A/N: Whoa, I did not want to confuse anyone about the pairing! I think it's going to be Darry/Buffy, but I dunno, it could change... this story's, like, totally taking over my mind, man... ;)
I want to make it clear that the Socs did NOT see Buffy. They saw Johnny and Pony, but I'm gonna make it so that it was so dark they've all developed different mental pictures of them, okay? They all think they were BIG greasers.
Well, anyways, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter Six: Monkey See, Monkey Do
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" a rooster crowed and Buffy nearly fell out of bed. She groggily got out of bed, rubbing her eyes with two fists and fighting the rays of the sun.
"Coffee," she groaned, stumbling towards the door and grabbing the railing to the stairs for some much needed support. She walked into the kitchen to see all three of the Curtis brothers eating breakfast, along with Steve, Johnny, and Two-Bit. That's almost the whole gang! Everyone grew quiet as she walked in.
"Buffy, you look as though you've seen death herself (1)," Steve joked, but immediately quieted and nibbled on his toast when he saw the look Darry gave him.
It wasn't entirely true, anyway, so Buffy chose to ignore it. Although her hair was a little messy and her Mickey Mouse pajamas were way too big for her, she still looked cute. She had found her jammies tucked away in her duffel bag and guessed that she had probably accidentally taken them along with her. All in all, she looked much better than she felt.
"Coffee," she muttered and Darry handed her a cup. She sat down and began to sip it slowly, pausing to raise an eyebrow at their chocolate cake and chocolate milk breakfast.
"So… what's going to happen now?" Ponyboy asked from his position at the kitchen counter.
"Well, I'm gonna go watch some Mickey Mouse, cause it's comin' on now." Two-Bit said cheerfully, running off to the living room.
"And I've got to get to work," Darry said, finishing up the rest of his coffee. "Soda, Steve, if you want me to drop you off at work, you better get going now."
Soda and Steve polished off their breakfast in a rush and ran out the door. Buffy grinned. Now that she was fully caffeinated, she could appreciate what was going on around her.
"Hey, is the Curtis household always this chaotic?"
"Only on the weekdays," Ponyboy replied with a grin. "Hey, Buffy, what's going to happen now?" he asked nervously.
"I dunno," Buffy replied, "but I think I'll be taking a shower now."
"No, I mean with the... you know."
"Oh, well, I should be getting a court summons in the mail soon. Everything's really confidential though, so no one knows I'm connected to the case at all."
"Will I be getting one?" Ponyboy asked. Both Johnny and he shivered nervously.
"I hope not," Buffy responded, concentrating on the swirls on her coffee. "Well, what should we do now?" she asked, hoping to get their minds off the present matter at hand.
"I don't know," Johnny responded hesitantly, "go to school?"
"Well, aren't you the wild child, Johnny?" Buffy replied sarcastically and Johnny blushed.
"Well, it is just you, me, Johnny, and Two-Bit in the house," Ponyboy pointed out.
"I'm goin' to school!" they heard Two-Bit holler from the living, followed by the slam of a door.
"I guess it's just me, you, and Johnny," Buffy said cheerfully, "so, seriously, you guys, what do you want to do?"
"Hide until this case is blown over." Ponyboy promptly replied.
"Mmmhmm," Buffy murmered. "OR, we could all go to school, seeing as how it's Monday morning."
Johnny opened his mouth to say that he had suggested that very thing earlier, but decided to keep it to himself. Buffy still didn't look fully awake and he did not want to face the brunt of her anger/annoyance.
"Alright, well, let's get on to school then."
(Homeroom)
"Class," Mr. Hornesby said, "I'd like to introduce a new student. This is Ms. Elizabeth Anne Summers."
"Buffy," Buffy corrected.
Several students snickered and Buffy started wishing she didn't come. Ponyboy wasn't in her grade and Johnny and Two-Bit were both in different homerooms. Soda was at work and Steve was ditching school to work along with Soda. Dallas didn't go to school. Darry didn't either—he worked. There were a lot of greasers there, sure, but they all looked so... annoying. So did the Socs, though. They all reminded her of Cordelia's crowd.
"Ok, then, Ms. Summers, please have a seat."
Buffy giggled. "You know, every time you say Ms. Summers, I fight the impulse to turn around and look for my mom. You know, cause everyone always calls her Ms. Summers and me Buffy..." she trailed off.
"Errm, yes," the teacher replied, obviously not paying attention. "Now sit."
Buffy sighed and sat down, wishing Xander and Willow were there. Heck, even Cordelia. Just, anyone she knew would be fine.
The redheaded girl in front of her turned around to give her a smile. "Hi," she said cheerfully, her green eyes flashing, "my name's Cherry. Welcome to our school."
"Yeah, thanks," Buffy responded with a polite smile.
"So, I love your outfit," she gushed, and Buffy shrugged with a smile. Black kitten heel shoes, a plaid skirt, and a white blouse weren't anything special.
"You're not wearing any stockings!" Cherry remarked, her eyebrows raised in reprimand.
"Oh, err, yeah, all of mine had runs."
"Oh, I hate it when that happens," Cherry said with a smile. "Say, what group were you in at your last school? Cheerleading squad? The Key Club? Anything special?"
Buffy thought about her old school. While responding, 'The slayer club,' would be funny to her it probably wouldn't make any sense, so she remembered what she did before she moved to Sunnydale.
"I was a cheerleader."
Cherry's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, gosh, Buffy, you're not going to believe this but Alice just broke her ankle!"
"Uhmm, I'm sorry?" Buffy responded hesitantly, wary of Cherry's way to happy tone.
"Yeah, and she's just your size," Cherry squealed, "you can join our team! This is so great! Now we won't have to disband!"
"You were going to disband?" Buffy asked in disbelief.
"Well, no," Cherry admitted, "we were going to have to accept Kerri. Everyone hates Kerri." She said, pointing towards a small brunette in the front of the classroom.
The bell rang and Buffy and Cherry started collecting their things.
"I'll see you after school!" Cherry said happily, and Buffy sighed, watching her walk away. Cherry is a very pushy girl, she thought to herself.
(After School)
"Buffy, hey, over here!" Ponyboy yelled, waving his hand at her. Buffy started walking towards him when a tall brunette blocked her path.
"Hi, Buffy! My name's Marcia. I've heard so much about you. Listen," she whispered, "since you're new and joining the cheerleading squad, I'm going to let you know that those are the kind of people you don't want to hang out with."
"Déjà vu!(2)" Buffy remarked, pushing Marcia out of her way and leaving her very confused, coming to a stop in front of Ponyboy.
"Well, I'm glad you're not too good for us, Princess," Two-Bit remarked, looking surprising proud and touched.
"Yeah," Buffy said with a sigh, "but I want to tell you that I'm going to join the cheerleading squad."
"No!" Two-Bit gasped, grasping his chest with one hand and grabbing her arm with the other, "Say it ain't so! You're turning into... one of them."
"Oh, stop being such a worrywart," Buffy chided, "I'll meet you guys in the parking lot in ten minutes after I meet up with Cherry in the school gym."
"Can I come with you?" Two-Bit asked with his best puppy dog face.
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Fine. I'm gonna go get me a five-finger discount (3) from Old Harry's. I'll come pick you up in fifteen minutes." Two-Bit said with his trademark smirk.
"Okay, fine." Buffy responded, already walking away towards the gym. This day was already going in way too many different weird directions.
Asterisked Notes:
(1) I thought it would be funny to refer to death as 'she' cause of that comic... you know, where Death is a girl...
(2) Déjà vu, because this is exactly what happened to Buffy when she moved to Sunnydale from L.A. Cordelia told her not to be friends with Xander and Willow b/c they were 'nerds'.
(3) five-finger discount (noun US, euphemistic) The activity or proceeds of stealing or shoplifting. 1966-