"Why don't you try 'The Introduction to the Modern Novel?'"
"Okay, Will, I know I asked you to help me pick courses, but that was when I thought you might actually help."
"Well you're cattier than usual. Are you still mad about me moving away?"
"No," Buffy starts, "Well, yes. I mean a little bit. I don't know. It's just… ever since you told me you got into UC Sunnydale I thought we would go together. I'm just not sure how great I'm feeling about starting over again." She's had two 'first days of high school.' She should be prepared because of all her training with scary firsts, but she doesn't feel it at all. Buffy looks from Willow to the bags on the floor. "That's a lot of stuff. Do you really need all that stuff?"
"New York is far, and my mom doesn't want to have to send me a bunch of things if I forget them, so she kind of packed up my whole room."
It's true. The room Buffy had slept in many times had become simply empty. It's surprising Mrs. Rosenberg even kept the fish tank, the Slayer thinks as she takes in one final scan, Though it'll probably be gone the second she gets home.
"Look there's no way I'll be able to nail down my schedule tonight. Not when tomorrow you… you…" She knows Willow can see the tears forming in her eyes, and she doesn't care. Buffy and Willow reach for each other at the same time, and are sobbing into each other's hair when Willow's mom pokes her head in.
"Willow, it's getting late. We have an early start tomorrow; I think it's time for Bunny to go home," she says before quickly walking back to her office.
"It's Bu—" Willow begins before realizing, just as it had been hundreds of times before, it was a lost cause. Willow turns to Buffy and says "Well let me walk you to the door."
The girls walk side-by-side through the house to the front door. Everything looks different, Buffy thinks. Even though she knows Willow would be back home for her winter break and again in summer, it feels like the last time she will ever see the inside of her best friend's house. Buffy is seeing everything through a lens of finality recently, which is probably why nothing seemed familiar. She knows she will never see a lot of things ever again. High school; Willow, not the same way again; or Xander.
Xander died protecting a group of parents during the Mayor's ascension. One moment, Buffy had glanced his way across the battlefield, and she had been so proud of him. The next time she'd looked over, he had fangs in his neck. Xander had fought bravely to save the world, and she wouldn't be forgetting his sacrifice any time soon. However, the wounds were still fresh.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Willow asks as they stop in front of the door, knowing exactly what her friend is thinking about.
"No," Buffy says while wiping away a tear, "That would be a terrible way to send you off. Will, have a great time in New York. Make sure you call me once a week with all things news-y. I don't want to lose you." I can't lose you too.
"Hey, you think I want to leave Sunnydale?"
"Well you did pick NYU," Buffy says matter-of-factly.
"Buffy, it's New York. I have told you so many times about the witches there. They could really help me with this magic stuff. Not to mention, it's one of the best schools in the country. I know you're going through a lot right now, but so am I!" Willow stops once she realizes just how angry she had become, "Look I don't want to fight with you. Not again."
"See you in December, Willow."
The girls hug one more time. This one is a lot shorter and has much less feeling behind it. Willow says nothing while Buffy walks out into the warm August night. Buffy hears the lock click into place, and her heart sinks even further.
When Buffy reaches the corner she would normally turn to walk home, she instead continues walking forward, to a nearby cemetery. It had been a pretty boring summer. Sure, vamps to slay, and people to save, but nothing too major since graduation. Graduation. Xander. Everything Buffy does reminds her of her dead friend. They had patrolled this cemetery just a few months ago. She always heard "Things change when you go to college," but Buffy doubts this is what people meant.
Suddenly, movement.
She feels it more than she hears it. Buffy whips around, and sure enough, a man had been following her. From the distance, he looks like… well no, he left too. Her high school boyfriend, and first love, Angel had moved away right after graduation. Buffy had felt a bit estranged from Willow ever since she decided not to remain in Sunnydale, or even California, or even on the same coast! So with her boyfriend gone, Xander dead, and her interactions with Willow becoming more and more tense, the summer had left her little to do other than reflect. Reflect and mope.
"Are we gonna do this?" Buffy taunts, "I have a big day tomorrow, and I'd like to get in my full eight hours."
The man in the shadows looks surprised. Buffy smiles as he begins to run toward her. She hardly braces herself as the vampire reaches out to grab her. Buffy bends slightly, and buries her elbow deep into his stomach. Almost immediately, the man is lying on the floor, gasping for breath he doesn't need. He isn't gasping for too long, as he is dust before he can inhale twice.
Buffy checks her watch and says in soliloquy, "If I'm drowsy in the morning, I'm blaming you."
Early the next morning, Joyce drops Buffy off on campus, and helps her get all settled.
Joyce is about to leave when she says, "Are you going to be okay?"
"Mom, I'm fine, I promise."
"I just worry about you, Buffy… a lot is changing right now, and I want you to know you can always call me if you need something. Or even just to talk. Do you know that, Buffy? I know you think I'm trying to keep you from growing up, but I just want you to feel like you still have someone. Someth—"
"Mom," Buffy says without knowing how to finish the sentence, "Thank you."
The Summers women hug one final time. Joyce reminds Buffy how few bus stops are between campus and the house another time, and then leaves. A moment passes, and Buffy feels truly alone.
She had seen fliers for an involvement fair happening today, so she walks around campus for a while, trying to find wherever people were the loudest. It seems like Buffy can't walk more than two steps in this crowd without having a new stack of papers in her hands, all talking about a different issue, or party, or sale. She walks, almost deliriously, through the crowd of people without really taking note of anyone in particular, until she does. She sees a familiar face, but it takes a few seconds to place it.
"Anya?"
Buffy had never really warmed up to the blunt ex-demon, and seeing her now brings back painful memories of prom, but someone familiar is better than no one at all.
"Buffy? Why are you here?"
There's that lack of manners, Buffy thinks, but finds it comforting rather than annoying, "First day. You too?"
"Me? More school? Not likely. I had to get a job to pay for human living, so today I'm handing out fliers," Anya says, taking Buffy's stack of papers, and handing back one of her own. It's an advertisement for a diner near Buffy's dorm called Benny's.
Before Buffy can say anything else, two boys approached Anya's table, "Give us your money," she says while shoving fliers their way. The boys leave immediately.
Buffy laughs, "You might want to try a different tactic."
"Hey, I'm the one with the job. I'm a professional now who doesn't need people like you telling me what to do," Anya doesn't even seem that heated, she's just saying exactly what she's thinking.
"I'll leave you to it then. Bye, Anya," Buffy leaves the involvement fair, and heads back to her dorm. When she gets to her room, the door is unlocked. The roommate arrives, Buffy thinks.
She pushes open the door saying, "Hi, I'm Bu—" but stops halfway through. Buffy sees the large 'C' hanging on the wall, and the cross-armed brunette standing in the middle of the room.
"Buffy!? Of. Course," says a noticeably enraged Cordelia Chase.