‘God, this is so boring’ Buffy thought, as she sat in her 4th period science class. She quickly glanced around the room to see if she was the only one on the verge of passing out. Willow and Fred seemed interested but Xander on the other hand was practically drooling all over his notebook, and Jesse didn’t look much better. Finally she looked over at Spike who shared the same table as her, to see what he was up to. He seemed to be writing something down. ‘Is it notes?’ she laughed silently at the thought of Spike taking notes for anything especially for science. ‘So what is it he’s writing?’ she leaned closer slightly to see what it could possibility be. ‘Poetry?’ it couldn’t be. She had only gotten a glance but to her that’s what it seemed to be.
“Hey, what are you writing?” she whispered.
“Its just notes, luv,” he responded.
“Oh, great. Can I copy them after you?”
“Why don’t you write your own notes?”
“Well, clearly you have the stuff I already missed. But if it’s a big deal forget it,” she responded as she suddenly realized his recently harsh tone. Once again glancing over Spike, to see him once again furiously scribbling on his paper. ‘Jerk’ she thought.
‘Crap what’s another word for-for-Bugger this, how am I gonna finish this sentence. Inspiration, that’s what I need,’ he looked over at Buffy hoping the words would come to him, but they didn't. That’s when he noticed that she seemed a bit upset, and somehow he couldn’t help but think it was entirely his fault. ‘Shouldn’t have snapped at her the way I did. God, I’m such a bloody git.’
“Luv?”
“Ya,” Buffy whispered shortly after.
“This isn’t notes,” he told her simply
“It's not?” she seemed somewhat surprised, “But you said-”
“I know what I said, its just I can’t show you what’s in here.”
“Why? Is it like your diary or something?” she half joked.
“No! What kind of nancy-boy git has a diary? This is just…it's just-um-”
“Spike, it's ok, I don’t need to know,” with that said Spike returned to his work and Buffy began to write a note to Willow, before zoning completely out and staring out the window.
“Miss Summers, would you please tell the class how it is ants can identify each other?” Mr. Barns asked.
“Huh? Oh! right, well they use their…” she took notice to Willow who was…smelling Fred? “B.O?” Buffy answered, but it sounded like more of a question she was asking herself. The whole class spilled into laughter. Even Spike couldn’t help but suppress a chuckle. The bell rang minutes after and Buffy hurriedly got out of there as fast as she could, causing Xander to make a comment about never seeing some one be so excited and rushed to get out of class and how he obviously didn’t miss anything by being half asleep.
“Buffy, wait up!” Spike called while trying to catch up with her. But she kept on going. “Buffy, luv, wait up,” he tried again, and this time she slowed down for him.
“Buffy, are you mad at me? Is this about the notebook, cause you can-”
“Spike, I’m not mad at you, this has nothing to do with your book.”
“Well then tell me, pet, what is it?” he asked calmly noting that she was clearly upset.
“Are you kidding me? You were there Spike, God, this is so embarrassing.”
“Are you talking about that B.O thing? That was nothing to get upset about, it was funny.”
“Funny! I know it was funny, even you laughed at me!”
“Hey now,” he said softly while taking her into his arms, “I would have never laughed if I had known it would upset you.” Buffy just stayed silent, and placed her head on his shoulder. “You alright?” Tears began to fill her eyes as she shook her head, and Spike felt her tense up. So gently, he rubbed her back with one hand while running his fingers through her hair. “Shh…baby, it's alright don’t cry. Please don’t cry, I can’t take that.”
“Everyone thinks I’m stupid,” she mumbled into his chest.
“Nobody thinks you're stupid.”
“Yes they do.”
“No they don’t, you know why? Cause your not, if they think something that’s not true then that’s there bloody bad. Besides everyone can see how incredibly intelligent you are because you go out with me,” she gave him a little giggle which turn into a laugh when she looked up and seen his goofy grin.
“You always know how to make me feel better,” she sighed, blinking away her tears while once again resting her head on his chest.
“Don’t you forget that, either,” he pointed while adding, “and if anyone so much as mentions this again I’ll give them a face full of my fist, how does that sound?” he half joked.
“That depends on who it is,” she answered while once again laughing at his unique sense of humour.
“Hey, Buffy, never seen some one so anxious to get out of the classroom,” Xander voiced upon his arrival near the Sunndydale High lockers right next to the girls washroom, in which Buffy and Spike were standing in front of. “What was it? Some one smell like B.O?” he laughed, even Willow gave a little chuckle at her friends joke. What she did miss however was the look of deep embarrassment on Buffy’s face as she took off into the girl’s bathroom. Although she did notice her rush in there which lead her to the look of rage that covered the bleached blond.
“Nice going welp!”
“What? What did I do?” Xander asked in a high-pitched panic, half out of fear of what Spike might do to him, the other out of confusion. What was wrong with Buffy did cross his mind between the 2 seconds she raced into the washroom and Spike yelling at him, but not once did it come to him that the two were related or that he had in anyway something to do with it. Willow however seemed to have the pieces glued together.
“She’s upset about this and you go make it worse,” were his final words to the boy before he turned to Willow, “Make sure no one goes in there,” he ordered, before bravely entering the girls washroom.
“Umm, not as nice as I though it would be,” he mused to himself, “Buffy, luv, where are u?” he looked around slightly without moving but couldn’t see her anywhere. However Harmony was standing in front of a mirror clear as the light of day as she re-applied her lip-gloss. Spike chose to ignore her.
“She’s not in here, she left. She told me to tell you that she never wants to see you again and that you should find some one a lot prettier then her to make you happy and then she recommended me,” Harmony gabbed.
“What are you getting on with, you loony bint, I just saw her go in here…Buffy?” he asked, pushing open the first stall to find nothing but a white seat.
“Why are you looking for her anyways, she’s such a loser.”
“Shut you mouth already, would ya? Can’t you see I’m busy?” he sounded extremely irritated.
“Spikey, I don’t understand, why are you so hung up
on her. You could do so much better.”
“Not from where I’m standing, now piss off pet,” he continued to check each stall still only at the third, for wanting to make sure there was no one in them.
“Come on pooky, what do you say you come over to my place tonight? My parents are put of town and we could have the whole place to ourselves,” she hinted very obviously.
“I’m busy,” he rejected flat out.
“Well what about after you do whatever it is you're going to do? Huh? What do you say, Blondie Bear?” she tried, this time coming closer to him.
“I’m going to get finished what I need to do tonight,” he sighed heavily in annoyance, this time turning to face her in complete determination to get rid of her.
“Well, what are you doing?”
“Washing my hair,” he spat out before he had time to think, mentally rolling his eyes and cursing himself for being a stupid git, because he KNEW he could
come up with something better then that.
“Well, that is important,” Harmony agreed, “but you know, I could always help you with that.”
“No thanks Harm, I’m a big boy, been washing my hair since I was three, I have. I don’t need your help. I do appreciate the offer though, I’ll keep it in mind,” he compromised in hope that it would satisfy her and she would finally leave.
“You know where I am,” were her last words before giving him a flirtatious look and exiting the girls washroom.
“Thank the bleeding God,” he growled, “how anyone can put up with that is beyond me,” he spoke to himself before hearing a little giggle… or was it a sniffle. So he tried his luck, “Isn’t that right, Buffy?”
“No,” she gave in. There was no use pretending she wasn’t there. She knew that he knew she was and she definately knew that she was, no use denying it. That was the last thing she wanted, was to become Buffy ‘Queen of Denial’.
“Come on now, luv, come out. Or are you gonna make
me keep guessing which stall you're in?”
There came no answer.
“Alright then, as you wish,” as he continued look he softly sang, “Come out, come out, wherever you are. Hey, did you see that new movie? What’s it called, Hide and Seek?” He asked and got exactly what he was looking for.
“No,” she answered, “Is it good?”
“I dunno luv, you tell me, seein' as how you like to play it so much,” he now stood right outside her stall. Her voice the last time she spoke lead him right to her. “Still upset?” he questioned.
“Not so much.”
“So why are you still in there, then?”
“Cause now, I just feel silly. It wasn’t that big of a deal and I made it out like it was one.”
“Hey now, it was a big deal if you felt like it was a big deal,” a few seconds later he started wondering why she hadn’t answered, that is until she heard the sound of the door being unlocked, “Well, lookie lookie what I found,” he smiled upon seeing her face with her eyes slightly swollen and a little smile forming in the corner of her lips.
“So, what do you want?” she finally asked.
“Just to make sure you’re all right.”
“Well, I’m fine, so you can go and find Harmony and make with the snugglies.”
“Do I detect a hint of jealously?”
“No,” she spat, and attempted to shut the stall door again, only he was too quick for her and caught the door with his hand, pushed it open and stepped slightly inside.
“First of all, me and Harm - never gonna happen, not again. Secondly, the only person I want any ‘snugglies’ with is you.”
“Oh, that’s good,” she sighed and smiled up at him, “How long did you go out?” she asked.
“About three months, I believe.”
“That isn’t exactly a little while, is it?” her tone wasn't angry, or jealous, it was more of a
'wondering what the hell Harmony had for him to date her that long'.
“No, I suppose it isn’t.”
“So, um, what was it about her that you liked exactly?”
“Nothing. Flirted with her when I saw her, thought she was kinda pretty, after that couldn’t get rid of her. Wanted a girlfriend at the time, so I put up with her as long as I could tolerate her constant stupidity.”
“I see, so, um, when exactly did you break up?”
“Thought about it after I saw you the first time. Called her the night I first called you, told her it was over. Easier said than done.”
“So she still wants you?”
“It would seem so, wouldn’t it? But then again how can you blame her? When you got a sexy bod like mine?” He smirked and raised his eyebrow. But she took it a lot differently then what he intended it to be, which was nothing more than a joke based around fact.
“So, you um. You and her had- you know,” she asked looking up at him through her wet eyelashes.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t shag that bint, she doesn’t shut-up long enough to breathe let alone do anything else. I swear to God I've never met some one so annoying that you just wanna wrap your hands around their neck and give it a good snap…Well except for the Whelp, and Captain Cardboard…Not too fond of that Cordelia chit either, and that really annoying kid in my chemistry class…What’s his name? The one that won’t shut-up about Star Wars…and-”
“Okay Spike, I get it.”
“So you're not mad at me?”
“Nope,” she declared while hugging and smiling up at him, which he returned.
“Good, cause I was thinking that tonight we could have our first date?”
“I thought the dance was gonna be our first date?”
“Well if you wanna wait,” he smirked, already knowing the answer.
“What time should I be ready?”
“6:30? I figured dinner and a movie at 8?”
“Oh, the classic?” she grinned.
“That’s me.”
“No, Spike, I really don’t think that’s you.”
“What? And why's that, then?”
Looking up at him once again she smiled and shook her head. “I think we're already late for our next class… so come on, Spikey,” she grabbed his hand and tried to push past him to lead the way to whatever class they had next. She wasn’t exactly sure, but figured they would figure it out after.
“Hey, now, not so fast,” Spike ordered, and pulled her back to him. “Where do you think you're going?”
“To class,” she whispered.
“I don’t think so,” he told her as he leaned down to kiss her, while using his foot to kick the door to the bathroom stall shut…They never made it to their next class.
____________________________________________________________________
“Angel, we could get in so much trouble for this,” Cordelia stated.
“You think I’m not aware of that?”
“Let’s just hurry up.”
“Did you hear that?” Angel asked as he suddenly hushed Cordelia and stopped to listen carefully.
“Oh my God! Some one's coming! Some one's coming!” she panicked.
“Cordelia, calm down,” he hushed, and used his hand to cover her mouth. “No yelling, okay?” When she nodded he gently removed his hand and whispered, “Now, this is going to go a lot faster if we split up. You look through the computer, and I’ll check to see if they're in the filing cabinets.”
Cordelia looked at the computer almost dazed-like, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do.
“Cordelia! What are you doing? Stop pressing buttons, you could be erasing things!”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s broken. You can’t even see anything, the screen is black.”
“Just go work over there,” he motioned towards the filing cabinets. Staring at the computer, wondering what exactly was wrong with it, he figured that there that to be some kind of password to enter.“Open sesame,” nothing, “Power on,” nothing. “Damn, what is with this thing?” he was very frustrated and decided to take it out on the computer by giving it a hard shake. Suddenly the computer let out a strange unfamiliar noise. “What happened? What did I do?” Then the computer slowly drifted away from its screen saver and back to its desktop. “That’s more like it,” Angel beamed as he sat down and went right to work. About 20 minutes later, Angel finally found what he was looking for. “There you are,” he mused.
“You found her?”“You bet,” he said, clicking on her file.
“This was a waste of time as far as we know, she has nothing but good grades.”
“Well not for much longer,” he said clicking on edit.
“Wait, go back up,” Cordelia commanded pointing to the screen as Angel used the mouse to scroll up.
“Hey. Looks like our good friend Buff burnt down a school gym,” Angel said sounding impressed, and he added, “Using gasoline and a match. She claimed that students were giving her a hard time and wanted to get back at them.” Clicking save, he once again looked down through her file to see what else he could add. “I’ve got you now, Miss Summers.” He smiled greatly to himself.
“What? You’ve got her? It was my idea to look her up in the first place…although I meant on, like, Google or something.”
“Fine, Cordelia, I give you complete credit for this part of the plan. And really, it was a job well done. So if anyone asks then I wasn’t even here, okay?”
“Sounds perfect,” she smiled, and continued to read over Angels shoulder. The thoughts that flew through Angels head were as follows:
“There you are Buffy, and I’ve got you!”