Chapter 3
One year ago.
First day of school.
“I heard the upperclassmen hate freshmen,” Willow whispered, shuddering when a group of senior girls gave her a look of disgust. In Sunnydale Academy, it was easy to separate the upper and under classmen aside from the few feet of height difference. For starters, the older girls liked wearing their skirts hiked up, barely concealing their butts and the older guys refused to tuck in their polos. They roamed the halls with a swagger and a head held high, intimidating anyone who dared get in their way. Couples were intertwined, pressed up against lockers, connected at the hips or the arms or the lips. They were everywhere. Sunnydale Academy seemed like a mating ground of juniors and seniors while the freshmen timidly stood around, sticking out like a sore thumb: gawkish, knobby-kneed, and misplaced.
Buffy and Willow had heard all the scary rumors in eighth grade. Everything from the social caste system of the rich and their minions to the pranks played on the new kids in school. Looking around at the wide hallway, all their worst fears were confirmed. This place was hell. Buffy had begged her parents to let her go to the public school but they wouldn’t hear of it and insisted that this Academy gave her a guaranteed entry into law school. Well… I guess all you really need to get into law school is lots and lots of money. Functioning brain not required. Buffy thought to herself. There was no need to look twice to see that this place was more money than smarts.
And the poor were massacred. The ones who arrived on scholarships were taunted. This was the reason why Willow was trembling beside her and she suddenly felt the urge to comfort her friend.
“Can’t be that bad,” Buffy reassured her.
“I’m serious! I heard that…” Willow looked around then leaned in to whisper “…they threw sardines at the freshmen for the first pep rally!”
Buffy laughed at the horrified look on Willow’s face.
They stopped when they were in front of room 330-B. It was English, first class of the day. The problem now was the couple that was tongue wrestling in front of the door. Buffy and Willow shifted uncomfortably and looked away, waiting for them to finish.
“Are you just going to stand there all day?”
Buffy was startled and jumped at the sound of the smooth accented voice coming from behind her. Spike was suddenly next to her, hands casually stuffed in the pockets of his khakis and his unconventional black polo halfway untucked, looking annoyed and amused at the same time. He laughed at the surprised look on Buffy’s face and the mortified Willow who was getting redder every second.
“You’re in our way,” he grabbed the boy’s shoulder, forcing him to separate from his girlfriend. “And you need to let the bird breathe for a moment.”
The boy glared at Spike and silently measured him up before speaking.
“You’re wearing black.” Spike raised his eyebrow at the obvious statement.
“And you’re wearing blue,” he returned, “glad to get that clarified. Now move.”
“But you’re supposed to be wearing blue,” the boy replied, unfazed. Spike rolled his eyes.
“And nothing gets passed that little brain of yours, does it?” he pushed his way through the couple and held the door open as Buffy and Willow hurriedly followed him into the classroom.
……………………..
Present Day
Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping out of the safe confines of the van. The front of the building looked the same as it had the year before. Students walking arm in arm, students shouting at each other from across the quad, students desperately catching up with each other. There was the same crowd of girls in unbelievably tight blouses and dangerously short skirts, the same group of boys that ogled them from afar, the book nerds were hooking up their calculators and downloading games they had acquired over the summer, the rich junkies blatantly lighting up under a tree without a care in the world. Nothing had changed. Out of habit, her head turned towards the edge of the steps and she half expected a certain blonde male to be there waiting for her with a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye.
She sighed and slowly ambled towards the wide entranceway of the school when something in the air caught her attention.
…and Sunnydale’s very own “Dingoes ate my baby” will be playing in L.A. this weekend! Call 1-800-BUY-TIKS to reserve tickets! This is an event you do not want to miss! It’s this lucky band’s world premier! Call now! Here’s the weather for -
The girls sitting in the grass a couple of yards away from her were fiddling with a radio. Some of them started talking in excitement at the mention of “Dingoes ate my baby”. Suddenly, a brunette looked up and caught Buffy’s stare. She sent a sympathetic look in her direction and immediately leaned in towards her friends and started speaking frantically in a hushed voice.
Buffy turned away, knowing what she was probably saying.
…………………………..
Back to the first day last year
Buffy caught Spike staring in her direction as she was stuffing her books in her bag. He was casually leaning against the chalkboard with a stack of papers in his hands. The second their eyes connected, her heart skipped a beat and she quickly looked away.
“S-so! You’re the assistant teacher, right? Th-that’s cool!” Willow piped up, making excited gestures with her hands. Spike turned his gaze to the redhead and smiled.
“Yeah, that’s right. Teacher’s little helper.”
“But I thought you were a student and everything! I didn’t know you could help a teacher when you were still a student!”
“Had a few extra class periods,” He drawled out, shrugging, “and what’s your name, Red?”
“I-it’s Willow! Willow like… a willow tree!” he chuckled and gave her a nod. He returned his gaze to the mousy brunette who was quietly standing next to her friend, fidgeting with her bag and looking everywhere but at him. He tilted his head to study her face and noticed that her teeth were furiously biting down on her lower lip. Quickly, he decided that it was the cutest thing he had ever seen in his life.
“You might want to get going,” he gestured to the clock and grabbed his own backpack. Buffy jerked her head up and made a beeline for the door. Or.. floor. She tripped over a desk and felt herself diving for a nice ‘hello’ to the hard, cold,… two arms that caught her.
“Careful, love,” he raised an eyebrow, amused. Feeling her face flame up, she quickly pulled out of his grasp and smoothed down the front of her shirt to try saving her dignity.
“Uh.. thanks,” she stammered and turned towards Willow for support. Support that she was not getting as Willow was simply staring at her with a constipated expression, giving her the impression that her friend was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.
“Just a bit of a klutz now, aren’t we?” his hands went back into his pockets and Buffy glared at him. Without another word, she stormed out of the classroom and blended into the current of students, rushing to beat the tardy bell for their next class period.
Willow let our her laughter, shook her head, and followed her friend into the hallway leaving Spike alone in the classroom. He scratched his head, freeing some curls from the slick gel holding his hair back, trying to suss out what had just happened.
…………………
Back to present
“How are you doing?”
Buffy vaguely heard the question directed to her from a concerned Willow. The entire morning had been … hell, personified. Students kept shooting her sympathetic looks and asking her if she was all right to the point when she felt like screaming. There were hushed whispers whenever she entered a classroom and couples would stop holding hands when they saw her, obviously trying to ease her apparent pain. It wasn’t everyday that the one couple everyone thought would last forever broke apart. And in such a way, too… with him taking up a trail to fame and fortune and her stuck in a high school, alone and desolate.
“I’ll be fine,” she mumbled. Xander and Willow glanced at each other, feeling their friend’s pain. They knew that whatever they said wouldn’t be a comfort to her. Xander seethed as he thought about the idiot who had left her like this.
“So…” he tried, “Same old Sunnyhell Academy! Filled with teachers of evil and books of torture. Look – “ he held up his sagging hamburger “ – they even managed to make the All-American food look wicked!”
Buffy and Willow forced their laugh and Xander sat back, pleased with himself.
“I don’t even know if I want that going anywhere near my mouth,” he eyed the hamburger, suspiciously.
“Oh, please,” Cordelia’s voice rang out as she took a seat next to him, “that’s the only thing that would ever go into your mouth besides your foot. And that’s only because it doesn’t have free will.”
Xander glared at her and took a huge bite out the burger in his hand. Cordelia flipped her hand at him, brushing him off before turning to Buffy.
“So I just heard that Spike broke up with you this summer,” she patted her hand as Xander and Willow froze, mortified, “and I just wanted to say that with my help, you’ll find another guy to replace him immediately! Even though… this other guy probably wont ever be as hot… or as good looking… and Spike’s now got millions of girls at his feet – “
“Really… not helping, Cordy,” Buffy cut her off, not wanting to hear anything else. Cordelia looked up at the angry gazes at the table.
“What? I was just trying to help!”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
After the first day of school... get ready for a whole load of happy Buffy and happy Spike (in the past)... and just when you least expect it... angsty angst angst. It's beautiful.