Prologue

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, a chance to travel the world and get out of the small town life that she had grown up with. But as the plane touched down at Manchester Airport, Buffy suddenly felt very alone.

Her teachers had all told her what a wonderful opportunity it would be for her – to go to an English university and one of the best at that. Her father had been British and that gave her duel nationality but she had never actually visited the country. Buffy's mother had never got along with her husband's family and after his death when Buffy was a little girl there had seemed little reason to visit.

Buffy couldn't really remember exactly who had suggested it first but she found herself applying to English Universities. When she got an acceptance from the University of Manchester it all seemed so exciting and exotic that she got caught up in the enthusiasm but reality suddenly came crashing down and she realised that what it really meant was that for the next three years she would be living thousands of miles from her home, family and friends.

She collected her luggage and made her way through customs scanning the crowded arrivals lounge for the pick-up the university said would meet her. She caught sight of a tall guy holding up a large white placard, on which the words 'Summers and Rosenburg' were written in big red letters. She waved to indicate she had seen him and moved towards the door where he was standing.

"Hi! I'm Buffy Summers," she said, shifting her heavy bag from one shoulder to the other uncomfortably.

"I'm Chris. I'm the RA for the halls you'll be living in for the next year. May as well put your bags down for a sec – we still have another taker, er," he looked down at a scrap off paper he pulled out of his pocket, "Willow Rosenburg. Shouldn't have to wait long – she was on the same flight as you. Ah, this looks like her now."

Buffy turned in time to see a slim girl with long straight red hair coming towards them, lugging a large suitcase and shoulder bag. She thought that she recognised her from the flight and was suddenly glad to see someone else who was in the same situation.

"By the looks of things, you're going to be sharing a kitchen," Chris was saying, Buffy turned and frowned at him.

"A kitchen?"

"That's right – the rooms are divided into kitchens. About 12 people share a kitchen and living area, so just hope that you get along with them all!"

"Kitchen – that means cooking, right?"

It was going to be a very long year.