When Friday finally came, for the first time since she had moved to Sunnydale, Buffy just couldn’t stop smiling. She was happier than she could remember ever being before and knew it was all because she and William had finally cleared the air. Excited about their date, she wished school would be over as quickly as possible, but at least she would get to see him before that, since he was finally allowed to come back to school. She had practically bounced out of bed this morning, causing her mother to raise a brow in surprise at her daughter’s sudden eagerness to get to school. Now she hurriedly grabbed her books from her locker and glanced at her watch, hoping to find William before her next class would begin.
When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she spun around with a wide smile on her face, expecting to see William behind her. Her smile faltered and her eyes widened when she found herself looking into the brown eyes of Liam Angelus. Frowning, she gave him a questioning look. Liam smiled at her. “Hi. You’re Buffy, right? The new girl?”
Buffy rolled her eyes, annoyed at the fact that people still saw her as ‘the new girl’. She had been here for more than a month already. Now she gave Liam a suspicious look. “Yeah, I’m Buffy. Why?” Liam had never bothered to speak to her before, but she had seen him around school and knew who he was. And more importantly, she already violently disliked him. After all, this was the guy who had gotten William in trouble.
Liam looked a little surprised at her reaction, but quickly covered up. “I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me some time this weekend. Like go to the movies or something. We could…”
“Sorry.” Buffy interrupted him before he could finish. “I’m busy.”
He seemed to be taken aback, obviously not used to being interrupted. Then, when her words started to sink in, he looked confused. “I never said which day. How can you know you’re busy?”
Buffy looked him right in the eyes, a cold expression on her face. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not interested.” Then she spotted a familiar face in the crowd, and her face lit up. “William! Wait up!” Without bothering to look at Liam again, she hurried past him and headed towards her guy.
“Dude, that was pathetic!” Gunn chuckled as he and Parker made their way over to Liam, having witnessed the whole thing from a distance. Although, he quickly stopped laughing when he saw the angry look on Liam’s face. “Sorry, man.”
“I don’t see why you’d even bother to talk to her in the first place.” Parker looked bored. “That girl’s a loser, everybody knows that. She…” He gulped as Liam furiously grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pushed him up against one of the lockers behind them. “I’m sorry, okay! Forget I said anything!” After glaring at him for a moment, Liam let go of him, and Parker nervously looked around, hoping no one had seen him being manhandled by one of the most popular guys in school.
“You two better shut up if you know what’s good for you!” Liam gave them both a warning look. “And I’ll have you know; that girl wants me. She’s just nervous around me. And who could blame her? She’s a nobody compared to me. I’d be doing the bitch a favor by going out with her.” Parker nodded in agreement, not wanting to get shoved against another locker. Gunn didn’t look as convinced, but wisely kept his opinion to himself.
Suddenly Parker realized who it was Buffy had ran over to. “Hey, look who she’s talking to!” Liam glanced over his shoulder, eyes darkening.
Gunn looked as well, laughing a little. “Guess he’s not gay after all.” Seeing the expression on Liam’s face change into pure hate, he quickly changed the subject; “So, did you guys hear the rumors about Cordelia Chase and Marc Duncan? Someone actually saw them doing it behind the…”
“Abrams!” Ignoring Gunn completely, Liam turned to Parker. “Meet up with me here after next period. Bring Chad and Mitch. We’re gonna have another little talk with Willie-boy.” Parker nodded in understanding.
“Wait a minute, dude.” Gunn looked from Parker to Liam. “What are you gonna do?”
Parker glanced at Liam before turning back to Gunn, grinning widely. “What do you think?”
Gunn sighed. “Can’t you just leave the guy alone?” Seeing the looks on Liam’s and Parker’s faces, he hurried to add; “I mean, why bother? He’s just a loser, right? Why waste your time?”
Parker opened his mouth, but Liam beat him to it. “You’re absolutely right. Let’s forget the whole thing.” Seeing how Parker started to object, Liam raised his hand to stop him. Then he turned back to Gunn. “Look at the time; you should probably go to class. See you after lunch.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Gunn shook his head. “I mean it, Angelus. I won’t be a part of this.”
“Don’t worry.” Liam’s mouth twisted into a cruel smile. “You won’t be.”
“Buffy! There you are.”
Buffy smiled when she saw Willow and Xander heading towards her. “Hey, guys! What’s up?”
“Lunch!” Xander got a goofy grin on his face. “Let’s head to the cafeteria before all the good seats are taken.”
“Actually…” Buffy hesitated. She was supposed to meet up with William, but decided they could all have lunch together for once. “We have to wait for William. I told him we’d have lunch together.”
Willow just smiled, noticing the happy expression on her friend’s face, but Xander looked surprised. He was silent for a moment before he spoke; “Really, Buffy, do you think that’s such a good idea?”
Buffy gave him a confused look. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, think about it.” Xander went on; “You wanna be popular, right? I just don’t see how hanging around with someone like William would get you any cool points.” The moment the words left his mouth, he felt like the biggest jerk in the world. He didn’t have anything against William, quite the opposite. He was well aware of how other people were treating him, and to tell the truth, it made him feel sick. But the thing was, he knew how Buffy felt about William. Of course, a part of him knew he should forget about his pathetic crush and just accept the fact that Buffy was his friend. But still, it wasn’t that easy.
Now both Buffy and Willow stared at him like he was the lowest creature on the entire planet, and he felt even worse. Desperately trying to save the situation, he let out a nervous laugh. “Never mind, I didn’t mean it. That was a stupid thing to say, I’m sorry.”
“You better be.” Buffy glared at him. “Look, Xander, I’m only gonna say this once. I like William. I like him a lot. And he’s gonna be around a lot from now on. If you have a problem with that, then maybe you better stop and think about how important our friendship is to you. Because I never wanna hear another comment like that. I mean it.”
Raising his hands in an apologetic gesture, Xander gave her a pleading look. “I don’t have any problems with that. Really, Buffy. I said I was sorry and I meant it. You won’t hear anything negative about William coming out of my mouth again, I promise.”
Buffy still didn’t look pleased, but nodded. Before she could say anything else, a throat was being cleared behind them. Annoyed by the interruption, she turned around, only to stand face to face with one of Liam’s friends; Charles Gunn. Letting out a groan, she realized that the day was only getting worse by the minute. She glared at the interrupter. “What do you want?”
Gunn already looked nervous, and even more so after seeing her reaction. “Look, I know we don’t know each other, but…”
“God!” Buffy threw her arms up in the air in frustration. “I already told your friend I wasn’t interested. He sent you over to talk to me now? How pathetic is he?!”
“What?” Gunn looked confused for a moment, then shook his head. “No, that’s not why I’m here. I just…” He hesitated, glancing at Willow and Xander who were listening closely, before turning back to Buffy. “Can I talk to you in private? It’ll only take a moment, then I’ll leave you alone.”
Buffy opened her mouth to tell him there was no way, but something in his eyes stopped her. She didn’t know why, but he seemed to be sincere. Sighing, she nodded and took a couple of steps away from her friends, Gunn following. Then she crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay, what is it?”
“Um…” Gunn glanced around; like he was afraid someone would see him. “You’re friends with William, right?”
Giving him a suspicious look, Buffy nodded. “Yes, I am. Why?” Before he could answer, her eyes narrowed and she went on; “You better leave him alone, or…”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me.” Gunn interrupted her, looking genuinely hurt. He glanced around again, then lowered his voice; “Just so we’re clear, you did not hear this from me.” Eyes widening, Buffy nodded again, waiting for him to continue. When he did, he didn’t look directly at her. “I just thought you should know that he might be in trouble.”
TBC