Chapter One

A New Student


Take time to realize,
That your warmth is, crashing down on in.

* * * * *

Buffy analyzed the red headed girl in front of her. This girl, nerdy as she may be, was supposed to be her mentor while she was at Avalon Academy, located in the sunny countryside of Virginia. The girl, Willow Rosenberg, was in dire need of a make over. Her long, beautiful rose colored hair was pin straight, parted down the middle. Her fuzzy pink sweater and jean skirt was not flattering her alluring figure. Despite her looks, she was a kind and shy gal.

“Welcome to Avalon Academy,” her voice soft and warm.

Buffy smiled, “That sounds cliché, when it’s said out loud.”

Willow smiled as well, “I know, but what else is there to say? ‘Welcome to the school of all around drama’ wouldn’t really be welcoming.” Buffy laughed, the statement ‘never judge a book by its cover’ recited in her head.

“Agreed.”

Willow looked at the luggage, “It’s a good thing that I have a friend with a van, or this would be impossible.”

Buffy looked sheepishly down at her two trunks and a very large duffle bag. This was just a portion of her actual paraphernalia. The rest of her stuff was already in boxes in her dorm room. “Yeah, mom thought that it would be better to send all of my stuff, than keep it at home.” That was the nice way of putting it. Her mom, well stepmom really, wanted everything that belonged to Buffy out of her new house as soon as legally possible, without just throwing her onto the streets.

“Ahh, yeah I know the story.” Willow said, understandingly. “Mom sent you packing?” Buffy nodded. “You’ll find a lot of people with the same story. Where did you come from?”

“California.”

“Wow! Did they just throw a dart onto a map and you landed here?”

Buffy laughed, “Pretty much.” They both shared a laugh, a small bond forming between them already. “What about you?”

“Michigan, around Mackinaw.” she held out her hand in the shape of a mitten and pointed to where she had come from. “Its cool living there, no one else can point out where they live on their hand. It’s quite nifty. Oh! But it is so much muggier here than back home, but you'll get used to it.” She looked at her watch, “Oz was supposed to have been here a couple of minutes ago; he’s not usually late…”

Right then, a blue van turned the corner and was heading towards them. The road was empty except for Buffy, her luggage, and Willow on the sidewalk; so the driver was able to park close so they didn’t have to carry the heavy luggage anywhere that was considerable distance. As the van got closer, Buffy was able to see that there were two people inside. The driver was a shorter man, with red hair and a splash of blonde highlights. The one in the passenger seat was bigger, his black hair sticking in every direction.

Willow walked up to greet them as they got closer. She embraced the shorter man, who Buffy presumed as the one she called Oz, once he had stepped out of the van. Looking back at Buffy, she smiled, “Buffy Summers, this is my boyfriend, Daniel "Oz" Osbourne,. Oz, Buffy.”

“Hey,” Oz said in greeting.

“Hi.” She answered.

“And the doofus in front of you is Alexander Harris, or Xander as we call him. Xander, Buffy.”

“Hey Buffy!” he said, happily. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” She couldn't help but smile at his cheerful behavior.

Xander’s eyes fell on the trunks and his face fell. “Please tell me you have tons of toilet paper in those.” He said, pointing at the offending boxes.

“Sorry,” she said guiltily.

He groaned, “We just got done lifting another new girls' trunks, and they weighed about a hundred pounds! She said they were filled with just her clothes!” he whined.

“Their not that heavy I promise… ninety-five pounds sounds about right.” The group laughed. At least these people could take a joke, she thought sourly.

“Well they're not going to move on their own.” Willow said, detangling herself from Oz’s side and started to take one end of a trunk and tried to lift it up, her face turning pink as she tried on her own.

* * * * *

When they had finally reached the campus gates, Buffy was awed by what she saw. It looked more beautiful than what was portrayed in the pamphlet. The luscious trees were vibrant in their colors of greens and browns. The flower beds were blooming with a mixture of different colors from the rainbows, and different types of flowers.

The place was filled with kids scattered around campus. They were in clusters of their pals that they haven’t seen since last year, updating everyone on their summer. Their clothes were different when you looked from group to group, similar to an anarchy.

As Oz drove them around a square of ambrosial green grass, along with a large water fountain in the middle of the square, he stopped in front of a large, red brick building. Jumping out of the van, Buffy was able to get a better look at the place. On the front of the four story building, there was a gray stone plague calling it ‘Rosemary Hall: Girls Dorm.’

Willow stepped beside Buffy, “Welcome to my home away from home.”

“Certainly feels that way, doesn’t it.” Buffy turned to look at Willow, the feeling of it really being her new home for year becoming more comforting.

“Yeah, it is…”

“Hey, Chatty Cathy one and two.” Xander said behind them. “Mind giving us a hand?”

The girls giggled lightly, before heading back towards the end of the van.



“Who’s tha’?” William 'Spike' Wellings asked his friend, Lindsey McDonald, as they sat on the fountain, facing the girls’ dormitory.

“Who?” Lindsey asked, starring in different direction, his eyes on the girl of his obsession, Eve.

“Unloading her gear from Oz’s van.” Spike pointed. The blonde was beautiful with her wonderful tan legs in short daisy duke shorts and her yellow tank top, leaving little for ones imagination. Her long hair - different shades of blonde - was tied up in a ponytail at the back of her head, shone in the suns raises. Goldilocks.

Lindsey looked over at the girl his friend was talking about. She sure was a beautiful one alright. “The blonde?” his friend nodded. “Don’t know, new I guess.”

“New?” Lindsey nodded. Fresh meat! Jumping up from his spot, he made his way towards the girl as she stood behind the van.



Buffy grabbed the handle bar of one of her trunks and tried to pull it towards her. She didn’t know that they were this heavy! As the trunk was about to come out of the bed of the van, she could feel her arms quaking under the pressure of the weight. The burning of her muscles told her that she was about to drop the load in a second.

Just as her arms were about to give out, a pair of hands came out of no where and grabbed the trunk before it dropped. “Whoa there luv, you better let me handle this.” The drop dead sexy accent glistened into her left ear.

Turning her head towards the angelic voice, she saw the most beautiful blue eyes Buffy had ever seen. They were as blue as the sea and as deep at it. The high cheek bones were what any girl would kill for. The shocking white hair slicked back gave the person a bad look, accompanied with a jagged scar on his eyebrow. The lickable lips looked invitingly.

Looking her savior up and down, Buffy saw that he was wearing a long leather duster, a tight black shirt, black jeans and combat boots. All the black was a breathtaking contrast with his alabaster skin, making it seem whiter than what it would normally be. “No problem.” Her voice was suddenly dry. A smirk formed on his face, making her weak in the knees, and yet, made him look cocky and arrogant. She decided that she didn’t like the way he was grinning at her.

Stepping away, she watched as the newcomer and Xander got her trunk out of the vehicle before laying it on the gravel. “Thanks Spike.” Xander said friendly.

“No problem mate.” Spike answered.

“Spike?” Buffy asked, disbelieving.

Spike bowed in front of her lightly. “At your service, my lady.” His voice showing all his charm that he could muster.

Is this guy for real? Buffy had seen this kind of guy before in L.A. The kind that seem nice, then turn into humping sex bunnies once you give them an inch. Well this one had another thing coming if he thought he’d get anything from her! This soon, anyway.

The look on the girls face wasn’t an encouraging one. She had crossed her arms under her chest, and placed her weight on one foot. With an eyebrow raised, Spike could tell that she must’ve seen through his little charade.

“Are you some kind of bellboy?” Buffy asked.

“Nope, I’m just a good enough bloke to help out a distressed lady.”

“Oh, how nice of you.” Her voice sarcastic.

“Hey Spike,” Xander interrupted. “Mind helping us get these trunks into Buffy’s room?”

“Buffy?!” Spike barked, not seeing the scowl deepen on Buffy’s face. “What kind of parent calls their kid ‘Buffy’?”

“Spike!” Willow cried, horrified by what he had said as she came to stand next to Buffy.

“You shouldn’t be pointing fingers, blondie. I mean ‘Spike’? Talk about juvenile.”

“Ok you two, retract the claws.” Xander said, jumping out from the back of the van. “Let’s just get these trunks up to the dorms and then you two can continue this lovely talk.”

Spike and Buffy glared at each other for a second before they agreed to get the trunks upstairs. It wasn’t until they all realized that Buffy was assigned to the third floor, there were no elevators.

“Bloody hell!” Spike yelled again, for the hundredth time.

Buffy groaned. “You mind keeping your ‘bloody hells’ and your ‘Jesus Christ’s’ down to a minimal?” She too was carrying a heavy trunk, with the help of Oz, as Willow led the way up the stairs and Spike and Xander took up the rear, with the heavier trunk.

“Remember luv, I’m the one who volunteered to help you. If I didn’t then you would be making two trips.” Spike retorted. He could just make out a ‘Yeah, yeah’ from Buffy as she mumbled to herself. Looks could sure be deceiving.

Finally making it to the third level, Willow hurried down the hall towards the last room at the end of the hall and opened the door for the others. “Wow Buffy.” She said as she walked in. “Did your parents pay big bucks to get you the best room in the whole building?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Buffy answered as she waddled backwards towards the end of the hall. She felt her spirits lift as she reached the home stretch. Even hearing Spike’s ‘Thank god’ didn’t stop her from her mental snoopy dance.

Dropping her trunk near the window, Buffy looked around the room and saw that Willow was right. This was a nice room. There were big dormer windows, filling the room with some well needed sunshine. The walls were a pale yellow with a dark red wooden border around the top, middle and bottom of the walls. There was a desk already in place, along with a bed in the middle of the room, and a closet off in the corner. Right next to the closet was her own bathroom… Yeah, her stepmom paid a lot for this room, probably thinking if she got the best room, that she wouldn’t come home at all.

“Nice digs goldilocks,” Spike’s voice was dead, almost mean. “See ya at dinner.” And then he was out of the room after that. Oz and Xander said they would see her later before they, too, walked out.

“Don’t mind Spike.” Willow explained.

“What’s his deal anyway? First he turns from a man whore Dr. Jekyll, then a rotten Mr. Hyde.” Buffy said as she went over to one of her boxes, marked bedding, and started to unload it.

Willow gave her a sympathetic smile, watching the young woman as she got her room ready. Walking over, Willow grabbed the mattress cover and helped Buffy place it on the bed. “It’s a long story, but I’m guessing that you need to know about it.” Buffy waited, grabbing the sheet and starting to make the bed. “This school is exactly like a Soap Opera, I’m not joking. It has some of the most dramatic irony I’ve ever experienced.” Willow said.

“You see,” Willow stood up. “Last year, there were four,” she held up four fingers, “most known kids in this school,” she pointed to the her index finger, “Spike,” middle finger, “Drusilla,” ring finger, “Angel,” pinky, “and Darla. Spike, was dating Dru almost all last year. Angel was dating Darla at the same time. But there was more going on then meets the eye.” She pointed to her pointer finger, “Spike was sleeping with Dru,” next finger, “Dru was sleeping with Angel,” next finger, “and Angel was sleeping with Darla, as well as every other girl on campus.”

“I can see the Soap comparison.” Buffy agreed, as she covered the bed with her black and white comforter.

“It gets worse. Spike and Angel are cousins.” Willow nodded at the blonde’s outrageous expression. “Yeah I know, major wiggies.”

“That’s one twisted family tree.”

“Yeah… also you know why Spike was so ‘grrr’ when he was in here?” Buffy nodded. “Well this was Dru’s room. Drusilla Blackwell.”

Buffy didn’t know what to think about this. This gave her a whole new way of looking at Spike. What he had gone through must have been horrifying. That was one thing that she could relate to him on. She threw her pillows onto the head of the bed. “And I thought my old school had enough drama.”

“Yeah, well we’re all interested in seeing what this year brings. Darla and Dru graduated, leaving the battering cousins behind.” Buffy had to agree, that would be very interesting. “Well, enough stories at the moment. Let’s get this room more you.”

Grabbing her stereo from one of her trunks, Buffy hooked it up so they could listen to some music as they put her stuff away. When she went to put some clothes into a dresser drawer, she stopped when she saw a picture laying on the bottom. Starring up at her was a beautiful raven haired woman with ivory skin wrapped in the arms of Spike. So this must be Drusilla Blackwell. Yes, she was gorgeous, but nothing all that special.

It was the look on Spike’s face that made her wonder her last thought. Love was shining from on his face as he held her. “What are you looking at?” Willow came up next to her and looked at the photo.

“Wow, that was a long time ago.” She picked up the photo. “Early last year I’m guessing. Probably before Spike found out about her and Angel at least.”

“How did he find out?”

“He walked in on them.” Ouch, Buffy thought. “Happened right here too, the whole floor could hear the yelling.” Willow shuddered as she remembered that night.

“I guess that I wouldn’t be able to make fun of him for that, can I.”

“I wouldn’t suggest it, no.” Willow smiled. A chime of a clock rang in the distance. “What time is it?”

“Umm… five-thirty.” She said, looking at her bedside clock.

“Dinner time!” Placing the picture back in the drawer, she grabbed Buffy’s empty hand and walked briskly out of the room, changing the subject to the goodiness of the food.






* * * * *
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Chapter Two

Confrontation and Nightmares


Take time to realize,
That I am on your side
Didn't I, Didn't I tell you.

* * * * *

The food at Avalon Academy was much better than what Buffy normally got at her high school. Here, the food was actually cooked and warm when you ate it. Not sticking to your fork or spoon when you try to get a bite. Today, there were cheesy mash potatoes, green beans, and three different entrees that you could pick from. Buffy got whatever Willow chose, not knowing what to pick.

Walking through the cafeteria, Buffy was conscious of the eyes that were following her as she walked confidently behind Willow. Passing a couple of tables, she had heard low wolf whistles. Ignoring them, she continued to follow her new friend as she came to a stop at a table near the windows at the far end of the lunchroom.

At the table, Oz and Xander were sitting there along with three new faces. Sitting down next to Willow and a shy looking girl with honey blonde hair, Willow introduced us. “Hey everyone, this is Buffy, the knew student that I told you about. Buffy, this is the gang.” The girl I was sitting next to was Tara MaClay, the young looking boy with dark sandy hair was Connor McAlister – Angel’s brother - who was dating Tara, and the brunette sitting next to Xander was Cordelia.

“Cordelia here also came from California.” Willow said as she ate her green beans.

“What part did you come from?” Buffy asked.

“LA.”

“Me too. Which part?”

“The upper class.”

“Interesting, I’m surprised I haven’t seen you around. I used to live there, too.”

“What did you say your last name was?” Cordy asked, wondering where she had heard the girls last name from.

“Summers.”

“Oh yes, I remember. You dad is one of the top lawyers at Wolfram and Hart right? My dad worked there as well.”

“Interesting.” Buffy said, her dad must know Cordy’s dad, what as small world they all lived in. Scooping another spoonful of potatoes, she ate as she listened to Willow talk to her friends. They looked comfortable as they talked to each other, not seeming to care if everyone was looking at them; due too her ‘new kid’ status.

“Hey Willow?” Buffy asked a couple of minutes later, “Which one’s Angel?”

Willow turned around and looked around them before her face showed that she had found them. Pointing she said, “You see the table near the door, with all the girls around it?”

“Yeah,”

“Well he’s the one with two in his lap.”

“Quite the man whore isn’t he.” Buffy said, raising an eyebrow at the man.

Willow laughed. “Definitely. Everyone in the neighboring towns knows as well. He sure does get around. Just ask Connor, he has to live with the guy.”

Buffy turned towards Connor, and with the utmost sincerity, she said, “I feel so sorry for you.” Everyone around the table erupted with laughter.

“It’s ok, I just try to get out of the house as much as I can when he has his ‘friends’ over, if you know what I mean.” He said.

“Yeah, but watch out Buffsters, don’t let him corner you, you might feel something you don’t want to feel.” Xander warned her, gritting his teeth as he said it.

“Don’t worry, living in LA, you figure out how to get a man to back off.”

“Amen to that sista!” Cordy said loudly. Again, the table erupted with laughter, bringing people at the surrounding tables to look over at them again.

“Well, we’d better get going if we want to finish getting your stuff unpacked.” Willow said to Buffy. Getting up, the two said goodbye to their friends before heading to empty their trays.



“Hey, Angel,” said Parker, one of Angel’s good friends. “There goes the new girl. Oh my and is she fine!”

Angel looked up from the pair of breasts in his face to see the breathtaking blonde walking with the nerd, Rosenberg. “She is a fine piece of ass.”

“Fifty bucks says you can’t make her go out on a date with you. The first time.” Parker said, laying a fifty out on the table for his friend to see.

Angel smiled dangerously. “You know that everyone woman on this campus has fallen for me, why would you want to throw away good, green cash?”

“First, Rosenberg and her friends don’t like you. And second, she looks like a girl you won’t be able to add to your wall of girls you’ve banged.” Parker said cockily.

Angel looked at his friend, the new girl, and then the fifty buck on the table. “What’s her name again?”

“Buffy,” said Riley, his fellow football player.

“What kind of fuckin’ name is that?” he said rhetorically before shooing away the girls in his lap. Getting up, he made his way in front of the two girls before they were able to head out of the room.

“Hello ladies,” he said, when he cut off their path. Buffy and Willow exchanged looks. He turned his attention to Buffy. “I’m Angel. I noticed you’re new around here.”

“Yeah, you and every other person with eyes.” Angel frowned, this girl certainly had fire, and what a mouth on her! Would she he a great lover.

“Listen, I was wondering if sometime we could go out, just to talk. You seem like a nice person.” Angel turned on his charm to full blast, by adding one of his famous looks that made every woman bend whatever way he wanted.

“You’ve only known me for three seconds and you’re already asking me out?” She couldn’t believe this. Not three hours on campus and she had already gotten the eye of the two ‘hottest’ guys on campus. “Look, you seem like a heaven sent guy and all, but I’m not interested.” She tried to keep a straight face when she heard Willow’s muffled laugh.

“But-” now Angel was confused, how could she just flat out refuse him? Any other normal girl would be at his feet begging him to go out with him. Why was this girl any different?

“Nice meeting you, Angel lips, but I gotta go.” When she went to go around him, he blocked her path.

“Now I’m sure that you didn’t mean that, did you missy?” Angel asked, taking a step closer towards the ladies.

“I’m sure she did, Peaches.” Spike said, coming up and standing next to Buffy, putting her slightly behind him as he faced his cousin.

“Ahh, Spike,” Angel took a small step back as he looked down at his most hated thorn. “I don’t think this discussion was an open invitation.”

“I’m makin’ it one, wanker. The lady made it clear that she wasn’t interested, so I’d best leave her alone.” Spike’s tone dangerous.

All the while, Buffy didn’t know what to do. The looks these two were sending each other was strong enough to start a fire. Or a thunderstorm. And the way that they stood when the other was around, it was like someone had stuck a needle in their back, making them seem taller and tougher. Already on her first day she had two guys fighting over her. Boy did they make a girl feel welcome!

“What are you going to do about it Willy?” Spike took a threatening step towards him when he felt a hand on his arm and stopped. Turning, he saw Buffy looking at him with her bright green emerald eyes.

Turning his back on Angel, he put his hand on the small of Buffy’s back, “Come on luv.” Then he walked of the cafeteria with the two girls, his friends meeting him at the doors before they made it out.

Outside, Spike still hadn’t taken his hand from Buffy and it was making her skin tingle from the light contact. Walking down the stone steps, Spike stopped once they hit the gravel. “There you go luv. No big baddies in your way now.”

“Thanks for that.” She said lightly.

“No problem pet, anytime.” He nodded his head towards her before he took off towards the guy’s dorm building.

As she watched him leave, she was lightly conscious of the hand that was pulling her towards the other direction. “Buffy?” she looked at Willow, “are you ok?”

Buffy looked over at Spike’s retreating form. “Yeah, I’m just fine.”

* * * * *

It wasn’t till late that Buffy’s knew room looked like a teenage girl’s room. Although her walls were still bare, she had gotten a lot of work done with Willows help. They had talked about their lives, getting to know each other better with every question. It turns out that they had more in common than what they had thought. That was just an added bonus to their already growing friendship.

“Wow, look at all these trophies! And these metals!” Willow said, opening one of the last boxes. “Soccer, track, volleyball… cheerleading?” she looked up at Buffy’s sheepish face.

“Yeah, that doesn’t bother you does it?” Buffy stammered, “I mean, I could send them back home if they-“

“No it’s ok Buffy.” Willow reassured her friend, “We could actually use you on the girl’s teams. They suck.”

“I was thinking maybe I would try it .”

“You should! Soccer season starts soon, and I know that Professor Master would like that as well.”

“Professor Master?”

“He’s the girls and guys coach for soccer. He’s real tough, but it helps… for the most part at least. And Spike’s on the team as well, so is his friend Lindsey… You should try it out.”

“I guess I could.” Buffy mumbled to herself. “Wow, look at the time!” she said when her gaze landed on the clock on her bedside table.

“How time flies!” Willow placed the ‘Outstanding Player’ soccer trophy back in its box before heading towards the door. “If you need anything, my room’s across the hall, I’m a light sleeper so just knock on the door if you need anything.”

Buffy smiled lightly, “I’ll make sure to do that.” Saying goodnight, Willow left the room for her own.

Getting ready for bed, Buffy grabbed her bag of toiletries and went into her bathroom. She was really glad that she didn’t have to share a bathroom with anyone, this way she didn’t have to worry about anyone getting in her way for a shower.

Done with her nightly routine, she turned out the lights and settled herself in her bed. Pulling the sheets up to her chin, she felt her eyelids droop and the pull of unconsciousness undeniable.

* * * * *

She didn’t know what she was running from, all she knew was that something was coming for her, and it wanted her blood. Running down a dark alley, she looked behind her frequently to make sure no one was following her. But the second time that she looked, she saw that there was a black, blurry figure running after her.

A scream erupted from her throat as she pushed her legs on. The menacing laughter behind her chilled her bones, forgetting her feet, and stumble on something. Buffy landed in a black puddle and looked behind her to see what she had tripped on. A silent scream filled her throat as she looked into the dead, lifeless eyes of her mother.

Scrambling away, she saw her clothes were covered in a red liquid, blood. This time a scream did burst out of her mouth. She kept backing away, tears in her eyes as she looked at her mother’s lifeless body laying in the middle of the alley.

Suddenly there were hands picking her up from the ground. The psychotic laughter was back, making her fight with all her might against the hands that had grabbed onto her.

Buffy’s eyes flew opened as she sat up rapidly fast. Her body was covered in a fine layer of sweat, and her breathing was panicky and shallow. The room was still dark, the sun still not risen from her slumber.

There was a light knock on her door, “Buffy?” came Willow’s voice. “Are you ok?”

“Y-Yeah.” She called back, “I’m fine.”

“You were screaming, are you sure everything is alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s ok. Go back to bed, Wills.” She imagine Willow standing on the other side of the door, pondering if she could go or not.

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow alright?” concern filled her voice.

“Yes.” She listened to the light footsteps leave her door and the soft click of other doors shutting. Had she really woken up everyone? This was a new regression. It wasn’t a good thing if the screaming came back. Maybe something reminded me. Maybe that’s why the nightmare was worse than before.

Looking at her clock, she saw that it was midnight. Only three hours of sleep and she already had a nightmare. Shaking her head, she rested her head on her hands, she whipped the sweat that had formed there. Falling back onto her pillows, Buffy fell asleep, hoping there wouldn’t be a repeat of the night terror she had had.


TBC




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