Buffy was disappointed by lunchtime because the only time she had gotten to see William was in passing to her next class. The passing lasted a measly two seconds, and he barely stopped to admire her, at least she thought. She didn't have much time to notice because she was running late.
She figured she would have to dress nice again tomorrow because he would definitely see her. Tomorrow was the due date of their art project and she would have to stand up in front of the class to present it, so he would have no choice but to notice her.
If someone commented on why she was dressed so nice she could just say that it was because she was presenting her project. No one would have to know that it was for Williams benefit, especially William.
She looked over as Willow took a seat next to her opening up her sandwich.
“You look nice. Any special reason why?” Willow asked, smiling at her friend.
Buffy was about to answer, but Liam distracted her. He stood in front of her, blocking her view of Willow. She became uneasy as Liam sat down on top of the table, pushing her tray of food to the side.
“So, Buffy,” he attempted a sexy grin. “How are you doing?”
Buffy was hesitant in answering him. She was suspicious of his attentions; having heard the conversation from yesterday.
“Just fine, Liam, “ she faked a bright smile. “Life has been good to me. How about you?“
Liam put on a cocky grin then said, “Excellent. Just excellent. I scored these tickets to the dance,” he flashed the tickets in her face, waving them around. “I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”
Buffy looked surprised. She had known he was planning to ask her out, but didn’t think it would be to the school dance.
Liam grinned even more, noticing her surprise, “Come on. It’ll be fun. I’ll rent us a limo and we can both dress in style. We’ll do dinner before, “ he leered at her. “Then, you know, we can go back to my place after.“
Buffy put on a coy smile as she answered him, “I’ll have to check my schedule and make sure I’m free. I’ll get back to you.”
Liam jumped up with that same big grin plastered on his face, thinking that she would eventually say ‘yes‘ “Right on! You will have lots of fun. I’ll make sure of it, no matter what it takes,“ he gave her a once over before saying, “You look really nice today, Buffy.”
Liam turned and walked away.
Buffy couldn’t help but blush as he told her she looked nice. There would always be a soft spot in her heart for Angel, and what with Liam taking the place of him in this reality, she couldn’t help it.
Willow hit her on the arm to grab her attention before she asked, “Don’t you remember who he is?”
Buffy frowned and was about to answer, but suddenly Tara sat down and spoke up.
“What was that about?” the shy girl said.
Willow rolled her eyes, “Buffy was just asked to the dance by Liam and she’s thinking about going!“ the red-head shouted, then looked to Tara to share a gentle smile of greeting.
“Oh, Buffy, you can’t be serious. Don’t you remember what happened two years ago with Dru? She and him were dating and he tried to rape her. Luckily, William came along and saved her,“ she looked saddened. “The entire school talked about it. It was right after you guys were dating and it all happened because he had slept with Darla while dating Dru. Do you really want to repeat that in your life?”
Buffy couldn’t believe that Liam would do such a thing. Of course she didn’t want to go to the dance with him, especially after hearing that.
“Cheating, one night stands, and attempted rape. You seriously can’t be thinking about this…” Willow said.
Willow and Tara looked at Buffy as she stayed quiet. They were so worried that she would actually go through with it.
“Of course I won’t go to the dance with him,“ she scowled in disgust. “I just like to be told I look nice.“
Tara smiled gently at Buffy, “You do look nice today,“ she motioned to her skirt. “That is a very pretty skirt.“
Buffy grinned, looking down at her skirt then back up to her friend. “Thanks. It’s my favorite!”
Willow and Tara shared another gentle smile and a look of longing. Buffy stayed quiet, watching the mixed emotions play out in front of her.
Suddenly, Tara got up and with a gentle wave she said, “See you guys later. I have to get to class.”
Willow watched as Tara walked away and then sighed, “I miss her so much.”
Buffy put a hand on her shoulder to console her friend.
“I know you do, Will. It’ll work out. You just need to give it time and stay away from the computer. Show her that you can change.“
Willow nodded, both going to finish their lunches, then hurried off to class. Buffy stood watching Willow leave still with the thought of Liam being evil in this world as well as Angelus was in the Sunnydale she had come from. Buffy frowned majorly as she realized that apparently no form of Angel would ever get it right.
Buffy climbed out of the car to follow behind Dawn, who was chatting happily about her science fair project, trying to rope Buffy into taking some pictures for her to post on her board that Hank had made her.
Buffy agreed to help and Dawn cheered excitedly as she got together the ingredients Joyce had bought for her at the grocery store.
She grinned at Buffy who took a seat on one of the stools at the island in the kitchen, “So, I’m testing which dish detergent will reduce the amount of bacteria on a kitchen sponge.”
Buffy frowned, “Couldn’t you come up with something more creative than that?”
Dawn laughed, “Sure I could have, but this is the easiest offered! Now don’t knock it until you try it. I plan to write everything up, make things all neat and tidy on this oak board and take some pictures to prove my point. Dawn soap will win because it’s my name,“ she paused. “Ready?”
Buffy shrugged, putting the camera to her face.
“Ok, now take a picture of Dawn, Joy, Ivory, Palmolive, and Sunlight.” Dawn pointed to the bottles as she spoke.
Buffy did as she was asked, but stopped because she noticed a spoon covered in gunk. It was the same spoon that her and Joyce had filled up with molasses last week while baking.
“What is that?” Buffy made a face as she questioned.
Dawn grinned, “Bacteria.”
Buffy winkled her nose, “Gross. How did that happen?”
Dawn grinned even bigger, “I just didn’t clean the molasses off. Dad thought of it. It makes bacteria if you leave it like that for a week,“ she waved Buffy forward, then grabbed a Petri dish and q-tips that she borrowed from school. Each q-tip was labeled with the name of the detergents. “Ok, now take pictures of me swabbing so there’s proof that I did it.”
Buffy took pictures of Dawn swabbing the spoon and then the Petri dish. She continued taking pictures while her sister car carefully measured ½ spoon full of soap and filled the sink with 15 cups of hot water, making sure the water was eighty degrees. She then put the spoon in the water, making sure that all the molasses was off the spoon. Then she swabbed the sponge again before swabbing the Petri dish.
Buffy was completely bored with the entire situation. Her eyes grew heavy as she watched the younger Summers repeat the process five times, not counting the control group.
Dawn organized the Petri dishes, then turned to her sister with a proud grin. “We get to do this again in a week. Aren’t you excited?”
Buffy rolled her eyes, but smiled slightly, “Thrilled,“ she handed Dawn her camera. “Now can I do my homework? I have an art project to finish.”
Dawn took the camera from her hand with a cheer, “Wow, this project is so easy,“ she beamed. “I’m almost finished. I just need Mom to develop these photos and then I’ll put it on my board. It’ll be a masterpiece!,“ she paused to take a breath. “Thanks so much for your help.”
Buffy nodded, then dashed up the stairs to work on her art project and find an outfit for tomorrow.