Buffy sat in her seat as the teacher called on, thankfully, everyone else around her. Buffy was lost in her classes, not yet fully adjusting to the new Sunnydale.
Today, she had Math with Liam, William and Tara, and after that, she had Art class with William. They sat across from each other, staring at the other in interest when the other one wasn‘t looking. Every time they would make eye contact, William would look down and bury himself in his sketching.
Buffy waited impatiently for William to spark a
conversation, but became frustrated, so much that she wanted to scream, that he barely said a word to her the entire time.
He acted as if he were afraid of her, and she didn’t want that at all. She craved his attention and missed Spike horribly. She knew that somewhere in William, Spike had to exist.
Before class was over, she nervously twisted her hands in her lap as she offered, “Would you like to have lunch with me?“
William shook his head, furiously “N-no. I, ah, normally eat alone.”
Buffy wanted to scream in frustration, thinking that this version of Spike didn’t like her.
When the bell rang she rose out of her seat, giving William a frown, before going into the hall. There, she saw Tara walking alone, so she quickly made her way over to her friend.
“Would you like to go to lunch Tara?” Buffy asked.
Tara smiled softly, “I would love to. You have a break right?”
Buffy glanced down at her schedule, then looked back up at her friend to nod with a smile. She told Tara that she had four hours to waste until her next class.
Tara’s smile grew wider at the new information.
“Would you like to go see a movie with me?” Tara asked, hopefully.
Buffy had never been able to just go see a movie, what with all of her responsibilities and all. She had always been so busy, but she thought that now was as good a time as any to start.
She nodded her head and excitedly replied, “Sure! Now?”
Tara nodded her response, then together they walked off campus to the theatre that was located down the street.
They went to see the movie Cast Away, in which, Buffy enjoyed as well as her time just plain relaxing, but something still felt like it was missing. It bothered her that she couldn’t figure out what it was.
During the movie, Tara and her had eaten hotdogs and shared nachos. The food was greasy, but no greasier than the fast food she had been eating lately back in her Sunnydale. She shuttered at the thought of the Doublemeat Palace, but at least here, she didn’t have to worry about working at that place.
For a brief moment, as Tara was talking, she zoned out to think about a conversation her and Spike once had about finances.
“I don’t worry much about finances. I’m a 120 year old vampire, who has more money tucked away than I’ll ever need. You need anything, at all Buffy. I’m serious, you just say the word, Slayer, and it’s all yours.”
Spike had always offered her help like that, but she was always too proud, so she never accepted it. She missed Spike more than she thought she ever would.
She came back to reality just as Tara asked, “Do you want some ice cream? There’s an ice cream parlor just off campus.”
Buffy nodded in agreement as she listened to Tara continue to talk about the movie a little more.
Buffy sat, with her chocolate milk shake, thinking of how things in this world could be so different than back home, but other times be the same.
She looked at Tara, deciding to brave the question that had been bothering her since she came to his world, “Why did you and Willow break up exactly?”
Tara looked down into her chocolate covered ice cream as she quietly admitted, “We just want different things. She is into computers and chatting on the Internet, and I’m more of a book type of person.” she brought sad eyes up to meet Buffy’s. “We were so similar when we met, and I loved her so much, but she just got so obsessed with the Internet. It’s difficult to talk to someone or spend time with them, when they are so busy with others on the computer.“
Buffy nodded, remembering back to yesterday when she was ‘spending time with Willow’ and how she had barely said a word to her, unless it was to discuss what someone else on her screen had said to her that was funny.
Buffy put her hand on Tara’s, attempting to offer her friend support.
“I’m sorry.” she said, as she rubbed a thumb across the palm of the other girl’s hand.
“It’s hard because I still love her; I just know it’s not meant to be. For it to work, she’d have to give up her addiction to the Internet and she doesn’t seem to want to.” Tara nodded her head in defeat.
Buffy thought about the similarities about their breakup. Instead of magic, it was the Internet Willow was addicted to.
Tara looked at her curiously and asked, “Do you ever think about dating again? I know you’ve had some really bad cases in the past. Angel was hardly someone to be with, since he was only interested in a fling.”
Tara paused, taking a bite of her ice cream. “He wanted the freedom so he could come and go in your life as he pleased, not offering any kind of explanation other than it was too hard. Parker was horrible and Riley was too into his fighting and power plays to let you even have a say on what you wore. There are others out there though, Buffy” she smiled at her friend. “You seem so lonely sometimes.”
Buffy nodded, but said nothing. Her thoughts went back to William, causing her to think of another question to ask Tara. She hoped that her friend would understand and be able to help her, just as she did back home.
“Tara, what’s the story with William?”
Tara looked at her curiously, “You know he has had a crush on you, for like ever. He’s the college geek and is extremely anti-social. He doesn’t fit in, because he doesn’t normally speak to other people, and no one understands why. Has your feelings towards him changed?”
Buffy shrugged, not wanting to say much, so Tara continued, “He does seem to really like you, and did save Drusilla from Liam a few years…”
She glanced up from her milkshake in surprise, hoping Tara would say more about the subject, but it seemed the conversation was closed.
“Well, either way I’m sure it’s ok.” She glanced at her clock, announcing, “I have to go back to campus, want to walk with me?”
Buffy nodded as she placed a few bills on the table, paying for her part of the order. The two girls walked back to campus as Tara continued to talk, giving Buffy time to think.
Buffy returned to sit in the last class of the day. It was only a 40-minute class, so she would finish just in time to pick up Dawn from school. She figured that she must have planned the long gap between classes, so that when she finished, she’d be able to always give Dawn a ride.
She sat there, completely and utterly bored, as the teacher lectured on the Democratic Party being represented by mule. Why that kind of thing mattered, she’d never know, but she diligently took notes anyway, inside her notebook that contained notes from previous classes.
She could have cheered as the final bell rang, announcing the end of class. Everyone piled out, including Liam, Parker, Xander, and William, who had been sitting in the back corner by himself.
Xander waved as fell into step beside her, “Did you want to go Bronzin’ with Willow and me this weekend?
Buffy frowned, “I’m grounded.”
Xander shook his head, “Bummer. Well then, maybe you could sneak out. We’re meeting at 9 on Sunday, ut your parents usually go to bed around 10, don’t they? After that you should be golden!“
Buffy hesitated, but wanted to go out and have fun so badly that she agreed, “Ok. So how are you and Anya doing?”
Xander continued to walk her to her car, not answering. She took the opportunity of silence to notice he looked very different. He was wearing a stretchy black shirt and tan jeans that were fitted perfectly to him. On his feet, instead of sandals, he wore tan tennis shoes that matched his pants. His hair looked similar to how she remembered, so she shrugged the wardrobe changes off to just him being from a different lifetime.
She heard him question if she was going to pick up Dawn and she nodded, “Same thing-everyday right?” Xander nodded, then asked with a sense of wistfulness in his voice, “Ever long for something more exciting?”
Buffy shook her head at the irony of the question, but didn’t answer. She would be lying if she said that she hadn’t been thinking the same thing lately.
“See you Sunday night at ten, Buffster!” Xander waved as he jogged to his own car.
Buffy smiled, waved, then got into her car to go pick up Dawn.