“I hate school.”

Buffy Summers looked up from the paper she was reading and watched her daughter Jessica drop her spoon in her grapefruit and pout, shoving the dish from her.

Buffy frowned and lifted the paper once more. “So says kids your age across the board that has school in a half hour.”

“Do you even care that I hate school?”

“No. Jessie, I hated school at your age too.”

“No you didn’t. You were a geek, admit it,” Jessica teased, her eyes twinkling in mischief.

Buffy smiled at her daughter, setting the paper down. “Despite what you think about me being a geek now, I wasn’t a geek back then.”

“Yeah, right,” Jessica muttered.

“I was cooler than cool,” Buffy said, somewhat defensively.

“Mom, the fact that you just said ‘cooler than cool’ means you were then, as you are now, a geek.”

It was a losing battle, Buffy decided. She figured it was her payback for being ‘cool’ back then and now she was told what a geek she was. Shaking her head, Buffy studied her daughter, who, in her humble opinion, was a gorgeous young woman. She frowned slightly when she asked, “Jessie, do you have to wear so much makeup?”

Her daughter scrunched up her pretty pixie face. “What do you mean? I’m not wearing a lot.”

“The black eyeliner, the dark shadow, the blush, the lipstick…can you tone it down? You’re a student, not a streetwalker.”

Jessica rolled her eyes at her mother and got up to deposit her dishes in the sink. She spun to her mother, her chemically dyed red hair bouncing in the ponytail she had it up in. Come to think of it, Buffy was not sure if she approved of the outfit either. Her daughter’s lithe body was clothed in a mini jean skirt and a form-fitting shirt that accentuated her breasts more than a young girl’s breasts should be accentuated, and the black tights that seemed to have strategically placed rips in them.

“How much did you pay for those?” Buffy asked, pointing to her tights. “I could rip them for you for free.”

“Mo-om,” Jessica whined.

“No, seriously, I’d like to know how much of your allowance goes into buying those things.”

“I got them on sale. Is that better?” Jessica snapped.

“Jessie, honestly, I just don’t understand why you have to dress like that. You’re such a beautiful girl and you hide it behind all that junk on your face—“

“Mom, just shut up.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, I said just shut up.”

“You don’t tell your mother to shut up, young lady!”

“Then stop harassing me about my clothes! Just because you’re all washed up and still hung up on my dead father--“

“Jessica Summers, you are walking a thin line. If you don’t want to be grounded for the rest of your natural life, I suggest you shut your mouth,” Buffy said angrily.

“Why is it that I don’t have any pictures of him? You were so in love with him, after all.”

“He died, Jessica.”

“So what? Did you bury him with his pictures or something? Burn them? Maybe you were lying. Maybe you just got knocked up by loser guy and Poppa sent you away to have me all alone.”

“Get your things and get in the car. I don’t want to hear another word out of you,” Buffy barked at her.

“I hate you!”

“Good. You can hate me for the next month because you’re grounded!”

In reply, Jessica stomped off and Buffy fought the tears that were threatening to come. Her daughter could not have hurt her more if she had come up and shoved a knife in her back.

~~~~~~~

William Mayne had always loved the first day of school. As a student, he loved the whole year of learning ahead of him, the smell of new textbooks, and the feel of his newly pressed uniform.

Now as a teacher, he loved it for an entirely different set of reasons. As he watched his first class at Sunnydale High shuffle into class, he loved the fact he had a new beginning here.

When he first had yearnings to come across the pond to the US, it was to conquer the world in the way most young men thought they could by singing in a punk rock band. He never dreamed of being a teacher and a high school teacher no less. His love for learning waned a little when he went through his rebellion punk rocker “Spike” phase, but for all the late night partying and mischief he got into he had managed to keep his grades up an above respectable level.

This was a good thing, because now not only did he have an honors degree in English Literature, but it also gave him the opportunity to leave merry old England, and start a fresh. Finding a job was easy; the Yanks loved someone coming from the mother country to teach their young bright minds the language they had invented.

As the teenagers continued to pile into the classroom, he decided the hard part was only beginning. He actually had to teach, stand up in front of a class and assert some kind of authority. He knew the English accent would help, as well as the fact he was half the age of the rest of the staff. In addition, the fluttering of teenage eyelashes that he could currently see also told him he would not have too much trouble making the young ladies listen to him as well.

He smiled to himself as he watched all the different tribes of teens gather marking their territory so to speak. Honor roll students front and centre of course, notebooks already opened waiting to drink whatever new facts they could. The somewhat smart and just a rung above the geeky kids were in the middle of the class. Then there was the interesting battle of who could care less at the back of the room. The current stand off was between the Jocks, the popular girls and the wannabe punks. The Punks made him laugh. Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan had a lot to answer for. Part of him wanted to give the first lesson alone about how being into the punk rock was actually more about listening to the real punk of the 70’s and 80’s and not about dying your hair jet black, fire engine red in fact any color named after a form of transportation.

No, he could not do that. He was here to teach English and that was what he would do.

“Good Morning Class, I am Mr. Mayne and I will be your English teacher for the year.”

~~~~~~~

Being a single mother was not easy. It was damn difficult as far as Buffy was concerned. Course, it had been even harder when Jessie was younger, but as Buffy was learning, ‘Small children, small problems, big children, big problems’.

She loved her daughter like nothing and no one on Earth. She meant the world to her and she did everything she could to provide for her, be there for her, and to keep her on the straight and narrow. While she wished she could have had Jessie at an older age, she would not trade her daughter for the world. Jessie was her world and she did not want her daughter to feel gypped. She did not have a father, and that was an issue that had been coming up increasingly more and more, but Buffy tried hard to be both for her daughter. She had the sinking feeling however, as she pulled into work, that she was failing at that. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how hard she worked.

She struggled to attend college when Jessie was still just a baby. Thankfully, her parents had helped, even if they did not particularly like the fact that Buffy was a single mom. However, they helped her through school, helped her as she worked part time, and then came home to take care of her baby. She remembered many times staying up to study while Jessie slept peacefully. Then when she would finally get to bed, then Jessie would awaken and it was all-nighters for Buffy.

Entering the busy newsroom, Buffy headed straight for her desk, turning on her computer and flipping through the memos on her desk. She had articles to follow up on, articles to edit and articles to pitch to the editor. Looking around the bustling newsroom, Buffy smiled. She had worked hard to get where she was, and she would not trade a moment of it.

Looking at a picture of her daughter on her desk, Buffy just hoped that one day Jessie would have aspirations that went beyond buying the latest CD and attending the “sickest” parties. Moreover, whatever her daughter wanted to do, Buffy would support her, as her parents had supported her, one hundred percent.

~~~~~~~

“So, how did it go today?”

William looked up from his class notes to see the school librarian and fellow countryman, Rupert Giles standing next to him in the Teacher’s Lounge.

“It went well, surprisingly. Most of the children listened most of the time so I guess I am ahead of most teachers around here.”

“I see you have Jess Summers in your class. You should be in for an interesting year,” Giles commented as he made his cup of tea.

“Really how so?”

“She is a gifted student but she is going through a testing phase.”

“From that tone of voice, I can tell you are not talking about SAT’s Giles.”

“Not quite. Sixteen is a difficult age for most but Jess seems to be taking it to the extreme.”

“Surely her parents are doing something to rein her in?” Sure, he had not been in the teaching game long but parents had to take some kind of role in disciplining their own children.

“It not that simple William. I taught her mother…” William started to laugh.

“Gee Rupes I know you were old but that takes the cake. At the same school as mother and daughter. How long have you been teaching here?”

“Sixteen years. I taught, Jess’s mum, Buffy, in my first year here at Sunnydale.” Rupert watched as the penny dropped.

“Well that makes perfect sense. A teenage girl gets knocked up; boyfriend leaves her high and dry, I am guessing. It doesn’t take Freud to work out the kids got issues.”

“Listen, you are new so I am going to let that slide, but you don’t know anything about anything here. Jess’s dad, Buffy’s high school boyfriend, was killed in a car accident three months before Jess was born.”

William felt like a right git, his heart went out to Jess and her mother.

“Oh, I get it. “

“I don’t think you do. Buffy really bucked the teenage mom trend. She came back to school as soon as Jess was born made the honor roll. Showed everyone who had told her she could not do it. All to give Jess a better life.”

“And now Jess is throwing it back.”

“Now, you are starting to get it.”

“By now I am hoping you have read at least the first Puritan piece in your text, ‘Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God’.”

William looked out at the sea of disinterested faces. From the groans that came from the class, he was lucky if they were past the first page.

“Jess, can you tell me one of the main themes the sermon addresses?”

Ever since his chat with Giles, he had been trying to help Jess. He could see the potential in her. During discussions she would drop her guard and participate, then just as quickly as it would begin, she would catch herself and retreat into her “I don’t care about anything” image.

“Umm, I guess one of the main things I could see was that the kids in the book have to pay for the mistakes of their parents.”

He could tell she was not comfortable with her answer. ”Good point Jess, you are right,” she seemed relived as he moved onto another student for questioning.

“In what kind of ways would this theme work itself out in today’s society?” William was shocked at the speed of Melissa Sotherby. Melissa, as far as he could tell, was the Queen Bee of the school. As much as he would never admit it, part of his preparation for teaching at an American school was watching Mean Girls.

“Melissa, you have some insight for us?” he sat back at his desk and waited for the answer.

“Well, I guess one way would be if the child you weren’t allowed to date boys until you were seventeen.”

The snickers of the class did not go unnoticed by him. “And how would that be punishment for sins of the parents?”

“Well if your mom was already pregnant by the time she was sixteen I don’t see how that’s fair.”

The whole class, for the exception of Jess, broke into laughter. William kicked himself; he walked right into that one. Before he had a chance to settle the class down, Jess had picked up her things and ran out of the classroom.

“Melissa, seeing as you have so much to say, you can stand up the front of the class for the next twenty minutes and give us a detailed review of the entire piece.”

She groaned as she stood up and started her report.

“I will ask Mr. Giles to oversee the class while I go and find Miss Summers,” with that, he left the classroom.

********

Now if I was a sixteen-year-old girl who was extremely embarrassed and pissed off, where would I go? William wondered as he walked out of Giles’ office. He felt terrible about what he had let happen to Jess. He felt compelled to find her and set it right.

It did not take to long to find her behind the gym smoking, and he almost laughed aloud at the cliché.

“You gunna bust me?” Jess asked all defences up.

“Do I look like a nark?”

She looked him up and down and bit her tongue at her response. “So why are you here?”

“I am sorry about before in the classroom, I should not have let that happen.”

“That’s ok, it’s not like you knew.”

His face gave that one away.

“So you do know. Well, it’s not like I don’t hear it, or some kind or version of it, every other day,” she stubbed out her cigarette.

“I am sorry, it’s not fair for them to treat you that way.”

Jess laughed. “You have never taught at a high school before have you Mr. Mayne? High school is not about fair, it’s about survival.”

“Is that what you do, survive?”

“Two years. Two more years and then I am out of here, away from this school, away from this town, and away from her.”

“Your mom?” he asked.

She shut down at the mention of her mom. He could only imagine the hell she went through everyday.

“Look, I have got to go; otherwise I will be late for my next class. Please don’t feel bad, don’t feel sorry for me. It’s not your fault and it’s not mine either. It’s like the sermon says, sins of the father.”

********

“Do you ever, ya know, go out?”

Buffy looked up to find Anya Jenkins, an editor perching herself on the edge of her desk and making herself comfortable, not really caring that she nearly knocked over one of Buffy’s pencil cup holders.

“What do you mean, do I ever go out?” Buffy asked, confused. “I go out on the field all the time.”

Anya rolled her eyes. “No, Buffy, out …with a man? With a man, that has a penis. With a man that has a penis that can give you multiple orgasms? Well, you might have to work on the multiple part and hopefully if he’s well endowed and knows how to use his pe—“

“Anya!” Buffy hissed, her cheeks flaming red. “Shut up, would you? People are looking?”

Anya shrugged, as she looked around, smiling brightly at those that were staring. “So?”

Buffy shook her head and tried to go back to work, turning back to her computer and hunching over in the universal “Back off!” body language.

“I know several men I could set you up with,” Anya continued.

Buffy looked at her, eyebrow raised. “Like an escort?”

Anya rolled her eyes, “You don’t have to have sex with them—“

“Anya, honestly, I’m fine. I do not need a…an escort, for crying out loud. I’m fine the way I am.”

“Fine. You’re fine. That’s great. That’s almost convincing. You’re fine having it just you and Jess? You’re fine having your whole life revolve around her and nothing for yourself?”

“Listen,” Buffy started sternly.

“I’m just saying, Buffy, that if you had a little something for yourself, you might find yourself a little happier and maybe even Jess would be happier because you wouldn’t be up her ass all the time.” With that, Anya flounced off before Buffy could even get a word in edgewise.

Anger bubbled forth, and then incredible hurt, so she was swinging somewhere in between the two when the phone rang. Snatching up the phone, she barked hello with a small wobble that hinted tears might be in the awning.

“Miss Summers?” a British voice said through the phone, sounding slightly disoriented.

“Yes?”

“This is William Mayne, Jessica’s English teacher. There’s a problem. I was wondering if you could come down to the school before afternoon detention is over.”

“Oh, great. What did Jessica do today?” Sighing heavily, Buffy shut her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be down. . . “

“Do you want to know what she did?”

“No, not yet. I still have an hour to wonder and I want to see if I can guess before I get down there. It’s a little game I like to play with myself.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, see, I always make it much worse than it actually is, so that when I have to speak to her teachers for something she did, it doesn’t seem as bad as what I conjured up in my mind.”

Mr. Mayne chuckled and Buffy smiled. “Well then,” he said, “I guess I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Thanks, Mr. Mayne.”

Chapter 3

William hadn’t been able to stop grinning and chuckling inwardly since his chat with Miss Summers about Jessica. He found it kind of funny considering they were meeting to discuss Jessica and her antics, but Miss Summers didn’t sound like one of those young mothers that didn’t care about their child and just wanted to ignore the issues. She sounded like a realistic and caring woman that was well aware of Jessica’s antics and while probably tired of them, would not stop working on them.

He supposed it was funny to have garnered so much from one conversation, but William prided himself on being pretty good at reading people, and in a sense, he already felt some kind of connection to Miss Summers and her daughter. Hearing their story, his heart went out to not only Jessica, but to her mother as well. He wanted to help, quite simply.

His teenage years – the formative years if you will – were marred with bad decisions and rebellion. He simply hadn’t wanted to do what was expected of him. He’d wanted to be his own person, live his own life, and not have it be dictated by what his parents wanted for him. He’d continuously felt they shoved their wants and needs for him down his throat – he wasn’t living his life, he was living theirs.

William was Spike once upon a time, the punk name he’d given himself to piss his parents off even more. He had to laugh at the kids now who thought they knew what it meant to be punk. Though, he had to laugh at himself even more now—he wasn’t even around during the actual punk movement so it wasn’t as if he were an “original”. However, he knew what it meant to take a stand against something, to passionately hate the hand you’d been deal and rile against it.

In short, he understood Jessica. And, because he understood her, he felt for Miss Summers. He’d lost his mother during his days as Spike and he’d rued her loss ever since. Consequently, it was her death that put him on the straight and narrow. He wanted to make her proud, he wanted to make up for how he’d been such a miserable son in the hopes that she’d be looking down upon him, happy with him once more.

He gave up his drinking, smoking (well, he hadn’t given that up much yet), and partying hard with friends that didn’t give two shits about him – and a girlfriend that couldn’t be faithful if her life depended on it. He gave up slacking off in school and set about turning his life around.

Spike became William once more, and he studied hard in school with the intent of making it back to the States to teach and to live. He’d visited the States once with some friends on a whim, and loved it. He’d had an experience that he’d never forgotten and vowed to come back once he got his teaching degree.

And now he was where he wanted to be, feeling his mother smiling down upon him, his father quite happy with him and finally, he happy with himself.

Looking up from his desk, he spied a blond woman coming towards his door and figured it had to be Miss Summers. Jumping up, he made his way over and opened the door for her. He had remembered how to be a gentleman.

“Come in,” he said cordially, not really looking at her until the words, “Miss Summers such a pleasure to meet you, I’m William Mayne,” had come out of his mouth.

Standing before him was the whole reason for his intense longing to get back to the States for the past fifteen years.

********


The nerves took up residence in Buffy’ stomach as soon as she stepped out of her car and into Sunnydale High’s car park. This school always brought her mixed emotions; the most pressing of those being fear. She hated the fact she could not afford to move school districts; she knew that it must be tough for Jess to go to the same high school as her mom. That fact was compounded by half the teachers that had taught Buffy, were now also teaching Jess.

To say it was a scandal that Buffy had fallen pregnant was a huge understatement. It seemed from the moment she stepped out of her OBGYN, the rumour mill had started spinning at top speed. At least she had been able to tell Riley before anyone else had gotten to him.

The sadness at his loss still hit her every now and then, such as when Jess would have a parent teacher night, and she would think how Riley would have reacted having to sit with his old teachers and hear about his daughter’s progress. He would have been such a good father.

When she told him about the baby he broke the mold of most teenage parents to be. He had hugged her tightly and promised to support and love her and the baby for the rest of their lives. Buffy couldn’t be too angry with Riley; he did after all keep the promise. She just didn’t realise that the rest of his life would only be another three months.

The day Riley died was a blur; it was the night that they were to start Lamaze classes. Riley had been so excited to start, that he had been reading up on all the different birthing techniques and had written out a list of questions to ask the teacher. That was Riley to a tee. One hundred percent committed to everything he did. That’s why is seemed so weird that he was late to pick her up for class. She had called his home and he had left ages before. She sat on the porch waiting, but he never came to pick her up.

The drunk driver had run the red and Riley never had a chance. His parents had given her some of his belongings as a keepsake. Amongst which was the list of questions he had written out for that night. In her darker moments during both the pregnancy and after the birth, when she felt alone with no one to care for her, she would read the list as a reminder that at one time, someone had loved and cared for both her and her child.

She took a deep breath as she walked up the steps of the school. Memories of being spat on and things thrown at her as she had climbed the same steps almost sixteen years ago flooded her memory. It had been tough to go back to school not only pregnant, but after the death of Riley. So many people had already branded her a slut, but after his death they also called her a murderer as well. For Riley’s sake, and for the sake of her unborn child’s future, she shrugged it all off, held her head high, and walked the halls of this school.

She did the same today. Sure she wasn’t the world’s best mother to Jess, but she always tried her best and that at least counted for something. She braced herself for the worst as she made her way to the English department office to see Mr. Mayne. Putting her game face on she knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

As she opened the door she kept a hold of it as she almost lost her balance as she looked into the eyes of her daughter’s father.

“Miss Summers, such a pleasure to meet you, I’m William Mayne.”

“Oh my god, you have the prettiest eyes.”

Spike rolled the object of the slightly slurred compliment as he lit another cigarette. He could not believe he’d let his mates talk him into coming to some frat party. Someone had forgotten to mention to him it was a frat beach party. As one who considered themself a punk, the idea of sand and surf didn’t really inspire a good mood within him. One of the reasons he’d crossed the pond to LA was to check out the underground punk scene. Not Beach blanket bingo with the life styles of the drunk and brainless. Speaking of which…

“My name is Harmony,” slurred the blond. Someone had suntanned one too many brain cells. Not that the white string bikini wasn’t eye catching but honestly, she couldn’t be any more Malibu Barbie if she tried.

“Spike,” he grunted. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Dressed in black from head-to-toe, and that included eyeliner and nail polish. He was certainly not in Kansas anymore. The beer wasn’t even strong enough to get pissed. He needed to find a bar, and quickly, so he could hit the jack hard in a feeble attempt to forget this night.

“Oh my god, you speak funny! You’re not from around here are you?” The Ditz wound her long blonde hair around one finger as she spoke, all she had to do was chew some gum and the cliché would be complete.

“Not quite, I’m from England,” he sighed. Why was he doing this to himself? Sure his friends were interested in chasing some American tail but he wanted to check out the bands around town. Not be checked out by vacated Barbie here.

“Wow, that’s why you must speak such good English.” Okay, that was it. He’d heard enough, any more of this drivel and he would stub out his cigarette in his own eye just to get out of here.

“Thanks pet,” And with that he went to find his friends so he could leave before any more brain cells were sucked from him.

*******

“Buffy, would you relax? God, you’re so going to embarrass me. Stop fidgeting, hold your head up and smile would you?”

Buffy glared at her so-called best friend Cordelia Chase, who really was just her partner in crime and not much else. All Cordelia’s other friends weren’t able to go out that night and crash the frat party, and Cordy had her heart set on crashing. Apparently, there was some guy named Devon she really wanted to meet again.

Buffy didn’t want to say it, but she’d met him once in a coffee shop. It didn’t mean much that he’d invited her to the party; he was probably inviting every good looking female he came in contact with that day.

However, it was a night out, and a night out was a night not having to study and be tutored, so she’d take what she could get.

“Cordy, how the hell are you going to find--”

“Ooh! There he is, be right back!” Cordy squealed and was off.

“—him.” Sighing, Buffy looked around at the throng of frat boys and sorority girls, hoping she blended. It wasn’t as if this were the first time she’d been to a party she shouldn’t have been to, but it was with more than just Cordy so there were at least a few people who had her back, just in case.

Just in case of what? she wondered. They’re all at least close to my age. Just a few years older and none of them know I’m underage, so what’s the harm, really?

“Well, hello there.”

Buffy turned to find a tall, sandy haired guy with a beer in his hand, leering down at her. “And what’s your name?”

“Helen Barnes.” It was easier to live a little when you weren’t being your self.

“Helen, a beautiful name for a beautiful lady, my name is Troy,” he held out his hand as she went to shake it, but he took it and kissed it instead.

Buffy rolled her eyes; she could not see the appeal of the older ‘college guy’. Since when did easy access to alcohol make you more mature? Riley had more maturity in his pinky than most frat boys had in their entire body. Trying not to appear rude, she scanned the party for Cordy who seemed to have disappeared.

“Let me get you a drink,” Troy offered,

“Thanks, I’ll have a Coke. Can you make it diet?”

“No problem little lady.”

Okay, so maybe college guys weren’t all that bad.

********

Spike had still not found his friends but he had, thankfully, found the drinks table. As he opened his second beer of the evening, he noticed some Neanderthal out of the corner of his eye.

“This is going to be so easy man,” Mr. Neolithic age bragged to his friends. “She doesn’t even drink, she wont know what hit her.”

Spike watched as the guy slipped two tablets into the soda can. Oh please, a roofie. Can you get anymore cliché? Watching where the guy was heading, he could see a young woman waiting, oblivious as to what was about to happen.

Spike hesitated for a moment before doing what he knew he had to. He ran.

“There you go Helen,” Buffy took the drink from Troy’s hands but before she could take a sip she was knocked to the ground by something, or to be more correct, someone.

Spike looked down at the blond he had just saved from being raped and found that she wasn’t at all grateful. In fact, she looked downright irate. Her emerald green eyes were glaring up at him something fierce and her nostrils were flaring slightly on that adorable funny little nose she had—

“Get off me, you gigantic oaf!” she hollered at him, pushing him off her.

“Dude, what the hell?” Neanderthal boy slurred.

Spike rolled off the girl and glared at him, “Get the fuck out of here, wanker. I saw the whole sodding thing.”

“Saw what? How he got me a drink?” the blond grumbled, getting to her feet. “God, he hadn’t even tried to grope me yet. What are you the frat party police?”

Spike narrowed his eyes at her. “Actually, he spiked your drink, you ungrateful bint. Wasn’t wagering you fancied being tied up and used for the rest of the night, but hey, if that’s what you’re into…” And he jumped up, dusting the sand off himself and stalked off.

Buffy’s eyes widened and she looked at Troy who spun and ran, nearly tripping and falling in the sand. She couldn’t wrap her mind around what had almost happened to her. If it hadn’t been for the bleached blond menace she would’ve
been in a bad way for all the boys to play with. The thought made her shudder.

Cordy, she thought frantically and went in search of her friend to warn her.

********



“Damn bloody bitch,” Spike muttered, reaching for his cigarettes in his pocket.

“Oh, Blondie bear…”

Spike froze; his lighter almost to his cigarette. He turned round to find Harmony and groaned inwardly. She was smiling up at him coyly, swaying from side to side and batting her eyelashes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the blond he’d knocked over having what looked like a row with a friend.

“Get over it,! Just grow up!” the dark haired girl she was talking toyelled, before she turned and stomped away.

“Don’t cry rape when you get gang-banged!” The blond yelled back, “But then it wouldn’t be your first time, would it?”

Spike couldn’t help the laugh that escaped at that. The girl was definitely a hellion. He grinned and started for her, wanting to tell her how he admired her for that comment when Harmony stepped in his way.

“Spikey--” she cooed.

“Harm, don’t take this the wrong way, but sod off,” and he started after the blond girl, determined to properly introduce himself to her.

Chapter 5

Buffy had never meant to lie.

Not to Riley, not to Spike and not even to herself. But some kind of survival instinct kicked in the moment she saw the two pink lines of the home pregnancy test so many years ago. Lying had, at the time, seemed like the most logical thing to do. It wasn’t going to hurt anyone—not as much as the truth would. She did it to protect Jess, Riley and ultimately, herself. No one stood to gain anything but pain from the truth.

As she stood looking into the eyes of Jess’s father the same instincts of survival kicked in again. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for the worst.

“So, I guess that’s one question I have wanted an answer to for the last seventeen years, answered,” Spike spat the words out bitterly making Buffy take a step back as though the words themselves would hit her in the heart.

“What question?”

“Whether on not Helen Barnes really ever existed?”

“And my question of if you would recognise me if we passed in the street has been answered as well.” She fidgeted with her skirt trying to make light of the situation, not wanting to fully grasp what was happening.

“Why did you lie?” He was trying to hide it but she could see the pain in his eyes.

“Why do you care? You got what you wanted; a nice roll in the hay. Sorry if I didn’t think that a one night stand was going to be the start of a beautiful relationship,” Buffy let fly—after all the hell she had gone through raising Jessica on her own, Spike was angry that she’d given him a fake name. What about the child he had given her?

‘The child he doesn’t know about.’ That would be the reason why. She had no right to be angry at Spike because she had given him no rights to be a father. She took a deep breath and took stock of her emotions in order to deal with issue at hand.

“Look, I’m sorry I lied to you seventeen years ago, but unless I left you with some kind of bad credit rating I don’t think now is the time or the place to be bringing this up. Let’s try to be adults and discuss the issue at hand.”

“Your daughter Jessica.” She could see Spike slip into teacher mode and was grateful for the respite from the current integration.

“Yes, what did she do this time?”

“She skipped class, and I’m worried about her.” He made his way around to his desk and pulled out a rather thick file, Buffy could only assume it was Jess’s records. “Over the past year her marks have slowly fallen. Surely you yourself have seen a change in her.”

“Yes, I have, its called puberty.”

Flashback

“Why are you even here, Spike? This doesn’t seem like your kind of deal at all,” Buffy said to him, sifting the sand through her fingers while keeping one eye on the party and Cordy.

“It’s not, Helen.”

Buffy still wasn’t used to the fake name. She’d given it enough so she should have been, but she wasn’t. And for some reason, the idea of Spike saying her real name was something she really wanted to hear.

“I’m planning on moving to the States and some friends promised to ‘show me a good time’. This was their idea of a good time. It wasn’t mine.”

“Who was that girl you were talking to?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Harmony something or other. Annoying gnat, she was. She actually told me that I must speak really good English, since I was, ya know, English and all.”

Buffy burst out laughing before asking, “She didn’t?”

“She did,” Spike replied, smiling. Her smiles were contagious. “What’s your story pet?”

“Not much of one. My friend dragged me here too. I thought it might be fun until well…”

“Until I tackled you?”

Buffy felt a blush coming on. Sure, he had literally tackled her, but what if he tackled her in a different way? Bad Buffy, she thought, You have a boyfriend. One that you love too.

“Actually, until I realized you were right about the roofie. That tends to put a damper on the fun.”

“You know what I was thinking when I walked away from you?”

“What?” she asked, turning her head to look at him.

He looked at her soulfully. “I was thinking that all I wanted to do was learn your name.”

She blinked at him. “Really?”

He nodded and smiled softly. “I’m glad I did.”

She pointed a finger at him. “No funny business, mister.”

He laughed and held up his hands. “None whatsoever. Unless you wanted it.”

She gave him a look and he laughed again.

End Flashback

“I think it’s a bit more than that.” His eyes were as still as blue as she remembered, and staring into them she could feel herself getting lost all over again.

“And what makes you an expert on my daughter?” She already knew the answer. He was her father and even though he didn’t know it she got the sense he was going above and beyond his call of duty.

“Well being an expert hasn’t helped you any.”

“Do you speak to all parents this way because I have gotta say your bedside manner not so great.”

“Well we both know that’s not true.” The sparkle in his eye did something to her insides she wasn’t quite ready to face. How did he do it? Five minutes and she was turning into a silly school girl. The same silly school girl who had slept with him all those years ago. This was not a good time to get off track.

“So about Jess, what’s happening to make her grades slip?” She asked trying to stay in safer territory.

“Well I was hoping you could tell me. Has anything changed at home?”

“No. I have provided a stable environment for her, always have. No matter how hard it was.” Why was he giving her the feeling she had to justify her actions?

“A new boyfriend perhaps?” he asked.

“No, Jess isn’t allowed to date until she is seventeen.”

“I was talking about you.”

Buffy was outraged was he trying to hit on her again?

“I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

“Sometimes when a parent gets a new partner a child can act out to grab back some of the attention she feels she has lost.”

“My daughter has my full attention, Mr Mayne.”

“Yet somehow you didn’t know her grades were falling.”

“Listen, why are you taking such an interest in my daughter?”

“I don’t know, I guess I see myself in her.”

Chapter 6

“Jessica Anne Summers, get down here now!” Buffy yelled from the bottom of the stairs. She knew Jess could hear her from the clomping of teenage girly feet coming from upstairs.

“What?” Jess yelled back.

“Don’t ‘what’ me young lady, get down here right now. I am not in the mood.”

Buffy rubbed her temples as she waited for Jess to appear. Her head was spinning. Jess, Spike, or as he was known now, Mr. Mayne, she didn’t know where to begin.

Jess. She had to sort out Jess first before she could even think about her own feelings. She had learnt the golden parenting rule of self sacrifice earlier than most, being a teenage single mom was kinda a crash course in it.

She watched Jess storm her way down the stairs she wondered what it would have been like to be a “normal” teenager. Ok, so she knew there was no such thing as a ‘normal teenager’, but what she would have been like if she hadn’t had Jess? Such as going to the movies with friends, as opposed to going to the paediatrician when Jess had a fever. Or staying up all night at a slumber parties talking about the coolest clothes, music, and boys instead of staying up all night trying to get Jess to stop crying.

And for what... gratitude was now replaced by contempt. And contempt was sitting on the couch waiting for the yelling to begin.

“Look, if this is about the hair dye stain in the bathroom, it will come out. Eventually.”

“No, it’s not about that, but once we are done here it will be.”

“Oh.” Jess folded her arms trying to look innocent.

“Your English teacher called me in to see him today.” Why didn’t you tell me he was your father? That’s right. I never told you the truth that’s why.
“Mr. Mayne?” Jess sounded surprised.

“Yes, Mr. Mayne. He tells me that your grades are slipping. I thought English was your favourite subject?”

“Did you think he was hot?”

Now that question threw her for a loop.

“What?”

Please not that, anything but that. Buffy did not like where this was going.

“All the girls in my class and a couple of the guys think he’s hot.”

“And what do you think?” Buffy tried not to sound panicked and at the same time trying to calculate how many years of therapy this was going to cost.

“Eww mom, he’s like a teacher and way ancient.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. How thirty-five could be considered ancient was beyond her.

“Besides I like my guys with a bit of edge.”

“Really? How many guys with edge?”

“What? There are no guys, mom. You make sure of that. Besides, Mr. Mayne couldn’t have edge even if he was made of right angles.”

“At least your Trig is ok,” Buffy sighed.

Flashback

Spike couldn’t believe his good luck. It was a damn good thing he’d gone back to learn her name, despite the rocky start they’d had. Helen Barnes was not what the package suggested at all. From the outside she screamed Valley Girl, with her long blond hair, twinkling green eyes, tight clothes and made up face. However, she was incredibly smart, funny, and had the uncanny ability to cut through the bullshit.

“Just look at them,” she said, waving her hand to the party of drunks. “They all think they’re so cool because they’re old enough to drink and they go to college. What they don’t realize is how incredibly stupid they really are because I bet half of them are flunking out of school for partying too much. How cool are they going to look when they flunk out of college?”

“Do you think they care?”

“They might not now, but they will later.”

“What do you go to school for?” Spike asked.

“I want – I mean, I go to school for Journalism.”

“Ah, a writer.”

“Of sorts. I’m not that great at being creative, but I can take the facts and string them together and make it sound good.”

“That is the mark of not only journalists, but English majors as well. Taking something and just making it sound nice – selling it.”

“In other words,” Helen said with a smirk, “Turning it into bullshit. I am a great bull shit artist. It’s probably why I can see through the bs thrown at me on a regular basis.”

“Do you ever get caught up in your own bs?”

She looked up at him and he noticed a tinge of sadness in her eyes. “Yeah, I do.”

He was about to ask what was wrong when her friend waltzed up to them, hanging onto a different boy than the one she’d been hanging onto earlier.

“I’m leaving,” her friend announced.

“That’s right, Cordy,” Helen said, standing, “We’re leaving together, remember?”

Spike’s heart sank. He didn’t want her to leave just yet, he wanted to spend more time with her, get to know her.

“No, I’m going home with…” Cordy looked to the guy and grinned goofily, “What is it again?”

The guy slurred his name, which was Jack.

“Cordy, you don’t even know his name! This is insane, you cannot go home with him!” Helen exclaimed.

“Well I am!” Cordy snapped, spitting fire. “Back off.”

“Look, I think you should listen to Helen,” Spike started.

Cordy smirked, “Oh yes, Helen. Come on Jack.”

“Cordy, don’t!” Helen called after her friend, desperation and fear tinged in her voice.

“Why don’t we follow them?” Spike suggested. “Keep an eye on them.”

Helen was near tears when she looked up at Spike. “Sure,” she agreed softly.

“Does she do this a lot?” Spike asked as he and Buffy followed Cordy and Jack up the beach.

“What run off with random guys at parties? Or piss me off?” Buffy replied coolly.

“Both I guess,” he asked as they continued their brisk pace.

“Well really once is too much, but she’s not really herself at the moment. She has just come out of a bad break up and I don’t think she is thinking clearly. Coupled with the Jell-O shots, I’m scared she might do something stupid.” When Spike just raised his eyebrows at the comment she continued. “Well more stupid than running off at a frat party with a random guy.”

“Well from an outsiders perspective I’ve got to say that you are doing the same thing,” Spike pointed out.

“What?” Buffy frowned in confusion.

“You and I… running off from the party.”

“That’s completely different. First of all we are chasing someone, so it’s not running off… and second of all I know what I am doing, unlike some.” They had caught up with Cordy. Buffy grabbed her arm and spun her around.

“Cordy stop,” Buffy ordered, however she forgot that Cordy was drunk and she over balanced and caused them both to fall on the ground.

“Let me help you up,” Jack offered, clearly seeing the potential girl on girl action that could take place if he took them both home.

“I don’t think so mate,” Spike stepped in between them. “I think your nights over”

“Listen, I don’t have to have both… you can take the blonde and I’ll have the brunette. Mates share.” The leer on the guys face made Spikes stomach turn.

“First of all,” he said as he grabbed his collar “I’m not your mate.” He punched Jack in the jaw.

“Secondly, scum like you give us all a bad name,” Spike snarled. He turned around to see how Buffy and Cordy were doing.

“Thanks,” Buffy replied. “But I think I have a bigger problem,” she gestured to Cordy who had missed the action due to her passing out on the sand.

***

“So my mom wanted me to come and apologise to you.”

Spike looked up from marking his papers to see Jess standing in the classroom doorway. She didn’t look happy, but then he had never seen her really happy. Buffy’s appearance yesterday had thrown him for a loop for one, but finding out that she was Jessica’s mom was something else.

Though they hadn’t covered it in the teachers hand book he knew that wanting to date one of your students parents was pretty much forbidden. So he had tried to forget about her, her lies that she had told all those years ago, however he had as much success in that as he had in forgetting her for the last fifteen years.

“Really?” He motioned for Jess to come in and sit down which she didn’t. She just stood in the doorway unmoved. “Something tells me you were not a big fan of that plan.”

“Listen, I just came here to say sorry, okay. So sorry,” she said as she went to leave.

“What for?” he asked causing her to stop in her tracks.

“For being disruptive in class or something, I don’t know. I’m just sorry.”

“Jess, don’t lie. Not to me, not to anyone. You don’t want to apologise to me and frankly I don’t think you have anything to apologise for.”

“But my mom...”

“She wants what’s best for you that’s all, better than what she had.”

“I know that, don’t you think I know that by now? All I have heard is ‘I want better for you’, but you know what that means?”

“No,”

“Mom had me when I was sixteen, the age I am now. She wants better for me than she had at my age. Better, as in she wishes she was never pregnant. She didn’t want me not then and not now.”