Returning to school on Tuesday was impossibly hard. Buffy had barely managed to crawl out of bed, put something sensible on and drag herself into Spike’s car before drifting back to sleep.
Ten minutes later, she was rudely awakened with a shove.
“We’re here, Summers,” Spike said gruffly as Buffy’s eyes fluttered open.
“Nnngh?” She mumbled, rubbing her face.
Spike rolled his eyes and swung open his door, bag in hand. “Let’s go,” he said impatiently.
Buffy squinted at the building in front of her and then groaned. She bent over to grab her own backpack, slinging it over one shoulder as she slid out of the car.
“Wow, aren’t you pleasant?” She muttered sarcastically under her breath. Spike hadn’t heard her, or at least was pretending he hadn’t. Buffy walked in the opposite direction towards the courtyard where Fred was waiting to help her with her homework.
“Which problems?” Fred asked with a sympathetic face.
“Try all of them,” Buffy responded with a sigh as she plopped down on the bench.
Fred quickly got to work on explaining the formulas and by the time the five minute bell rang, Buffy’s sheet was complete and she was actually starting to get it.
“You know,” Buffy began as the walked in the building, “you’re a really good tutor.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Fred replied with a wave of her hand.
“No seriously, you are. Listen, I’m kinda struggling with my Chem as well, hazard of switching schools during the actual school year, maybe you could tutor me?” Buffy asked hopefully. “I’ll pay you.”
“Of course not! I’d be happy to help you, no payment necessary,” Fred protested.
Buffy shook her head. “I can’t not pay you. If not money, let me do something for you, as a thank you.”
“Well…” Fred began, biting her lip. “You know about the Halloween dance, right?”
Buffy nodded. How could she not with Halloween only a week away, the hallways were littered with posters for the Halloween dance. From what Buffy gathered, it was a big deal for Sunnydale High students, but she wasn’t exactly sure why.
“Wesley asked me to go and I’ve never really been a high school dance kinda person,” Fred frowned, “or a dance person at all, so I could really use your help finding a dress, shoes and doing make-up.”
Buffy grinned. “Absolutely, it’s perfect! As a former cheerleader, I am an expert in all things of make-up and dresses. And how come you never told me Wesley asked you?” She gave Fred a mock shove.
Fred ducked her head, a faint blush staining her cheeks. “He just asked me on Friday, at the Bronze. He said he was too nervous to ask me before.”
Buffy’s grin broadened. “This is so exciting! We’ll go after practice tomorrow, does that work for you?”
“Yep,” Fred confirmed. “And we’ll look for a dress for you too!”
Buffy’s face fell. “I don’t think I’m gonna go. I’d be like the seventh wheel.”
“Don’t forget Gunn and Gwen,” Fred added.
“Great, the ninth wheel,” Buffy said glumly.
“Oh come on, it’ll be fun. It’s not gonna be a date-thing, you have to come,” Fred cajoled.
Buffy made a face. “No, and yes it will be.”
She turned to enter her classroom as Fred called out, “Willow’s gonna use her resolve face on you if you tell her you’re not going.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. Willow’s infamous resolve face power was not lost on her. “We’ll see.”
*************
The next afternoon, Fred, Willow and Buffy were wandering around in the only mall Sunnydale had to offer. Anya had opted out, mostly because she was working and she had already ordered her dress online.
“What about April Fools?” Buffy suggested, pointing to the small boutique.
Willow and Fred nodded agreeably. They walked in and Buffy immediately pulled Fred over to the sales rack while Willow admired the many necklaces.
Buffy pulled out a dark sheath dress and held up to Fred. She backed up a step to get a better look and bumped into someone from behind.
“Oh,” she began, spinning around. “Sor-“ She cut herself off at the sight of an annoyed Harmony holding a bubblegum pink dress with strategically missing chunks.
“Watch where you’re going,” she snapped, flipping her fried hair over one shoulder. “Freak.”
Buffy eyed Harmony’s choice of formalwear with amusement. “Wow, Harm, what look are you striving for there? Hooker? Stripper?”
Behind Buffy, Fred let out a mix between a snort and a laugh.
Harmony’s eyes narrowed. “Funny, Muffy. What look are you going for… street urchin?”
Before Buffy could respond, the dressing room door swung open revealing Cordelia in a stunning, skin tight black dress. Her haughty gaze flickered over Buffy then Fred. “Oh look, it’s Muffy and…Bob. Aren’t you going out with Wesley? He’s cute, for a nerd.”
Harmony cackled at Cordelia’s barb while the brunette just gave them a conceding smirk. “So what do think?” She asked, turning to Harmony with a swivel. “Looks good, doesn’t it?”
“Parker will totally drool,” Harmony squealed gleefully.
“Of course he will,” Cordelia replied flippantly, while Harmony went on about her ‘so hot’ date.
Fred, Buffy and Willow took the opportunity to leave gracefully. As soon as they were out of the store, Buffy burst into laughter. “Oh my god, did you see Harmony’s dress?”
“Talk about skanky,” Willow agreed with an impish laugh.
“Willow!” Fred mock admonished. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
The redhead scoffed. “I’m sorry, but that bitch has been mean to us since we met, which is like preschool. Besides, she hates Buffy for no reason.”
Fred nodded in agreement. “Yeah, what’s up with that? I mean, you’ve only met her, like, once.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “She thinks I broke her and Spike up.”
Willow frowned. “How exactly?”
Shrugging, Buffy headed into the next store. “Beats me. Come on, we have dresses to buy, and only two hours to do so.”
After three more stores and a round of mochas, Willow had found a strapless bronze dress that fell just past her knees while Fred picked out a dark red skinny strap sheath dress. Buffy finally found her dress in one of the more expensive stores, but it was totally worth it.
“Wow, Buffy, it’s gorgeous,” Willow told her, admiring it.
Fred nodded. “It’s perfect, you have to buy it.”
Buffy spun, watching herself in the three-way mirror. The dress was a dark forest green silky material that fell to her knees. It was mostly open in the back and had two thin straps that tied at the neck.
It really was perfect.
“Okay,” Buffy finally agreed and grinned. “You win.”
******
Willow dropped Buffy off last and handed her the dress as she stepped out. “My mom’s gonna freak when she sees the price.”
“Just model the dress for her,” Willow suggested. “It’s too perfect to send back.”
“Good idea,” Buffy replied. “At least that way she’ll feel super guilty when she makes me return it.”
Willow gave an attempt at a reassuring smile. “Good luck!”
“Thanks,” Buffy said as she shut the door. “I’ll need it.” She waved once more as Willow pulled away from the curb, and then headed up the walkway. Opening the door slowly, Buffy peeked in.
“Hello?” She called out to the seemingly empty house. “Anybody home?” When no one responded, she crept in, holding her dress close and went up the stairs.
“Buffy?”
Internally swearing, Buffy turned around to see her mom standing at the bottom of the stairway. “Hi mom!” Her voice was squeaky and her smile strained.
Joyce’s gaze dropped to the bag in Buffy’s hand. “Oh, did you buy a dress for the dance?”
“Yep, so did Fred and Willow,” Buffy responded cheerfully.
“And my credit card?”
Buffy walked back down the stairs and reached into her pocket, pulling out the card. “Here. Thanks, for letting me use it.”
“No problem, I’m just glad you could find something,” Joyce answered. “Mind modeling it for me?” She sounded so excited, Buffy couldn’t turn her down.
“Sure, hold on a sec.” She raced upstairs and shut her door. Quickly, Buffy pulled off her clothes and bra and slid on the dress. For a moment she savored the feel of the dark silk against her skin before walking out.
Joyce’s eyes widened at the sight of Buffy in the lovely dark green dress. The color brought out her golden hair and skin and illuminated the green of her eyes. “Oh Buffy,” she breathed, “it’s beautiful. Where did you find it?”
Buffy glanced down and fingered the material. “Isn’t it? I found it at this place; I think it was called Nicola’s?”
Joyce’s face blanched. “Buffy,” she began slowly, “just how much was the dress?”
Avoiding her mother’s look, Buffy fidgeted. “A little more than I planned on spending, but I’ll pay it all back, I swear.”
“Buffy,” Joyce’s voice was sterner now. “How much was it?”
She bit her lip. “$275.”
“Two-hundred and seventy-five dollars!” Joyce exploded.
“I’ll pay you back I promise, every cent,” Buffy swore.
Joyce exhaled loudly, pressing her fingers against her temple. “And how do you plan on doing that?”
Buffy answered hesitantly, “A job? A-and maybe I can prove that I’m fully capable of handling a job and earn other privileges, say driving?”
Joyce held Buffy’s gaze for a minute, thinking. Finally, she blew out a breath. “Fine, you get a job and pay me back, and I’ll sign you up for Driver’s Ed.”
Buffy blinked. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Joyce confirmed.
The blonde leaped forward, hugging her mother tightly. “Thank you, thank you! You won’t regret it, I swear!”
“I hope not,” Joyce replied dryly. “And no quitting once you’ve paid me back. I expect you to keep your job if I’m signing you up for driving classes.”
Buffy nodded firmly. “I will. I can even ask Anya if her store is hiring, that way I could get a ride sometimes.”
Joyce nodded at her suggestion. “That’s a nice idea.”
Buffy grinned and gave her mother another spontaneous hug. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, now go change clothes and hang up your dress; you wouldn’t want to wrinkle it.”
“Okay,” she answered and proceeded to skip to her room.
“And Buffy?”
“Yeah?”
Joyce gave her a warm smile. “You look beautiful.”
Buffy smiled back. “Thanks."
(A/N: the scene between Buffy and her mom is almost exactly like something that happened between me and my mom a while ago, except it wasn't a dress I had bought.)