Interchange
By Lily Livered
Author's Note: Thanks to the peoples who reviewed the prologue, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as much :-) Also, I'm not 100% sure on India's nationality, so I'm going to be vague. I think her mother is from somewhere in Asia, tho.
Chapter One:
Three Years Later
Buffy Summers groaned as her alarm clock woke her. Beeep.... Walk like an Egyptian....
"Arg... Evil song. Must stop the evil song..." She muttered to herself as she smacked her hand down onto the spot where the snooze button should be. She missed, and had to hit it a couple more times before the radio went quiet.
Buffy opened her eyes and stared at her ceiling. Her brain was beginning to wake up, and with it came the realisation that staying out for most of the night had probably been a mistake. And it wasn't like her hanging out at the mansion, being all broody, was going to bring Angel back to her.
"Buffy, breakfast!" She heard her mother call out from downstairs.
That's weird... Buffy frowned and sat up on her bed. Mom doesn't usually make breakfast for me. She barely has time to inhale her coffee before she has to get to the gallery.
Deciding that Joyce was probably guilty about the fact that Buffy had been eating pop tarts for breakfast every day, and was making up for it, Buffy got up and opened her closet. She was training with Giles this morning, so she would probably wear something comfy for that, and then get changed afterwards.
"Huh." Buffy frowned. Her clothes were... not her clothes. Sure, there were shirts and skirts and jackets, but none of them were hers. In fact, they looked like the outfits that she had given to goodwill shortly after their move to Sunnydale. And there were no 'comfy' clothes to be found.
"I guess..." Buffy rubbed her eyes and looked again, but the clothes were still there. "I have some sweats in my locker..." She reached out and grabbed an outfit. Besides, when your guilty mother had a hot breakfast waiting downstairs, who could worry about clothes?
Rubbing her stomach contentedly, Buffy burped. "Oops. 'Scuse me." She giggled. "So, I have training after school. I'll probably be home late." She told her mother as she got up and grabbed her books.
"Alright sweetie, have a nice day." Joyce smiled as Buffy kissed her goodbye. "Oh, don't forget your pom-poms."
"My..? Riiiight. Sure Mom." Buffy nodded and smiled and then headed out the door. She hated it when her mother tried to be funny.
Buffy knocked lightly on Willow's front door. She had learned the hard way that Mrs. Rosenberg liked to sleep in, and she didn't appreciate being woken up by the sound of a Slayer banging on her door.
Buffy waited for a little while, then knocked again a little louder. It was weird for Willow not to be practically waiting by the door by the time Buffy arrived. Finally, it opened.
"Um, hello?" Willow peeked through the opening. "C-can I help you?"
Confused, Buffy nodded. "You could hurry it up a little. We're gonna be late for school if we don't leave now."
Willow looked confused as well. "We? School? I t-think you have the wrong house." And then she shut the door in Buffy's face.
"Something weird is going on." Buffy frowned. "And it has Hellmouth written all over it."
Buffy climbed the steps at the front of Sunnydale high with a determined look on her face. She strode towards the library and practically growled at anyone who got in her way.
"Buffy!"
It took her a second to put a face to the voice that had interrupted her. She realised that it was because the owner of the voice had never said her name in that 'happy-to-see-you' tone before.
"Harmony?"
"Of course it's me, silly!" Harmony was grinning inanely as she air kissed a stunned Buffy. "Oooh, I just love your outfit." She stepped back so that she could admire the skirt and blouse. "Where on earth did you get it?"
"I can't remember. I just found it in my closet this morning." Buffy edged away from Harmony. "Look, Harmony, it's great to see you but I have to go... do stuff... so I'll see you later, alright?"
"Sure!" Harmony's smile never faded. "I'll save you your usual seat in History, kay?"
Buffy nodded and then hurried away. Definitely something hellmouth-y.
"Giles! Something weird is going on, I--"
Buffy had barged into the Library, only to find Giles all padded up and being beat on by a petite girl with dark hair and Asian features.
"C-can I help you Miss Summers?" Giles asked.
"Miss Summers?" Buffy laughed. "You've never called me that before. Anyway, I needed to talk to you about something hellmouth-y, but first I want to know who she is." She gestured to the girl who was now lurking behind Giles. "Did something happen to Faith?"
"Faith? I'm sorry, but I have no idea what your talking about." Giles frowned and fiddled with his glasses. "Is this part of Miss Whyte's drama assessment?"
"Nooo..." Buffy shook her head. "Are you okay, G-man? Or has the Hellmouth got to you as well?"
"Miss Summers, I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Um, me Slayer, you Watcher. That simple enough for you?" Buffy was getting a little frustrated. "I need to tell you about all this weird stuff--"
"That is not funny, Buffy." The girl finally spoke. "Just because I'm not one of your little clique doesn't mean you can come in here and mock me."
"What the..?" Buffy shook her head. "What kind of drugs are you on? I don't even know who you are!"
"I think you should leave now." Giles started to look Ripper-y. "If you want a book, I suggest you try the Sunnydale public library."
