As Buffy unpacked her suitcases, she couldn't help but feel something tugging at her, like there was a pit in her stomach. No, not a pit- more like a bowling ball. Leaving Sunnydale was the hardest thing she ever had to do. If you'd asked her a year ago, she would have said moving to Sunnydale was the hardest thing she'd ever done. The summer before her sophomore year, she'd been shopping at Prada and Gucci at the forum shops in L.A., getting pedicures with her friends and sipping Frappuccino's. Thinking back now, however, Buffy could hardly imagine why she ever found those things fun. Her idea of a fun night was vegging out in front of the couch with Willow and Xander, watching bad movies and Bollywood soap operas they could barely understand, even with subtitles. Stop that, Buffy thought to herself as she laid out the worn, rugged leather jacket onto her baby pink beadspread that she'd worn ever night to patrol. The leather jacket she was wearing the night she met Angel...
Placing the leather jacket on a hanger and shoving it into her closet, she pushed all thoughts of her old life in Sunnydale aside. That was the past, and she had to look towards the future with an open heart and mind. "Yeah right", she sighed aloud in her empty room. Picking up the final item in her suitcase, she couldn't help but get teary eyed. Holding the picture of her with Willow and Xander up to her chest, she let herself cry- really, truly cry- for the first time since the night that catalyzed this move to Lima Ohio. Suddenly, a dark figure darted across her room, causing her to drop the picture frame and hold her fists up, ready to fight whatever creepy crawly made had made it into her room. Surveying every corner of the room, she couldn't find any signs of the creature that had been in her room only seconds ago. Though there was no monster for her to fight, she spotted something shiny gleaming just by her bedroom door. As she walked over to it, she immediately recognized the object lying on the floor of her new bedroom. Bending over to pick up the necklace, she noticed there was a small piece of white paper attached to the object. She unrolled the paper and stared at the message written in calligraphy that read
'You left this behind, love. Trust me, you'll need it here'
Buffy set the note down, strangely not in any hurry to alert her watcher. Or former watcher. She wasn't sure if he'd want anything to do with her and wouldn't be surprised if he'd asked the Watcher's Council to send someone new to train her. She held the silver cross necklace tightly in her hand, wanting nothing more than to put it on. Sitting down on her plush comforter, she decided against it, placing both the necklace and the note in the drawer on her nightstand. Exhausted from all the travel and unpacking of the last week, Buffy sprawled herself across her bed, closing her eyes for a moment, hoping to drift off to sleep and wake up in a better mood. Unfortunately, not two minutes after laying down, she heard her mother call her name from the kitchen downstairs. Barely opening her eyes, Buffy managed to groan, "What, mom?", only half awake.
"Buffy, I need help moving some things around, could you come down," Joyce asked, sounding way too chipper for the situation.
Against her better judgement, Buffy hoisted herself off her bed with great effort and trudged downstairs only to see her mother struggling to move an armchair.
"Need some help there?" Buffy giggled from the last step of the stairs.
"Oh honey, thank god. I've been trying to move this chair for fifteen minutes and I don't think it's budged! If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was nailed into to the floorboards."
"Don't worry, I'm sure we can figure out. Where did you want it?"
Joyce pointed to a spot on the floor just left of where the chair was positioned. As Buffy grabbed the other end of the arm chair, it took approximately thirty seconds to move the chair to its new spot.
"Well, I should have asked you to come down earlier, it would have saved me an hour and two broken nails!" Joyce remarked and Buffy moved over to the sofa.
"Broken nails are no laughing matter, mom! Maybe later we can look around town and see if there's a decent nail salon around." Buffy said hopefully.
"Nice try, but we have an appointment to meet with the guidance counselor at the high school later."
"Mom, I'm a junior, how much guidance could I really need? I've done the high school thing twice, and it's not much different wherever you go."
"Last time we moved school districts. Now we've moved halfway across the country. It'll be good to get a sense of what kind of people live in this town."
Buffy couldn't believe how optimistic her mom was compared to their move to Sunnydale. When Buffy burned down her first high school, there was a logical, albeit far fetched, explanation for that. What happened at the end of the last school year, however, was not something that, by any stretch of the imagination, could be explained away to a civilian. She and Giles had decided it would be in Joyce's best interest to be kept in the dark about the supernatural and Buffy's scared duty. The unbelievable relief Buffy felt when Giles' friend at the watcher's council set it up for Joyce's memory to be wiped was almost euphoric. Her mother getting a truly fresh start was almost like Buffy was getting one herself. Almost.
xxxx
For the first time in a long time, Buffy felt like a normal kid. Her mom had yelled at her that morning for taking too long in the bathroom curling her hair, something Buffy hadn't had time for in two years. Joyce tried to make healthy banana pancakes for breakfast, but when she and Buffy decided that they were too gross to consume, they poured themselves some bowls of Frosted Flakes instead. Buffy touched up her lipgloss, while Joyce ushered her out the door so they wouldn't be late for their meeting with the guidance counselor. As Buffy closed the door of her mom's Jeep, she felt something between excitement and dread at the thought of starting over at a new school in a different state full of people she'd never met.
Joyce's heels made an uptempo clicking noise against the linoleum floors of William McKinley High School as she rushed her daughter down the hallway towards the counselor's office. Buffy thought it was kind of weird that she was meeting with a guidance counselor to get her class schedule, but she was also grateful to not have a judgy principal leering at her on her first day. Joyce knocked on a wooden door that read 'Emma Pilsbury, Guidance Counselor' in gold letters. Not a moment later, a small woman with red hair and a welcoming smile invited Buffy and her mother into her office. As Ms. Pilsbury handed Buffy her "Welcome to McKinkley" packets and class schedule, she said, "Buffy, we are so excited to have you here at McKinley! We're always looking for diversity and ways to grow our student body."
"Diversity?" Buffy blinked.
"Yes, well... in the sense of your colorful permanent record!"
"Oh." said Buffy, almost embarrassed.
Ms. Pilsbury noticed Buffy's reaction to what she said and quickly corrected herself, "Meaning that we find it very impressive how you were able to turn your life around! I mean, going from burning your school down to being a model student with a glowing letter of recommendation from the librarian, not to mention your extracurriculars-"
"Extracurriculars?" Buffy asked skeptically, not recalling being very involved in school activities.
"Yes! You were a cheerleader, headed the parents' night committee, and you were the president of the self defense club!"
"Buffy, I didn't know you were so involved at school," Joyce piped up, a sense of pride twinkling in her eyes.
Buffy could hardly keep herself from laughing when she answered, "Oh, right, that stuff.. I guess I was just so busy all the time that I didn't really think about it."
"That is just great to hear, Buffy," Ms. Pillsbury said as she straightened a pile of pamphlets on her desk. "You came at a great time. Our Cheerios just came off their third National Championship, and with all the seniors who graduated last year, their holding try outs for some new talent!"
"Wow, that sounds really great," Buffy feigned, "but I think for now I'm going to focus on getting the hang of all the classes here, you know?"
"I agree with Buffy that school should come first, but surely there must be something she can get involved in that won't take up too much of her time?" Joyce asked hopefully.
"Oh yes," Ms. Pilsbury started, "if you look at Buffy's class schedule, you'll see that-"
"What is glee club?" Buffy interrupted, looking up from the class schedule she was studying.
"Yes, that's exactly what I was going to talk about! So, at McKinley every student is required to take an elective. Most of the students signed up for them at the end of last year, and glee club was one of the only classes left open. I think you're really going to like it."
"I'm sorry, what exactly is a glee club, Ms. Pilsbury? I've never heard of that," Joyce implored, her orb like eyes bugging out with slight worry.
"Oh, of course. It must be one of those regional quirks, you guys probably call it 'show choir' out in California." When Buffy and Joyce continued to stare at Ms. Pilsbury without a trace of understanding on their faces, she decided to go into further detail, saying, "Or maybe it's just a midwest thing. A glee club is a group of really talented singers and dancers who put on elaborate performances an d compete for regional, state, and national titles. Kind of like a sport-"
"But with less violence and more show tunes?" Buffy quipped, wrinkling her nose.
"Exactly," Ms. Pilsbury beamed, "and there's a new glee club instructor, so you'll both be the new kids on the block, so to speak."
"That sounds like a lot of fun, Buffy," Joyce said, as she turned to her less-than-enthused daughter, "You know, I was in the drama club in high school and I loved it, so maybe this will help you get in touch with your creative side."
"I don't know, I'm not really the creative type like you, mom."
"I can assure you that glee club is a very positive environment, and you'll be able to meet a lot of new people," Ms. Pilsbury continued with a warm smile.
Buffy looked down at her class schedule again, thinking of her friends back in Sunnydale. If only she had someone from back home here with her- hell, she'd even settle for Cordelia with all her snide remarks about Buffy's hair. But, Buffy had to start all over once, she could surely do it again. Finally, she looked up at Ms. Pilsbury and her mom, mustering up a convincing albeit weal smile, and saying, "You know what, maybe some change would do me good!"
"That, the spirit, Buffy!" Ms. Pilsbury clapped her hands together, "Alright, how about I give you guys the tour, huh?"
"That would be lovely." Joyce said, rising from the wooden chair.
The three women stepped outside the office, and while Ms. Pilsbury turned to lock her door, Buffy could have sworn she saw someone she knew. For a moment, she thought it was wishful thinking, until her mother leaned over to her and said, "Isn't that the librarian from Sunnydale High? Mr. Giles or something?" Joyce pointed at the tall, bespectacled man carrying a bunch of books.
Of course he's carrying a stack of dusty old books, Buffy smiled to herself. As the man came closer, she knew it was her watcher.
Ms. Pilsbury must have overheard Joyce and Buffy's conversation, as she chimed in, "Oh yes, that's Mr. Giles, the new glee club instructor!"
"Glee club instructor?!"