You're My Hero. Freshman revamped. Buffy deals with her troubles of being a new college student and her extra-curricular activities take on a whole new level. She realizes something in her life that will make this college experience much more fun.
It's night time in the cemetery and Buffy Summers is pacing back and forth. Willow is seated cross-legged and reading papers. She is helping Buffy decide what classes to take for Fall semester at UC Sunnydale. Willow suggests Introduction to the Modern Novel. Willow looks up at her friend, who didn't seem too excited about the class.
"I'm guessing I'd probably have to read the modern novel."
Willow nods her head and smiles at her friend.
"Do they have an introduction to the modern blurb?"
"That sounds like a class Xander would take. If he were going to college. I wish I could convince him though." Willow smiles. It has been a while since they had talked about her old friend, Xander, who decided to see the world and go cross country over the summer. They hadn't heard from him all summer and hoped that he was okay.
"Will, Xand's made his mind up and I might think of the same, but I won't. Maybe I'll convince him to take the class with me and keep me company." Buffy smiles at that. She loves thinking of Xander. Boy did she miss him this summer.
"He'd be your little puppy you take to school." Willow laughs at that. "Oh! Short story. Oh, no. It conflicts with Psych."
"Hmmm, I'm not too psyched about Psych."
"You gotta. I-It's fun, a-and you can use it as your science requirement. Anyway, Professor Walsh is supposed to be great. She's like, world-renowned."
"How do you get to be renowned? I mean, like, do you have to be 'nowned' first?"
"Yes, first there's the painful 'nowning' process. Wait! 'Images of Pop Culture.' This is good. T-They watch movies, T-TV shows, even commercials."
"For credit? Didn't Xander take that class in high school?" Buffy laughs.
"Heh. Isn't college cool?"
"How'd I miss that one?"Buffy walks over and sits beside Willow. She sighs and looks at her friend.
"Well, you did sort of wait till the last minute with your course selection."
"Sorry, 'Miss I-chose-my-major-in-playgroup.'"
"That's an exaggeration. I just, you know, think it's good to be prepared. Don't want to be caught unawares." Behind them a hand thrusts up out of a fresh grave.
"Well, I've been busy! It's been a very slay-heavy summer. Haven't had a whole lot of time to think about life at UC Sunnydale. Hey, do know when Xander's coming back?" Buffy turns to her friend.
"Nope. I bet he's having fun traveling to new places and all. I think it's the smartest thing he's thought of since I've known him." The two girls laugh at Willow's remark, then a vampire's head and shoulders emerge from the grave behind them. They still didn't notice. "It's exciting, though, isn't it? You know, college?"
Buffy smiles at her friend, "Yeah! It's gonna be an adjustment." The vampire struggles to climb up from the fresh grave that the girls are waiting for. "Giles said I have to be secret-identity gal again. Maybe I should wear glasses like Clark Kent. Yes, studious Buffy who unbeknownst slays vampires at night."
Willow raises her eyebrows up at her friend, "That never really worked for Clark Kent. I mean, glasses don't really hide your identity."
"Just a thought, Will." Buffy shrugs.The vampire makes its way out of the grave and starts walking toward them, his face vamped out. He thinks his first kill will be too easy.
"It's gonna be tough, though... with a roommate."
"I'm psyched about college." The vampire smiles as he gets closer. He stops as he sees weapons stacked against a gravestone. Buffy nods her head assuring herself that she can deal with it all. "Just need to figure out how it's going to work with my extra-curricular activities." The vamp looks at Buffy, his smile is gone. "I just can't let it take the edge off my slaying." He shakes his head, turns, and walks away. "I gotta stay sharp." Buffy looks behind her toward the fresh grave. "Is this guy ever gonna wake up?"
Buffy makes her way through the crowd of college bound students, really giving the vibe that she is a freshman. She gets some flyers from some guys, then meets up with Willow. They each exchange a couple of flyers and then meet up with Oz. The girls then decide to check out the library. It's a mini mall compared to that of Sunnydale High. They were even told shhh, because they were speaking too loudly.
"I'm thinking Giles would feel right at home here," says Buffy as quietly as she can. "Home away from home." They laugh quietly and exit the library, then head for the bookstore to buy their books.
Buffy is carrying a ton of books and Willow has a basket full of them. They are mingling around, trying to find the last of their books.
"I kind of liked it when the books were free," says Buffy. "It was so much easier."
"Yeah, but education now comes at a price," says Willow.
"Maybe I should charge my Slayer saving the day routines. I'm going to take it up with someone high and mighty with money."
"Right, Buffy. Oh, maybe Donald Trump."
"Maybe."
"And you'll be Buffy Summers, protector of the people. Making 300,000 a year. No less."
"Wow, Wills. Thanks for giving me a bonus."
"Welcome. Oh, the psych book is up there."
"I'll get'em. You know, this store discriminates against short people."
"Oh, I think there's a protest next week. Oh, Buffy, never mind. There are some down here."
"Good. I wasn't going to get anywhere stretching up to get those books."
"Come on. Let's go pay."
Buffy meets her roommate, a perky girl by the name of Kathy. Buffy believes she can handle her. The campus life is not the same as Sunnydale High and Buffy has realized that she's definitely not in Kansas anymore. She just wishes she had Xander with her, its no fun without him. He always makes her feel better. It's totally a different world for Buffy and she is stuck in it.
The next day, first day of classes, Buffy didn't start very well, but as soon as she met up with Willow in Psych class, she felt much better. There she met the infamous Dr. Maggie Walsh and her very attractive TA, Riley Finn.
Meanwhile that night, a car is just entering the streets of Sunnydale. It stops near the cemetery, where the person spots some military uniformed men move into the dark and creepy cemetery, one of many in Sunnydale. The man in the car thought that these guys are crazy and decides to investigate their whereabouts. He gets out of his car, but first looks into his bag for some sort of weapon. The man curses himself for not having a stake at least, but he did have a small knife. He then enters the cemetery, keeping a tactful eye on the soldier and even more on the vampires.
The soldiers really surprise him as he watches them from afar taking on a vampire, but instead of impaling it with a stake, they shock the vampire and wrap him up. The soldiers, who are masked, then take the vamp away. The Sunnydale resident finds it strange for these men to know of vampires and take them alive or functional. He didn't like this one bit, but decides to make his exit before he gets spotted by the soldiers.
"Riley," says one of the soldiers. "The civilian of this car seems to have gone into the cemetery. Do you suppose he spotted us?"
"Negative," replies a man named Riley. "Though I should check it out. Scope the area, make sure he's safe."
"I think we should bring him in if he saw us," says another soldier. "This could blow our cover."
"I'll handle it." Riley quickly changes in the van and comes out looking like a regular college student. "Joe normal will handle it. Head back to base." The soldiers did as they were told and drove off. Riley then heads to the side of the cemetery.
The other man hid behind the wall on the side of the cemetery. He needs to get back to his car, but then spots trouble. It should be his middle name instead of Lavelle. Riley moves pass the wall and sees the vampire. He quickly gets in defensive and the vamp comes to him.
"Man, are you crazy?" says the guy. "Run!" The man then pulls out his knife and throws it at the vamp. It lands in his chest. The vamp laughs at the man, but stops. Then the man tackles the vamp.
"This guy is crazy," says Riley to himself.
The vamp shoves him off and the man falls to the ground. Riley then decides to fight the vamp. The man sees this civilian fighting the vamp and he is really good. Then he notices that this vamp proved to be a little stronger than he'd hoped for. He looks around and sees a tree branch hanging from a tree.
"I need a stake." The man starts to crack the bark by kicking it. As soon as the branch was loose, he pulls the rest of it apart and the branch was now a pretty good stake. The man quickly runs over to Riley and the vamp, then stakes the vamp in the heart. Dust flows all over the two and they both cough.
"Thanks," says Riley.
"No problem."
"What's your name?"
"Alexander Harris. My friends call me Xander." Xander shakes Riley's hand.
"Riley Finn."
"Got pretty good moves, Riley."
"You're not so bad yourself, Xander. Why did you go into a cemetery?"
"To see the dead." Xander says this jokingly.
AN: Don't worry there is more. The Xander speech is coming cause that's the whole point to the story as you guessed it.