It was that girl, next to him in class. The one who'd pinpointed another as a demon. She was blinking at her textbook and scribbling on a sheet of paper next to her.
The teacher was up the front, talking at the class. Connor was rapidly finding that school was not only fairly boring, but pretty useless too. This strange stuff about math and curves and odd numbers - when was he going to use this? He could be out slaying vampires, stopping those sickening creatures from continuing their destruction. Vampire + stake = dust. That was all the math he needed to know.
So far he hadn't been able to see that demon girl again, but the feeling that something was wrong had remained. He needed to find out what he was dealing with - it obviously couldn't be vampires because he had seen her clearly in sunlight.
This other girl caught him looking at her and flashed a brief encouraging smile. Still quiet, she held up a book and pointed at the cover of it with her pen. Connor blinked and stared at it for a minute before he realised what she was doing. She was pointing to her name, scribbled on the cover, M…a…cy - Macy. Just in case he didn't get it, she pointed at herself too. Then she raised an eyebrow questioningly.
He frowned. What? Oh, she wanted his name too. Shakily he took a pen and paper, and tried to begin writing a 'C', but it was wobbly and in the time it took to draw, he could have told the girl at least twice.
Frustrated, Connor dropped the pen and leaned across the divide.
"Step-… Connor, I'm Connor," he introduced, but he didn't really care about names. He wanted to know about the demon girl. A hand went to the knife in his pocket just thinking about it, "Did you mean what you said?" His voice came as a low but harsh whisper.
The girl, Macy, looked confused, then, "Oh no," she whispered back, "Believe me, Penelope's views are not my own. If anyone's a creep, it's Penelope, not Dawn."
Connor frowned. No, she had it all wrong, "No, I mean… about that girl… being a demon?" The creep comment was the last thing on his mind. Why should he care what some girl said, especially if she was a demon?
"What?" she was distracted by the class, "Oh, yeah completely, Penelope Darling-Filby it totally evil." Huh! He knew it, he knew something was up. Dawn was wrong, there was nothing normal about that girl. And the blonde had the gall to call him creepy.
Wait. But Dawn had said not to take the things people at school said literally. And, ok, whilst he was pretty sure she was wrong in this instance, he'd been here just long enough to know things were always exactly as they seemed in this strange new world. See, in hell, at least you knew exactly who the bad guys were. Here, he had a vampire for a father.
"So she's hurt a lot of people then?" he enquired slowly. There was no mistaking that right? Demons hurt people. Ok, people could hurt people too, but if they were that bad, maybe they deserved to be staked…
"Well," Macy replied, screwing up her nose, "yeah. I mean, mostly her bark is worse than her bite, but when she does attack, she can really rip you to pieces, if you know what I mean." Know what she meant?! That sounded pretty bloody. He'd probably need more than a knife. Like, a really big knife.
"Yeah…Why hasn't anyone done anything about her?" Why hadn't they? How could they just let something that evil come here, to school?
"I dunno, they're all sheep to the slaughterhouse or something," Macy acknowledged, "No one wants to think for themselves, stand up for themselves anymore." She flourished her comment by stabbing the air with the point of her pen.
"Somebody should just… slay her," Connor said slowly, darkly. The tone went completely over Macy's head.
"Yeah, I hear ya," she chuckled brightly, "Sometimes that's all I want to do too."
"Where does she hang out?" he pried, "There could be a nest of them." Best he did it as soon as possible, and save some lives.
"Oh there are! You know all those girls that follow her around - that's her pack. Mostly they hang out at The Bronze," the dark-haired girl brightened, "Speaking of, we should go, tonight. I mean, we should all go. I'll bring my friend Dustin, and you can bring Dawn." Connor was thoughtful.
The Bronze? That sounded slightly familiar, he thought he might have heard Buffy, or Willow, or maybe Dawn mention something about it. Something about hanging out at The Bronze. If a lot of people went there, he could see why it would be so alluring to some hungry demons.
"That girl Penelope will be there?" he asked distractedly.
Macy grimaced, "Uh, yeah, but I prefer not to think about that. Go?"
Connor nodded, "Yeah." He was tempted to go there now, but he didn't know how where it was. He would probably have to ask Dawn to show him. He didn't really want to ask Dawn anything, but his father hadn't given him much choice in the matter by sending him here.
"Great," Macy said excitedly, "If you haven't been, you're gonna love The Bronze. It defies the laws gravity, or the universe, or something - there actually is a cool place in Sunnydale."
"Miss Kilbourne!" Someone had finally cottoned onto the fact that these two clearly weren't paying attention in class. The teacher up the front glared down at them, Macy Kilbourne more specifically. Macy was the one she had caught talking.
"Wah-oh!" That was Macy. All the other students in the class turned around to look.
"Would you like to share your conversation with the rest of the class!?" The math teacher, one Ms. Jenkins, asked.
Macy stammered, "Well, uh, I'm thinking, mostly no…" A few snickers traveled around the room.
"Then perhaps you'd like to tell me how you would calculate Pythagora's Theorum?" There was a pause, then… The banter between teacher and student continued, but Connor wasn't really listening. Soon he was going to be back doing what he should be doing - slaying.
"That's a good question Ms Jenkins, and, once again, I'm thinking, mostly no…" It felt like ages since he'd killed a demon. Well, there was that thing with a lot of teeth on the bus ride over, but once you got past the slime it was pretty small time really.
"Hmm, that's what I thought. Maybe, then, you'd like to think about it in detention this afternoon whilst you scrub every single school locker, including the one you so heinously vandalised this morning." Anyway, he'd destroy these demons and show Angel that this whole school thing really was just a waste of his time.
"Ms Jenkins, I don't even know what you just said, but I can assure you the answer is probably…"
"Mostly no, yes I understand Miss Kilbourne. I'll see you in detention." Then he'd be back in L.A. again, not here.
*******************
"It's just so not fair!" Macy was complaining about something school related again, which was fairly common. So far, compared to boarding school, Dustin was kinda enjoying Sunnydale high. At the end of the day, like now, he could go home. Twenty-four hours it was not.
"I could stay," he offered anyway, "and, you know, do the cleaning thing too." He didn't really want to, of course, but it was preferable to the awkward silence Macy had promised him into with Dawn and Connor at the Bronze. Now that Macy had detention, she wouldn't make it to the Bronze 'till late. What was he going to say to them and not sound dumb-ish?
Macy laughed, "That's a good one," it faltered when she saw his face, "Oh… oh you were serious…" There was a pause long enough for Dustin to look sheepish.
"C'mon Dusty, that's no way to get friendly with the natives. Besides, they seem nice…"
"I s'pose, in a really, 'we don't really want to get to know you' kind of way…"
"What are you talking about?" Macy replied, "They're right over there." She indicated a few lockers down where Dawn and Conner were also grabbing their gear in the after school rush. Well, Dawn was, Connor didn't seem to have much gear. A minimalist, like Macy.
"Right," Dustin agreed, "and they're not even talking to us," he frowned, "or each other for that matter." Actually, it looked rather like the pair were doing their darned best to ignore each other. It was strange the way they would follow each other around but seemed to not like being in each other's company. Dustin would have preferred to be alone if he was in that situation.
Something about it gave him the heebyjeebies. Like, there was something bigger than big that they, and only they knew about. And something, he was sure, that was dislikable enough for him to want it to stay that way. But Macy didn't seem to pick up on anything.
"Still interested in Mr. Tall, Dark and, well, Dark?" Maybe that's why she was so big on Bronzing it with the two of them.
Macy took a sniffing glance in Connor's direction, "Naw, 'sides, I think he's interested in Penelope."
Dustin was surprised, Penelope? "That mean girl?… With the blonde hair?… And called him creepy?…"
"See!" Macy exclaimed, "That's why I never get guys - I haven't called enough of them creepy yet."
"Actually, he's not that tall either," he mused, "Why would you think that anyway?" Ok, he could understand that maybe this Penelope girl was pretty, but still, pretty bitchy. Macy was right, some guys just wanted to take a beating. Not him.
Macy shrugged, "I dunno. He just asked a lot about her I guess. Anyway, it'll be cool, cool? I mean, you can all sit around waiting for me," she took another glance towards the pair and frowned, "in seething silence." Maybe she was picking up on something after all.
"Well I'm cool with the silence," Dustin replied nervously, "but I don't think I seethe..."
"Ah, Miss Kilbourne, ready for your afternoon of excruciating manual hard labour?" Ms. Jenkins, the teacher who had given Macy detention, had appeared around the corridor corner behind them. Macy jumped out of her skin with fright.
"What is it with witches and creeping up on me today?" she hissed to Dustin under her breath.
He couldn't blame her. Whilst Dustin did not take Ms. Jenkins math class, Macy's verbal likeness to a witch was not far off. Ms. Jenkins had a crooked nose, cat like watchful eyes and was dressed in ancient looking, dull clothes. She could be witchy.
"I heard that Miss Kilbourne," the teacher reprimanded, and handed Macy a sponge cloth and bucket that the girl peered at dubiously, "I think we'll start you with the lockers, and move onto the floors."
"What!?" Macy squawked in terror, "I thought that was a joke! What happened to a good old fifteen page essay, or time out, or lines - I could write lines…" She looked wild and desperate. Dustin wasn't surprised - he'd seen her room. Normally, wild dogs couldn't get Macy to lift a finger to clean. Dustin's room, in comparison, was cleaner than the Sunnydale Hospital. Well, nearly. Allergies.
"Not this time little missy," Ms. Jenkins almost cackled, "tomorrow night is our official opening night and I'm in charge of the event. All parents of students, and prospective parents, are invited. People want to see where their money is going - and I intend to show them. The end of the world itself will not stop my Opening Night from going perfectly as planned…"
She glared meaningfully at Macy, "Now, shouldn't you be cleaning?" Macy threw Dustin a withering glance, praying for salvation.
"Isn't there a janitor who should be doing that?" For best friend Macy, he could be brave and stand up to a teacher.
Ms. Jenkins eyes buried through his skin. Oh… maybe not. Dustin felt butterflies.
"Yes," Ms. Jenkins acknowledged, "but I'd like to see Macy do it." The self-satisfied smile followed her down the hallway in the sound of her clip-clopping high heels.
Macy gave Dustin a sympathetic look, "It's ok, you can breathe now," Dustin let go of a lungful of air, "Thanks anyway, but I guess Ms. Jenkins just has it in for me." Teachers generally did, but it was highly related to Macy's abhorrence of anything school-related.
"Sorry," Dustin apologised. He'd really hope to get Macy out of it so he didn't feel so totally alone in a crowd tonight, "I guess I'll see you later, at the Bronze." Much later.
She sighed dramatically and held the sponge as if it were a foreign object, "Yeah, I guess we can still write… Bon voyage… Have a nice trip… While I just… stay here… with my, bucket…"
****************
In the dark corner of an abandoned Sunnydale building, the gleaming of wicked teeth filled the room, "Sun's going down… Dinner time, Mr. Wolf…"