Part 19

Teen People Magazine:

Buff's Mystery Beau

Who is the guy that the Teen People spies have constantly been spotting Buffy with this weekend? The pair have been spotted gallivanting around Los Angeles and Santa Monica with her trusty bodyguard, Gunn, and has even been spotted with the Buffster's little sister.

Now, the staff here at TPM aren't usually big gossipers, but many of the crew here in downtown LA have sneaking suspicions that this mystery guy could be a new "friend" from the tiny Californian town of...well, actually we're not allowed to say due to legal matters.

They have been spotted sharing kisses and...other such affection. Could it be love? Maybe we'll find out next month when we interview her again to get the low-down on her senior year experience.

*****

Giles put down Lilah's magazine, mustering as much of his calmness as he could and putting it to use in preventing his hand from shaking as it moved. He stood stock still for a few moments before he looked Lilah eerily in the eye, his fury evident in his demeanour.

"So... What do you think of this?" Lilah timidly asked. Lilah was never timid. She never even knew she could be. But, alas, she could and currently was.

"I think I'm very ashamed that this could happen right under my nose," Giles bit out. His face was slowly turning red with his anger. It didn't help that it was neither hot nor sunny in the spot he was standing and that he was wearing a blindingly white shirt.

"...Under your nose?"

"His name is Angel and he lives just down the street. They seem to have keeping the pretence that they are just good friends," Giles explained. Feeling the need to fidget, he removed his glasses from his nose and polished them with a handkerchief that he'd pulled out of his pocket. He sighed and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Lilah's desk. "God knows how long they've been keeping up the charade... What do you suggest we do about it, Miss Morgan?"

"What do I suggest? I suggest that you do what you feel is appropriate. The publicity isn't exactly negative, I must mention. I've gotten at least ten calls this morning. Also, apart from this appearing in Teen People, I picked up a few others that said basically the same thing," Lilah opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small stack of magazines, all showing similar fuzzy pictures of Buffy and Angel together. "Plus, from a female point of view, this...Angel guy is pretty good looking."

"Good God..." Giles muttered, flipping through the stack and squinting at a few of the photos. "I'll have to speak to Buffy about this." He put the stack back onto the desk and grabbed his coat from the back of the chair. He slipped it on and quickly grabbed the magazine on the top of the pile. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, no, not at all," Lilah said pleasantly.

"Thank you for calling me in. I'll get back to you about the situation as soon as possible," Giles said hurriedly and dashed out the door and in search of his wayward charge/client. He had enough difficulty as it was trying to hold the views and opinions of a guardian and a manager at the same time as it was. Now *this* happens...what to do, what to do?

*****

"You want me to do *what*?" Buffy nearly fell off of her chair as she spoke. She fumed inside, reprimanding herself for getting herself in such a situation. She'd known that they'd been watched, and ignorance was now no longer bliss.

"Break it off. Simple as that," Giles said calmly, trying to act oblivious to Buffy's rage.

Buffy sat back to think for a moment. "And what would be the consequence of not breaking up with Angel?"

"Well, if you..." Giles made a vague gesture with his hands and grimaced when Buffy just responded with a puzzled expression, "...you know. You could end up pregnant. You're a role model."

Buffy sighed and nodded. She couldn't disagree with that. It *could* happen and it *would* ruin the role model image that Lilah had worked so hard on with her. "What else?"

"Well, does it really matter? There are reasons why we don't want you to have romantic relationships and very good reasons that you've heard over and over again. Yet you still disobeyed me and went about this under my nose. You have no respect for me, or the job I perform. You should have at least told me. Maybe I would not have been as angered if I didn't have to find out through a bloody magazine, of all things," Giles carelessly dropped the magazine on his desk, directly in front of her. "There are more at Lilah's office and I imagine that news has gotten right around the country and back already. I've heard rumours reported and forwarded to me from Lilah before, but this..."

Buffy brushed away the stray tears from her cheeks and glanced passively down at the copy of Teen People. "I respect you, Giles, I really do. But sometimes I just want to control my own life."

"We're just concerned. And as your manager, I just want you to remember that what seems good and well now may not be as good and well in the future."

*****

*ding dong*

Buffy waited patiently with her hands rested neatly in front of her, one hand over the other. In them she clutched a small handbag with the address of (hopefully) Jennifer Walkens—her so-called friend. She had acted oddly the last time she'd seen her and Buffy wanted nothing more than to confirm the responsibility of revealing her address to several now-well-known freelance photographers. Pictures of her home in Sunnydale taken from behind the gates appeared in several magazines, but, luckily, legalities prevented them from revealing more than that she was in California. **Thank God...**

Lack of privacy was on the rise all around her now, especially after the debacle of being caught with Angel just recently. She had always felt as if someone was watching her and that she was never alone. It chilled her to the bone to wonder what it could be. All she could be thankful for was that Jennifer hadn't sold her address and phone number to the highest bidder at EBay and that there wasn't a permanent fan-campsite on the narrow strip of lawn between the fencing in front of her house and the footpath.

*ding dong* Buffy rang the bell again, this time more impatiently.

"Coming!" A female voice came screeching from the other side of the door. Buffy then heard several thumps and the sound of a bag of indeterminate description being dropped hurriedly on the ground. As soon as there was silence, the door flung open, revealing a breathless Jennifer in a slightly rumpled prom dress and hair mussed in a haphazard fashion that would make any observer presume she'd just come from a lengthy tumble in the sheets.

"Buffy?" Jennifer's eyes widened and started to close the door.

Buffy put one hand on the door and stopped it from closing completely. She stepped in cautiously and gave a nervous glance to Gunn, who was waiting in the car in the driveway. He had insisted in coming with her, but she would have none of it. Right now she didn't feel quite as confident. **Gulp. My throat is so dry I have to think it instead of doing it... Gee, I'm not nervous.**

"So are you going to just stand there or are you going to take advantage of barging into my home?" Jennifer asked, scrunching up her nose as she brought a hand up to inspect the damage to her hair. She quickly fell into the nearest chair and had a mirror in front of her face. "Ew, gross. Couldn't you have come later? Say, three o'clock? At least then you could be sure that I'd be able to concentrate on whatever scolding you have in store for me."

"I have a life, too," Buffy said, stating the obvious. She took a seat across from Jennifer and gazed around her surroundings. "Not bad...how'd your parents afford to get a place like this? Winning the lottery?"

"As a matter of fact, it was an inheritance from some...uncle...person. I don't know. It's one of those strange relatives that you meet once and forget about until you get forced to go to their funeral by your parents," she shrugged and put her mirror back where she'd picked it up.

"You know why I'm here. So, spill."

"I'm surprised it's taken so long," Jennifer smiled with an unnerving wickedness that sent shivers down Buffy's spine.

"I'm a busy person."

"So, what do you want me to tell?" Jennifer asked with a tired sigh. She opened a nearby drawer and took out a packet of cigarettes, a lighter and an intricate crystal contraption that slightly resembled an ashtray and a pug at the same time. "Do you want the whole story?"

"If you wouldn't mind telling it." Buffy shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Jennifer blew a puff of cigarette smoke in her direction. "And if you wouldn't mind blowing your smoke in a different direction so that you can't be liable to causing my hypothetical cancer on the grounds of forced passive smoking."

"Steely, aren'tcha?" Jennifer smirked. "Fine you wanna know the whole story, I'll give it to you.

"You and I, best of friends, blah blah blah. You started getting into your whole music gig and you neglected both me and Tyler. And so we became friends and we grew close. You found out and got pissed at the both of us, some more blah. I decided I didn't want to be your little sidekick anymore and so I got with him after the two of you broke up.

"As you can see, we weren't really at fault in the whole ordeal—you were. You were so stuck into this new life of yours that you didn't even notice how it was affecting the rest of us.

"I came in contact with your crazy ex, Riley, a few months ago. Now, he was pissed at you because you dumped him for Tyler. He was freaky. I don't know how I survived. He got me your new address since he'd been stalking you for a while—from just before your move to about a month after. I paid you that little visit to scope things out for myself and, hopefully, or so I'd planned, I'd confront you with my grudge. It didn't work and I ran home with my tail between my legs and with a new vengeance. I was jealous, I'll admit, so I tried all sorts of crazy things to try to inflict pain on you—voodoo, magick, gossiping...they all didn't work. Then I met a couple of struggling photographers and, well...I actually can't remember.

"Riley came to my house a couple of days after that, demanding that I tell him what went down between you and I. I wanted him to be angry with you, so I told him you'd apologised to me. He wanted your apology as well, but that didn't quite work out either, huh? Blew away the front of your parents' house."

Buffy blinked. It all sort of made sense now. Who would've thought that a fake life could be so complicated? She took in a deep breath and opened her mouth slightly and then hesitated. She looked down at her hands and saw that they were shaking. Lifting her head, she stared straight into Jennifer's eyes and said, "I'm sorry...for everything...especially for being such a bad—and selfish—friend."

Jennifer nodded slowly, "Apology accepted." She burst out into a smile, "Looks like the neglect paid off for you, however. I'm happy for you. Oh, and I saw those photos of you and your boy and I must say, nice catch."

Buffy grinned and bounced slightly in her seat as she spoke. "He's hotter in person."

*****

"I can't believe prom is over," Willow said (almost) mournfully. She clutched to Oz's arm as they entered the Bronze for the after party. "I mean, whoa, we've almost finished high school."

"Shocking," Oz agreed.

"I can't believe Spike and Faith have already disappeared," Angel added with a laugh, "I thought their willpower was stronger than that."

"I think that maybe they're just smarter than the rest of us," Buffy replied, grinning from ear to ear. "Think of it this way: less partying = more energy + more time."

"Spike...smart? Uh-uh, not possible," Xander shook his head. Anya was clinging to his arm and nearly cutting off his circulation. Her presence was comforting, though. He didn't very much fancy going to the prom all on his lonesome—or worse, having prom pictures in his attic to be pulled out in fifty years time only to be reminded that he was the loser that no one really wanted to go with. In other words, Anya was his only (hopeless) hope.

Yes, life was often unfair.

Out of nowhere, an arm with a semi-transparent pink shawl draped over it appeared from in front of them and the fist it was connected to punched Angel in the nose, startling Xander, and everyone else, out of their thoughts.

"Darla?" Angel clutched his throbbing nose and found a few small traces of blood just below his nose. He kept his hands on his face and hoped that there wouldn't be any swelling when he looked at his own reflection tomorrow morning.

"Liar!" Darla shouted, causing the whole room to hush.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"What do I mean? You know very well what I mean," she snapped. "You only went out with me because of a bet—that's what."

Angel froze. He found his gaze inching toward his date.

Buffy blinked, not quite sure whether or not to believe what this girl...Darla had accused her boyfriend of. The guilty look on his face spoke a thousand words. **Was I a bet, too?** She didn't want to know the answer to that. Instead she threw a disgusted glance to Angel and fled the scene with her tears unshed and quickly welling up in her eyes. **I guess I was wrong about him. Maybe he really is just another guy who only thinks with his dick.**