Alex- noon next day, right before lunch.
"So all of you had the stomach flu?" he whispered, and I looked over to him, I nodded yes. I'm also wondering why this jock is sitting here talking to me. He normally sits with Dawn at lunch and Dawn's little clique is some of the more popular kids in school. We slayers just like to stay out of the spotlight. I guess Dawn has to make up for her insecurities in some way. "Man it was so weird not seeing you guys at your table. That and Stacey was all happy go lucky, cheerleader style, instead of the dragon bitch from hell's gates itself," he voiced, and at that point, I had to stifle a laugh. "Is she really that bad?" I questioned; becoming involved with the conversation. "Let's just say Adolf Hitler gets nothing on her," he joked as he sat back. I laughed and the teach looked up at me.
Vi turned in her seat giving me a glare as to pay attention. When she sees who I'm talking to, she gets this sweet little smile. I look over at the kid to see he's smiling back. "My name is Tyler, most people just say Ty. I'm new here too," he revealed, holding his hand out. I closed his hands making it into a fist then pounded it. "I don't do shakes," I stated, and he smiled again. "Alex." THE VAMPIRE SLAYER…because that would sound so much cooler in an introduction. I'm a dork, I know this. Tyler nods, and we go back to paying attention to the last bit of class.
The bell rings, and I look up to see Vi walk out of ahead of most of the students. I'm not worried about it. I just hope ogly eyes Tyler next to me doesn't want to follow me to my locker. "See ya around," I say as I walk out of the classroom. Looking back, he runs and catches up with me. "Hey, wait a sec," he said as he jogged the few desk down the isle. What did I say; called it. Tyler hands me a piece of paper, and I want to open it up and look at it. "You mind giving it to the cute redhead that looked at us earlier. I saw her at your table, figured you two were like friends," he explained, and I nodded. What, is he like in the fifth grade? I bet he'll break out a fortune teller thing and ask for a color. "Sure," I agree as I give him a fake smile that most people take as being sincere. As I walk out of the class room and into the busy hall, I look around for another slayer in passing. To my luck, not even a newb walks by.
I walk to my locker with the same reaction I get even if I was with another slayer. I guess we've taken the title "High School Bad Asses". Ehh…, they outta be scared. They don't know what goes bump in the night. I look up to see Chloe standing against my locker. All I have with me is a notebook, so I toss it into her locker as I walk right up to her; pinning her against the locker behind her. "Get a closet already!" Rona suggests, and I look up to see that Kennedy hasn't joined us yet. "It's probably already taken," I reply; pounding a fist on the locker next to mine. A I use my hips to hold Chloe in place as she wraps her arms over my upper shoulder, Rona bites her tongue in irritation. "You think they do that shit enough at home. Not all of us are in a relationship," Rona states. I know she's exaggerating, but it's kinda funny to me sometimes. She gets so frustrated over nothing but a kiss.
I reach into my back pocket and pull out Tyler's note. As I pull my lips from Chloe's, I look over to see Vi closing her locker. I hold it out in her direction. I would have read it, but I felt it was something that may be important. "What's this?" Vi asks as she takes it from me. "Read it, it's from that jock, Tyler," I explain, and she opens it up half excited. Chloe puts her hands on my chest; pushing me off her a little. I guess this is girl talk worthy. The bell for lunch rings and we all head to the cafeteria.
As I open the door to walk out, I look up to see Kennedy walk out of a random door down the hall. The first thing she does is put up her hair; which looked a little more mangled then it should have. Seconds later, Mrs. Rosenberg follows and walks in the opposite direction. Good thing the hall is mostly cleared up. I walk right to the table because I'm still full from the breakfast Giles made everyone. Giles said we need to get our nutrition up because we've been asleep so much. I didn't notice. I mean I feel rested, but I know something had to have gone on the past couple of days. Nobody just forgets like we did. I mean all of us. The other girls remember more than I do, which kinda sucks. But I've been able to play dumb, so I guess that works out in my favor a little.
I sit down at the table first and look up to see no one other the new boy, Tyler, walk up to me. Ok, so if this guy turns into one of those lost puppies that follow me around till I get the word from Vi that she likes him, he's got another thing coming. Tyler sits down on the bench as I sit on the table above it. I'm so trying not to roll my eyes right now, it's not even funny. "So did you give it to her?" he asks and is now looking a little hopeful. I nod yes. "Well…" Man, he's persistent. I don't know any more then he knows. "Look, I'm not the girl you want to talk to," I declared as if I was in some mafia and he was trying to get hooked up. Which he is, but anyways. I point to Chloe, who's walking up with Vi and Eve. Rona trails them along with Kennedy. They all have food except for Kennedy, who just has an apple. Can anyone say the word corny?
"Yeah, but she's with all them," he says, and the admission on his face is that of defeat. I guess he's a little intimidated, especially since Vi is surrounded by all those slayers. I would be too. "I'll get her to go get me something from the cart, so you can make a move," I offered, and he looked up at me. "You're awesome," he announced as he stood and walked away; his back still turned to them, so I don't think Vi saw his face.
"Totally think you should," Chloe advised as she sat down next to me, "Not hungry, baby?" The rest of the girls sit as she looks up at me. "Ehh…Well, I am now. That apple looks pretty good. Vi, mind getting me one?" I stated, and Chloe stood in her place. I wrap my hands on her waist and pull her between my legs as best as possible. "Let me work some magic," I whisper too fast in the hope that nobody other than the two of us heard. Looking at Vi, I gave her a happy puppy face that normally works on Chloe. I wonder if it's universal for most girls. "Ok," Vi consented as she hesitantly stood. When she was enough distance away, I looked over my shoulder, and Tyler was already making his move.
"You sly, little devil," Eve chuckled, and I shrugged my shoulders as if I didn't know what she was talking about. "What? The kid is so crushing on her. I had to throw him a bone," I claimed as I hugged Chloe closer to me for a second. I heard footsteps walking up behind me. "Ehh, hem ladies." The voice is familiar. I turn to see Buffy standing there. She stayed at home since she was sick earlier this morning. So why is she behind me? I don't know. "What's up, B?" Ken asks as she looks up. I let go of Chloe. "Keep the PDA on school grounds to a minimum, and get off the table," she barks out her order. It sounded like something you would hear more from your mom. I guess she's taken on a bit of a mom role handling so many teenage girls.
I slide off sitting on the bench. Buffy nods and looks around at the rest of the girls. Now that she's turned in the light, I see the black eye. She's got it covered pretty well, but you can see it better from the side. "Have you seen Dawn?" Buffy questions. We all look up at her, then look in the direction of the table that she sits at. Ken does too, but her glare lingers. If she could, she would ask Stacey to a dual. Just to see who would win for territory over the school. I would make sure it happened old western style; starring assless chaps with revolvers.
"She's over there," Ken directed by pointing in Dawn's general direction while not even looking. "Thanks, girls." And just like that, our fearless leader is gone. Well, I don't think I could exactly say fearless because what's a leader without fear. If she wasn't afraid of anything, she was be some kind of wild Rambo, right? We'd be fighting everything that came into town. As of right now, we're only up against what causes trouble.
"What'd Buffy want?" Vi asks as she sits down. Oops, I forgot about her. "Nothing, looking for Dawn," Rona assured, and I looked up at Vi, trying not to smile. "So did you get his number?" I teased. I couldn't help myself, ok. Seize the opportunity type shit. "Yeah…and thanks," She responded as everyone at the table sort of shook their heads. "Details," Eve pleaded softly as she leaned in like she was getting the most interesting princess saves the prince bedtime story ever. "Um…, he's really cute, plays football, and he needs help with his Latin class," Vi informs before smiling all sweet and dreamy. Why is it that slayers still do the whole dreamy eyes after someone? I couldn't date a normal human. I'd be too scared I was going to hurt them with my post slayer hornies in full effect.
When lunch ends, we all walk into the library. Willow walks in behind us; followed by Faith. I think for the first time in a week she slept at her own place. I hope her and B didn't get into a fight or something because that's always annoying. Last time it was because Faith thought the newbs should have their own study hour. I think so too. It's just clashing when we want to all out spar. But we're scared were going to hurt them, so we hold back.
I sit down in back and look up when I see Ken pull a chair out but not sit down next to me. I watch as Ken give red the apple. I place my hand over my mouth and cough, "Corny!" Then I coughed again. As Faith walks by, she taps the back of my head. Willow sends a glare over to me. I couldn't help myself, ok. "Oh, your sparing me today, young lady. I'm going to teach you how to respect your elders," Willow demands, and she looks serious. Ok, so I didn't know she fought. Normally, it's just lightning bolts and people flying into walls when they get too close. I so got this, getting electrocuted couldn't hurt that much.
We all go and change, getting the drift that we were only really warming up. "Let's go, slayer, let's see what you got," Willow taunts as I walk towards her on the mat. Ken looks at me, shakes her head, and I get the 'you're in for it.' look. I look back at Buffy, and she motions for me to keep walking. I do, and Willow swings. "Don't underestimate, Red. You'll lose fa sure," Faith warned, and I look back at the remark, catching one to the cheek. Damn.
Willow hits harder then Ken. What the hell? "She's cheating," I insist as I back up a couple of steps. "Do you think a warlock is going to play fair?" Giles questions, and I shake my head no. They didn't the first time. "Oh, come on, your not scared of little, ole Willow, are you?" Willow taunts again, and I bounce a couple of time before walking up to her. "Ok, lady, whatever you say," I answer in a little kid voice or tired too.
The fight goes on for about five minutes. I manage to dodge a few light balls but one hits me, and I'm down. It hurt like a mother fucker. She used those to get me off of her and to get me to back away. Good tactic because now I'm lying on my back; starring up at the ceiling. Willow runs over to me and holds out her hand. "That was good; I'm packing ten times more weight then these guys. And I was going easy at first," Willow explained. I was a little out of breath and looked to see that she hasn't even broken a sweat. ? Next," Willow requests, and I limp off the mat.
Everyone else gives Willow a try, even Buffy. "Ok, so this is what we're up against tomorrow. Willow got their fighting patterns down from the last time we fought them. Tomorrow, we're going in to their coven and taking them out," Buffy instructed, and we all nodded out heads. Awesome, a real fight.
Kennedy- after school at home
"Buffy, I just don't think it's a good idea to go on a school night?" Willow said, and I looked up into the kitchen. If they didn't want the mini slayers to hear, they probably should have argued about this at school behind closed doors. "Willow, I fought on school nights and made it out just fine all by myself," Buffy stated firmly; not budging on her position. I looked over at Faith, then Alex. Faith rolled her eyes, not really wanting to intervene but knew she had too. Hmm, I wonder whose side she'll take.
"It's not like they're going without protection this time. I doubt the warlocks will be able to get the jump on em'." Faith confirmed as she reached the island. "Right, but people are going to ask questions when they come into class all bruised up." Willow stood on her convictions, which is understandable. "Buffy, you weren't in the teachers' lounge today. People are starting to ask questions," Willow admitted, and all the mini slayers turned to watch and see what Buffy would say or do. Faith sat down. "What did they say?" Buffy mumbled. She talked quieter then I would have liked because I barely heard her. I looked up but didn't hear anything. There was this intense stare going on between the three of them as if they were talking but nothing came out of their mouths.
"Creepy," Alex muttered. She had spoken for all of us at that moment before going back to watching the TV. "I stand corrected, but I want to check it out at least. I want to know what they are planning. They summoned something I could barely fight. I don't want this to bite us in the ass later," Buffy described and walked out of the kitchen towards the back door. "B," Faith groaned and ran after her. Willow came back into the living room and sat down next to me. I could tell she needed to be held, but she looked a little frustrated. Willow tends to be quieter when she's mad till she blows up in your face. I scooted closer.
"The apple thing today was cute," Willow whispered in the attempt to divert my attention from the previous conversation. "Not my idea, but I'm glad you like it," I told her, and she looked at me and then around the room. I know she knows it wasn't Alex's idea because of her corny joke. I would tell her, but I'm sure she'll get shit for it later. "Oh really?" she said, and I looked up at her; giving her the all time pout of my life. "Thanks, girls," Willow states while looking around the room. Vi finally looks up from her phone and smiles. "No prob," she indicates and smiles. Willow doesn't say anything, she just nods and wraps her arms around my shoulders; pulling me into her. She kissed the top of my head, and we continued watching the TV show. It's some boring, family sitcom, so I'm not interested.
Snuggling into Willow, I take full advantage of her being angry to work for me. "Let's go to bed," I suggest and Willow stands. I follow, taking her hand and walking down the hall. Chloe takes my place on the couch lying on Alex's lap. Willow and I go to our room.
"So please tell me you've got the scoop on those two outside," I murmured as I close the door behind us. Willow turns, giving me this little smirk. "I don't think it's gone any further then what it is now," Willow affirms. Are you kidding me? Why the hell is Buffy so clingy then? This morning, I went downstairs to find the kitchen empty. Buffy is always up before everyone else, making sure we got everything together before we go to school. She's always the first one up and the last one to leave the house. We both lay on the bed fully clothed. "Uh huh…," I grumble and give Willow the you know something I don't know now spiel.
"I honestly don't know where this is going. Buffy is not going to put any more stress on Faith's shoulders then she already has," Willow revealed, and I know she knows Buffy better than I do. From what I know, Buffy runs on impulse decisions. Buffy likes Faith. Its written all over her face. You can tell by the way she acts. It's all the little things I see. I know, I did it to Willow. "Well can't you like read her mind or something?" I ask, and she laughs. "Nope…invasion of privacy," she relented, and I roll my eyes. "Look, last time I talked to Buffy about Faith, she was all up in the air about her feelings for her. She still doesn't understand it herself. She'll get it, some people it just takes time," Willow babbled. With Willow, it took turning into Warren for her to let go of her past. Faith is a whole other story with her own set of problems. Buffy can handle it. If she can run a house full of teenage slayers, she can handle Faith's problems. She has so far from what I've seen, even if it was a few days late before I caught on.
There's a light knock on the door downstairs, and I sit up. "Aw, let someone else get it," Willow complains. I listen for an 'I got it.', but nothing comes up. "They're not paying attention to it," I groan and roll off the bed, "I'll be right back." As I make it down the steps, someone was already coming in the door's general direction. "I got it." I call out as I passed Vi. She turned around and walked back in the direction of the living room. It isn't late, so visitors aren't totally out of the question. It's probably just Lucas coming for Dawn.
I open the door as someone goes to knock again. Not recognizing the man standing there, I took a step back; doorknob still in hand. "We don't want to buy anything," I responded, and he just looked at me. He's tall, black suit on, buff too. The kind of man I remember seeing around a lot when I was younger. Naw, it can't be.
"Mrs. Davenport?" he asks. His voice is a little rough, but I recognize him. I nod slowly, not wanting to answer. "You need to come with me," he ordered and reached for my arm; grabbing it. "Like hell I will," I snarled and ripped my arms out of his grasp. I heard footsteps come up behind me. "Your presence has been requested. I'm doing this the nice way, honestly. I don't want to have to come back here with reinforcements," he ranted and looked behind me. I took a glance over my shoulder to see Buffy standing there. This isn't exactly something I think I want to go through right now. "Well, she's staying here," Buffy confirmed and closed the door before I can say anything else. I turn to face her.
There's this stern, worried look on her face, and I'm not sure how to take it. I go to walk past her, but she plants a hand on the door to stop me. "Mind telling me what that's about?" Buffy questioned. I look up to see if Willow came out of the room. Vi is standing in the hall. "Yeah, but not here," I confessed as I walked under her arm and towards the kitchen. Walking through the kitchen and to the back door, I smell cloves. I could really go for one of those right now.
As I plant my feet on the back porch, Faith looks up and blows a puff of smoke into the air. "I thought I…" "I know, B, I haven't had one in weeks," Faith claimed. She looked a little sad. She must've just lit it because it was barely smoked. "I'll take it off her hands," I exclaimed as I took the clove. Faith rolled her eye but didn't argue. "Right…, so you've got some explaining to do," Buffy recalls as she places a hand on her hip. I know she's not angry. Otherwise, she probably would have half yelled that or something. "What's going on, Ken?" Faith asks after my silence went on a little too long.
I take a deep breath. "I didn't think they would come looking for me,"" I said as I looked up at them. Faith stood and took a step to my left giving me nowhere to run if I wanted to. Buffy would probably catch me either way. "What, was that a drug dealer…Do you owe someone some money?" Buffy questioned sternly as I nodded my head no. "No…I just…It's hard to explain. I can't go back. I can't go back to that life," I insist, still not wanting to say what I was thinking. If they're here, if they're looking for me, they'll come for me no matter what. They don't care who gets in their way.
"We're not saying that you have to. If you're in trouble, let us help you," Faith offers and that's the nicest thing she'd ever said to me, I think. But she can't help me anymore then Buffy can. "You don't have to go anywhere with these people. I'll make sure of it. I don't care what you did, or what kind of life you led before here. I won't…We won't let anything happen to you," Buffy announced and looked at Faith for reassurance. "I need a drink," I declare, looking up at the both of them. "It's a school night," Buffy asserted, and I turn around anyways and walk inside.
I can't believe this shit. This isn't at all what I want. I can't go back there, I won't.
A few hours passed, and everyone went to bed except for Faith, Buffy, and my Willow. I couldn't sleep. I tried, but I just couldn't sleep. When the doorbell rang, I sat up; off Willow's lap. Her fingers lingered in my hair. Buffy held a hand out as she stood from the single seater. There was this eerie quiet, but I couldn't help but follow. She opened the door, and took a step back immediately. "Angel," Buffy gasped. I swallowed hard, wondering why he would be here. Words were said, but I didn't hear what. Angel looked up at me, then back to Buffy. Buffy looked down the hallway at me; confused and little upset. Faith walked up next to me and placed her arm over my shoulder for support. Then the two people I hadn't see in over eight months walked by Angel and Buffy and into the foyer. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad."