8:32 a.m.
Jade slid into her seat next to Dawn and dropped her heavy bag to the tile floor with a sigh.
"They need to make lighter textbooks," she complained.
"Definitely. Like, fat-free education," Dawn dead-panned. Jade rolled her eyes. "What do you have in there? My bag's not as heavy as yours."
"Oh, you know, biology, chemistry, English, a world atlas, a copy of the constitution, and the original ten commandments. The tablets, not the movie."
Dawn raised her eyebrows. "Um, right."
Mr. Winters strode into the classroom then and immediately began handing out a new assignment. The students groaned as they looked over the papers, and a carpet of chatter began to fill the air.
Dawn glanced at the sheet and grimaced. "'In groups of four, analyze a scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet and find a creative way to present it to the class.' Oh, my god. Could this get any lamer? We did stuff like this in grade 9!"
"I've never done Shakespeare before," Jade enthused. Dawn gawked at her with shocked eyes and a slack jaw. "I went to school in France for a long time," she explained, "and they didn't really teach us about the English writers, you know? The French have strong national pride."
"Well hey, why don't we go together and I'll teach you everything I know about Shakespeare. Which is: 'dead' and 'boring'. On second thought, we'd better find some smart kids to pair with."
9:38 a.m.
"Ms. Summers?"
Buffy looked up at the woman standing in her doorway. She was a school secretary, the same one who had shown her around the office on her first day.
Margaret…Maggie…Melinda…dammit, what's her name?
"Oh, uh, hi! Do you need - I mean, is there something I can do for you?"
"There's a Ms. Harder here to see you. She says she has an appointment?"
"Right! Right. Um, can you tell her I'll just be a moment…" Molly, Margot, Makayla, Millicent "…please?"
"Of course."
The secretary left and Buffy dragged Jade's file out once again. There were many things she wanted to ask Ms. Harder, especially regarding Jade's current living situation. It seemed strange to her that the girl would choose to come all the way to America to live with her mother's cousin.
Buffy sighed and stood from her desk. She desperately wanted this day to be over so she could take the Potentials out and have them running all over the cemetery, chasing vamps, scouting crypts and generally doing her job. Boy, was it going to be fun!
She made her way out into the small waiting room and picked out Miriam Harder straight away. The woman was slight, with flaming red hair, but it was the determination and strength in her posture that set her apart as Jade's aunt.
Buffy held out her hand in greeting, and Miriam shook it warmly. The meeting had begun.
****
"So, is there anything you'd specifically like to bring to my attention today, Ms. Harder?"
"Oh, please, call me Miriam."
"Okay, in that case, you can call me Buffy." The women exchanged friendly smiles.
"Well…Buffy…I would like to explain a few things about Jade."
Buffy leaned forward in her chair and gave Miriam her best 'guidance counsellor' look. Although the older woman seemed very pleasant and, under any other circumstances, she would probably try to set her up with Giles, Buffy just wanted the day to be over so she could go home and talk to Spike about the evening's plans.
She was beginning to get nervous that maybe he wasn't healed enough and was thinking that perhaps calling the whole thing off might be a good idea. Except for the fact, of course, that he'd probably convince her into believing he was in top shape and completely capable of handling a few Slayers in Training.
And of course this pre-occupation with Spike's health was distracting her from the important things. Like which gear was 'drive' and which was 'reverse'. And whether or not her shirt was on inside-out. Or what the name of that damn secretary was!
"You see," Miriam began, "Jade's had quite a hard life." Buffy gave her the 'go on' grunt. "Um, well, as I'm sure you saw in her file, she's an orphan."
Buffy nodded. "That must have been hard on her. I know what it's like to be left without parents. My mom died two years ago, and my dad…well, nobody really knows where he is. Probably on some tropical island living the rest of his days with his secretary. But, um, yeah. It must have been hard."
Miriam nodded sullenly. "It was. Her whole village was destroyed in the fire, and she had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Eventually, she was found wandering the streets of Paris and was placed in a school for troubled children."
"You mean an orphanage," Buffy clarified.
"Basically, yes. She was there for three years before I was contacted about my sister's death and the status of my niece. I had her immediately sent to live with me in New York. Being her only living relative, I thought it would be better for her to be with me than in some god awful French institution.
"Needless to say, we didn't get along very well. Though she could speak perfectly good English, taught to her, I assume, by her mother, she refused to converse in anything other than French. She didn't trust me, you see. It was months before she finally felt comfortable enough with me to want to talk.
"Anyway, after a while, I started noticing her behaving oddly."
"What do you mean by 'oddly'?" Buffy queried.
Miriam frowned in mild confusion. "I don't know how to explain it, really. It was more a feeling than anything else, I suppose. She was quiet, withdrawn - more so than usual. Every once in a while she would sneak out her bedroom window just after nightfall. God only knows what she was doing on the streets of New York at that age. I tried to keep her in at night, tried to get her to talk to me, but it was like…it was like she was living in another world? In some fantasy reality?
"One night, I got a phone call from the hospital. Jade had been brought in with an injured boy and she herself was receiving treatment for some minor cuts and bruises. I rushed down there, and I found her sitting by his side, holding his hand. I'd never seen him before, but she seemed to know him very well. I tried to get her to explain to me what happened, but she wouldn't speak to me.
"I told her we were going to move. That I was going to get her out of that city and find her a nice, safe place to live. And for once, she didn't argue. We started searching for towns in the south that sounded quiet and respectable. She decided on this one.
"I know she said goodbye to her friend, because one morning I woke up to find all my roses picked. We couldn't take them with us, so I guess she decided to make use of them. Then we moved, and she never said a word about any of it. I really, really just want this to be the end of her troubles. I want her to be happy here. I want her to be safe."
Miriam's eyes clouded with tears and she blinked them back profusely. Buffy regarded the woman with pity and understanding in her heart. This must have been how her mother felt when they first moved to Sunnydale themselves. The divorce was going through, Buffy had just been expelled from Hemery, and Joyce was trying to start her own business. It seemed like too much for one person to handle.
Buffy supposed it was. She plucked a Kleenex from the box on her desk and made her way to where Miriam sat. She handed the tissue to her and knelt to wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"It's okay, Miriam. You can cry here."
Miriam's breath hitched once, then twice, and soon she was sobbing into Buffy's offered shoulder. It felt good to finally be allowed to give in to her emotions, and for some reason this young girl understood that need to just…let go!
The two women huddled in the office together for some time. Around them, the school continued it's routine.
10:24 a.m.
"So, let me get this straight. Amanda, Jade and I are going to do the research, rewrite the scene in plain English, gather the props and costumes, and you're going to, what? Contribute to our aesthetics mark?"
Dawn glared at the boy sitting at their table in the cafeteria. He had his feet propped up on the chair beside him and he was taking absolutely no interest in the project at hand.
"Uh, sure, as long as…that word…doesn't mean something bad."
Amanda rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Jade gave him the death-glare (complete with folded arms, pursed lips, and an arched eyebrow), but did nothing but grunt in disapproval. Dawn on the other hand, ever the outspoken one, barely restrained herself from unleashing a can of whoopass on him that would impress even the ex-vengeance demon Anya, and settled for some good old-fashioned screaming.
"YOU, Shawn, are the most infuriating and incorrigible person I have EVER MET!! And I've met some real evil people! IF you don't want to work on this project, that's FINE with ME, but you'll have to explain to Mr. Winters why you don't have a part in our play, 'cause we SURE AS HELL AREN'T GOING TO WRITE YOU IN OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF OUR HEARTS!!"
Shawn took his feet off the chair and leaned forward to get into Dawn's face. "Look, Summers, I don't want any trouble. You just do this stupid little project for me, and maybe I'll ask you to the Winter Formal."
"Excuse me?! I do not need to bribe you into taking me to the dance! I don't even want to go to the dance! And even if I DID I would not go with YOU!!"
He narrowed his eyes menacingly. She glared back defiantly. They sat that way until Amanda cleared her throat and finally drew their attention.
"O-kay…so, I think we've all agreed that Shawn isn't going to sit this one out. Why don't we all exchange numbers and we'll arrange a research party?"
The other three looked at her sceptically before scribbling their digits on scrap pieces of paper. As the bell rang signalling the change of class, the group cleared their things from the table and began heading their separate ways. Shawn swung his backpack up just as Dawn and Jade stepped around the table, knocking Dawn's books out of her hands.
"Oh, sorry Summers," he sneered. Dawn merely glared at him and knelt to pick up her things. He made a move to kick one of them further away, but Jade stepped up and gave him a hard shove.
Shawn fell against the table, and he stared at her in open shock. Dawn looked up, surprised, and Amanda just ignored the whole scene. Jade stood her ground, allowing Dawn time to gather her books safely in her arms before they headed out of the cafeteria. Just as they were heading into the hall, Shawn called after them.
"I'm not scared of you, you know! Just because your sister's the counsellor and you've got that pitbull on a short leash," he said, nodding towards Jade, whose whole body stiffened at the insult, "doesn't mean you're any better than the rest of us."
Dawn's hateful expression slowly melted into one of guilt and acceptance. Buffy had thought herself to be better than the rest of her friends, and that's what had really screwed up her life. But Dawn knew she wasn't better than everyone - just him.
"You've got it all wrong, Shawn," she said, shaking her head sadly. "You've got it all wrong."
****
"Can you believe the nerve of that jerk?" Dawn demanded of Jade as they walked to their next class. They pressed through the pulsing bodies around them and tried to maintain their conversation by talking over shoulders and shouting over heads.
Jade was feeling incredibly claustrophobic among so many people. The people staring at her, the bodies that jostled her every now and then, the smell of too much perfume and cologne…suddenly she felt a little woozy.
"Dawn," she called out to her friend.
"…and I mean, it's not like I ever even gave him a reason to think I liked him that way. Well, maybe there was all that staring I used to do during math last year. Anyway, he had no right to just assume I have no date to Winter Formal, even if I don't…"
Jade stopped following Dawn and focused all her senses on what her body was telling her. Oh, God, not here. Not now!
The world began to spin around her, and the sounds that rampaged the hallway grew muffled in her ears, like she was underwater. In a panicked moment, she flashbacked to her near-drowning back home. She swayed slightly as she felt the ground beneath her feet tilt ever so slightly in a soft rolling motion. Her eyes raised, and she could just barely make out Dawn's concerned face swimming among the many unfamiliar ones in the sea of bodies.
"Jade? Jade! Are you okay? What's wrong?" Dawn asked, a touch of panic entering her voice.
But Jade didn't respond. She merely stood there staring blankly off at some point just behind Dawn's head. The crowd around them began to part, backing away from Jade like she had some kind of tropical disease.
"Jade?" came a voice from behind her. Dawn turned and saw a red-haired woman coming towards them, Buffy close on her heels.
She turned back just in time to see her friend dropping to the floor, and managed to catch her before her head connected with the floor. Buffy and the redhead rushed to her side and helped her lower Jade to the floor.
Jade's eyes fluttered open briefly and focused on the stranger. "Miriam," she whispered, before finally slipping into unconsciousness.
Dawn backed frantically away, feeling her chest constrict with the panic welling inside her. This was how her mother looked in her coffin. This was how she remembered Spike looking while he slept. This is what Tara's body looked like when she found it in the bedroom.
She turned on her heel and ran, pushing people out of her way in her desperate attempt to escape the horrors of her past. She heard Buffy call her name, but she ignored it, and plunged out into the warm sun.