***

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be--. The alarm was cut short by Buffy's tired hand hitting the off button.

"Buffy, Hun, are you up?" Joyce asked.

"Yeah, Mom," Buffy answered in a groggy, sleepy voice.

Buffy changed out of her warm, comfy, flannel pajamas with fuzzy socks and into a short black skirt; a light purple see-through shirt over a light purple, spaghetti-strap tank top, and a pair of knee-high, black boots. She wore her gorgeous blonde locks up into a French twist and left pieces hanging down to frame her face.

Buffy raced down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen where Joyce was standing with a hot cup of coffee in her hands.

"Hun, are you gonna sit down and have some breakfast?" Joyce asked hopefully.

"I can't. I gotta book it double-time to the library. Sorry, Mom. Love you," Buffy said trying her hardest not to look at her mom's saddened face. "Can we do this tomorrow?" Buffy asked as she walked by her mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, sure, Honey," Joyce said to herself as she lifted her head up and realized that her daughter was already out the door and that she was talking to herself.

***

It was a warm, bright Tuesday in Sunnydale, California. High school students piled in the doors and off to different parts of Sunnydale High. All was quiet until Buffy came barreling through the library's doors where the gang sat startled by the sudden noise.

"Buffy, what is the matter?" Giles asked concerned in his British accent.

Buffy told Giles the whole story about the previous night. After her mouthful of words she took a deep breath of air that felt so good to her heaving lungs.

"So what you're saying is that the reason vampires have gathered at Weatherly Park is that they are searching for an amulet? And also that someone gave you a warning that a vampire was coming at you?" Giles asked to see if he got his facts straight.

"Exactly. What do we have for him, Johnny?" Buffy asked in her best game show host voice. "But I was too busy trying to get info from the vamp that just came at me. Then, I didn't think about it till I was on my way home and figured she already left."

"She?" Oz piped up.

"Yeah. It sounded totally like a girl my age. I'm pretty positive. But do you guys remember when I got that blood of that demon in me and I could hear everybody's thoughts?" Buffy reminded rhetorically. "Well, I pretty much heard the voices of all the girls in school and she didn't sound like any of them."

"Would you recognize the voice if you heard it again?" Willow offered.

"Yeah. Definitely."



Bing. Bing. Bing. The first morning bell rang. Notice that the students should head to their classes.

Five minutes passed then, bing. Bing. Bing. The second bell rang telling the students that if they weren't in their classes in two minutes they'd be late.

"Don't you people have classes to be in?" Giles reminded.

"Oh, crap. World History. Man, I've got a quiz today…" Willow said dully.

Each member of the Scooby Gang left the library and headed off into separate directions for their classes.

"Buffy…" Giles called from behind the counter.

Buffy turned around saying, "Yeah, Giles? What is it?"

Giles's face got very serious, as did his voice, "Did you ever once last night just so happen to mention to that vampire that you were the Slayer?"

"Ummm…did I make a boo-boo?"

"Well, if that girl heard you then she probably knows and that isn't good," Giles answered in his accent sounding all fatherly.

"Oops."

"Oops? That is the only remark you have? Buffy this is very vital. We can't have everybody knowing you're the Sla---"

Miss Cordelia Chase came slinking through the library doors. You see, there is a Cordelia in every school. Boys love her, girls want to be her…you know the type. She's goddess-like to some of the guys in Sunnydale High.

"What is Buffy…besides a freak?"

"Cordelia. What happened? Got lost?" Buffy snapped.

"Someone hasn't obviously taken their Midol today, huh, Buffy?"

"Girls, girls. Please do settle down," Giles refereed. "Cordelia, is there something I can help you with?"

Cordelia stopped giving Buffy "tell eye" and replied to Giles. "Yeah. Mr. McCormick wanted me to give you this book on World History that he borrowed for his class."

Giles pulled down his glasses to get a better look at the book. "Ah yes, of course. Well thank you. Is there anything else Cordelia?"

"Not in here," Cordelia said as she slinked right back out the library doors.

"Talk about a close encounter of the bitchy kind."

"Now Buffy, back to what we were talking about."

"Yes Giles, I did just so happen to mention that I was the Slayer," Buffy said mockingly.

"Well then we'll just have to do our best to find her as soon as possible. Buffy, did you hear me?"

Buffy turned back from looking out the window. "Huh? Um, oh, yeah, find her A-SAP. Are we through here now?"

"Yes."

"Good because I'm extremely late for World His. Could you write me a pass or something?"