Willow Rosenburg sat outside the steps of Sunnydale High, waiting for
her best friend like she did every morning before classes started. She
watched the other students enjoying this bit of freedom before they were
forced to go to class. They talked and gossiped about who had broken up
and who had gotten together. The football jocks all stood together in a
little circled, talking about the next game, and eyeing passing girls.
Cordelia Chase was holding court under the varsity tree, as usual,
listening impassively as one of her hangerons told an obviously dramatic
story. "Probably upset that a shoe store didn't have her size," Willow
muttered to herself. She immediately felt guilty, reminding herself that
she had promised to try and be nicer to Cordelia and her 'friends'. She
saw the reason behind that promise parking his motorcycle in the student
parking lot.
Xander Harris had been Willow's best friend for as long as she could remember, and had harbored a crush on him for almost the same amount of time. She'd never told him about her feelings because she was sure that he didn't share them. Xander guarded his emotions and feelings closely, a result of his parents dying when he was young. When their friend Jessie had died during their sophomore year, Xander didn't seem effected at all, but was a rock for Willow to cling to. When Willow told him she thought she was bi-sexual, he seemed only slightly surprised, but was an ocean of encouragement and support. When Willow started seeing a guitar player from a local band, Tara, he had simply smiled and gave the relationship his seal of approval. During the last year, she had started seeing Xander differently. Not as crush, but as an older brother, though they were the same age. He always seemed to look out for her and never judged her the way other people at school did. He had stood by her when she came out to her parents. He let her stay at his house while her parents 'adjusted' to the new reality of their only daughter's lifestyle, and had given both of them warnings not to damage their relationship with her. He was had been there through best and worst experiences of Willow's life, and though she had put her childhood crush aside, her love for him had only grown. While she knew that a small part of her would always love him in a non-brotherly way, she was as happy as she had any right to be with their relationship. She made it her mission for their senior year to be the best one for both of them.
When Xander had started dating Cordelia at the end of the summer, Willow was shocked but didn't say anything. It would have been hypocritical since she had been encouraging her best friend to start dating. While she still couldn't understand why Xander, who had the entire female population of Sunnydale wanting him, had picked Cordelia, Willow promised herself that she would try to get along better with 'Queen C.' for Xander's sake.
Willow watched as Xander, dressed in his traditional black, disembarked from his bike, tucking his helmet under one arm, while his other held his knapsack. She could tell by the way he walked that Xander had probably stayed up all night again. He'd been a night owl for awhile now, and she constantly worried that it would effect his schoolwork. He stopped at the foot of the stairs that lead to the school and looked around. He stared for a moment at Cordeila and her friends, and Willow saw a very small smile touch his lips. When he saw her, it grew an order of magnitude and he walked toward her. "Hey Wills," he said as he jaunted up the steps and came toward her.
Willow allowed herself a moment to enjoy her small victory over her rival for Xander's attention, before answering. "Hey Xand! Up late studying for our history test?"
"History test?" Xander gave his friend a confused look. "Didn't we just have a history test on Tuesday?"
"You're thinking of the English test we had on Monday." Willow gave her friend a severe look. "You know, if you actually slept like a normal person, maybe you'd remember stuff like that.
"Cut me some slack, Willow! I passed that English test.didn't I?"
"Yes," Willow sighed, knowing that she'd have an easier time convincing the Pope to celebrate Hanukkah than in changing Xander. "You passed it. You always manage to pass. You could be valedictorian if you wanted to be. If you just applied yourself."
Xander sighed and sat down next to his best friend. "Will, you know me and school don't get along well. I mean, I can learn anything they can teach me here, at home. Only reason I still bother to go is cause you and Alfred would throw a fit if I didn't finish."
"What about college?" Getting into a good college was something that kept Willow up at night.
"What about it?" Xander asked as he scanned the courtyard. "I mean, what's the point? I go and get a degree and than what? Get a job? Don't know if you noticed Will, but I'm not exactly hurting for cash."
Willow knew that was an understatement of unimaginable scale. Xander Harris was the richest person in Sunnydale. Fifth richest in the United States, and eighth richest in the world. Richard Harris, Xander's father, had been a doctor. He invented a valve that had advanced the way heart surgeries were preformed by at least 20 years. The royalties from the patent had gone into starting up Harris Enterprises, which had helped start the computer revolution in the 80s. By the time Richard Harris and his wife, Mary, had been killed, it had become a major supplier to NASA and other government agencies. A board of directors ran Harris Enterprises, but Xander held the majority of the stock. When he turned 18, during the previous summer, he had gained a vote on the board, though he had given his proxy to an old friend of his father, Russell Zang.
"But I thought you wanted to get your business degree and take over your father's company," Willow said, surprised by the news that her friend had no intention of going to college.
Xander shrugged, digging out a Twinkie from his knapsack. "I have better ways of using time I'd spend in school," he muttered as he tore off the plastic wrapper.
Before Willow could demand to know exactly what was more important than school, Cordelia Chase appeared. As usual, she completely ignored the redhead. "Xander! There you are! Have you heard?"
"Heard what?" Xander asked as he chewed his Twinkie.
Cordelia gave her boyfriend a look of disapproving shock. "Where have you been? Jessica got saved by The Bat last night! Everyone knows about it!"
"We didn't," Willow replied, looking at Xander for confirmation, which he gave with a silent nod.
"Well watched how surprised I am that geeky-gay you didn't know something important," Cordelia said, rolling her eyes. "Maybe if you took a minute to stop staring a pictures of the cheerleaders on your computer, you'd know about what goes on around you!"
Willow stood up and stared directly at Cordelia, the tone of her skin getting closer to the colour of her hair. She was preparing to put the Aikido training she'd been taking to use, when Xander put a hand on her shoulder. "Cor, if you don't apologize to Willow right now, you can turn around and keep walking."
Both Willow and Cordelia knew Xander was serious simply by the quiet way he spoke. Cordelia looked at her boyfriend for a moment, before turning to Willow, sighing. "I'm sorry, Willow."
Willow would have told her where she could shove her apology, but the slightly pleading look in Xanders' eye made her hold her tongue. "It's alright," she said instead, sitting back down next to Xander. "You were saying something about The Bat?"
"Right," Cordelia said, giving Willow one last glare, before turning to Xander. "Jessica was walking home from the Bronze last night, when some creep grabbed her. She got pulled into this alley, and was about to probably be raped and killed when the Bat showed up and saved her! That makes it like.the third time this month!"
"What happened to the guy that grabbed her?" Willow asked, worry on her face.
"Who knows?" Cordelia said dismissively. "Who cares?
"Oh! Maybe the Bat ate him!" Willow said, suddenly excited.
Cordelia smiled. "Yeah! Took him back to its nest and sucked his blood!"
Both girls seemed to take great satisfaction in the imagined fate of Jessica's attacker, until Xander snorted. "Giant bats that suck blood. I think you two are watching too many cheesy horror movies."
"Come on, Xander" Willow said, her face becoming serious. "Even you have to admit that these people saw something."
Xander shrugged. "Who knows what they saw? In traumatic situations, a person's mind can turn a shadow into a six foot bat." Crumpling up the wrapper from his Twinkie, Xander threw it into a garbage can twenty feet away.
"Well SOMEone saved Jessica last night," Cordelia said, her face determined. "Jessica might be an airhead, but she wouldn't lie."
Xander yawned and stood up. "You two can believe what you like. I'm going to class."
The two girls watched as Xander made his way through the throng of students also heading into the school. When he disappeared in the crush, Willow and Cordelia looked at each other and seemed surprise to see each other. Cordelia wrinkled her nose and turned quickly away from the redheaded girl and stalked back toward her group of friends.
Willow, suddenly alone, sighed and picked up her bag. As she turned to head toward the entrance a hand tapped her on the shoulder. "Cordy will you lay off already?" she said as she turned around, expecting to see Xander's girlfriend sneering at her.
Instead, a pretty blond girl she didn't know smiled uncertainly at her. "Um.hi. I'm looking for the Principal's Office." The smile got a tad bigger. "My name's Buffy."
Xander Harris had been Willow's best friend for as long as she could remember, and had harbored a crush on him for almost the same amount of time. She'd never told him about her feelings because she was sure that he didn't share them. Xander guarded his emotions and feelings closely, a result of his parents dying when he was young. When their friend Jessie had died during their sophomore year, Xander didn't seem effected at all, but was a rock for Willow to cling to. When Willow told him she thought she was bi-sexual, he seemed only slightly surprised, but was an ocean of encouragement and support. When Willow started seeing a guitar player from a local band, Tara, he had simply smiled and gave the relationship his seal of approval. During the last year, she had started seeing Xander differently. Not as crush, but as an older brother, though they were the same age. He always seemed to look out for her and never judged her the way other people at school did. He had stood by her when she came out to her parents. He let her stay at his house while her parents 'adjusted' to the new reality of their only daughter's lifestyle, and had given both of them warnings not to damage their relationship with her. He was had been there through best and worst experiences of Willow's life, and though she had put her childhood crush aside, her love for him had only grown. While she knew that a small part of her would always love him in a non-brotherly way, she was as happy as she had any right to be with their relationship. She made it her mission for their senior year to be the best one for both of them.
When Xander had started dating Cordelia at the end of the summer, Willow was shocked but didn't say anything. It would have been hypocritical since she had been encouraging her best friend to start dating. While she still couldn't understand why Xander, who had the entire female population of Sunnydale wanting him, had picked Cordelia, Willow promised herself that she would try to get along better with 'Queen C.' for Xander's sake.
Willow watched as Xander, dressed in his traditional black, disembarked from his bike, tucking his helmet under one arm, while his other held his knapsack. She could tell by the way he walked that Xander had probably stayed up all night again. He'd been a night owl for awhile now, and she constantly worried that it would effect his schoolwork. He stopped at the foot of the stairs that lead to the school and looked around. He stared for a moment at Cordeila and her friends, and Willow saw a very small smile touch his lips. When he saw her, it grew an order of magnitude and he walked toward her. "Hey Wills," he said as he jaunted up the steps and came toward her.
Willow allowed herself a moment to enjoy her small victory over her rival for Xander's attention, before answering. "Hey Xand! Up late studying for our history test?"
"History test?" Xander gave his friend a confused look. "Didn't we just have a history test on Tuesday?"
"You're thinking of the English test we had on Monday." Willow gave her friend a severe look. "You know, if you actually slept like a normal person, maybe you'd remember stuff like that.
"Cut me some slack, Willow! I passed that English test.didn't I?"
"Yes," Willow sighed, knowing that she'd have an easier time convincing the Pope to celebrate Hanukkah than in changing Xander. "You passed it. You always manage to pass. You could be valedictorian if you wanted to be. If you just applied yourself."
Xander sighed and sat down next to his best friend. "Will, you know me and school don't get along well. I mean, I can learn anything they can teach me here, at home. Only reason I still bother to go is cause you and Alfred would throw a fit if I didn't finish."
"What about college?" Getting into a good college was something that kept Willow up at night.
"What about it?" Xander asked as he scanned the courtyard. "I mean, what's the point? I go and get a degree and than what? Get a job? Don't know if you noticed Will, but I'm not exactly hurting for cash."
Willow knew that was an understatement of unimaginable scale. Xander Harris was the richest person in Sunnydale. Fifth richest in the United States, and eighth richest in the world. Richard Harris, Xander's father, had been a doctor. He invented a valve that had advanced the way heart surgeries were preformed by at least 20 years. The royalties from the patent had gone into starting up Harris Enterprises, which had helped start the computer revolution in the 80s. By the time Richard Harris and his wife, Mary, had been killed, it had become a major supplier to NASA and other government agencies. A board of directors ran Harris Enterprises, but Xander held the majority of the stock. When he turned 18, during the previous summer, he had gained a vote on the board, though he had given his proxy to an old friend of his father, Russell Zang.
"But I thought you wanted to get your business degree and take over your father's company," Willow said, surprised by the news that her friend had no intention of going to college.
Xander shrugged, digging out a Twinkie from his knapsack. "I have better ways of using time I'd spend in school," he muttered as he tore off the plastic wrapper.
Before Willow could demand to know exactly what was more important than school, Cordelia Chase appeared. As usual, she completely ignored the redhead. "Xander! There you are! Have you heard?"
"Heard what?" Xander asked as he chewed his Twinkie.
Cordelia gave her boyfriend a look of disapproving shock. "Where have you been? Jessica got saved by The Bat last night! Everyone knows about it!"
"We didn't," Willow replied, looking at Xander for confirmation, which he gave with a silent nod.
"Well watched how surprised I am that geeky-gay you didn't know something important," Cordelia said, rolling her eyes. "Maybe if you took a minute to stop staring a pictures of the cheerleaders on your computer, you'd know about what goes on around you!"
Willow stood up and stared directly at Cordelia, the tone of her skin getting closer to the colour of her hair. She was preparing to put the Aikido training she'd been taking to use, when Xander put a hand on her shoulder. "Cor, if you don't apologize to Willow right now, you can turn around and keep walking."
Both Willow and Cordelia knew Xander was serious simply by the quiet way he spoke. Cordelia looked at her boyfriend for a moment, before turning to Willow, sighing. "I'm sorry, Willow."
Willow would have told her where she could shove her apology, but the slightly pleading look in Xanders' eye made her hold her tongue. "It's alright," she said instead, sitting back down next to Xander. "You were saying something about The Bat?"
"Right," Cordelia said, giving Willow one last glare, before turning to Xander. "Jessica was walking home from the Bronze last night, when some creep grabbed her. She got pulled into this alley, and was about to probably be raped and killed when the Bat showed up and saved her! That makes it like.the third time this month!"
"What happened to the guy that grabbed her?" Willow asked, worry on her face.
"Who knows?" Cordelia said dismissively. "Who cares?
"Oh! Maybe the Bat ate him!" Willow said, suddenly excited.
Cordelia smiled. "Yeah! Took him back to its nest and sucked his blood!"
Both girls seemed to take great satisfaction in the imagined fate of Jessica's attacker, until Xander snorted. "Giant bats that suck blood. I think you two are watching too many cheesy horror movies."
"Come on, Xander" Willow said, her face becoming serious. "Even you have to admit that these people saw something."
Xander shrugged. "Who knows what they saw? In traumatic situations, a person's mind can turn a shadow into a six foot bat." Crumpling up the wrapper from his Twinkie, Xander threw it into a garbage can twenty feet away.
"Well SOMEone saved Jessica last night," Cordelia said, her face determined. "Jessica might be an airhead, but she wouldn't lie."
Xander yawned and stood up. "You two can believe what you like. I'm going to class."
The two girls watched as Xander made his way through the throng of students also heading into the school. When he disappeared in the crush, Willow and Cordelia looked at each other and seemed surprise to see each other. Cordelia wrinkled her nose and turned quickly away from the redheaded girl and stalked back toward her group of friends.
Willow, suddenly alone, sighed and picked up her bag. As she turned to head toward the entrance a hand tapped her on the shoulder. "Cordy will you lay off already?" she said as she turned around, expecting to see Xander's girlfriend sneering at her.
Instead, a pretty blond girl she didn't know smiled uncertainly at her. "Um.hi. I'm looking for the Principal's Office." The smile got a tad bigger. "My name's Buffy."