Chapter 3: Family Issues
The following Monday after school Buffy and Willow walked down the school steps, they hadn't had a chance to talk over the weekend or at school that day as Willow had been out at a debate for most of the day. They waited for Xander to come out so that Buffy could share the details of her first tutoring session with them both, While they were waiting, the two girls gossiped between themselves. Xander showed up a few minutes later calling to them from the top of the steps
"Hello, and how are my two favourite girls today?" he ran down the steps to meet them, putting an arm over each girl's shoulder. "So, ladies, any new news for the Xan man?" The two girls laughed at him, Xander always had the ability to make them laugh. He was the one they always turned to when they needed cheering up
"Buffy was just going to tell us all about her new tutor" Willow announced
"Tutor, what tutor? I never heard anything about a tutor" the boy exclaimed
"Calm down Xan, I failed a few classes and my mom got me a tutor. Some son of a guy she knows" Buffy explained to her baffled friend
"Guy" Xander exclaimed again
"Yes" she laughed "he's a guy. He goes to UC Sunnydale"
"Ok, I don't like this. He's not only a guy, he's a college guy. This is so not fair" he complained Willow patted on the back and attempted to comfort him
"Don't worry Xander, the college guy isn't going to steal your girls."
"Promise" the young redhead almost melted when he looked at her with his big, brown, puppy dog eyes. It was well known to everyone other than Xander that Willow had been completely head over heels for Xander for years. But the boy was oblivious, and Willow had always been too shy to do anything about it.
"I promise"
"Good" he said with a small smile
"Ok, now back to my cute new tutor" she watched as Xander's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head "Cute, since when is he cute?" They walked out of the school gates and turned in the direction of their homes
"Since he's cute" Buffy stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "you should see him. He has bleached blonde hair, amazing, sharp cheekbones, and oh my god, he has the bluest eyes I have ever seen. And he's English. His accent is so sexy." She babbled
"Whoa, wait a minute, I don't think you being tutored by a sexy college guy is a good idea. I mean they're only after one thing. I know their type" Xander warned her, but she only laughed at him again. It was time like this that is crush on her was still evident. He never liked it when she talked about boys and always found something that had to be wrong
"Xander, you have no idea what type he is" Buffy scolded "he's a nice guy. He could see that I didn't want to be there and he knew why. He talked to me about it. He treated me like an actual person, and listened to me. Plus he's really smart. We have a deal, he knows what I'm going through because he's been there. So, if I make a real effort, he'll listen to me. If I need to talk at the end of the session, he'll be there to talk to me. He's really cool" she looked happy about this but Willow looked rejected. Buffy noticed and rushed to reassure her
"Wills, I still need you to talk to, I'll always tell you stuff, but he's been there so I think that it'll help to talk to him too. And he treats me like I'm smart. He's a good guy" Willow nodded, now with a small smile, feeling more secure that Buffy still needed her to listen
"He sounds great Buff. So when do you have your sessions with him?" the other girls questioned
"Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons. So, my next session is tomorrow."
"Cool, maybe I could come to the library with you and meet him, before I meet my mom" Willow said
"That would be great but we don't meet at the library" The other two looked puzzled at the revelation. Willow was sure that Buffy had told her the sessions were going to happen in the library. Buffy, once again seeing the strange looks explained
"We meet at this little coffee house on main street. It's small and a lot of kids hang and study there"
"No, Buff, I don't like this" Xander objected "why would he want to study in a coffee house"
"Because, we can talk there while we work, instead of having to be quiet like in a library. Stop worrying Xan" Buffy couldn't help but think that the big brother act, or over protective boyfriend act was getting old. Especially considering he was neither of those things. It would be different if she had given him reason to worry, but she hadn't. They walked in silence until they reached Xander's street and said their goodbyes before she and Willow continued on their way.
"So, Buff, gonna make a move for the hot college guy?" Willow looked at her friend with a smirk before bursting into laughter
"I don't know. I don't think so. He wouldn't want a high school girl. But I'll try and be friends with him. Better than nothing"
"Yeah" Willow agreed "but you never know what'll happen. See you tomorrow Buff" Buffy saw that they had reached her street and mumbled a goodbye to Willow, running up the street to her house. She wanted to do some studying so that she was prepared for the next days lesson.
The next day before she left for school her mom called her into the kitchen. They hadn't really spoken since the previous Friday when they had argued about Buffy having a tutor, and Joyce had some thing that she wanted to speak to her daughter about. She hadn't had the opportunity to speak to Mr Giles to find out if William had said anything about how the session went, but having seen how Buffy was dressed when she left the house, she had a fair idea at what may have occurred. Joyce seemed to think Buffy had been with a few boys since she started Sunnydale high school, in actual fact it had been one boy, one time. But Joyce thought, because Buffy liked certain clothes that there must be more to it. Buffy hated the fact that her mother had so little trust in her. She had had a rough time in the past few years and she had done some other stuff, but she had some principles and she hadn't gone against them. However, her mother once again had failed to actually speak to her about it, only assume. Joyce waited at the kitchen table for her daughter come down and sighed when she came into the kitchen at what she was wearing.
Buffy saw the way her mother looked at her as soon as she entered the room, and she felt her heart break a bit. She wanted her mother to accept her, to take her as she was. But, it didn't seem like that would ever happen.
"Buffy sit down" Joyce instructed. Buffy did as she was told and had a feeling of déjà vu. This was how their previous conversation had started on Friday. Buffy had a bad feeling about this.
"Buffy, how did your session go?" she questioned
"Fine" the teen mumbled "Buffy, I'm not in the mood for this today. I want to talk to you about this" her mother's tone was stern and warning. Buffy looked at her and nodded
"So, what happened?"
"We went over history and we talked a bit, then we ordered coffee and studied some more" Joyce was confused
"You ordered coffee in the library?"
"No, we ordered coffee in the coffee house where we went to study"
"Buffy your sessions are supposed to take place in the library, that is what I arranged. However from the way you were dressed I could tell things were not going to happen as planned" she said
Buffy looked hurt at that, what did her mother think of her, she knew she didn't trust her but she seemed to be presuming that Buffy was some sort of slut and that hurt more than anything.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she yelled jumping from her seat
"It means Buffy that I am not as naïve to what you get up to as you seem to think" Joyce yelled back
"I am not doing anything" Buffy cried indignantly, she knew it was the truth but she wanted her mother to believe it too. Joyce only rolled her eyes, she didn't believe it
"Buffy, I'm not stupid, the way you dress, and behave, I'm not stupid. What happened. Did you manage to persuade William to take you back to his place after your session or did you just take him up some side alley" Buffy felt like she had been slapped and her eyes welled with tears, her mother seemed angry but unaffected at her daughter's obvious hurt
"When will you ever listen to me and trust me" Buffy said before turning and running out, straight out the front door and all the way to school. She was so upset that she avoided her friends all day. She couldn't face anyone after what had happened that morning. Relief washed over her at the sound of the final bell, she went outside and headed in the direction of main street. She really needed that talk Spike had promised her.
The following Monday after school Buffy and Willow walked down the school steps, they hadn't had a chance to talk over the weekend or at school that day as Willow had been out at a debate for most of the day. They waited for Xander to come out so that Buffy could share the details of her first tutoring session with them both, While they were waiting, the two girls gossiped between themselves. Xander showed up a few minutes later calling to them from the top of the steps
"Hello, and how are my two favourite girls today?" he ran down the steps to meet them, putting an arm over each girl's shoulder. "So, ladies, any new news for the Xan man?" The two girls laughed at him, Xander always had the ability to make them laugh. He was the one they always turned to when they needed cheering up
"Buffy was just going to tell us all about her new tutor" Willow announced
"Tutor, what tutor? I never heard anything about a tutor" the boy exclaimed
"Calm down Xan, I failed a few classes and my mom got me a tutor. Some son of a guy she knows" Buffy explained to her baffled friend
"Guy" Xander exclaimed again
"Yes" she laughed "he's a guy. He goes to UC Sunnydale"
"Ok, I don't like this. He's not only a guy, he's a college guy. This is so not fair" he complained Willow patted on the back and attempted to comfort him
"Don't worry Xander, the college guy isn't going to steal your girls."
"Promise" the young redhead almost melted when he looked at her with his big, brown, puppy dog eyes. It was well known to everyone other than Xander that Willow had been completely head over heels for Xander for years. But the boy was oblivious, and Willow had always been too shy to do anything about it.
"I promise"
"Good" he said with a small smile
"Ok, now back to my cute new tutor" she watched as Xander's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head "Cute, since when is he cute?" They walked out of the school gates and turned in the direction of their homes
"Since he's cute" Buffy stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "you should see him. He has bleached blonde hair, amazing, sharp cheekbones, and oh my god, he has the bluest eyes I have ever seen. And he's English. His accent is so sexy." She babbled
"Whoa, wait a minute, I don't think you being tutored by a sexy college guy is a good idea. I mean they're only after one thing. I know their type" Xander warned her, but she only laughed at him again. It was time like this that is crush on her was still evident. He never liked it when she talked about boys and always found something that had to be wrong
"Xander, you have no idea what type he is" Buffy scolded "he's a nice guy. He could see that I didn't want to be there and he knew why. He talked to me about it. He treated me like an actual person, and listened to me. Plus he's really smart. We have a deal, he knows what I'm going through because he's been there. So, if I make a real effort, he'll listen to me. If I need to talk at the end of the session, he'll be there to talk to me. He's really cool" she looked happy about this but Willow looked rejected. Buffy noticed and rushed to reassure her
"Wills, I still need you to talk to, I'll always tell you stuff, but he's been there so I think that it'll help to talk to him too. And he treats me like I'm smart. He's a good guy" Willow nodded, now with a small smile, feeling more secure that Buffy still needed her to listen
"He sounds great Buff. So when do you have your sessions with him?" the other girls questioned
"Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons. So, my next session is tomorrow."
"Cool, maybe I could come to the library with you and meet him, before I meet my mom" Willow said
"That would be great but we don't meet at the library" The other two looked puzzled at the revelation. Willow was sure that Buffy had told her the sessions were going to happen in the library. Buffy, once again seeing the strange looks explained
"We meet at this little coffee house on main street. It's small and a lot of kids hang and study there"
"No, Buff, I don't like this" Xander objected "why would he want to study in a coffee house"
"Because, we can talk there while we work, instead of having to be quiet like in a library. Stop worrying Xan" Buffy couldn't help but think that the big brother act, or over protective boyfriend act was getting old. Especially considering he was neither of those things. It would be different if she had given him reason to worry, but she hadn't. They walked in silence until they reached Xander's street and said their goodbyes before she and Willow continued on their way.
"So, Buff, gonna make a move for the hot college guy?" Willow looked at her friend with a smirk before bursting into laughter
"I don't know. I don't think so. He wouldn't want a high school girl. But I'll try and be friends with him. Better than nothing"
"Yeah" Willow agreed "but you never know what'll happen. See you tomorrow Buff" Buffy saw that they had reached her street and mumbled a goodbye to Willow, running up the street to her house. She wanted to do some studying so that she was prepared for the next days lesson.
The next day before she left for school her mom called her into the kitchen. They hadn't really spoken since the previous Friday when they had argued about Buffy having a tutor, and Joyce had some thing that she wanted to speak to her daughter about. She hadn't had the opportunity to speak to Mr Giles to find out if William had said anything about how the session went, but having seen how Buffy was dressed when she left the house, she had a fair idea at what may have occurred. Joyce seemed to think Buffy had been with a few boys since she started Sunnydale high school, in actual fact it had been one boy, one time. But Joyce thought, because Buffy liked certain clothes that there must be more to it. Buffy hated the fact that her mother had so little trust in her. She had had a rough time in the past few years and she had done some other stuff, but she had some principles and she hadn't gone against them. However, her mother once again had failed to actually speak to her about it, only assume. Joyce waited at the kitchen table for her daughter come down and sighed when she came into the kitchen at what she was wearing.
Buffy saw the way her mother looked at her as soon as she entered the room, and she felt her heart break a bit. She wanted her mother to accept her, to take her as she was. But, it didn't seem like that would ever happen.
"Buffy sit down" Joyce instructed. Buffy did as she was told and had a feeling of déjà vu. This was how their previous conversation had started on Friday. Buffy had a bad feeling about this.
"Buffy, how did your session go?" she questioned
"Fine" the teen mumbled "Buffy, I'm not in the mood for this today. I want to talk to you about this" her mother's tone was stern and warning. Buffy looked at her and nodded
"So, what happened?"
"We went over history and we talked a bit, then we ordered coffee and studied some more" Joyce was confused
"You ordered coffee in the library?"
"No, we ordered coffee in the coffee house where we went to study"
"Buffy your sessions are supposed to take place in the library, that is what I arranged. However from the way you were dressed I could tell things were not going to happen as planned" she said
Buffy looked hurt at that, what did her mother think of her, she knew she didn't trust her but she seemed to be presuming that Buffy was some sort of slut and that hurt more than anything.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she yelled jumping from her seat
"It means Buffy that I am not as naïve to what you get up to as you seem to think" Joyce yelled back
"I am not doing anything" Buffy cried indignantly, she knew it was the truth but she wanted her mother to believe it too. Joyce only rolled her eyes, she didn't believe it
"Buffy, I'm not stupid, the way you dress, and behave, I'm not stupid. What happened. Did you manage to persuade William to take you back to his place after your session or did you just take him up some side alley" Buffy felt like she had been slapped and her eyes welled with tears, her mother seemed angry but unaffected at her daughter's obvious hurt
"When will you ever listen to me and trust me" Buffy said before turning and running out, straight out the front door and all the way to school. She was so upset that she avoided her friends all day. She couldn't face anyone after what had happened that morning. Relief washed over her at the sound of the final bell, she went outside and headed in the direction of main street. She really needed that talk Spike had promised her.