Sorry about the extremely long break I took. My computer crashed and I was just going to wait it out until I could buy a new one but I just happened to meet a new friend that is really good at fixing computers but he put a new hard drive in so I lost everything that wasn't backed up on Google. Then three managers at work ended up getting covid so they asked me to step in for them and then I ended up getting covid too, which I am still recovering from. So a big shoutout to Janis 70 for entertaining me with her stories while I have been quarantining. It's been a crazy time and I hope you are all being safe!
Chapter 2: The Notebook
Buffy walked into the classroom, expecting it to be completely empty. Who else got detention but her in this school? Well, Xander had gotten detention too but it was normally just her. Faith didn't even get detention because of her last name. Principal Snyder seemed to have it in for her. But to her surprise, none other than Angelus O'Connor was sitting in the middle of the room. He looked up at Buffy with raised eyebrows before she turned around to make sure she was in the right room. Angelus never got detention, or even talked to about anything he may have done wrong. None of his friends did either, so why was it that he was in detention? "What are you doing here?"
"Welcome to detention." A woman with short black hair said, looking down at the papers in her arms.
"I think he's in the wrong room." The blonde pointed at Angelus over her shoulder.
The woman looked up at Buffy and then Angelus, shaking her head. "No, this is detention."
"Look, I know you're like, new here but…" Buffy let out a quiet laugh. "Angelus O'Connor doesn't get detention."
"He does today." The woman raised her eyebrows, walking over to her desk. "I should know, I gave it to him. I don't tolerate someone intentionally causing harm to another student."
Buffy looked at the nameplate on the teachers desk, she had yet to meet this Ms. Calendar. "That's all that he and his friends do! Why is today different?"
"Because it's my first day." Ms. Calendar pointed out. "Believe me, if I see anymore of it then there will be more days like this one. He's just lucky that William wasn't more upset about it. Now, have a seat. Considering there were only two students assigned with detention, I'm going to assume you are Buffy Summers."
"William?" Buffy frowned as she walked to a random desk. "We don't have a William here."
"William Pratt." The dark haired teacher told her.
"William…" Buffy made a confused face for a second. "Oh, you mean Spike!" She turned to look at Angelus. "You intentionally hurt Spike?" She turned back to look at the young teacher. "Look, you're new so I'm going to be nice and let you in on a not so secret. Him…" she pointed to Angelus without looking at him. "and his friends get away with murder, and you have to let them. Whatever little tiff they got into with each other, they didn't mean it and whatever happens with other students, it doesn't matter. You have to let it all happen, the students around here don't care what you think, especially when it comes to The Legion of Doom!"
"Legion of Doom?" Angelus asked quietly. Was that what people called them?
"Take it from me, the student body will treat you like a leper and don't even get me started on Principal Snyder! He's just as bad!"
"Are you done?" Ms. Calendar asked her.
"Maybe." She frowned, looking down at her books sitting on the desk. She hadn't stopped at her locker before going to detention, she was already in enough trouble. She started to wonder if this secret admirer left another note for her or if they were done now since they had asked to meet. She wasn't going to make it to the kissing booth now that she was in detention though. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
Principal Snyder stuck his head into the classroom, looking at the teacher. "Calendar."
The dark haired teacher looked at the two students before getting up and following the principal out.
Angelus got up from the desk, moving to the desk beside her. "What did you do to get in here?" Buffy glanced over at him quickly but didn't respond. "Oh, come on! You know what I did."
"Other than the usual physical flirtation with Spike, no, I don't."
"Flirta…" He shook his head. "I tripped Spike, you were there!"
Buffy turned to look at him, shaking her head. "Not everyone pays attention to what you and your goons do."
"Whatever." Angelus shook his head again, sitting against the back of the chair.
The blonde looked at him for a moment before whispering, "I skipped class. Apparently, Mrs. Jackson really doesn't like that."
Angelus nodded. "I noticed you weren't in class."
"Why would you notice?" She asked quietly. She hadn't planned on being gone that long, or missing multiple classes but Faith needed help covering the bruise Jack had given her and she was trying to talk Faith into turning Jack in for hitting her. Of course, she wouldn't.
He gave her a small smirk. "You are my partner."
She nodded silently, of course that was the only reason he would notice. She lifted her History book up to grab her notebook but frowned when she didn't see it there. She knew she had it when she was heading to History.
"What?"
Buffy shook her head. "Um, my notebook. I can't find it."
Angelus nodded his head once. "Hopefully there isn't anything personal in there."
"It's my notebook, not my diary." She looked over at him. "I don't have my secret crush's name in hearts or practice writing my name with his last name."
He perked up a little, leaning towards her. "You have a secret crush?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but no." She sighed, she hadn't had a crush on anyone since him. "Not anymore."
"Really?" He questioned, finding that odd. "Not anyone?"
Ms. Calendar walked back into the classroom, stopping just inside the door. "It seems you can go, Mr. O'Connor."
"Sweet!" He jumped up from the desk. "I have places I need to be."
Buffy rolled her eyes as he walked out of the classroom. She knew he would never be in detention. Now he got to go do whatever stupid thing he wanted to do and she was stuck in detention missing out on her chance to see who her secret admirer was. Sounded about right.
Angelus peaked his head back into the classroom. "Summers!" He called, nodding his head out the door. "Let's go, I sprung you too."
Ms. Calendar let out a sigh before motioning to the door. "Just go."
Buffy didn't move, this was when something would happen. Darla would shove her, Cordelia would dump something on her or Harmony would make some rude comment about how she was dressed or how her hair was styled. She wasn't going to fall for it.
"Buffy! Let's go!" Angelus raised his eyebrows at her. "Before Snyder changes his mind."
She slowly got up, grabbing her things before walking over to the door. "Where are your friends?"
"I don't know." He shrugged. "Probably at the carnival."
Buffy peaked her head out the door to look down the hallway, both ways. She looked back at Angelus before she took off running down the hall to her locker. She didn't want to chance any of his friends popping out at her and even though she didn't want to admit it, she wanted to see if there was another note in her locker. She was curious to find out who was writing those sweet words to her.
0o0o0
After dropping her stuff off at her locker, she realized her notebook wasn't in her locker and there wasn't another note either. She went outside to the normally empty soccer field where the Winter Carnival was being held. They had the carnival every year to raise money for the events and dances the high school had throughout the year. Although, since Angelus started attending Sunnydale High, his parents had started donating large amounts of money so that the events at the school were worthy of an O'Connor.
Buffy leaned against the ring tossing booth, it was the perfect place to see the kissing both. She had been hanging around for over an hour and all she had seen was Percy West kissing way too many girls and Angelus and Gunn hanging around next to the booth. It was a total bust. She was starting to think someone was messing with her.
She turned to head over to her friends at the cornhole game, she knew they would be over there because it was Xander's favorite game. The dance committee could probably fund prom from Xander playing just that one game!
"Hey!" Willow bounced at the sight of her best friend. "Did you go to the kissing booth?"
"Thought you had detention." Oz said, wrapping his arms around Willow's waist.
"I did." She looked at the couple. "Is the answer to both of you. I went to detention and got out of detention… It's a weird story." She shook her head. "One that I don't even really understand myself."
"Okay, but let's get back to the kissing booth." Willow smiled. "Who showed up?"
"No one."
Willow frowned. "What do you mean?"
Buffy shrugged. "Percy was there getting or giving herpes and then Angelus and Gunn… we all know it's not either one of them and even though Percy isn't that bad, I really don't want herpes. I think someone is just messing with me."
"But...but…" Willow shook her head with wide eyes. She wanted her best friend to find love. "You can't give up! Maybe they just got caught up doing something else. That happens all the time!"
Buffy shook her head, watching as Xander finished his cornhole round then looked up when she saw Faith walking towards them. The blonde looked around to see if anyone was paying attention. Why was it that Faith didn't seem to care what people thought? She is an O'Connor, she can't just be hanging out with them out in the open like that.
"Yo, Harris!" The dark haired girl slapped Xander on the shoulder. "You're my date to the V-day dance, don't be late!"
Xander's mouth dropped open and Buffy smiled as she watched Faith walk away. "Did that really just happen?"
"Yup." Buffy smiled wider, crossing her arms over her chest.
0o0o0
Buffy looked around the carnival while her friends continued to play game after game, but she wasn't really in the mood. She couldn't believe she let someone get the best of her, someone who was messing with her emotions and couldn't even man up and reveal who they were. What she hated even more was the fact that it was getting to her. This person knew exactly what to say to get her hopes up, he said exactly the right things in his letters… that was, if it was even a boy at all.
She scowled when she saw the dark haired leather wearing bad boy senior a few booths over. She couldn't believe that low life actually hit Faith! She stomped over to him, not able to hold her anger in, she shoved him. "Hey scumbag!" She shouted, causing him to turn towards her. "You think it's okay to hit a girl?"
Jack looked around the carnival with a small smile on his face, he didn't know who the small blonde was but she certainly had a lot of fire in her.
Buffy pushed him again right before she felt an arm loop around her waist, carrying her away from the older guy. "Calm down, Summers!"
She turned around, her glare fixated on the man that had pulled her away.
"Seriously, Buffy?" Angelus asked, shocked. "O'Toole? That guy is probably strapped!"
"Don't touch me!" She pulled herself away from him, but she instantly wished she hadn't. He had never touched her like that before and for some reason, she liked it. Why the hell would she like it? He was an asshole!
"Okay." He took a step back, holding his hands up. After a moment, he looked into her eyes. "Has he… did he hit you?"
The blonde glared at her former crush. "Why? So you can use that as something else against me?"
Angelus sighed as he watched her walk away. He turned around to look at Jack O'Toole with his friends. The guy was a low life, it was common knowledge that he didn't treat girls very well but Buffy didn't seem like the kind of girl to get mixed up with him.
After his last interaction with Buffy, Angelus didn't feel like sticking around at the carnival, so he jogged back to his car in the parking lot. Climbing into his car, he noticed a notebook between the driver seat and passenger seat. It definitely wasn't his considering it was purple and the only other person that had a key to his car was his younger sister, Faith. He hadn't seen Faith in a couple of days, it happened more often than it should. Sometimes she just took off and no matter how many times he tried to call her, she wouldn't answer or come home until she was ready. He picked up the notebook and flipped it open to the first page. "Buffy?" What was Buffy's notebook doing in his car? It didn't make sense, she had never been in his car before.
He set the notebook on the passenger seat before turning the car on, he glanced at the book then pulled out of the school parking lot.
0o0o0
Angelus walked out of his bathroom that was attached to his bedroom, he grabbed a pair of leather pants and a black t-shirt before he dropped the towel around his waist, he quickly got dressed. He didn't even really want to go to The Bronze tonight but his friends said it was a must with it being a Friday night. He picked up the purple notebook from his desk he had found in his car, he smiled to himself then put it in his desk drawer and closed it. He went back into the bathroom to do his hair.
Tossing his keys up in the air he caught them before raising his eyebrows at the appearance of his younger sister. "Where have you been?"
"Around." Faith shrugged, opening the fridge to grab a water bottle. "How long did it take for them to notice?" Their father was a well known surgeon and even though his mother didn't work, she was busy volunteering at charities and making appearances at the country club. The O'Connor family was more about throwing their money around than noticing that one of their children wasn't around for a couple of days.
"They didn't, I did." Angelus leaned against the kitchen island, watching the younger girl. "You know, there is this thing called school. You're supposed to go to it."
"Oh." She waved her brother off. "I went to school today."
He sighed, shaking his head. "You know those square shaped rooms that are in the school? Those are called classes, you go to them."
Faith laughed. Sometimes she really loved her brother, other times he annoyed the crap out of her. "And why would I want to do something like that?
"Oh, I don't know… to get an education." He shrugged.
"I feel like people just go to high school that want to go to college and I'm not going to do that, so…" Faith trailed off. "It's not like I have to get a job, dad set up a nice trust fund for us."
Angelus rolled his eyes. "Normal teenagers have to go to school because it's the law and their parents can go to jail if they don't but considering that should have happened several times by now, I'm guessing they are putting their money to good use once again."
Faith laughed as her brother turned to leave. "Oh, by the way! I asked a friend of mine to come over tomorrow night!"
"Mom and dad went out of town earlier today so it's not like it matters." He called to her without bothering to turn around. "Oh, and by the way! Don't think I didn't notice that mark on your face. We will talk about it."
"Damn it." She whispered at the sound of the front door closing.
0o0o0
Buffy walked up the sidewalk to the old warehouse that had been built into the only club in Sunnydale, The Bronze. It was a regular hot spot for the students of Sunnydale High and everyone went there on a Friday night. The chances of running into anyone that would cause issues with her or her friends were high because she knew they would be there too but she just hoped they would mind their own business tonight. The club was big enough for them to share!
"Hey!" She heard a voice call out. "You want some real power between your legs?" She looked over to see Jack O'Toole and a couple of his friends sitting on their motorcycles. She turned her head back towards The Bronze and kept walking inside.
"That one is a firecracker." Jack smiled, taking a drag of his cigarette.
"What did you say to her?" Angelus shouted as he slammed his car door shut.
Jack and his friends all turned in the direction of the voice. "Hey man, I don't know what her problem is. You saw how she came at me earlier."
"Maybe it's comments like that." Angelus shrugged, shoving his hands into the pocket of his leather jacket. "Or maybe it's the fact that you hit a girl."
Jack pointed to the building. "She likes it. You didn't just see her, she's practically begging for it!"
"Begging for what, exactly?" Angelus asked, taking a step closer to the senior.
"She wants me." Jack laughed. "And she wants it rough, why else would she do what she did at the carnival?"
"Because people like you disgust her." He shrugged again. "Because she knows she deserves more respect than you show her."
"Girls like her don't want respect." Jack shook his head.
Angelus gritted his teeth before punching Jack in the nose. "You don't deserve a girl like her." He bent down to where Jack landed beside his bike. "Stay away from her."
Jack's friends watched as Angelus walked into the club. One of them let out a low whistle. "You just pissed off Angelus O'Connor, you might as well just leave town now."
"Yeah." His other friend nodded. "His family practically owns this town."
Jack shook his head, touching his nose before looking down at the blood in his hand. He couldn't believe his friends just stood there and watched him get punched!
0o0o0
Buffy sat at the table off to the side of the dance floor while Willow and Oz danced together and Xander was off talking to his friend Jesse. She just hoped the two friends would leave Cordelia alone tonight, Jesse was always trying to get her to notice him, while Xander would make teasing remarks. She glanced over at the sound of an obnoxious laugh to see a group of teens making fun of another boy sitting at the table by himself. She rolled her eyes at Kyle, Tor, Heidi and Rhonda. Those four were constantly making fun of people at school, they were almost as bad as Angelus and his friends. Almost.
"Ya know, I don't understand why you are sitting at our table." The brunette, Kyle, said to the boy.
"Yeah." Rhonda smiled. "Shouldn't you be hovering over some football stadium with Goodyear written on you?"
The four friends laughed while the overweight boy looked down sadly.
"Hey!" Buffy shouted over the music so they could hear her at the next table. "Apologize."
"We would do that, why?" Rhonda smirked.
Buffy raised her eyebrows, were these guys raised by hyenas? "Because you're rude."
The boy shook his head. "It's okay."
"No, it's not." Buffy looked at the boy sitting at the table. "You don't deserve to be treated like that."
"No, really." The boy looked from Buffy to the group of friends. "It's okay."
"Yeah, it's okay." Kyle smiled at Buffy. "We're all friends here."
Buffy looked at the quiet boy again, after a moment she shook her head before getting up from the table to walk away.
Angelus watched from the shadows as Buffy left her table looking annoyed, he stepped forward towards the table where the four friends were gathering around, laughing at the boy. Glaring, he locked eyes with Kyle. "You heard her. Apologize."
"What was that?" Kyle asked, surprised. He couldn't believe Angelus O'Connor was siding with Buffy Summers. His group of friends looked up to Angelus and his friends.
"Apologize." He repeated.
Heidi shook her head. "Are you serious, Angelus?"
"Drop dead." Angelus crossed his arms over his chest.
Tor laughed nervously. "You are telling US to apologize? You and your friends do way worse…"
"Buffy told you to apologize, so you apologize." He glared.
"Since when do we have to do what Buffy Summers says?" Kyle asked.
"Because I'm telling you to." Angelus said calmly.
The four friends looked at each other, no one ever questioned Angelus. They always did what he said because of the statues he held not only in the school but in the town. Everyone knew his father had a lot of pull and Angelus could make their lives a living hell if he wanted too. "Sorry." They mumbled, looking at each other. Kyle glanced at Angelus, earning a nod before the dark haired boy walked away.
"What was that about?" Heidi asked, looking around to her friends.
"I told you guys, I have been hearing rumors." Tor watched Angelus walk through the crowded club. "Angelus has never liked it when someone targets Buffy, which is why I told you to stay clear of her forever ago. I swear, he secretly has a thing for her."
Kyle turned his head to look at Angelus at the bar and Buffy over near the dance floor talking to Xander Harris. He noticed how Angelus was nonchalantly looking in Buffy's direction. "It's your lucky day." He glanced at the kid at the table before looking up at Tor. "I think it's time to test your theory."
Tor looked to Heidi and Rhonda, he didn't really want to go up against Angelus but the two girls just smiled.
0o0o0
Buffy carried her overnight bag through the house, following Faith to her bedroom. She had been to the O'Connor house several times but only when no one else was home. There wasn't any other house like it in Sunnydale, the O'Connor mansion on Crawford Street was the biggest house in town, which naturally had to upset Cordelia Chase.
"Are you ready to do facials and each other's hair?" Faith laughed, glancing back at the blonde. "I'm pretty sure you need tonight."
Buffy frowned as Faith looked down at her outfit. The blonde pouted as she looked at her overalls and white t-shirt. "Are you implying that there is something wrong with my outfit?" Her eyes got large when she heard the first chords of a guitar playing.
"Please, Buffy!" Faith laughed, ignoring the look of panic on the blonde's face. "Those should basically be called your overalls of sadness."
Angelus walked out of a room to the right, with a dark blue acoustic guitar in his hand.
Buffy quickly turned to Faith. "I thought you said he wasn't going to be here!"
"Oops." Faith shrugged innocently before happily skipping down the hall towards her room. "Who would have thought Angelus O'Connor would be home on a Saturday night!"
Buffy shook her head, she couldn't believe her younger friend. She turned to go back in the direction they had come in. "I'm gonna go."
"Don't." Angelus whispered, stopping her in her tracks. "And thank you,for looking out for her." Buffy turned to look at him questionably. "I put two and two together. You said Jack hit a girl, I saw a bruise on Faith." He shrugged. "Doesn't take a genius, and you don't seem like the kind of girl to get mixed up with a guy like him."
Buffy shoved her hands in the deep pockets of her overalls. "How do you know what kind of girl I am?"
Angelus shrugged with a small smirk. "I guess I don't." He nodded in the direction his sister had gone in. "I didn't even know you two were friends. How long has that been going on?"
"A little while." She shrugged, looking down at the floor. She couldn't believe she was in Angelus' house having a decent conversation with him.
"A week? A month?" He said in a teasing voice.
"A couple years." She whispered. "I didn't want people to know, she doesn't seem to care though."
Angelus eyed her for a moment. "Why wouldn't you want people to know?"
"Because I'm me." She shrugged, finally looking up at him. "I know how you and your friends feel about me and how you treat my friends." She shook her head. "I didn't want her to have to deal with that. She may be your sister but I didn't want to chance it."
"Buffy, if I have done anything…"
"Forget it." She cut him off. "I don't even know why I'm talking to you." She started to walk past him back in the direction of Faith's room but his voice stopped her.
"Are you okay?" He watched her closely.
Buffy shook her head. "Does it matter?"
He nodded. "You seem… sad."
Buffy looked down at her outfit. "Overalls of sadness. Great." She whispered before walking away from him.
"Have a nice chat with my brother?" Faith smiled when Buffy walked into her bedroom.
Buffy narrowed her eyes at the brunette, tossing her bag in the large bed. "You said he wasn't going to be here."
Faith shrugged, sitting at her desk across the room. "So, are you going to tell me why you are all gloomy or do I have to guess?"
Buffy sighed. "You know how I said I was getting notes?" She waited for the brunette to nod. "Well, they said to meet up at the carnival yesterday but never showed. Before I thought someone was messing with me but now I'm positive someone is messing with me."
"Why would someone mess with you?" Faith slapped her hands on her thigh. "You're like a total badass. The complete package. I mean, if I wasn't so into guys…" she smirked, earning an eye roll from the blonde. "Okay, so let's just say that they aren't messing with you." Faith walked over to the bed, climbing up on the high bed, as Buffy did the same. "Who would you want it to be?"
Buffy shrugged. "I don't really see anyone at school like that anymore."
"No one since my brother." Faith whispered playfully. "Okay, let's start with potential guys that I have seen check you out… Cameron and Gage, both on the swim team so at least there is that."
"Cameron seems like a jerk." Buffy pouted. "Gage seems… okay. Nothing like Cameron."
"Potential with Gage then, this is good!" Faith laughed. "Oh! Ben!"
"Who?" Buffy asked, completely confused.
"Ben Straley!" Faith exclaimed. "He's in your Algebra class! He's totally into you!"
"Oh, of course! I remember now! Like a steel trap." She pointed to her head but once her hand dropped she shook her head. "I don't know who that is."
"The guy that asked you to ask him to Sadie Hawkins but you rejected him." Faith reminded her friend.
Buffy's mouth dropped open and she nodded. "I do remember him! Kind of."
Faith shook her head, disappointed. "Oh, and Jonathan, but we are just going to skip right over him."
"Why is it that you have now named four guys that according to you, are interested in me but they have never asked me out." Buffy pointed out, then waved her hand. "Well, Ben asked me to ask him, so I don't think that counts."
"I don't know." Faith shrugged, then gasped. "Oh my God! What if… just go with me on this, okay." She smiled. "What if your sweet stalker isn't any of them and they have tried to ask you out but like this other person comes in and stops them in some way!"
Buffy raised her eyebrows at her friend. "Why would they do that?"
"Because they are in love with you!" Faith smiled.
The blonde shook her head. "If this person is in love with me then why couldn't they even bother to show up when THEY asked me to meet them?"
Faith shrugged. "Anything could have happened."
"How much you wanna bet they are trying to get my hopes up just to crush me?" Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "Or they were there at the carnival and they were watching me to see my reaction."
"I'm trying to think on the glass half full side of things."
"Since when?" Buffy rolled her eyes at her younger friend. "Are we really going to do each other's hair and facials? Cause I would rather just watch a movie or something."
"Yeah! You need it to help you feel better!" Faith reminded her friend. "We are going to do it all!"
Buffy threw herself back on the bed in defeat. She really didn't feel like doing all that, she just wanted to hang out and not think about the fact that she walked right into a way for the bullies of Sunnydale High to hurt her. She had thrown away the first note for a reason! "As long as we don't do the avocado face mask again."
"Oh, we are SO doing the avocado face mask!" Faith laughed at her friend, before crawling across the bed, hovering over the blonde. "I'm going to need you to tell me everyone that was at the kissing booth where you were supposed to meet this guy."
"How do you know it's a guy?" Buffy raised her eyebrows.
"Do you want it to be a girl?" She gave Buffy a teasing smile. She knew Buffy wasn't into girls like that. "So!" She slapped Buffy's thigh as she moved away from the blonde and sat up. "Tell me who was there!"
"No one!" She exclaimed, slapping her own thighs with both hands as she sat up. "Percy, Gunn and Angelus! That's..."
A bright smile grew across the brunette's face. "What if it's my brother?"
Buffy shook her head quickly.
"Oh, come on!" Faith smiled at her friend. "Would it be so bad?"
"Yes!" Buffy said with wide eyes. "If you had asked me a couple years ago, or even last year then I probably would have said no."
"Probably?" Faith raised her eyebrow. "B, you had the hugest crush on him before. I noticed you didn't get as excited every time he talked to you last year but it was still there. Why is it that you're all the sudden just over him?"
"It was little things." Buffy shrugged. "I started to see little things that showed me that maybe I saw him differently than he actually is. The comments he would make to people, things he would do… he's just like his friends."
"Was any of it directed at you?"
Buffy shook her head, it didn't matter to her that the things Angelus said and did weren't to her. "Then at the end of last year, we were talking in the hallway and…" the blonde shrugged. "Darla walked by, bent down at her locker…" she shook her head. "Anyway, he completely ignored me, didn't hear a word I said. He just walked away from me."
"Okay, so he's a perv." Faith shook her head. "All guys are."
Buffy rolled her eyes, there was no way it was Angelus! It just wouldn't make sense! "It would make more sense for it to be Percy."
"Ew!" Faith jumped off her bed, making her way over to her large black vanity. "Why?"
"Out of the guys that were at the kissing booth…" Buffy shrugged. "He's the nicest… which isn't saying much because he can still be a jerk."
Faith gave her a teasing smile. "I can't believe you are saying my brother isn't nice. Now!" She grabbed an item in each hand from a bag, holding up two colors of hair dye. "Which one? Pink or red?"
Buffy's eyes got large. "When you said we were going to be doing our hair, I thought you meant braiding it!"
"We can braid too!" Faith said excitedly. "Come on, it's not even the permanent kind! Now, what color is your dress for the Valentine's Day dance?"
Buffy shook her head. "I'm not going."
"Oh, come on!" Faith shouted. "Me and Xander, Willow and Oz…"
"Exactly!" Buffy pointed out. "It's a couples thing. I'm not a couple!"
"B." She gave her friend a stern look. "You are going to that dance! We will go dress shopping tomorrow."
Buffy shook her head no. "The only thing I'm buying tomorrow is a new notebook for History."
"You still haven't found that?" Faith asked, looking at the boxes of hair coloring. "What if we just do a few strips of…" The look on the blonde's face cut her off and she started to laugh.
0o0o0
Buffy quietly snuck down the stairs, peeking her head around the corner to make sure a certain guy wasn't in the kitchen. When she realized the room was empty she quickly ran to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. Turning around she let out a disappointed sigh when she saw Angelus entering the kitchen. "I'm just grabbing water and then you can forget I was even here."
"That's a little hard." He whispered with a slight shrug.
"Look, if Faith wouldn't get mad about me leaving then I would." She toyed with the plastic bottle of water. "She asked me to come over when I was helping her cover the bruise and I specifically asked if you were going to be here, like I always do. If she would have said you were going to be, then I would have told her to come to my house."
Angelus winced. "That wasn't what I meant." He watched her shake her head as she started to walk around him to the stairs. "You changed your hair." He pointed to his own head, causing her to stop in her tracks. He looked down at her outfit, she no longer wore the jean overalls, instead she was wearing a white tank top with a picture of a pink flower and light pink lounge pants. "In the last couple of hours since I have seen you, you changed your hair."
Buffy ran her fingers through her hair that now had a couple red streaks mixed in with her normal blonde hair. "Faith's idea. She wanted my hair to match my dress for the dance."
"You're wearing a red dress to the Valentine's day dance?" He questioned with a small smile.
Buffy shook her head. "I'm not going, I just… I just did it to satisfy her."
Angelus frowned as he watched her for a second. "Why aren't you going?"
"For reasons that you don't care about." She raised her eyebrows. "I really need to stop talking to you."
"You hardly talk to me as it is." He said, jumping up to sit on the island counter.
"But I do talk to you." She pointed out. "I discovered that's my problem. I don't talk to your friends, so the only connection is that I talk to you. So, my theory is that you tell them to do stuff to me."
"Who did something to you?" He wondered. He knew about Spike tripping her since he overhead her in the library with her friends but he didn't know of anyone else doing anything. If he did, he would have put a stop to it. She remained quiet, she turned to go up the stairs. "I wouldn't tell my friends to do anything to you, Buffy. Ever think that maybe they are just assholes?" He called out to her as she walked away. Angelus let out a sigh when he realized she was gone.
0o0o0
Buffy walked into the front door of her house, setting her keys on the table next to the door, setting her bag beside her feet. She looked at a vase of light red carnations, impressed. "Hey, flower gettin' lady! I'm home!"
Joyce Summers walked out of the kitchen, drying her hands off with a dish towel. "Actually they are for…" She trailed off as her mouth dropped open. "Buffy Summers, what did you do to your hair?"
"Relax, mom." Buffy smiled at her mom's reaction. "It's temporary, it will wash out. Believe me, I made sure to read the box before Faith did it."
"It better be." She gave her daughter a stern look. "And those flowers, not mine. They are yours."
Buffy frowned at her mother before looking at the flowers by the door. "Who would send me flowers?"
"There isn't a name." Her mother told her before walking over to the table by the door, picking up an envelope. "They came right after you left for Faith's house. I thought maybe they were from Ted, but it says your name on them and this…" she set the envelope next to the flowers. "came for you this morning. Just let me know when you want to leave to go shopping."
"Shopping?" Buffy asked as her mother walked away. The older woman pointed to the flowers before going back into the kitchen. The blonde picked the card out of the holder inside the flower vase. She took a deep breath as she opened the card. "I'm sorry about the carnival, perhaps I can make it up to you at the Valentine's Day dance. I will be the one with the red rose." Buffy shook her head, her mother must have read the card. She slowly picked up the envelope, it simply had her name written on the outside of it. She opened it, almost scared of what she would find inside. Pulling out a folded paper, she unfolded it to see a very well drawn picture of herself laughing, in the corner there was a small area with writing on it. "If I could live my life over again, I would meet you sooner so that I could love you longer." Buffy's eyes got large before she grabbed the drawing, the note and the flowers in her hands and hurried upstairs.
She had called her four friends as soon as she got to her room and they all rushed over to see what the latest development was in this secret admirer situation that Buffy had going on.
"These are the biggest of them all!" Willow exclaimed excitedly. "I mean before they just wanted to hold your hand, now… now they want to go to the dance with you and… and there's love!"
Xander nodded. "Who can draw like that?"
"Maybe they paid someone to draw it." Oz offered, looking at the picture sitting on Buffy's bed.
"But whoever they paid would have had to know what Buffy looks like." Xander thought out loud. "Unless they had a picture of her."
"Some random person has a picture of me?" The blonde looked freaked out.
Faith sighed, shaking her head. "Let me see that." She grabbed the drawing, raising her eyebrows at the picture before her eyes landed on the hand writing in the corner and her lips turned up in a small smile. "We are definitely dress shopping today!"
Buffy shook her head. "I'm not going."
"But Buffy!" Willow looked at her friend sadly. "Flowers, words of love, asking you out… Why wouldn't you go?"
"I got my hopes up with the kissing booth." She told them, she didn't want to tell them just how much it hurt that no one showed up. "I'm not going to do it again."
"Oh, they will show up! Believe me!" Faith smiled, looking down at the drawing. "And if not, you can be my date."
Xander looked at the brunette, confused. "I thought I was your date."
The brunette crossed her arms, looking at Xander. "Like you wouldn't want another hot babe on your arm?"
"She speaks the truth." Xander chuckled.
"I think you should go." Oz spoke up, turning to the blonde.
Buffy pouted. She knew she was going to end up dress shopping with the girls today. It was extremely short notice though. The dance was tomorrow night, she didn't understand why Darla had insisted on having the Valentine's Day dance on a school night.
0o0o0
"I still say we should have gone to April Fool." Faith whispered as she looked at the dresses on the racks.
Buffy looked at a pink dress, questionably. "April Fool keeps track of who buys what dress so you don't buy the same one as someone else going to the same dance."
"And that's a bad thing?" Faith asked. "Who wants to show up wearing the same dress as someone else?"
"Because this way I can buy whatever dress I want without someone stopping me because someone else already has the same one." Buffy said, pulling the pink dress off the rack.
Faith shook her head. "I still don't get it."
"She doesn't plan on going." Willow said to Faith. "She's here to satisfy you by getting a dress but isn't actually going to wear it to the dance."
Faith looked from the red head to the blonde. "Oh, you are SO going! We will get ready together just so I can make sure you are going."
Buffy rolled her eyes, damn Willow for giving her away! Suddenly the dress she was holding was grabbed from her hands.
"Oh, this is cute!" Gushed Darla, turning towards Harmony. "Don't you think?"
Faith glared at his brothers on again and off again girlfriend. "Excuse me! You literally just took that out of my friend's hand."
Darla looked up to see Faith glaring at her. She hated getting on Faith's bad side because she knew how much Angelus loved his sister. "Who's your friend?"
"Buffy." She motioned towards the blonde.
Darla looked at Buffy in shock, she hadn't even realized she was standing there. "I need this just in case Angelus wears white!"
Harmony made a confused face. "I thought you were getting the white dress just in case Angelus wears…."
"Please don't say pink." Faith laughed. "Angelus isn't going to wear pink! Actually, I saw what he was going to wear. I'm surprised he didn't tell you! You should take that dress." Faith motioned towards the pink dress Darla had taken from Buffy. "Angelus is wearing ALL white."
"He said he doesn't do white." Darla looked at Faith confused.
"He is for you." Faith smiled, pushing the pink dress closer towards the blonde. She grabbed Buffy by the hand and pulled her along with her to another rack. "There's no way in hell Angelus is wearing pink or white. She's so stupid."
"Then why did you give her my dress?" Buffy pointed at the blonde that was putting the white dress back.
"Because that dress isn't going to look good on her." Faith laughed, pulling out a red dress. "Now you…"
Buffy looked down at the dress in her friend's hand. "Faith, that's red and leather."
Faith nodded.
"Maybe for you." Buffy pushed the dress back towards the brunette.
"You have to wear red." Faith reminded her, pointing at her hair with the red streaks in it.
Buffy pouted, she really didn't want to go to this thing. She started to search the racks again before pulling out a red thin strapped dress. Her pout turned into a smile, if she had to go to this thing then she was going to show whoever it was leaving her these notes that she didn't care if they were messing with her… even if she secretly did care.
"Oh, look for something that is going to show off your legs or your back." Faith said shifting through the dresses quickly. "Those are your two best features, you know, other than the girls. Unless you want to show those off too… but remember, red!"
"What about showing off both?" Buffy smiled, holding up the red dress.
Faith nodded, slightly impressed. "Let's see it on you!"
Buffy laughed as she headed towards the dressing room. A few moments later she walked out of the small room, earning a gasp from Willow and a whistle from Faith. Buffy looked at herself in the mirror, the tight dress came just above her midthigh with a slit on her left leg, the top was modest but it still showed some cleavage, the back of the dress however plunged almost to the top of her butt. She turned to show the back to her friends.
Faith smiled proudly. "And I didn't even have to pick it out for you!"
"It's probably a good thing that the dance isn't on school property." Willow said with wide eyes. "You would probably get kicked out."
"That's a really good idea." Buffy laughed. She turned back around to look at herself in the full length mirror. Running her hands down her sides, she smiled. She actually loved the dress and if whoever was writing her the notes didn't show up again, then at least she still looked hot. And on the plus side, maybe she could get kicked out.
0o0o0
Buffy walked into her first period class, it was the only class they had that day because they were having a field trip to the Sunnydale Zoo. She glanced around to see all of the students showing even extra PDA than normal. On top of the field trip it was also Valentine's Day. Shaking her head, she walked towards her assigned seat for that class, she frowned when she saw a notebook sitting on the desk. Sitting down at her desk, she looked down. It wasn't just any notebook, it was her notebook that she thought she had lost. She started to flip through the pages, wondering how she could have left it in class all weekend. Other students had to have sat there throughout the day on Friday. There was a page that caught her eye, it had writing on it that didn't belong to her, in fact, it was the same handwriting from the notes and drawing. She quickly shut the notebook and shoved it into her bag.
When all the sophomore students piled onto the buses, Buffy opted to sit alone when Willow and Xander were discussing who would sit with who. She could hear Spike, Angelus and Gunn laughing about something in the back of the bus and Willow and Xander talking over what they were going to wear to the Valentine's Day dance when she pulled the notebook out of her bag.
She took a deep breath as she opened the book, searching for the page with the writing that didn't belong to her on it. "Buffy, I hope you can accept my apology for the kissing booth. I'm not sure what stopped you from approaching, but I am hopeful that the Cupid's Bash will more than make up for it. I have had feelings for you for quite some time, and I'm not a shy guy, but every time I see you, I am blinded by your beauty and instantly forget everything I planned to say. Yes, I plan out my conversations with you, which is pointless because none of my conversations with you turn out how I had hoped. It's embarrassing to admit, but I'm jealous of Xander Harris. I have witnessed him being the reason for your smile and laughter, I wish it was me. I wish I could walk you to your classes, eat meals with you, hold you in my arms and be the reason for your happiness. My desire to hold you and shield you from the cruel world is not a selfless one, to feel you in my arms, and your lips against mine would bring me more happiness than you would ever know. I know that you can take care of yourself, as well as take care of others, but I will always be there to protect you, just as you will always hold my heart. Wild horses couldn't drag me away. By the way, you should be more careful about where you leave your notebook, someone might just write you a love note." She let out a quiet laugh before looking down at the bottom of the note where it simply said, "-Always."
Buffy looked around at all the other students on the bus, wondering if this secret admirer was there. Looking back, she saw a small smile on Angelus' face right before she wiped away a single tear falling down her cheek. She looked around again, wondering what Angelus' could have been smiling at but didn't see anything. She didn't think Darla was on that bus, which was odd that their group would split up. They normally rode on the least crowded bus but this bus was packed, which made Buffy wonder why the three male friends were on there. She turned back around to face the front of the bus, taking another deep breath, she put her notebook in her bag. She didn't know who could write those sweet words to her but also make her laugh, when she was convinced that the majority of the school didn't like her.
She turned towards her friends sitting across from her before whispering to them. "Well, it's definitely a guy."
Willow's eyebrows creased as she leaned forward. "What do you mean?"
"I got another note." She whispered again.
"Oh!" Xander held his hands out, expecting her to hand the note over. "Let's examine it!"
"I kinda want to keep this one to myself." She smiled. It would probably go to Xander's head that someone was jealous of him. "Like Oz said, one of them might turn out to be personal. But, he said he's not a shy guy."
"Maybe it's a shy girl." Xander shrugged. "I mean, we didn't read the letter so we can't make that assumption with it being out of context."
Willow bounced on the bus seat, clapping her hands. "We will find out tonight!"
"Maybe it's someone that identifies as a guy." Xander thought out loud.
Buffy shook her head with a small smile. She could feel herself slipping into whatever trap someone was laying for her, but after reading that last letter, she couldn't seem to care.
0o0o0
Buffy looked in the large tank of fish, she watched them swim so carefree. A woman picked up her daughter, squeezing into the small space between Buffy and the wall. "Sorry." Buffy whispered as she moved out of the way. She made her way out of the area with the fish tanks and out to the open paths in the Zoo. She wondered how much longer it was going to be until Willow and Xander would be ready to meet up.
"Oh, look." Kyle smiled at his friends. "It's Buffy and all of her friends."
Buffy smirked at the group of bullies. "That's witty."
"Do you ever wonder why no one cool wants to hang out with you?" Rhonda asked, smirking.
The blonde shrugged. "Just thankful."
Tor looked up as his friends taunted Buffy Summers, she never seemed bothered by them though. She always had some smart comments to throw back at them. Tor made eye contact with Angelus O'Connor across the path, the dark haired boy was glaring at the group as Tor nudged Kyle. Kyle looked up, soon the two girls looked towards Angelus too.
The four friends walked backwards, retreating for some reason. Buffy looked around to see what could have caused it, her gaze landed in the direction the other students had been looking in. Her eyes landed on Angelus, as he started to make his way towards her. "Great, what did I do this time to…" She frowned when Angelus continued to walk past her, following the four friends. "Ookay."
Angelus followed the group around the corner. "I don't think you got the memo." The group of friends turned back around, to look at the taller student. "Buffy is off limits."
"And why is that?" Kyle asked in his normal arrogant voice.
"I don't need a reason." Angelus crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't talk to Buffy, you don't touch Buffy, you don't even look at Buffy. We clear?"
"You know, if I didn't know any better…" Kyle smirked. "I would say you had a thing for her."
"I wouldn't exactly call it a THING." Angelus took a step closer to the leader of their group. "But if I did, that would be my business. Now, I'm only going to say this one more time: Buffy is off limits unless you want to deal with me." He shrugged. "How about we throw her friends in on the deal too, huh?"
Tor watched as Angelus' walked away from them. "See! I told you!"
"Now we have to stay away from Buffy, Willow and Harris?" Heidi asked, annoyed.
"No." Kyle shook his head. "We aren't quite done."
Tor shook his head, he couldn't believe Kyle was stupid enough to try to challenge Angelus O'Connor! He basically ran the whole school!
0o0o0
Buffy stopped to look at the elephants before reading the plaque about them. "Hey, Buffy!" The blonde looked up to see Xander and Willow approaching her.
"You missed it!" Willow exclaimed, excitedly.
Buffy pursed her lips, turning to look at her best friend. "Missed what?"
"We just saw the zebra's mating!" Xander smiled with a nod. "Very exciting!"
"And I missed it." The blonde looked at her friends sadly, before her expression changed to unimpressed. "And somehow I will find the courage to live on."
"Where were you?" Willow asked, happily as the three of them walked together.
"Looking at the fishes."
Willow smiled. "Was it cool?"
"It was fishes." Buffy replied, confused.
"I feel like you aren't in the field trip spirit here." Xander looked at her with concern. "Buffy, this isn't about looking at a bunch of animals. This is about not being in class!"
"You know, you're right." Buffy nodded, slightly more excited. "Suddenly, the animals look shiny and new."
"I think someone is just super excited about tonight and just wants today to be over with." Willow raised her eyebrows expectantly at her best friend.
Buffy shrugged. "It comes in waves. I was excited and then I kinda got into my own head… Kyle, Tor and those guys seem to have zeroed in on me. What if it's just them messing with me?"
"Were they messing with you when the notes started?" Xander asked.
Buffy shook her head.
"It's probably not them then!" Willow exclaimed, as they all sat down in the area where several picnic tables were set up. It was currently lunch time and the class was gathering around to either get their packed lunches or buy something from the Snack Shack at the Zoo.
The blonde shrugged, this morning when she read the note in her book, she was really excited about meeting whoever it was. He seemed to be the perfect mixture of funny and sweet. "Anyone want something while I'm up? Xand, I already know you want a hot dog and soda."
"Make it a double." Xander smiled, patting his stomach.
Several minutes later Buffy walked back over to the picnic table with a tray of food, to find Xander eating out of a brown paper bag. She shook her head with a smile as she set the tray down. "They have salads here, Will! Who would have thought!" She placed a large soda and two hot dogs in front of Xander before placing the salads in front of her and Willow.
Buffy sat beside the redhead, lightly picking at her salad as Willow pulled a notebook out of Buffy's bag. "Even though this is fun field trip day, I still feel like we should be studying."
Xander and Buffy both glanced at their friend, concerned.
Willow shrugged. "I can't help it, I just always want to learn… hey, what's this?"
Buffy glanced over at her friend looking at a page in her notebook. She felt a flash of panic go over her, thinking she found the note.
"My name belongs here." Willow read, questioningly. It was the same handwriting from all the notes.
Buffy looked down at the page to see a large heart with writing inside it.
Willow gasped. "He had your notebook! You couldn't find it before and now you have it! He had it!"
Buffy nodded, taking the notebook from her. "I found it on my desk this morning."
"He knows your schedule?" Xander asked, taking a sip of his drink. "Isn't that kind of stalker-ish?"
"How did he get it to begin with?" Willow wondered but didn't give her friend time to answer. "Wait, you said there was another note, the personal one. Did he write it in there?"
Buffy nodded, shifting through her notebook to see if he had left anything else. Suddenly there was a thump on the table, she looked up to see Kyle standing in the middle of the table.
"What the hell?" Xander exclaimed.
Kyle smiled down at Buffy. "We weren't done earlier."
"I figured we were since you ran away with your tails between your legs." Buffy replied sarcastically.
"Ah, Angelus." Gunn got his friends' attention before nodding in the direction of the commotion that had caught his eye. "What's he doing?"
"I don't know." Angelus glared at Kyle.
"That's that Buffy girl. Right, Cordy?" Harmony asked her best friend, earning a nod. Cordelia didn't really like her because Kevin liked her, but that was the only thing she had against her. The brunette had to hand it to the small blonde, she actually dressed pretty well.
"I saw her dress shopping with your sister, Angelus." Darla whipped her head towards the dark haired student. "What's up with that?"
"She did give you her dress though." Harmony smiled with a nod. "That was pretty nice of her."
"Oh, yeah." Darla smiled at him. "She gave it to me so I can match…" She trailed off, frowning as Angelus' got up from his seat.
Angelus didn't make it over to the table before Kyle kicked Xander's soda in Buffy's direction. The dark liquid went all over Buffy's little black dress. Kyle was caught off guard when Angelus grabbed him by the ankle. Buffy's mouth dropped open as Kyle's body landed on the table with a loud thud, right on top of Xander's remaining hot dog. "What did I tell you?"
Kyle moaned as he rubbed his head. "What the hell, man!"
Tor shook his head from behind Angelus, he told them several times to leave Buffy alone, but his friends didn't listen. He thought they would listen to Angelus' last warning, but Kyle wasn't that smart and Rhonda and Heidi always followed along.
"It wasn't even an hour ago." Angelus pulled the brunette boy off the table, allowing him to stand. "What do you say?"
"Screw you." Kyle challenged Angelus.
Angelus smirked before punching Kyle in the nose, one way or another, he was going to apologize to Buffy. "What do you say?"
"What's going on here?" Vice Principal Flutie asked, looking around at the students. "This is a place for eating, not for punching." The older man looked at Buffy as she tried to use a napkin to dry her dress off. "Oh, look what you boys did! Buffy, are you alright?"
"Peachy." She rolled her eyes, still trying to clean herself up. "Kyle must have some health condition that makes him jump on tables and kick drinks."
"Mr. DuFours, is that true?" The Vice Principal looked at the young man as he touched his bleeding nose.
Kyle shook his head, innocently.
"It's a serious condition, the doctors just can't find a cure for it." Angelus glared at him. "It's called being a little shithead."
"Now, now. Let's all just calm down." Mr. Flutie said quietly. He didn't want to get on O'Connor's bad side but he did see him punch another student. He would have to talk to Principal Snyder to find out what actions to take.
Buffy sighed as she grabbed her bag, walking away from the table.