A/N: I got stuck with Fledgling so I wrote this to take a break. It's an AU type thing set in an English primary school. (Because I'm English, and I don't know how the schools work in America) They're all about eight or nine years old (year 4) unless I specify individually that they're not. I actually like this, I might carry it on. Note to self: I should stop starting stories cos then I have to continue them all at the same time... but I actually have loads of ideas that I wanna make into fics and I don't want to forget them before I write them. And that made no sense at all. Apologies, now here's the fic:
"Don't. Touch. My stuff."
Cordelia Chase's voice rang across the playground. Kids turned to witness the scene that was taking place.
Willow Rosenburg, a shy red head, was on the verge of tears and Cordelia snatched the Barbie away and stormed off. Everyone watched, frozen in silence as Willow's lip quivered and she sat on the wall with her knees drawn up.
"What are you all looking at!" Cordelia snapped at Jonathon and Andrew, and Warren, three little five year olds who were staring with their mouths open. They quickly shut them and continued with their game of power rangers.
Cordelia ruled the school. Although there were a full two years above her, she was still the queen of the playground. Older kids and younger kids watched in awe when Cordelia walked past.
Harmony, a girl with long blonde hair in pink ribbons ran up to Cordy with another Barbie clutched in her hand. "Nice one Cord!" She examined the Barbie in Cordelia's hand. "Hey, lets plait their hair!" she said excitedly.
Cordelia gave her a look. "Uh, no. Harmony, plaits are so out. They need ribbons." She pointed at her own hair, in which two sapphire ribbons were tied perfectly in place.
"Oh," said Harmony brightly. "Where are we going to find ribbons?"
Cordelia pointed to a year two girl who also had ribbons in her hair.
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Mrs Hutton, the year four teacher, stood at the front of the class and addressed them the way she always did, with a huge smile and a soft voice.
"A new girl is coming tomorrow and I want you all to be nice to her. Her name's Buffy-" Cordelia snorted from the back row, "-and she's just moved here. So be nice, please." Mrs Hutton looked at Cordelia with the last sentence.
Willow, in the front, listened with interest. Her best friend Tara was playing with the friendship bracelet Willow had got her for Christmas. It was pink and black with little silver hearts. Willow had one too, although Willow's was green and black. The two of them were shy, and didn't talk much to anyone else. All the staff at school were used to seeing Willow and Tara, always together. They were perhaps the only pair of children in the school who hadn't fallen out with each other.
A piece of rubber hit Tara in the head and she turned around. Xander Harris mouthed, 'Sorry' at her and she turned back, muttering to Willow.
"Boys are so stupid. I wish our school was an only-girls school."
Willow smiled. "Me too!"
"Faith was talking about kissing Gunn earlier. How gross is that?!" Tara and Willow both giggled. Faith was Tara's cousin and went to the high school across town. Gunn was her boyfriend. "Hey I'm sorry about your Barbie by the way. Cordelia's really mean."
Willow smiled. "It's ok. I think I'm growing out of them anyway. Shame Cordy's not!"
They were set some maths work to do and within ten minutes, William, or Spike, as everyone called him, had been called to the front to hand over his calculator.
"Where did you get this from William?" Mrs Hutton asked.
"Home."
"But we have calculators here if you need one, you shouldn't bring one from home." She sighed. "But if you want, you can keep it, just don't use it now. This work is to be done without a calculator."
Spike took the calculator back from her and sat back down.
"William, don't think that I can't tell you're using it under the desk," Mrs Hutton said tiredly a couple of minutes later, and Spike put it in his bag guiltily.
"Damn," said his best friend Liam, "I needed you to work out 7 x 9."
"It's sixty three," Xander said across the table.
"How d'ya know that?!" Liam said in surprise.
"Well we're supposed to be working it out by them times table things, but there's another way for nines, look," Xander held up ten fingers in front of him. "If you want seven, you count across from the left on your fingers then put the seven one down, see? Then the number of fingers on that side is the first number and the ones on the other side is the second number."
Liam and Spike watched in amazement. "Wow! Does that really work?" Xander nodded. "Cool!"
Liam scribbled something down on his work then looked up. "Does it work with sevens as well? The next one is 5 x 7."
Xander shrugged. "Dunno. Lets see..." he held up his fingers and did a quick count, putting the fifth finger down. "I got 45."
Liam and Spike both wrote down 45 as their answer for 5 x 7, 27 as their answer for 3 x 8, and 54 as their answer for 6 x 6. When they got to the end of the sheet, Spike threw a pencil at Willow's head. She turned round with a frown.
"Willow, can you check if those are right for us?" Liam asked, handing her his sheet. She looked at it then laughed.
"I don't know what you've done Lee, but it's all wrong except for 7 x 9."
Liam scowled and snatched his sheet back. "Xander! You said it worked for other numbers too!"
"I never! I said I didn't know!"
"What would work?" Tara asked, turning round as well.
"This thing Xander's got to do the nine times table with your fingers," Spike answered, also scowling. "Only it doesn't work with other numbers."
Willow frowned. "What?" The three boys showed her and she rolled her eyes.
"Of course it doesn't work, stupid!" All three of them scowled once more. "It only works with nine because that's like a default number."
"A what?" Spike asked blankly, and Willow sighed.
"Never mind. Just trust me, it only works with nine."
She turned back round and whispered something to Tara which made her giggle.
Liam looked at Spike and Xander. "What do we do now?"
Xander frowned then turned round to talk to Doyle who was on the other table behind him.
"Oi, Doyle, get Oz." Doyle obediently prodded Oz across the table who looked up. "Give us your sheet Oz, we need to copy." Oz frowned and shook his head.
"Work it out yourself."
Spike frowned then spoke to Xander. "Tell him if he doesn't give us the sheet I'll set Ripper on him."
"Spike says if you don't give us the sheet he'll set Ripper on you," Xander repeated. Oz toyed with the decision then handed over the sheet reluctantly. Spike grinned. The threat of his older brother never failed. He wasn't nicknamed 'Ripper' for no reason.
Liam greedily copied down the answers first, snatching the paper out of Xander's hand while Oz watched from the other table, fiddling with his pen.
"Liam, William, Alexander, Daniel, Francis, Willow and Tara, I have been watching you for the past fifteen minutes and I know exactly what's going on and who's done what." Mrs Hutton's voice rang out, slightly harsher than normal. "Everyone else can have a star if you come to me after class. Alex, William and Liam I will talk to you after the lesson."
The three boys looked at each other guiltily. "Shame Wes isn't here," Spike commented, looking at the empty chair at their table where Wesley usually sat. "He'd get us out of it somehow."
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It was a very disgruntled Xander that made his way home that day. He'd been set extra maths homework. It was ok for Spike, he had his stupid calculator. But Xander's dad was a junkie and they didn't have anything particularly useful in the house.
Xander hated his home. It always stunk of beer and fags and some drug that he didn't want to know about. There wasn't even a proper carpet on the floor in the hall, just stone cement stuff. He was only eight, and yet he had his own key to get into the house because his dad was usually out. The woman next door was supposed to keep an eye on him, which she did, to be fair, but she didn't stay in the house for long. Xander guessed she didn't like the smell.
He let himself in and sighed visibly, picking up a beer can from the floor and chucking it in the black bin liner that served as a bin. He went through to the kitchen and groaned. There was some sticky stuff (probably more beer) all over the surfaces and dripping down the cupboard doors.
As Xander got a cloth and started to clean it off, he felt tears in the back of his eyes and blinked furiously. He missed his mum. She'd died four years ago, of cancer, and Xander's memory of her was pretty vague. He had a picture, in his room, but that didn't make her alive again, and it was he, Xander, who had to put up with his drunken father who, if he wasn't passed out on the sofa with a can, was out dealing drugs to kids. What would happen to Xander if he got caught? Xander wasn't an idiot, he knew drugs were illegal. So would his dad go to prison if he was caught? And what about him? He didn't have any other relatives that he knew of, and he didn't want to go into a care home like Doyle or get adopted like Liam.
He sighed again and curled up on the sofa with his maths book and a pen.
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Willow heard the knock on her front door and her dad answer it. There was a brief conversation that she didn't catch and then, "Willow! It's Xander, I'll send him up!" Willow groaned and hid her face in the pillow as Xander knocked on her door.
"Come in," she sighed through the pillow, and the boy came in with a grin. Xander came round for homework help a lot. He only lived round the corner, on the estate, and she knew he didn't like spending time at home.
"Hi Willow I need your help. See, Mrs Hutton set me extra homework because of the thing today at school and I can't do it, it's too hard."
"Have you even tried?"
Xander shook his head cheerfully and Willow took the maths book from him and looked at it for a couple of seconds. Suddenly Xander let out a fart and burst into giggles.
"Xander! I'm not going to help you if you're gonna be stupid. You've made my room stink now, go away!" Willow was actually cross and Xander got control of himself.
"I'm sorry Willow, please just help me, please?"
"Why?"
"Because I really need your help. I'll give you my Rolos tomorrow at school?" Willow hesitated. She loved Rolos. "For the rest of the week?" Xander prodded, and Willow gave in.
"Fine, give it here." She had the work done in less than five minutes and Xander brightened when she handed it back.
"Thanks Willow!"
"No problem," she muttered to herself as he left the house.