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It Must Be Tuesday

Two more weeks passed and Buffy took her test. Apparently all of her studying had paid off. She was happy to have the test taking over with and didn’t plan on doing it again any time soon. But unfortunately her mother wanted her to apply to college immediately if not sooner. It was June and Buffy didn’t know if any college would accept her this late. Regardless she picked up an application for CSU and filled it out. Joyce told her that they had saved up money in case Buffy decided to go to college and therefore cost would not be an issue. For a while Buffy had tried to convince her mother to let her use the money she had saved for her to go to college to rent her an apartment, but Joyce had been firmly against it. Buffy assumed this was because she wanted to keep her around as long as she could. This was understandable seeing as how she had missed out on most of her teenage years. That didn’t make it less irritating however.

So the problem now was finding a part-time job. If she had any hopes of getting her own place she would have to make some money of her own. And that was how she had ended up here; a place she never thought she’d be again.

“Double meat is double sweet,” the girl behind the counter said. The customer smiled and picked up his order. Buffy watched him take a seat and then stepped up to the counter.

“Welcome to the Double Meat Palace, I’m Amy, how can I help you?”

“Uh yeah…I was wondering if I could pick up and application,” Buffy said without enthusiasm. This was the last place she ever wanted to work again, but every other place she had been in the last few days weren’t looking for anybody at this time. After much inner debate she had finally given in and come here. It had taken all of her will power.

“Sure you can,” she said with a smile before leaning down under the counter and pulling out a piece of paper. She handed it to Buffy. “Just fill this out and bring it back.”

“Thank you.” Buffy looked over the girls shoulder into the kitchen. A bad since of de ja vu hit her and she turned quickly. Once she was outside she took a deep breath. No way was she going to be able to work here. Especially now that she wouldn’t have someone to have sex with on break.

Buffy made a face and mentally slapped herself for thinking that. Bad bad bad. Any thoughts about Spike led to thoughts about James and those thoughts only led to thoughts about their little make-out session and that was just not good. She had only seen him a few times since the little incident and when she had she did her best to ignore him. Needless to say they had not been alone together.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of her phone ringing. She dug it out of her purse.

“Hello.”

“Hey Buffy.”

“Hi mom.”

“Listen I was wondering if you would mind coming down to the gallery. I have something I want to show you.”

“Yeah sure. I’ll head down there now.”

“Thank you sweetheart.”

“Talk to you soon.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” Buffy hung up the phone and sighed. She didn’t know what her mom wanted to show her but she was almost sure it was something that she didn’t want to see. Regardless she went. Once she got there she found her mother waiting for her at the front door.

“Hey sweetheart.”

“Hey.”

“Come on in.” Joyce gave Buffy a quick tour of the gallery before taking her into the back.

“The reason I wanted you to come down here is we got a new shipment in yesterday and I have been going through some of the boxes and I found something that might interest you.

“Oh yeah? Well now I’m curious.” Joyce smiled and took the lid off of one of the boxes. The she reached in and pulled out a smaller box.

“Ooh a box. I can’t wait to tell my friends.”

“Ha ha,” Joyce said making Buffy smile.

“So what’s in it?” The older woman opened the box and pulled out a mask. Buffy scrunched up her face.

“It’s hideous.”

“And it’s worth over 2 million dollars.”

“Oh…well in that case it’s beautiful.” Joyce laughed.

“You used to love things like this. When you were younger you wanted me to buy you some of these for you and your friends so you could put on a show.”

“That was a while ago.”

“I know. I just thought maybe some things hadn’t changed.” Buffy felt a pang of guilt. She knew her mom was just trying to connect with her.

“It’s great mom. I’m glad you remembered.” Joyce smiled.

“Of course I remembered.” They shared a hug before a voice was heard behind them.

“But Amber I promise I won’t let it get out of control this time.”

“That’s what you said last time and I came home to find broken dishes, mysterious stains, and a guy named Richard sleeping in my bath tub. There’s a reason mom doesn’t let you throw parties at home Shel.”

Buffy froze at the sound of those voices. She knew those voices. She turned slowly and saw them standing there.

“Oh Buffy, I would like you to meet a co-worker of mine,” Joyce said. She led her daughter over to where the two girls were still arguing.

“Amber I would like you to meet my daughter.”

“Hi. I’m..”

“Buffy. I’m Amber. And this is my little sister Michelle.”

“Hey,” Buffy said uncertainly glancing at the younger girl. She had her arms crossed and seemed uninterested by the whole situation.

“Mrs. Summers is there anything else you want me to do before I leave?”

“If you wouldn’t mind unpacking those last two boxes I would appreciate it.”

“Sure thing,” Amber said. “It was nice meeting you Buffy.”

“You too.” The two girls walked past Buffy and Joyce.

“Well I have a few more things to take care of and then I was hoping we could grab some dinner,” Joyce said.

“Yeah sure.”

“Okay I’ll meet you out front in about twenty minutes.” Buffy nodded and when her mother left the room she turned back to Amber and Michelle. So they were sisters in this world. That was a new twist. Though they had been close in her dream world. She wondered if it would be a good idea to talk to them.

“Michelle could you open that box for me please?”

“Oh you trust me with ancient irreplaceable artifacts, but not to have a little party?” Amber shook her head.

“Just do it.” Buffy walked over to where they were.

“So how long have you worked here?” she asked Amber. The girl looked up slightly surprised at her words.

“A-about a year.”

“You like it here?”

“Yeah. Your m-moms really nice.” Buffy smiled. This girl was more like Tara than she thought she would be. “W-what about you? What have you been doing?”

“Nothing really. Adjusting.”

“Oh. Sorry I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay. I guess my mom told you then?”

“Yeah. We’ve heard all about you,” came Michelle’s voice from behind them.

“Really?”

“N-nothing bad of course,” Amber confirmed.

“Just that you were in a coma for like six years and then miraculously woke up. It’s actually kinda cool.” Buffy smiled at the girl that she had known for years to be her sister. She smiled back and then went back to going through the box she’d opened.

“Your mom was so happy when you woke up. She called and told everyone. And even though I didn’t really know you or your mom that well I was still happy to hear it.”

‘Wait,’ Buffy thought, ‘if she didn’t know me before then I most likely would not have known her. And if that were true then why would she have ever been in my dream world?’ ‘Not that it matters,’ she reminded herself. ‘Because I am moving on.’ She shook her head as if to clear the thoughts she was having.

“Hmm.” Buffy looked over at Michelle. She was holding a scroll of some kind.

“Shel where did you get that?” Amber asked.

“In this bag,” she said holding it up.

“Well put it back. I have to go put this in the exhibit. I’ll be right back.” Michelle made a face at Amber’s retreating form. When she left she called for Buffy.

“Yeah?” the ex-slayer asked.

“Maybe you should read this.” She handed the scroll to Buffy.

“Death becomes life. A second chance given. Never to be taken back. Let go of the past,” Buffy read. “I don’t get it.”

“It’s like you,” Michelle said, “you know with the whole a second chance thing. And you know being in a coma is kinda like being dead.” Buffy looked over the words again. It did sound like her. Too much like her. “What do you think it means?” Michelle asked.

“I don’t know.” The younger girl reached back into the bag.

“Hey there’s something else in here.” She pulled it out and looked at it. “It’s a ring.” Buffy looked at it.

“Let me see that.” Michelle handed her the ring.

“It doesn’t look old.”

“That’s because it isn’t,” Buffy said. Michelle looked confused.

“How do you know?”

“Because it’s mine.”

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