Subj: Finally done! Go ahead and post!
Date: 10/24/2002 5:18:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: SilentxLegacy
To: SilentxLegacy, Simplistic Karma
Pain. Death. Destruction. Love. Hate. Pain. Friends. Life. Happy. Sad. Angry. Chosen One. Demons. Vampires. Darkness. Pain. Brightness. Sacrifice. Death. Stakes. Holy water. Crosses. Souls. Death. Life.
These ideas swarmed around in Faith's mind as she tossed and turned in her bed. The white fabric grated against her legs roughly, adding to the uncomfortable nature of her nightmare. Stupid prophetic Slayer dreams always turned out the same. She died. Faith was very aware of her duty as a Slayer, but the dreams were just being excessive, weren't they?
Awaking with a start, the brunette nearly jumped out of her bed as her clock stereo blared from its nightstand. Well, the nightstand was really two cardboard boxes stacked against her almost-bare mattress. Faith slammed her hand down on the button, groaning as she turned to see what time it was. 6:30. Wonderful. An older woman's voice floated upstairs as Faith tried to regain full consciousness.
"Faith, wake up! You'll be late for school!"
After an all-time world record for the fastest shower, the Slayer dressed for school with some clothes she had unpacked the night before. Slipping on her signature jean jacket, which was designer of course (she did grow up in LA), and headed down the stairs. When she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by her family. Dawn, her bratty but adorable little sister, and Joyce, her middle-aged mother of two.
The Summers' family didn't always live in the pastel-colored world of Sunnydale, however. The city of angels, Los Angeles, was what they first called home. Joyce Summers married Hank Summers in 1979. A year later, their firstborn arrived. Named Faith Christina Summers; she was a spitfire since that day forward. Always being watchful but loud, observant but reckless, animated but enigmatic. Let's just say she was dynamic, even in a sandbox. Seven years later, the youngest child, Dawn Marie was born. Hank and Joyce started fighting more often, and even as a small child Faith questioned their logic. Why stay together if all they did was fight?
And after 16 years of marriage, the two split. Hank enjoyed seeing every other woman but his wife, and Joyce would have none of it. She wanted her children to have a nice, safe life...but that wasn't happening. Faith was growing up to be quite the troublemaker. But when she turned 15, it seemed to escalate dramatically. She started cutting school, came home late at night with blood and bruises all across her body. When Joyce questioned her, Faith blew her off. Faith's loud demeanor quieted. She became more distant and reckless. And the Mrs. Summers thought it was time for a change.
So you can imagine when she was offered the job at the Art Gallery in Sunnydale, she was ecstatic. It was a small, suburban town. It had a great reputation and nice homes. Joyce was able to afford a nice 4-bedroom home on Revello Drive.
The move was not an easy one, however. City-slicker Faith, although she had no real friends, was very sentimental about her city. Faith had grown attached to its 'survival of the fittest' attitude. Also, Hank was going to stay in LA, and Faith loved Hank. They were very similar in personality and looks. Faith's beautiful dark hair and dark eyes were both courtesy of Hank. He was tall, dark, and handsome. Faith was growing into a beautiful woman, and Joyce knew the two of them would look identical. They were quite the pair.
Dangerous and reckless, but sincere and loyal. Well, Faith was loyal. Hank, however, had a commitment problem he had tried to solve by marrying Joyce. He would've left her sooner, if Faith had not been born. She was the light of his life, and he, in return, was her hero. So when they were separated, Faith was resentful to her mother. Hostile and distant; she started a downward spiral until the move to Sunnydale. She tried to think of it as a new start, but she desperately needed her father.
But of course, he would move to Sweden or something with his secretary, leaving Faith behind. All this made Faith's heart colder, her personality more distant. One thing that kept Faith going was the strong bond she had made with her sister. Her sister idolized her, and Faith lived up to the idolatry. She was always there for Dawn, no matter what. So the brunette tried to make the best of a horrible, terrible, no-good, bad situation.
Faith took a strong whiff of the bacon and eggs frying on one of the few pans that Joyce had already unpacked. Faith slung her backpack over her shoulder, quirking a brow at her mother.
"Ready for your first day? Are you sure you don't want me to take you? I can take you, you know. You don't have to sit on the bus for your first day," Joyce started, getting a raised hand from Faith as a signal to stop rambling. Faith laughed, signaling a laugh from Dawn. Dawn wanted to be just like Faith, so she'd do anything Faith did.
"It's okay, Joyce, really. I'm a big girl now. 'Can ride the bus and everything." Joyce placed her hands on her hips, giving a disapproving glare to her elder daughter.
"You may be a 'big girl', but you're not big enough to call me Joyce. You can go and grow 90 feet, but I'm still 'mom' to you, young lady."
"Yeah, young lady. ....ohmigosh did you hear me? I sounded just like you, mommy!" Dawn parroted, giving Faith a toothless grin. Both Dawn's front teeth her missing, making her look even more adorable, and causing her S's to whistle. Faith grabbed a Nutri-Grain bar that sat on the counter and gave a quick smile to her mother.
"Sure, ma'. I'll see you guys after school." Faith turned on her heel and left the house swiftly. Closing the door behind her, Joyce scooped eggs and bacon onto Dawn's plate, nodding for her to start eating.
"Thanks, ma'." Joyce sighed exasperatedly, shaking her head and returning to her vigorous unpacking.
Faith waited impatiently for the school bus, glancing at her cell phone periodically for the time. At 7:00am on the dot, a bright yellow, cheery vehicle made its way to the corner. Faith's chestnut hues went wide as the large school bus screeched to a halt. Taking her skateboard out from her backpack that she had left opened, Faith placed it on the ground.
Starting off on her board, the Slayer shook her head. There was no way in *hell* this rebel was gonna ride the Brady-Bunch-Mobile. It's like the goddamn Partridge family was rolling to school. Faith boarded down the blocks to school, and with her Slayer stamina and speed, she made it there before the bus. She swerved out of the way of a very uncoordinated young boy, flipping up her skateboard as she ascended the stairs of Sunnydale High. Your typical, run-of-the-mill middle-class white kid school. Kids playing hackey-sack, band geeks talking about music none of them can play, and rich white kids blabbing about how difficult it is to live in a town as perfect as Sunnydale.
Xander flipped over the railing of the stairs, his eyes glued to the hottie that almost hit him dead-on. Willow quirked a brow at her eccentric friend, following his gaze to the brunette who was glancing around at the students with disgust.
"Willow! Very much the person that I wanted to see! I'm having trouble with math." Xander gave Willow a sloppy grin, getting an inquisitive expression in return.
"Which part?"
"The math part. Please please pleeeease be my study buddy?"
"What's in it for me?"
"A shiiiny new nickel."
"Ah, sold." At that moment, an awkward boy of their age came up to them, high-fiving Xander.
"Hey Jesse, what's up?" Xander asked politely, opening the door to the school.
"Have you *seen* the new girl?" Jesse asked, his hormones raging from the rumors he had heard about this girl. She was the bad-ass type. They didn't have many of those in Sunnydale. Usually just pompous football players, or kids who set fire to the lab book to protest the dissection of frogs.
"Quite the hottie! What else?" Willow rolled her eyes at her two best friends, scoffing at their interest in just the new girl's looks. Alexander LaVelle Harris on her left. The loyal, puppy-dogish young boy whose clothes matched once in a blue moon. Underneath his sloppy clothes and quick-wit, lay a very insecure individual. He had lots of time to think about what he wanted to do when he got older. Or so he thought.
And Jesse Michael Rocsten. A boy much like Xander, but his approach to women was much the opposite to Xander's. Jesse thought he was smooth and slick, and was slightly unperturbed by his complete lack of success. And the object of his affection? Cordelia Chase.
Cordelia Chase was the epitome of everything 90% of the population hated. Beautiful, popular, and wanted. All the boys wanted her, and all the girls wanted to be her. She was followed around by the Cordettes. A group of sheep flocking around their only ticket to popularity for their own lack of tact and intelligence.
Jesse approached Cordelia, his cheesy pickup line being shot down by venomous Cordelia. Willow did the combination to her locker, shaking her head at him. Willow Irene Rosenburg was the quiet, smart, Jewish girl. Striking green eyes and long red hair, the girl was waiting silently in her shell for someone to come along and make her break out. But until then she was content to stay in the shadows of high school, silently pining for her lifelong best friend Xander.
Faith's watchful gaze scanned through the crowd of students of Sunnydale High School. She didn't know how she was going to survive the next 3 years. Maybe she wouldn't. And right now that was pretty much okay with her.
Faith had a talent of figuring out people, and she was doing just that as she walked aimlessly through the hallways. She saw a group of jocks surrounded by wannabe groupies. Some dorks hanging out by a locker, and then there they were. The group of girls who had made Faith's freshman year of high school hell. And there she was. The girl in the center of it all, probably blabbing out fashions from Paris that were just so passe. The beautiful center of everything high school.
Faith had been that. Until her calling. But this girl seemed different, much like Faith had. She seemed to have depth hidden under layers of Clairol and Maybelline. But maybe Faith was just reading too much into it. Finally she stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking around. She was officially lost. It was a small school, but they must hide the principal's office. Her lost look must've been more apparent than she had thought, because one of the dorks by the locker approached her.
"Lost?" The brunette boy asked her, sticking his hands self-consciously into his pockets.
"Pretty much, yeah. Small school you got, but is the principal's office in the basement or something?" The young boy forced out a very uncomfortable laugh, but he coughed to try and cover it up. Faith just smirked at his insecurity. She had a way of doing that to people.
"Yeah, I've, uh, been there a couple times..." Jesse started to lie, placing one hand on the locker and another in his pocket in an attempt to look casual. "You know, the usual. Breaking and entering. ...Grand theft. Armed robbery...."
"Massive violation of every fashion code known to man." A sultry and sarcastic voice rang from behind the lanky form of Jesse. Faith raised her eyebrow for what seemed like the 90th time that morning. Jesse cowered sheepishly, stepping out of the way so the two girls could get full view of each other. They seemed to size each other up with a glance, Faith absentmindedly licked her bottom lip and her gaze met Cordy's. The taller brunette reached out her slender hand, smiling with false cheer.
"Cordelia Chase."
"Faith."
"No last name?"
"Do you really need to know?" Cordelia paused, ready to retort, but instead she just smiled and withdrew her hand. Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave a 'get the hell out of here' glare to Jesse. Obediently, he skittered away to join his friends who were on their way to class.
"So you're looking for the principal's office, right? We might have a small one-Starbucks town...but the school is full of things that need be avoided. Like them." Cordelia pointed vaguely in the direction of Willow and her pals, innocently going to class. "Once you learn how to spot the geeks, you learn how to avoid them." Cordelia stopped by the water fountain, looking pointedly at the timid redhead who was just staring up at Cordelia, the stream of water hitting her in the face. Standing up swiftly, she wiped the excess liquid from her mouth.
"Are you done?" Cordelia asked haughtily, causing Willow to stutter and stammer her thoughts out. Cordy's eyes went to the water fountain and back up at Willow. Faith watched the exchange from partially behind Cordelia, her features twisting into compassion for the redhead dork.
"O-oh." Willow stammered, her feet nervously planted to the floor. It was like stage fright but without the stage..or the audience. Well, except for Cordelia the super-bitch and the new girl.
"Wow, Willow, it's good to see you've seen the softer side of Sears."
"Yeah. M-my mom picked it out."
"No wonder you're such a guy magnet. Are you done?" Cordelia placed her hands on her hips. Willow nodded silently, almost running to class. Faith was slightly disturbed and impressed by Cordelia's control over the school. She seemed to have everything at her fingertips, and there had to be something behind her facade of stupidity and self-consciousness. And for some reason, Faith felt oddly compelled to find out.
Cordelia led her down a hallway, and pointed at the door with the words "PRINCIPAL" tattooed across them. Faith looked at Cordelia awkwardly, and smiled briefly.
"Thanks."
"No problem. Hey, tonight, come to the Bronze."
"The who?" Cordelia laughed, rolling her eyes in embarrassment.
"It's the place to hang out in Sunnydale. The *only* place to hang out, actually. It's a pretty cool club, and if you wanna meet people, you oughta be there." Cordelia silently pleaded that the hopefulness in her voice wouldn't be caught by Faith. Faith nodded and shrugged, making a mental note to absolutely be there.
"Sure, I'll see if I can swing by." Cordelia nodded and waved a bit to her before taking off down the hallway. Faith's brow finally ceased to quirk and she went into the principal's office. A tall, portly man in his mid-to-late 40's smiled kindly at Faith, offering a chair.
"Ah, you must be Faith. I've heard a lot of things about you." Faith went to protest things she believed had been said about her. Setting fire to the gym, the fights. The principal held up his hand, smiling again at her. He slipped into his leather recliner, opening Faith's file. "I know you're file here is...colorful. But here at Sunnydale High, we believe in fresh starts. So, consider your record gone to me." To prove his word, the principal ripped up Faith's permanent record and placed the pieces in the garbage.
Her chestnut eyes widened at his act, smirking a bit at the school-spirited man.
"I'm principal Flutie. I run things around here at SHS. I just like to keep things nice and calm. If you obey the rules, we have no problem here. There are loads of activities and clubs to join, so look some of them up!" Getting up and going towards the door, Faith followed suit. Shaking his hand politely, Flutie opened the door for her. "Thanks for stopping by, Ms. Summers. I've got some work to do, so I hope you have a great time here."
Faith left the office rather perplexed. Usually they went into long, drawn-out speeches about...school and stuff. School spirit, crap like that. But this guy was friendly and knew that Faith didn't need it.
It was a good start, so far, for Faith. Maybe...just maybe she could survive high school.
Date: 10/24/2002 5:18:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: SilentxLegacy
To: SilentxLegacy, Simplistic Karma
Pain. Death. Destruction. Love. Hate. Pain. Friends. Life. Happy. Sad. Angry. Chosen One. Demons. Vampires. Darkness. Pain. Brightness. Sacrifice. Death. Stakes. Holy water. Crosses. Souls. Death. Life.
These ideas swarmed around in Faith's mind as she tossed and turned in her bed. The white fabric grated against her legs roughly, adding to the uncomfortable nature of her nightmare. Stupid prophetic Slayer dreams always turned out the same. She died. Faith was very aware of her duty as a Slayer, but the dreams were just being excessive, weren't they?
Awaking with a start, the brunette nearly jumped out of her bed as her clock stereo blared from its nightstand. Well, the nightstand was really two cardboard boxes stacked against her almost-bare mattress. Faith slammed her hand down on the button, groaning as she turned to see what time it was. 6:30. Wonderful. An older woman's voice floated upstairs as Faith tried to regain full consciousness.
"Faith, wake up! You'll be late for school!"
After an all-time world record for the fastest shower, the Slayer dressed for school with some clothes she had unpacked the night before. Slipping on her signature jean jacket, which was designer of course (she did grow up in LA), and headed down the stairs. When she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by her family. Dawn, her bratty but adorable little sister, and Joyce, her middle-aged mother of two.
The Summers' family didn't always live in the pastel-colored world of Sunnydale, however. The city of angels, Los Angeles, was what they first called home. Joyce Summers married Hank Summers in 1979. A year later, their firstborn arrived. Named Faith Christina Summers; she was a spitfire since that day forward. Always being watchful but loud, observant but reckless, animated but enigmatic. Let's just say she was dynamic, even in a sandbox. Seven years later, the youngest child, Dawn Marie was born. Hank and Joyce started fighting more often, and even as a small child Faith questioned their logic. Why stay together if all they did was fight?
And after 16 years of marriage, the two split. Hank enjoyed seeing every other woman but his wife, and Joyce would have none of it. She wanted her children to have a nice, safe life...but that wasn't happening. Faith was growing up to be quite the troublemaker. But when she turned 15, it seemed to escalate dramatically. She started cutting school, came home late at night with blood and bruises all across her body. When Joyce questioned her, Faith blew her off. Faith's loud demeanor quieted. She became more distant and reckless. And the Mrs. Summers thought it was time for a change.
So you can imagine when she was offered the job at the Art Gallery in Sunnydale, she was ecstatic. It was a small, suburban town. It had a great reputation and nice homes. Joyce was able to afford a nice 4-bedroom home on Revello Drive.
The move was not an easy one, however. City-slicker Faith, although she had no real friends, was very sentimental about her city. Faith had grown attached to its 'survival of the fittest' attitude. Also, Hank was going to stay in LA, and Faith loved Hank. They were very similar in personality and looks. Faith's beautiful dark hair and dark eyes were both courtesy of Hank. He was tall, dark, and handsome. Faith was growing into a beautiful woman, and Joyce knew the two of them would look identical. They were quite the pair.
Dangerous and reckless, but sincere and loyal. Well, Faith was loyal. Hank, however, had a commitment problem he had tried to solve by marrying Joyce. He would've left her sooner, if Faith had not been born. She was the light of his life, and he, in return, was her hero. So when they were separated, Faith was resentful to her mother. Hostile and distant; she started a downward spiral until the move to Sunnydale. She tried to think of it as a new start, but she desperately needed her father.
But of course, he would move to Sweden or something with his secretary, leaving Faith behind. All this made Faith's heart colder, her personality more distant. One thing that kept Faith going was the strong bond she had made with her sister. Her sister idolized her, and Faith lived up to the idolatry. She was always there for Dawn, no matter what. So the brunette tried to make the best of a horrible, terrible, no-good, bad situation.
Faith took a strong whiff of the bacon and eggs frying on one of the few pans that Joyce had already unpacked. Faith slung her backpack over her shoulder, quirking a brow at her mother.
"Ready for your first day? Are you sure you don't want me to take you? I can take you, you know. You don't have to sit on the bus for your first day," Joyce started, getting a raised hand from Faith as a signal to stop rambling. Faith laughed, signaling a laugh from Dawn. Dawn wanted to be just like Faith, so she'd do anything Faith did.
"It's okay, Joyce, really. I'm a big girl now. 'Can ride the bus and everything." Joyce placed her hands on her hips, giving a disapproving glare to her elder daughter.
"You may be a 'big girl', but you're not big enough to call me Joyce. You can go and grow 90 feet, but I'm still 'mom' to you, young lady."
"Yeah, young lady. ....ohmigosh did you hear me? I sounded just like you, mommy!" Dawn parroted, giving Faith a toothless grin. Both Dawn's front teeth her missing, making her look even more adorable, and causing her S's to whistle. Faith grabbed a Nutri-Grain bar that sat on the counter and gave a quick smile to her mother.
"Sure, ma'. I'll see you guys after school." Faith turned on her heel and left the house swiftly. Closing the door behind her, Joyce scooped eggs and bacon onto Dawn's plate, nodding for her to start eating.
"Thanks, ma'." Joyce sighed exasperatedly, shaking her head and returning to her vigorous unpacking.
Faith waited impatiently for the school bus, glancing at her cell phone periodically for the time. At 7:00am on the dot, a bright yellow, cheery vehicle made its way to the corner. Faith's chestnut hues went wide as the large school bus screeched to a halt. Taking her skateboard out from her backpack that she had left opened, Faith placed it on the ground.
Starting off on her board, the Slayer shook her head. There was no way in *hell* this rebel was gonna ride the Brady-Bunch-Mobile. It's like the goddamn Partridge family was rolling to school. Faith boarded down the blocks to school, and with her Slayer stamina and speed, she made it there before the bus. She swerved out of the way of a very uncoordinated young boy, flipping up her skateboard as she ascended the stairs of Sunnydale High. Your typical, run-of-the-mill middle-class white kid school. Kids playing hackey-sack, band geeks talking about music none of them can play, and rich white kids blabbing about how difficult it is to live in a town as perfect as Sunnydale.
Xander flipped over the railing of the stairs, his eyes glued to the hottie that almost hit him dead-on. Willow quirked a brow at her eccentric friend, following his gaze to the brunette who was glancing around at the students with disgust.
"Willow! Very much the person that I wanted to see! I'm having trouble with math." Xander gave Willow a sloppy grin, getting an inquisitive expression in return.
"Which part?"
"The math part. Please please pleeeease be my study buddy?"
"What's in it for me?"
"A shiiiny new nickel."
"Ah, sold." At that moment, an awkward boy of their age came up to them, high-fiving Xander.
"Hey Jesse, what's up?" Xander asked politely, opening the door to the school.
"Have you *seen* the new girl?" Jesse asked, his hormones raging from the rumors he had heard about this girl. She was the bad-ass type. They didn't have many of those in Sunnydale. Usually just pompous football players, or kids who set fire to the lab book to protest the dissection of frogs.
"Quite the hottie! What else?" Willow rolled her eyes at her two best friends, scoffing at their interest in just the new girl's looks. Alexander LaVelle Harris on her left. The loyal, puppy-dogish young boy whose clothes matched once in a blue moon. Underneath his sloppy clothes and quick-wit, lay a very insecure individual. He had lots of time to think about what he wanted to do when he got older. Or so he thought.
And Jesse Michael Rocsten. A boy much like Xander, but his approach to women was much the opposite to Xander's. Jesse thought he was smooth and slick, and was slightly unperturbed by his complete lack of success. And the object of his affection? Cordelia Chase.
Cordelia Chase was the epitome of everything 90% of the population hated. Beautiful, popular, and wanted. All the boys wanted her, and all the girls wanted to be her. She was followed around by the Cordettes. A group of sheep flocking around their only ticket to popularity for their own lack of tact and intelligence.
Jesse approached Cordelia, his cheesy pickup line being shot down by venomous Cordelia. Willow did the combination to her locker, shaking her head at him. Willow Irene Rosenburg was the quiet, smart, Jewish girl. Striking green eyes and long red hair, the girl was waiting silently in her shell for someone to come along and make her break out. But until then she was content to stay in the shadows of high school, silently pining for her lifelong best friend Xander.
Faith's watchful gaze scanned through the crowd of students of Sunnydale High School. She didn't know how she was going to survive the next 3 years. Maybe she wouldn't. And right now that was pretty much okay with her.
Faith had a talent of figuring out people, and she was doing just that as she walked aimlessly through the hallways. She saw a group of jocks surrounded by wannabe groupies. Some dorks hanging out by a locker, and then there they were. The group of girls who had made Faith's freshman year of high school hell. And there she was. The girl in the center of it all, probably blabbing out fashions from Paris that were just so passe. The beautiful center of everything high school.
Faith had been that. Until her calling. But this girl seemed different, much like Faith had. She seemed to have depth hidden under layers of Clairol and Maybelline. But maybe Faith was just reading too much into it. Finally she stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking around. She was officially lost. It was a small school, but they must hide the principal's office. Her lost look must've been more apparent than she had thought, because one of the dorks by the locker approached her.
"Lost?" The brunette boy asked her, sticking his hands self-consciously into his pockets.
"Pretty much, yeah. Small school you got, but is the principal's office in the basement or something?" The young boy forced out a very uncomfortable laugh, but he coughed to try and cover it up. Faith just smirked at his insecurity. She had a way of doing that to people.
"Yeah, I've, uh, been there a couple times..." Jesse started to lie, placing one hand on the locker and another in his pocket in an attempt to look casual. "You know, the usual. Breaking and entering. ...Grand theft. Armed robbery...."
"Massive violation of every fashion code known to man." A sultry and sarcastic voice rang from behind the lanky form of Jesse. Faith raised her eyebrow for what seemed like the 90th time that morning. Jesse cowered sheepishly, stepping out of the way so the two girls could get full view of each other. They seemed to size each other up with a glance, Faith absentmindedly licked her bottom lip and her gaze met Cordy's. The taller brunette reached out her slender hand, smiling with false cheer.
"Cordelia Chase."
"Faith."
"No last name?"
"Do you really need to know?" Cordelia paused, ready to retort, but instead she just smiled and withdrew her hand. Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave a 'get the hell out of here' glare to Jesse. Obediently, he skittered away to join his friends who were on their way to class.
"So you're looking for the principal's office, right? We might have a small one-Starbucks town...but the school is full of things that need be avoided. Like them." Cordelia pointed vaguely in the direction of Willow and her pals, innocently going to class. "Once you learn how to spot the geeks, you learn how to avoid them." Cordelia stopped by the water fountain, looking pointedly at the timid redhead who was just staring up at Cordelia, the stream of water hitting her in the face. Standing up swiftly, she wiped the excess liquid from her mouth.
"Are you done?" Cordelia asked haughtily, causing Willow to stutter and stammer her thoughts out. Cordy's eyes went to the water fountain and back up at Willow. Faith watched the exchange from partially behind Cordelia, her features twisting into compassion for the redhead dork.
"O-oh." Willow stammered, her feet nervously planted to the floor. It was like stage fright but without the stage..or the audience. Well, except for Cordelia the super-bitch and the new girl.
"Wow, Willow, it's good to see you've seen the softer side of Sears."
"Yeah. M-my mom picked it out."
"No wonder you're such a guy magnet. Are you done?" Cordelia placed her hands on her hips. Willow nodded silently, almost running to class. Faith was slightly disturbed and impressed by Cordelia's control over the school. She seemed to have everything at her fingertips, and there had to be something behind her facade of stupidity and self-consciousness. And for some reason, Faith felt oddly compelled to find out.
Cordelia led her down a hallway, and pointed at the door with the words "PRINCIPAL" tattooed across them. Faith looked at Cordelia awkwardly, and smiled briefly.
"Thanks."
"No problem. Hey, tonight, come to the Bronze."
"The who?" Cordelia laughed, rolling her eyes in embarrassment.
"It's the place to hang out in Sunnydale. The *only* place to hang out, actually. It's a pretty cool club, and if you wanna meet people, you oughta be there." Cordelia silently pleaded that the hopefulness in her voice wouldn't be caught by Faith. Faith nodded and shrugged, making a mental note to absolutely be there.
"Sure, I'll see if I can swing by." Cordelia nodded and waved a bit to her before taking off down the hallway. Faith's brow finally ceased to quirk and she went into the principal's office. A tall, portly man in his mid-to-late 40's smiled kindly at Faith, offering a chair.
"Ah, you must be Faith. I've heard a lot of things about you." Faith went to protest things she believed had been said about her. Setting fire to the gym, the fights. The principal held up his hand, smiling again at her. He slipped into his leather recliner, opening Faith's file. "I know you're file here is...colorful. But here at Sunnydale High, we believe in fresh starts. So, consider your record gone to me." To prove his word, the principal ripped up Faith's permanent record and placed the pieces in the garbage.
Her chestnut eyes widened at his act, smirking a bit at the school-spirited man.
"I'm principal Flutie. I run things around here at SHS. I just like to keep things nice and calm. If you obey the rules, we have no problem here. There are loads of activities and clubs to join, so look some of them up!" Getting up and going towards the door, Faith followed suit. Shaking his hand politely, Flutie opened the door for her. "Thanks for stopping by, Ms. Summers. I've got some work to do, so I hope you have a great time here."
Faith left the office rather perplexed. Usually they went into long, drawn-out speeches about...school and stuff. School spirit, crap like that. But this guy was friendly and knew that Faith didn't need it.
It was a good start, so far, for Faith. Maybe...just maybe she could survive high school.