"I don't like it." Jenny rolled her eyes

"Well thank you, miss negative." Faith scrunched her eyes up into a cynical glare as they drove into the Sunnydale High School parking lot.

"It's so…perky. It's unnatural. I don't like it. I want to be home schooled!" Faith whined.

"To bad." The grumpy teen gave a pout. After Jenny parked, the two preceded to get out of the car and walk to the dreaded principal's office. Unfortunately, school was indeed in session AND at lunch break. So, for Faith, that meant doing the new kid walk of shame.

"People keep eyeing me like I'm a friggin Scrumdiddlyumptious bar!" Faith complained.

"When did you become such a whiner?"

The bickering was suddenly interrupted by a small group of kids. Clique was the more appropriate term.

"Look, it's a Xena wannabe." One girl said, pointing at Faith. Everyone around her gave a shrill laugh.

"Ignore them Faith."

"No, no, it's our new mascot. Now, to better represent our cheerleading squad, we are the Sunnydale Sluts." Faith bit her lip, and gave a threatening glare. The stupid teenagers were asking for more than they could handle. The group seemed to be made up of five arrogant idiots. Two anorexic chicks, and three meat-headed boys. One seemed unnatural though. Like he didn't belong. He was the most unnerving of the bunch. He had messy brown hair, and small, almost kittenish lips. He would be quite handsome if he wiped the stupid smirk off his face.

Faith closed her eyes and tried her best to shut the teens out. Their words though, seemed to echo within her mind, making her burn with anger. "I really wish that you had let me take my switchblade to school." Faith said, in a bitter whisper.

The pack finally got bored with their new prey, and left them alone to enter into the school.

The interior of the school looked like the interior of other schools: normal, bright, yet so very boring. Faith would take on a vampire any day. School, though, was a completely different form of monster.

"Hey, look." Faith pointed to a short, grumpy looking man. "It's a kebbler elf!" Jenny quickly smacked Faith's hand, and quietly ridiculed the girl.

"Um excuse me, do you know where principal Snyder's office is?" Jenny asked the elfman.

"I am principal Snyder."

Faith eyes slightly bulged, and Jenny hesitantly continued.

"Ah yes, I see the name tag now. Anyway, I wanted to see about enrolling my daughter."

Snyder's eyes shifted to Faith. For once in her life, Faith wished that she was wearing more clothes. She felt like he was trying to mentally dissect her.

"Also, I heard you had a job opening for a computer teacher." Jenny went on.

Snyder kept eying the rebellious looking teen. Finally he turned back to Jenny. "You are hired…I am guessing that you would like a tour, then." He said, in his weird cold voice.

"Um yes, that would be helpful."

"Maybe I can arrange for my school librarian to show you around."

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

"Snyder is an evil, evil name." Faith said randomly, as she followed the Englishman.

Giles tried to stifle a small snort of laughter, as Jenny just ignored her.

"And here is our library."

Jenny looked around the room, it smelled of dust, and rotting paper. The room itself, though, was quite spacious and organized. Faith just sneered. "Ew…literature."

Giles stared at her like she had uttered one of the worst curses known to man. "Please excuse her." Jenny said in a rather embarrassed tone.

"Ooh, violence!" Faith shouted with glee, as she spotted a petite, blonde girl watching a documentary on hyenas. The girl gave Faith an amused grin, as Faith dragged a chair over and began to watch the small TV. "This library is awesome! Oh yeah," Faith offered her hand to the girl beside her. "Names Faith."

"Nice to meet you." The girl said through her light laughter. "My names Buffy."

"Kewl, B."

"Are you still using a card catalog system?" Jenny tilted her head in curiosity.

"Why, yes. Is there a problem?"

"No, but that system is highly out-dated, and it is not nearly as efficient as a computerized system."

"You mean using one of those infernal contraptions?" Giles asked indignantly. "Those, those idiot boxes?"

Jenny gave a small laugh. "They're not idiot boxes, that's tv."

"Frankly it doesn't matter much to me if they call it an idiot box or a boob tube."

"He said boob!" Faith sputtered, choking on her laughter. Buffy also couldn't suppress a good laugh. Whether it was at the girls' immature behavior, or the fact that Giles did say boob, she didn't know.

"Hush you." Jenny said, in a stern tone.

Faith just grinned and went back to watching a hyena rip out the throat of a gazelle. For some reason, she felt like she was off to a good start this school year. Vampires, demons, and secrets all seemed to fade away. For now, she could simply lay back relax, and admire the gory scene --before her.

The day went on. Nothing unusual or Hellmouthy seemed to happen. Faith and Jenny finished their tour, completed their forms, and then headed to the local Walmart (every town has to have a Walmart) to do some late school shopping. When they finally finished, they headed home to their microscopic apartment, watched a movie, and went to bed. For once, things were peaceful.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

"Mom wake up..."

"Mom the bad man is gone."

"Mom…mommy."

"I scared him away, he won't hurt us now.

"Faith."

"Mom, you got to get up! I won't be bad ever again!"

"Faith!"

"Your eyes are open, how can you be sleeping!"

"Faith!"

Faith jumped from the bed, and blinked several times. The dim light illuminated her glistening eyes. "Mom!" She blinked at Jenny, again. For a moment her face was full of grief, but it was soon replaced with feigned confusion.

"What's the sitch, Jen? The sun's not even out." Faith said in a slightly uncomfortable tone.

"You were just…snoring. That's all." Jenny hated lying, but sometimes there was no way around it. The girl would never admit that she had nightmares. She would never even discuss her past. Faith didn't realize though, that the more she keeps it bottled up, the more it escapes her grasp. Jenny cringed, remembering some of the girl's other horrific outbursts. The worst ones always seemed to involve either her mother, or a man named Kakistos.

"Oh. Uh sorry."

"It's ok. Well, I am going back to sleep. Don't forget, you actually get to start school tomorrow."

"Ah, why'd ya have to remind me?" Faith groaned and fell back on her bed.

"Good night."

"Yeah, nigh night."

Jenny turned off the lights, and all was dark again. She felt an odd sense of guilt for leaving the girl to her room. She couldn't force Faith to discuss her problems, but how could she leave the girl to her own musings. Emotional solitude is good, but loneliness can kill. As she reached her small bedroom she could hear the faint noise of a stifled sob. She closed her eyes, and gave a sad sigh. Sometimes, we can face our demons alone…other times, we have to have the courage to ask for help.

TBC

I know, I know. I need to get with the actiony stuff! I'll be getting there, it just takes time, so bear with me. I'm thinking about maybe making this into a Faith/Spike fic. But there are going to be various other pairings. Maybe you people in reviewer land could give me some suggestions. Purtay please!