Chapter 10: The Status Quo

*****The Next Day*****

Mason was outside his house waiting for the school bus. He didn't mind taking the bus even though sometimes he rode to school with a friend. He'd get his license in the spring, but he probably wouldn't get a car until the end of the summer. His dad didn't believe in giving him things that he hadn't worked for. That was fine with Mason because Mason didn't want his dad to ever throw it back in his face that he gave him a car. Liam's dad was a doctor, so he could easily afford a car. Liam was a bit spoiled, which is why Mason thought he lost his temper so easily sometimes. For so long, he was handed everything. Now things were difficult for him, and his friend didn't always react well.

Yesterday, Mason had one friend and classmate ask him about Liam and his werewolf status. Mason didn't know at first if he should play dumb, but then he thought about Buffy and how brave that she'd been. He decided to be just as brave, and it had been a good experience. The guy was just curious and thought it was kind of cool that Mason's best friend was a werewolf. For the first time, Mason was allowed to show his pride in his best friend.

A car pulled up in front of Mason. He recognized Donnie, who was in his P.E. class, but he didn't know the driver.

"Hi, Mason," Donnie said, giving him a friendly smile. "You want a ride?"

"Nah, I'm good," Mason said.

"The guy driving is John. He's a safe driver," Donnie assured him. "He's on the football team with me. No reason to ride the bus."

"That's kind of lame, dude," John said, giving him a smirk.

Mason knew the guys were seniors, and he didn't really want to piss anyone off. He got in the back, and then another block, they stopped for two more. Mason found himself between two more football players he didn't know.

Feeling more uncomfortable than he'd ever felt in a really long time, he tried to make small talk. It failed.

"So, Mason, you're friends with Liam, right?" Donnie asked.

Mason nodded. "Yes, he's been my best friend for a long time," he said.

"It doesn't bother you that he's a monster?" John asked, looking at him in his rearview mirror.

The two guys next to Mason frowned down at him but didn't speak.

"He's not a monster," Mason mumbled, looking down. Suddenly, he was thinking this car ride was a mistake.

They pulled into the convenience store a block from the school.

"Coffee stop," Donnie said, jumping out.

Mason grinned and followed him out. He nodded at a few classmates that had the same idea. After he went inside and purchased a coffee for himself, he barely got a sip in before his arm was grabbed.

"What the hell?" he yelled as John dragged him behind the convenience store.

"Friends of freaks and monsters are going to get a beating," John said. Then he grabbed Mason's coffee and handed it to the guy Rick, who had sat in the backseat with Mason. Donnie and the other backseat passenger, Diego, joined them, surrounding Mason.

Mason knew things were about to get really ugly for him. "What? You want to punish me for not abandoning Liam when he got bit? What kind of friend would that make me?" he asked, hoping to reason with them.

"The kind that isn't friends with monsters," John said, punching him in the stomach.

He tried to move away, but Diego grabbed him from behind. Then Rick opened up his coffee and threw it at him. Mason screamed as the scalding hot drink hit his chest and neck.

"What's going on here?" a voice called out.

"We're just having fun," John said, looking over his shoulder.

Tim, the junior who'd spend time talking with Ms. Summers the day before, stepped closer and saw what was going on. "Hey, you guys need to leave him alone," he ordered.

"How you going to make us?" John asked with a smirk.

Tim pulled out his phone. "I guess I can call 9-1-1," he said.

"Seriously, dude?" Rick asked. "Snitches get stiches!"

"So now you're threatening to cut me?" Tim asked, dialing the number. "Hey, I'm at Terry's Market by the high school. Some of the football player are beating up this younger kid in the back. One of them is the quarterback, John."

The football stepped back, releasing Mason and charged after Tim, who happened to be on the track team. He took off running.

Mason was forgotten as the team had a new target. He pulled out his phone and called Liam.

A short time later, Liam arrived. When he saw that Mason was hurt, he worked to control his rage.

"Who did this?" he snarled.

"Some dumb football players. I was dumb enough to accept a ride," Mason said. "Rick threw coffee at me."

"I better take you to the hospital and have my dad look at your neck," Liam said, wincing at the clear burn he could see. Burns didn't show up on African American skin the way it did on Caucasians, but Liam could tell it was a burn.

An hour later, Mason was at school with his dad, sharing what happened with the principal and Buffy.

Buffy was enraged and demanded that the boys get suspended.

"Well, it didn't happen on school property," Principal Martin said.

"What does that matter? They assaulted my son," Mason's dad said. "So some rich white boys hurt a black kid, and that's okay?"

"No, of course not," Principal Martin said quickly.

"Tim called the police. The Sheriff will be arresting the boys, which should at least get them kicked off the football team, right?" Buffy said, looking at the principal expectantly.

"Well, it will get them suspended," she said. "I will talk to their coach."

"John is the quarterback," Mason said. "He'll get a free pass."

"No, he won't," Buffy said.

Mason's dad stood. "I'm going to take my son home now. If he's not in too much pain, he'll be back tomorrow or the next day," he said.

"I'll bring Mason his homework from his classes after school," Buffy said, standing and shaking the man's hand.

"I know this town is strange. Mason's told me about Liam's unfortunate condition," he said. "My son is black and gay, and that's hard enough. I won't have him harassed because he's a good friend."

"I had an assembly on Monday that made it clear bullying would not be tolerated," Buffy said. "It stirred up some things."

"I hope something like this doesn't happen again," he said before leaving with Mason.

"Natalie, you have to suspend the boys for at least 5 days or all that I said at the assembly is meaningless," Buffy said to her boss. "I said zero tolerance. If they think they can get to them off campus without consequence, they will."

Natalie sighed in resignation. "I suppose you're right. I'm going to get heat from the school board, though. How will we handle that?" she wondered.

"Well, Mason's day pointed out that his son was both gay and black," Buffy said. "Why don't you label what they did a hate crime on the official reports? Tell the parents you will convince Mason's parents to drop the charges if they take the suspension and consequences without protest or further incidents or retaliations from the team.

Natalie nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll talk to Noah about it," she said. "And their coach. Too bad they don't play La Crosse. Coach Finstock would nail their asses to the wall."

"One good thing that came out of this was Tim. He was on the fence about werewolves," Buffy said. "I'd counseled him about it. Seeing the football players target Mason because of his friendship with Liam has made him see things more clearly."

"He's the one who called 9-1-1, right?" Natalie Martin asked.

Buffy nodded. "He out ran them—I guess he's on the track team," she said with a grin.

"I hope this is not the beginning of more violence amongst the students," Natalie said.

"Don't worry. I got a handle on everything," Buffy assured her.

Natalie really hoped so because dealing with the Board and parents was a real pain in the ass.

*****Later that Evening*****

Buffy and Derek were patrolling near the school while the rest of the pack was spread around the town. Willow was convinced that it was only a matter of time before vampires were drawn to the dark energy of the town.

Buffy was still all worked up about her day. "I just can't believe that they burned Mason! He's not even supernatural," she said. "You know the guy who poked out Xander's eye I sliced in half with my scythe."

Derek glanced at her and saw her pout and couldn't help but grin. "You can't go killing human students," he said.

"How about we get Scott to bite them? Then they'll be one of us, and I can't beat their asses at least!" she insisted.

"What if the bite kills them? You want Scott to live with that?" Derek said.

"Fine," she grumbled. She was silent a few minutes as they walked along. "Hey, is there an actual graveyard just a few blocks from the school? That's not good!"

"It's not like any student has a reason to go to a graveyard," Derek said.

"They would if it's a short cut to somewhere else," Buffy said as they waked through the entrance. Buffy looked around, curious. "It doesn't have the large crypts we had back home."

"Feeling homesick?" Derek asked with a smirk.

Buffy shoved him, causing him to trip over a tombstone. She snickered. "You're so graceful!" she said exclaimed.

Derek jumped up. "I'll show you graceful!" he called out, chasing after her.

Buffy laughed and took off running. "Betcha can't catch me!" she taunted.

She was very surprised, however, when Derek caught her, lifting her up in his arms.

"I caught you," he said, looking smug.

"You sure did," she said. "What do you want to do with me?"

She wrapped her arms around him and slid down his body, her lips on his.

Derek returned her kiss with enthusiasm. When they broke for air, he murmured, "I want to strip you naked right here and shock the ghosts hanging around."

Although Buffy had made out in more than on graveyard with Angel, Riley, and even Spike, never had she wanted to have sex out in the open near a tomb. Spike's crypt was hidden, but here they were exposed. The thought of someone seeing them was tantalizing.

"I might be persuaded," she said, moving her head, so his lips could trail down her neck

Derek grinned as he smelled her arousal. "Someone is very tempted," he said, moving his teeth to nip at her neck without breaking the skin.

A scream broke through their haze. Buffy turned. "It's that way," she said, taking off at a run.

On the other side of the graveyard, a small group of teenagers were being attacked by something.

"It's vamps," Buffy said grimly as she threw a stake at the nearest one.

When it turned to ash, Derek nodded. "Guess so," he said. Although she'd told him they turned to dust, he hadn't actually thought she was completely serious. Stiles' head would explode when he witness this act.

"Remember, stake through the heart or cut off their heads," Buffy advised.

As she pulled a vampire off a teenage boy, she realized that she recognized the boys. They were the very ones who had attached Mason—four football players. "What are you guys doing out here at this time of night?" she asked.

"Trying to convince our coach not to kick us off the team," John said.

"Slayer!" the vampire said to Buffy.

"Yes, that's what some call me," Buffy said, kicking the vampire in the stomach. There were only two vampires, but that was enough to kill four teenagers.

"What are they?" Donnie asked.

"Vampires," Buffy said. "You guys run home. We got this."

The boys realized that Derek was there and looked even more scared.

They moved away, and Buffy traded blows with the vampire. "Do you want to kill it?" Buffy asked. "Pop your cherry?"

"You've been dying to say that, haven't you?" Derek said, shaking his head at her words. "I'll let you have it."

Buffy grinned and drove the stake into the vampire. Then she launched herself at her boyfriend, her legs going around his waist.

Buffy might've been oblivious to the teenage boys who were watching from a safe distance, but Derek wasn't. However, he didn't really care. Buffy bullied and cajoled him into changing in front of the entire school. He wasn't about to hide now, so he happily returned her kiss.

"I don't think our new counselor is human," Donnie said.

"Figures," John said.

"She's not a werewolf," Diego said.

"How do you know?" John wondered.

"One, she's too hot," Diego said with a grin.

"Plus, that vampire called her a slayer," Donnie reminded them.

"What the hell is a slayer?" John asked.

That was a very good question. Was she someone they could trust or should they be afraid of her, too?

******Chapter End******

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