"Hi Buffy." He wondered what she could want. It wasn't time for their study session yet and she'd never spoken to him outside of the library in the four days since he'd started tutoring her.
"Hey - look, I can't come during sixth period today. I have to catch up with Cordy on some stuff for cheerleading. We're planning a new routine and she can't do it after school…you don't care, but-" Buffy babbled.
William was surprised at the amount of disappointment he felt at this announcement. Admittedly, he'd been thrilled that the other day they'd been given a two week extension to work on their oral report projects, because it meant there'd be more time spent with Buffy, whose company he was enjoying very much, but he hadn't realized how much he'd miss it when she didn't need him anymore. He still had very few friends at school, due to his shyness, and the time he spent with her in the library was fast becoming his favorite part of the day.
"-anyway, can you?" She finished breathlessly.
"Erm, sorry, what? Can I what?" William stammered, caught out in his inattentiveness.
She gave him an odd look. "Can you come to my house after school?" She prodded him, "You know, to study, since I can't make it sixth period?"
"Oh! Sure, pet. Of course, I can do that. You'll have to give me the address." He said calmly, as inside the disappointment eased at the fact that they'd still be meeting today.
"Oh, um…" Buffy smiled at him hopefully, "I was kinda hoping you'd offer to drive me home. You have a car, right? That way it's all simple, right? You take me and I don't need to write directions. Buffy and directions are non-mixy. One of the reasons I don't drive. I always end up not counting a light or forgetting a turn and getting people hopelessly lost. I could probably get you REALLY lost, because you know, you're new here and you wouldn't be familiar with the roads and all..." She took a breath. "I'm babbling again."
"Yeah, you are." He smiled. "They do have such things as online maps now, you know. They help quite a bit with that sort of thing."
She looked at him shrewdly, "You probably think I'm not that bright, huh?"
'Ok, where did that come from?' He thought.
The 'huh' must've shown on his face because she continued, "With the constant babbling thing."
'No, I think it's cute,' he thought, but he said, "Oh, no!" He smiled again, "Just think you may be a bit highly caffeinated, pet."
A broad smile lit her face, "Yeah…nope! No artificial substances needed. It's a natural kind of hyper!"
"Probably what makes you such a good cheerleader, all that bottled enthusiasm." He told her mock seriously.
"Yep!" She said smugly. "No energy shortage here! So," she prompted him, "the ride?"
"Of course, I can give you a ride. Not a problem. Where do you want to meet?"
"Oh," she hesitated for a split second, thinking, "How about the north side entrance?" She named the exit near the small teachers' lot where students didn't usually linger.
He gave her a look that told her he knew what she was thinking and she squirmed a little guiltily under his scrutiny, but he said, "Fine, I'll be there after last bell."
"Ok! Thanks! See you then!" And she was off down the hall.
William swung the heavy passenger side door to the Desoto open for Buffy.
'Wow,' she thought as he got in on the driver's side, 'This is the cleanest car I've ever seen. No fast food wrappers and discarded soda cans for this boy.' The outside was black and well cared for too, the chrome shining brightly in the afternoon sun. It was a strange car for someone their age to have, really, and very different from the BMWs and sports cars Buffy was used to riding in. "Interesting car," she said, "and it's so neat! Where did you get it?"
"I'm not a slob," he laughed, "and anyway, it's not mine. It belongs to my uncle. My aunt's just letting me drive it."
"Doesn't your uncle mind?" Buffy asked. "I mean, it looks like he really loves it."
"No." William paused. "Well, I don't know if he minds or not as he's not around to mention it."
"Oh," Buffy was horrified at herself and she said in a low tone, "I'm sorry-" She hadn't gotten the impression from his words that the man was dead, but she was distressed to bring up a sore topic.
"Oh no, pet, it’s nothing like that." William drummed his fingers on the steering wheel a moment, then slipped the car into reverse and backed up carefully. "Well, at least I don't think so. He disappeared about four months ago. Went out to the store and never came back kind of thing."
"Oh, your poor aunt!" Buffy said. "So she has no idea what happened to him?"
"No. The car was found at the airport about a week after she reported him missing, but there wasn't any record of him taking a flight. So we don't know what happened." William shrugged and pulled out of the parking lot. "Aunt Jenny said I could use the car. He loved it a lot, rebuilt it himself, so I'm trying to take good care of it for him in case he comes back."
Buffy was silent. After a moment, she pointed the way to turn and said, "So you live with your aunt, then?"
"Yeah, and my mum." William said, not offering any more detail.
Buffy wasn't dissuaded, however, "So you came here from England to live with her and help her out?"
William raised an eyebrow at her. She hadn't shown any interest in his background before. 'Just making polite conversation,’ he thought.
"Something like that," he responded quietly. "My father died a couple of months ago. My uncle is my mother's brother, so Jenny's not related to us by blood or anything, but she and my mum have always gotten along well. They're helping each other out, basically." He finished, turning onto a new street at her prompting wave.
"Oh." Buffy said softly. "That must be so hard for you. I'm so sorry." She gazed at his face earnestly.
William's face remained impassive. He didn't look back at her, but kept his eyes firmly focused on the road. "Yeah," was all he said, obviously closing the topic.
Buffy was suddenly grateful for the boring normalcy of her own family. Even her bratty sister, Dawn, was looking pretty good right now. She often felt stifled by her father's expectations of her and both parents' strict rules, but at the moment all she wanted was to give him a hug. She thought about how awful it would be to lose him and have to start over in a new place in such a short amount of time.
Buffy was at a loss for words. That never happened. She looked out the window and they drove the rest of the way in silence.
Buffy rummaged through her bag for her keychain then swung the bag back onto her shoulder when it was finally located. "Can never find anything in there," she muttered apologetically. She inserted the key and opened the door. "Come on in."
He followed her into the living room.
"Oh good," she said, "Dawn's not home. No loud boy bands playing and no television on." She dumped her book bag on the coffee table. "Go ahead, sit. Want a drink?"
"Coke please, if you have it," he answered.
"Yeah, sure. Be right back." She left, heading for the kitchen.
William didn't sit immediately. He wandered around the room, taking in the pictures of Buffy, and presumably her sister, cute little thing, he thought, at various stages of their childhood. A bitty, pigtailed Buffy in a yellow sundress clutching a doll and smiling happily at whoever had taken the picture made him grin. She was adorable even then, he thought, a little bundle of sunshine. Another one had caught her mid-leap in a pale blue skating costume. A few trophies surrounded this picture, like a small altar to Skating Buffy. He wondered if she still skated. Looking at the dates on the trophies, he didn't think so.
He walked back to the comfortable couch and sat at one end, not wanting to be thought to be prying. Her house was warm and pleasant, just like the girl. Nothing too extravagant or flashy, it was decidedly mid to upper middle class, with the focus on being cozy. Everything had obviously been chosen with comfort and cheer in mind, not only looks, though nothing was shabby or cheap looking.
Buffy walked back out of the kitchen with the drinks in hand. "Here you go," she set it in front of him and walked around to perch in the middle of the couch. They had a test in history the following day so they were going to work on that.
"How come you know more of my country's history than I do?" Buffy complained, pouting at him, having just 'failed' his first round of questions.
He laughed, "This time I am laughing at you a little. Just a little, though." He settled the book on his thigh. "Don't know. How are you on world history?" He teased. "I have noticed that's been lumped into one course for next year, so perhaps course makeup is part of the problem." He grinned. "Lot of history to be packing into one year of classes, that is. Interesting choice. Got a whole year for American History and your country hasn't even been around all that long. It's a baby, relatively speaking."
She smacked his arm lightly. "Don't be mocking my country, sir. We kicked your country's-"
The front door slammed open.
He put his arm up defensively, smiling. "Hey, not mocking, pet, just pointing out that it's young and yet receiving the same amount of class time as the, oh, entire history of the rest of the world."
He recognized the gawky, brown haired girl as Buffy's sister from the pictures as she thumped into the room, dropping her things and shoving her sister over rudely as she flopped onto the couch. She picked up the remote and turned the television on.
"Well…we're important!" Buffy said somewhat lamely, then turned to the girl. "Dawn! What are you doing?"
Dawn looked at her and a condescending expression formed on her face as she spoke very slowly, enunciating each word carefully as if to a small child, "I am watching television."
"No, you're not!" Buffy's voice got louder. "We're studying here. You can't just come in and interrupt us-"
Dawn looked around the room pointedly, "Not stopping you, you can stay. Just sitting here minding my own business. You can still study." She said, even as her thumb pressed the increase volume button on the remote.
"No we can't! Who could think with that on that loud?" Buffy protested.
"Please, Buffy," Dawn retorted, "I've heard you blast your music before when you're studying. Noise never seemed to bother you then."
Buffy exploded. "That's when I'm ALONE and don't need to hear anybody else talking." She fumed at her sister.
"Maybe we could go in the kitchen?" William suggested.
"No, sound carries in there, we won't be able to think at all and Dad's study is off limits. C'mon," Buffy gathered her book, notebook and pens. She shot her sister a look, "We'll just go upstairs and leave her to her obnoxious show."
"Ohhhh! Boy in your room! Buffy Anne, I'm so telling on you!" Dawn crowed, gleeful at the prospect.
"Not a boy!" Buffy shouted, "It's William, he's my tutor!" She entirely missed William's slight flinch at this, but Dawn's sharp eyes did not and she eyed him with newfound interest. "If you mention anything, I'll just be forced to expose your sneaking out last Friday." Buffy continued smugly.
Dawn gasped. "You wouldn't dare!" She screeched. "I just wanted to go to the movies and Mom wouldn't let me!"
"I SO would," Buffy stated firmly. "Anyway, you're pathetic at sneaking out," she sniffed, "make MORE noise getting to the tree, why don't you."
"Maybe I should take lessons from you!" Dawn sputtered somewhat ineffectively and settled back deep in the couch cushions with a huff and a pout, conceding the argument.
William had stood by uncomfortably during this exchange, but he nearly laughed aloud at the pout. "That's one thing they have in common," he thought.
"So," Buffy said sweetly, "Let's go, William." She led him up the stairs to her room.
He sat uncomfortably, at her bidding, on the edge of her bed, while she sprawled on it next to him. Her desk was too cluttered to hold all of their materials, so she'd dubbed the bed the best spot. It wasn't only her desk that was cluttered. Every surface or fixture that could hold clothing had something strewn over it carelessly. Her bed hadn't been made when they entered the room and she'd pulled the duvet up and smoothed it hastily before settling onto the bed. She'd also tossed a few filmy unmentionables in her hamper before showing him in. "Sorry about the mess," she'd said offhandedly and made no further explanation.
Her room was, besides being messy, in a strange sort of transitional state, seeming trapped between childhood and adulthood. The wallpaper was a pastel pink floral stripe and a pile of stuffed animals sat on a chair, but the clothing visible was anything but childish or reserved. The small halter tops and miniskirts of which she was so fond were scattered everywhere in their multicolored glory. The duvet on which she currently reclined had a more sophisticated print than the wall; it was a soft, silky white fabric with a more delicate gold floral pattern covering it.
He'd stumbled over a lone black high heeled shoe as they made their way to the bed and she'd merely said, "Oops," and tossed it carelessly into the closet. That shoe wasn't childish at all.
He gradually relaxed somewhat and continued quizzing her for the upcoming test. She hadn't failed the second round, she'd done much better actually and he realized that while the dates didn't seem to stick in her head at all, easily anyway, she was good at remembering the people, events and the circumstances that led up to them. He hammered in the dates a few more times until she was able to parrot them back satisfactorily.
When it was his turn, Buffy noted with annoyance that he could answer everything straightaway, no hesitation or additional thinking required.
He saw her disgruntled look and smiled, saying carefully, "After all, pet, helping you did burn the stuff firmly in my mind too, yeah?"
She smiled back at him, appreciating that he didn't make her feel stupid for not knowing as much as he did about the subject. 'Unlike some people,' she thought ruefully, but got off of that train of thought in a hurry.
When they were finished, she thanked him as she always did and showed him to the door. As the door shut behind him, Dawn commented neutrally, "He likes you."
"What? No…no he doesn't," Buffy said, confused. "He's just helping me out. He took pity on me."
"He calls you pet," Dawn said, matter-of-factly.
"He calls everyone pet." Buffy replied defensively. Did he? Buffy tried to remember hearing him ever say it to anyone else. She couldn't, but she realized she hadn't heard him talk to anyone else, so it wasn't a good standard to go by. "He's just my tutor," Buffy repeated her earlier statement firmly.
"Whatever." Dawn rolled the lollipop she was licking around a few times and spoke around it. "He so likes you. He's nicer than Angel." With that, she turned her back on her flustered sister and went back to watching television.
'No, no he doesn't like me,' Buffy thought, 'he's just a decent person and…' she thought truthfully to herself, 'maybe a little lonely here.' She screwed up her face in thought. ‘He doesn't like me….does he?’