What Friends Are For
"So did you go over and say hi?"
It's hotter than the Hellmouth in Sunnydale today.
Buffy nods, letting her blonde hair bounce. "Yeah, I went. I went right over to him and I said…'Hi.'"
"And what did he say?" Willow asks, eyes open with vicarious eagerness. She bites her lip in anticipation.
"Well, I said 'hi', and then he said 'mmph hmmffphh'", the Slayer answers matter-of-factly.
Her best friend looks quizzical.
Buffy hurriedly explains, "That's the noise you make when you try to say hello but you're so glued to your new girlfriend's face that it just comes out…well…'mmph hmmffphh'".
Willow screws up her face in an expression of utmost distaste, slamming her book on the table to punctuate her words. "That bitch!"
At Buffy's shocked expression, she colors slightly. "Sorry, I was just doing my best-friendly duty to put down your romantic rivals."
"Yeah, yeah, go on by all means," the blonde laughs. "I have a feeling it's not going to help me out much, though. They looked awfully…"
"Tight?"
"As Cordelia's jeans," Buffy replies, smirking.
A male voice sounds from behind them. "Ooh, did I miss some good old-fashioned Cordy-bashing?" Xander rubs his hands together like an old movie villain and raises his eyebrows. Willow giggles a little too loudly.
Buffy turns to give him a welcoming smile, even though her mind is still on the night before. "We were talking about my total date failure the other night, that's all."
A school bus goes by, pushing still more hot air in the gang's direction. Buffy groans and fans herself.
"So it was bad, huh?" Xander says, more than a hint of pleasure in his tone.
"Disgraceful."
The young Slayer heaves a sigh. Willow's eyes soften with sympathy.
"I just don't get it, you know?" Buffy says quietly. "I mean, what's wrong with me?"
Xander suddenly cringes as a piercing tone interjects, "Well, you've got split ends, you're always getting into fights, and my God, did you actually wear that shade of yellow?" Cordelia Chase crosses her arms primly and tuts at Buffy. "I thought you'd know better than that."
Self-consciously, Buffy glances down at her shirt. Is it really that bad?
"I think it's cute," Willow whispers. Buffy gives her a grateful smile.
"Cordelia," Xander says, voice laden with fake politeness. "One day you're going to awaken to the awful truth that nobody cares what you think."
"Well, one day you're going to awaken to the awful truth that you're never going to have a girlfriend." She tosses her hair.
"Well, you know what, neither will you," Xander begins. He furrows his brow. "Except, uh, with a boy instead of girl."
Cordelia, looking generally unimpressed, is caught up with by the Cordettes, and in a cloud of perfume and judgment, they're gone.
Buffy glances at Xander's unusually red face, but decides not to comment. "Thanks for sticking up for me, guys." She smiles, crinkling her eyes as she does so.
"No problem," Xander replies easily, giving her a big old Xander-grin.
"I mean, what are friends for?" Willow adds, nudging Buffy with her shoulder.
She isn't one to get too ooey-gooey, but her heart kinda melts. Friends. Going back to L.A. for the summer had been great, but she didn't know anybody there that she could be a thousand percent honest with, people who knew everything and didn't care. The only people from her old school who'd still talk to her only hung out with her because they thought she was such a cool rebel for burning down the gym. None of them would ever understand her like Willow and Xander did.
Buffy slings an arm around each of their shoulders as they begin to walk. "Hey, since you guys are such good friends, you're totally going to go tonight, right?"
"To Dawnie's talent show?" Willow asks, shrinking back.
Xander coughs. "You know, I'm not feeling so well…"
"It's not that I don't love Dawn—or you—but…"
"I didn't even go to the middle school talent show when I was in it," Xander says bluntly.
"You skipped it?" Buffy asks. "And here I thought I was the bad influence."
Xander grins. "Eleven-year-old rebel, that was me." When he catches her expression, he admits, "Okay, Willow got all pukey out of stage fright and kind of covered my clothes in barf."
The redhead cringes. "Sorry."
"Don't be. Even puke is better than twelve year old girls screeching out the national anthem." He shudders.
"No horror is worse," Buffy agrees.
Willow shakes her head. "No. Twelve year old boys."
Xander's eyes widen. "Oh yeah, especially when their voices are getting all changey..."
Even Xander's off-key rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner couldn't wipe the smile off of Buffy's face. She decides not to mention the fact that she's carefully steering them toward the middle school. Hey, what are friends for?