CHAPTER 3-The Geeks 'R' Us Club
Willow's nightmare never ended, or at least that's what she was telling herself as she stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror. She wanted to know who the Pippy Longstocking look-a-like was in the mirror with the long red hair and the sullen look. What was her mother thinking when she bought this outfit? Willow was horrified at the idea of actually being seen in public wearing these clothes! No wonder Xander just thought she was one of the guys. Maybe hanging out with geeky girls in nerdy outfits was like hanging out with geeky guys.
She scowled at herself in the mirror. "I have an idea. You go to school, 'cause I think I'm gonna stay home."
She blinked.
For just a split second, she could have sworn she saw her reflection smile. Or was it a smirk?
Willow leaned forward and studied her reflection carefully. Then she shook her head and adjusted the backpack straps around her shoulders. Wearing the outfit had affected her more than she realized. She wasn't only having nightmares she couldn't remember when she woke up, now she was seeing things that weren't really there.
"Willow!" Sheila Rosenberg called to her from the kitchen. "It's time for you to go, dear! You don't want to be late!"
Willow nodded solemnly to her reflection. "Oh, yes, I do," she said under her breath. "I want to be very late."
However, she was resigned to her fate. She left the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen. Her mother was quoting off a list of instructions she felt was necessary to help her daughter throughout the school day. Willow wearily went through the motions of listening, she already had an idea of how to survive the day. She was going to think about Xander. Thinking about Xander always brought a smile to her face.
"Oh, that outfit looks so lovely on you!" Sheila exclaimed, interrupting herself in the middle of her list. "And you were so worried about wearing it."
"Mom, I'm still worried." Willow hesitated. "I-I think I'm in a Brother's Grimm fairy tale."
"Oh, nonsense. You look very pretty. I'm sure everyone you see today will think so, too." She waggled her eyes. "Maybe Xander will think so. Hmm?"
Willow froze. She hadn't realized until that moment she was going to eventually run into Xander sooner or later, and then he would see her wearing this ridiculous outfit. The school day was already starting out badly. A panicked look crossed her face.
Sheila noticed the look. "Now, dear, you'll be all right. After all, mothers do know best." She grabbed her purse from the counter and began to pull money out from her wallet. "I'm putting aside extra money for you for the weekend. Your father and I will be away. Oh, you know how it is. The things we must do for the company's we work for."
Willow frowned at her. "Mom, you're...you're going away? Again?"
"Yes, dear." She handed Willow the money. "Oh, stop being a worry-wart. You'll be fine. The refrigerator will be full and you'll have plenty of your favorite ice cream." She regarded her daughter with a stern expression. "Xander can come over to see you, Willow, but he cannot spend the night. No boys in your room."
Willow didn't have to worry about that. "But, Mom--"
"Oh, my! It's getting late. You'd better run off now." She gave Willow a kiss on her forehead. "Have a wonderful day, sweety."
Willow discovered that she had been led to the front door and, before she knew it, she found herself standing on the welcome mat as the door closed behind her. She looked at the door and frowned. With no other choice, she gathered up what courage she had, and she began her walk to school. On her way there, she kept thinking about Xander. Xander would be more than enough to make this day improve.
It helped her. As she drew closer to the school, she began to notice that other students were throwing funny looks in her direction, or so it seemed. Some looked like they wanted to laugh. Others looked at her like she was some kind of a reject. Some even pointed at her.
This was bad, she thought to herself. Very bad.
Then she saw someone she knew sitting up against a tree. It was Joshua MacDonald, a fellow computer nerd and an official member of the Geeks 'R' Us Club, just like her. She was relieved to see a friendly face, so she approached him, feeling better already. The closer she got to him, however, the more concerned she became for him. Joshua was sitting with his wrists resting upon his knees and his head was bowed. His backpack was on the ground next to him. In his right hand, he held onto an inhaler. The inhaler was yellow; color-coded for Ventolin. It was something he used only when he had to.
Apparently, he had to.
Willow knelt beside him, put her books down, and as she adjusted her backpack with one hand, she placed her other hand gently on his shoulder. "Joshua, are you okay?"
Joshua raised his head and found himself looking into Willow's eyes. He was grateful for her concern. "I'm...I'm okay," he said slowly. "J-just need to...stop and...c-catch my breath."
Willow suddenly felt ashamed of herself. There she was feeling all sorry for herself about looking nerdy when there were others-like Joshua-who suffered far more than she did every day- without complaint! Joshua's parents had been heavy smokers when he was born, and it was because of their smoking habits during his first six months that Joshua had contracted severe asthma. When the doctor had explained the seriousness of the baby's condition to them, both mother and father stopped smoking immediately. They went cold turkey.
Unfortunately, Joshua still had to live with it on a daily basis. Willow knew him well enough to know there were certain things that directly caused an asthma attack. It could be caused by a certain smell, or too much exertion. Or stress. She suddenly wondered which one of those things was responsible for the attack.
"Was it a bad attack?" she asked him softly. "Y-you look a little pale." She was scared for him.
He shrugged casually. "Nah. It...it was an...in between at-attack."
"Oh." Willow paused in thought. "Well, uh, what's in between?"
He smiled wryly at her. "It's in between a...a good attack, and...and a really bad one."
"Oh," she said again. She regarded Joshua. "Well, then, uh, what's a good attack?"
"No attack...at all."
She smiled at him.
Joshua grinned. "You look pretty...Willow."
She blinked at him in surprise. "Uh, I-I do?" She looked down at the outfit she was wearing and then looked at Joshua suspiciously. "Uh, well, you don't think I look like Pippy Longstocking?"
He shook his head and let out a chuckle. He leaned his back against the tree, shook his inhaler, and then gave it another squeeze into his mouth.
"Are you feeling any better?" Willow asked him with concern. "Uh, maybe I should get the school nurse."
He shook his head. "Oh...thanks, Willow...No. I-ll...I'll just sit here and wait for...wait for Silver."
Silver was his girlfriend, but her real name was Sylvia Landry. She was a computer nerd with short, black hair, freckles, and glasses. Joshua had called her Silver since the first day they met. Now he was the only one she would allow to call her by that name.
"What caused your attack, Joshua?" Willow asked curiously.
He hesitated. "Oh...don't worry about it." He shrugged as if it were nothing. "It...it happens. I'm used to it."
"Someone gave you trouble," she said knowingly, "uh, pushed you around. Who was it, Josh?"
He shook his head. "Someone a lot bigger than you, Willow. A...a lot meaner, too. Are you gonna go after him...if I tell you his name?" He smiled at her to let her know he was half serious and half teasing her.
Willow tried to look belligerent. "Well...no! Uh, I won't go after him, whoever he is, even if he is bigger and-and meaner, but, well, who does he think he is, pushing people around? Maybe some pushy people who push kids should be pushed right back! You know, see if he likes it!"
"Uh, Willow...pushing him back really wouldn't be a good idea."
She frowned at him. "Well, why not?"
"It would only make him mad."
"Well, I'm mad. Aren't you mad? You should be mad. I'm just madder than, you know, a wet hen, let me tell you!" She scowled. "And-and maybe he is bigger than me as you say, but the bigger they are, well, the-the harder you have to push!"
He grinned at her. "Don't you mean 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'?"
"No." She gave him a look. "You know what I mean, mister."
Joshua looked at her. "You know, Willow...the hardest thing about it is that..." he stopped to take a breath, "they...they just don't understand...how serious asthma is..."
"Who was it, Josh?"
He hesitated. "Paige."
"Virgil Paige?"
He nodded. "Baddest bully of Sunnydale High...since Nathaniel Lenox."
"Virgil Paige freakin' sucks!" exclaimed Sylvia Landry as she made her presence known. She was carrying her books in one hand, and her glasses in the other. "That dirty bastard broke my glasses!" She held them up, and they were completely snapped apart from the middle. "Now I'll look like a dork with these taped together!"
Joshua took her glasses from her and frowned. "I'm sorry, Silver. How did he...he break them?"
"The son-of-a-bitch walked right up to me, whipped them from off my face, and just snapped them in half!" She let out a sigh of frustration. "He dropped them into my hand, smiled, and walked away."
"Somebody should do something!" Willow exclaimed. "He-he just can't keep pushing people around. It's not right!"
"Willow, he doesn't care about right. He only cares about belittling you. You've seen for yourself how he is."
"Well, yes. I know what he's like. I-I've seen him do the bully thing." Willow frowned. "He's in my history class." She had seen Paige bully a lot of kids, but he never had bullied her. She hoped he wouldn't start.
"Just be thankful that he's not Lenox," Sylvia said, thinking back to the eighth grade. "He and Paige were friends then. At the beginning of the year, Lenox dropped my glasses on the floor, and crushed them with his stinking feet. Then the bastard super glued my fingers together and put tape over my eyes." She looked at Willow. "Paige is bad, but no one can be as bad as Lenox."
"I remember Nathan Lenox, but he never really bothered me. He didn't seem to like Xander very much, though. He gave Xander a lot of swirly's." Willow looked thoughtful. "He wasn't here last year."
"Health issues, I heard," Joshua said. "Some medical emergency." He put his yellow-coded inhaler into his pack and something fell out onto the ground. He picked it up and put it back into his pack.
It looked like a small, sealed plastic tube. Willow wondered what it was. As she was beginning to understand what the tube was, she saw the concerned look on Sylvia's face. She decided not to press the matter. Sylvia motioned to Willow with her hand and mouthed the words, "I'll tell you later."
Willow nodded.
The two girls helped Joshua to his feet. He didn't actually need their assistance, but he did love the attention. He smiled at them appreciatively.
Sylvia favored him with a look. "You wipe that smile from your face, buddy. You can't have both of us, and besides, you've already got me."
Joshua grinned at her. "A guy can dream, can't he?" He winked at Willow.
Willow smiled.
"I have to get to my locker," Sylvia said with a sigh. "Plus, I need to find some damn tape." She frowned about her broken glasses.
Joshua nodded. To Willow, he said, "I'll see you in class, Willow, but Mr. Chomsky won't be in today."
Willow looked at him. "Oh, really? How come?"
"You haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
Joshua glanced at Sylvia. "Well, he...he was in a car accident last night. He's in the hospital now and...well, it's going around school he's in pretty bad shape."
"Oh, no," Willow said. "I-I like Mr. Chomsky. I hope he'll be okay."
"Me, too."
"Well, uh, how bad is bad?" Willow looked concerned.
Joshua shrugged. "I don't know. That's all we heard." He waved at her. "I'll see you in class."
Willow absently waved back, thinking about Mr. Chomsky. "Uh, okay. Bye, Josh. Bye, Sylvia."
They walked off in different directions.
Willow continued on her way and as she did, she saw a Jeep Bronco pulling up to the curb. A blonde-haired girl climbed out from the passenger side and Willow suddenly stopped short. To her amazement, it was the new girl- Buffy Summers. Willow suddenly remembered part of her dream where she was standing in Buffy's bedroom at her bedside, and she felt a little guilty about it. She saw a woman behind the steering wheel of the Bronco and realized that it was probably Buffy's mother. From where she was standing, she was able to overhear their conversation, another thing she felt guilty about.
*"And honey?" Buffy's mother inquired.
Buffy turned to look back at her.
"Try not to get kicked out?"
She smiled wryly. "I promise."
Joyce Summers smiled back. "Okay."*
Buffy turned around to face the school as her mother drove off. She was unaware that she was being watched by someone with green eyes; someone who was very curious about her. With a look of determination, the new girl headed directly for the school.
Willow was already impressed by the way Buffy Summers carried herself. The new girl seemed like she was ready to take on any challenge. Willow found herself wishing she was more like that, but she wasn't. She began to move forward and that's when she heard a familiar voice.
It made her smile.
*"'Scuse me, comin' through, pardon me, 'scuse me, whoa!"*
Willow saw him, then, weaving around his fellow students on his skateboard.
Xander Harris!
*"'Scuse me, not sure how to stop! Please move, whoa, 'scuse me..." Xander's eyes spotted Buffy Summers. It was just one look, and that's all it took. "Whoa!" he breathed.
Xander stared at Buffy and he didn't notice the stair railing he was heading right for until he crashed into it and fell beneath it, grunting in pain. "Oh, God," he moaned, more embarrassed than physically hurt. "I'm okay. I feel good."
Willow walked up, but she had to step high to avoid tripping over his legs.
He grinned up at her. "Willow!" he exclaimed. "You're so very much the person I wanted to see."
"Oh, really?" Her dark world suddenly got so much brighter and the smile on her face showed it. She looked down at him and absently tucked her hair behind her ear as Xander dragged himself back to his feet.
"Yeah. You know." He shrugged as they headed up the steps together. "I kind of had a problem with the math."
"Uh, which part?" She looked at his face. She loved to watch his mouth move when he talked, and she especially loved to get lost looking into his gorgeous, dark, brown eyes.
"The math. Can you help me out tonight, please? Be my study buddy?"
She tried to give him a hard time. "Well, what's in it for me?"
"A shiny nickel."
Willow smiled. "Okay." She didn't really care about a shiny nickel. Studying with Xander meant she would be with him and that was more than good enough for her. "Do you have 'Theories In Trig'? You should check it out."
Xander frowned. "'Check it out'?"
"From the library," she told him, "where the books live."
He nodded knowingly. "Right. I'm there." He grinned at her. "See? I wanna change."*
They continued on their way, unaware that they were being watched by Paige and his watch dogs, Randall and Talbot. Paige and his Brothers had been joined by three of their Initiates; Hal Levy, Bill Viccors, and Marc Shiva. Every one of them had their eyes on Willow.
Paige thought about the Father and grinned. "And so it begins...as he commands."
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
TO BE CONTINUED--
Willow's nightmare never ended, or at least that's what she was telling herself as she stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror. She wanted to know who the Pippy Longstocking look-a-like was in the mirror with the long red hair and the sullen look. What was her mother thinking when she bought this outfit? Willow was horrified at the idea of actually being seen in public wearing these clothes! No wonder Xander just thought she was one of the guys. Maybe hanging out with geeky girls in nerdy outfits was like hanging out with geeky guys.
She scowled at herself in the mirror. "I have an idea. You go to school, 'cause I think I'm gonna stay home."
She blinked.
For just a split second, she could have sworn she saw her reflection smile. Or was it a smirk?
Willow leaned forward and studied her reflection carefully. Then she shook her head and adjusted the backpack straps around her shoulders. Wearing the outfit had affected her more than she realized. She wasn't only having nightmares she couldn't remember when she woke up, now she was seeing things that weren't really there.
"Willow!" Sheila Rosenberg called to her from the kitchen. "It's time for you to go, dear! You don't want to be late!"
Willow nodded solemnly to her reflection. "Oh, yes, I do," she said under her breath. "I want to be very late."
However, she was resigned to her fate. She left the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen. Her mother was quoting off a list of instructions she felt was necessary to help her daughter throughout the school day. Willow wearily went through the motions of listening, she already had an idea of how to survive the day. She was going to think about Xander. Thinking about Xander always brought a smile to her face.
"Oh, that outfit looks so lovely on you!" Sheila exclaimed, interrupting herself in the middle of her list. "And you were so worried about wearing it."
"Mom, I'm still worried." Willow hesitated. "I-I think I'm in a Brother's Grimm fairy tale."
"Oh, nonsense. You look very pretty. I'm sure everyone you see today will think so, too." She waggled her eyes. "Maybe Xander will think so. Hmm?"
Willow froze. She hadn't realized until that moment she was going to eventually run into Xander sooner or later, and then he would see her wearing this ridiculous outfit. The school day was already starting out badly. A panicked look crossed her face.
Sheila noticed the look. "Now, dear, you'll be all right. After all, mothers do know best." She grabbed her purse from the counter and began to pull money out from her wallet. "I'm putting aside extra money for you for the weekend. Your father and I will be away. Oh, you know how it is. The things we must do for the company's we work for."
Willow frowned at her. "Mom, you're...you're going away? Again?"
"Yes, dear." She handed Willow the money. "Oh, stop being a worry-wart. You'll be fine. The refrigerator will be full and you'll have plenty of your favorite ice cream." She regarded her daughter with a stern expression. "Xander can come over to see you, Willow, but he cannot spend the night. No boys in your room."
Willow didn't have to worry about that. "But, Mom--"
"Oh, my! It's getting late. You'd better run off now." She gave Willow a kiss on her forehead. "Have a wonderful day, sweety."
Willow discovered that she had been led to the front door and, before she knew it, she found herself standing on the welcome mat as the door closed behind her. She looked at the door and frowned. With no other choice, she gathered up what courage she had, and she began her walk to school. On her way there, she kept thinking about Xander. Xander would be more than enough to make this day improve.
It helped her. As she drew closer to the school, she began to notice that other students were throwing funny looks in her direction, or so it seemed. Some looked like they wanted to laugh. Others looked at her like she was some kind of a reject. Some even pointed at her.
This was bad, she thought to herself. Very bad.
Then she saw someone she knew sitting up against a tree. It was Joshua MacDonald, a fellow computer nerd and an official member of the Geeks 'R' Us Club, just like her. She was relieved to see a friendly face, so she approached him, feeling better already. The closer she got to him, however, the more concerned she became for him. Joshua was sitting with his wrists resting upon his knees and his head was bowed. His backpack was on the ground next to him. In his right hand, he held onto an inhaler. The inhaler was yellow; color-coded for Ventolin. It was something he used only when he had to.
Apparently, he had to.
Willow knelt beside him, put her books down, and as she adjusted her backpack with one hand, she placed her other hand gently on his shoulder. "Joshua, are you okay?"
Joshua raised his head and found himself looking into Willow's eyes. He was grateful for her concern. "I'm...I'm okay," he said slowly. "J-just need to...stop and...c-catch my breath."
Willow suddenly felt ashamed of herself. There she was feeling all sorry for herself about looking nerdy when there were others-like Joshua-who suffered far more than she did every day- without complaint! Joshua's parents had been heavy smokers when he was born, and it was because of their smoking habits during his first six months that Joshua had contracted severe asthma. When the doctor had explained the seriousness of the baby's condition to them, both mother and father stopped smoking immediately. They went cold turkey.
Unfortunately, Joshua still had to live with it on a daily basis. Willow knew him well enough to know there were certain things that directly caused an asthma attack. It could be caused by a certain smell, or too much exertion. Or stress. She suddenly wondered which one of those things was responsible for the attack.
"Was it a bad attack?" she asked him softly. "Y-you look a little pale." She was scared for him.
He shrugged casually. "Nah. It...it was an...in between at-attack."
"Oh." Willow paused in thought. "Well, uh, what's in between?"
He smiled wryly at her. "It's in between a...a good attack, and...and a really bad one."
"Oh," she said again. She regarded Joshua. "Well, then, uh, what's a good attack?"
"No attack...at all."
She smiled at him.
Joshua grinned. "You look pretty...Willow."
She blinked at him in surprise. "Uh, I-I do?" She looked down at the outfit she was wearing and then looked at Joshua suspiciously. "Uh, well, you don't think I look like Pippy Longstocking?"
He shook his head and let out a chuckle. He leaned his back against the tree, shook his inhaler, and then gave it another squeeze into his mouth.
"Are you feeling any better?" Willow asked him with concern. "Uh, maybe I should get the school nurse."
He shook his head. "Oh...thanks, Willow...No. I-ll...I'll just sit here and wait for...wait for Silver."
Silver was his girlfriend, but her real name was Sylvia Landry. She was a computer nerd with short, black hair, freckles, and glasses. Joshua had called her Silver since the first day they met. Now he was the only one she would allow to call her by that name.
"What caused your attack, Joshua?" Willow asked curiously.
He hesitated. "Oh...don't worry about it." He shrugged as if it were nothing. "It...it happens. I'm used to it."
"Someone gave you trouble," she said knowingly, "uh, pushed you around. Who was it, Josh?"
He shook his head. "Someone a lot bigger than you, Willow. A...a lot meaner, too. Are you gonna go after him...if I tell you his name?" He smiled at her to let her know he was half serious and half teasing her.
Willow tried to look belligerent. "Well...no! Uh, I won't go after him, whoever he is, even if he is bigger and-and meaner, but, well, who does he think he is, pushing people around? Maybe some pushy people who push kids should be pushed right back! You know, see if he likes it!"
"Uh, Willow...pushing him back really wouldn't be a good idea."
She frowned at him. "Well, why not?"
"It would only make him mad."
"Well, I'm mad. Aren't you mad? You should be mad. I'm just madder than, you know, a wet hen, let me tell you!" She scowled. "And-and maybe he is bigger than me as you say, but the bigger they are, well, the-the harder you have to push!"
He grinned at her. "Don't you mean 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'?"
"No." She gave him a look. "You know what I mean, mister."
Joshua looked at her. "You know, Willow...the hardest thing about it is that..." he stopped to take a breath, "they...they just don't understand...how serious asthma is..."
"Who was it, Josh?"
He hesitated. "Paige."
"Virgil Paige?"
He nodded. "Baddest bully of Sunnydale High...since Nathaniel Lenox."
"Virgil Paige freakin' sucks!" exclaimed Sylvia Landry as she made her presence known. She was carrying her books in one hand, and her glasses in the other. "That dirty bastard broke my glasses!" She held them up, and they were completely snapped apart from the middle. "Now I'll look like a dork with these taped together!"
Joshua took her glasses from her and frowned. "I'm sorry, Silver. How did he...he break them?"
"The son-of-a-bitch walked right up to me, whipped them from off my face, and just snapped them in half!" She let out a sigh of frustration. "He dropped them into my hand, smiled, and walked away."
"Somebody should do something!" Willow exclaimed. "He-he just can't keep pushing people around. It's not right!"
"Willow, he doesn't care about right. He only cares about belittling you. You've seen for yourself how he is."
"Well, yes. I know what he's like. I-I've seen him do the bully thing." Willow frowned. "He's in my history class." She had seen Paige bully a lot of kids, but he never had bullied her. She hoped he wouldn't start.
"Just be thankful that he's not Lenox," Sylvia said, thinking back to the eighth grade. "He and Paige were friends then. At the beginning of the year, Lenox dropped my glasses on the floor, and crushed them with his stinking feet. Then the bastard super glued my fingers together and put tape over my eyes." She looked at Willow. "Paige is bad, but no one can be as bad as Lenox."
"I remember Nathan Lenox, but he never really bothered me. He didn't seem to like Xander very much, though. He gave Xander a lot of swirly's." Willow looked thoughtful. "He wasn't here last year."
"Health issues, I heard," Joshua said. "Some medical emergency." He put his yellow-coded inhaler into his pack and something fell out onto the ground. He picked it up and put it back into his pack.
It looked like a small, sealed plastic tube. Willow wondered what it was. As she was beginning to understand what the tube was, she saw the concerned look on Sylvia's face. She decided not to press the matter. Sylvia motioned to Willow with her hand and mouthed the words, "I'll tell you later."
Willow nodded.
The two girls helped Joshua to his feet. He didn't actually need their assistance, but he did love the attention. He smiled at them appreciatively.
Sylvia favored him with a look. "You wipe that smile from your face, buddy. You can't have both of us, and besides, you've already got me."
Joshua grinned at her. "A guy can dream, can't he?" He winked at Willow.
Willow smiled.
"I have to get to my locker," Sylvia said with a sigh. "Plus, I need to find some damn tape." She frowned about her broken glasses.
Joshua nodded. To Willow, he said, "I'll see you in class, Willow, but Mr. Chomsky won't be in today."
Willow looked at him. "Oh, really? How come?"
"You haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
Joshua glanced at Sylvia. "Well, he...he was in a car accident last night. He's in the hospital now and...well, it's going around school he's in pretty bad shape."
"Oh, no," Willow said. "I-I like Mr. Chomsky. I hope he'll be okay."
"Me, too."
"Well, uh, how bad is bad?" Willow looked concerned.
Joshua shrugged. "I don't know. That's all we heard." He waved at her. "I'll see you in class."
Willow absently waved back, thinking about Mr. Chomsky. "Uh, okay. Bye, Josh. Bye, Sylvia."
They walked off in different directions.
Willow continued on her way and as she did, she saw a Jeep Bronco pulling up to the curb. A blonde-haired girl climbed out from the passenger side and Willow suddenly stopped short. To her amazement, it was the new girl- Buffy Summers. Willow suddenly remembered part of her dream where she was standing in Buffy's bedroom at her bedside, and she felt a little guilty about it. She saw a woman behind the steering wheel of the Bronco and realized that it was probably Buffy's mother. From where she was standing, she was able to overhear their conversation, another thing she felt guilty about.
*"And honey?" Buffy's mother inquired.
Buffy turned to look back at her.
"Try not to get kicked out?"
She smiled wryly. "I promise."
Joyce Summers smiled back. "Okay."*
Buffy turned around to face the school as her mother drove off. She was unaware that she was being watched by someone with green eyes; someone who was very curious about her. With a look of determination, the new girl headed directly for the school.
Willow was already impressed by the way Buffy Summers carried herself. The new girl seemed like she was ready to take on any challenge. Willow found herself wishing she was more like that, but she wasn't. She began to move forward and that's when she heard a familiar voice.
It made her smile.
*"'Scuse me, comin' through, pardon me, 'scuse me, whoa!"*
Willow saw him, then, weaving around his fellow students on his skateboard.
Xander Harris!
*"'Scuse me, not sure how to stop! Please move, whoa, 'scuse me..." Xander's eyes spotted Buffy Summers. It was just one look, and that's all it took. "Whoa!" he breathed.
Xander stared at Buffy and he didn't notice the stair railing he was heading right for until he crashed into it and fell beneath it, grunting in pain. "Oh, God," he moaned, more embarrassed than physically hurt. "I'm okay. I feel good."
Willow walked up, but she had to step high to avoid tripping over his legs.
He grinned up at her. "Willow!" he exclaimed. "You're so very much the person I wanted to see."
"Oh, really?" Her dark world suddenly got so much brighter and the smile on her face showed it. She looked down at him and absently tucked her hair behind her ear as Xander dragged himself back to his feet.
"Yeah. You know." He shrugged as they headed up the steps together. "I kind of had a problem with the math."
"Uh, which part?" She looked at his face. She loved to watch his mouth move when he talked, and she especially loved to get lost looking into his gorgeous, dark, brown eyes.
"The math. Can you help me out tonight, please? Be my study buddy?"
She tried to give him a hard time. "Well, what's in it for me?"
"A shiny nickel."
Willow smiled. "Okay." She didn't really care about a shiny nickel. Studying with Xander meant she would be with him and that was more than good enough for her. "Do you have 'Theories In Trig'? You should check it out."
Xander frowned. "'Check it out'?"
"From the library," she told him, "where the books live."
He nodded knowingly. "Right. I'm there." He grinned at her. "See? I wanna change."*
They continued on their way, unaware that they were being watched by Paige and his watch dogs, Randall and Talbot. Paige and his Brothers had been joined by three of their Initiates; Hal Levy, Bill Viccors, and Marc Shiva. Every one of them had their eyes on Willow.
Paige thought about the Father and grinned. "And so it begins...as he commands."
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TO BE CONTINUED--