Chapter Twenty: Persuasion

Cheerleading practice. It was everything Joy had anticipated and so much more. It was worse in ways and better in some. In a way, the cheerleading team was sort of like a miniature high school in itself. Every after school practice was the same. Gossiping. Criticizing. Competing. Sure, the girls were civil under the watch of their coach but there were always the whispers. Joy unfortunately, received the greatest expanse of whispered jabs. The girls made it clear to Joy that she was not welcome in their group. Obviously she expected to feel out of place, but she had hoped that once she became a part of the team, the other cheerleaders would at least begin to accept her. Her days were getting redundant. Nothing was exciting her anymore. After school she would go to practice, then to dinner with Blake, and then home where she would receive almost an hour of verbal and sometimes physical abuse from her aunt and uncle who were constantly disapproving her after school activities.

"Yes, Aunt Jo. I know I'm running late, but..." Joy spoke as calmly as possible into her cell phone after practice on Wednesday. Practice had gone over fifteen minutes and then Blake had taken her out for coffee. She had promised her aunt and uncle she would be home by six o'clock, but now it was quarter after and she wasn't home yet. "Please...I'll be home soon...I have to make a quick stop...I promise I'll be home soon." And she hung up before she could hear anymore of her aunt's yelling.

I am so sick of my damn life. Joy adjusted her short cheerleading skirt as she headed towards her car. Every day is the same. I don't have any friends. I don't have any family. I don't even really have a boyfriend. Blake isn't my boyfriend...he's just someone to date...she was interrupted by the slight sound of footsteps on the pavement behind her. She turned around immediately.

"Whoa, de-ja-vou!"

Hey slayer." The mysterious man who saved Joy from the group of hungry vampires only a few weeks ago, was standing, no more like lurking, in the shadows just behind her.

"Oh please, don't start that again!" Joy rolled her eyes and turned back to her car. "I have had a long day and I am not in the mood for your smart-ass remarks about something I'm not." Joy dug through her purse to find her keys.

"So, you're a cheerleader." He sounded like he was about to laugh.

"Look, like I said before, I've had a long day, and I'm not in the mood for your jokes." Joy glared.

He stared at her with an expressionless gaze. "Strange, you're not the first slayer I've known who has tried cheerleading..."

"Okay, so I get that you think I'm this powerful 'slayer' or whatever, but..."

"Something's coming, slayer." the man almost growled as he spoke. "We don't know what it is or how to fight it, but we need you, slayer." He stepped closer to her and stared deep into her eyes. "We need your help, Joy."

She stared back hesitantly. "How do you know my name?" She shook her head. "Never mind, you know a lot about me, obviously." She stepped back towards her car. "I need to know more about you...and the slayer. Will you meet me here tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Of course. Goodnight." He turned and started walking away. "By the way, my name's Angel."

Joy smiled. "Angel? That's kind of sweet...and strange." She climbed into her car as he disappeared into the shadows.

The next night, immediately after cheer practice, Joy returned to the parking lot, hoping that Angel would be early and she wouldn't have to wait too long, She was too anxious. Her cell phone ran just before six o'clock. It was Blake.

"Hello?" Joy had had the urge not to answer her phone. She couldn't figure out why but she was more interested in Angel than Blake, at the moment.

"Hey babe, what're you up to?" He greeted her.

"I'm on my way home." She lied.

"Really? It's early. I was hoping we could go to dinner or something." He didn't really sound interested in what she wanted to do.

Joy rolled her eyes. "Actually, I've got other plans tonight. I'll talk to you later. Bye." Joy hung up without giving him time to reply or to say goodbye. As she put her phone away in her purse, Joy smiled to herself; satisfied with achieving power over her arrogant boyfriend, finally.

As the sun dropped behind the trees, Joy began to doubt that Angel would show. She had been waiting for almost a half hour. He's so strange. Why did I agree to meet him here? No, why did I ask to meet him here? He could be some kind of creep, like a rapist or something! God, I'm so stupid. Why can't I just go and ask Dawn what I want to know? Why have I been ignoring Dawn? She didn't do anything to deserve that! She's the only one in this pathetic town that has actually been nice to me! She didn't have any more time for mental criticizing and whining because at that moment Angel showed up, pressing his face against the window and making Joy almost scream in surprise.

"God, Angel!" Joy got out of the car with a scowl. "Don't just creep up on me like that!"

"I thought slayers were brave!" Angel grinned.

"Maybe they are. I wouldn't know, considering I'm not a slayer!" Joy glared at him.

"I thought that's why you wanted to meet me here though. To learn more about being a slayer." Angel pointed out.

"Well...yea...I guess..." Joy sighed. "I don't know why I wanted you to meet me here. I'm so confused!" She felt like crying but she would never let this strange, strong man see her acting that weak.

Angel seemed to sense how upset she was and instantly softened. "Come on, let's go inside. I'll buy you a coffee." He led the way into the nearly empty cafe. He found an empty table in a quiet corner of the cafe and pulled out a chair for Joy. She looked at him for a minute curiously and then sat down. "What would you like? A mocha? cappuccino? milk?" He grinned jokingly. She didn't smile. "Sorry." He shrugged. "You're just so young."

Joy rolled her eyes. "I'll have a chai latte."

Angel nodded and left briefly to place her order and then he returned to table and sat down. Neither of them spoke for a minute. Neither of them really knew what to say. Finally, Angel took the initiative and said what he hoped she wanted to hear.

"Joy, I know it's hard for you to believe, or understand, or accept, or whatever, but you are the slayer." He paused.

Surprisingly this time Joy did not argue his addressing her as the slayer. "What about the other one?"

"The other one what?"

"The other slayer!" Joy reminded him. "I can't remember her name right now...Beth or Becky or Bonny..."

"Buffy." Angel declared without any thought.

"Yea, that's it!" Joy agreed. "Do you know her?"

"I used to." Angel dropped the subject before Joy even had a chance to question him about it.

"Are you part of their group?" Joy asked after a moment of silence.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, the other slayer and her little posse or whatever they are." Joy was thinking of Buffy and her weird professor-type friend.

"Buffy?" Angel spat out the name as if it were a joke for Joy to have mentioned it at all. "No. I'm not a part of their group." A waitress stopped at the table and dropped off Joy's drink. When they were alone again, Angel continued. "I was sent here by the powers that be..."

"The whats?" Joy interrupted.

"The powers that be," Angel repeated. "They are the supernatural powers that are in control of the...well supernatural. It's probably hard for you to comprehend, but just believe me, they're real. I've seen them." He waited for her puzzled frown and then continued. "Anyway, I was sent here by the powers that be to...well...train you, I guess that's how to explain it."

"Train me?"

"Well, yea," He cleared his throat. "You know, to train you to be a slayer." She frowned. "Anyway, I am here to train you or to help you in any way that I can during your first experiences as a slayer." He paused and stared at her hard. "You are the slayer now, aren't you?"

Joy looked at him for a minute in silence and then slowly a smile crept across her lips and she nodded. "Yea, I guess I'm the slayer."