much more crude stuff on this site. But yeah, I read it my senior year of high school, and lots of people complained about the crudeness and vulgarness of it. Didn't really think much about it, though. At my school we read it aloud in class all the time. And yes, council could be a problem. ;)

Uh-huh... surprise oral exam. Buffy can be really lucky that Spike was there with her and that he reads a lot; without reading the books she would have had no way to pass the test. Spike was really helpful... because it was Buffy I guess. They can be lucky too that it was a new teacher; the old one would have known that Spike is new and couldn't have known of the homework (reading list), and working together with Buffy.

Author's Response: It's happens sometimes; happened at my school all the time. ;) And yeah, Spike was very helpful to her.

That was very sweet how Spike helped ger out. Loved the chapter. You definitely got me hooked with this story. :)

Author's Response: =D Thanks! Sweet is good, right? ;)

You still have my interest with this one. I so felt Buffy's pain, I always hated to speak in front of the class when I was in school. Most of the time I wouldn't even know what to say, but I didn't have a Spike to help me out. Can't wait for more=)

Author's Response: Yeah, I was trying to capture that experience. That's why I had Spike go off on that "story is experience" tandem in class; it was kinda ironic because that's what I was trying to create. I personally have no trouble speaking in front of classes (I actually revel in it because it's one of those times I feel truly alive and on the edge) but I can definitely relate.