Chapter Four
****
Buffy returned to the darken bedroom finding Willow snuggled deep into her blanket. Upon closer inspection she could that the girl had cried herself to sleep. The top of her eye lids were red from rubbing and, her slightly moistened cheeks sparkled in the soft moon light. Buffy set her things down upon the vanity as quietly as possible then made her way over to her bed. She didn’t want to wake her cousin; she had no idea what to say. After her self admonishment in the shower she didn’t want to come off as a bitch to Willow, well not in her time of need. Buffy had no problem shooting someone down, but she made it a key never to kick a person when they had sunk to their lowest. She didn’t want karma coming back and biting her in the ass.
She climbed into bed pulling the covers up to her chin. The air conditioner was on high and the room contained a slight chill. It just wouldn’t do showing up on her first day of school with a cold. First impressions were always the most important, and a puffy eyed, snotty nosed Buffy was definitely not of the good.
****
Buffy’s first day of school was uneventful. She had almost over slept not hearing the alarm clock. Willow had babbled on about how long it had taken her just to get Buffy to open her eyes. The blonde hardly had enough time to brush her teeth, run a brush through her hair and coordinate a suitable outfit for school. It wasn’t until she had come bounding down the steps and, into the kitchen to grab a banana that she noticed the navy blue knee length pleated skirt that Willow wore with a crisp white button down top, and black paten leather loafers rounding off the outfit. Buffy frowned.
“Oh, God, no! Please tell me this is your idea of cutting edge fashion and not us wearing uniforms?”
Willow gave a small shrug. “Sorry, sad but true. This is the wonderful wardrobe of the Sunnydale Public School system.”
‘Crap!’ Buffy had mistakenly thought that leaving The Academy of Excellence at Hemery High also meant the kiss of death too all things of a uniform nature. Granted, Sunnydale’s uniforms were way better with the cute navy blue skirt, a lot nicer than the barf green that she had to wear back home, but they still had those long sleeved button down shirts. Dammit! She wanted to attend a school where she could show off her great fashion sense. The morning had definitely started off sucking.
Anna called from the open door for the girls to get a move on, not only did she have to drop them off at school but Willow’s little brother had to be get to Sunnydale Middle School as well. With a sigh Buffy grabbed a banana and her backpack and headed out the door.
****
The school was bigger than Buffy expected, for such a small town who would have guessed that they would need a school of such size. But then again Sunnydale was a small sleepy town not much in the way of entertainment, so a baby boom, not to surprising. What else was there to do on a Saturday night other than having sex?
She took comfort in the fact that the outside was well maintained, well trimmed grass, clean walking areas, a nice little shady area under a tree to sit and talk with friends. The inside was a bit of a surprise as well, that was a good thing too. Buffy hadn’t any idea what to expect from a public school since she attended private all her life, but it was better than her expectations. Again, it was clean, smelled good and the halls were huge. As she wandered down the hall her cousin hadn’t stopped talking about how great her school was, and how much she hoped Buffy would enjoy her time there. She didn’t want to burst the girl’s bubble, but she wasn’t big on academic attendance. School sucked! But on the plus side, Willow showed no lasting effects of the previous night’s activities. She was her normal bubbly self. That soon changed when Xander came into view.
Willow’s face had darkened as she locked eyes with her soon to be ex-friend. Because there was no way that she was going to remain friends with Xander, nuh uh, no way, not after what he’d done.
Xander scanned the crowd of teens looking for the splash of red amongst them. He spotted her along with her cousin and started towards them, goofy smile in place. Their eyes locked and he watched Willow shut down, her animated babbling coming to a halt, and her features turning cold. He had really messed things up this time hadn’t he? Willow was pissed, but for the life of him Xander couldn’t understand why. Maybe she was upset because he had let himself get drunk? Yeah, that was it, it was because of all the underage drinking and not staying sober to drive. With that thought he pressed forward.
Buffy wasn’t ready for this confrontation first thing in the morning, she was still adjusting to the idea of wearing a school uniform. But it seemed that there was no avoiding the inevitable as Xander strolled towards them.
“Hey, Will, can… can we talk for a second?” Xander hesitantly asked.
“No, there will be no talking, Xander.” Willow gritted out through clinched teeth before turning to Buffy. “Come on, the Principle’s office is this way.”
She grabbed Buffy by the hand and forcefully pulled her down the hallway. The blonde tried to break free but the more that she struggled, the harder Willow’s grip tightened. “Hey, Willow, let go of my hand.”
Startled, the girl looked down at their combined hands, blushed, then quickly released her cousin. “Sorry. Didn’t realize I was pulling you so hard. I just got, you know, carried away with all the running from Xander reflex.”
“No biggie, just next time, don’t take me along for the ride.” Buffy chastised, giving her hand a shake.
The two continued in silence for the short trek to the office before parting company. Buffy pushed the doors open and walked inside as Willow turned to head for her homeroom period. Xander was lying in wait.
“Willow, you can’t play avoid the Xander forever.”
She turned around and pointed to her face. “Do you see this Xander? This is my resolve face, do you know what that means when I have this face on?”
Xander sighed, yes, he did know what that meant. It meant he’d have to try harder to get her to forgive him. “Look, I’m sorry about the whole drinking thing.”
Willow stopped walking and swung around to glare at the boy. “You… you think this is about you drinking? God, Xander, no it’s not. How could… I mean… you…. I can’t even speak.”
Now he was completely confused. “Okay, if this isn’t about the Xander getting drunk then what is it?”
Willow advanced on Xander jabbing her finger in his chest punctuating every word that she said. “If you don’t know what you did then it’s so not my problem. But I know that you know that I know what you did, and that’s all that needs to be said.” With that out of the way Willow turned around and hurried to class.
Two boys who witnessed the confrontation walked by Xander, one patted him on the shoulder. “Dude, chicks are crazy.”
Xander only nodded before mumbling, “Tell me about it!”
****
After meeting the toad that was Principle Snyder and having to listen to him drone on and on about how Sunnydale High was a respectable school, not catering to the spoiled rich brats like Buffy’s previous school. She was insulted that he had expected her to want special treatment, and that she wouldn’t be getting any even if she begged. When she tried to correct him, he spoke over her adding, “I had a peek at your attendace record at your old school and grade scores. We do not tolerate tardiness and you will keep your grades up to standard.” And last but not least, he would be watching her. So she better not fuck up.
Buffy was certain that the troll liked to hear himself talk, it was the only explanation as to why it took him a full twenty five minutes to finish up his speech then kick her out of his office. She had missed homeroom, not a biggie. But now she was late for first period, she gripped the green hall pass in her right hand and her class schedule in her left. Glancing down she looked at the room number repeating it over and over in her head. She was really dreading the fact that not only was she late but she’d have to walk into the class and all eyes would be on her, the new girl. Don’t get it wrong, Buffy enjoyed being the center of attention, but not when it came to first days of school.
She came to the door, Mr. Giles, World History, took a deep breath then pulled it open. The classroom was quite, Rupert Giles ran a tight ship, he didn’t take kindly to students talking as he taught, or to kids who were late for his class. His eyes narrowed as he watched the young blonde step into his room.
Buffy could feel the eyes on her as she walked in, she really wanted to give them all the one fingered salute but restrained herself. First impressions, Buffy. First impressions, she reminded herself as she headed towards the teacher’s desk. She could hear some whispering going on behind her as well as a few giggles.
“Um, hey, I’m new.” As an after thought Buffy thrust her schedule into Giles’ face. “This is for you, ‘cause I need your initials.”
Giles took the paper leveling Buffy with an irritated glare, he hated when students shoved items in his face.
“I’m quite clear as to what this paper is for,” He glanced down at the schedule in his hand to read her last name. “Miss. Sumemers, but thank you for the reminder. Now take any one of the empty seats. And no talking.”
Buffy breathed a sigh of relief as she turned and walked towards an empty desk. The snobby British teacher hadn’t announced her arrival to the class saving her from being put on display like some carnival freak. Taking one of the seats in the back she started to get comfortable when Mr. Giles stood up and walked to the center of the room.
“Okay, students. I’d like you to welcome Miss. Buffy Summers to our class. She transferred here from L.A.”
With a groan Buffy let her head drop on top of the desk.
****
The rest of the morning progressed in the same manner; it seemed that her first four periods moved on like a fly trapped in molasses. So when Faith finally found her as she trudged towards her locker it was like a breath of fresh air.
“Hey, B, what’s up?” Faith asked folding her arms over her chest as she leaned back against a closed locker.
“Nothing, school sucks. God, when will this all end?”
“In another year.”
Buffy rolled her eyes and slammed the locker shut. “it was a rhetorical question, Faith.”
“I know. I just like fuckin’ with ya.” The girl finished with a smirk. Buffy rolled her eyes once more before laughing.
****
The lunchroom was wall to wall teens. Buffy found it to be a bit intimidating. Hemery was a popular school, but being private and costing an arm and a leg a year limited the population to only the upper crust - Since they were the one who could afford it. So classes and lunch time wasn’t so packed. Faith was with her every step of the way as they braved the lunch line and the throng of kids between them and their table.
As they walked Buffy took note of the eating order. The Goths ate at the table in the far back next to the vending machines, the Nerds ate lunch at the first two front tables, that was where she found Willow. She was talking to some skinny girl with mousy colored hair. The redhead paused to smile at her cousin. Buffy quickly returned it before turning her eyes away. Wasn’t good to let others know that Willow was related to her.
The Punks didn’t even eat in the cafeteria, they ate outside, enabling them to grab a quick smoke before the remaining classes of the day. Then you had the Drama Club which pretty much had the table directly in front of the Goths. The two center tables where left for the elite of the school, Jocks, Cheerleaders, and those popular by association. That’s where Faith parked her lunch try and her butt. Buffy sat down beside her.
“The popular table, huh?”
Faith turned to her with a smirk. “What, surprised?”
“Sort of. I kinda took you for a loner. You know, not conforming to society’s rules.”
Faith laughed before taking a bite out of her hamburger. “Yeah, well, as much as I’d love to be some place else, with money comes power.” She used her fingers to make exclamation makers on the word power. “And like it or not I’m rich and so are you, plus you hang with me. So we sit here.”
Who was she to argue with logic? With a shrug Buffy started to eat her own lunch when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Frowning, she put her sandwich down and looked up.
“Hey, Buffy!” Parker said with a smile.
Buffy didn’t smile back only staring at him for a moment, before arching her brow in silent question.
“I had a great time last night. And I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime?”
This time she smiled. “I had fun too, really. But the thing is… I don’t see us doing the long term thing. We had sex, it was fun, but it’s time to move on. So stop bothering me as if I was your girlfriend.”
Faith couldn’t help the snort that burst through her throat almost causing her to spit her drink out all over the Formica table top. It was about time Parker got a taste of his own medicine.
Buffy’s response and subsequent brush off took him by surprise, and Parker stood there for a moment with a shocked expression. This was a definite first, getting the blow off by a girl.
Buffy frowned. “Was there something else you wanted? ‘Cause we’re in the middle of eating lunch.” She indicated by taking a small bite of her food.
“Uh, no, I guess that was all.”
“Okay, later!” With that she turned her attention back to her tray as the boy walked away.
Faith was giggling hysterically by the time Parker got to his seat. “Oh, God, B. That was good. I think I just saw his ego burst.”
Buffy smirked. “Yeah, I had him pegged from the door. Like he was so going to play me… not. I don’t get played, I do the playing.”
****
Spike and Angel had entered the cafeteria late. They had just gotten out of morning detention for being tardy three days in a row last week, and Spike had received another morning detention for being late yet again that morning. They left the lunch line with food in hand and were walking towards their table when they spotted Parker talking to that new girl, Buffy. Well, Spike was almost certain that’s what her name was.
Spike watched the scene play out as he continued to the table. His buddy had his cheesy little grin plastered on as he spoke. The girl looked up at him then replied to his question, causing the boy’s face to wilt. Spike wished that he could read lips because he was dying to know what she had said to him. Going by Faith’s reaction of almost spitting out her grape drink it must have been funny. Parker looked at a lost before uttering some parting words before walking away.
That’s when he remembered he saw her leaving one of the rooms last night with Parker. He must have tired coming onto her again and she gave him the brush off. It was the only explanation for his behavior just now. Spike smirked, he really needed to meet this chit.
As if reading his friend’s mind Angel took the lead and walked over to Buffy and Faith. Spike followed close behind.
Buffy found herself being interrupted from her lunch yet again. With the roll of her eyes she placed her lunch on the tray and looked up. Instead of seeing Parker, this time it was the other brunette from last night, the tall bearish looking boy. Buffy gave him the once over before looking behind him, her gaze landing on Spike. Her eyes lit with recognition and she smiled.
“Name’s Angel.”
“Nice too meet you, Angel.” Buffy offered him a small smile before turning her attention to Spike. “Now tell me, who’s your friend?”
Faith was biting the inside of her mouth to keep from laughing, but tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes. Man, Buffy was harsh when it came to what she liked. She just chewed through Parker, barely replied to Angel’s introduction and now wanting to know who Spike was. She couldn’t have picked a better girl to hang out with.
Spike took it from there, stepping closer to the table, his patented smirk firmly in place. “Name’s Spike.”
Buffy smirked back. “Spike, huh?” She let her gaze travel over his body, she so wasn’t undressing him with her mind. Okay, maybe she was, but it was allowed, he was major salty goodness. “Maybe I’ll let you show me how you got that name some time.”
Not waiting for a reply Buffy rose from her seat picked up her tray and headed for the exit. That was one of her little rules on dating, always leave the guy wanting more. And she was quite positive that Spike was definitely wanting more.
“Oh, dude, you so have you hands full with that one.” Angel commented as he watched her leave.
Spike nodded in agreement, already plotting out how he would see her again. That’s when he noticed Faith still sitting in her seat. With a smile he sat down beside her.
****
Cordelia watched as Angel and Spike approached her sister and her new best friend, and frowned. What was this? Everyone was just dying to meet Buffy. First she stole Parker, which by the way Cordelia wanted nothing to do with, and now she was stealing the attention of two other hot guys.
“Why is my Blondie Bear talking with her?” Harmony asked as she sat down next to the other girl.
“I don’t know, but it can’t be good.”
Harmony nodded in agreement, she knew that smirk that he had plastered on his face. It was his I know I’m sexy and I’m going to flirt with you smirk. That smirk was supposed to be just for her not for just any old tramp. Not that Harmony thought of herself as a tramp, because she wasn’t, she was far above that. Plus, she needed to talk to him. She completely over reacted last night, reading into something that wasn’t there. So what if Spike just happened to have come out of a room with another girl, she was his old tutor maybe he needed tutoring or something. Yeah, that was it. He needed help with school work and seeing her at the party was the perfect time to ask for assistance.
“If you believe that crap you deserve to be cheated on.” Cordelia spat as she glared at the top of Parker’s head. She couldn’t believe she even liked him. How did she not know he had such bad taste in girls? And to stoop so low as to sleep with Buffy… ewww!
Harmony scrunched her brow in confusion. “What are you talking about? I so wasn’t cheated on.”
“You just mumbled that stupid excuse for Spike bonking Cecily out loud. I can’t believe you would even talk yourself into believe that? He’s no good for you, Harmony. Technically, none of them are any good for either of us. We think we can change them but we can’t. They are little boys playing a stupid game and they don’t care who they hurt.” To bad she couldn’t get herself to take her own advice, she was still seething over the whole Parker thing.
“You’re wrong. Spike’s just confused and I’m just the girl to show him the light. I just need more time that’s all.” Harmony insisted. She knew that she was right, she could help Spike. He was just confused and lost but she could, and would, be his salvation.
****
“So how was school?” Anna asked as she dished some mash potatoes onto Saul’s plate. He took the offered plate before looking at Buffy and sticking out his tongue.
‘Little shit. I’ll get him’ she thought as she sought out his shin to kick him in it. He yelped before bending down to rub his wounded area.
“Stop harassing your cousin, Saul.” Jason chastised pointing his fork towards his son. “If the boy still keeps messing with you, you have our permission to beat him into submission,” he finished with a grin.
Buffy and Willow giggled at the idea.
“First day was good. I meet Principle Snyder. Nice guy… not. But all in all it was good.” Buffy moved her food around the plate with her fork; she really wasn’t hungry. She missed her parents and sitting here eating dinner with her Aunt and her family wasn’t making things any better. How could she act all happy and carefree when all she wanted was to return home to L.A.? Her dad hadn’t even call to wish her a good first day.
“You know, my stomach isn’t feeling so hot. I think I’ll head up to bed.”
She got up from her seat and headed for the stairs.
****
By the time dinner was over and the dishes all washed and put away, Buffy had taken a shower and got ready for bed. She was currently sitting on her bed playing with the phone in her hands. She was toying with the idea of calling home. She was only gone for two days, but she missed them, and wondered if they even missed her.
“It’s not hard, Buffy. Just dial the darn numbers.” And she did, holding her breath as it rang.
“Hello, Summers residence.”
“Hey, Maria, is my dad around?” Buffy asked hopefully.
“Hello, Sinora Buffy. I’m sorry but you’re father is not around.”
Her shoulders slumped and her bottom lip jetted out into a pout. “Do… do you know when he’ll be in?”
“No, I do not.”
“I see. Well, yeah, um, can you tell him that I called?”
“Si. Buffy, Are you okay?”
Buffy smiled at the concern in Maria’s voice, and was surprised by the sudden urge to cry. But she swallowed around the lump that formed in her throat and smiled into the phone instead. “Yeah, I’m just peachy, I’ll try back later. Bye.”
Buffy hung up the phone and swiped at the few tears that broke free of her small dam and placed the hand set back on top of the night stand, just as Willow entered the room.
“Hey, Buffy, are you okay?”
What was this? Did she have a huge poster taped to her chest which read “I’m home sick. Please, someone put me out of my misery!” Buffy flopped back onto the bed looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah, Will, everything’s fine.”
“Oh, okay.” Willow wandered over to her bed with her backpack in tow. Sitting down she started removing her books for homework.
The room was quite except for the occasional turning of pages from the book and the scribbling of a pen. Willow couldn’t concentrate, her mind was just to fuzzy with questions. Hesitantly she put her pen down and turned towards her cousin.
“Buffy, can I… can I ask you something?”
Buffy was still lying on her back but no longer looking at the ceiling, her eyes were closed.
“Shoot.”
There was a long pause causing her to sit up on her bed. Willow was still there, her mouth moving but nothing coming out.
“Are you going to ask me something or do I have to sit here all night looking at you’re soundless mouth?”
That brought Willow around. “It’s Xander. He tried to talk to me after I walked you to the Principle’s office, and he was all with the kicked puppy look. He had no idea why I was mad at him. I mean how could he not be… he acted... so…. So stupid. And I’m just supposed to what… be happy and act all best friend Willow?”
“Willow, it’s not you. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Honestly, guys don’t know what they have even when it’s slapping them in the face. Not until it’s to late. He’s a boy and like all boys when a hot chick comes along promising you something you kind of take it. Not saying that Xander and Faith getting it on was a good thing, and you should forgive him for it, but, he had no idea that you like him like him. And he shouldn’t be penalized for being, well, a guy. You two need to talk. Talking is the key.”
Willow let the advice sink in. She would never have looked at it from that point of view before, hence her asking Buffy for advice. True. Xander didn’t know that she liked him in that manner, and alcohol and sexy girls never are mixy. Maybe she could forgive Xander and then they could talk. Like really talk, not best friend talk but boy to girl talk. “Thanks, Buffy.”
“Yeah, yeah, just don’t get used to asking me for advice.” Buffy said with a small smile. Just because she was smiling didn’t mean she was starting to like her cousin, nope. She’d only offered some help to stop the girl from moping around the house. A happy Willow left more free time for Buffy.
Willow had returned back to her homework leaving Buffy without any distraction. So she was left to sitting on her bed once more with nothing to do. The thought about calling her friends back in L.A. came to mind, but she was sure by now that their parents had ordered them not to speak with her. You know, with her being the Black Sheep and all. Wouldn’t want any of the Mayor’s supports fraternizing with the Bad Seed. Wouldn’t help in the polls not one bit. Instead Buffy decided to paint her nails.
She had just started on her left hand when she heard what sounded like pebbles hitting a window interrupted her. Willow looked over at her in confusion, Buffy only shrugged her shoulders then turned back to her nail polish. That’s when the sound came again. This time Buffy screwed the top onto the polish and headed over to the window. Opening it up she stuck her head out, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness before picking up a figure standing just below the huge tree outside the window.
“Spike?”
“Yeah.” He replied letting the remaining stones in his hand drop to the ground.
“What are you doing out there?” She asked a bit perplexed.
“Wanted to know if you’d like to go to a small get together?” His voice was hopeful.
“When?”
“Now, tonight. I know it’s short notice…”
Buffy didn’t let him finish as she cut him off. “Cool. Give me a sec. to get ready. ‘Kay?” she slipped back inside and headed for the closet.
“Where are you going?” Willow asked from her position on the bed.
“Out.”
“Buffy, do you really think that’s such a good idea? I mean it’s a school night, plus it’s like ten o’clock.”
Buffy wriggled into a pair of low ride acid washed denim jeans, then pulled on a dark brown shirt with hot pink lettering reading “Princess” on it. She ran the brush over her twice then put it into a pony tail. She sprayed some vanilla perfume on then slipped into a pair of ballerina slippers. Walking over to the window she turned back to her cousin. “Hold down the fort for me.” With that she slipped out the window and down the tree.
****
AN: Are you still with me? I hope so. Feed the Muse, leave a review.