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Unlikely Friends

“Buffy, this is my girlfriend Juliet and her best friend Julie. Girls, this is Buffy.”

“Hello.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Buffy managed a “you too” and put on a fake smile. Her brain was going crazy once again. ‘Julie and Juliet? Try Darla and Dru.’ Buffy could not believe it. How the hell had every vampire she had chosen this world to escape, somehow ended up here too? Except they weren’t vampires now were they? They both looked slightly tanner, although it was hard to tell in only the dim light of her porch. And similar to James, Juliet seemed to be American. And his girlfriend. That’s what he had said. How could they still be dating? In the other world they were long since over. Not that it mattered. Why should she care if they were together or not? She shouldn’t. And didn’t. Absolutely didn’t.

“So Buffy, are you coming to the club tomorrow night?” Julie asked.

“Whahuh…?” Buffy snapped out of her daze.

“The club?” Buffy still didn’t fully understand what she was saying and apparently her face showed this. “Tomorrow” Julie tried again. “James was supposed to invite you.” She cast a look at him. He made one of those ‘oh my bad’ faces. “Which apparently he didn’t.”

“It’s like you women expect me to do everything.” Juliet smacked him playfully on the arm. The smile they shared did not go unnoticed by Buffy.

“Anyway…some of us are going to the club tomorrow night if you want to come with.” Buffy’s eyes returned to Julie.

“Oh well I…I don’t know. I don’t want to intrude.”

“You won’t.”

“Well…”

“C’mon. It’ll be fun” Juliet said.

Buffy didn’t know what she should do. She wasn’t really sure that she wanted to hang out with these people. And why were they being oh-so-friendly? She had only just met them like 10 seconds ago. On the other hand she didn’t want to seem like a jerk by refusing to be social. But being social with a bunch of vampires? Although as she had just concluded, they were not vampires. They were just human beings who were seemingly trying to be nice and invite her to go somewhere with them. Weird? Definitely. For all she knew her mom had put them up to this. That would make more sense than them just deciding on their own that she would be a fun person to hang out with. Who would want to hang out with a girl that had just been released from a mental hospital?

No one in their right mind, that’s for sure. And yet something compelled her to agree. Maybe it was the fact that she was still curious about this new world. Or maybe she was desperate for friends.

“Okay.” Both girls smiled at her.

“You won’t regret it” Julie said.

‘I sure hope not’ Buffy thought.

“So shall we go inside or are we planning on staying out here all night long?” Juliet asked.

“Oh yeah,” Buffy said, “I was just getting some air.”

“You need it hanging out in there too long” James added. Buffy opened the door and all four of them went into the house. Julie was immediately greeted by her mother.

“Sweetheart” she said hugging her, “I’m so glad you made it. I was starting to think you two wouldn’t make it back in time.”

“Traffic was pretty bad.” The woman nodded.

“I figured that it would be.

“Dear. Did you invite Buffy to come along with you to that club?” she asked.

“Yes mom.” Apparently the mothers did have something to do with the invite. Joyce chimed in then.

“Are you going to go sweetheart?” Buffy looked at her moms hopeful expression.

“Yeah.” She put on a smile and Joyce seemed pleased by the whole situation. She was happy that her daughter was making friends. She had been so worried that she wouldn’t be able to readjust. It had been so long since she had really communicated with anybody.

“That’s great. I’m sure the five of you will have a great time.” Julie nodded at her mother’s statement.

At hearing that Buffy started to regret her decision. Five? That meant that Julie was probably bringing her boyfriend along, which meant that she would end up being the fifth wheel. Great. Her mind then began to wonder about this boyfriend. She suddenly felt sick.

If James was with Juliet, like Spike had been with Dru, then that probably meant that Julie was with…No, she couldn’t think about that. But no matter how hard she tried to push it to the back of her mind it kept resurfacing. Angel. Only it wouldn’t be Angel. It would be…whoever real world Angel was. Her mom had mentioned his name, but she couldn’t remember it now. Not that it mattered because clearly their names had nothing to do with the names they had had in demon world. True she didn’t know if Darla and Drusilla were their real names, but she knew Spike’s real name had been William. And last time she checked James was not short for William.

She also remembered her mom saying how great a man he was and that he had a good job. That sounded like Angel. But then again everyone else that she had met had been nothing like her dream world versions of themselves. Her thoughts were interrupted when an old woman that she was sure she had never seen before came up to her and started talking. Her mom joined in on the conversation and introduced Buffy to the woman, who happened to be her old boss, Mrs. Greenway.

“And Hazel’s granddaughter is about your age too. You’ll have to meet her some time. She’s the sweetest girl.” Buffy smiled and nodded an uhuh though truly she wasn’t so sure that she wanted to meet anymore of the people her age that her mom knew.

After exchanging a few more words with Mrs. Greenway Buffy began ‘mingling’ with anyone and everyone.

The rest of the night seemed to pass slowly. Eventually people began to leave and by midnight everyone had gone except for Julie and her mother. James opted to take Juliet home. Buffy was rather glad when they left. She was getting nauseous watching them groping each other. Okay, so they weren’t exactly groping. More like sitting beside each other on the couch laughing and smiling. She didn’t know which was worse. Not that she cared.

Currently the two older women were sitting on the couch engaged in conversation. Buffy was in the kitchen washing dishes.

“Hey Buffy.” The ex-slayer turned her head to see Julie standing in the doorway. “Need some help?” Buffy didn’t know what to say. It was weird, to say the least. But why not give the girl a chance?

“Sure.” Julie came over and stood beside her. She reached for the dish towel and began to dry the clean dishes as Buffy washed them.

“You know, you didn’t have to invite me to go with you guys. I know my mom put you up to it.”

“I wanted to.” Buffy gave her a look out of the corner of her eye. “Okay. So my mother may have suggested it, but I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t think I would like you.”

“Well thanks. But I think I need to have a chat with my mom and let her know that I’m a big girl now and don’t need her help to make friends.” Julie laughed.

“She just worries about you. It’s a mom thing.”

“Yeah I guess.” They were both silent a moment, concentrating on the task at hand.

“So…Buffy…” Julie said after a while, “I know we haven’t known each other that long but…can I ask you a question?” Buffy took a breath. She knew this was going to happen. She was going to ask about the hospital. Who wouldn’t? I mean it wasn’t just something that you could ignore. ‘Hey I made this new friend, she’s really great, she’s good at washing dishes and oh yeah she was in a mental institution for 6 years but she doesn’t like to talk about it.’

“Yeah?” she asked hesitantly.

“I already talked to Juliet about it, but I wanted to get a second opinion.” Buffy was confused now. They had been talking about her?

“Okay.” She prepared herself for the worst.

“Well the other day I was walking to class when I heard this girl talking about a movie. Apparently this new hot shot director is looking for actors for his next big film. She said they were holding auditions in a few weeks, and I was thinking about going. You know, to try out for the part.” Buffy was relieved.

“Okay?”

“But my mom would totally freak out if she found out. She told me acting was a stupid career that hardly ever works out. She wants me to be a doctor.” Buffy almost laughed at the thought of her as a doctor. It was ironic in a way.

“So? I mean you should be able to do what you want to do. Not what she wants you to do.” Julie put down the dishrag and sighed.

“I know, but it’s so hard. I mean I don’t want her to be disappointed in me.”

“I’m sure she won’t be. Not if you do your best.” She laughed.

“Now you’re starting to sound like a mother.” Buffy got a mock-horrified look on her face.

“Don’t say that.” They both laughed.

“I just hope I don’t act like them.”

“Me too. But you know, all kidding aside, I think you should do it. Try out I mean.”

“Thanks. I was hoping you would say that.” They smiled and resumed their dish washing. Buffy glanced over at her. It was weird that they were talking, and getting along. She wondered briefly if she could have liked Darla. Had she had not been evil and killed Jesse of course.

As strange as it was though, it seemed that Buffy had made a friend. An unlikely friend, but a friend none the less.

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