N170017- thank you
"That is totally cute!" Cordelia told Buffy as she came out of the dressing room.

She was wearing a denim sabrina mini skirt that ended a few inches above her knees and a blue morocco halter with slanted stripes on the front and a bow on the lower left side.

"You think?" Buffy asked, posing in the mirror.

"Oh you should so get it," Cordelia said, pulling on the skirt. "And you can always lend it to your bestest friend when she needs such a cute outfit."

"Why don't you just buy one?" Buffy asked, returning to the dressing room to change out of it.

"Because duh, owning the same outfit as your friend, so wrong," she said, looking at some clothes on the rack. "You know this Buff."

"Right," Buffy said, coming back out dressed in her jeans and a pink and yellow halter top that had "Tropical Pineapple" written across the top, and a picture of a pineapple below it. "My bad. C'mon, my feet are killing me."

"Buffy, tired of shopping? Am I in some alternate universe?"

Buffy laughed. "I'm not tired of shopping. I'm just tired."

The two walked over to the counter, and Buffy put the outfit that she'd tried on onto it. She reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. Noticing all the money her father had given her was gone, she pulled out his credit card and placed it ontop of the outfit.

"That'll be one hundred and twenty three dollars," the clerk said, taking her credit card and swiping it through.

Buffy turned to Cordy. "So, are we going to go back to my house?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, I can't," Cordelia said, fixing the purse on her shoulder. "Yeah, I have this date."

"Oh? With who?"

"Owen," Cordelia said, a dreamy expression on her face.

"He's a cutie," Buffy said, turning back to the clerk.

"Uh Miss, your credit card is declined."

"Declined?" Buffy asked, confused. "No, it can't be. Try it again."

"I tried it three times Miss, it's declined. I'm sorry," she said.

Buffy took the card and turned back to Cordelia. The two quickly left the store, and headed out to the parking lot where their cars were parked.

"Are you like, broke?" Cordelia asked, stopping in front of her car.

"There must've been a mistake. You know how stupid those people can be," Buffy said, laughing nervously.

"Oh. Right. Well, I'll see you in school," Cordelia said, getting into her car.

Buffy watched as she drove off, before getting into her own car and heading in the opposite direction to her house.
Buffy opened the door to the big house, and walked inside. She threw all of her bags onto the floor, and her coat on the coat hanger before heading up the stairs to her bedroom.

Why was the card declined? she thought. They must've made a mistake. My dad is not broke. He can't be broke. He's one of the richest men around. Maybe this is all some bad dream. It'll all be fixed in the morning.

Buffy walked over to her closet, and pulled out a white tank top and leather jacket. She changed out of her halter top, and into those clothes before bending down in front of a big chest. She opened it, and inside lay all kinds of dolls, and charms. Lifting that shelf off, it revealed a bunch of weapons. Wooden stakes, bottles of holy water, and other things. Buffy grabbed two stakes. She put one into each jacket pocket and closed the chest before heading downstairs.

Hopefully at least one vampire will be out tonight.

The cemetery was dark, and for most people, scary. But for Buffy, it was nothing. She had came here every night for a year, staking vampires that threatened to kill many. It was her duty, her destiny. She was the Slayer.

"Into each generation a Slayer is born. She alone will fight the..." Buffy recited as she walked through the cemetery, twirling her stake. But, she stopped when she saw a guy around her age, seventeen, kneeling in front of a grave. "Vampire? No. Then what is a normal person doing in a cemetery at eleven thirty at night?"

She watched for a minute while he just sat there. He stood up, and turned around, locking eyes with Buffy. The two stared silently for a few minutes, before Buffy walked closer to him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said.

"Yeah, well I don't have to explain anything to you."

"I never told you to," he said.

"Well... Who's that?" she nodded towards the grave he was recently kneeling by.

"My father."

"Oh. I'm... I'm sorry," she said.

"Shouldn't you be home in bed at such an hour?" he asked.

"I... Well... This is my, um... Shortcut home," she said. "Yeah, a short cut."

"Where do you live?"

"That's none of your concern," she said. "Why don't we just say our goodbyes and go our seperate ways."

He nodded and walked past her. She started to walk away, but stopped and turned to look at him.

Hello saltygoodness, she thought. No. Buffy, look at his clothes. He's obviously not from your part of town.