Hey guys! Thank you to my readers and reviewers. You are greatly appreciated.

Also, I own nothing about Buffy. I should've said that before.

Furthermore, while I'm trying to keep canon, the chapters will be a variety of lengths. I hope you keep reviewing.

Here's a new chapter.

"Where have you been?" Forest inquired with a nod at Graham.

Graham shook his head. Out just watching a vampire Slayer, who is seriously a tiny girl, he thought to himself. She's stronger than any of them and spry. He'd been taking a lot of mental notes lately. She was in line getting lunch and he didn't really realize that he was staring until Forest nudged him. Parker was behind her, chatting her up. Graham scowled. The guy may have been in their squad, but he was a scoundrel who ruined the female population for a lot of them.

"Oh, uh, just studying. The library," Graham said. Another day, another lie.

"I didn't know you took your studies that seriously," Forest said with a snort.

Graham shrugged. Buffy moved to sit with her friends, her eyes completely moony for Parker. He frowned; disheartened that she would succumb to the likes of Parker. She didn't even know. Maybe he should've told her, but that would bring up other things, like his watching her and why he was curious about her and that was just something he didn't want to answer to, for now.

And, Graham wasn't wrong. He'd seen her come to his house party. Riley and Forest were talking tactics. He was busy watching her closely as she talked to Parker. A sudden scuffle made him tense and inch a little. He remained where he stood, but just barely. Some scumbag and his trashy Barbie girlfriend had confronted Buffy and Parker. They held up a student between them. He was stark pale and passed out. The conversation didn't last long. The man tossed the student at Buffy and then took off, jumping over the back of the couch.

"I'll be right back," Graham said, patting Riley on the shoulder.

He didn't catch what Riley said. He was already on the move, following Buffy and resisting the temptation to punch Parker along the way. Outside, there were several people talking and enjoying the party. He spotted Buffy almost instantly and she was holding a stake. She was talking to that guy again, bleach head. He must've been a vampire. A smile turned up the sharp curves of his cheeks. The blonde chick was behind him, sneering at Buffy.

"She left him for a fungus demon. That's all he talks about," the smart-mouthed blonde said, rolling her eyes.

"Harm!" bleach head exclaimed, angrily. He turned on her with a heavy scowl. "We are going."

He turned, giving Buffy one last glare over his shoulder.

"It isn't time yet," he said.

"Yeah! And as soon as we have the Gem of Amara you're going to be-" Harm said, nastily.

Bleach head growled and shook the girl before she could finish, dragging her off by the wrist. Buffy stared after the two with great confusion much like Graham did. Gem of Amara? Was it some kind of artifact? Why didn't any of them study artifacts?

Buffy went back inside to the party. Graham went back in, moments later, to see that Buffy and Parker were dancing together.

Why didn't he talk to her? That was a question that Graham asked himself a lot, especially right then. She was cute. But then there was Riley. He looked over at the big Iowa-bred boy. He kind of liked her too. It was easy to tell. Graham sighed. Parker led Buffy upstairs to his room. Graham should've stopped them, made a pathetic excuse. But he didn't. He did nothing.

Graham was still thinking about her the next day. Parker had been making light talk of the party at breakfast, but Graham left before he had to hear too much. He made his way towards the library. He wanted to know more about the Gem of Amara, but he had a feeling he was going to have to go into town to get more specific books on stuff like this.

And, he was right. There was nothing in the whole library. Not even in the database. He had a class at eleven, but he didn't really care too much about missing it, so he went into town.

He didn't go into town very often, but it turned out that there was a magic shop in a hidden little corner. He walked in timidly, unsure about what he was going to find or smell. The stench was thick and scratchy at the back of his throat. The whole shop was dim with only scattered candles and the light coming through the window coming in. The whole place was foggy. He glanced around, not seeing the shopkeeper anywhere.

Finding the book section was easy enough. There were several about magic and spells. Did people actually use this stuff? He picked up a book on demon mythology. Walsh would get a kick out of this, he thought. There were three other volumes to it. He took all four and found two other books on artifacts. One of them talked about the Gem.

He set the books on the counter and reached into his bookbag for his wallet. The shopkeeper came from behind a beaded curtain that led to the back.

"Light reading?" she inquired as she rung him up.

"Uh, yeah. Research for a class." That lie never got old.

He put the books in his bag after getting the receipt and saying thanks. What he didn't see during his visit was Willow Rosenberg browsing the shelves. She stared after him, her eyebrows raised and pressed together curiously.