A/N: Okay, a new story. I have had this idea flouting around in my head for a while now. I hope you like it and it probably has been done on some degree before. This chapter might be a little short, along with the next couple of ones, while Buffy gets used to life in Los Angeles.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot specific to this story.
Note: You will have noticed the 'Meanwhile' heading, it is just to let you know what is going down in Sunnydale, briefly. If something big and unique happens that, I want to focus on a one-shot for that event will be posted. I am also writing this story with Dawn there.
Meanwhile: The Scooby's begin to adjust to Buffy not being there.
Rewrite: I fixed the much mentioned fact about the amount Buffy was making. Sorry about that error.
Rewrite2: I think I fixed all the grammer and spelling errors in the chapter. If I missed some I am very sorry.
Chapter 1:
"Hi, may I take your order please?" Buffy asked to the young man sitting at one of her tables.
After running away from Sunnydale, Buffy returned to Los Angeles. She started going by the name of 'Ellie' as her first name was Elizabeth. She did not have to worry about not responding immediately to the name, because when Dawn was young she always called Buffy 'Ellie'. That was from when Dawn began to talk to when she was five.
"Yes, I would like a cheeseburger with a side of fries." The man responded.
When she left Sunnydale, she had no idea where she would go. She thought that she could go back the LA, which was where she was born anyway; she would know her way around. She thought she could maybe live on the streets; people would not bother her much that way.
"And what can I get you to drink?" Buffy, or Ellie, asked the man.
She tried that for about a week, living on the streets not her thing really. She was too used to indoor plumbing and a roof over her head. Therefore, she went and got a cruddy hotel room with the sixty-five dollars she had. It was not very nice, really. It was runny water, a bed, and a roof so Buffy did not complain, much. She usually headed to the local swimming pool to take her showers, though. It was free to get in, and the shower stalls closed off so she had privacy. Another plus to showering at the swimming pool… if she showered at the hotel she would have to pay for it.
"Um, yes, can I have a soda please?" The man responded to her question.
As soon as she got the hotel room, Buffy went in search of a job. It toke her about an hour until she found one. The job she got was as a lifeguard at the very swimming pool where she toke her showers. She worked on the weekends from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon and paid five dollars an hour.
"Okay, I'll be back shortly with your order." Buffy told the nice man walking over to the kitchens.
Getting paid 25 dollars, a day was good, but not enough. She went out in search of a second job after her first week at the pool. She found her second job at Mary's Dinner two blocks from her apartment, and one block from the pool. She worked as a server from nine in the morning to one in the afternoon, on Mondays and Tuesdays. She had Wednesdays off. On Thursdays and Fridays, she worked from two in the afternoon to nine at night. She got paid five dollars, an hour just like at the pool.
"Here is your order, enjoy your meal." Buffy said with a smile as she placed the man's food in front of him.
She was now getting 25 dollars from the pool, 25 for working the dinner on Mondays and Tuesdays, and 40 for Thursdays and Fridays. One hundred and eighty dollars a week was good for her. Buffy did jump at the offer of working extra shifts, for the money of course. She really did like her job.
"Can I get you anything else?" Buffy asked the man when he finished, "Coffee, pie, cake?"
She had only run into a few vampires while in town, and those were when she was living on the street or when she did a sweep of the cemetery. She could not ignore whom she was, no matter where she ran.
"I will just have the bill please." The man replied.
After the first month in Los Angeles, Buffy found that she was no longer running from Sunnydale. She was safe doing what she was. She was no longer the slayer. Technically, she was not supposed to be the slayer anymore. However replaced Kendra when she died is now the slayer. That made Buffy fell much better. She might have been able to return to Sunnydale after she realized that, but she had become too accustomed with her new life as Ellie Winters to return to being Buffy Summers.
"Here you go, sir." Buffy said placing the bill on the table for him. She watched as he pulled out his wallet and put the fifteen dollars on the table, along with her tip, "Thank you. Have a nice day."
