Who does the bint think she is? Spike thought angrily as he pulled out of driveway, speeding down Revello drive.
She was infuriating, judgmental, bitchy, bratty, intriguing, sexy—no not sexy, he reprimanded himself.
This was ridiculous, Spike thought with a bitter laugh. Why was he getting all worked up over some bint in his house who seemed to spend all of her time locked away in her room?
Spike dug around for his cell phone, the dreaded contraption his dad insisted on him having in the car, and clumsily dialed his friend’s number.
“Hello?”
“Gunn, you doin’ anything?” Spike asked.
“No, why?”
“Meet me at the gym, I need to blow of some steam,” Spike replied.
“Sure, man,” Gunn paused, “What about Harmony? I thought you two were hangin’ out at your house.”
“Change of plans,” Spike answered shortly.
********************************
“Wait, so who is she?” Gunn asked as Spike pummeled the punching bag he was holding.
“Joyce’s daughter, Buffy. She moved here a couple days ago,” Spike answered between punches.
“And I take it you don’t like her,” Gunn deduced.
“God no,” Spike answered with a punch. “She’s an infuriating bitch.”
“Uh-huh,” Gunn replied, unconvinced.
“What?” Spike demanded.
“Nothin’. You just seem awfully mad about one girl.”
“Yeah, well, she pissed me off,” Spike snapped and Gunn studied his friend for a moment before breaking out in a smirk.
“She’s hot isn’t she?” Gunn asked knowingly.
“What the bleedin’ hell does that have to do with anything?” Spike exclaimed.
Gunn shrugged, trying to hide his smile. “Absolutely nothing.”
“She’s not hot,” Spike told him and then added. “And even if she is she’s still the most annoying, bratty bitch I’ve ever had the displeasure to meet.”
“Of course,” Gunn said with a mock-serious face.
Spike gave him a look. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” Gunn asked as he moved to take his turn punching.
“Give me that look that means you don’t believe me,” Spike replied.
“I’m not,” Gunn protested, still half smirking.
“Shut up.”
*************************
He wasn’t back. Buffy snuck another glance at her clock, 5:54. Only ten minutes since she last looked. Stop it, she told herself, he’s 18 friggin’ years old and she was not his keeper. Who cared if Giles or her mom called? Not her.
Buffy now stood in front of her full-length mirror, inspecting her hair. The color was fading, especially at the roots and bottoms, and she considered trying to dye it over her natural color of honey blonde.
If she really wanted to start over in Sunnydale, the dark hair would have to go. It was so Faith-esque, wild and sexy. Now she just wanted pretty and normal. Girl next door.
Buffy had cleaned her face of the dark make-up and now her only resemblance of make-up was a coat of cherry lip balm. Her skin wasn’t as golden as it used to be but that was easy enough to fix.
She fished through her clothes, finding her least ripped jeans and put on a soft gray tank top. She abandoned her thick necklaces and bracelets for a simple sliver chain.
Just the minuscule changes made a difference in her appearance. She broke out into a small bittersweet smile at her reflection. Goodbye LA Buffy, hello Sunnydale Buffy.
Just then, the door opened and shut loudly, alerting her that Spike was indeed home.
Buffy trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen where Spike sat at the counter, his hair damp, drinking water.
“You,” Spike mumbled, glancing up as she walked into the room.
“Me,” Buffy responded, leaning against the island across from him. “So, where’d you go?”
“Gym,” was Spike’s one word answer and he took a gulp from his glass.
That perked up Buffy’s interest. She always did like to exercise. Before it had been cheerleading but later she’d taken up running and some karate. “Really, where is it?”
“Why?” Spike asked suspiciously, eyeing the small girl. She didn’t have the typical build of a serious athlete.
Buffy shrugged. “I like running, boxing and I’m big with karate.” This wasn’t so bad, she thought. They were having a civilized conversation that, hopefully, wouldn’t end in a heated argument.
“They have classes,” Spike offered, almost hesitantly, “for karate.”
“Cool,” Buffy replied, unable to think of any other response. There was a pause, not necessarily awkward but still there. She wondered if he’d forgotten their argument only a few hours ago, he was so calm.
The phone on the table rang suddenly jarring Buffy and she lunged for it. “This is B-uh the Giles-Summers’ residence.” A piece of paper sat in front of her and she started doodling on it with a nearby pen.
“Buffy, it’s me.”
Buffy relaxed marginally. “Oh, hey mom.”
“Listen, are you sitting down?” Joyce asked eagerly
Buffy glanced up from her drawing to see Spike had disappeared, presumably to his room. She mentally sighed as she sat down in one of the stools.
“I am now,” she replied, brushing off the strange, sinking feeling she felt when she realized Spike had left.
“I got a call from Mr. Snyder,” Joyce began excitedly, “he said as long as you participated in an extra-curricular or two, you can go to Sunnydale High.”
Buffy straightened, feeling lighter than she had in weeks, months probably. “Seriously?”
She could almost see her mother nodding. “Yep, you’ll start Wednesday. You’ve missed a couple weeks of school but since it’s only a month into the school year, you should get caught up in no time.”
A serene smile slipped onto her face. School would be good. It was normalcy. Something she missed a lot.
“Good. I’m glad we didn’t have to take this to the school board,” Buffy said, her tone light.
“Thank god,” Joyce replied with a small laugh. “Do you know what a hassle that would have been? Half of the board spends most of their time on the golf course.”
Buffy let out a small laugh as well at the comment and picked up the pen again. “Um, I know I said it before but, uh, thanks.”
“Of course, sweetheart,” Joyce replied and Buffy took comfort in that small endearment.
“Tomorrow, I’ll take off work early to get you your school supplies and I believe it is tradition to spend an enormous amount of time in stores finding new clothes for the year,” Joyce commented. If there was one thing she knew about her daughter, it was her love for shopping.
Buffy smiled even though her mother couldn’t see her. “That sounds good.”
“I’ll see you soon,” Joyce promised and they hung up.
Buffy put the phone back and stared down at her drawing, her face blanched as the features slid into place. She tore the paper off the pad and crumpled in her hand. She swallowed uneasily, closing her eyes.
Quickly, she tossed the sheet away, making sure it was buried under a few other pieces of trash. She hadn’t drawn him in a few weeks. Mostly her mind pushed him away, just leaving her with glimpses of his eyes or the profile of his face.
Buffy settled herself on the couch, pulling the blanket around her despite the warm weather. Don’t, she told herself, don’t think about him. Not now.
*************************************************
“So which store do you want to start with?” Joyce asked, studying the map of the mall.
“Um,” Buffy scanned the list of stores. “I guess we could start with school supplies first.”
It was relatively early in the afternoon, but the mall was buzzing with people most likely taking advantage of the rare cloudy day.
“The Office Max is just around the corner. We could start there and then work our way down,” Joyce suggested and Buffy nodded in agreement.
An hour later, the pair had stopped for coffee and had made their way to the clothing stores. Buffy leafed through the racks, looking for new clothes.
Joyce walked over, holding Buffy’s previous purchases. “So, finding anything?”
Buffy held up a cute top, eyeing it critically. “I like this but I’m not sure if I really want to get it.”
Joyce plucked it out of her hands and placed it in the basket. “Yes you do.”
Buffy opened her mouth to protest but then shut it. If her mom was willing to buy all this for her, she probably shouldn’t disagree. Buffy passed a mirror and with one glance, she remembered her other change. Her hair.
“Um, mom,” Buffy began nervously. “I was wondering if you’d help me dye my hair.”
Joyce gaze flickered to the red and black and down to her daughter’s face. “What color?”
“Uh, blonde, back to my normal color,” Buffy answered. “I’m getting kinda bored of the black and red.”
Relief flickered in Joyce’s eyes and she nodded. “Sure, we can stop by the hair salon and buy some hair dye. I’d offer to schedule an appointment but if you want it blonde for tomorrow…”
Buffy nodded quickly. “Uh-huh. No problem.”
Joyce gave her a brief smile. “Good.”
They went to pay for the rest of Buffy’s new clothes and headed out with bags dangling from their arms.
At the hair salon, Buffy picked out a honey blonde, a shade darker than her real color and handed it over to her mother. “This is pretty close.”
Joyce nodded. “I like it.”
“Thank you,” Buffy said as they exited the salon.
“I’ve told you Buffy, I don’t mind doing this. I swear. I want this year to be great for you, a step forward,” Joyce replied and squeezed her daughter’s hand lightly.
Buffy flashed her a quick smile. “Me too.”
****************************
“So,” Buffy asked, shifting nervously, “how does it look?”
Joyce smiled happily. “I could almost say I never knew it was dyed.”
“Really?” Buffy spun around to face the mirror and smiled her first real smile in ages. “Wow, it does look good!”
Buffy tilted her head, trying to view all of her hair. It was a shiny, silky blonde that went well with her new tan from being out all day.
“What’s going on in here?” Giles’s accented voice drifted from outside of the bathroom.
“Oh, Rupert, come on in and see Buffy’s new hair,” Joyce called out and Buffy could feel her face heating up.
Giles stepped in, taking in the newly blonde girl. She looked so different from only the day before. Her face was bright with a small smile on her lips, her hair blonde and her clothes lighter. “You look lovely, Buffy,” he said honestly.
“Uh, thanks,” she mumbled shyly.
Giles glanced down at his watch. “Joyce, are you ready? The gallery showing starts at seven, correct?”
Joyce slapped her head. “God, I can’t believe I almost forgot!” She turned to her daughter, “We’ll be back around 10:00, okay?”
Buffy nodded, still entranced by her reflection and the older pair left, closing the door behind them.
Spike trudged up the stairs, his heavy boots clunking against the wood. He passed the bathroom and stopped as a flash of golden hair caught his eye.
He peered into the bathroom to see Buffy, well, blonde. “Uh,” he stuttered slightly, “you dyed your hair.”
Buffy nodded, feeling a little self-conscious and patted her head. “Uh, yeah, back to its normal color.”
“Oh,” Spike paused, regarding her silently before adding, “It looks nice.” His voice was casual but his eyes stayed locked on Buffy. He found himself staring at her body, newly revealed by the tighter jeans and top.
Buffy edged away from the door a little, wondering why Spike was looking at her so strangely. He wasn’t…checking her out was he?
“Uh, Spike?” she called hesitantly, “Did you need something?”
Spike cleared his throat, shaking his head. “I’m goin’ out. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Okay,” Buffy said and watched as Spike went back down the stairs and out the door. Was he just nice to her? And was she nice back?
Buffy shook her head at the strange encounter and went into her room, pulling out all her new purchases. The clothes were spread out on her bed, mostly jeans, a few skirts and nice tops.
She put them away and pushed her old clothes further back in the closet. She couldn’t get rid of them; something in her wouldn’t let her but her new clothes now hung neatly in the front.
Here’s to a new look, Buffy thought and glanced at her mirror. And to a new life.
A/N: Despite Buffy’s happier mood and ‘moving forward’ strategy, it isn’t all going to be as easy as this chapter. There will be angst and conflict-just so you know. And the Spuffy will take a little bit but it’ll start soon.