Review Responses: First of all, multiple kudos to the readers who have reviewed more than once!! That's so sweet of you! OK, now for the individual review responses, this is kinda odd, but instead of taking up sooo much room on here, I've decided that I'm going to post all of my individual review responses as a review! So in each chapter update, I'll list which reviewers I have a response to, and if you see your screen name, or if you're just interested in what I have to say to them, check out my review page. I think that this will make it much more manageable. But, if no one likes that idea, I won't repeat it. :) So tell me if you approve! Tonight, I have responses for IceBlueRose, cosmo-girl-us, Noel aka Buffster3000, Wicked-Angel3, and Critic-Girl.
Author's Note: Just like the review responses, I'm going to post all of my other author's notes in the review section as well. I hate how it takes up so much room on updates. So, in order to be up to date on everything, you're going to have to check out my review page. Sorry if this annoys you, and if it really annoys a lot of you guys, I won't do it for the next update. I just think that overall, it will be easier for the both of us. So on my chapter update, I will say who I wrote individual responses to and what my author's notes are about... :)
Chapter Four: A Home Cooked Meal?
On the way home, Cordy spotted a yard sale in the front lawn of a family's house. She ordered Spike to pull over. There, she bought a cute long but not very wide table. Since there was no room in the car, they had to tie it upside down onto the roof of Spike's car. Spike laughed at the absurdity of it all. His rough car looked hilarious, filled with pink and pastels.
When they arrived home, Spike helped the girls unpack their new things and move them into their bedroom. Working with what they had, the girls decorated. They figured out where the beds were going to go, and worked around it. Luckily, they walls didn't clash too much, painted a faint grey. Cordy's sheets were a pastel pink, Willow's were a light green, and Buffy's were a soft blue. They brought their new table from the lawn sale in the backyard, where they planned to paint it, along with their desk chair.
Inside, they hung their mirror above where they planned on placing their new table. "WAIT!" Willow screeched, scaring the other two girls. They watched her as she jogged into the hall and rummaged through her duffel bag. She pulled out an off-brand disposable camera. When she returned, she took a picture of Cordy hanging the mirror.
"This is our first place away from home. We definitely need pictures of it." Buffy and Cordy laughed. Willow had always been attached to events like that. And she loved taking pictures. That way, she would never forget anything, not matter how trivial it had felt at the time.
They took turns taking pictures as they decorated the room. They set up their little sitting area. Cordy brought out a picture album she had packed. Together, they sat down on their floor and picked out their favorite pictures, deciding which ones to put in their new picture frames.
Buffy chose a picture she had brought herself -- one of her and her mother. She was around 10 and her mom was looking radiant in the summer sun. It was her favorite picture of them together. She placed it in her favorite frame. It was blue and sparkly. She also chose a picture of her, Cordelia, and Willow dressed in their Prom dresses from last year's prom, putting it in a pink frame with a cute flower boarder.
Willow chose a picture she hadn't seen in a long time. It was of her, her mother Sheila, Buffy, Joyce, Cordy, and Cordy's mother Pheobe. Sheila, Joyce, and Pheobe were brand new mothers -- and Willow, Buffy, and Cordy were brand new babies. On the back, someone had written, 'Cordelia Chase - 22 days, Willow Rosenberg - 12 days, Buffy Summers - 4 days'. She put it in yellow frame with little sunshines on it. She also pulled out a picture of her own -- she was on stage during a student recital in the middle school playing the piano. She placed it in a green striped frame.
Cordy took forever before choosing a picture of herself at her last beauty pageant. It was last summer. She was wearing a light pink gown that, of course, looked breathtaking on her. She showed Buffy and Willow which picture she had chosen, and they all began laughing. Just a few minutes after that picture was taken, she had been pronounced "Miss Teen California". That's when "the most horrifying moment", according to Pheobe Chase, had occurred.
Cordelia had been asked to say a little something concerning her new title, and when she walked up to the podium, she looked near the back of the room where Buffy and Willow had been sitting, and were now hooting and hollering for her victory. Cordy smiled at them and waved most flamboyantly -- which was considered the most un-Pageanty like thing to do. She took off her tiara and "Miss Teen California" sash and gently placed them down on a nearby table. Even now, Cordy could still remember everything that happened.
(Last Summer, at the Miss Teen California Pageant)
"Um. Hi. My name's Cordelia Chase. Well, obviously. Yeah..." she trailed off, glancing back at her best friends, who were laughing in the confusion of it all. She smiled at them. "My two best friends are in the back. Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg." Buffy, loving the anti-Pageant feelings that were surfacing through the start of Cordy's escapade, stood up, grabbing Willow with her, and they waved as everyone turned around to see who they were. Laughing, Buffy bowed as hundreds of faces were watching her every move. Cordy chuckled lightly from up onstage, bringing everyone's attention back to her.
"By looking at them," she continued, "you wouldn't think I would associate with them, right? It's not that they aren't beautiful or anything, because they both are extremely gorgeous. It's not because Willow's a brainiac and because Buffy's just plain creepy. And it's definitely not that they don't have the 'pageant potential' or anything superficial like that. It's the total opposite. It's because they aren't superficial.
"I'm not sure how we stuck together all our lives, even through our...," pause, "well really 'their', awkward years," insert a loud Buffy-snort coming from the back rows. "But we did. And, well, it's amazing that they let me hang out with them, let alone be their best-friend. Here I am, strutting my stuff across a makeshift scaffolding in a dress that no one should wear even if it looks good on them, with complete strangers judging me. Complete strangers!
"I never really got it until now. Year after year, audition after audition, pageant after freaking pageant, Buffy and Willow made innocent cracks at my waste of time for this sorta thing. They didn't mean anything by it, and it couldn't be an insult if it was the truth, right?
"But, right now, I have something to admit. The girl that you've seen up here isn't Cordelia Chase. The girl you've seen is some fake bimbo who wants to win so bad that she's painted herself over to be the girl you want to see. And, well... I hate it. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it before. But I hate it now.
"So, I'm declining this so-called 'honor' of being named this year's 'Miss Teen California' and passing it on to Harmony Kendall, the runner-up, and deserved winner of this title."
She had walked off stage, grabbing the skirts of her dress and holding them up, making her way towards her friends in a very unlady-like run. Her curled hair fell out of its strategic up-do. Her expensive shoes clanking mindlessly against the tiled floor. They linked arms and left the building laughing hysterically. Her mother had wanted to die.
(Present Time)
Cordy held the picture in her hand and sighed. "That was a sight to see."
"Amen to that sister!" Willow screeched, still in the fits of laughter.
After they had finished decorating their room, Buffy called a mover's company and hired two men to run by Goodwill and pick up their beds tomorrow and bring them to the house.
"Do you really think the boys will build us one of those double-layered tables?" Willow asked.
"Oh! I hope so," Buffy said.
"Ooo! Great idea surfacing. Let's cook them dinner to bribe them into making us one," Cordy exclaimed.
"Umm.. Cordy, honey. You've forgotten that Buffy and cooking are two very un-mixy things."
"Well, then, you can set up the table and watch Willow and I cook."
"Sounds great! Let's do it!"
(Around 5:30 That Evening)
"Mmmm," Xander said, as he walked in after work. "Something smells really good."
Buffy, Willow and Cordy were setting the food down on the table. There were mashed potatoes, green beans, and chicken.
"What's the occasion?" Xander asked.
"No occasion. Just felt like serving up some dinner for you boys," Cordy told Xander, smiling at him flirtingly.
"Oz! Spike!" Buff yelled upstairs. "Dinner's ready!" Both boys jogged down, excited to eat a home cooked meal.
As they sat down at the kitchen table, Spike said, "This is definitely something I could get used to." The girls smiled proudly.
They sat around talking casually for a while after they had finished eating the meal the girls had cooked.
"So, now we know that Oz is still a senior in high school. But what exactly do you and Spike do for a living?" Cordy asked Xander.
"Well, I used to work for old man Harold at his construction business. But, when he passed away, they told me that he had left the business and his money to me. I had no idea! He didn't have any relatives or anything. So I took over."
"Wow. Lucky you," Buffy said. "So what about you Spike? Any dead people leave you a bundle?"
"Nah. I graduated from UCLA three years ago. I'm a free lance writer for horror-mystery novels."
"You graduated three years ago?" Buffy asked, thoroughly confused. "But I thought you were twenty-one?"
"That I am, luv. I graduated high school at sixteen, two years early. And then I finished college in two years. So I finished UCLA at eighteen."
"Holy shit," Willow murmured.
"Yep. Spike here's the prodigy of the Giles clan. Just like ole Rupe!" Xander exclaimed proudly, patting Spike on the back.
"So, you girls decide where you're going to apply for a job?" Oz asked.
"Anywhere but fast food," Buffy said. All three girls moaned, Willow and Cordy nodding their heads in agreement. Willow had randomly decided to do a lab on the Double Meat Burger, being the school nerd she was, where she figured out that it wasn't even "single meat". It was all vegetarian, but they had been charging for the price of beef.
They had told the manager, and he admitted to knowing about it, making them swear not to tell anyone. They had only stayed there because it paid well, and they really needed the money.
The boys exchanged looks, but decided not to ask.
"Willow, you're into the whole Wicca, supernatural stuff, right?" Oz asked her.
Willow immediately perked up. "Yeah!"
"Well, our mom, Jenny, owns this little store called 'The Magic Box.' She sells all sorts of witchy things. She mentioned needing an assistant. I'm sure she'd love to hire you." Oz smiled encouragingly at Willow.
"Really?" Willow asked. She had to admit, this job really interested her. "That sounds great!" Oz smiled again at Willow's response, causing her to blush.
"Well, I thought about getting a job in a boutique or something," Cordy shared. "What about you, Buffy?"
"You know, I haven't really thought about it that much."
Just then, the doorbell rang. "That must be Devon and Anya." Spike jumped up and walked over to the front door.
Editing Note and Chapter Two Mistake Notice: Two very important notes on the review page. Check it out!!
Author's Note: Just like the review responses, I'm going to post all of my other author's notes in the review section as well. I hate how it takes up so much room on updates. So, in order to be up to date on everything, you're going to have to check out my review page. Sorry if this annoys you, and if it really annoys a lot of you guys, I won't do it for the next update. I just think that overall, it will be easier for the both of us. So on my chapter update, I will say who I wrote individual responses to and what my author's notes are about... :)
Chapter Four: A Home Cooked Meal?
On the way home, Cordy spotted a yard sale in the front lawn of a family's house. She ordered Spike to pull over. There, she bought a cute long but not very wide table. Since there was no room in the car, they had to tie it upside down onto the roof of Spike's car. Spike laughed at the absurdity of it all. His rough car looked hilarious, filled with pink and pastels.
When they arrived home, Spike helped the girls unpack their new things and move them into their bedroom. Working with what they had, the girls decorated. They figured out where the beds were going to go, and worked around it. Luckily, they walls didn't clash too much, painted a faint grey. Cordy's sheets were a pastel pink, Willow's were a light green, and Buffy's were a soft blue. They brought their new table from the lawn sale in the backyard, where they planned to paint it, along with their desk chair.
Inside, they hung their mirror above where they planned on placing their new table. "WAIT!" Willow screeched, scaring the other two girls. They watched her as she jogged into the hall and rummaged through her duffel bag. She pulled out an off-brand disposable camera. When she returned, she took a picture of Cordy hanging the mirror.
"This is our first place away from home. We definitely need pictures of it." Buffy and Cordy laughed. Willow had always been attached to events like that. And she loved taking pictures. That way, she would never forget anything, not matter how trivial it had felt at the time.
They took turns taking pictures as they decorated the room. They set up their little sitting area. Cordy brought out a picture album she had packed. Together, they sat down on their floor and picked out their favorite pictures, deciding which ones to put in their new picture frames.
Buffy chose a picture she had brought herself -- one of her and her mother. She was around 10 and her mom was looking radiant in the summer sun. It was her favorite picture of them together. She placed it in her favorite frame. It was blue and sparkly. She also chose a picture of her, Cordelia, and Willow dressed in their Prom dresses from last year's prom, putting it in a pink frame with a cute flower boarder.
Willow chose a picture she hadn't seen in a long time. It was of her, her mother Sheila, Buffy, Joyce, Cordy, and Cordy's mother Pheobe. Sheila, Joyce, and Pheobe were brand new mothers -- and Willow, Buffy, and Cordy were brand new babies. On the back, someone had written, 'Cordelia Chase - 22 days, Willow Rosenberg - 12 days, Buffy Summers - 4 days'. She put it in yellow frame with little sunshines on it. She also pulled out a picture of her own -- she was on stage during a student recital in the middle school playing the piano. She placed it in a green striped frame.
Cordy took forever before choosing a picture of herself at her last beauty pageant. It was last summer. She was wearing a light pink gown that, of course, looked breathtaking on her. She showed Buffy and Willow which picture she had chosen, and they all began laughing. Just a few minutes after that picture was taken, she had been pronounced "Miss Teen California". That's when "the most horrifying moment", according to Pheobe Chase, had occurred.
Cordelia had been asked to say a little something concerning her new title, and when she walked up to the podium, she looked near the back of the room where Buffy and Willow had been sitting, and were now hooting and hollering for her victory. Cordy smiled at them and waved most flamboyantly -- which was considered the most un-Pageanty like thing to do. She took off her tiara and "Miss Teen California" sash and gently placed them down on a nearby table. Even now, Cordy could still remember everything that happened.
"Um. Hi. My name's Cordelia Chase. Well, obviously. Yeah..." she trailed off, glancing back at her best friends, who were laughing in the confusion of it all. She smiled at them. "My two best friends are in the back. Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg." Buffy, loving the anti-Pageant feelings that were surfacing through the start of Cordy's escapade, stood up, grabbing Willow with her, and they waved as everyone turned around to see who they were. Laughing, Buffy bowed as hundreds of faces were watching her every move. Cordy chuckled lightly from up onstage, bringing everyone's attention back to her.
"By looking at them," she continued, "you wouldn't think I would associate with them, right? It's not that they aren't beautiful or anything, because they both are extremely gorgeous. It's not because Willow's a brainiac and because Buffy's just plain creepy. And it's definitely not that they don't have the 'pageant potential' or anything superficial like that. It's the total opposite. It's because they aren't superficial.
"I'm not sure how we stuck together all our lives, even through our...," pause, "well really 'their', awkward years," insert a loud Buffy-snort coming from the back rows. "But we did. And, well, it's amazing that they let me hang out with them, let alone be their best-friend. Here I am, strutting my stuff across a makeshift scaffolding in a dress that no one should wear even if it looks good on them, with complete strangers judging me. Complete strangers!
"I never really got it until now. Year after year, audition after audition, pageant after freaking pageant, Buffy and Willow made innocent cracks at my waste of time for this sorta thing. They didn't mean anything by it, and it couldn't be an insult if it was the truth, right?
"But, right now, I have something to admit. The girl that you've seen up here isn't Cordelia Chase. The girl you've seen is some fake bimbo who wants to win so bad that she's painted herself over to be the girl you want to see. And, well... I hate it. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it before. But I hate it now.
"So, I'm declining this so-called 'honor' of being named this year's 'Miss Teen California' and passing it on to Harmony Kendall, the runner-up, and deserved winner of this title."
She had walked off stage, grabbing the skirts of her dress and holding them up, making her way towards her friends in a very unlady-like run. Her curled hair fell out of its strategic up-do. Her expensive shoes clanking mindlessly against the tiled floor. They linked arms and left the building laughing hysterically. Her mother had wanted to die.
Cordy held the picture in her hand and sighed. "That was a sight to see."
"Amen to that sister!" Willow screeched, still in the fits of laughter.
After they had finished decorating their room, Buffy called a mover's company and hired two men to run by Goodwill and pick up their beds tomorrow and bring them to the house.
"Do you really think the boys will build us one of those double-layered tables?" Willow asked.
"Oh! I hope so," Buffy said.
"Ooo! Great idea surfacing. Let's cook them dinner to bribe them into making us one," Cordy exclaimed.
"Umm.. Cordy, honey. You've forgotten that Buffy and cooking are two very un-mixy things."
"Well, then, you can set up the table and watch Willow and I cook."
"Sounds great! Let's do it!"
"Mmmm," Xander said, as he walked in after work. "Something smells really good."
Buffy, Willow and Cordy were setting the food down on the table. There were mashed potatoes, green beans, and chicken.
"What's the occasion?" Xander asked.
"No occasion. Just felt like serving up some dinner for you boys," Cordy told Xander, smiling at him flirtingly.
"Oz! Spike!" Buff yelled upstairs. "Dinner's ready!" Both boys jogged down, excited to eat a home cooked meal.
As they sat down at the kitchen table, Spike said, "This is definitely something I could get used to." The girls smiled proudly.
They sat around talking casually for a while after they had finished eating the meal the girls had cooked.
"So, now we know that Oz is still a senior in high school. But what exactly do you and Spike do for a living?" Cordy asked Xander.
"Well, I used to work for old man Harold at his construction business. But, when he passed away, they told me that he had left the business and his money to me. I had no idea! He didn't have any relatives or anything. So I took over."
"Wow. Lucky you," Buffy said. "So what about you Spike? Any dead people leave you a bundle?"
"Nah. I graduated from UCLA three years ago. I'm a free lance writer for horror-mystery novels."
"You graduated three years ago?" Buffy asked, thoroughly confused. "But I thought you were twenty-one?"
"That I am, luv. I graduated high school at sixteen, two years early. And then I finished college in two years. So I finished UCLA at eighteen."
"Holy shit," Willow murmured.
"Yep. Spike here's the prodigy of the Giles clan. Just like ole Rupe!" Xander exclaimed proudly, patting Spike on the back.
"So, you girls decide where you're going to apply for a job?" Oz asked.
"Anywhere but fast food," Buffy said. All three girls moaned, Willow and Cordy nodding their heads in agreement. Willow had randomly decided to do a lab on the Double Meat Burger, being the school nerd she was, where she figured out that it wasn't even "single meat". It was all vegetarian, but they had been charging for the price of beef.
They had told the manager, and he admitted to knowing about it, making them swear not to tell anyone. They had only stayed there because it paid well, and they really needed the money.
The boys exchanged looks, but decided not to ask.
"Willow, you're into the whole Wicca, supernatural stuff, right?" Oz asked her.
Willow immediately perked up. "Yeah!"
"Well, our mom, Jenny, owns this little store called 'The Magic Box.' She sells all sorts of witchy things. She mentioned needing an assistant. I'm sure she'd love to hire you." Oz smiled encouragingly at Willow.
"Really?" Willow asked. She had to admit, this job really interested her. "That sounds great!" Oz smiled again at Willow's response, causing her to blush.
"Well, I thought about getting a job in a boutique or something," Cordy shared. "What about you, Buffy?"
"You know, I haven't really thought about it that much."
Just then, the doorbell rang. "That must be Devon and Anya." Spike jumped up and walked over to the front door.
Editing Note and Chapter Two Mistake Notice: Two very important notes on the review page. Check it out!!