Chapter 25
Buffy smiled when she got to her house and found a small box at the front door. She picked it up and walked inside, not opening it until she reached her room. She sat on her bed and then opened the box to reveal a beautiful, silver necklace. Spike was just full of surprises. She put the necklace on and went over to her mirror to check it out. Buffy didn’t expect him to give her anything until Christmas, but she wasn’t about to turn away the gift. She’d have to be crazy to do that. She was brought out of her reverie when he suddenly entered her room.
“See, I used the door this time. Aren’t you proud of me?” he said with a smile.
She graced Spike with a smile of her own and went to hug him. “You are the sweetest guy in the whole world.”
Spike was confused as he returned the embrace. “If this is the response I get, I think I’ll continue to use the door from now on.”
Buffy kissed him on the lips. “Thanks for the necklace. It’s very beautiful.”
Spike grabbed Buffy’s shoulders gently and pushed her away, so he was looking into her eyes. “You lost me, love. That’s not from me,” he explained, pointing to the necklace that she was wearing. “I haven’t made enough to pay for your present yet.”
It was Buffy’s turn to be confused. “You didn’t leave this at the door?”
He shook his head. “If it was from me, I would have given it to you in person.”
Buffy then realized that the necklace didn’t come with a note. She figured Spike would have written something. “Wait, I found a rose in my locker today. You didn’t put it there?”
“I’m not going to return to a school that I don’t go to anymore to put a flower in your locker. Again, I would have done it in person.”
Buffy went into her backpack to take out the rose and note that she found in her locker earlier that day. “This was with it,” she stated, handing him the note.
Spike took it and read the message. He really wasn’t happy. “Who the bloody hell is this from?”
“I don’t know. I thought it was you.”
Spike calmed down when he noticed how scared Buffy looked. He threw the note away and wrapped his arms around her. “Do you know of anyone that it could be from?” he asked her in a softer tone.
Buffy shook her head. “I have no idea. I’m not exactly popular; I don’t know who could have given me this.” She took the necklace off and placed it back in the box, not wanting anything to do with it anymore. “I’m scared, Spike. This person has obviously been following me around. They knew how to get into my locker, and they know where I live.”
Spike felt even angrier and held her tighter. “If I find out who it is, I’ll make him pay for ever laying eyes on you.”
Buffy took a deep breath and continued to let him hold her, neither knowing what to say after that.
* * * * *
“Not only are you dating the hottest guy ever, but you now have a secret admirer? You’re so lucky.”
Buffy shook her head. “This isn’t a good thing, Dawn. This guy has been following me. It’s just really creepy and I have no idea who it could be.”
Dawn didn’t really think about that.
Harmony decided to speak up. “Sounds like you have yourself a stalker. I had one before, so annoying. I felt all flattered and everything, but the poor guy just wouldn’t take the hint. Oh, maybe it’s the same guy. He probably realized he couldn’t get anywhere with me and decided to move on to my sister. God, how desperate will some people get?”
The other two girls stared at her.
“Not that he’d have to be desperate to want you or anything,” she said to try and make herself sound better.
Buffy just rolled her eyes, then turned back to Dawn. “What am I going to do? I’ll be constantly worrying about this at school now. I don’t want some guy to be watching my every move.” She sat down on her bed, once again hating the fact that Spike already graduated.
Dawn suddenly had an idea. “Maybe you could find someone else and pretend like you’re with him, so the creepy guy will back off. You’ll have to find a really big guy, though. Like someone on the football team.”
Harmony actually agreed with that suggestion.
Buffy would have laughed at that if she didn’t feel so terrified. “Yeah, like that’ll happen. I’m not exactly popular with the jocks. I would never lower myself to actually pretend to be with one of them, anyway. No, this is just something I’ll have to handle on my own. Maybe it’s not as bad as I think. I’m probably getting all worked up over nothing. We’ll soon be out of school for winter break and this whole thing will blow over. I’ll just ignore it. He’ll probably realize that I’m not interested and leave me alone,” she said more to herself than her sisters, really wishing she could believe that.
* * * * *
Buffy walked the halls of Sunnydale High the next day and tried not to feel afraid. She knew that she was making herself crazy and tried to put the supposed stalker out of her head. She was headed to her locker and not paying attention, when she bumped into a hard chest. She would have fallen down if it wasn’t for the strong arms that were now holding her up.
“Sorry about that, I didn’t see you.”
Buffy raised her head to gaze at him. He was tall and definitely not bad to look at, but she couldn’t seem to recognize him. She shook her head when she realized that he spoke. “Don’t worry about it, I wasn’t really paying attention.”
He gave her a warm smile, then let her arms go. “I guess that happens. I’m Riley Finn, I just moved here about a month ago. I still don’t know my way around that well. This is a bigger school than what I’m used to.”
Buffy nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I know the feeling. I’ve been here for almost three years now and still manage to get lost. I’m Buffy Summers, by the way.”
He nodded as well. “Right, I’ve seen you around.”
Buffy didn’t know why that statement suddenly made her nervous, but she just shook it off. “Well, I should really be getting to class now. Maybe we can talk again later?” she said and really wanted to be elsewhere at the moment. He seemed like a nice guy, but looks could always be deceiving. She was finding it hard to trust anyone right now.
“Yeah, count on it,” he replied with a friendly smile, then walked off in the other direction.
Buffy sighed in relief and continued the walk to her locker. She just really wanted the day to be over.