- Sunnydale High – Car Park
Roaring engines made the student car park of Sunnydale High a very unpleasant place to be in the early morning hours, but the fact that two particular students arrived at the same time each morning only made it worse.
A flash of metallic black sped past Buffy as she was getting out of her car. She hardly reacted to it though; a single step back was all that was required to avoid getting her foot run over by the same jerk that always tried to run her over. The black car screeched loudly, coming to a sudden halt in its favourite parking spot. With a creak the door swung open and slammed shut again. Spike leaned on the hood and lit a cigarette, ignoring the look he was getting from Buffy.
"Is it fun or just plain tradition to attempt to run me over every morning?"
Once the first word had been spoken, all the students who had previously been enjoying the day so far scattered like mice.
"It is amusing I must admit, you know me well enough to know I hate tradition." Spike took a swig of bourbon from his flask.
"I know you a hell of a lot better than I wish I did"
"Pity, 'cos really I'm a very nice guy"
"Spike, would you stop being such a jerk for ten minutes? I need to talk to you, calmly"
"Calmly? Can we do that?"
"We did last night"
"Right before I saved your worthless life and you threw it back in my face"
"Look, I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to be so cruel"
"You still haven't said 'thanks' yet"
"Thank you for saving my life Spike"
"Wow, this must be some talk you want to have with me"
Buffy approached him cautiously, fiddling with her nails. "Spike, can we please stop this? I don't want to fight anymore"
Spike laughed. "You threw me through a window yesterday, I tried to strangle you, two years ago you tried to push me off a cliff and not so long ago you set me on fire. Do you actually believe we can possibly just put all that behind us and be friends?"
"Well, not friends, but…former-enemies, please Spike, I really don't want to fight anymore"
"And I know why. It's 'cos ya mum is going to kick you out if you do, kick you out on the street like a big dumb dog"
"How do you know about…"
"She told my parents who are gonna try it with me, but guess what, sweetheart? I don't care, just as long as I get to stick your face in the dirt I don't give a rat's arse what happens to me. You know, I should have left you with that guy last night, then maybe I wouldn't be facing the problem of staring at your face today"
Spike went to leave but Buffy stopped him. "Spike please, I'm really, really sorry about last night, please, I want this to end"
He watched a tear roll down her cheek. He saw the fear in her eyes. He wiped the tear away and leaned in closely. "Sorry princess, but words are useless to me. Nothing you say will change what you did or make it hurt any less. So sorry pet-" he moved even closer so that his breath tickled her skin, he grinned widely and whispered seductively in her ear, "-but your fears of living on the streets are the only thing you can bet your money on anymore. Well, that and I'll be there to see the whole beautiful picture; have myself a real good day"
He laughed lowly and moved just a little closer even though there was hardly any space between them. He placed his lips on her ear and breathed out. "I wanna see you cry, sweetheart"
Buffy felt sick. She watched him turn his back on her and stride into the school. "Spike! Please! I'm only asking for this one thing!" She yelled.
Spike didn't stop walking, he just laughed.
"Spike, please, please…please Spike…" she begged him even though he couldn't hear her anymore.
- 1st Period – History Class
Trying her very best to ignore all the glares and pencils he was sending her way, Buffy felt like she was about to explode. Spike watched her from the back, far left corner of the classroom. He had his pencil case spilled onto his desk and he was sorting through all the stuff he didn't want and was going about disposing it all by throwing it at Buffy's head; hitting the bullseye every time. He was sitting sideways on his seat and he chuckled every time she swore.
The teacher was talking about God-knows-what, but regardless of how boring it was, Buffy was trying as hard as she could to keep up; but the bruise on her head was proving to be a problem. She turned around in her seat and pleaded quietly with Spike to leave her alone, but he showed no sign that he had heard her; continuing to look through her like she wasn't even there. Buffy's hand shot up when the teacher asked the class a question and she quickly realised that Spike had done the same thing; this was not going to end well.
The teacher looked terrified at both of them; they were the only ones with their hands up. She chose Spike first; Buffy looked to be in a much better mood which she had to admit was puzzling. She had of course noticed the flying objects directed at the poor girl throughout the class.
"Well, this guy sounds like he was blinded by jealousy but it was over his wife. He was having an affair with a much prettier woman which he said he loved. So why would he kill the guy over a simple peck on the lady's hand?" Spike questioned.
Buffy was very surprised. 'Wait, he was actually listening?'
"Ok, that's a very good point. He was sleeping with another woman which, especially in those days, put everything he had worked for at risk." She pointed to Buffy.
"But he could have loved both of them, even though he was having an affair he might still have been in love with his wife. He killed the man not just to stop the problem before it began but also to punish his wife for daring to betray him"
The teacher was quite impressed with the level of attention they were paying. But when a scowl and a raised hand was presented in Spike's corner, she felt the fear return.
"He didn't love his wife, if he did then he wouldn't have cheated on her. Not to mention he left her and ran off with his lover with all their money, leaving her with nothing. Do you call that love?"
"Maybe he was just angry about being betrayed, no matter by whom. He only cared about the fact that she had dared to insult him in such a way in society than the idea of her with another man." Buffy argued.
"Well than how come he told her he loved her before he left, why would he have bothered if it wasn't true? He left her with no many and five children, that seems like a pretty shit thing to do to someone he loved"
Buffy giggled.
"What?"
"Did you realise that you just argued against your own comment and in the same paragraph?" She laughed again.
Spike hadn't realised his mistake and hated Buffy for embarrassing him.
The teacher took this moment to carry on with the lesson, pretending nothing had happened, hoping that Spike would do the same thing as it was clearly Buffy who had won this round; but he wasn't finished. Spike looked along the back row, there was only one other person sitting at the back. It was the shy brunette who had tripped in the corridor yesterday; she must be a new girl.
"Psst! Brunette chick?" He whispered, but she didn't respond. "New girl? Hey!" He waited until she looked over at him before telling her to get out of her seat. She must have recognised him from the corridor because she wasted no time in scooping up her things and running to the back of the class room. A little attention was caught at her sudden and curious actions. Suddenly, Spike shot his leg out like a bullet and kicked the desk beside his violently. It crashed into the next desk and pushed it into the next one, sending the rest of the row crashing into the wall. Screams echoed among the students, most of them had jumped out of their seats and were watching from the front of the class where they were hiding behind the teacher.
Buffy was breathing heavily from the shock and eyed Spike fearfully. Their eyes locked and he snickered, and then crossed his arms and cocked an eye brow. He was waiting for her to make her move. No one spoke for a long time, they were all waiting to see what she would do. For the first time in years she had control over what happened next; what happened to her future. Everyone, including Spike, were stunned and amazed when Buffy turned around, sat back down in her chair and looked patiently at the teacher. Spike really didn't think she had that kind of self control.
When Willow was sure that it was safe, she ran to the back wall and over to the shaking girl who was huddled in the corner; holding her books to her chest.
"Are you ok? You're not hurt are you?"
"No, I'm ok, I'm fine; just a little shaken up. There were four desks and four chairs and if each has four legs and a top then that's 8x4 which is 32+5 and that's 37. If I hadn't listened to the boy when he told me to move, there would have been 37 pieces of wood crushing me against the wall. It's ok to be shaken up over that, right?"
Willow was lost for words, this girl was more of a nerd than she was and she loved her already. "Um, yeah, it's fine. You'll be fine, just try and stay clear of that guy, ok?"
"Oh, ok"
She had a Mexican accent and she was very beautiful even with her glasses on. Willow wondered how she could have possibly missed this girl, why had she been sitting at the back of the class anyway?
Buffy tried to keep her cool, she was surprised herself at how easily she had rejected his challenge. She knew it was only the beginning but it was enough to give her new confidence in herself. She could do this, she could quit; it was hard and with Spike on the other side it was going to get a lot harder, but she could make it through the rest of the term. It was only eight days away, that was only just over a week, one single week.
- Throughout the Day
Once Spike had realised how difficult his mission was going to be, he started using everything he could come up with:
Sand in her hair, dirt in her lunch, insects squashed in her school books on multiple pages, texta and paint on her clothes and even a bucket of water on her head…and she didn't snap once!
- After School – The Summers' House
That day when Buffy got home from school her mother was waiting for her at the back door. Buffy was scared at first, she looked like a paint bomb had been dropped on her.
"My goodness Elizabeth, what in the world did you possibly do to look like this? Why are you grinning?"
"I didn't do anything Mum, this is everything Spike did to me when he realised I wasn't going to fight back, but Mum, I didn't do anything. I didn't hit him once or attack him or throw anything. I sat in my chair and ignored him for the whole damn day"
Joyce was thrilled and, regardless of the fact that her daughter was dripping wet, gave her a big hug; the first in a very long time.
"Thank you Buffy, thank you so much!"
Buffy was close to tears. Their hug ended after Joyce remembered that her daughter was soaking wet. "Thanks Mum, but please don't praise me yet, can we wait until after I stop looking so ridiculous?"
Joyce chuckled, making Buffy glow with pride.
She walked inside and was very careful of how she went.
- 7 Days Later (1 Day 'Till Graduation) – Caritas
It was only hours until graduation day and he had failed to make Buffy attack him even once, her mind was completely set on not getting in trouble at all and it was beginning to tick him off. Sitting at the bar with a drink in hand, Spike thought over the past week. He had done everything he could possibly think of but nothing had worked. Unfortunately, all his attempts to get Buffy in trouble had only resulted in getting him into worse trouble. His parents were going through with their threat. After graduation day he was on his own, or so they thought. He had made sure he had all their account details, so he could take that money whenever he needed it; he wasn't going to let them get away with that.
The money that his parents had taken out of his trust fund had been funnelled into the family account which was used on food and bills. Spike had the pin and security number; he could live out of that account. But it didn't stop the fact that his parents were kicking him out, it could really bring you down.
Buffy was thrilled, in a few hours she would no longer be a student at Sunnydale High and, as promised, she would never again have to cross paths with Spike. Things were really looking up, especially with her acceptance letter from UC Sunnydale, the local university. She wiped the counter down one last time before preparing to head home. Just as she was about to enter the back room, she spotted Spike sitting at the end of the bar, twirling a half-full glass in his hands.
Almost skipping over to the bleach-blonde, Buffy leaned against the counter and smiled. "Rough day?" She asked cheerfully.
"Sod off Buffy, just leave me alone"
"Leave you alone, huh? That's what I've been telling you to do all week"
"Look, you win ok? I'm getting kicked out on my ass and you're not. So go be chipper somewhere else"
"You know you really can't blame me, you are the one who has been trying everything to piss me off for the last week. It's all on you…I also have to say that you've been trying a little too hard, those last few pranks were kind of lame"
"God, just let it go, please. Tomorrow we graduate and go our completely separate paths"
"Awe, promise?"
"It'll be the only promise I'll ever keep to you"
Spike didn't even smirk or grin, nothing to indicate that he had one more thing up his sleeve and there was no way she could possibly just walk away from it. Buffy watched Spike stand up and walk away, not looking back at all; not once. Now, in high school boys were always hard to figure out, you never really could tell if the reason a boy was always throwing pencils at your head was because he liked you and wanted your attention or because he was simply a mean kid and you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But Spike, he was unpredictable, cruel, unforgiving most of the time and got shitty when she didn't respond to his games. For a moment last Wednesday, when he had made her laugh she thought that maybe he did like her a little, but after tonight she was stumped. It was clear he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. Sighing loudly, Buffy turned around and walked happily into the back room, missing the look one of the guys in the bar had given her.
Next up, graduation, let's see what Spike has got planned.
