Disclaimer: Just playing in Joss's world.
A/N: An old vignette I recently found in one of my notebooks. I'm just having fun filling in a bit of pre-Sunnydale history and extending the tradition of disastrous Buffy birthdays further into her history. Some references to the movie. Betaed by moviemom44; thanks as always! Reviews are very much appreciated.
Happy Birthday
She'd known this day was coming for a while. How could she not? She'd heard the arguments, growing gradually more frequent and bitter, since even before her life got turned upside down by the supernatural (though that certainly made things even worse). She knew the statistics on the impermanence of modern families. And she'd heard the comments that her parents surely hadn't realized she'd noticed.
She'd known this day was coming for a while. She almost wished she hadn't; if she had to go through this anyway, surely she could have at least been spared the pain of anticipation. But she was more perceptive than most people gave her credit for. She could play the dumb blonde role to perfection, and usually did, but Buffy Summers wasn't dumb.
She'd known this day was coming for a while. But she still wasn't prepared for it when her parents sat her down at dinner and announced they were getting a divorce.
Just like that, the last remaining piece of the life she'd known came crashing down.
Her father tried to br consoling, but he was distant. Probably anxious to get back to his secretary, she thought bitterly. It was all too obvious that Hank Summers hadn't been close to his family in a long while.
Her mother, on the other hand, was too cheerful. She chattered about how they would have an opportunity to have a fresh start, but it was easy to read between the lines of her optimistic words.
"I've been thinking about settling down and setting up a gallery in a nice little town," Joyce said cheerfully. Someplace away from bad influences like you've fallen in with. "I've heard of a few places with good, open-minded school systems." If we look hard enough, we might find a decent school that will take you. "I think a move will do us good. We could both use a clean slate." We need to find a place where no one knows us, to get away from this shame.
"I'm going out for a while," Buffy announced, suddenly needing to get out of the dining room that somehow seemed much smaller and more cramped than usual. She caught the worried glance that passed between her parents, but at least tonight they were kind enough not to say anything.
She ran down the familiar streets, needing to move, needing to feel the outside air rushing past her. She wondered how it would feel to never see this place again. Sure, her life had gotten messed up in the past year or so, but that didn't mean she wanted to leave. LA was her home, the only place she'd ever lived. She didn't want to go to some little podunk town.
Lost in thought, she hadn't even noticed where she was going, and cursed under her breath as she realized her instincts had brought her straight to the nearest cemetery.
"Come on," she muttered to herself, "what kind of teenage girl spends her evenings in a graveyard? Damn interfering destiny."
She looked up in time to see the vampire rise before it rushed her. "Not now," she grumbled, and held up a stake with one hand, right in its path.
She sighed. This was the freakishness that made her life royally suck. She used to be popular. She used have friends. Her parents used to trust her. Her thoughts turned to the even worse consequences of Slaying. Merrick, dead because of her weakness. Pike, who she'd driven away. Okay, enough of the pity party! And, as she made her way home, a thought came to her. Wherever her mom took them, no one would know who she was, who she was supposed to be. Maybe she could give this fresh start thingy a try. When she moved, Buffy vowed, she would stop Slaying.
Back in her room, she flopped down on her bed. A star drawn in sparkly pink gel pen caught her eye, and only then did she remember the significance of the date. She looked over the pile of presents on the floor in the remains of their garish wrapping. A smaller pile than usual this year, of course - family only, as her friends had deserted her even before she got kicked out of school. God, she never thought she'd miss people compelling her classroom to sing that annoying song to her. "Happy birthday to me..." she sang sarcastically.