Initiative Senior Lounge:

Ethan glanced at the newspaper that had been dropped onto his algebra book before looking up at the guy that had dropped it.

"Read it," Ripper ordered as he took a seat at the table.

Glancing down, the brunette took in the 'Freaky Fangs - Blood Sucker Game' headline before lifting an eyebrow at the large picture of what looked like a line dance taking place on the gym floor. A moment later, he skimmed the article under it and gave a low whistle. "So Buff was the mascot at the Suckers' game," he murmured as he carefully studied the picture, and smiled when he spotted the girl he was looking for in it. "Looks like the Freaks *really* liked her."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Ripper rolled his eyes before giving a wicked grin and digging a cell phone out of his pocket. He punched a couple of buttons on it before sliding it across the table.

"Is that..."

"Yeah. Someone repainted the Freak's school sign."

"That's kind of... disturbing," Ethan murmured as he studied the exaggerated painting of a sturdy guy wearing high heels, fishnet stockings, and a corset. 'Home of the Freaks' was artistically written in a curve around the top. He winced before looking back up at Giles. "Looks like the Freaks got some payback for trashing the Sucker's yard."

Ripper nodded. "It almost looks like they're having a school feud."

Ethan thoughtfully looked back at the newspaper. "And good ole Buff's right in the middle of it." Ripper only grinned as a silence fell. "This has definite possibilities you know."

"I know," Rupert agreed as he leaned back in the chair and swung his feet onto the table.


The phone call had surprised her and made her a bit uneasy, but Buffy had agreed to meet Luke at the gravel quarry. She glanced at her watch in the well-lit parking lot. It was almost 10, and she nervously tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited for him to show. A car pulled in a couple of minutes later, and she grabbed the shirt he'd loaned her at the basketball game before getting out to talk to him.

"You wanted to talk Buff?" he asked as he looked her over with interest.

She frowned. "I thought you did."

"No... I got a call from a girl that said you wanted to talk to me."

She nodded. "Yeah... I got the same call."

Luke scowled and looked over the parking lot thoughtfully. It looked deserted, and he turned back to her. "I have to admit I'm a little disappointed."

She studied him before giving a slight shake of her head. "Well, at least I can give you your shirt back." She held it out, and he glanced at her with amusement. "You could keep it, and wear it to a few classes."

"Yeah," she murmured as she gave him a pointed look, "because that would make my life so much easier."

He grinned and took it. "We could go back to the Blood Barn if you want."

"You know I can barely handle the *thought* of you guys drinking blood," she stated with a faint smile. "I really don't need to go to a place where I can watch you do it."

He laughed. "My loss then."

She grinned at the easy-going brunette before heading back to her Jeep. That neither of them had set up the meeting was unsettling, but she was relieved it had gone as well as it had... and it didn't look like any harm had been done.

Neither of them noticed Ethan and Ripper snapping a couple of pictures from several feet away.


The week drug on, the Blood Suckers excited over the camera crew at the dance while the Slayers were unhappy about it. It was Thursday night when the science teacher started passing out stapled papers.

"Alright, class." Mr. Rollens returned to the front of the room and sat on the edge of his desk. "In light of the fact the Vampire Human League is taking a closer look at Sunnydale's application for an environmental dome, I thought it would be fun to bring up some of the differences we have with humans." He shot a friendly smile at Buffy. "I'm leaving out a few though that might not be appropriate for class."

Thinking of her period, Buffy felt her face warm and quickly looked down to study the stapled paper.

"The first difference we're going to discuss is food. They need to get their nutrition through different food groups. Their bodies are designed to break down vegetables, fruit, and meat easier than ours."

"We just ate *breakfast*," Cordelia protested.

"We, on the other hand, can eat human food but have a much harder time getting the nutrients out of it. That's because we depend on the animal we take the blood from to have already digested our food for us."

"Ewww..." Harmony shot the teacher a scowl.

"Another difference is we're heavier than they are. If there were two identical girls, one vampire, and one human, the vampire would always weigh more." The class went silent as they looked at him curiously, and he turned to look at Buffy. "Would you mind telling us what you weigh, Ms. Summers?"

Buffy scowled as she taped a pen against the table. "One hundred and twenty pounds," she finally answered.

"No way," someone from the back of the room exclaimed.

"And what do you weigh, Cordelia?" the teacher asked.

Another silence fell before Cordelia answered, "One hundred and sixty."

Buffy frowned with surprise before looking up at the teacher.

"The weight difference comes from our bones being denser, our joints tougher, and our muscles heavier," the teacher stated. "A human that worked out every day *might* be able to match the strength of a vampire that didn't exercise at all, but chances are it would only be for short periods."

"They have a big edge over us when it comes to sunlight. They have enzymes that allow them to repair their skin after it's damaged by the sun. We, on the other hand, would have 3rd degree burns if we were in direct sunlight for 15 minutes, would be irreversibly blind in half an hour, even if we kept our eyes shut... and be dead in around 40 minutes." Buffy shifted uneasily as the teacher glanced over the room.

"In reverse, a human would suffer from frostbite, or die of exposure if they were left in freezing conditions for a length of time, while we wouldn't be nearly as affected. They feel the cold more, and the heat. In fact, their normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees, while ours is 70."

The teacher glanced over the class. "We heal faster. If a human breaks a bone, it might take 6 to 10 weeks for them to heal. On the rare occasion when a vampire does, it takes about 2 to 3 weeks."

"We can see in almost complete darkness. Humans can't. The reason we have lights in the school rooms is more about the town council's ordinance to keep the town friendly to both vampires and humans than any need of ours."

He pushed off of the desk. "Those are some of the highlights. There are others, but nothing too major." He shot Buffy a smile before turning to the blackboard. "Now we can get to today's lesson."

"What other differences?" a call came from the back of the room.

Buffy watched uneasily as the teacher turned back to look at them. "Maybe what human boys do in the bathroom for long periods of time," he stated as he shot another smile at Buffy. "Do you think that's something we should discuss, Ms. Summers?"

She hesitated before rolling her eyes. "No, but vampire and human guys can't be that different, can they?"

He smiled. "I'd be surprised if there were more than a dozen teenage boys in our school that has engaged in that kind of activity, Buffy."

She stared at him before looking over at Angel. He was looking back with a curious frown, and she studied his dark good looks with the same curiosity before turning back to the teacher when he started to write on the blackboard.


Friday night:

The Bronze was packed with Slayers that were trying to have a little fun before going to the Spring Fling and dealing with principals, vampires, and the VMP camera crew... Or at least that's what most of them were trying to do, Buffy decided as she listened to Anya lecture Xander about appearances, and how they needed to make sure they got their share of time in front of the camera. A moment later, Owen bumped her arm, and she watched as he motioned across the room.

"Isn't that Luke?"

She glanced over with a frown. "Yeah... I wonder what he's doing here?"

"Don't know, but I'm pretty sure the girl he came in with is an Initiative. I think her name's Maggie, or Melissa... something like that." He looked back at Buffy. "Do you think they're dating?"

She snorted before turning back to the guy at her side. "If she's spent time with Ethan or Rupert, she might have decided vampires are the better choice."

He grinned. "Would you date one?"

"A vampire? No. They *bite*," she stressed.

"Some people like it."

She rolled her eyes. "Some people like to go to the dentist, but it's not normal."

He didn't say anything, and she stared at him with a scowl as her thoughts turned to Angel. He didn't act any different than a human guy. Of course he could run laps around her in gym, but he wasn't weird or anything... She broke the thought and shook her head. If she was going to start considering what was 'weird', maybe she should look at her date.

"Oh," Willow suddenly exclaimed when the band started a new set, "I love this song."

It was one Buffy had danced to at the basketball game, and she gave a slow grin at the memory before getting up and following the rest of her table to the dance floor.


Olivia Jones took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell... and was a little startled when a handsome brunette answered right away.

"Can I help you?" Angel asked the girl he was sure he'd never seen before.

She glanced nervously at the group of Blood Suckers around him before nodding. "You're Angel McCormick, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm an Initiative... so I don't have any loyalty to the Slayers." He didn't say anything, and she took a breath. "Anyway... I was driving past your school and noticed Buffy Summers was there with some of her friends. They were dumping rocks on your yard, and I thought maybe you guys would want to know."

Angel looked at her skeptically, and she quickly held out a photo. "I... um... ran off a couple of pictures while I was looking up your address."

Glancing down, he gave a low warning growl as he took in the picture of several dark shapes spelling out the word 'losers' on their schoolyard in large block letters. The next photo had him sliding into game face as Spike started to curse. It showed Luke standing in their parking lot talking to Buffy. He looked up and noticed the girl had taken several steps back.

"How long ago was it?"

"I... I had to look you up in the phone book, and got lost a couple of times on the way," she murmured. "Maybe an hour."

Angel nodded as he walked onto the porch followed by Spike, Dru, and Gwen. They'd been ready to leave anyway, but now they were taking a detour past the school to see just how bad it was. "Thanks," he told her as he moved toward his car with inhuman speed before he stopped and turned back. "I didn't catch your name."

She stared at him uneasily before realizing she needed to say something. "Olivia."

He nodded, and she watched as he got behind the wheel, the vintage car roaring to life just seconds before it shot onto the road. Moments later, she walked over to the silver car that purred up beside the curb. "Mission accomplished," she stated after she'd settled into the passenger's seat.

"So they bought the photos?"

"Yeah. I showed them to Angel and he started growling... and Spike was in game face right after he saw me at the door." She shuddered before shaking her head. "Can you imagine having to go to school with vampires?"

"Can you imagine doing it after they think you trashed their yard?" Ripper laughed from the backseat.

"No," Olivia answered with a smile, "but maybe we can ask Buffy about it later."

Ethan grinned. Buffy was a sore spot. She'd once sprayed 'essence of skunk' on his car when he'd started a rumor freshman year that she enjoyed 'back door sex'. From what he'd heard, it had taken her weeks to live it down... but it hadn't been a picnic trying to get essence of skunk out of your car either. From that point on it had been a war between them that he intended to win, and this prank... this prank was truly a masterpiece. He glanced at Olivia with a smile. "Did you get the pictures back?"

"No, and I wasn't about to ask for them either," she shook her head at the speed the Blood Suckers had used to get to the car, "but the photo of Buffy and Luke is good. I mean, Rupert and I both worked on it. They'll never guess it's been edited. And the other one's just shadows, they won't be able to tell it was us putting the gravel on the lawn."

"Well that's good," Ethan murmured before braking for a stop sign, "but we won't be able to put them in the Senior Beat."

"Don't worry about that," Ripper spoke up. "We made copies." His phone chimed, and he pulled it out of his pocket to see he had an email from Melissa. He lifted an eyebrow as he wondered how she knew his address before giving a sudden laugh at the picture that came up on the screen. He bumped Olivia's shoulder and handed her the phone, and she grinned evilly before holding it up for Ethan.

"Is that..." he started.

"Yeah... " Ripper answered. "Good ole Buff dancing with Luke at the Bronze." Silence fell as they all took in the implications before Ripper leaned back and slid his hands behind his head. "That's the icing on the cake," he murmured with a wide smile.


"Shit," Spike growled as he looked over the large letters on their lawn. There wasn't anyone else in sight, no one to take out his frustrations on, and he swung around to an equally glowering Angel. "What now?"

"We clean it up... before anyone knows it happened."

"And what do we tell Flutie? I doubt he'll be thrilled if two of his three peons don't make it to his orchestrated movie premier."

Rolling his eyes, Angel fought to keep from running a hand through carefully spiked hair. "We'll clean it up after the dance." He looked over the scattered buckets that were left on the lawn. "We can grab a few of the guys, and Doyle's truck. It probably won't take more then a couple of hours."

"Why clean it up?" Gwen asked angrily. "The humans helped put it here, why not let them do it?"

"Because the reporters are here," Angel answered briskly as he turned to her, "and if it gets out Buffy was involved, we might lose the chance for the dome."

Spike nodded. "So I take it we don't want Fluffy's involvement getting out?"

"No," Angel answered in a low voice. "She probably thinks it's no more than payback, and I don't want to have to deal with our side retaliating." He hesitated before giving a shake of his head as he looked up at the others. "We'll just let everyone think the Freaks hit us tonight and let it go at that."

"We're going to need shovels and rakes," Spike stated as he looked over the lawn.

"Yeah," Angel agreed before he started toward the car. He couldn't help feeling betrayed. He thought they'd been making headway towards becoming friends, but this little prank... with the camera crew's interest in their schools, and the dome at stake... He scowled before his thoughts turned to the photo of her in the parking lot with Luke, and his annoyance quickly sharpened into anger. She had some explaining to do, and right now... he didn't care if she considered it to be payback or not.


Cordelia waited impatiently for Doyle to open the door. "Princess," he murmured as he pulled it open, and she stepped into the building before beginning to look over the room critically. There were two refreshment tables set up along one side of the wall, one with a large Slayer logo over it, and the other with the Blood Sucker's grinning bat.

Reluctantly satisfied with the refreshment tables, she turned her attention to the students and noted there didn't seem to be many humans in the building except for a few parents, the band, and Snyder. Her eyes narrowed at the lack of Slayers before she moved back to the refreshment table and drew a warm cup of blood out of the heated keg. A moment later, she nearly choked on her drink when she noticed a tv camera in front of Spike and Doyle. Quickly setting her drink down, she hurried to push in front of her two classmates.

"And who is this lovely young lady?" The reporter smiled as he held the mic toward her.

"Cordelia Chase. My parents run Chase Enterprises," she stated matter of factually.

"And Ms. Chase, how do you feel about the school merger?"

"It feels like we've shared our building forever," she stated with a faint frown before she reached over and pulled the mic out of his hand. "And I'd like to let the Vampire Human Alliance know that we *do* deserve a dome. And for those that are unfortunate enough to go to the Freaky Fangs' school, which is *outside* of the city limits, do try to stay out of the sun. Having 3rd degree burns all over your body will make you appear even more freakish than you already do."

The mic was pulled out of her hands as the reporter smiled into the camera. "How's that for showing concern for your rivals folks? And now maybe we should move on to," he quickly looked over the room, "the school principals," he finished with relief as he saw them talking to a few of the parents.

Cordelia watched him go with a scowl before turning to Doyle. "Can you believe he'd rather talk to principal Flutie than me?"

Doyle smiled as he slipped an arm around her waist. "It's a mystery princess."

"Well, well..." Spike murmured as the gym doors opened and several Slayers came in. "It looks like they decided to show after all."

Doyle turned toward the humans with a hard gleam in his eyes, his short conversation with Spike having filled him in on what was happening. "Now the fun and games can really begin," he murmured.

A quiet snort had them turning to see Angel and Gwen had moved up behind them. "I thought maybe the fun and games already had," Angel disagreed.

Spike's eyes narrowed as he followed Angel's gaze to the girl Snyder was pointing out to the camera crew. He cocked his head as Snyder, Flutie, and the crew started to make their way over to Buffy before frowning when the camera panned their way as Flutie pointed them out. "They've already talked to us," he snarled.

"They've talked to Cordelia, you mean," Doyle disagreed. "We didn't say a word." They all watched as Flutie started toward them, a mixture of resignation and annoyance crossing their faces as the older vampire eyed them with a scowl.


This was sadly what she should have expected, Buffy decided as she watched Flutie leave to get Angel. She'd just walked into the dance and was already surrounded by two principals and a camera crew. She forced a smile, very much aware of Snyder's gaze burning a hole into her as she tried again to focus on what was being said.

"One of my more troubled students," Snyder was explaining as he looked at her before looking back at the reporter. "Principal Flutie and I agreed both of our student bodies would benefit greatly from the interaction."

"And what progress has been made?" the man with the mic asked.

"Ms. Summers's physical education grades have improved," Snyder began, "and since she's taking two science classes, she shouldn't have to attend summer school."

The reporter nodded as he pulled back the mic. "I'm sure she appreciates that Mr. Snyder, but has there been any progress with the kids interacting?"

"Why yes," he answered, as Flutie walked back to the group with Angel in tow. "While cleaning the school of a high school prank, Ms. Summers shared her ladder with one of the Blood Sucker's students. It led to her becoming the mascot at one of their sporting events."

Buffy inwardly groaned as the reporter turned to her with a gleam in his eye, hoping he'd finally found something to improve the story. "Have you made many friends among the other student body Ms. Summers?"

She had to fight to keep a pleasant expression, very much aware that Snyder was closely watching. "I'm... uh... starting to get to know some of them... by name," she finished lamely.

An arm slid around her shoulders, and she looked up to see Angel standing at her side. "I'm sure she knows some of us better than that," he murmured as he looked down at her and was certain he caught Luke's scent. He shifted more of his weight onto her in frustration. "You made several friends at the game didn't you, Buff?"

Buffy frowned and looked up at him again. For the last week they hadn't even talked about the Freaky Fangs, but it looked like he wanted to now. "A few," she finally answered as she looked back at the reporter. "I mean, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the Freaky Fangs were a lot of fun, and their mascot helped me figure out what I was doing." She felt Angel stiffen, his arm still around her shoulders.

"Speaking of the game," the brunette replied with a seeming casualness before forcing a smile. "The party afterward was fantastic. Of course Buffy was one of the main attractions, with her being an honorary mascot." His arm tightened a little tighter than she liked as he pulled her closer.

The reporter nodded before turning to an annoyed Flutie. "I take it this is the young man who's been watching out for her during her Blood Sucker classes?"

"Yes." Flutie shot daggers at Angel, even as he retained a pleasant speaking voice. "As is the case with most teenagers, there's a certain amount of school pride to deal with, as well as any stumbling blocks the children have with physical differences."

The reporter laughed easily as he spoke into the microphone. "I'm sure we all remember what high school was like. I was lucky if my parents let me out of the house with all the trouble I caused." He glanced back at the principals and saw they were both eyeing him sternly. Wonderful, he thought as he carefully kept his smile in place. Could this night get any longer?

"If you will come with us, Mr. Jackson." Snyder motioned toward a small group of older people. "You might want to speak with some of the parents."

He nodded, and the camera crew started to follow the principals as they led the way toward a group standing off to the side.

"You brought up the mascot dunk... really?" Buffy asked as she looked up at him with irritation. He just looked at her with an unreadable expression, and she bristled. They'd gotten along great for the last few days... that everything suddenly seemed to change overnight made her wonder what kind of game he was playing. "And get off me." She irritably shrugged him off before turning to face him.

"Now now," Angel answered quietly. "Is that how you'd treat Luke?"

She stared back incredulously. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was jealous... And yeah, she'd flirted with him once or twice, and started to think of him as a friend, but it didn't change what he was. Her eyes narrowed. "Maybe it's how I treat people that are pissing me off."

Angel glanced over the students around them before turning his full attention back to the blonde. "We need to talk. Outside. Now." He grabbed her arm and started leading her toward the door.

Buffy didn't argue as she followed him.


He held the door open, his jaw set and his body tense. Being with him like this two weeks ago would have scared her, but it didn't even cross her mind as she stepped into the parking lot and followed him around the building. "Angel," she started before grabbing his arm when he kept walking. "What's wrong with you?"

He turned to her with a frown before lowering his head as they locked eyes. "I know about the prank you and the Freaks played on us."

"What?"

"Look, it was cute, but why would you go after our whole school? I mean, why not go after Spike, or Cordelia, or me? Or maybe it was the Freak's idea and you just went along for the ride?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked with a hint of anger.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the photo of her and Luke in the Blood Sucker parking lot before holding it out to her. She blinked in surprise. "That didn't..." she broke off with a frown before looking up at him. "That didn't happen. It's not real."

"Looks real to me... and so does the gravel you and the Freaks dumped on our schoolyard."

Her eyes shot to his. "I don't know anything about gravel in the schoolyard. And how did you get the photo anyway?"

"A girl delivered it tonight."

"A girl?" Buffy asked suspiciously. "Does she have a name?"

"Olivia. I think."

Buffy snorted at the Initiative's head cheerleader's name. "And you believe her?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I went to our school. The gravel was on the yard spelling out 'Losers'. What exactly is there to doubt?"

"Me... being there... And... if there's gravel on the lawn... it was probably the Initiatives that put it there."

He studied her before plucking the picture out of her hand and putting it back in his pocket. "Look... I know you feel like you owe us, but you need to be smarter than this." She glanced up with irritation, and he continued, "I know you saw Luke tonight. "I smell him on you." She paled, and he frowned before shaking his head with exasperation. "Just... consider it over. We're even. With the camera crew here and the dome at stake... I don't want to keep playing games with you."

Her head jerked up in surprise. She knew how much he wanted the dome. They'd talked about it before class one day. "I'd never do anything to try to stop the dome from being built. If you think I would, Angel, you're wrong."

He glanced at her with a cool appraisal. "I didn't say you would," he murmured before adding, "Maybe we should get back to the dance."

"No. You still don't trust me, do you? You trust the *Initiatives* more than me?"

He shrugged and glanced away. "You smell like Luke, Buffy. Are you saying you guys are enemies?"

"No," she stated quietly.

"He's using you," he emphasized just as quietly.

She snorted. If he was using her she didn't know how, and she wasn't sure she had to explain anything to Angel. "He's not."

He shook his head. "Well then, I guess you've made up your mind."

Buffy nodded as she looked at him with a troubled frown. "Looks like we both have," she agreed.

He took a moment to study her before turning away and heading back to the dance.


"Tonight went well," Joyce stated as she looked up when Buffy walked into the kitchen, the high schooler just arriving home as the older woman relaxed with a glass of wine.

Looking at her momentarily, Buffy sighed and dropped into a chair. The dance had gone off without a hitch, but that didn't mean her night hadn't sucked. She might have lost her friendship with Angel. And the more she thought about the picture he'd shown her, the more certain she was someone had taken it while she and Luke had met at the rock quarry. She scowled and ran a hand through her hair. Angel had tied the photo to Olivia, and that meant Ethan and Ripper were involved. The whole thing was a mess that made her tired to think about. "I guess it did," she finally answered, "but I still wish we could have finished out the year at our old school."

"I know," Joyce gave her a sympathetic look before reaching over to squeeze her arm, "but I'm so proud of you, Buffy. And the town council's thrilled with how well you kids are getting along."

"Well that's something," she mumbled without enthusiasm before getting to her feet and heading toward her room.


Sunday night:

"What are you going to do?"

Angel scowled at Doyle before looking away. He *liked* Buffy... more than he was really comfortable with, but they'd gotten off on the wrong foot, and now everything was snowballing out of control. "I don't know," he finally answered.

"You don't know," Cordelia asked angrily before pointing to the picture showing Buffy in the dress she'd worn to the dance and dancing with Luke. It was the same picture that had been plastered all over the side of the school when they'd arrived, taped on the windows, the doors, the light poles. "Did you even look at the photo?" she asked in a hard voice. "Because I've got to tell you, everyone else has."

"There's the dome to consider," he answered. "And she's human."

"And that means we can't hurt her," Spike broke in, "not that we can't scare her."

"And we can only hope the others will come to the same conclusion," Doyle stated as he nodded toward the small irritated groups of kids standing in various locations around the school. "They've heard about the gravel on the lawn, and even though they don't know about the pictures given to Angel, they've all come to their own conclusions about what happened."

"Rightly so," Cordelia sniffed before her eyes narrowed. "And I don't believe it... she's actually got the nerve to show up tonight."

Angel's head snapped up, but he didn't make a move to go toward the parking lot.


Buffy frowned as she parked the jeep before reaching for her gym bag and science book. She wasn't looking forward to going to classes tonight... not that she ever did, but now that Angel was upset with her, it made it so much worse.

She stepped onto the parking lot and didn't notice the two guys walking toward her until she'd closed the door and was heading for the school. A moment later, she shifted to the side to move around them before stopping abruptly when they cut her off.

"What's the hurry?" the sandy-haired vampire asked as he looked her over with cold interest. "Brad and I were hoping we could get a taste of what you've been giving Luke."

"What are you talking about?" She took a step back before giving a shake of her head. "You know what? I don't care. Get out of my way." She started to go around them again only to stop when they blocked her.

"Don't think she's interested." The redhead looked down at Buffy with a sneer before cocking his head. "I think we might have to persuade her."

Her heart was pounding, but she held her ground. Vampires weren't *that* scary. Spike was all gold eyes and fangs, but he'd never... An arm slid around her waist and pulled her back against a hard body, and she tensed before starting to pull away... and stopped when he spoke. "Persuade her?" Angel's deep rich voice broke the silence. "How hard up do you think she is?"

"You've seen the photos haven't you, McCormick?" Brad locked eyes with the brunette senior. "She's with a Freak, how picky can she be?"

Angel snorted, his arm tightening around her. "With a freak? If I didn't know better, I'd think you were itching for a fight Bradley." He cocked his head. "Tell me I'm wrong Acer," he added the other boy's nickname with a sneer.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a fight... with her, or Luke, but get her first, and he'll come... if he's serious anyway."

"He probably would," Angel agreed. "Except she's with me."

She started to shift away in surprise but stopped when the pressure he put on her became almost painful. "You can't be serious," the redhead spoke up incredulously. "She's with you?"

"Got something to say about it?" His voice was colder than she'd ever heard it.

"Yeah..." Acer looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Have you told the *girls* yet? I bet they'd be interested in that information."

Angel raised an eyebrow before turning to look at him. "Jealous? I'm sure one day you'll find that special girl that will have sex with you."

"I suppose miracles happen," Spike broke in as he walked up to the group and looked at the two sophomores with disdain before turning to Buffy with a malice in his eyes that took her by surprise. "Maybe we should be on our way then... if you're done talking with these two." He looked back at Angel.

"Yeah." The brunette slid his arm from Buffy's waist to her shoulders before beginning to tug her along with him.

"Angel," she started quietly, only to break off when he looked at her sharply and shook his head before pulling her between two buildings. Buffy stumbled when he maneuvered her against a brick wall and cornered her there. She hesitated, looked up. "I didn't do anyth..."

He cut her off by touching a finger to her lips. "They think you did," he murmured so quietly she could barely hear him.

"You don't believe..." she started before he stiffened, and she thought she could see gold sparks in his eyes before they returned to brown. "Angel," she whispered before he leaned down to her ear.

"They're watching, and they're mad," he whispered as his body pressed lightly against hers.

She looked, and unthinkingly bared her throat. There were four students watching with sneers. They did look angry, and Buffy tensed nervously, her heart speeding up even faster as she realized the position she was in. Her attention went back to Angel when he shifted against her, his solid closeness felt like safety, and she gratefully took whatever comfort he was offering.

He moved to her other ear, nuzzling lightly as he did. "They'll leave you alone if they think we're..." he broke off before spinning to face the two boys that had come up behind him.

"Hey," the blonde held up his hands in surrender. "We just want to talk to Luke's girl." His eyes found Buffy's, and she straightened to her full height when she saw the animosity in them.

"You aren't very bright, are you?" Angel asked as he took a step toward the slightly smaller boy. "She's not Luke's. She's mine."

"That's not what the picture shows, or did you forget already?"

Buffy's eyes widened when he held up a picture of her and Luke dancing at the Bronze before she shot a glance at Angel and grimaced. He already thought she had something to do with the gravel, and even though the picture of her and Luke in the parking lot had been doctored, this one hadn't. She took a breath before deciding this was her fight more than it was Angel's. "What I do," she broke in slowly, "isn't any of your business."

"No, it's not," Angel agreed without turning to look at her, "at least it isn't any business of theirs. I'm an entirely different matter." He smiled unpleasantly at the boys as he took a step toward them. They were sophomores and on the scrawny side. He was a little surprised they were challenging him.

"Excuse me." Cordelia pushed through the boys facing Angel with disdain before turning to the boy on her left. "You know Wally you really should wash your hair. It looks like you rubbed grease in it." She turned to the boy on the right. "And have you ever considered zit cream, Tony?" Turning to look at Buffy, her expression didn't change as she eyed her for a long moment before looking at Angel. "I brought your books since you left the table in such a hurry." She looked at him with disapproval as he reached for them. "Oh... and Buffy," Cordelia turned her attention to the blonde, "you realize your and Angel's plan to get back at the Freaks for trashing our school backfired?" She flicked an imaginary speck of dust off her skirt. "You should be more careful next time."

Buffy's eyes widened slightly. She wasn't under any illusion Cordelia wanted to help her, so that meant she was helping Angel. It was eye-opening the brunette felt it necessary to help at all. "Right," she smiled tightly as she agreed, and Cordelia cast her a dark look before turning to push her way back through the small crowd.

"Come on," Angel murmured as he turned back and held out his hand. "Class will be starting."

Numbly, she took it. Ethan and Ripper had really gotten the upper hand this time. She didn't have a doubt who was behind what was going on.