15 Minutes of Fame
Chapter 5
NYC…
"So opening night huh?" Xander asked. "You nervous?"
"What do you bloody think?" Spike shot back as he continued to pace the area in front of his bed. He continuously checked his watch, 'It's only quarter after six mate. I've got nearly half an hour to relax before the show.'
"Calm down British man," Xander laughed. "I can't believe you've already landed a spot in a Broadway play. I can't even get my teachers to remember my name, let alone recommend me for an actual role." The brunette sat on his bed, opposite Spike's own, and watched as his roommate wore a hole into the carpeting. Although the two had only recently become roommates, there was a connection between them instantly. Neither Xander nor Spike had any siblings back home, so each provided a brotherly figure for the other.
"Do you know how big this is?" Spike asked. "It's bloody opening night. The theater sold out over a week ago; that place is going to be packed!"
"You'll do fine," Xander reassured him. "Just pretend you're back in high school and everything will go smoothly."
"I hated high school," Spike said frankly. He halted his pacing momentarily and stole a glance out the window. The view from the fourth floor wasn't all that great; mostly cars and buildings, the same as the rest of New York. The multitude of lights brightened the already darkened sky. "I wasn't the most popular kid in high school."
"Now that's hard to believe," Xander jested. Spike sent him a pointed gaze. "But that's the point of college isn't it? Move somewhere where no one knows you and start over. You can be anyone you want to be and do anything you want to do. It's like starting over with a clean slate."
Spike turned to his roommate and stared blankly at him. "What?" Xander asked.
"Stop being so insightful," Spike said. "It's just creepy."
"Okay, enough about the big opening night deal," Xander smiled. "How are things between you and you're lady friend?"
"Buffy?" Spike asked his mood suddenly improved. His memory ordered up a wonderful image of the blonde sitting in the quad, the sun shining down on her face. Her hair hung loosely at her shoulders, the breeze whipping it around ever so gently. Her golden skin was flawless; it was the picture of a goddess that flashed in Spike's mind and no one could convince him otherwise.
Xander looked on in awe and wonder as Spike's eyes glazed over and he stared up at a blank spot on the wall. 'This kid's got it bad,' he thought. "Spike," Xander said gently shaking his friend. "Hey man you're drooling. You might want to take care of that."
"You're a bloody riot, you know that?" Spike said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Buffy is a sensitive subject right now. She's still head over heels for that wanker of a boyfriend she's got. Can't see the twerp that lies beneath, all she sees is the perfect hair and boyish good looks."
"Am I sensing a bit of jealousy?" Xander asked.
"Of Riley?!" Spike retorted incredulously. "Are you out of your bleeding mind?! I'd no sooner be jealous of a circus freak!"
"Well on that happy note," Xander joked, "we should probably get moving. Don't want to be late for your big debut."
Spike looked down at his watch with a mixture of excitement and dread. "Bloody hell it's twenty till seven. Why didn't we leave already?"
"Don't worry, we'll get there on time," Xander assured him. The two grabbed their coats and headed out of their dorm room, locking the door behind them.
The pair had no sooner exited the room when the phone rang. Its shrill sound filled the room, but to no avail. The answering machine eventually picked up.
"Hey you've reached Xander and Will—uh—Spike's room. We're either not in the room or don't want to talk to you. Either way, leave us a message after the beep."
"Spike?" came Buffy's voice across the machine. "Spike, are you there? Guess I missed you. Well I just called to wish you good luck on your big night. Gimme a call when you get this okay? I love you bunches. Bye."
UCLA Campus…
"Couldn't get a hold of him?" Willow asked. She sat on Anya's vacated bed, legs crossed Indian style, watching Buffy intently. The latter was sitting on her own bed, telephone in hand, frown upon her face.
"I guess they already left," Buffy said. "I told him to call me back so hopefully I'll hear from him tomorrow sometime."
"Probably," Willow assured her. "Meanwhile I know what we can do!"
"And what would that be?" Buffy asked with a grin.
"Well there's this great club down in Santa Monica called 14Below. Tara said they have some really awesome bands play there and it's not real expensive. It could be a fun girls' night out."
"I guess what sounds like fun," Buffy said. "Sure, why not? Let's go."
A little less than an hour later Buffy, Willow, Tara, and Anya were dressed and ready to party. Each was clothed in their idea of "sexy" clothes. Both Anya and Buffy wore short skirts and slinky tops; Willow opted for a longer skirt and brightly colored spaghetti strap tank top while Tara wore a knee-length, peasant style dress.
"Are we ready for some fun?" Willow addressed the group.
"I am!" Anya answered excitedly. "Bring on the alcoholic beverages and horny, horny boys!"
"Uh yeah," Buffy agreed slowly. "I'm onboard with the alcoholic drinks, but I do have a boyfriend so no horny boys for Buffy."
"Have you heard from Riley lately?" Willow asked.
"Not lately," Buffy admitted. "He's visiting his family out in Iowa this week. Guess he didn't have time to call or anything."
"Enough with the chit chat," Anya cried. "The alcohol is calling to me!"
"Yeah, this p-place has really good margaritas," Tara added shyly.
"Shall we then?" Anya asked excitedly.
"We shall," Buffy answered.
Three hours later…
While both Buffy and Anya were busy entertaining themselves on the dance floor, Willow and Tara sat at the table the group had managed to grab before the club became overly crowded.
"This place is really great," Willow yelled above the music. Tara shook her head in agreement. A cloud of awkwardness seemed to settle between the two as the music blared and people shoved around them. Tara busied herself with the straw sticking out of her Daiquiri, avoiding all eye contact with the red head to her left. Willow on the other hand was constantly surveying the room looking for anyone she knew from the college. This place was a well known hangout around the school and often drew in students from UCLA as well as other area colleges.
Spotting a group of students from her English Lit class Willow excused herself and made her way through the crowd. She was nearly on top of the group when, out of the corner of her eye, Willow noticed someone familiar. 'Is that Riley? No it can't be, he's in Iowa. Oh my Goddess, that is him!' She stood awestruck watching a scantily dressed girl bump and grind against one of her best friend's boyfriend. 'That…that jerk! I can't believe he would do this!' Ignoring her initial plans, Willow made a U-turn and headed back to the table. "We need to go," she told Tara.
"W-why?" the other girl asked confused.
"Riley's here, and not in a 'looking for Buffy' way."
"Really?" Tara asked, her eyes scanning the crowd.
"Yeah so we need to go before—"
"Hey guys," Buffy greeted the pair cheerily. "What's going on?"
"We were just thinking about leaving," Willow supplied, trying to hide her wavering voice.
"Why? Why would we leave this wonderful place?" Anya asked.
"Well…umm…" Willow stumbled for an excuse.
"It's just that, I'm not feeling too good," Tara jumped in. "I think I had one too many drinks."
"Oh, well if you're not feeling great, we better leave," Buffy said. She grabbed her coat off of one of the stools and handed Anya's coat to her.
"Do we have to leave?" the latter cried. "I was really enjoying the boys and the drinks."
"We'll come back some other time," Buffy promised her roommate. Anya grumbled something in response.
The four moved towards the door as a group when Buffy suddenly stopped. "I left my purse on the table. Go ahead, I'll meet you guys outside." Without waiting for a response, she turned and headed back in the direction they had come from. Grabbing her purse Buffy turned quickly and bumped into another girl.
"Oh God, I'm sorry," she apologized before looking at the person. The girl was a few inches taller than she with dark, curly hair. Her clothes were tight and hardly covered her body.
"Whoa, watch where you're going next time," she said.
"I'm sorry I was just—" Buffy looked just past the girl's shoulder. "Riley?"
Ah, don't you just love a good cliffhanger? Here's the deal: keep the reviews rolling in and I'll keep the chapters rolling out. Deal?