[Reviews - 32]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2317 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Not the best piece of writing but I just wanted a reminisce-y chapter. So here ya go. Be gentle though=P
Life Interlude – Photograph

Look at this photograph
Every time I’d ever it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red?
And what the hell is on Joey’s head

Every memory of looking out the back door
I have the photo albums spread out on my bedroom floor
It’s time to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, Goodbye

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

I stared down at the photo album of my childhood, each picture carefully preserved by an over meticulous mother. She made sure every single moment that was ever important or otherwise was perfectly preserved for years and years to come. It was the way she used to be, when Dad was still around, but they aren’t many happy photos after he left.

I smiled at the photo of when the gang and me, back then it only consisted of Spike, Willow and Xander, went to the zoo for a school trip. It was the best day, because Spike bought me an ice cream and went around calling me sugar lips all day, even though I was only 8 at the time. I thought for sure we would grow up and get married someday.

That day Xander wanted to go check out the hyena cages, and we all went with him, even though technically we had to stay with the groups we were assigned. Since the only other people in our group was Amanda, Kristin, and Kyle, plus Mrs. Shepard the nerdy teacher, it was pretty easy to slip away, especially with Mrs. Shepard always out of it.

So we skipped our little 8-year-old feet to the hyena cage, but me and Willow didn’t get to close, the hyenas growled a lot. But Spike and Xander got right up to them, and like the brave warriors they were, climbed up the little rock ledge to put their faces right against the glass. Willow was squealing a lot, she had a crush on Xander and thought he was going to fall in, but I knew Spike was to much of a man to do something stupid like fall into the hyena pit.

Just at that moment, however, one of the hyenas took to screeching with all it’s might, and Spike freaked out, and the three of us ran back to our group. We thought Xander had come with us, but when we got back, he wasn’t there. We tried to tell Mrs. Shepard but she didn’t notice anything wrong, and by the time we got back to school, and other teachers noticed Xander missing the zoo was closed, and everyone had gone home. It wasn’t until 10 o’clock that night that Mrs. Harris finally got hold of the caretaker of the zoo, and managed to get her son out of the locked hyena cage. He was shaking and crying and didn’t say a single word. He only glared a little when someone asked what it was like.

The next Monday when we went back to school everyone knew about the boy stuck in the cage, and he was nicknamed ‘Hyena Boy’ because for two straight weeks after that he didn’t say a single word, just growled at anyone trying to talk with him. He had Spike, Willow, and me completely freaked out, and when he finally started talking again, the first thing he said to us, or rather to Willow, was “It was horrible,” and then he didn’t say another word for two days. But, two days later, it was like he was back to normal, and we never mentioned the ‘Hyena Boy’ adventure again. Whenever anyone happens to suggest going to the zoo, however, Xander is always conveniently busy.

I grinned at the photo, the one being of me and Spike eating ice cream, with Spike’s free arm slung around my shoulders protectively. Willow had taken the shot, and the next one was of Xander acting like a monkey outside their area. The innocence was always what got me about these times. How completely unaware of everything we were; of how entirely cruel the world could be to those that least deserved it.

The next page of photos were all from the hospital, almost everyone with me in my hospital bed, and Spike curled around me telling me a story or sleeping from the amount of exhaustion he was experiencing.

We were all 8 and a half, Spike was 10, and I was playing over at his house, in his tree house, when Spike play pushed me and I lost my balance and fell out. I toppled all the way to the ground, losing consciousness, and breaking my leg in three places. Mom always says how lucky I was it wasn’t my neck I broke. Spike ran crying to the house, yelling that he killed me, and Giles came quickly, scooping me up, and taking me to the hospital, Spike crying uncontrollably in the front seat.

Of course, when I woke up and yelled at him that I was going to kill him for putting me in pain, he stopped crying and gave me a big hug, then ran to hide behind Giles. It hurt like hell, breaking my leg, but I was given a lot of children’s Tylenol and I slept a lot too. I was in the hospital for three days, since the doctor needed to run tests, and there was a lot of jostling to my organs as well. When I finally got released Spike was so happy, he threw a party, which ended up being at my house, since he didn’t want to look at the tree house. It was taken down about six months later, Spike claiming to have outgrown it.

I laughed, and at Dawn’s call, ran downstairs to eat dinner. The picture albums were completely torn apart and strewn all over my floor, as I was taking a lot of pictures and putting them in frames. When Dawn and I had finished doing the dishes, she volunteered to come up and help me with the framing.

We laughed when we discovered an entire half of a photo album dedicated to Dawn’s ‘special’ 7th birthday, which took place about 2 months before Dad left. We invited Xander, Willow, and Spike, so I wouldn’t get bored, and about 15 of Dawn’s friends, and all went to the Hi-5 concert down in L.A. Let me tell you, 16 7 year olds in three vans, for a two hour drive was not a happy event. But since all the grown-up kids, how grown up are you at 10 and 13?, were each separated to help look after the kids, the ride down and back was the worst thing ever. Lucky Spike and Xander got to go in the same van.

When we got there, things went from bad to worse, as Hi-5 was a total baby group to us, and we sort of hung around the back, staying as far from the crowd as possible. At the time, however, the Hi-5’ers were all about 15 and 16, and Willow and I gushed about how cute Curtis Cregan was. Spike took to thinking, and then a slow lazy smirk crossed his features.

“Okay, you think Curtis is so damn sexy, then go talk to him. He’ll never talk to a 10 yr old, no matter what you want to believe.” I glared at Spike and he laughed, so I gathered all my courage and walked to the area where the group was taking a break.

“Hey Curtis, I’m Buffy. My little sister Dawn is celebrating her 7th birthday, and we tagged along to watch them,” he smiled at me, and I went mushy inside.

“Yeah, I saw you guys, a lot of little kids, huh?”

“Yeah, but I don’t mind. I love Dawn, even though she’s a huge pain in the neck most of the time.” He laughed, so I blurted a question, to keep the conversation going, “Got a girlfriend?”

He chuckled, a lot, and I blushed crimson. “How old are you like 9?”

“13,” which was the truth, I just didn’t add that it wasn’t for three more years.

“You look younger than that.”

“Well, I get it all the time, but I’m not. Want to see my ID, officer?”

He grinned, “Some other time maybe. And no, I’m single. Traveling a lot with the group prevents any sort of relationship. Sorry, kid.”

I bustled a little at the term ‘kid’, but smiled, got his autograph for Dawn, and walked back to Spike and the gang. He glared at me and then went to search for his Dad, who had agreed to be the third chaperone.

“What’s his problem?” I asked, staring from one friend to the other.

“Dunno, he sorta clammed up when Curtis was talking to you and then steam starting coming out of his ears,” Xander replied, hurrying off to find out what was with his best bud.

The picture that I chose to frame from then was actually before we got to the concert, of me and the gang posing like clowns in the living room. Dawn nodded at the choice. I laughed when I remembered it took Spike three whole weeks to talk to me again, stubborn mule.

I opened another album and found page after page of my grade 9 graduation, which was after Cordelia and Xander started dating, Willow and Oz started dating, and Tara had moved to Sunnydale. It was also after Spike left the group, which was two years previous to the picture, when he started high school. I was 14 then, as it was last year, and I smiled at how happy I was. Mom and Ted hadn’t been together all that long, and the only blemish was his smiling face in the sidelines.

I stopped at one picture of Spike and me, me wearing the robes, and Spike wearing my cap. Even though it wasn’t a real graduation, Sunnydale Junior still made us were caps and gowns, just less fancy than those of Sunnydale High. Spike was holding me in his arms, with my arms stretched above our heads, in peace signs, and my legs straight out, a smile of intense happiness covering both our faces. That day had been the turning point in putting me and Spike’s friendship back together. When he turned to the ‘dark side’, as I call it, we hadn’t really talked much. Then for an entire year we stopped altogether. He wasn’t going to go, but Giles had made him, and when we seen each other, after almost a year and a half of not really talking, it was as if someone had finally fixed the hole in my heart. We talked, and we hugged, and then the picture was taken. Now, almost a year later, we’re a lot closer friends, but still not nearly as close as we were almost 3 years ago.





You must login (register) to review.