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William walked past without a glance in Xander and Willow's direction. Xander was no longer surprised - this had been happening for the past month. Sighing, Xander glanced to the other end of the hall where Buffy was watching him. When he returned her stare, she hurried away.

"I refuse to call him 'Spike'." Xander paused. "Or I would if I ever got the chance to speak to him." Xander glanced at Willow for support. Willow was busy smiling at her new boyfriend, Oz.

She stopped smiling and looked at Xander. "I know. We've talked about this before."

"This is all Buffy's fault. If she hadn't started dating William, he wouldn't had thought that he was too good for us."

Willow ran a hand through her red hair. "I don't think Buffy had anything to do with this. She liked us. This is William's choice. I miss him, but I don't want to be around him if he'd rather be somewhere else."

The bell rang, and Willow left for her next class. Xander leaned against his locker and closed his eyes. He wished Willow was more concerned, but she wasn't as bothered by William's behavior. She was too busy with Oz. For once, Willow was enjoying high school.

* * *

"How are things between you and Spike?" Cordelia asked when she and Harmony had caught up with Buffy in the hall.

"Great! Why wouldn't they be?" Buffy forced herself into a cheery smile. She hadn't spent much time with Spike in the past month, but she didn't want her friends to think something was wrong.

"Well, for one thing, you never touch him or even stand next him," Harmony replied. "You aren't even around most of the time."

"I think you're mad at him," Cordelia said, blunt as usual. She slowly smiled and leaned in towards Buffy. "What did he do?"

Harmony leaned forward too. She was never one to miss out on gossip. Buffy realized that they thought he was living up to his new bad boy image. She was mad at him, but not because he cheated on her or whatever else they were envisioning. She was mad at him because he was now like the rest of her friends.

"I'm not mad at him." Buffy played with a strand of her blond hair. She abruptly turned away from them. "I need to get to class," she said before walking down the hall. She could hear Cordelia snickering as she made her way through to class.

She wanted to talk with William, or Spike as she was now calling him. She had felt uncomfortable being around him after he kissed her. The feeling was going away, and now she missed him. Yes, she was still mad at him for ignoring Willow and Xander, but maybe she could convince him to be their friend again.

That evening she went over to his house. She planned to ask if he wanted to study with her, and hoped that he would be home.

"Buffy." Spike seemed surprised to see her when he answered the door. He was wearing an old t-shirt and jeans and didn't look like he was going out.

"I was wondering if you wanted to study for the English test on Friday." Buffy held up her notebook and copy of Macbeth.

"Sure. I was about to do that myself." He held the door open for her. As she passed, he was giving her a strange look. "My mom's out for the next few hours."

"Okay." Buffy sat on the couch. She tried to think of something to say, without bringing up Willow and Xander. She planned on bringing them up later. "It's been a while."

"Been a while for what?" Spike brought over his notes and sat next to her.

"Since we've been alone. I miss our conversations."

Spike stopped looking through his notes and looked at her. "I've been busy."

"Yes, I know. Your new friends, studying, your job.."

"I quit the job. I didn't have enough time for it, and I really didn't need it." Spike shrugged and went back to his notes.

Buffy raised her eyebrows in surprise at that. "You've been spending most of your time with Cameron and the rest of them."

Spike shook his head incredulously. "It's part of being popular. In fact,
you should be spending more time with them. I've been seeing them more than you have, lately."

"I can tell," Buffy mumbled to herself. Spike narrowed his eyes.

"They are starting to ask me if there is something wrong with you. I don't know what to tell them."

"Just let them think we had a fight. It's will only improve your new image." She put her book down and turned to face him.

"I think you should hang around us more. Some people are getting the idea that I'm available."

Her heart skipped a beat. "What does that mean?"

"It means that someone might try to take me away from you."

"Who?"

"If you were around, you would know."

"I should go," Buffy said while standing up. "I was hoping-" She abruptly stopped and walked towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow." She opened the door and left.

* * *

Dawn tugged down at the mini-skirt she was wearing. Why did the same skirt that looked nice on Buffy, make her look like a teenage prostitute? This was the last time she borrowed Buffy's clothes.

Distracted, she bumped into someone, and her books went flying onto the ground. She looked up and saw two older boys leering at her. She wasn't used to the carnal way they were looking up and down her body, and her cheeks reddened. She glanced around for help, but the rest of the students didn't seem to notice her as they hurried to class. Dawn attempted a dignified way to retrieve her books from the ground without letting her skirt ride up.

"Oh yeah, baby," one of them taunted. Everytime she moved, they laughed at her.

She got down to a kneel and started to pick up her books which were scattered everywhere. While reaching for one, she ended up facing away from them. 'Please, go away,' she thought.

She could feel someone approaching her from behind her, and she tensed. Would they do something in the middle of the school? There was a flash of white hair as the person started to pick up the rest of her books. She sighed with relief that it was Spike.

"Here." Spike handed Dawn her books. Slowly, he turned to the two boys. A small crowd had formed to watch. "You bother her again, and you'll wish you'd never met her," he threatened.

One of the boys straightened and took a step towards Spike. "What are..."

Spike narrowed his eyes and didn't back down. He was taller and broader than the boys. Compared to Spike, they were obviously children. After a pause, the two boys hurried away.

"Thank you, Spike!" Dawn threw her arms around him. Her sister's boyfriend was so cool, she thought.

"Don't let them get to you, Bit," he said.

* * *

Buffy had witnessed Spike rescue her little sister. Every time she was mad at him, he would do something like that and just confuse her even more. While helping Dawn, he wasn't concerned about popularity or his image, just protecting Dawn from a couple of Sophomores. She smiled.

As she walked towards her history class, she heard Cameron and Gage snickering. They must be picking on someone, she thought and rolled her eyes. This was another thing her friends did that she conveniently ignored last year. She walked towards their voices.

"Oh, no," Buffy said to herself when she saw them standing at the other end of the hall in front of Willow. Willow looked like she was about to cry. Buffy started towards them to put a stop to it, but a group of kids blocked her way. Through the crowd she could see Gage gestering while Willow continued to stand there.

Gage stepped back, and she saw Spike standing next to them. He wasn't laughing, just watching them. "Stop them, Spike," she said under her breath.

Cameron kept grinning at Spike and elbowing him in the side. Spike looked unsure and continued to watch them. Gage had taken Willow's notebook and was flipping through it, stopping every once and a while to laugh at something that Cameron said.

Spike finally said something that Buffy couldn't make out. Then, he started to laugh. Cameron and Gage joined in, and Willow covered her mouth with her hand. Buffy's heart sank. Time slowed down, and she didn't move from her spot in the hall. Numbly, Buffy could do nothing but watch Spike continue to make Willow cry.

"Leave her alone!" Xander's voice pulled Buffy out of her trance. He grabbed the notebook from Gage. Gage and Cameron snickered and walked away. Spike continued his display, but it wavered without the support of his new friends. He turned and left without noticing Buffy.

Buffy felt responsible, since Gage, Cameron, and Spike were her friends. She wanted Xander and Willow to know that she was sorry. Xander was comforting Willow when Buffy walked up to them. Xander looked up at her with a look of pure loathing. It went right through her heart and stopped Buffy in her tracks. She couldn't take the look on his face and hurried away.

* * *

Spike entered the bathroom stall and started to shake. He had never seen Willow cry before. That image and remembering the look of betrayal on Xander's face were now haunting his thoughts. It was if something possessed him and made him say those things about Willow's mother. Cameron and Gage were there, though, and he couldn't go against them. Once he made the first comment, he felt powerful. He craved the approval he got with their laughter. He had enjoyed it.


Pushing the guilt aside, Spike straightened and left the stall. He looked at himself in the mirror over the sink. For years he was either picked on or ignored and that has all changed. No longer would he be the one that was picked on, and he would never let that happen again - no matter what he had to do. He was cool now. He had new friends, and it was everything he wanted and deserved. He was happy, he told himself.

TBC





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