Buffy stared up at the main building of Hemery High nervously early Monday
morning. She had tried to go for responsible-cute in a short plaid skirt in
baby blue and soft grey and pink, with a matching argyle sleeveless
sweater, and a soft pink oxford shirt. She carried her mini-blazer in her
arms. She was waiting for her mother to get out of her car so they could go
to the principal's office together.
The last weekend had not been a good one for the fifteen-year-old. After Pike had dropped her home Saturday morning, her parents had gone pretty much beasty-style on her. Hank Summers, famous for his hot temper, had grounded his daughter indefinitely, and Joyce had given her the "it's drugs, isn't it?" talk. The same talk, in fact, that Principal Gary Murray had given her just a week or two ago. Buffy grimaced when she realized that. It was time for round three of said discussion, she thought with dismay.
"Are you ready?" Joyce asked, stopping beside her daughter. Joyce's worried eyes bored down into her petite daughter's hazel ones, and the honey-blonde haired girl nodded. Buffy tried her best to breathe properly though. Joyce still didn't know that it was Buffy who had burned down the gym last week.
"As ready as I'll ever be, Mom." Joyce nodded at her daughter, possibly more worried than her daughter was. After all, whatever happened today would most definitely be put on Buffy's transcripts, and if Buffy were to be expelled, then Joyce had no idea what they would do. No school in the LA County district would take her daughter in, she knew. After all, Buffy now had a history of fighting in gangs and taking drugs. Schools weren't too happy with that sort of thing.
The two made their way silently to the principal's office, Joyce visibly upset and nervous, and Buffy trying to ignore the looks of contempt and pity she received from fellow students. She could hear things being whispered about her in the halls, and she tried to ignore them. She overheard, though, someone say she was hooked on drugs, and someone else claim that Buffy was somehow the member of some teenaged Mafia. The Slayer gritted her teeth through all of this. It seemed that it didn't matter that she had saved a good number of Hemery High students at the dance on Friday. All that mattered was that she was a weirdo, a freak, someone to avoid.
Buffy hoped against all odds that she would be expelled, so that she could get a fresh start.
A few moments later found mother and daughter sitting in front of Principal Murray's desk, with Principal Murray having visibly moved all sharp objects far, far away from the desk. It seemed he remembered his last meeting with Buffy, where she had killed a fly with a thumbtack, just by shooting it from her mouth and pinning the fly to the wall. Murray had been shocked by Buffy's precision, and had thus decided to keep all things dangerous away from her. The fact that she had burned down the entire gym just last week did nothing to help him think her a safe young woman.
"Buffy," Principal Murray began, "burned down the gym last week." He turned away from the window, his mouth twitching, and his hand scratching his beard. He stared at Joyce for a moment, and then turned to Buffy. He opened his mouth to say something when Joyce interrupted him.
"She burned down the gym?!" Joyce turned to her daughter. "You burned down the gym? Buffy, you never told us you burned down the gym. You, young lady, are really going to be in deep -"
"Mrs. Summers, please, let me finish first. You and Buffy may work out whatever problems you may have at home," Murray said pertly to Joyce, cutting off her outburst. Joyce stared at Principal Murray, a none-too- happy expression across her lovely, usually peaceful face. "Anyway, as I was saying, Buffy has burned down the gym, and beyond that she has, in the past few weeks, been tardy an innumerable amount of times, and has also skipped very many of her classes and cheerleading practices. That shows bad behavior for the captain of the squad. Neither her gang fight last week nor her wreaking havoc at one of our games two weeks ago helps her record much, I'm afraid. I'm sorry to say, Mrs. Summers, that your daughter will have to be expelled from Hemery High School. Immediately. She has a fifteen minutes to clean out her locker."
"Principal Murray," Joyce began, not about to give up, "is there nothing we can do, or that you can do, to keep Buffy in school here?"
Murray gave Joyce a look of pure exasperation as he said, "Mrs. Summers, your daughter burned down the gym for whatever reason she saw fit. She is a juvenile delinquent, and hence I am afraid that under no circumstances will Buffy be allowed to stay here. I'm truly very sorry, but I am sure that there are a good many private schools that may accept your daughter, even this late in the year. If not, reform school is always an option."
"Reform school?!" Buffy sputtered, sitting up a little bit straighter. "Principal Murray, haven't you noticed the weird things that have been going on in LA? I mean, the sudden deaths, the disappearances, all the freaky things that have become LA? I had good reason to burn down the gym that night, and if you remember the night in detail, you will realize that I had good reason to as well!"
"And that so-called 'good reason' is?" Murray asked skeptically.
Buffy ignored his tone, and ignored Merrick's early warning, when she blurted, "Vampires. The gym was infested with vampires, and hence I had to burn down the gym to stop them all from rising."
"Vampires? You expect me to believe this?" Murray asked, just as Joyce, in unison, asked, "Buffy, are you on hallucinogens?"
"Yes! And no!"
"Look, Miss Summers, I appreciate that you try to justify your actions, no matter how odd an excuse you give, but there is nothing that I can do. You must leave Hemery High behind you."
"Principal Murray, I'm telling the truth!"
Murray nodded at Buffy sympathetically. "Of course you are." He then turned to Joyce once more, this time picking up a card off his desk and handing it to her. "This may help," he said, handing her a card for a well-known child psychologist. "Call her anytime."
Joyce nodded, defeated, and accepting the card. "Thank you, Principal Murray."
He nodded at them once, and bid them farewell and good luck.
Buffy gulped as she left the office behind her mother, knowing that things could only go downhill from here onwards.
The last weekend had not been a good one for the fifteen-year-old. After Pike had dropped her home Saturday morning, her parents had gone pretty much beasty-style on her. Hank Summers, famous for his hot temper, had grounded his daughter indefinitely, and Joyce had given her the "it's drugs, isn't it?" talk. The same talk, in fact, that Principal Gary Murray had given her just a week or two ago. Buffy grimaced when she realized that. It was time for round three of said discussion, she thought with dismay.
"Are you ready?" Joyce asked, stopping beside her daughter. Joyce's worried eyes bored down into her petite daughter's hazel ones, and the honey-blonde haired girl nodded. Buffy tried her best to breathe properly though. Joyce still didn't know that it was Buffy who had burned down the gym last week.
"As ready as I'll ever be, Mom." Joyce nodded at her daughter, possibly more worried than her daughter was. After all, whatever happened today would most definitely be put on Buffy's transcripts, and if Buffy were to be expelled, then Joyce had no idea what they would do. No school in the LA County district would take her daughter in, she knew. After all, Buffy now had a history of fighting in gangs and taking drugs. Schools weren't too happy with that sort of thing.
The two made their way silently to the principal's office, Joyce visibly upset and nervous, and Buffy trying to ignore the looks of contempt and pity she received from fellow students. She could hear things being whispered about her in the halls, and she tried to ignore them. She overheard, though, someone say she was hooked on drugs, and someone else claim that Buffy was somehow the member of some teenaged Mafia. The Slayer gritted her teeth through all of this. It seemed that it didn't matter that she had saved a good number of Hemery High students at the dance on Friday. All that mattered was that she was a weirdo, a freak, someone to avoid.
Buffy hoped against all odds that she would be expelled, so that she could get a fresh start.
A few moments later found mother and daughter sitting in front of Principal Murray's desk, with Principal Murray having visibly moved all sharp objects far, far away from the desk. It seemed he remembered his last meeting with Buffy, where she had killed a fly with a thumbtack, just by shooting it from her mouth and pinning the fly to the wall. Murray had been shocked by Buffy's precision, and had thus decided to keep all things dangerous away from her. The fact that she had burned down the entire gym just last week did nothing to help him think her a safe young woman.
"Buffy," Principal Murray began, "burned down the gym last week." He turned away from the window, his mouth twitching, and his hand scratching his beard. He stared at Joyce for a moment, and then turned to Buffy. He opened his mouth to say something when Joyce interrupted him.
"She burned down the gym?!" Joyce turned to her daughter. "You burned down the gym? Buffy, you never told us you burned down the gym. You, young lady, are really going to be in deep -"
"Mrs. Summers, please, let me finish first. You and Buffy may work out whatever problems you may have at home," Murray said pertly to Joyce, cutting off her outburst. Joyce stared at Principal Murray, a none-too- happy expression across her lovely, usually peaceful face. "Anyway, as I was saying, Buffy has burned down the gym, and beyond that she has, in the past few weeks, been tardy an innumerable amount of times, and has also skipped very many of her classes and cheerleading practices. That shows bad behavior for the captain of the squad. Neither her gang fight last week nor her wreaking havoc at one of our games two weeks ago helps her record much, I'm afraid. I'm sorry to say, Mrs. Summers, that your daughter will have to be expelled from Hemery High School. Immediately. She has a fifteen minutes to clean out her locker."
"Principal Murray," Joyce began, not about to give up, "is there nothing we can do, or that you can do, to keep Buffy in school here?"
Murray gave Joyce a look of pure exasperation as he said, "Mrs. Summers, your daughter burned down the gym for whatever reason she saw fit. She is a juvenile delinquent, and hence I am afraid that under no circumstances will Buffy be allowed to stay here. I'm truly very sorry, but I am sure that there are a good many private schools that may accept your daughter, even this late in the year. If not, reform school is always an option."
"Reform school?!" Buffy sputtered, sitting up a little bit straighter. "Principal Murray, haven't you noticed the weird things that have been going on in LA? I mean, the sudden deaths, the disappearances, all the freaky things that have become LA? I had good reason to burn down the gym that night, and if you remember the night in detail, you will realize that I had good reason to as well!"
"And that so-called 'good reason' is?" Murray asked skeptically.
Buffy ignored his tone, and ignored Merrick's early warning, when she blurted, "Vampires. The gym was infested with vampires, and hence I had to burn down the gym to stop them all from rising."
"Vampires? You expect me to believe this?" Murray asked, just as Joyce, in unison, asked, "Buffy, are you on hallucinogens?"
"Yes! And no!"
"Look, Miss Summers, I appreciate that you try to justify your actions, no matter how odd an excuse you give, but there is nothing that I can do. You must leave Hemery High behind you."
"Principal Murray, I'm telling the truth!"
Murray nodded at Buffy sympathetically. "Of course you are." He then turned to Joyce once more, this time picking up a card off his desk and handing it to her. "This may help," he said, handing her a card for a well-known child psychologist. "Call her anytime."
Joyce nodded, defeated, and accepting the card. "Thank you, Principal Murray."
He nodded at them once, and bid them farewell and good luck.
Buffy gulped as she left the office behind her mother, knowing that things could only go downhill from here onwards.