"William!" A voice cut through the lunchtime chatter. He turned towards it and saw the redhead who was in his science class. 'Bright chit,' he thought, 'what was her name? Oh yeah, Willow.' She was almost as shy as he was though and he couldn't think why she was calling his name.
She beckoned him over to the table where she sat with two other students, a boy and a girl. He gave a half shrug to himself and headed over.
"Hi William!" Willow said cheerily. She'd seen him paused at the exit from the food line and felt bad for him. "You can sit with us if you want. I'm Willow, you know me from bio. This is Xander," the dark haired boy stopped shoveling food in his mouth long enough to nod an acknowledgment to the introduction. "and this is Tara." A mop of dirty blonde hair was all that met his eyes at first, but then she raised her head and smiled shyly at him, gentle blue eyes welcoming.
"Hello." William said and took the seat next to Willow. "Thanks. I appreciate it." He felt slightly uncomfortable at first, as the three of them had obviously been friends for a long time and had their own shorthand way of communicating, but he soon relaxed as the conversation flowed easily around him.
He took a moment to surreptitiously look around the room. 'Ah, there she is,' he thought as he found Buffy at one of the boisterous central tables. He enjoyed the rare opportunity of observing her in her own element. She was laughing now at something someone had said and shaking her head in denial.
He stilled as he saw the tall dark haired boy come up from behind her, scoop her up and deposit her on his lap. 'That'd be the boyfriend,' he thought, 'great "football" playing git he is too.' He'd known she was dating Angel O'Connor, who could not know? They were one of the school's most visible and popular couples. He eyed the other boy with distaste. 'Doesn't look like he has a brain cell in his head,' he thought in disgust. He was kissing Buffy now. William looked away.
"So, William, how do you like it here so far?" Willow asked.
"It's not so bad," he said politely, although privately he thought it was getting worse every moment. "It's very different, of course."
"Oh yeah, I'll bet it is! I'd love to go to England! Do you…" Willow proceeded to pepper him with questions about London and he responded to them all as best he could, allowing her to distract him from other less pleasant thoughts.
Buffy couldn't tell what was different. But something was definitely off today. William was too quiet. He was always reserved, but today he hadn't teased her once or mocked her very own version of the spoken English language at all, as he'd done before. 'Something's different,' she repeated to herself, 'but what? He almost seems mad at me, but I haven't even seen him all day, so that can't be it.' She tapped her pen in irritation.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…taptaptaptaptaptaptap...the pen increased speed and the taps continued in rapid succession.
He flicked his eyes up from his book to meet hers. "That's terribly annoying, you know. It's very distracting," he said coolly.
Buffy spitefully thwacked the pen harder against the table a few more times before she flung it down. "What is your problem?" She asked him. "You're in like, the worst mood today."
"Yes," he said clearly, "I am 'like'," he emphasized the word with disdain, "not in the best of moods."
This wasn't at all his normal gentle jab at her verbal skills. It was rude. Buffy glared at him and grabbed her books. "I'm not getting much done today, except annoying you." The glare faded, replaced by a slightly puzzled look. "Think I'll quit for now and try again when I get home. I'll see you Monday?" She deliberately made that a question.
William looked down again. "Yeah. Monday."
"Ok." Buffy didn't bounce out of the library as usual, instead she walked almost sedately through the doors.
William chucked his bag in the corner.
His mother asked, "William, is that you?" She came around the corner into the entry way and studied him, "Is something wrong?"
"No, Mum," he said.
"William-"
"Everything's fine, Mum. Just in a hurry to get to the gym." He grabbed his gym bag that sat, packed and ready, on the hall bench right where he'd forgotten it that morning.
"Ok," she still looked worried, but she said, "be home in time for dinner."
"Yes, Mum," he said dutifully and gratefully escaped.
William had found a gym the first week in town. It wasn't the shiniest, newest, cleanest gym, but it suited his purposes and was inexpensive, which was important. His mother had obtained a permit to work and found a job, but money was still tight.
He changed quickly and headed for the heavy bags. Wrapping his hands quickly, he tore into the bag, unleashing all of his repressed feelings at it. He began to intersperse kicks with jabs. 'Dammit, that kick's still not high enough,' he said to himself, frustrated.
"Who are we killing today?" A melodious voice asked, amused.
He turned and found a pale, thin, girl watching him from her perch on a stack of mats. "Didn't know I had an audience, " he said, annoyed. It faintly registered that the girl's accent was straight from home. 'Nother Brit,' he thought, 'What does this town have some kind of ad promoting migration to Sunnydale or something? ' He wondered, thinking of Giles.
"I've nothing else to do. I'm bored," she said, flipping a long lock of dark hair away from her face.
"Well, typically, you go to the gym to work out." William said dryly.
She sniffed, "I'm waiting for my daddy to drive me home. Working out is boring." She rose from the mats gracefully and walked closer to him, staring at him intently.
'Strange, rude chit she is,' William thought, unnerved by the stare.
"My name is Drusilla." She said, extending her hand as though she were royalty and expected it to be kissed.
His innate politeness kicked in and he cursed it silently. He shook her hand and said tersely. "William."
"That is so not your color." Cordelia said regarding the top Buffy was currently trying on. "Makes your skin all yellow."
"You think?" Buffy said, "Not all golden tan yummy, huh?"
"No," Cordelia laughed, "more like sallow icky. Take it off."
The two girls had had a standing Saturday shopping date since forever. Sometimes they'd go to the Sunnydale Mall, other times the little strip of boutiques in town and for a treat occasionally Cordelia would drive them to L.A. to shop at "real stores" as she dubbed them. They were hitting the local shops on Main Street today.
Buffy complied, trading the top for a silky, little blue halter. "This better?" She modeled it, posing over dramatically for Cordy.
"Muuuch better," Cordy drawled. "That'll look nice with that pair of jeans." She plucked them from the pile.
Buffy agreed.
Cordelia admired herself in the mirror. "How can all this hotness go so completely unappreciated." She sniffed.
Buffy laughed at her friend. "You're obviously just too hot for high school guys."
"That must be it." Cordelia agreed solemnly.
"From that I get that you don't have a date for tonight?" Buffy asked.
"No. The dry spell is now officially desert level." Cordelia said, ruefully. "No interest since Adam."
"Who was a dry spell all by himself." Buffy commented and both girls laughed. Cordy's last boyfriend had been a bore of epic proportions. He'd been headed for the professional golf circuit, or so he thought, and his conversation tended to center around greens, birdies, pars and putts.
"The best thing about him was his hair," Cordy remarked, giggling, "at least he had good hair."
"Yeah, and his hair wasn't the talky part."
"No," Cordy sighed, "If only he didn't talk. He'd have been perfect. He was salty goodness when he was quiet." The girls debated whether the strong silent type was indeed a more suitable date than the all golf all the time guy as they brought their items to the cash register.
Cordy whipped out her platinum card. "I don't know, at least I wouldn't have to pretend I was listening if he didn't talk."
Buffy snorted.
Cordy finished paying and a serious look came over her face. "Buffy," she said hesitantly, "What's going on with you and that English guy?"
"William, you mean?" Buffy frowned.
"See, that's just it. I don't know his name." Cordy pointed out, "You do. Why is that?"
Buffy shrugged, "He's been helping me with my grades. You know I was close to getting kicked off the squad and no telling what my parents would've done if I'd brought home a worse report card than last time. My social life would've been grimsville."
"Yeah, grim, like what happens when you're hanging out with total geeks," Cordy said, "Like, oh, your buddy William. Really not a good idea to be seen with him, Buffy. What were you doing in his car?"
Buffy looked startled, then recovered, "He just drove me home that day you had to skip practice. We studied at my house."
"Well, just so you know, Angel's not happy." Cordy relayed, "He can't figure out why you're spending so much time with this guy."
"Please, Angel's jealous of William?" Buffy laughed, "That's ridiculous. Hello, spending time with him so I CAN spend time with Angel. I told you, he's just helping me out. "
"Why's he doing that, Buffy? What does he have to gain?" Cordy asked as they picked up their bags to leave.
"Why does everyone think he has an ulterior motive?" Buffy muttered under her breath. "He likes books and stuff." She finally said, louder. "Plus he's lonely here, I think."
"Well," Cordy paused delicately, "Angel's not happy about it." She reiterated. "He may not be jealous, but he doesn't like how it looks. Do what you want. I just thought you should know. You know Harmony's just been dying for you two to break up." She said meaningfully. "I'd hate to see that happen."
"We're not breaking up." Buffy said staunchly,"…and ewww, c'mon, Harmony?" They walked down the sunny street in silence.
Buffy paused at the window of a men's shop. "Hey Cordy, I have to go in here a sec. Need to grab a tie or something for my Dad's birthday. You go on ahead, I'll meet you at the Espresso Pump."
Cordy flipped her fingers at her. "Ok, I'll grab our table," and proceeded to the next stop on their Saturday ritual.
Buffy had the tie for her father in her hand when she turned and noticed a mannequin wearing a deep blue button down shirt. She ran her fingers along the smooth fabric appreciatively. 'Soft,' she thought. 'Same blue as William's eyes,' her mental voice continued, somewhat regretfully as she recalled their disagreement the prior afternoon. She'd noticed his eyes when he'd removed his glasses to clean them one day. They were such a clear, deep blue that they'd vividly reminded her of the water she'd snorkeled in on her family's last vacation. 'Such pretty eyes to hide behind glasses,' she'd thought at the time. 'Shame.'
Buffy felt bad about arguing with him. He'd just been in a rotten mood and she'd made it worse. To add to her guilt, she'd aced the history test, scoring her first perfect 100 in she couldn't remember how long. She impulsively decided to buy him a thank you gift. He'd already helped her raise her grades and he always wore such dull, drab colors. Browns and olives and tans that didn't really suit him at all. 'Medium, I think,' she thought, pursing her lips speculatively as she flipped through the stack of shirts to find the right size.
Purchase acquired and wrapped, she was continuing to the coffee shop to meet Cordy when she noticed the used and out of print booksellers. She'd never been inside before. Musty old place, she thought. 'But really, that's more his kind of gift,' her inner self whispered. She hesitated and then opened the door. She'd have to hurry. Cordy got impatient fast.