Buffy Summers looked around the room with a sigh. What the hell was she doing here? She never should’ve agreed to come to this party in the first place, she realized that now. But when Cordelia Chase – the only person in school who had actually bothered to talk to her since she had moved to this sleepy little town – had asked her to come here tonight, Buffy hadn’t been able to say no. She desperately wanted to fit in, to be accepted. The irony of it all wasn’t lost on her; she had been very popular in her old school, and here she was a nobody. And she didn’t know how she would be able to handle that.
Cordelia was obviously one of the most popular girls at Sunnydale High, and when she had started talking to Buffy after class one day, and then invited her to come here tonight, Buffy had thought that maybe things here wouldn’t be so bad after all. But shortly after they had arrived at the party, Cordelia had ditched her for some more important people. That was almost an hour ago now, and Buffy suspected that the other girl had simply forgotten about her. Maybe she should give up and just go home? Surely, nobody would miss her, anyway.
With her mind made up, she headed towards the small guest room where she had left her jacket, then stopped in her tracks outside the door, hearing voices coming from the other side. Although she felt a little bad for eavesdropping, her curiosity took the upper hand, and she found herself peeking, carefully, through the crack of the door. She could see two people in the room; one of them a good looking girl she recognized as a friend of Cordelia’s – Cecily Underwood. And then there was a guy with curly, brown hair and glasses, who looked kind of familiar, like she had seen him somewhere – probably in school as well – but couldn’t quite place him.
The girl – Cecily – studied her perfectly manicured nails before turning to the guy, a bored expression on her flawless face. “Are you done, William? I don't wanna be in here longer than necessary, and someone might have seen me with you. I really don't want them to get the wrong idea.”
The guy looked a little taken aback, not to mention hurt. “You're leaving? But I just told you how I feel about you, I thought…”
“All right, hold it right there!” Cecily jumped up from the chair she had been sitting in. “I know perfectly well how you feel about me, because you keep reminding me. William, you mean nothing to me. I want you to stop following me around, stop writing lame poetry about me, stop… being there, wherever I go. It’s annoying, and embarrassing. Whatever you want from me, I can’t give it to you. I don’t want to. You’re beneath me.” With those hurtful words, she simply stepped past him and left the room, never once looking back to see the crushed look on William’s face. Nor did she notice Buffy, who had witnessed the scene and was now staring after Cecily in disbelief, her face a mixture of anger and sadness.
William swallowed hard, desperate to keep the tears from falling. He felt like his heart had just been broken in a thousand pieces, although he supposed he should have seen it coming. He should have known that Cecily would never feel the same way about him. She was smart, beautiful and popular. And he was nothing but a pathetic loser, a nobody. How could he think, even for a moment, that someone like her could ever be interested in someone like him? He realized what a mistake it had been to come here in the first place. What the bloody hell had he been thinking? He didn’t belong here with all these people, and he never would. He should just go home, it wasn’t like anybody would miss him.
It was then he noticed the blonde girl, standing right outside the door, and froze. He had seen her around school, she was the new girl who had just moved here. What was her name again? Betty? He shook his head as if to clear it; that wasn’t really relevant now. Seeing the look on her face, he realized that she had probably heard the whole thing, and the sympathy he could see in her eyes was almost too much for him to handle. Wasn’t it bad enough that Cecily – the girl he had been in love with for over a year – had just ripped his heart right out of his chest and stomped on it? She had made it painfully clear that she practically despised him, and this beautiful girl had witnessed everything. Was there just no end of his humiliation?
“I’m sorry.” Buffy slowly entered the room, giving him an apologetic look. “I just came to get my jacket.” He frowned, then looked over to the bed where she was pointing. She let out a nervous laugh. “I know it’s still early, but I really don’t wanna stay. I don’t know anyone here, and…” Suddenly blushing, Buffy looked away. “I should just… sorry, don't mind me.” She hurried over to the bed, grabbed her jacket and then headed towards the door. Then she stopped in the doorway, hesitating, before looking at him over her shoulder. “You, um… wanna walk me home?”
He stared at her, shock evident on his face. “W-what?”
Again, Buffy’s cheeks turned red. “I mean… I just… I’m not familiar with this part of town, and it’s kinda dark, and… You know what, just forget it, I shouldn’t have asked. I mean, why would you wanna leave the party? And I don’t even know your name. You could be a serial killer, or a rapist… not that you look like one, that’s not what I meant… Oh God, I’m babbling, I should just go! I’m sorry for bothering you.” Beyond embarrassed, Buffy ran out of the room before he got the chance to say anything. She quickly made her way through the crowded hallway, relieved when she spotted the front door. Briefly looking around the room, hoping to see Cordelia but with no such luck, she left the house, closing the door quietly behind her.
She had almost walked half a block, when she heard footsteps behind her, and froze in her tracks. Was someone following her? Torn between wanting to run, or turning around, her curiosity finally won, and she was relieved to see William coming up behind her. She let out the breath she had been holding, giving him a questioning look.
He looked a little nervous, not wanting to meet her eyes. “I, um… was just about to leave, myself. I don’t mind walking you home.”
Buffy was surprised, yet strangely happy that he had chosen to come after her. Still, she felt a little stupid for bringing it up in the first place. “Really, you don’t have to…”
William interrupted her, giving her an assuring smile. “I’m not a rapist, pet. And I’ve never killed anyone. Well, except for a goldfish I had when I was eight, but he had it coming.” She couldn’t help but laughing a little, and he went on; “Seriously, you shouldn’t walk home by yourself, s’not safe. Where do you live?”
She gave him a shy smile. “Revello Drive. You know where that is?”
He nodded. “Sure, s’not that far from where I’m living.” Then he paused. “What’s your name?”
“Buffy.” He raised an eyebrow, and she mock glared at him. “Yes, that is my real name.”
“Right.” He let out a small chuckle. “I’m William.”
“Nice to meet you, William.” Buffy reached out her hand in greeting, giggling when he, instead of shaking it, brought it up to his lips and placed a small kiss on her knuckles. Their eyes met, and for the first time, Buffy realized how beautiful his eyes were. She had never seen a pair of eyes that blue before, and for a moment, she almost felt like she was drowning. Maybe living in Sunnydale wouldn't be so bad after all...
The End