Griddlebone's sleep was fitful, plagued with nightmares. A lair, a devilish vampiric face. Her eyes snapped open as she woke with a start. Her blue eyes scanned her bedroom, re-orienting herself in wakefulness. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the dream's images.
"Grids," Jennyanydots said, sticking her head in her daughters room. "You up yet?"
The young blond pulled a pillow over her head, "Practically, Mom."
"Come on honey," Jenny said, coming into the half unpacked room and prying the pillow off her daughter's face as if used to this. "You don't want to be late for your first day at a new school."
The teen grimaced, "No...wouldn't want that."
Jenny shook her head slightly, fluffing the pillow and sticking it back on the bed. "Come on honey, I made you breakfast and I'll drop you off."
Grids sighed, finally sitting up, "Alright, I'm up. I'm up."
"Good," her mother said, giving her a grin and heading back downstairs.
The girl sighed, getting out of bed and digging through her closet for something to wear from what she'd already unpacked before pausing in front of the mirror to get her hair done and put on just a bit of make-up. She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed downstairs.
Her mother offered her a sunny smile and a glass of orange juice. "Are you excited for your new school?" she asked. "Lots of new people to meet."
"Lots of new classes to deal with. I'm thrilled." She sighed, "It'll be...different."
"Sometimes different is good," Jenny said softly.
Grids dropped her gaze to the tabletop, "Sorry. Yeah, I guess I am excited, just not sure it's a good fit."
"Nothing to apologize for," Jenny replied. "It's hard moving, I know, but I'm sure you'll be able to find a niche with no problem. Now eat up, you'll want a full stomach to face it."
The teen managed a smile before turning her attention to her breakfast.
Shortly therefore her mother managed to get her into the car, and driven to the school, offering her a broad smile before Grids got out. "Now, have a good time. You'll make friends with no problem. Think positive thoughts. And..." she paused before asking softly. "Try not to get kicked out?"
Grids managed a slight smile in response, "I promise to do my best." She got out after another moment, "Have a good day, Mom."
"You too honey," Jenny said with a smile, pulling away and heading to her brand new job as well.
The young blond watched the car as it disappeared around a corner before turning and heading into the school.
As she walked by, a young teenager on a skateboard made his way through the crowd, his hair a bit untamed and wearing clothes a little too clashing to be considered fashionable but he appeared comfortable in them.
However, on seeing Grids going by, he almost lost control of the skateboard, running into a railing and stopping abruptly, though the board continued on a bit further, hitting the leg of another boy heading to class.
"Misto!" the first said jumping up, momentarily forgetting the new face. "You're so very much the person I wanted to see."
The shorter boy turned, tucking some of his longish black hair back. "Really?" he asked, blinking.
"Yeah, well, I was kinda having this problem with the math.
Mistoffelees hardly looked impressed by that. "Which part, Tugger?"
"The math," the taller said, retrieving his skateboard and tucking it under his arm.
Adjusting his green plaid vest, Mistoffelees rolled his eyes. "Alright. Do you have theories in Trig? You should check it out."
"Check it out?" Tugger asked, almost looking like he wanted to make a sexual joke off that, getting another eye roll from the shorter.
"From the library. Where the books live."
"Right. I'm there. See, I want to change," Tugger insisted and Mistoffelees just shook his head slightly. "Oh!" Tugger said as if just remembering something important. "New girl!"
"New girl?" Mistoffelees asked, tilting his head slightly.
"That's right. I saw her. She's pretty much a hotty."
"I did hear someone was transferring here..." Mistoffelees offered, though he didn't seem terribly enthused about the hotty description. He glanced around but she was already gone.
Griddlebone made her way into the principal's office, sitting down in front of his desk as he looked over her transcripts.
"Griddlebone Summers, sophomore, late of Hemery High in Los Angeles. Interesting record, quite a career..." She looked on in horror as he ripped the paper he was reading off of into four pieces, "Welcome to Sunnydale! A clean slate, Griddlebone, that's what you get here. What's past is past. We're not interested in what it says on a piece of paper, even if it says-" He looked down again, blinking, "Whoa."
"Mr. Flutie-"
"All the kids here are free to call me Bob."
"Bob-"
"But they don't." He turned his attention to reassembling the torn sheet with scotch tape.
Grids watched him, trying not to wince with the way he was putting it back together, "I know my transcripts are a little... colorful."
"Hey... We're not caring about that. Do you think, uh, 'colorful' is the word? Not, uh, 'dismal'?"
She gaped at him, "It wasn't that bad!"
"You burned down the gym."
"I-I did, I really did, but... You're not seeing the big picture here, I mean, that gym was full of vampi-asbestos." She pursed her lips together, praying he hadn't heard her slip.
He hadn't. "Griddlebone, don't worry. Any other school they might say 'watch your step', or 'we'll be watching you'... But, that's just not the way here. We want to service your needs, and help you to respect our needs. And if your needs and our needs don't mesh..." He put the poorly taped sheet back in her file and snapped it shut.
Grids jumped and was more than relieved when he told her she could go. She picked up her bag and slipped out of the office, running smack into another girl, her bag falling and her stuff scattering as she muttered a rapid apology and knelt to pick it up.
Coming through the crowd, Tugger took a moment to smooth back his hair before scooping down quickly to help her. "Can I have you? Dyeh, can I help you?" he asked, handing her back a book.
She blinked at him for a moment, but took the book, offering him a smile, "Thanks."
"I don't know you do I?" he asked.
She shifted the book into her bag, holding out a hand, "I'm Grids, I'm new today."
"Tugger," he replied. "Is me. That is... Hi."
She bit her lip slightly at that, withdrawing her hand and picking up the last of her books, "Well, thanks…"
"Maybe I'll see you around. Maybe at school, since we both… go there…" Tugger started out brightly and realized what he was saying halfway through.
"Sounds great!" She rose, slinging her bag onto her shoulder again, "It was nice to meet you." She offered him another smile before heading toward her class.
"'We both go to school…' Very suave. Very not pathetic," Tugger muttered, standing and shaking his head. He paused, picking up something she left behind. "Hey you forgot your..." he took a look at it. "Stake?"
She didn't hear him, entering her first classroom to learn about "The Black Death."
As the bell rang and she rose from her desk, the redhead who'd let her share her book turned to her and offered her hand, "Hi! I'm Bombalurina."
The blond offered her a smile, "I'm Grids."
"If you're looking for a textbook of your very own there's probably a few in the library."
"Oh, great, thanks." She paused, "Where would that be?"
"I'll show you, come on." Bomba offered her a curious glance as they headed out of the classroom, "So you're from Hemery, right? In L.A.?"
"Um, yeah."
"Oh, I would kill to live in L.A. That close to that many shoes?"
Grids laughed as they continued down the hall, "It's not quite all it's cracked up to be, but it's close."
The two girls rounded another corner, Bomba continuing what she had been saying, "Well, you'll be okay here. If you hang with me and mine, you'll be accepted in no time. Of course, we do have to test your coolness factor. You're from L.A., so you can skip the written, but let's see. Vamp nail polish?"
Grids arched an eyebrow, "Um, over?"
"So over. James Spader?"
"He needs to call me!"
Bombalurina nodded slightly, "Frappaccinos?"
"Trendy...but tasty."
"John Tesh?"
"The Devil."
"That was pretty much a gimme, but..." She grinned, "You passed!"
"Oh, goody!" Well, that was a possible niche to fit into, now to see if she could keep from blowing it.
The two of them turned toward the water fountain, Bombalurina frowning at the person there for a moment before managing a thin, condescending smile.
Mistoffelees stepped back from the water fountain, blinking at the pair.
Bomba smiled at him, "Mistoffelees! Nice vest. Good to know your lack of fashion sense never changes."
The shorter leaned back slightly but otherwise tried not to change expression. "Good to know some things never change isn't it?"
"Years come and go, but fifth grade will always be with you. Are you done?"
The dark haired boy blinked and stepped back. "You're welcome to it," he said, gesturing to the fountain and looked like he wanted to add, "I hope the water chokes you" but just hitched his bag up higher and left.
Grids watched him go, swallowing uncomfortably at that scene. Bombalurina drew her attention back as she spoke, "You wanna fit in here, the first rule is: know your losers. Once you can identify them all by sight" she glanced in Mistoffelees' direction, "they're a lot easier to avoid."
Grids let out a nervous laugh, looking in the direction the boy had gone, but said nothing.
The two of girls continued on their way to the library, Grids letting Bombalurina talked-she seemed to enjoy the sound of her own voice. "And if you're not too swamped with catching up you should come by the Bronze tonight."
"The who?"
"The Bronze. It's the only club worth going to around here. They let anybody in, but it's still the scene. It's in the bad part of town."
"Where's that?" She paused outside a set of double doors with circular windows set in them.
"About a half a block from the good part of town." Bomba laughed, shrugging, "We don't have a whole lot of town here. But, um, you should show!"
"Well, I'll try." The blond glanced toward the library, "Uh, thanks."
"Good. So I'll see you in gym, and you can tell me absolutely everything there is to know about you." She waved as she headed down the hall.
"Great!" Her pasted smile vanished once Bombalurina had left, "Oh, that sounds like fun..." She took a breath and then entered the library, scanning the large room. She couldn't hear anyone and the place looked deserted. "Hello?" She made her way past the desk "Is anybody here?" She paused at the counter, looking over the newspaper there. A picture was circled, the caption above it saying something about missing boys. She jumped and whirled around when someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Oh! Anybody's here!"
The librarian stood there, looking her over from behind his glasses, "Can I help you?"
"I was looking for some, well, books. I'm new."
He paused for a moment. "Miss Summers?"
"Good call! Guess I'm the only new kid, huh?"
"I'm Mr. Coricopat. The librarian. I was told you were coming." He stepped past her and slipped behind the counter.
"Great! So, um, I'm gonna need 'Perspectives on 20th Century-'"
He cut her off before she could get any further in her booklist, "I know what you're after!" He pulled out a large old book with the word "VAMPYR" written in gilded lettering across the leather cover.
Grids paled and took a step back, "That's not what I'm looking for."
"Are you sure?" Confusion lit the man's face.
"I'm way sure," she backed another step.
"...My mistake." He leaned down to place the book back under the counter, "So what is it you said-" He blinked when he straightened to find her gone and the library door swinging in her wake.
-.-.-
Shortly thereafter during lunch, Mistoffelees sat on a low half wall, legs crossed and sack lunch in his lap. He was considering an apple and enjoying the Southern California weather.
Griddlebone made her way out of the school onto the quad, pausing when she saw the boy. She made her way over, " Uh, Hi! Mistoffelees, right?"
He glanced up quickly. "Why? I mean, hi. That... did you want me to move or something?"
She paused, shaking her head slightly, "Why don't we start with, 'Hi, I'm Grids,' and, uh, then let's segue directly into me asking you for a favor." Grids sat down next to him, "It doesn't involve moving, but it does involve hanging out with me for a while."
"But you're hanging with Bomba," Mistoffelees said, confused.
"I can't do both?"
"Not legally," Mistoffelees informed her in all seriousness.
Her brows rose at that and she took a deep breath, "Look, I really wanna get by here-new school-and...Bomba's been really nice... to me anyway, but, um, I kinda have this burning desire not to flunk all my classes, and I heard a rumor that you were the person to talk to if I wanted to get caught up"
"Oh," Mistoffelees said and then his eyes lit up. "I could totally help! If you have sixth period free we could meet in the library!"
She shook her head quickly, "Or not. Or we could meet someplace quieter. Louder. Uh, that place just kinda gives me the wiggins."
Mistoffelees blinked and shrugged. "It has that effect on most kids it seems. I love it, though. It's a great collection and the new librarian is really cool."
"He's new?" And creepily enthusiastic, and knew way more than he should.
"Yeah, he just started. He was a curator of some British Museum. Or the British museum, I'm not sure. But he knows everything and he brought all these historical volumes and biographies and..." Mistoffelees started babbling for lack of a better word, getting more and more excited about the thought of British museums and books, before he paused and offered quietly, unsure suddenly, "...am I the single dullest person alive?"
Grids shook her head, though her brain had started to shut off somewhere around the second "museum," "Not at all!"
Mistoffelees still seemed to wilt slightly just as Tugger came down the staircase behind them. "Hey! Are you guys busy? Can I interrupt? I'm interrupting."
Grids offered the new arrival a bit of a smile, "Hey."
"Oh, Griddlebone, this is Tugger," Mistoffelees tried to say by way of introduction.
"Oh, me and Grids go way back. Old friends, very close. Then there was that period of estrangement, I think we were both changing as people, but here we are and it's like old times, I'm quite moved," Tugger rattled off
Mistoffelees gave him a long look. "Is it me, or are you turning into a bibbling idiot?"
"Oh, it's not you," Tugger said, giving him a shame faced look and Mistoffelees sighed softly.
"It's...it's nice meeting you both," she glanced from Mistoffelees to Tugger and back.
Mistoffelees offered her a faint shrug and Tugger continued. "Well, we wanted to welcome you, make you feel at home. Unless you have a scary home," he paused again before producing the stake. "And to return this." He held it up. "The only thing I can figure is you're building a really tiny little fence..."
Her eyes widened as she took it from him, "Hah, no, um, a-actually it was for self-defense. Everyone has them in L.A. Pepper spray is just so passé." Okay, that was officially one of her worst excuses.
Frowning at her, Mistoffelees blinked in confusion and Tugger raised a brow. "Well then, what do you like, what do you do for fun, what do you look for in a man... let's hear it," he said, perching on the other side of her and Mistoffelees shot him a look.
"What, do you want her dark painful secrets to publish too?" he asked.
"Gee, everybody wants to know about me. How keen," her tone indicated it was anything but.
"Well," Mistoffelees said with another shrug. "Not a lot happens in a one-Starbucks town like Sunnydale. That makes you big news, but if you're uncomfortable we won't pry," he said giving Tugger another look to tell him he'd better damn well agree.
"I'm really not big news," she protested.
A voice cut in from behind Tugger, "Are these guys bothering you?"
Grids looked up to see Bombalurina standing there, "Uh, no!"
"She's not hanging out with us," Mistoffelees said a little too quickly.
Bomba looked at him, unimpressed, before turning back to Grids. "I don't mean to interrupt your downward mobility, but I just wanted to tell you that you won't be meeting Coach Foster, the woman with the chest hair, because gym was canceled due to the extreme dead guy in the locker."
The blond blinked, "What?"
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Mistoffelees asked, shocked and even Tugger was dumbfounded by that.
"Some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker!" Bomba replied.
Griddlebone took a deep breath, this couldn't be happening..."Dead."
"Totally dead. Way dead."
"So not a little dead then," Tugger finally got his voice back, not wanting to miss the opportunity to snark at Bomba.
She looked at him, rolling her eyes, "Don't you have an elsewhere to be?"
Grids cut any response off, "How did he die?"
"I don't know."
"Well, were there any marks?"
Bomba recoiled, her lip curling, "Morbid much! I didn't ask!"
Grids glanced between the three of them, "Um, I gotta book. I'll, I'll see you guys later." She picked up her things and left quickly.
Bomba watched her go, hand on her hip, "What's her deal?"
Mistoffelees blinked after her in confusion. "That..."
Tugger rose and went to follow. "Well, I need that Trig book anyway, so I'll see you later," he said taking off as well, leaving Mistoffelees with Bomba. He gave her a wary look before attempting to return to his packed lunch, looking after where Grids had disappeared.
Greetings from your authors!
Here we are again with an epic length AU. We're very much hoping to make this readable to people who haven't seen every single episode, or really any episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For those of you who have seen Buffy: some pairings are going to be very obvious off who we cast in which roles, but others are not going to be, as the characters do their own take on different character arcs. We cut some stuff, use other stuff, skip others, and generally try to keep things going.
Thank you very much for reading, and reviews make our day happier.