Buffy and Tatum walked out of school. They were chatting about their old schools, and how weird it would be settling into a new school, not to mention having to deal with their extra curricular activities.

Xander saw them coming down the steps, "So they're friends..." he thought to himself, "Or sisters!" He skated over to them.

"Oh hey Xander!" greeted Tatum.

"Hey!" he grinned.

Buffy turned to Tatum, "You know him too?"

"Yeah, he showed me to the library." said Tatum, "He's the only person that's talked to me since I got here...well, apart from you."

"Me too." said Buffy, "He helped me when I dropped my bag this morning."

"Speaking of..." Xander rummaged through his backpack, and pulled out a stake, "You left this behind. All I can think of is that you're building a really small fence..." He handed it to Buffy.

"It's for self defense." Buffy said quickly, "Everyone has them in L.A. Pepper spray is just so passé."

"Yeah, we all had them in Michigan." said Tatum, pulling one out.

"Cool!" said Xander, obliviously, "Maybe I should get one too."

"Doesn't seem like Sunnydale has much crime going on." said Buffy.

"You'd be surprised. The death rate is off the chart here." Xander said.

"How about that..." whispered Tatum to Buffy.

Buffy smiled.

Tatum finished sticking up the last poster on her teal walls when her father entered the room.

"I thought this room was green." Giles stated, looking around the newly-transformed bedroom.

"You think I was gonna leave it that barf color?" Tatum asked him, stacking her CD's next to her stereo.

"You have a lot of...um...things." Giles said, picking up a little pink teddy bear.

"Yeah, I traded a lot during boarding school." she said absentmindedly, "Things girls will give you for drugs..."

"What?" Giles asked her, staring at her incredulously.

Tatum chose to ignore him. She didn't really have much to complain about. Her room was a decent size, she had a nice big bed, and the house itself wasn't exactly small. And she lived a few blocks away from Buffy, which meant they could spend more time together.

"Can you excuse me?" she asked her father after a few minutes, "I need to change."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm going out."

"With whom?"

"Buffy."

"Where will you be going? To the cemetery?"

"No. We're going to a club."

"Will there be boys there?"

"No, Mom. It's a nun club."

"Just be careful." said Joyce Summers, leaving her daughter's bedroom slowly.

"I will." said Buffy, turning quickly to smile at her departing mother.

She shuffled through her clothes. Slutty...Eww...No way...When did I buy this?...Hmm...Maybe if I put this with...?

Buffy walked along the street. She knew someone was following her. Jeez, Tatum only lived a couple of blocks down the street, how did she manage to get stalked during that? She hurried down an alley, and scanned her surroundings. Spotting a horizontal pole running from one wall to the other, Buffy jumped up to grab it, and swung herself steadily until she was doing a perfect hand-stand up on the pole, out of sight.

The man crept down the alley. He peered around, obviously confused that his victim had managed to escape him. As he passed under Buffy, she let herself fall, and kicked him in the back of the head. She flipped neatly and landed next to the man on the floor, placing one foot on his chest.

"Is there a problem, ma'am?" he asked arrogantly.

"Yeah there's a problem." said Buffy, slightly out of breath, "Why are you following me?"

"I know what you're thinking." the man said, "But don't worry. I don't bite."

Buffy released him, and he sprung to his feet. He was tall and looked strong, not t mention utterly gorgeous. She got into a fighting stance.

"Truth is, I thought you'd be taller...or bigger...muscles and all that." He rubbed the back of his head, "You're pretty spry though."

"What do you want?" asked Buffy defensively.

"The same thing you do."

"Ok." she said, louder, dropping her pose, "What do I want?"

"To kill 'em." he said evilly, a twisted smile appearing on his face, "To kill 'em all."

"Sorry that's incorrect! But you do get this lovely watch and a year's supply of turtle wax! What I want is to be left alone." said Buffy, bored, walking past him and heading for the alley mouth.

"Do you really think that's an option anymore?" he asked her, causing Buffy to stop in her tracks, "You're standing at the mouth of Hell, and it's about to open."

He pulled out a small box from his jacket pocket, "Don't turn your back on this."

He threw the box to her. She caught it without moving a muscle.

"You've gotta be ready."

"What for?"

"For the Harvest." he replied with a small smile.

"Who are you?" she asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Let's just say...I'm a friend." he said, grinning as he walked backwards to leave.

"Well maybe I don't want a friend." said Buffy, a little sulkily.

He turned around, still smiling, "I didn't say I was yours."

Buffy opened the velvet box he had given her to find to large, silver crosses on chains. She looked to the mouth of the alley to find he had disappeared.

"He was creepy...but in a sexy way." Buffy told Tatum as they reached the entrance of the Bronze.

"He sounds like my ex-boyfriend." said Tatum, as she handed hers and Buffy's money to the guard at the door.

"I guess he's one of your dad's friends." said Buffy, as the two girls entered the club and sat at a table.

"No way!" said Tatum, laughing, "My dad doesn't have any sexy friends!"

Buffy gave her a look.

"Trust me! Even though I've only met him, he's not the type of guy to have hot male friends." she said, "Unless he's a pimp!"

Buffy laughed, as she turned to watch the band.

"This place is actually pretty cool." she said, watching the lead singer of Sprung Monkey dance about.

"Hey look! There's Xander!" said Tatum, waving at him and ushering him over.

"Hey girls!" he said, grinning at them both as he sat down, "You made it!"

"Yeah. Don't know how though, with the crappy directions you gave us." Tatum said.

Xander put on a mock-hurt face, "In the bad part of town...half a block away from the good part of town."

Tatum laughed.

"I'm going to get drinks." said Buffy, standing up as the song finished, "You guys want?"

"No, I'm good thanks." replied Tatum.

"Nothing for me thank you." said Xander, turning his attention back to Tatum.

Buffy made her way to the bar. She bumped into a girl and the girl dropped her drink on the floor. The crowd began clapping and whooping. The girl sat at a stool and went the color of her hair.

"Sorry, my bad!" said Buffy, sitting next to her, "Let me buy you another one?"

"Oh no! It's ok, really!" the red-head responded, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I insist!" said Buffy, ordering two drinks from the bar, "I've just started Sunnydale High! I'm Buffy!"

"Oh hi!" the girl said, "I'm Willow Rosenberg."

The barman set the drinks down in front of them.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Buffy asked as she took a sip of her drink, noticing the girl keep checking the doorway.

"Not really...I thought Xander was going to show up."

"Xander! I know Xander!"

"Oh good!" said Willow, "We've been best friends forever."

"So you two aren't going out?"

"We used to but then we broke up..."

"How come?" asked Buffy, taking another sip of her drink.

"He stole my Barbie." said Willow determinedly, then at Buffy's look, "We were five."

"Oh!" Buffy said, "So do you wanna come over to our table? Xander's with my friend Tatum."

"Ok."