For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Chapter 17: Smells Like Teen Spirit
(Buffy's POV)

As soon as I get to school I can't help but notice that there seems to be something wrong, the problem is that I'm not sure just what it is.

At first glance everything appears to be normal enough but that doesn't keep my spider-sense from being all tingly... and not in a good way. It is while we wait for Giles to arrive to study hall that I start getting really nervous. Cordy says something about there being a rule somewhere about students being able to take off if a teacher is more than ten minutes late. I try to remind her that Giles is all but allergic to being late and yet I can't deny the very simple fact that for once he is late... and living on a hellmouth that can only mean trouble.

With that realization the tingling of my spider-sense goes up a notch. I tune out Cordy as she starts babbling something about Giles being too strict which inevitably leads to something having to do with Xander. After a while Snyder arrives with Ms. Barton in tow, literally. It is clear that she doesn't want to be here any more than we do and for a moment I fear she's going to take her frustrations out on us but she doesn't... though that would almost have been preferable. As soon as Snyder leaves she asks us to pretend to read something until we are sure that Snyder's gone and then she tells us we are free to leave. At that the alarm bells truly go off in my head and as soon as she lets us out I go looking for Faith.

Apparently whatever's gotten into Ms. Barton is contagious as Faith's class has also been let out. Together we run to Giles's place as fast as we can and as soon as we get there we realize that there's something wrong, the door's open... not just unlocked, as it usually is, but actually open. I gesture for Faith to get behind me and I push it carefully, dreading what I'm going to find. To my surprise I see a totally unconcerned Giles going through one of his cabinets while my mom sits on his couch.

Seeing them both alive and well I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding and I step aside, allowing Faith to come into the room. This was definitely not what I was expecting to find and I can't help but feel that there's something that's still off with this whole scene --and I still can't put my finger on it-- but just seeing Giles is enough to help me calm down a bit. I may not know what's going on but I'm pretty confident he does... and if he doesn't at least I can trust that he'll do some research and find out.

I shake my head as I remind myself of just why we are here and of all the unusual little things that were happening in school today... starting with the very basic fact that he wasn't there. I also find myself wondering just what on Earth is my mother doing here. I mean, I know they've been talking a lot and I guess since they caught me sneaking around yesterday maybe they felt they had some things they had to work out in order to keep me on an even shorter leash or something like that but that doesn't quite add up either. Not only should Giles be working right now, my mom should be at the gallery... and of course there's also the little fact that --as far as I know-- they usually tend to try and run my life from my mom's living room. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen my mom here before.

I confront them about the fact that neither one of them is where they should be and Giles confirms that he did call the school to let them know that he would be a no-show today and that this is indeed a summit to decide how they can better ruin, I mean run, our lives, how they can coordinate our schedules so that they are not pulling us in two directions at once, which would certainly be of the good if it weren't for that nagging feeling that in the end that will translate into 'seeing how we can close even the tiniest loopholes'. I am dismayed to realize that they have apparently added Faith to their list of prisoners. I try not to smile at my fellow slayer's soft groan --I guess I'm not the only one dreading the outcome of their little summit after all-- and I send an apologetic look her way which thankfully goes unnoticed by both Giles and mom.

Seeing how they are only planning our lives I guess our input is not really needed. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I should say anything, whether I should try to plead my case or if I'm better off playing it safe and keeping my mouth shut when my mom surprises me by handing me her car keys. There's something weird going on here, I'm sure of that now but before I can even think of what to say Faith beats me to the punch, snatches the keys, hands them to me and all but drags me out of there.

It takes me a couple of seconds to react and I'm grateful for the fact that Faith managed to get us out of there before mom had a chance to change her mind. She's been really dead set against me driving so I don't know when I'll get another chance like this and I sure as hell ain't gonna waste it. I grin at Faith as she climbs into the car and we take off. We don't really need to talk about it, we are free for once and we are going to make the most out of it... seeing how things are going, it may not happen again for a while.

-o-

Somehow Willow ended up joining us in our little escapade. I'm not all that sure how I feel about it, I mean I like her and things are a lot better with her than they were when I first came back but her presence is certainly going to put an end to our wilder plans. A night out with Willow means going to the Bronze, where we could just as easily have gone without a car but still maybe if I can show mom that I can be responsible if she gives me half a chance, that will make her loosen up a little. Anyway, I look at Willow through the rearview mirror and I can see she is white as a sheet, saying something about the parking break. I look down and I realize she's right... no wonder this thing wouldn't do more than 20 miles per hour. I release the damn thing and then it gets much better. Faith --who's riding shotgun-- is smiling from ear to ear, while Willow is starting to look a little green around the edges. I decide she needs to relax so I start playing with the radio, hoping to find something halfway decent but it just ain't working.

When we get to the Bronze Willow all but kisses the ground... I mean, I may not be the best driver out there but I'm not that bad. Faith just smirks at her as she heads in and stops dead on her tracks. I follow her and I see almost immediately what it was that caught her attention.

Okay, so things were kind of freaky back in school earlier today but this is just too much. Grown ups seem to have invaded the Bronze in full force... I mean it's like everyone is here, up to and including Ms. Barton --who suddenly seems to be finding Willow's name downright hilarious-- and... is that really Snyder who's talking to us as if we were old friends?!?! Just what the hell's going on here? Oh, yeah, I forgot, not hell, just hellmouth.

This is way past weird and I guess I just found an answer to the question of what had my spider-sense in an uproar since early this morning. I hear the music stop and when I turn around I see that a bunch of fat guys have hijacked the stage. Somehow I don't think this is going to be pretty.

I turn to Faith who's openly staring... good to know I'm not the only one who's freaking out here.

After a couple of minutes I feel someone coming from behind, someone who doesn't feel quite human but doesn't really feel like a threat either. I turn around and I let out a sigh when I realize it's only Oz, who points out the fact that grown ups are acting like... well... us.

We need some answers and I know where to find them. I gather the gang and we head for Giles's place, with Snyder who --for whatever reason-- seems to have decided to tag along and is now criticizing my driving skills... great, just what I needed to cap a perfect day.