Chapter Four

Buffy threw Mr. Gordo up in the air and caught him while lying on her bed. Angel had left a little while earlier -- she had heard the door close and a series of "good-bye's" ring through the air.

She thought about Angel, about school and friends. About L.A. About her mother. Her father.

And all she could wonder was why she wasn't normal.

She wished the blank ceiling would swallow her whole.

I have to get some air.

Grudgingly, she got out of her bed and put on a sweater with matching black sweat pants. With one last look at her room, she exited swiftly through her window.

The jump down was a lot higher than expected. Than she remembered. Debating her options, she decided to walk to the side of the house and use the fence to get down -- that jump wasn't going to kill her.

Silently trekking across the tile, and trying not to disturb her mother -- probably watching television, anyways -- she got to the edge and looked up.

Across the way, she noticed a light flicker on. It was the new neighbor's house, she noted, and probably a bathroom. Buffy sighed and realized she might have to be extra careful not to get caught. All she wanted was some peace by the moonlight.

Stumbling forward, she peered over the ledge. Even if she didn't show it, Buffy was anything but athletically challenged. She knew her limits, but tested them all the time.

She lowered herself from the roof by clinging on to the edge and kicked her legs to dangle from the fence. Once on the fence, she retained her balance and grabbed onto the roof gutter.

Unfortunately, in the dim lighting, her assumption was wrong and the roof gutter proved to be extremely weak. With a crash, she landed in a heap on her mother's garden.

Oh, my.

Almost in an instant, the window above her opened and a familiar face looked down.

"What the -- "

She stood up and tilted her head. Buffy saw Angel in the room above and was silently thankful it wasn't Annie.

Alice, not Annie, she remembered.

A moment of peace rested over them. Hesitantly, Angel spoke again.

"Buffy?"

She grinned sheepishly and waved.

"What are you doing?"

Picking her words carefully, she answered, "I wanted some air. Decided to get some. Outside."

Angel watched her move away from the garden and into the front yard. He shook his head and closed the window.

Buffy closed the gate behind her and hoped her mother didn't hear anything. She retreated backwards and looked towards the sky, trying to find the moon.

After a few moments, she found it hidden behind some trees. "There you are," she murmured, staring at it intently.

"There what is?"

She didn't bother to glance away from the moon. She knew who it was, anyways. "The moon. You can't see it this clearly in L.A."

"Right," Angel answered, walking next to her. "The sky-pollution."

The two stood watching the night sky for a while, neither saying a word.

And that was exactly how Buffy liked it.

"Angel, huh?" Xander said while he drove. "That one mysterious, cryptic, oh-so-hot boyfriend of Cordelia?"

Buffy stared. "You scare me sometimes, Xand."

"I try."

Buffy turned to Willow in the back seat. "What do you think about him?"

"Hmm? He's nice, I guess," Willow answered. "We don't really talk. Came into Sunnydale's public school system around the time you left, I believe. He's quiet. Yet arrogant, at times. It's hard to explain when you've watched him change over the years, but still, I'd watch out for him, Buffy."

"He's Cordelia's boyfriend. What do you expect?" Xander questioned.

"He was nice to me," Buffy stated, "until the subject of Crowdelia came up."

"Makes sense," Willow answered. "They're relationship is like a Barbie, I always say."

Xander glanced at her before watching the road. "A…Barbie?"

Willow nodded with a smile. "I've worked the whole thing out. A Barbie-like relationship -- fake, thrown together to satisfy the masses and anger the intelligent, and highly unstable -- "

"Unstable?" Xander wondered.

"If a Barbie doll were brought to life, er, life-sized, she wouldn't be able to walk. The measurements are all off; too big of a bust, too small of a waist, legs that will snap under pressure -- "

"Thus, destroying the illusion of perfection!" Buffy cheered.

Xander parked. "Horray Barbie?" Willow glared at him through the rear-view mirror. He sighed. "Must be a girl thing. And I'm still wondering where you get the time to come up with things like Barbie-doll theories."

The trio got out of the car just as the bell rung. After getting the correct hang out spot, and remembering it, Buffy searched for homeroom. She had left her schedule in the pocket of her jeans the other day and forgot to take it out. It's gonna be hell finding my classes, now. Her memory didn't help, either.

Math was lame. She wasn't even sure what math she was in, to tell the truth.

Then Chemistry. Also lame.

Homeroom was homeroom. She chatted with Gunn for a while, still wondering why he was in an 11th grade homeroom but didn't bother asking.

"I met Angelcakes the other day," Buffy told him.

Gunn laughed. "Oh, man, I've gotta hear this one. Didn't run into the group this morning -- late, as usual."

Buffy shook her head in mock disappointment.

"Not my fault the boss doesn't get up early!"

"The boss?"

Gunn shrugged. "It gets on his nerves."

"Speaking of nerves," Buffy answered, "he got a little picky when I unknowingly brought up bad images of Crowdelia."

His eyes got wide and his mouth twitched. "Crowdelia!"

"What? Isn't that her name?" Buffy asked innocently.

He broke out in laughter, only to get a dirty look from the teacher. "You! Over there! Shut up and learn."

"But this is homeroom!" Buffy protested.

The teacher glared at her in response and continued to call roll.

"You don't have to say much for him to get picky," Gunn said, a little softer.

Buffy yawned. "I realized that. I was just wondering about their seriousness and then BAM! Complete glare, eye-slits and everything!"

"Man," he answered rubbing his head, "I still don't know why they're going out. Or at least why Angel's going out with Cordy."

She shrugged. "Popularity?"

He shook his head. "Nah, he's not like that."

"He probably got trapped in the web that we all get stuck in sometimes," Buffy said softly. "Looking for something or someone to fill that empty void…settling with less when we know we could get more -- "

Gunn put up his hands. "Okay, enough with the cryptic talk, Buff. You're starting to sound like the boss."

The two walked out of the band room as the bell sounded and found themselves surrounded by a mass of energetic students. Gunn looked down at her and asked, "you gonna be hanging out with us today?"

"No, sir," Buffy said. "Thanks for the offer, but I planned meeting my two friends Willow and Xander -- "

"The ones you lost the other day?"

She smiled. "Yup."

Before they said their goodbyes, Gunn told her she could bring the two over at their hangout spot anytime. She kept the offer in mind before wandering off to look for a burnt tree next to the grass area.

A couple minutes later, she found Willow and Xander. Xander saw her first, pointed, and waved. Willow turned around and jumped.

"You made it!" the redhead exclaimed.

Buffy smiled, proud of herself. "Yep. I sure did."

"We're glad you could come, Buffster. Two makes company, but three makes a crowd."

"Very true," she said. "Hey, do any of you know who Gunn is?"

"Hangs out with Angel, right?" Xander asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Very manly, too!"

Buffy laughed.

"Hey! I got her to laugh!" Xander grabbed Willow by the shoulders, mockingly. "I got her to laugh!"

The three of them laughed. Willow smiled and patted Xander on the back. "So what about Gunn?"

Buffy stretched. "He offered a hang out place, if we ever needed one. I hung out with his group when I had no idea where I was going."

"Oh! Oh, hey!" Willow said excitedly, "isn't that where that one musician guy hangs out at? Oz?"

"Yeah, I met him yesterday, kind of," Buffy answered.

Xander nudged Willow in the stomach, playfully. "Someone's got a 'thing'."

"I do not have a 'thing,' Xander," she said defensively, "but I do have a thing for Oz." She froze.

"Wills? Willow?"

"I just remembered," Willow said, "I don't do good with boys. They make me all jittery and nervous and argh and -- "

"Maybe we should get to hang out with them so you'll get to know them better?" Buffy suggested.

Xander looked at her. "Doesn't Cordelia hang out with them, too? You know, the whole Angel factor?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nope, not really. In fact, I haven't even seen either of them at school yet."

The trio continued to talk and have fun until the bell rang, signaling more classes. The entire day was uneventful for Buffy until English, the last period of the day.

If there was one subject that didn't bore her out of her mind, it had to be English. The teacher (and school librarian) was Mr. Giles, and Buffy had -- for some reason -- found him very amusing to watch and listen to.

In the middle of class, the door opened and Angel stepped inside, wearing loose black pants and a white shirt. Buffy instantly looked up, wondering why Angel was in Mr. Giles' room.

"Hey, Giles," he said over the student's talking. Giles? Hmm…it has it's touch. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hello, Angelus," Mr. Giles said. "What do you need?"

"Just wondering if you need a TA," he asked.

Mr. Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them, a habit Buffy loved counting. Third time this period. "Well, you could help with this class, I assume."

Angel looked up at the class and looked around. Buffy raised her eyebrows at him when his gaze landed on her.

"Sure," he said, smiling, still watching Buffy but talking to Mr. Giles. "I'm grateful."

"Excellent, then," Mr. Giles said. "Take a seat in the back. Do you need anything to do?"

Angel showed him a book. Buffy looked carefully and saw the title: The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. One of my favorites.

Mr. Giles smiled. "It suits you."

Angel smirked before walking to the back, as the students continued to watch him. Buffy matched his stare, watching as he pulled up a desk next to her and sat down.

"Hey."

His voice was so smooth. It almost threw her off-track. Almost.

The class listened to her response, Mr. Giles included.

With nothing more than a glance at him, she looked back down at her writing assignment for the day.

"Hello, Angelcakes."