Chapter Two – Foolish High School Drama
Dawn wandered down the halls of Sunnydale High. School was just about to start and she found herself venturing in the direction of the main office. Voices of the others students around her helped to distract her from the precious night's events. But unfortunately that was crushed when an unpleasantly familiar voice met her ears. Standing with Mr. Stein, the Biology teacher was James Castles. She hadn't got a very good look at him in the dark, but now he looked much better groomed in a pair of dark jeans and a baggy T-shirt, with the offset of a tacky leather jacket with patches all over it.
"I swear it's the honest truth sir, I just moved here yesterday. I got registered and came in for my first day. I'm not pulling your chain, I just stopped you to ask you if you could tell me where some of my classes are"
"Well I am very busy right now young man" Stein sniffed with indignation. "So if you will kindly – oh Miss. Summers, please come here a moment"
Dawn inwardly groaned as the elderly teacher motioned for her to come and join them.
"Oh, its you pet" James forced a smile as he noticed her.
"You two know each other," the teacher asked looking expectantly.
"Not really, but – " they spoke in unison, but were sharply cut off.
"No buts" Stein smiled. "Now you be his guide Miss. Summers and don't you try and loose him. Your marks aren't stupendous and I know that this could put in a bid for your other teachers to give you some slack. Good day to you both"
The two teens watched in helpless disappointment as he disappeared into the crowds of students and they were left to sort all this out alone. Dawn turned to head for homeroom before she was late, leaving James to have to keep up with her pace.
"What number is your homeroom?" she civilly asked without facing him as they walked.
"Nineteen"
Dawn voiced her ever-growing disappointment with a sigh.
"What's the matter pet?" James asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"It doesn't matter and don't call me pet"
"Fine then sugar, but would you mind being a doll and telling what your so gloomy about? "
"Just don't talk to me"
"Oh bollocks! We have the same homeroom don't we?"
"Give the boy a cookie" Dawn muttered. "Now what about your periods for today?"
"First period is Literature, second period is History, third period is Physics and fourth period is a spare"
Without saying a word, Dawn realized that this was going to be one extremely long day. Not only did they share a homeroom, but they also had all the same classes. Fate had turned on her this time and she knew that it wasn't going to be any nicer to her in the future to come. Right now, she had to deal with the problem at hand and go with the flow.
"We will be learning about nineteenth century poetry today" Mrs. Montoya announced once all of her students were seated for their first period Literature block.
Dawn had managed to score a seat, as far away from James as possible and five rows away was a good start.
"This piece that I have for you today was written in the later eighteen hundreds and I would like you all to be silent while I read"
The brilliance of the setting sun, is your beauty that blinds my eye
Purest of the tears that heaven cries, you are a gift form God to me
Like the dove of gentle grace, I watch you from afar
My voice stayed, my heart to ache, your shine hath dulled my own
Sweet child of the evergreens, my plight to you has not been heard,
But by my soul, my life and my love.
"That was entitled 'Unnoticed' and was written by William Castles in 1879"
The class sat in silence, moved by the beautiful words until James burst out laughing so hard that he fell from his seat. He was cring with laughter and everyone just stared at the new British boy with disdain.
"That is enough!" Mrs. Montoya snapped, now very angry with him. "How dare you disgrace that beautiful poem"
"I wasn't disgracing it by far ma'am" James said smothering giggles. "That was just so hilarious"
"You are the new student here and now I demand to know why you disrupted my class so heinously on your first day. So Why do you think is poem is hilarious Mr..." she trailed off as she didn't remember his name.
"Castles ma'am, James Castles"
The class broke out into little whispers, everyone putting two and two together, having noticed that the new boy bore the same last name as the writer of the poem. Mrs. Montoya gapped at the teen as he smiled at her.
"The reason I laughed was that William Castles was one of my relatives. Ironically that was the only decent poem he ever wrote during his short life seen as all the others were so horribly awful. The woman in the poem is another irony; he wrote for her with his life, and she was the one that sent him off to his death. William went missing in 1880 and was never found; though it is suspected that he was one of the many victims during a rash of murders that year"
Mrs. Montoya coughed nervously before she spoke.
"Well then I'm terribly sorry for my outburst Mr. Castles, but next time do refrain from such acts of humor that are not called for during this class"
"Yes ma'am"
With that little disruption out of the way, the rest of class went fine, but not for Dawn. James got weirder and weirder by the minute, not just the fact that he had a strange presence, it was just that he didn't seem to fit – anywhere.
James on the other hand was having a blast. It was so pathetic to watch all these children doing stuff that he had know for years. The best of it had been when he had found out that one of William's poems had been published. Gee, he wondered what those blighters back in the day would have thought of that. Up-showing the professors was good to.
By the time school let out though, he figured that Dawn was about to have a hissy fit. All day he had made it his god given duty to drive the poor girl starkers. He knew his mother wouldn't her son to do such a thing to an innocent young lady, but he believed that she deserved it. Giving him the stink eye all day when he had basically been nothing but civil with her. Oh sure he had poked fun at her a little the night before, but that was nothing. She was nothing more to him then an annoying little sister that he never had. It was only when the final bell of the day rang, he went of to put in his last for the day.
Dawn was standing was a couple of other girls that looked like total jailbait. That was odd since his pain in the neck looked like the sweet timid schoolgirl. Without hesitating any longer, James strode over to the three girls and smirked.
"Hey luv, thanks for showing me around today"
The effect was perfect. The two other girls' mouths dropped open and Dawn's face turned a nasty shade of red.
"Oh and one more thing luv, that perma-grimace so does not suit you"
He blew her a mocking kiss and left, heading for home. As for Dawn, she was positively fuming by the time he was gone. Marcie and Caroline were now staring at her with looks that could almost be a mix of envy and contempt.
"What!?" Dawn nearly exploded on the two.
"You had such a hottie come up to you and what it you do?" Caroline wrinkled her noise. "You let him get away"
"He's a pain in the ass and I know someone else that's much better looking then him" Dawn protested.
"Girl, you need to sort out your priorities" Marcie sighed. "There's our ride. See you tomorrow Dawn"
Marcie dragged Caroline off to the waiting car and Dawn was left once again to sort things out.
"Ooh I hate that boy"
"Buffy, maybe you should go find out more about James. Spike should know everything about his 'brother' and we need to know more in order to keep Glory away from both Dawn and James" Giles said grimly.
It had been a whole day since she had found out from Giles about the twin keys.
"It appears that right now our resident Hell God knows nothing about the split, so that would mean she wouldn't know that she would need the both of them together to open a portal"
"Yah, I got all that" Buffy smiled and head out to find herself an annoying bleach blond vampire.
An hour later after looking all over town, she fond him in the Bronze playing pool.
"What are you doing here slayer?" he asked, not really caring.
"I want to know more about your brother"
Spike stopped and looked at her seriously. She had hit a tender spot, showing that he did, even as a soulless vampire, care about the boy.
"You leave him alone slayer" he said clam, but threateningly. "He's none of your concern. James is a good kid; he goes to school and doesn't cause too much mischief, now sod off"
"No" Buffy replied firmly. "I just want to know about him. Its my duty to protect this town and so I just want you tell me what you brother is like. Sure you say he's a good kid, so I'll take your word for it, but you know what I want"
The blond vampire growled at her, but motioned for her to follow. At the back of the club they sat down at an abandoned table. It was quite enough for him to tell this story in privacy.
"I was six years old when James was born back in 1864. My mother had given birth to him three weeks too early and her and my father didn't really think he would make it. I took to sleep by the bassinet at night because I feared that he'd be taken away from us if I didn't. Then miraculously he got better, but unfortunately that didn't come without a price. Mum got a sickness that would stay with her until her death and my father died the year after. James was a joy, he was my brother and only we seemed to understand each other"
"What happened after you were turned? I remember James saying something about being attacked by Drusillia" Buffy asked, now starting to see that Spike didn't seem as soulless as he was.
"He fought Dru off with the power of a slayer. He was like us, but not like us and wouldn't let anyone harm him, let alone my new family, which despised him. He could stand the brutal murders we committed on our pray because my soullessness had numbed his own, so he traveled with us for thirty years. In 1910, James chose to venture off on his own. That separation from me had strengthened his soul enough to be like any other person that might just get the urge to do something naughty, but never bad. We met up many more times during the decades and this is the first time I've seen him since the seventies. He needs my help now. Seem that he can't survive out there with the world the way it is now and in a strange way, I'm glad that he's here. Can you understand that slayer?"
"I understand exactly what you mean, I feel the same way about Dawn"
"So how is the nibblet anyway?"
"Oh came home all grumpy for some reason – wouldn't tell me why though"
"Heck, she's a teenager, what did you expect?"
Oh nothing much" Buffy replied honestly and smiled, there was something different about Spike now.
She turned to leave, but then stopped and turned back to the blond.
"Thank you"
Without think she kissed him on the cheek and left. Spike stood there watching her go with his mouth hanging wide open. The slayer, the girl that had haunted his dreams for so long had just kissed him. She must really be crazy... or she liked him to...
Hello again dear readers! I'm working things in as I go. So I've taken care of 'Fool of Love' my style and I plan to drag it out a bit before Dawn finds of that James is Spike's brother and Dawn is Buffy's sister. Oh that poem is so mine, I wrote it, so don't anybody steal it! I say copyright (hee, hee) Later!
Dawn wandered down the halls of Sunnydale High. School was just about to start and she found herself venturing in the direction of the main office. Voices of the others students around her helped to distract her from the precious night's events. But unfortunately that was crushed when an unpleasantly familiar voice met her ears. Standing with Mr. Stein, the Biology teacher was James Castles. She hadn't got a very good look at him in the dark, but now he looked much better groomed in a pair of dark jeans and a baggy T-shirt, with the offset of a tacky leather jacket with patches all over it.
"I swear it's the honest truth sir, I just moved here yesterday. I got registered and came in for my first day. I'm not pulling your chain, I just stopped you to ask you if you could tell me where some of my classes are"
"Well I am very busy right now young man" Stein sniffed with indignation. "So if you will kindly – oh Miss. Summers, please come here a moment"
Dawn inwardly groaned as the elderly teacher motioned for her to come and join them.
"Oh, its you pet" James forced a smile as he noticed her.
"You two know each other," the teacher asked looking expectantly.
"Not really, but – " they spoke in unison, but were sharply cut off.
"No buts" Stein smiled. "Now you be his guide Miss. Summers and don't you try and loose him. Your marks aren't stupendous and I know that this could put in a bid for your other teachers to give you some slack. Good day to you both"
The two teens watched in helpless disappointment as he disappeared into the crowds of students and they were left to sort all this out alone. Dawn turned to head for homeroom before she was late, leaving James to have to keep up with her pace.
"What number is your homeroom?" she civilly asked without facing him as they walked.
"Nineteen"
Dawn voiced her ever-growing disappointment with a sigh.
"What's the matter pet?" James asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"It doesn't matter and don't call me pet"
"Fine then sugar, but would you mind being a doll and telling what your so gloomy about? "
"Just don't talk to me"
"Oh bollocks! We have the same homeroom don't we?"
"Give the boy a cookie" Dawn muttered. "Now what about your periods for today?"
"First period is Literature, second period is History, third period is Physics and fourth period is a spare"
Without saying a word, Dawn realized that this was going to be one extremely long day. Not only did they share a homeroom, but they also had all the same classes. Fate had turned on her this time and she knew that it wasn't going to be any nicer to her in the future to come. Right now, she had to deal with the problem at hand and go with the flow.
"We will be learning about nineteenth century poetry today" Mrs. Montoya announced once all of her students were seated for their first period Literature block.
Dawn had managed to score a seat, as far away from James as possible and five rows away was a good start.
"This piece that I have for you today was written in the later eighteen hundreds and I would like you all to be silent while I read"
The brilliance of the setting sun, is your beauty that blinds my eye
Purest of the tears that heaven cries, you are a gift form God to me
Like the dove of gentle grace, I watch you from afar
My voice stayed, my heart to ache, your shine hath dulled my own
Sweet child of the evergreens, my plight to you has not been heard,
But by my soul, my life and my love.
"That was entitled 'Unnoticed' and was written by William Castles in 1879"
The class sat in silence, moved by the beautiful words until James burst out laughing so hard that he fell from his seat. He was cring with laughter and everyone just stared at the new British boy with disdain.
"That is enough!" Mrs. Montoya snapped, now very angry with him. "How dare you disgrace that beautiful poem"
"I wasn't disgracing it by far ma'am" James said smothering giggles. "That was just so hilarious"
"You are the new student here and now I demand to know why you disrupted my class so heinously on your first day. So Why do you think is poem is hilarious Mr..." she trailed off as she didn't remember his name.
"Castles ma'am, James Castles"
The class broke out into little whispers, everyone putting two and two together, having noticed that the new boy bore the same last name as the writer of the poem. Mrs. Montoya gapped at the teen as he smiled at her.
"The reason I laughed was that William Castles was one of my relatives. Ironically that was the only decent poem he ever wrote during his short life seen as all the others were so horribly awful. The woman in the poem is another irony; he wrote for her with his life, and she was the one that sent him off to his death. William went missing in 1880 and was never found; though it is suspected that he was one of the many victims during a rash of murders that year"
Mrs. Montoya coughed nervously before she spoke.
"Well then I'm terribly sorry for my outburst Mr. Castles, but next time do refrain from such acts of humor that are not called for during this class"
"Yes ma'am"
With that little disruption out of the way, the rest of class went fine, but not for Dawn. James got weirder and weirder by the minute, not just the fact that he had a strange presence, it was just that he didn't seem to fit – anywhere.
James on the other hand was having a blast. It was so pathetic to watch all these children doing stuff that he had know for years. The best of it had been when he had found out that one of William's poems had been published. Gee, he wondered what those blighters back in the day would have thought of that. Up-showing the professors was good to.
By the time school let out though, he figured that Dawn was about to have a hissy fit. All day he had made it his god given duty to drive the poor girl starkers. He knew his mother wouldn't her son to do such a thing to an innocent young lady, but he believed that she deserved it. Giving him the stink eye all day when he had basically been nothing but civil with her. Oh sure he had poked fun at her a little the night before, but that was nothing. She was nothing more to him then an annoying little sister that he never had. It was only when the final bell of the day rang, he went of to put in his last for the day.
Dawn was standing was a couple of other girls that looked like total jailbait. That was odd since his pain in the neck looked like the sweet timid schoolgirl. Without hesitating any longer, James strode over to the three girls and smirked.
"Hey luv, thanks for showing me around today"
The effect was perfect. The two other girls' mouths dropped open and Dawn's face turned a nasty shade of red.
"Oh and one more thing luv, that perma-grimace so does not suit you"
He blew her a mocking kiss and left, heading for home. As for Dawn, she was positively fuming by the time he was gone. Marcie and Caroline were now staring at her with looks that could almost be a mix of envy and contempt.
"What!?" Dawn nearly exploded on the two.
"You had such a hottie come up to you and what it you do?" Caroline wrinkled her noise. "You let him get away"
"He's a pain in the ass and I know someone else that's much better looking then him" Dawn protested.
"Girl, you need to sort out your priorities" Marcie sighed. "There's our ride. See you tomorrow Dawn"
Marcie dragged Caroline off to the waiting car and Dawn was left once again to sort things out.
"Ooh I hate that boy"
"Buffy, maybe you should go find out more about James. Spike should know everything about his 'brother' and we need to know more in order to keep Glory away from both Dawn and James" Giles said grimly.
It had been a whole day since she had found out from Giles about the twin keys.
"It appears that right now our resident Hell God knows nothing about the split, so that would mean she wouldn't know that she would need the both of them together to open a portal"
"Yah, I got all that" Buffy smiled and head out to find herself an annoying bleach blond vampire.
An hour later after looking all over town, she fond him in the Bronze playing pool.
"What are you doing here slayer?" he asked, not really caring.
"I want to know more about your brother"
Spike stopped and looked at her seriously. She had hit a tender spot, showing that he did, even as a soulless vampire, care about the boy.
"You leave him alone slayer" he said clam, but threateningly. "He's none of your concern. James is a good kid; he goes to school and doesn't cause too much mischief, now sod off"
"No" Buffy replied firmly. "I just want to know about him. Its my duty to protect this town and so I just want you tell me what you brother is like. Sure you say he's a good kid, so I'll take your word for it, but you know what I want"
The blond vampire growled at her, but motioned for her to follow. At the back of the club they sat down at an abandoned table. It was quite enough for him to tell this story in privacy.
"I was six years old when James was born back in 1864. My mother had given birth to him three weeks too early and her and my father didn't really think he would make it. I took to sleep by the bassinet at night because I feared that he'd be taken away from us if I didn't. Then miraculously he got better, but unfortunately that didn't come without a price. Mum got a sickness that would stay with her until her death and my father died the year after. James was a joy, he was my brother and only we seemed to understand each other"
"What happened after you were turned? I remember James saying something about being attacked by Drusillia" Buffy asked, now starting to see that Spike didn't seem as soulless as he was.
"He fought Dru off with the power of a slayer. He was like us, but not like us and wouldn't let anyone harm him, let alone my new family, which despised him. He could stand the brutal murders we committed on our pray because my soullessness had numbed his own, so he traveled with us for thirty years. In 1910, James chose to venture off on his own. That separation from me had strengthened his soul enough to be like any other person that might just get the urge to do something naughty, but never bad. We met up many more times during the decades and this is the first time I've seen him since the seventies. He needs my help now. Seem that he can't survive out there with the world the way it is now and in a strange way, I'm glad that he's here. Can you understand that slayer?"
"I understand exactly what you mean, I feel the same way about Dawn"
"So how is the nibblet anyway?"
"Oh came home all grumpy for some reason – wouldn't tell me why though"
"Heck, she's a teenager, what did you expect?"
Oh nothing much" Buffy replied honestly and smiled, there was something different about Spike now.
She turned to leave, but then stopped and turned back to the blond.
"Thank you"
Without think she kissed him on the cheek and left. Spike stood there watching her go with his mouth hanging wide open. The slayer, the girl that had haunted his dreams for so long had just kissed him. She must really be crazy... or she liked him to...
Hello again dear readers! I'm working things in as I go. So I've taken care of 'Fool of Love' my style and I plan to drag it out a bit before Dawn finds of that James is Spike's brother and Dawn is Buffy's sister. Oh that poem is so mine, I wrote it, so don't anybody steal it! I say copyright (hee, hee) Later!