For Disclaimer and previous Reader's notes see chapter's 1 and 4.
Reader's note: I forgot the school got blown up so please read as if that didn't happen. Feedback: suicidal_snowman@hotmail.com.
Chapter 5: Breakfast and Sacred Duty
It was the morning after the night before and Amelia skipped downstairs in her usual chipper manner, her mother was waiting in the kitchen drinking a glass of juice.
"Morning mom," she said as she fixed the smile to her face and her bum on one of the seats at the breakfast bar, "did you do waffles?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes," she turned and picked up a plate of freshly cooked waffles from the sideboard and placed them in front of Amelia, "just how you like them, extra syrup."
Amelia dug straight in and was halfway through the first waffle when her mother coughed, "Thanks mom," she mumbled while she wolfed down the rest of the waffle, the second one followed and then as if by magic the plate was empty.
"You know," her mother said, "sometimes watching you eat makes me feel ill."
"Thanks," Amelia said sarcastically, "I've always known how to keep my girlish figure," she smiled widely and got up to get her bag, "eat lots of waffles and walk it off on the way to school," just then the doorbell went and Amelia went to answer it. Tara stood outside in the pouring rain soaking wet, Marcus was running up the driveway, soaked to the skin and he joined her on the porch dripping with rain.
"Hi," Tara mumbled pathetically, "we got caught in the rain and I remembered you lived here. Can we get a ride with you?" she asked, even more pathetically.
Amelia's mother walked over to see who was at the door and Amelia introduced them, "Marcus and Tara, meet my mom," they all exchanged greetings and shook hands.
"Can I offer you two a lift?" she asked and Tara and Marcus nodded enthusiastically.
When they arrived at Sunnydale high school there was nobody outside as usual and the few people they did see were running frantically to keep their expensive and fashionable clothes dry.
"Okay honey I'll se you tonight, and if you are going to help out down at the shelter then I'll expect you back late," she closed the door and turned the car engine back on, "nice to meet you two and I hope I'll see you again," she shouted to Marcus and Tara.
"Thanks for the lift, good bye," Marcus shouted back, waving to Amelia's mother.
Before lessons started Amelia had some business to take care of with the watcher and Tara and Marcus had insisted on coming too. She burst in through the double doors as had been done many times before and found the watcher sat at the centre table, almost as if he'd been waiting for her.
"I've been waiting for you," he said, stating the obvious, "If you will excuse us we have things to speak about," he addressed Marcus and Tara and Amelia stood arms folded staring at the Englishman.
"They know," she stated, "they saw me slay last night."
"What?" he stuttered, "How could you let this happen? They didn't say anything about this in the watcher's guide."
"Well it happened, deal with it," she said, offering no respect to her watcher.
"You need to face up to who you are," he stood and walked up to her, "you are the slayer, your destiny is to fight the vampires. One girl in all the world and that," she stood there silently, arms folded.
"Excuse me," Tara spoke quietly as if not wanting to interrupt, "but you said one girl and I distinctly saw Connor doing something superhuman."
"That is interesting," Tara had made the watcher lose all train of thought, "I must speak to this Connor soon, find out some more." he broke out of his reverie when he noticed Amelia still stood there, arms folded, "But there are more important matters at hand."
"And if you'd shut up for a minute I would've told you what I'd decided," Amelia sharply interjected.
"You have my undivided attention," Giles said.
"And mine," Marcus interrupted, he was feeling a little left out of the conversation.
"I have decided to accept my curse," the watcher's brow furrowed as if he did not understand, "you know," she mimed staking a vampire, "pokey pokey, scream, cloud of dust," she spoke along with her movements.
"Ah, yes," Giles smiled nervously, "well that is good news, all I have to do now is give you the manual and your orders for tonight."
"Orders?" she asked confusedly.
"Yes," he went behind the librarian's desk and searched through a pile of books to find the small leather-bound handbook he searched for, "I want you to go out and have fun with your friends, try and get Connor to go with you and see what you can learn," he walked up to her and handed her the slayer's handbook, "and then I'd like you to do a quick patrol of the cemetery," he stopped and added, "please."
"Thanks, I thought you'd wouldn't give me an easy night to start," Amelia said sarcastically.
"Well I guess you are just lucky to have a watcher who understands the pressures of being a teenager, and you can come here after school and do your homework before you go," he stopped and tried to think, "Wherever it is you teenagers go nowadays."
Then the bell rang and they all trooped off to class, and Amelia felt two conflicting emotions. Annoyance at having just given in to her infuriating English watcher, and happiness at having two friends who completely accepted her for who she was.
