[ ] denotes thoughts
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Part One
Sunnydale High hallway
"I can't believe he's making me do this," Faith groaned shutting her locker.
Willow and Oz were gathered near her locker to help give her support from Principal Snyder's latest annoyance. He had chosen Faith to set-up the upcoming Parent/Teacher night. She either had to do it or risk getting expelled since her grades and absences weren't making a stellar impression with him. With the Slaying, Faith didn't have as much time as everyone else did to get schoolwork done, not that she was all that into it to begin with.
"Come on, Faith. You know we'll help you out on this, right Oz?" Willow encouraged her.
"Yep," came the typical short answer.
Faith grabbed her notebook from the floor and turned to lead the group towards the library. "I know. I suppose it can't be all that bad. I mean, if I can organize an assault on a nest of Kulakan demons, then this should be no sweat."
"See, and it's not like the parents will be spitting caustic slime over everyone else," Willow said.
"Can't say the same for the teachers though," Faith replied with a smirk. "I swear Mrs. Blume from Algebra has to be some sort of demon with her temper."
Willow frowned. "I don't know about that. She seems really nice to me."
"You're the teacher's pet. Of course she likes you," Faith replied earning a look from Willow.
"Am not. I just do what she asks and turn in my homework on time. She'd like you too if you did that," the red head remarked.
"Like that'll happen anytime soon. I hate Algebra," Faith groaned out as they entered the library.
Inside they found the place seemingly empty, with no sign of anyone. This in itself wasn't strange since the Scoobies were the only ones who used the place. However the lack of the librarian was somewhat strange, until they heard the quiet muttering from the office. Giles was evidently on the phone with someone.
The group settled around the central table to discuss how to set up the upcoming conference night with Willow outlining how it had been set up on previous years. They had just settled on where to put the refreshments when the library doors were tossed open, and Xander came in.
"Hello everyone. What's up? Did you hear the news?" he blurted out before settling at the head of the table.
"You mean that I got picked to organize Parent/Teacher night? Yeah, the little troll filled me in a little while ago," the Slayer groaned out.
Xander paused for a moment looking surprised at her before continuing. "How'd you get that job?"
"He hates me, so I'm automatically volunteered."
"Oh, sorry, if you need help just ask. Always willing to help out my favorite sparring partner."
Faith gave him a look. "I'm your only sparring partner."
"All the more reason to stay on your good side. Helps keep the broken limbs to a minimum," he grinned lopsidedly.
"Whatever," Faith waved the comment off. "We were just deciding on what sort of refreshments to have."
"What was your news?" Oz's question startled the others back to the thing that brought Xander there in the first place.
Xander looked confused for a moment. "News? Oh yeah, we have a new student coming this afternoon."
The others waited for a moment before Faith broke the silence. "That's it? You don't know anything else?"
"Um, no?"
The rest of the gang rolled their eyes and turned back to their planning.
"Oh, come on," Xander complained. "This is the first time I wasn't the last to know about something happening in this school. Remember last year? I didn't even hear about the Talent show until Snyder tossed us into it."
"Yeah, I remember that," Willow spoke up. "Oz played his guitar, Faith juggled, while we got stuck doing the performance piece."
"What do you mean we? If my memory serves me right, you left me high and dry midway through your part," Xander replied with a look at Willow.
Willow sheepishly glanced down. "Yeah.. um.. about the refreshments for Thursday night."
"Smooth, Red," Faith smirked.
***
Meanwhile, in Giles' office
"Are you sure? I wasn't aware that it was occurring so soon."
pause
"I have not been shirking my duties. There are many..."
quiet mumbling
"No, I will verify the date with my books."
silence
"Of course, she will be prepared. I will inform her once I have confirmed your findings."
short muttered reply
"Yes, thank you for your phone call," Giles spoke before hanging up the phone.
"Arrogant twit," he muttered under his breath as he picked up a watcher's diary to look up the information that they would need soon.
I can only hope that we can survive what is coming,> Giles thought to himself and then focused on his reading.
***
A few hours later, in the cafeteria
Faith explained to the others at the table, "I still say we should just have a massive free-for-all in the gym. Only one place to fix up and clean up."
"But it will be too cluttered there with all the teachers, parents, and students. They need room to move around," Willow brought up.
"Like cattle. They need large prairies to roam," Oz pointed out.
"Hey!" Xander remarked. "That was my line. Get your own one liners."
"Sorry," the junior replied not looking the least bit repentant.
"Good. Now back to the point: It would be easier if we just had every teacher in their own classroom and have the parents go to them. That way the parents get a chance to see where their kid really goes to school. Less mess to clean up afterwards too since we won't have to set up tables for all the teachers. They just use their own desks. All we'll need to do is set up a few chairs outside each room for parents to wait at if they want, a few posters listing where each class and teacher is, and a few sheets posted outside the classes showing who the teacher was and the classes taught there. Everyone will be happy and less work for us to boot," Xander finished grinning.
"Not bad," Faith conceded. "Not bad at all. That saves me a lot of work and still leaves time for my other 'activities'."
Oz merely nodded his approval of the plan while Willow vocally approved. "See the Scoobies triumph again. Good plan Xander."
Xander got up and proceeded to give a stage bow. "Thank you. Thank you."
Faith interupted his antics by getting up to go. "Now that that is covered I have a meeting with Giles. He mentioned something earlier about needing to talk to me. Later."
A chorus of "bye"s followed her as she left for the library. Willow went right back to talking to Oz while Xander watched her go. He was startled out of his observation by a touch on his shoulder.
"Xander," a surprised voice came from behind him.
Turning he spotted a face he never thought he would see again.
"Cordy?"
**********
End Part 1
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