“That’s it! I refuse to drive myself totally crazy over some stupid assignment!” Buffy growled in frustration, pushing the infuriating laptop away from in front of her. Exasperatedly, she slumped down in the desk chair and glared at her best friend, Willow Rosenberg, who also happened to be her roommate for the past two years. “Did I ever thank you for coercing me to take Creative Writing with you?”
“Yes, you did, actually. You know, back when the assignments were one page instead of twenty?” Willow pulled her long auburn hair back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck and snickered at Buffy. “It can’t be that bad, can it? Lemme read what you have so far.” Reaching across the study table in the library, Willow made a play for the brightly colored computer, but came up short when Buffy quickly snatched it away from her hands.
“Na-uh…no way! The amount of suckage on that screen right now is too embarrassing to even let you read it!” With a frown, Buffy tucked the notebook into her black leather satchel bag and pushed away from the table. “You might get lucky, though. If my muse doesn’t show up soon, I may have to pay you to write it for me.”
“Buffy! I wouldn’t…I mean, I couldn’t…that’d be like cheating!” Willow stammered, instantly flustered at the idea of going against the college rules.
“Calm down, Wills! I was just kidding. Sheesh!” Buffy giggled. “Come on, we’ve got class in like thirty minutes and I so need my caffeine fix before it.” With Willow in tow, they headed out of the library towards the Quad at University of California in Sunnydale; in search of double mocha lattes.
Looking over at her best friend, Buffy smiled and thought to herself that Willow was definitely one of the best things to come out of going to college. They had met on the first day of their freshman year, laden with bags they had climbed the stairs thanks to the broken elevator and made their way down the crowded hallway towards their respective rooms; which coincidentally had turned out to be the same one. Now, as juniors, they were not in the same dorm room that they had started out in, but still lived together.
Reserved, super intelligent and seriously lacking in the fashion department, often leaning towards plaid jumpers and knee socks, Willow was the total opposite of Buffy; which luckily worked in their favor, instead of against. Buffy helped pull Willow out of her shell by dragging her to fraternity parties and social dances; in exchange, Willow often helped Buffy with her studies. While Buffy often missed spending time with Cordelia, who had passed on college and decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps in Los Angeles and thus only saw one another on occasional holidays and weekend visits, the relationship with Willow seemed to be more stable and mature; which was something Buffy was pleased to have found.
Ten minutes later, cups of steaming mocha firmly clenched in their hands, they braved the cool autumn air as they headed towards the building the Creative Writing class was held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The professor, Rupert Giles, had also played a hand in coercing Buffy in taking his class.
They had met Rupert through Anya Jenkins, Xander’s fiancée, who had recently become employed at his store, The Magic Box; which specialized in the whimsical needs and whatnots for witches and wannabe Wicca’s, or simply for the curious. His wife, Jenny, had inherited the store when the previous owner, her uncle Enyos, died four years ago. However, since Jenny was also employed by the university; specializing in software engineering, which happened to be Willow’s major, she found that she could not operate a business too, and hired Anya to manage it.
Settling down in their usual spot, second row near the aisle, Buffy and Willow waited patiently for class to begin. Always punctual, Rupert strode into the classroom precisely at one o’clock and took his place at the podium in the front of the classroom. Nearing fifty, the British born Rupert had what he once joked about as ‘rakishly handsome looks’; which often led to his classroom being overrun with hormonal, flirtatious young co-eds. Had it not been for their personal connection with the professor, both Willow and Buffy would probably be waitlisted like many others.
“Good afternoon, class. I have some rather exciting new, it seems that my sabbatical for next year has been approved.” He paused long enough to let the chatter die down. Rupert had known his class would be pleased for him, since they were aware that he had been planning to take extended leave, but was having a hard time in not only having it approved as well as finding a temporary replacement. “Yes, yes, it seems that the Dean finally grew tired of hearing my incessant pleas and signed off on the request. As you all may already know, the aspect of finding someone that both I and the Dean found suitable to fill in temporarily has been almost as daunting as getting approval for the time off. However, through some assistance offered by a good friend back in England, it seems that her nephew meets the requirements that have been decided upon.
Therefore, I have asked him to sit in from time to time in order for him to get acquainted with the lot of you, as well as become familiar with a classroom setting once again. He actually got his Master’s here in the States several years ago, but has since then spent most of his time in England working on his books. Some of you may be familiar with his work, The Twilight Chronicles?”
The room erupted in a silent roar as the students whispered amongst themselves. Buffy, who wasn’t an avid reader, was just plain confused. She was just about to turn to Willow and ask when the sharp crack of the door slamming open interrupted her.
“Oh, wonderful,” Rupert exclaimed, coming out from behind the podium. “I'm pleased that you were able to make it today. I’ve just finished informing everyone of up your impending arrival; although I wasn’t sure you would be able to join us this afternoon. Class, I would like you to meet, William Sullivan.”
“Thanks ever so much, Rupes. Although, m’ quite sure that your excitement isn’t over my arrival and much more centered around your vacation, yeah?”
At the sound of his voice, velvety smooth and roughened over the years, Buffy’s back straightened with recognition. Hands clenched on the armrests with enough force that she was sure they would break under pressure. Literally forcing her head to move, she shifted slightly to allow him to step into her line of vision, but not enough so that her face was visible from where he stood. As he walked down the stairs, she willed the tears away. They were the tears of pain, loneliness, regret and sorrow that had been bottled so tightly inside that she had often forgot they were still there. Finally, he was down there with Giles, talking amicably for a moment before turning to face his captive audience.
His hair was ever so slightly darker, no longer bleached until its golden hue bordered on harsh and tousled slightly instead of slicked back tightly. It was, actually, just the way she remembered it looking like just after they made love; just the way she like it to be. Gone was the bad boy image he so desperately clung to years ago, now replaced by a more mature man dressed in black slacks and a button down shirt the color of the Caribbean before a storm. The color caused his eyes to shine brightly; popping against the darkened background of the rarely used chalkboard.
The tears finally came, breaking ever so slightly over lush lashes as she frantically tried to will away, when his gaze brushed unnoticing over the seat where she cowered. Her body began to tremble, her stomach churned as she watched his lips move while he talked to the class, but no sound penetrated her mind. With a final charming smile, he finished his short speech and gazed around the room once again as he answered a few questions from the students who desired information about his upcoming release. Amazingly, Buffy heard the girl sitting directly behind her ask something and cringed when she realized that his line of vision would fall right upon her. When his penetrating eyes fell connected with hers, William stopped speaking; ignoring what was asked of him and just stared at Buffy. She had no idea how long they stayed that way, gazes locked, the tension causing the room to fill with a silence that was almost deafening.
She saw him move, just a slight step forward as if he intended to come right up into the desks to where she was frozen. Jerking to attention, Buffy bolted from her desk, somehow managing to grab her bag before she literally barreled from the stunned classroom.
“Miss Summers?” Rupert called after Buffy. The swinging doors clanged against one another as she tore through them. Concerned for her wellbeing, he said, “Willow? Why don’t you go after Buffy and check on her.”
“Um…yeah…ok.” Willow stammered, just as surprised by Buffy’s sudden departure. Gathering her belongings, she thought back over the day and tried to recall if she Buffy had mentioned not feeling well. Coming up with nothing, she stood up and made her way down the row of desks; only to be stopped by William.
“Rupert, I can go check on her if you want. ‘s not a problem, really. Not much use as of now anyway, right?” Spike tried to suppress his eagerness to check on the wayward student, not wanting to give way of his affections.
“Very well then, William, it would be for the best. Was just about to…” Rupert trailed off into nothingness when he was left alone, finding that William had turned and bolted out the same door that Buffy had left through. “Well Miss Rosenberg, it appears you have been relieved of your duties.”
“Oookay?” Willow replied bewildered at what had transpired so far in class. Shaking her head, she sat back down in her seat and wondered what in the hell had happened all of the sudden.
Out in the hallway, Spike rushed down the empty corridor in search of Buffy. Figuring she had escaped in the elevator, he headed down the stairs in hopes of catching her downstairs. All the while never knowing that hunkered down in a nearby empty classroom was Buffy. Her legs had refused to operate, turning instantly to jelly once she had made her dramatic exit. Through the small window in the door, her emerald green eyes, puffy from crying, had watched as her first love ran madly down the hallway to the stairway exit down at the other end.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Wow! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the super fantastic reviews. Hearing from you guys totally makes my day. Hope you like this installment. Hey, let me know. LoL!