Part 3
Dawn and her friend Janice walked up the steps outside the Sunnydale high school. They were studying nearly identical pieces of paper. "So you have Math first on Tuesday, then English right after lunch with me today? Cool!" Dawn was relieved to know her best friend was in at least 2 classes with her.
"Have you heard anything about the new teachers?" Janice wanted to know.
"The science teacher is a real dweeb. Kristin saw him setting up the lab. No telling where they found him. I heard the PE teacher is from Sacramento. Nothing yet on the new English teacher."
"I heard he's a dreamboat." The girls turned to find Chelsea West standing behind them. Chelsea flipped her streaked blond hair over her shoulder, then pulled out a mirror to check her lipstick. "I wonder how long this new batch will last?"
Sunnydale went through an inordinate number of teachers each year. Last year had been no exception. "Don't know." Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "Why are you talking to us anyway? Aren't we a little under your league?"
Chelsea snapped her mirror shut and favored Dawn with a pseudo-smile. "Nobody else around. Might as well talk to you."
"Thanks ever so." Janice sneered out before turning to walk away.
"Catch you later." Dawn waved, then hurried to catch up with her friend. "Hey, that was pretty rude."
Janice shook her head. "I've been on the wrong side of her vicious streak too many times to play nice." She was interrupted by the school bell. "Time to go. I'll see you at lunch."
Dawn waved goodbye and walked to her homeroom.
***** Dawn and Janice walked into English class, more interested in the two boys in front of them than in their upcoming class. So far the day had gone pretty smoothly for Dawn, and the girls were sharing stories of whom said what to who, and what were they thinking when they wore that anyway? Everything was normal. Janice sat at a desk by the window, with Dawn taking the seat in front of her. She checked around to see who else was in the class, and to take note of the drama masks mounted on the wall. She returned her attention to Janice to get her opinions.
The student chatter muted considerably as the teacher entered the room and walked to the board. Dawn turned to the front as she heard the squeak from the dry erase marker slide across the glossy white surface as the teacher wrote his name on the board with his left hand. Dawn looked curiously at him. He was slight with sandy blond hair, wearing a pale blue shirt and khaki slacks. She turned to whisper to Janice that he had a cute butt, but froze in place when she heard familiar British tones. "Welcome to Sophomore English."
Dawn's shocked gaze was riveted to him as he turned to face the room. Her ears hadn't deceived her. Spike was standing at the front facing the class. His accent was more clipped and proper than what he normally spoke with. "I'm Mr. Browning." He continued. "I'm your new teacher."
*****
"Buffy, I'm not kidding you!"
Dawn was sitting across from the table from Buffy in the meeting room of the Doublemeat Palace. Buffy shook her head, sure that her sister was trying to pull a fast one. "So help me God, Dawn, if you made this up so that I'd let you get away with cutting classes on the first day of school, I'll drop you in the grinder."
"I'm not making it up. Spike is my new English teacher."
Now there was a phrase Buffy thought she would never hear. She shook her head again, this time to clear her ears. "How could he be Dawn? He's a vampire for pity's sake! And vampires do not teach English."
"I don't know Buffy. All I know is that it was him. He was standing there in my class sounding all British and proper, but he was wearing, like, normal clothes. And I'd swear he has a tan."
"What would Spike know about teaching English?"
"Quite a bit, actually! You should have seen him. He started reading Shakespeare and I thought Missy Matthews was going to have kittens. She actually moaned!"
"Oh my god."
"I tried to get up there and talk to him at the end of class, but he was swarmed. Once the crowd thinned out he was gone. I ran all over the school looking for him but I couldn't find anything. The new principal was no help either. He said that us pesky girls had been in there all day asking him about Mr. Browning and he was tired of it." Dawn folded her arms and sulked.
"Dawn," Buffy leaned forward and touched her sister's forearms. "You must understand why I'm having a little bit of trouble accepting this."
"I know Buffy, but you've got to believe me. It's him."
The Slayer sounded grim. "Then it looks like I'm going to have a talk with your new teacher."
Dawn and her friend Janice walked up the steps outside the Sunnydale high school. They were studying nearly identical pieces of paper. "So you have Math first on Tuesday, then English right after lunch with me today? Cool!" Dawn was relieved to know her best friend was in at least 2 classes with her.
"Have you heard anything about the new teachers?" Janice wanted to know.
"The science teacher is a real dweeb. Kristin saw him setting up the lab. No telling where they found him. I heard the PE teacher is from Sacramento. Nothing yet on the new English teacher."
"I heard he's a dreamboat." The girls turned to find Chelsea West standing behind them. Chelsea flipped her streaked blond hair over her shoulder, then pulled out a mirror to check her lipstick. "I wonder how long this new batch will last?"
Sunnydale went through an inordinate number of teachers each year. Last year had been no exception. "Don't know." Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "Why are you talking to us anyway? Aren't we a little under your league?"
Chelsea snapped her mirror shut and favored Dawn with a pseudo-smile. "Nobody else around. Might as well talk to you."
"Thanks ever so." Janice sneered out before turning to walk away.
"Catch you later." Dawn waved, then hurried to catch up with her friend. "Hey, that was pretty rude."
Janice shook her head. "I've been on the wrong side of her vicious streak too many times to play nice." She was interrupted by the school bell. "Time to go. I'll see you at lunch."
Dawn waved goodbye and walked to her homeroom.
***** Dawn and Janice walked into English class, more interested in the two boys in front of them than in their upcoming class. So far the day had gone pretty smoothly for Dawn, and the girls were sharing stories of whom said what to who, and what were they thinking when they wore that anyway? Everything was normal. Janice sat at a desk by the window, with Dawn taking the seat in front of her. She checked around to see who else was in the class, and to take note of the drama masks mounted on the wall. She returned her attention to Janice to get her opinions.
The student chatter muted considerably as the teacher entered the room and walked to the board. Dawn turned to the front as she heard the squeak from the dry erase marker slide across the glossy white surface as the teacher wrote his name on the board with his left hand. Dawn looked curiously at him. He was slight with sandy blond hair, wearing a pale blue shirt and khaki slacks. She turned to whisper to Janice that he had a cute butt, but froze in place when she heard familiar British tones. "Welcome to Sophomore English."
Dawn's shocked gaze was riveted to him as he turned to face the room. Her ears hadn't deceived her. Spike was standing at the front facing the class. His accent was more clipped and proper than what he normally spoke with. "I'm Mr. Browning." He continued. "I'm your new teacher."
*****
"Buffy, I'm not kidding you!"
Dawn was sitting across from the table from Buffy in the meeting room of the Doublemeat Palace. Buffy shook her head, sure that her sister was trying to pull a fast one. "So help me God, Dawn, if you made this up so that I'd let you get away with cutting classes on the first day of school, I'll drop you in the grinder."
"I'm not making it up. Spike is my new English teacher."
Now there was a phrase Buffy thought she would never hear. She shook her head again, this time to clear her ears. "How could he be Dawn? He's a vampire for pity's sake! And vampires do not teach English."
"I don't know Buffy. All I know is that it was him. He was standing there in my class sounding all British and proper, but he was wearing, like, normal clothes. And I'd swear he has a tan."
"What would Spike know about teaching English?"
"Quite a bit, actually! You should have seen him. He started reading Shakespeare and I thought Missy Matthews was going to have kittens. She actually moaned!"
"Oh my god."
"I tried to get up there and talk to him at the end of class, but he was swarmed. Once the crowd thinned out he was gone. I ran all over the school looking for him but I couldn't find anything. The new principal was no help either. He said that us pesky girls had been in there all day asking him about Mr. Browning and he was tired of it." Dawn folded her arms and sulked.
"Dawn," Buffy leaned forward and touched her sister's forearms. "You must understand why I'm having a little bit of trouble accepting this."
"I know Buffy, but you've got to believe me. It's him."
The Slayer sounded grim. "Then it looks like I'm going to have a talk with your new teacher."