The alarm clock went off at 5:58 am. Xander slapped at it, turning it off. He groaned. One thing that he definitely hadn't missed about
school. Getting up early. He rolled out of bed, and shuffled into the bathroom. He stripped, and turned the water on. While it was still
cold, he stepped into the spray. While not fun, it was an effective way of waking up. Something that he remembered from his earlier high
school days.

Quickly changing it to warmer water, he washed and rinsed. Drying off, he grabbed the robe he'd hung on the door knob. He peeked into Faith's room on the way back, and saw that she was up.

At least I won't have to wake her up, and get my ass kicked into a wall for it.

He got dressed, and walked downstairs. Faith was sitting at the dining table, staring into her cereal.

"Hey. You awake?" he asked.

"Not really. We forgot to get coffee. How did we forget to get coffee?" she moaned.

"Stop on the way, and get a mocha or something on the way to school. You going to ride the Harley, or do you want to ride with me?" he

asked, as he poured his own bowl of cereal.

She brightened. "I'll ride the Harley. Hmm. Think leather pants on the first day of school is too much?"

"Yeah, save those for the third or fourth. You don't want to scare everyone away immediately." he teased.

"Fine, but I'm still wearing my leather jacket."

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't. Well. You're not supposed to be you, you're supposed to be Missy. But I'm sure that's something that
Missy'd do too." He grinned.

"You bet your ass she would." She grinned, and dumped the rest of her cereal down the drain. "I'm gonna go take a shower. You taking off?"

"Yup. Gonna go be a good student, and get my schedule, and all the paperwork done. Want me to do your's too, and pick up your schedule?"

"That'd be cool. I'll call you when I get there, and you can give everything to me, ok?"

"Sounds good. See ya then. Don't be late!" he yelled after her. She waved backwards.

Xander finished his cereal, grabbed two sodas and stuck them in his bag along with his spiral notebooks, and pens. He grabbed his CD
player, and a book of CD's.

Before he left the house, he muttered the incantation that Willow'd taught him. It would last for 24 hours, and had to be renewed each
day. But it covered him completely. No one would know that he only had one eye.

He unlocked the Jeep, and flipped through his CD's until he found the Nirvana one that he'd bought recently. Slipping it into the cd player,
he turned the Jeep on. He listened to the engin for a minute, relishing the purr of a new vehicle. He hit the button for the garage door, and pulled out. He hit the button once he was safely outside.

He followed the directions mapped out for him by Willow, and found the school without any problems. He found a parking space, not too far out, but not too close either.

He walked into the school, and found the principal's office, filled out the forms, got both of their schedules, and went in search of his
locker. He made sure the combo worked, and then closed it, leaving it empty. He glanced at his watch. 7:20 am. School started at 8:00. She had 40 minutes to get here. He figured she'd get here by 7:45. He headed back out to his Jeep, and sat on the hood, waiting.
Twenty minutes rolled by, and he people watched to keep himself entertained.

He got a few curious looks, but no one approached.

At 7:42 he heard the roar of the Harley. He grinned. She was early. As she turned the corner, she saw him sitting on his Jeep. He'd
obviously parked so that she'd be able to see him when she drove by. She whipped into the empty parking space next to him. She set the
kickstand, and turned off the engin. She pulled off her helmet, and shook out her hair. Noticing that she'd drawn a crowd when she pulled
in, she glared at them.

"If anyone touches this, they'll get their ass kicked so hard they'll never see sunlight again."

Xander laughed. "She's serious, and I'd let everyone know." She swung off the Harley, and took the helmet. He tossed it in the backseat of
the Jeep, and beeped the alarm.

"Here. Your schedule, and all of the other paperwork. Locker, combo. Use it if you want to, you have a spare key to my Jeep if you need to put stuff in there. Call me if you leave before I do, same goes for me. We've got one class together, right after lunch. Don't start any fights, don't get in trouble."

She laughed. "Yes, Angel."

He smacked her on the arm. "I'm not Deadboy. I've got a sense of humor. See ya in class."

He grabbed his backpack and his cd player, and walked towards the school. "Hey, Cliff." He turned around. "This might help. You forgot
it at home." She tossed him his cell phone.

"Right. Thanks." he clipped it onto his pocket. And stuck his headphones on, but didn't turn on the cd player. He didn't want anyone sneaking up on him. He'd learned that in Sunnyhell. You don't ever let any of your senses get out of focus. Until he knew the area, and knew some of the people other than Faith..er..Missy, he wasn't going to trust any of them.

"Everyone, we have a new student. Transferring from Mission Hills High School, in Los Angeles. Cliff "Pant One?" the teacher butchered his new last name, causing him to wince.

"Pantone. Thanks." he found a seat next to a pretty blonde. One of the jocks on his left decided to be a wiseass.

"coughLosercough."

He shook his head. They were so juvenile. He hoped that he'd never been like that, but he was sure that he probably had been. Only, his
smart ass remarks were usually aimed at Angel.

"coughLosercough"

Xander rolled his eyes, and turned towards the losers. "Wait, wait, wait, was that the uh, was that the "loser sneeze" I just heard right there? Guys, come on, I mean, what is that from, like the 1900's? Nobody does that anymore. I don't think anyone does. When I lived in Kentucky– Did they still do the loser sneeze in Kentucky? No. They had uh, guns and homemade bombs. What about L.A.? There was a lot of attitude in L.A. but no loser sneeze. I'm pretty sure the loser sneeze is officially dead. Sorry."

Xander heard the girl on the other side chuckle quietly at his remarks, but the two idiots didn't get the message.

"coughLosercough." the first idiot repeated.

"Nice." was his friend's brilliant remark.

The cute blond sitting next to him leaned over and said, "I don't think they got the memo about the loser sneeze."

"Uh, no, apparently not. Cliff." He stuck out his hand, and she took it.

"Torrance."

He lifted the cover of the book she was studying. "Advanced Chem.Yikes."

She nodded. "Um, 'fraid so. You intimidated?"

"Y-yeah, a little." Xander nodded. He thought of Willow, and her interests. Not.

"Really?" She brightened, smiling cheerfully.

Xander smirked. "No. Not really."

She pointed at his t-shirt. "So, is that your band or something?"

"The Clash? No, uh – it's a British punk band circa 1977 to 1983-ish.Original lineup, anyway."

Thank you, Spike.

"How vintage."

The bell rang.

"Um, so I'll see you around then?" he said, as he stood up. They both picked up their books.

"Looks like it."