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Chapter 8 Founder's Festival

Friday, July 18th 2005

Seventh Entry

As I promised, Giles.

On the first day of Founders, my true love gave to me…

Friday, April 8th, 2005

One hotdog in a burger bun.

Faith and I were the first to arrive at the shore at 5:10pm. Cordelia and Amy were next and with them the rest of the cheerleading squad. The sun was still pretty high up there and the weather was nothing short of gorgeous. I always loved the beach because it always seemed so serene and quiet – it was a place for relaxing and keeping secrets. Especially at sunset or sunrise, when the water reflected the purple, red, and blues of the sky.

But right now, it was the gorgeous blue Pacific, peaceful waves rolling about, in and out of the shore. There were a lot of people bustling all about, setting up, getting ready for the big festival, that the peaceful tranquility of the ocean was missing - but even then, it was still beautiful. I could have just stood there in the sand with my head thrown back to enjoy the sun and warm breeze dancing over my skin if Cordelia and Faith hadn’t pushed me forward to help unpack.

“Let’s get a move on, B,” Faith hooked her arm in mine and led me to our trailer in the parking lot. “We need to unload drinks.”

“Sounds… like lots of fun,” I grumbled and let her drag me off to work.

If I thought the sun was nice before, I thought it was the epitome of evil, now. Going back and forth from the pavilion by the north end of the beach to the trailer in the south end parking lot didn’t seem so bad until I was walking down with my fourth cooler of soda and sweating like none other. The visor I was wearing was all damp from perspiration and my T-shirt was already soaked. The second I reached the pavilion covering, I dropped the cooler on the closest table and grabbed a diet coke from within.

The second I placed the cold drink on my cheeks, my entire body shivered deliciously. “Mmmm.” It felt really, really good.

“Way to get the drinks all gross,” Amy made me a face and proceeded to grab a Sprite of her own to put against her forehead. We sat down on the bench and stretched out our legs.

“I hope this weather doesn’t keep up,” I said, making some conversation. Amy nodded and pulled out a little tube of sunblock from her fanny pack.

“Want some?” she offered the tube to me. I declined. It was almost six and the sun would be going down soon. Plus, I didn’t want to smell like sunblock for the rest of the evening.

“No thanks.”

“It’s your skin cancer, B,” Faith joined us as she dropped her cooler down next to mine. She pulled off her T-shirt and shorts and tossed them to the side, then popped open a diet coke she stole from her cooler.

“Love the suit,” I admired. Sometimes I envied her. Faith always managed to look good in everything and right now she looked like a poster girl for Miss America. She grinned at me and shrugged.

“Hey, thought I’d show some U.S. of A. spirit,” she adjusted the straps to her bikini, “dress up for the occasion and all that great stuff.”

“No kidding,” I laughed, “you look like you cut triangles out of the American Flag.” She raised an eyebrow and smirked wickedly.

“Come on, you guys,” she nodded towards us, “why don’t you show off some skin. God knows it’s hot enough.”

“Later,” I told her, getting up and putting my unopened coke back into the ice cooler. Amy made a face at me then did the same.

“My mom won’t let me wear a two-piece until I lose some weight,” she told us, sadly, pulling off her T-shirt to reveal a black bathing suit.

“Lose what?” I pinched her side, “This? Come on, it’s like nothing.”

“Yeah, you look good,” Faith told her, getting up, too. “Ok, back to help out Miss Hitler and her Nazi brigade.”

We groaned in unison as we made our way back to the parking lot. Cordelia sent us an icy glare as we approached the trailer.

“What were you three doing? Taking a nap?” she snapped at us.

“Hey, chill for a second,” Faith snapped right back at her. “Or how about you chill for an hour or two? We were just taking a break, lighten up.”

The trailer was empty and the rest of us took off our sweaty T-shirts as we gathered around in a circle. Cordelia was wearing a blue, Prada bikini that looked like it might disintegrate in the water. Sometimes, I really didn’t understand her. Practicality was never her high-point, I guess.

Cars started pulling into the parking lot and we could see families start piling in from all around, carrying folding-chairs and blankets. Some high-school guys zoomed across the lot to park themselves right by us and rolled down their windows.

“Hey, babes,” a guy I recognized as Parker poked his head out and flashed us an appreciative smile. We ignored him as we grabbed the sound system and walked across the lot to set up on the beach.

Little children were running around everywhere and their fathers were all gathered together, attempting to build a bonfire. Different types of music were blaring out from radios all around the beach. Mothers walked together holding babies, setting up blankets, talking and gossiping. We could see other school clubs heading our way in matching shirts.

Cordelia, Melanie, and Rachel went over to ask some of the guys to help us set up our speakers as the rest of the team stretched and warmed-up.

“Ugh, do we have to wear the uniforms?” Amy complained when she saw Cordelia heading back with some football players and a cardboard box with our yellow and white cheerleading outfits in it. I sympathized with her, but what could we do?

The school band trailer was making its way into the parking lot that was starting to become crowded.

“Oh… no,” Faith took one look of them and covered her eyes. “It’s the band.”

I felt two arms wrap around my waist and looked up to see R.J. smiling down at me.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted, running his grubby hand down my stomach. I couldn’t help but grimace at him.

“Uh, hey,” I stepped away, pushing his arm off of me and turning around to face him. He was already in his football getup and looked like a hulking bear. The thought of that made me laugh, but I guess he took it as a happy smile.

Suddenly, music started blaring…

“Shimmy shimmy cocoa wha? Listen to me now
Light it up and take a puff, pass it to me now…”

“Sorry, gotta go,” I smiled at him and pushed him away as I fell into line. This was beginning to feel like a pep rally as we tumbled and flipped… the preparation before the real thing.

If this was anything at all, it was showing off. And oh boy, …I really liked showing off. I mean, what other school activity was there where you could shout, clap, shimmy, tumble, flip, and practically ooze your sexuality in a perfectly safe way? We were called cheerleaders for a reason.

A crowd of younger people had formed around us and were clapping their hands to the music as we each took our turns, tumbling down the length of the beach until we hit the icy water, then we would run back and take our place in the line again.

Moving like this had always got my heart pumping and after a few runs, I started feeling the adrenaline rush and that’s when the fun kicked in.

“Yeah! Come on, Faith! Yeeah!!” I shouted with the rest of the team as Faith did a back flip into the water and came up with her fists pumping the air.

The track changed to the YMCA song and Cordy stepped up to pick up a microphone.

“At this time, I’d like all children thirteen and under to come join us!” She shouted, enthusiastically, “Step right up! Kids thirteen and under!”

And they swarmed up to us, boys, girls, kindergarteners to fifth graders, pigtails, ponytails, braids, everybody as we led them through YMCA.

I looked up to see Xander standing with a mortified Willow a few yards back, miming the YMCA as we sang and I burst out laughing. He waved wildly at me and Willow smiled. The marching band was setting up on another end of the beach and the band members look positively miserable in their long-sleeved coats and their fuzzy hats. For the second time today, I thanked God that I wasn’t in their position.

Because you have to admit, dancing around wildly in a bikini was a lot more fun. I even pitied the football players in their huge shoulder pads and helmets. The sun was starting to set, but the heat hadn’t lifted, yet.

The bonfire was still small and under the pavilion, the town’s men had started up the grill and they were starting to pass out food. At the first whiff of burnt hotdog, the crowd around us dissipated and stormed the pavilion, plates out and forks ready. Cordelia turned down the music and we all stretched out, happy to have a little break.

I was about to lay in the sand next to Faith when I saw two tall men walking from the parking lot and towards the pavilion. One of them was dark-skinned and the other one had dark hair and broad shoulders. I didn’t know what it was about them, but I thought they looked familiar.

Faith followed my line of sight and whistled.

“Damn, two fine pieces of meat right there, huh, B?” she grinned, stretching out next to me.

“Huh?” I looked up. She caught me by surprise and I was sure that I started blushing.

“Don’t play with me,” she shook her head, “I saw you checking out their tight asses.” She looked again and nodded. “Definitely worth a go.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I smiled sweetly and she smacked my arm. Just then, Xander and Willow made their way towards us with their hands full of food.

“Some fine, home-burnt hamburgers for the ladies,” Xander gallantly laid a plate before us and sat himself down. “A little bit on the black side, but no harm – well, no serious harm done.”

I realized my stomach was growling and I wasted no time grabbing a burger and taking as big a bite as I could.

“Mmm.. tanks ander, I wath weally hungwy.” Gah, it tasted so good. But I was so hungry, anything could have tasted good.

“Oh… kay… once more in people-speak!” Xander laughed at me. I glared at him and swallowed. Faith and Willow just stared on in what seemed to be admiration.

“Wow, she’s really going for it,” Faith tilted her head and squinted at me. I took another bite and stuck my tongue out at her. She made a face, “Okay, that was plain gross.”

Willow sighed and dug into her coleslaw.

“That looks good,” she stared wistfully at my burger. My mouth was full, so I just held up the remaining half, offering it to her. She shook her head, sadly. “Becoming a veggie-eater, remember? Nothing of the meat variety for Willow.”

We made with the small talk for a little while longer until we all heard a huge squeak of a loudspeaker being turned on.

“You’d think after a hundred or so years, they’d learn how to work that thing,” I groaned, clamping my hands over my ears. We watched on as our Mayor smiled at everybody from a podium.

“Well. What a day this is! - Special day. Today is our centennial the one hundreds anniversary of the founding of Sunnydale, and I know what that means to most of you kids today: not - a darn thing.” He waved his note-cards around to emphasize a point.

Oh my god… after a hundred or so years, the don’t change the speech!

I put my head in my hands and drowned out his voice as he droned on and on about the history of Sunnydale, about our journey and how we made it so far, yada yada yada. I guess I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remember is Cordelia dropping pompoms on my head and the sky being almost dark.

I opened my eyes.

“Band’s playing,” was all she said.

I really couldn’t wait for the stupid festival to be over and for her to drop this uptight bitch façade she was currently putting up.

I pulled my uniform on over my suit and immediately felt like the temperature had risen by a lot.

It was either that or maybe it was because the second I looked up, my eyes connected with the blue eyes of the one person I was hoping not to see. Or maybe I was hoping to see him… at least in my subconscious. Either way, there he was, standing with the two men I had recognized earlier, staring at me like there was no tomorrow. Our eyes locked and I stopped breathing.

I was really and truly shocked to see him standing right there off to the side, focusing such an intense gaze at me that it could have knocked me off my feet. His hair was slicked back and his jaw was clenching and unclenching. I could practically feel the heat radiating off of him and it took all of me not to go running to him. Relax, relax, relax, I kept repeating to myself as I worked to control my breathing.

He broke eye contact first when the brunette man next to him pulled on his arm and motioned towards the pavilion. He nodded and turned to me one last time, but I avoided his gaze, not wanting my functions to lock up again. I decided to focus on the pompoms lying at my feet.

When I looked up again, he was gone. Cordelia was yelling something towards me and I realized that we were about to start our homecoming routine as the band started playing.

Normally, I got into the routine. It was something we had practiced on and off since the halftime show at our homecoming game a bunch of months ago. The band had obviously not practiced their part and seemed not to be particularly on time with one another, but I really didn’t notice anything as my mind was already fully occupied.

I went through the steps in a daze, my arms and legs just doing whatever they were trained to do and my mind wandering off to wherever he was. Everybody just kept on cheering and my ears drowned out the shouting to a dim roar as my eyes glazed over and I remembered the blue eyes that matched the ocean, the smirk that I wanted to kiss off his face.

Rah, bloody, rah. I heard his smooth accented voice in my ear as we chanted whatever the hell we were chanting. Rah, bloody, bloody rah.

I didn’t snap back into attention until Amy, Faith, and Melanie had their hands on my legs and I realized that I was in the air with my fists out and my other leg raised. All the noises came back and all the chanting and shouting suddenly filled the air and I found myself beginning to fall. Thank God for me, it was just in time as the song had just happened to end.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you tonight, B?” Faith asked me, “You seem a little out of it.”

“Going through the motions,” I mumbled and shook my head, trying to clear any thoughts of him out. “Sorry, Faith. Just thinking about things…”

“Alright,” she shrugged, indicating that it was all past now, “but pull it together for the finale, okay? Remember you’ve got that solo thing goin’ on.”

“Uh-huh,” I nodded, absently.

Then suddenly it hit me. The two men were the men I had seen in the picture at his office.

Oh yeah. How could I forget?

…………

And the lady in white is opening my door, now. It’s time to start the day, she says, smile all intact.

I don’t like her, Giles. She treats me like she knows me and talks to me like she thinks she knows what I’m thinking. But she doesn’t.

She thinks I should make friends here, but I don’t think she understands that I don’t want to. But you probably don’t want to know about this. Sorry.

I’ll leave you with this for now. And only because I want to savor what I’m about to write next. Sometimes putting things down on paper takes away the magic of the memories. And I wanted to keep the magic intact.

So, on to start the day!





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