Title: Girl Next Door
Author: Edel
Summary: Buffy Summers moved to New York with her father when her parents divorced. Two years later, she's back in Sunnydale living with her mother and sister, and starting Senior Year. She's also the girl next door…
Distribution: my update group, Beautiful Desire, my B/A group Blinded by Passion. If you want it on your site, just ask!
Rating: PG-13 so far…
Disclaimer: If they were mine, I wouldn't need to be writing this! Lyrics belong to Katrina And The Waves.
Pairings: B/A, W/O, X/C, S/F, D/C, probably more but not sure at the mo…
Feedback: Yes please! And lots of it!
Author's note: This has nothing to do with the movie of the same name…lol.
Dedication: To my friend Aoife, who came up with the title. Love ya hun!
Chapter 1
Her feet pounded on the hard asphalt. Her hair was glued to her damp face, but she made no move to fix it back in her messy ponytail. She didn't need to. She looked up at the sky which was coloured a light shade of pink. The sun was rising. She allowed herself to slow down, and caught her breath. She slowly began walking up the steep bluff, and sat down near the edge to watch the sunrise.
She sighed. She missed this ritual, getting up early to go for a jog and end up here watching the sunrise or set. This used to be her favourite place to escape from reality, from all the yelling her parents used to indulge in. it had been her safe haven. Then, she had moved to New York with her father two years ago. She had grown tired of it, and so decided to return to Sunnydale to live with her mother and sister Dawn. She checked her watch. She had been sitting here too long. She sighed as she rose to her feet. As she set off jogging again, this time back to her home, she prayed that Dawn didn't have all the shower water used.
Her feet slowed to a standstill as she stood on the pavement outside her house. She looked up at it. It wasn't as big as the house she used call home when her parents were still together, but her mother couldn't afford to keep in the mansion in the hills above Sunnydale. She looked up at Dawn's windows. She smiled thankfully as she saw that her curtains were still closed. Silently, she let herself into the house, and softly shut the back door behind her.
As quietly as possible, she went upstairs and crept past Dawn's bedroom door. She smiled in triumph as she locked the bathroom door behind her and had a quick shower. No doubt Dawn would be up soon and banging on the door, complaining that she needed to look her best for the first day back at school.
School.
She paused in her task of looking for the perfect outfit. She would be in Senior Year. But she would be in a new school. Before she moved to New York, she had gone to a private school for her freshman year. Now, she would be attending Sunnydale High. A public high school.
She quickly picked out a black v-necked top, a white miniskirt and black leather knee-high boots. She then left her hair down, and brushed it until it was straight and shone. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, as she heard movement above her. Her sister was up. Flicking the switch on the radio, she searched the fridge for something to eat.
As she banged the cupboard doors shut, the voice of the DJ on the radio broke through her thoughts, as he announced the next song. A big smile crossed her face as she heard the first notes of Walking on Sunshine, and she began singing along to it, not caring that anybody could hear her.
I used to think maybe you loved me
now baby I'm sure.
And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door.
Now every time I go for the mailbox
got to hold myself down.
'Cause I just can't wait
till you write me you're coming around.
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa I used to think maybe you loved me
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa
And don't it feel good?
And don't it feel good?
now I know that it's true.
And I don't want to spend my whole life just a waiting for you.
Now I don't want you back for the weekend
not back for a day.
I said baby
I just want you back and I want you to stay.
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa
And don't it feel good?
And don't it feel good?
Walking on sunshine… walking on sunshine.
I feel alive, I feel in love
I feel in love that's really real.
I feel alive, I feel in love
I feel in love that's really real.
I'm on sunshine, baby, oh
oh yeah
I'm on sunshine, baby, oh!
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa
And don't it feel good?
And don't it feel good?
I say, I say
I'm saying again now: And don't it feel good?
And don't it feel good?
And don't it feel good?
And don't it feel good?
And don't it feel good?
As she was so busy dancing and singing, and had her back facing the kitchen window, she didn't notice a young man crossing the wall that divided their house from the neighbors next door. She also didn't notice as he slowed jogging up their garden to watch her dancing carefree.
Suddenly, she spun around, and he thought he may have been caught staring, but noticed her eyes were shut. She turned around again as she sang the last line of the song. She opened her eyes to find Dawn standing in the doorway of the kitchen, an amused look on her face.
"Great dancing, Buffy," Dawn teased with a smile.
"Very funny," Buffy said. "Oh, does this mean the bathroom is free again?" She jogged upstairs, as Dawn noticed someone standing at their back door.
"Trust Buffy to not answer the door," she muttered. However, a smile broke out on her face as she saw her neighbor of one year.
"Hey Angel," she greeted.
"Hey," he smiled. "Can I come in?"
She nodded, and moved from the door. He shut the door behind him. Dawn hopped up on the counter and began eating her cereal.
"Well, we've run out of milk," he started.
"Oh, no biggie," Dawn interrupted through a mouthful of cereal, and went to the refrigerator to retrieve a carton of milk.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Of course," Dawn answered brightly. "Besides, your mum has done the same for us when we were too lazy to go to the store to get some."
Seeing Angel's embarrassed smile, she hurriedly added, "Not that you're lazy."
He smiled.
"So, who's your guest?" he asked innocently.
"Guest?" Dawn repeated, her brow marred in confusion. "Oh! You must mean-"
She was interrupted by her mother calling her from upstairs.
"Be right there!" she yelled to the ceiling. "I got to go," she said, an apologetic smile on her lips.
"Me too," Angel said, walking out the door.
"Oh! Wait," she called, and ran after him.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Is… is Connor still cycling to school with me?" she murmured, her feet making circles in the damp grass. He smiled.
"He is," he answered. Relief flooded Dawn's face.
"Great!" she smiled. She waved to him and ran upstairs to her mother's room, where her mother emerged from the adjoining bathroom.
"Dawn, do you know where my silver earrings are… you know, the ones you're wearing?" she said to her. Dawn handed them back to her, a guilty smile on her face. Buffy walked into the room.
"Okay guys, I'm going," she told them.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?" Joyce asked her.
"I'm sure," Buffy nodded, and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Love you both!" she yelled as she jogged down the stairs.
Grabbing her car keys and her book bag, she walked out to the new black Porsche 911 her father bought her last week when she left New York. She smiled as she admired it, and slid into the driver's seat.
As she reversed out of the driveway, she noticed the black Plymouth Belvedere GTX convertible that she had admired was no longer parked in the neighboring driveway. Pointing the car in the direction of the highschool, she listened to Sarah McLachlan's Angel on the radio, and tried to prepare herself for the inevitable day ahead.
tbc...