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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the second chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it's great to get feedback!

I don't own the characters.

Thanks to Nichole for her help!
Registration


Buffy tried to remain determined as she opened the door to leave the day-care center. She knew if she didn’t leave now, she wouldn’t be able to. And she had to be at registration in ten minutes. She could still hear Cody crying inside. She hated leaving him in new places. They had met with the head of the day-care center the previous day, and she knew they would take good care of her son. She also knew that she would hardly be able to tear him away from all the fun he would have when she came to pick him up at the end of the day, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Buffy walked the short distance to the Administration building, where registration was held in the quad. She got in the right line, and surrendered to the waiting.

When she had been standing there for about half an hour, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Buffy! Buffy!” She turned to see Willow and another woman walking towards her, Willow waving frantically.

“Hey, Willow!” Buffy returned the hug Willow gave her.

“Buffy, this is Tara, Tara, Buffy.” Willow introduced.

“Hi Buffy, it’s nice to meet you.” Tara offered Buffy her hand, and she took it.

“You too. Willow talked a lot about you the other day.” The three women smiled at each other.

“We should get going.” Willow looked at Tara, who nodded.

“Don’t let me keep you. I’m just happy to see a friendly face.” Buffy smiled at her new friends.

“How about we meet for lunch at...” Willow looked at her watch. “Say one thirty? You should be done by then. You’ll get to meet some of the others, too.”

“Sounds good.” Buffy nodded. “You guys go, I don’t want you missing anything.”

“OK, see you later.” Willow took Tara’s hand and they started walking towards the Administration building. Tara turned to wave goodbye.

*****

“Hey, guys.” Buffy sat down next to Willow at a table in the cafeteria.

“Hi, Buffy. Guys, this is Buffy. You’ve already met Tara, and that’s Xander.” Anya and Oz.” Willow pointed as she did the introductions.

“Hi, everyone!” Buffy smiled at the people around the table. Xander, a guy with brown hair and eyes, and Anya, a blonde girl, said hi. Oz, who, strangely enough, had blue hair, settled for a nod and a wave.

“So, you’re a freshman?” Xander asked.

“Yep. I would be a sophomore, though, I had to take a year off in high school.” She didn’t go into details.

“Why?” The question came from Anya.

“Anya!” Willow exclaimed.

“What did I do?” Anya looked innocent. Buffy laughed.

“It’s OK. It’ll come out eventually, anyway. Thanks, though.” She gave Willow a thankful smile, before turning back to Anya. “It’s the usual story. I met a guy, fell in love, thought he loved me, things got serious, I got pregnant, he left.”

“You have a kid? Really?” Xander looked surprised. “Who would a thought?”

“He’s adorable, has the most beautiful eyes ever...” Willow was interrupted by a brunette girl who sat down next to Oz.

“Talking about me again?” She asked, smiling. Willow huffed.

“Very funny. Buffy, this is Cordy, Cordy, Buffy.” The two exchanged greetings. “No, I was actually talking about Cody.”

“I thought you were into girls. This sounds like someone I should meet.” The others around the table laughed at Cordy’s words. “What?” She looked at her friends. “What’d I say?” Willow suppressed her laugh to answer Cordelia’s question.

“He’s three and a half, Cordy. That’s too young, even for you.” Cordy blushed a little.

“Well, how was I supposed to know. Why were you talking about a three-year-old anyway?” Cordy looked annoyed.

“He’s Buffy’s son.” Tara explained.

“Oh. Sorry.” Cordy gave Buffy an apologetic look.

“No problem.” Buffy smiled.

“You have any pictures?” Anya questioned. “I just love kids.”

Buffy opened her backpack and got her wallet, where she always had a couple of photos, out. She pulled out the most recent picture, from when her Mom had taken her, Cody and Dawn to Disneyland earlier that summer. She handed it to Anya.

“Willow’s right, he is adorable.” Anya handed the picture to Xander who passed it on to Oz who gave it to Cordy.

“He really is. He must look like his father, though, with the dark hair and eyes.” Cordy was too focused on the picture to notice the look of pain her words brought to Buffy’s face. Willow, however, did.

“You OK, sweetie?” She put an arm around Buffy’s shoulders. The others had concerned looks on their faces. Cordy looked up.

“I did it again, didn’t I?” She hit herself on the forehead. “My foot seems to live in my mouth today. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s OK. It just... still hurts a little to think about it, that’s all.” Buffy tried to pull herself together.

“Hey, who died?” Another brunette joined the table, squeezing in between Tara and Cordy. The others stared at her. “Sorry. Everyone looked so serious, I just wanted to lighten the mood a little.”

Buffy laughed.

“Let me guess. You must be Faith.” The other girl smiled.

“Sure thing. And I have absolutely no clue who you are.”

“I’m Buffy.” Buffy was caught off guard when the other girl started laughing.

“No, seriously.” Faith saw the look on the others faces. “Oh... sorry.” Buffy laughed a little herself.

“Don’t worry about it, I get that a lot.”

“So, what was with the long faces?” Faith snagged a french fry from Cordy’s plate.

“Hey!”

“Oh, like you were gonna eat them anyway. Aren’t you on some diet or another?” Faith helped herself to a couple of more fries.

“That doesn’t mean you can eat my food!” Cordy pulled her plate out of Faith’s reach. Willow decided to end their little bickering.

“Cordy did one of her famous mouth slips.”

“How was I supposed to know that the guy had run off? That’s what happened right?” Buffy nodded at Cordy’s question. Faith looked even more confused.

“OK, I’m missing something here, aren’t I?”

“I guess I might as well tell you the entire story, it’ll just be confusing otherwise.” Buffy waited until she had everyone’s attention before she started talking again.

“OK. At Hemery High, which is the school I went to in LA...” Cordy cut her off.

“You’re from LA? Who would leave LA to come to this hole?”

“Cordy!” The entire table yelled at her.

“OK, OK, sorry!”

Buffy continued.

“Anyway, every school has that popular guy, the one every girl wants to date and every guy wants to be.” Willow and Cordy got dreamy looks on their faces and said with one voice.

“Cameron Walker.”

“Well, at Hemery that guy was Liam ‘Angel’ O’Connor. He was a senior, captain of the football team, head quarter back and could have any girl he wanted. And he picked me, a freshman. Our first date was the Valentine Day’s ball, and after that we were practically inseparable. He asked me to the senior prom, and, of course, I accepted. After all, I was the only freshman to have been invited. So, we went to the prom, danced, had a great time. After the dance, Angel had rented a hotel room at a fancy hotel in Beverly Hills, his parents had a lot of money. We went to the room, he had candles and flowers and champagne and everything and... it led to... other things. At the time I really thought that was what I wanted, but I’ve realized that I just wanted to do whatever I could to keep him. I knew he was going to college and I didn’t want to be just another girl he dated in high school. Anyway, the next morning I woke up, and he was gone. No note, nothing. I was devastated, and spent weeks crying in my room. I tried to call him, but his parents told me that he was in Boston, he had gotten an internship at a lawfirm for the summer before he started pre-law at Harvard.” Buffy stopped to take a moment to calm herself. The memory of Angel’s betrayal still hurt.

“I tried to get on with my life as best I could. School started again and things went back to normal. Deep down, I knew something was wrong, but I spent some time in denial land. One day in October, my Mom picked me up from school, and she didn’t drive straight home. I asked where we were going, and she said that she was taking me to a doctor. She had suspected that something was wrong for a while, and her suspicions were confirmed. By then, I was already almost five months pregnant, and it was too late for an abortion. Not that I think I could have had one, anyway. My Mom was very supportive and told me she would do anything to help me if I decided to keep the baby. I took a sabbatical from school and got a job until Cody was born. I had had some contact with an adoption agency, but Mom didn’t want me to make a decision before the baby was born, she was afraid I would regret it. The moment I saw him, I knew I could never give him up. So, I was home for the rest of the school year and the summer, and in the fall I went back to my sophomore year and finished high school, got a scholarship to come here, so... here I am.”

The entire table was quiet for a moment before Xander spoke up.

“What about the guy, Angel?”

“My Mom talked to his parents after we got the results back. I never talked to him, I think they did. They told Mom that he wasn’t interested in taking a part of the baby’s life, but that they would pay child support.” Buffy felt a sting of pain in her heart. “I haven’t seen him since the day of the prom, and he’s never met Cody.”

“What? But... how could he... I mean... that’s just...”

“Willow, honey, you’re babbling.” Tara pulled Willow out of her rambling.

“Thanks, sweetie. It’s just... how could someone do that?”

“That’s what I’ve been asking myself for the past four years.” Buffy smiled at Willow. “Don’t worry about it, please. It’s the way it is, and I’m happy now.”

“You must have been, what, sixteen when you had him? God, at sixteen, I was...”

“Queen bitch of Sunnydale High.” Xander finished Cordy’s sentence. She glared at him.

“Thank you, Xander. Do you want to relive your high school years?” Xander went visibly pale at her words. Cordy smiled. “Didn’t think so.”

“Xander was a bit of a geek in high school.” Willow stage whispered, so that the entire table heard, to Buffy.

“Wil, please, she doesn’t wanna hear about that.” Xander was bright red now.

“Don’t worry, Xander, I can see that you’ve outgrown that now.” Buffy smiled at Xander, making him blush even more.

“Yes, he’s very good in bed.” Anya, who had been quiet for a long time, spoke up again. “With me.” She gave Buffy a look that said ‘stay away from my boyfriend’. Buffy put her hands in the air in a surrendering motion and Anya seemed pleased. Cordy decided to get back on topic.

“Anyway, what I meant was, I can’t imagine having a baby at sixteen. Hell I can’t imagine having a baby now, or... you know, ever.”

“I know the feeling.” Buffy thought back to the months before Cody was born. “God, I was so scared, I had no idea what to do. But you learn when you have to, it’s not like I had a choice. And things worked out OK in the end, after all.” She smiled at the people around the table, who she hoped she would be able to call her friends in a not too distant future.

“Who’s up for a change of topic?” Faith piped up. “All this serious stuff is getting my mood down, and it was already down before, school and all.” She looked around the table, realizing something. “Hey, where’s Willy?”

Buffy looked confused, so Willow explained.

“She means Spike. Don’t try to call him that, though, she’s the only one who gets away with it.”

“That’s because he knows I’ll kick his ass if he tries anything. So, where is the bleached wonder? Anyone heard from him?”

“He’s not getting in til late Thursday.” Xander spoke up. “Problems with the flight or something.”

“Damn, why didn’t I go to England too?” Faith complained.

Willow ignored Faith and turned to Buffy.

“So, what classes did you sign up for?” Buffy looked in her papers.

“English Lit., Shakespeare, Modern Poetry, Art history, Major American authors, Women in literature, and Introduction to creative writing.” She handed Willow her folder with information.

“I’m in your Shakespeare class, great. I think Giles teaches most of the English courses. I’m not sure which classes Spike TA’s though, anyone know?” She turned to the group.

“I think he said Eng Lit and the poetry class. Not sure about the others.” Cordy took the papers from Willow. “Hey, we have Lit together.” Buffy smiled.

“Great, I won’t be completely lost, what a relief.” The others laughed.

“Yeah, freshman year can be pretty overwhelming.” Tara smiled at Buffy.

“Hey!” Anya had an idea. “You wanna join our study group?”

“Study group?”

“Yeah, you should!” Willow got excited. “We all get together once, sometimes twice, a week to help each other study. Even if we’re not taking the same classes, it sometimes helps to get an outsiders opinion. You really should come.”

“OK, I think I will. As long as Cody won’t be a problem. The daycare center’s only open till six P.M. so I’d have to bring him.” Buffy waited for someone to object. She had had the same problem all through high school.

“No problem.” Cordy said. “And if you need a babysitter, we’d be happy to help out. Right guys?” The others agreed. Buffy felt tears of gratitude forming in her eyes.

“Thanks you guys, I can’t tell you what that means to me.” Willow put an arm around her shoulder.

“Hey, we’re supposed to lighten the mood here. I don’t think we’re doing a great job.” Buffy laughed and dried her tears.

“I’m sorry, it’s just... I’ve never had any friends who were very supportive of the whole single teenage mom thing.”

“Well, you’ve never had any really good friends, then.” Xander made an effort to get the mood up a few notches. “So, everybody on for the Bronze on Friday?” Everyone nodded. “Buff, you coming too?”

“Yeah. My Mom’s coming up this weekend, so I’ll have a babysitter. I’m looking forward to it. I never went out much in LA.” At her last words, Cordy and Faith stared at her. “What?”

“You didn’t go out in LA?” Cordy sounded desperate. “That’s like... a sin.”

“Yeah, B, gotta agree with Queen C on this one.” Faith realized what she had said. “Wow. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d use.” Cordy threw a fry at Faith.

Buffy laughed at the argument.

“I don’t know... there’s not really a lot of places in LA that lets you in if you’re not 21, and the ones that do... aren’t really a lot of fun.” Buffy looked at her watch. “Shoot, I gotta go. I have a meeting with some administration guy in ten minutes.” She got up from the table. “It was nice meeting all of you.” She got a chorus of you too’s back. Willow got up as well.

“I’ll walk with you, I gotta talk to one of the teachers anyway.” She gave Tara a quick kiss. “Bye, sweetie. Guys.”

The two girls left the cafeteria and headed for the administration building.

“They’re really nice.” Buffy reflected. “You’re lucky to have such good friends.”

“Yeah, don’t I know it.” Willow smiled. “They really liked you, too, I could tell.”

“You think?”

“I know.” Willow looped her arm with Buffy’s. “They’re really great people, if you let them in.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to work on that...” Buffy sighed. “Oz doesn’t say much, does he?”

“Not really. But he’s a really nice guy.”

“How come you two broke up?” Buffy asked.

“Well, that’s a pretty long story.” Willow laughed.

“Short version.”

“OK.” Willow thought for a moment. “Back in high school, me and Oz were dating, and Xander and Cordy were dating. Before I met Oz, I was in love with Xander, since we were kids. Then, it was before our homecoming dance in our senior year, we were getting ready together. Well, not together together... you get the picture.” Buffy nodded and Willow continued. “Well, we... just kissed I guess. I’m not sure how it happened, but it did. And Cordy and Oz chose that exact moment to walk in.”

“Oh.” They walked in silence for a while. Buffy spoke first.

“I’m surprised you guys are still friends.”

“Oh, we weren’t at first. All senior year, they both avoided us like the plague. But when we all ended up going to UCS, we decided to bury the hatchet. Xander was dating Anya by then, and I had Tara. Cordy dates, but it’s never serious. Oz has a girlfriend, Veruca. She’s in a band and is on the road most of the time. I think they’re happy.” She smiled. “I know I am.”

They entered the administrations building, and stopped for a moment.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Willow gave Buffy a hug before walking down one of the corridors, calling over her shoulder. “Shakespeare at ten!”

Buffy smiled, waving at Willow. Yes, college was looking good.





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