#4: A Whole New World

"I have to be getting back," Wes eventually says after finishing the second of two calls from the house line. "Do you two need a lift?"

Cordelia glances over to him. "It's okay, Wes, we have a free first period."

"Alright, I'll see you at the library at lunchtime then." He pauses at the door. "I'll let the others know what's happening." He looks pointedly at Cordelia, who nods in understanding. Willow looks a little pensive as Wes leaves, but seems more reassured now that a Watcher is 'on the case' as it were.

"When we get to school, I'd like you to take a look around," Cordelia says. "Tell me who you recognise and who you don't and I can fill in the blanks for you." She pauses for a moment, hoping the next thing she says won't upset Willow again. "I need to tell you though, the names you mentioned - Buffy, Xander and Giles? I didn't recognise them."

Willow looks at her wide-eyed. "None of them?"

Cordelia shakes her head slightly. "It doesn't mean to say that they're not here of course. But... if they are, either I know them by different names or our paths have just never crossed."

"But Buffy's the Slayer. If she's not here, then..." Willow trails off as she follows the thought to its logical conclusion. "Someone else is the Slayer here?"

Cordelia nods in the affirmative. "You'll meet her at lunchtime along with the rest of the gang. We're all here for you, Willow, count on that. Any way we can help, we will." She places a sympathetic hand on her arm.

Willow's mind is spinning. Another Watcher, another Slayer. Is anything the same here? She tells herself that her friends aren't really gone, that there must be a way back to them. Unfortunately she realises the fallacy of that logic and curses her intelligence. Don't think about it. Just don't think about it. Denial thy name is Willow.

"Let's take a slow walk," Cordelia suggests, trying to take Willow's mind off things. "You can tell me what's different about your Sunnydale. I'd love to hear about a parallel world."

"Okay," Willow replies, nodding nervously.

They're about to leave the house when Cordelia notices something, or rather more accurately something missing. "Wait, you need your bear pin."

"Bear pin?" Willow asks, naturally not knowing what she's referring to.

Cordelia winces. Of course, she wouldn't know where she put it. "Okay, here," she says, her fingers moving the fold of her cardigan to one side as she unfastens something from it, "take mine."

Willow looks at the small metal badge she's been handed. It's in the shape of a grizzly bear, more or less identical to that on the state flag. She shrugs as she pins it to the sweatshirt she's wearing. Maybe kids are more patriotic here? "Do I look okay for school?" she asks hesitantly. "I wasn't sure what to wear. "

Cordelia smiles at her. "You look fine. And don't worry, we'll sort this all out for you. Now let's hear about this world of yours."

Taking the 'scenic route' to school, Cordelia though ends up answering more questions than she asks. On the surface it seems business as usual here, but scratch that surface and there's some rather startling changes from Willow's perspective. Many of the ubiquitous store chains are either gone or were never installed in the first place. "Part of a statewide antitrust clampdown a few years ago," Cordelia explains. And it had worked rather more than anticipated outside of the metropolises. No Starbucks, no golden arches, just a variety of reasonably priced local independents. Sunnydale is officially Corporate America's nightmare.

"We have History together second period," Cordelia tells her as they walk into school with fifteen minutes to spare. "Which era are you covering at the moment?"

"The Civil War. Again." Willow likes history as a whole, but wars have never been her favourite topics.

"That era does get beaten to death a bit, doesn't it," Cordelia echoes. "Well hopefully you shouldn't have a problem with Mr McDonnell's syllabus. He specialises in Colonial America and the early Republic. Not so much the Revolution, but the decades either side. It's quite interesting. Well, I find it interesting anyway," she adds a touch depreciatively.

"Sounds good," Willow replies genuinely. A little normality in the form of class might even help clear her thoughts. As they casually walk down the school corridors, she scans the various cliques and crowds as Cordelia had suggested earlier. Some students seem familiar, but many she doesn't recognise at all. And while the building itself is more or less the same as Willow is used to, the social politics are almost as wildly off-kilter as Cordelia. After receiving a few greetings herself, she starts to wonder if she's somehow managed to bypass the social death list here completely.

"Who's that?" Willow asks for what feels like the hundredth time. The preppy blonde surrounded by adoring fashionista clones reminds her of someone, but she can't think whom.

"Gwen Ditchik," Cordelia replies, turning away the moment she sees her. "She thinks she's so superior to the rest of us just because her father's on the town council. Gets everything handed to her on a plate and makes sure the rest of the world knows it. Even half the teachers suck up to her. If she thinks she can score points off you, she won't hesitate." Cordelia shakes her head as they quickly pass by unnoticed. "You don't want to know her."

"I didn't think I did," Willow agrees, making the connection. Back home, Gwen is just another member of Queen C's cheerleading clique. Here however, it seems fate has given her a promotion. One of Willow's tormenters though is conspicuous by her absence. "What happened to Harmony?" she asks, turning back to her new friend. "I don't see her here."

"Harmony..." Cordelia mulls.

"Harmony Kendall, she has a similar kind of role in my Sunnydale." Although Willow doesn't tell Cordelia that her double fulfils that role first and foremost.

Cordelia shrugs. "The name isn't familiar. If she's anything like Gwen, I thank heaven for small mercies. One of them is bad enough."

Willow can only nod. No Harmony can only be a good thing. They go on in a similar vein until the bell rings and the students who were on a 'free' start to mill towards their respective classes, while the others make a hasty exit. History actually goes well for Willow. She enjoys the topic and seems to surprise Mr McDonnell by answering a few of the spot questions, something she queries Cordelia about when the class is over.

Cordelia struggles and fails to stop chuckling. "Ah, well it's not usually a subject you excel in. You've probably got him wondering now whether he's drank too much port and imagined the whole thing. But well done, Willow. A most sterling performance."

Willow looks perturbed. "Perhaps you should tell me what my strengths and weaknesses are here, so I don't draw attention to myself."

Cordelia's amusement falls. "That's a point! If you're too... out of character, some people might start asking why." She comes to a decision. "Okay, I'll come over tonight with some snacks and we'll do some revision in Willow 101."

Willow smiles at her. "Thank you!"

Cordelia blinks. "For what?"

"For being so nice," she explains. "It's... It's not something I've come to expect back in my Sunnydale."

Cordelia looks thoughtful for a moment as she opens her locker door and retrieves a flip notebook. "I like to believe in karma, the natural balance. Good things happen to good people... generally." Although she can think of some pretty big exceptions. "If you can't be nice? Really, what's the point?" She sighs. "I just wish more people thought that."

Willow considers her words. "That's a pretty good credo."

Cordelia notices the crowds thinning out as people make their way to third period. "Unfortunately 'tis here we must part." She starts to scribble on the top page of the notebook with a biro, then rips it out and hands it to Willow. "These are your classes with room numbers up to lunchtime. All your books should be in here. Does your Watcher use the library as base of operations?"

"Yes, it gave the best cover for all the demonology and prophecy related volumes Giles brought with him."

Cordelia seems to find that funny but doesn't comment on it. "Okay, I'll see you there at quarter to twelve then?"

Willow nods. "See you there." She turns to her locker and tries to open it with her usual number, but it remains locked. "Wait!" she calls to Cordelia's rapidly disappearing form. To her relief, she turns. "What's my combination?"

Cordelia glances around herself. "When did Einstein break the time barrier?" Then she disappears into a classroom.

Willow stares after her.

What?