Buffy awoke to the smell of something cooking. After dressing and coming downstairs, she found Ted in the kitchen, flipping pancakes and talking with her mother.

"Morning, birthday girl!" Ted greeted her with a smile. Though Buffy still didn't like Ted, the pancakes were going a long way towards changing that.

"Ooh, pancakes!" Buffy sat down at the island.

"So, does seventeen feel any different from sixteen?" Joyce asked.

"It's funny you should ask that," Buffy replied. Joyce raised an eyebrow. "I woke up feeling more mature, responsible, and levelheaded."

"Really? It's uncanny," Joyce said.

"I now possess the qualities one looks for in a… licensed driver," Buffy looked at her mom hopefully.

Ted vanished.

"Buffy…"

"You said we could talk about it again when I was seventeen."

"Do you really think you're ready, Buffy?"

Joyce dropped the plate she was holding. Buffy watched it fall and shatter on the floor.

"…and then my mom broke the plate. It was just like my dream. Every word, every gesture," Buffy told Giles.

"Yes, well, I-I-I'd imagine it would be… fairly unnerving," he stammered.

Willow and Xander came bounding up.

"Hey, it's the woman of the hour!" Xander announced.

"It's Happy Birthday Buffy!" Willow bounced, embracing her friend in a hug. She saw Buffy's lack of a reaction. "Not Happy Birthday Buffy?"

"It's just that, um, part of the nightmare that Buffy had the other night actually transpired," Giles explained.

"Which means Spike and Drusilla might still be alive," Buffy said.

"Even if they are alive, we can still protect Angel," Giles assured. "Dreams aren't prophecies, Buffy. You dreamt that the Master had risen, but you stopped it from happening."

"You ground his bones to make your bread," Xander added.

"That's true. Except for the bread part," Buffy sighed. "OK, so, fine. We're one step ahead, but I wanna stay that way."

"Absolutely." Giles stood up. "Let me read up on Drusilla, uh, see if she has any particular patterns." He started towards his office. "Why don't you meet me here at seven? We'll map out a strategy."

"What am I supposed to do until then?" Buffy asked.

Giles shrugged. "Go to class, do your homework, have supper…"

"Right. Be that Buffy." She picked up her bag and walked away.

"Well, that's not a perky birthday puppy," Xander pouted.

"So much for our surprise party," Willow sighed. "I bought little hats and everything. Oh, well. I guess I'll tell Cordelia." She started to leave.

"No you won't," Giles said. "We're having a party tonight."

Xander stared at Giles. "Looks like Mr. Caution Man, but the sound he makes is funny."

Willow nodded in agreement.

"Buffy's surprise party will go ahead as we planned," Giles said. "Except I won't be wearing a little hat."

Willow got confused. "But Buffy and Angel…"

"May well be in danger. As they have been before, and, I imagine, will be again." Giles sipped his tea. "One thing I've learned in my tenure here on the Hellmouth is that there is no good time to relax. And Buffy's turning 17 just this once, and she deserves a party."

"You're a great man of our time," Xander affirmed.

Willow smiled. "And anyway, Angel's coming. So she'll be able to protect him and have cake."

"Precisely."

"Jenny Calendar," came an accented voice from behind.

Jenny spun around, startled to see her uncle Enyos standing in the doorway of her classroom. He was wearing a dark suit and a wide-brimmed hat.

"You startled me," she said.

"You look well." He stepped up to her desk.

"Yes, I'm fine. I know I haven't written as much lately. I've been busy."

"I cannot imagine what is so important to make you ignore the responsibility to your people.

A pang of guilt. "Well, I've been working and –"

He interrupted her. "The elder woman has been reading signs. Something is different."

"Nothing has changed," Jenny replied firmly. "The curse still holds."

"The elder woman is never wrong! She says his pain is lessening. She can feel it."

Buffy. Jenny looked down in guilt. "There is…"

"There is what?"

"A girl…"

Enyos exhaled in disgust. "What? How could you let this happen?"

"I promise you. Angel still suffers. And he makes amends for his evil. He even saved my life!"

Enyos exploded. "So you just forget that he destroyed the most beloved daughter of your tribe?! That he killed every man, woman, and child that touched her life?! Vengeance demands that his pain be eternal as ours is! If this girl gives him one minute of happiness, it is one minute too much!"

Jenny tried to explain. "I'm sorry. I thought…"

Enyos didn't give her a chance. "You thought what?! You thought you are Jenny Calendar now?! You are still Janna, of the Kalderash people! A Gypsy."

"I know… Uncle. I know."

"Then prove it. Your time for watching is past. The girl and him, it ends now! Do what you must to take her from him!"

"I will see to it," Jenny promised.

"Good!" Enyos stormed out without another word.

Then it hit Jenny. She had to break up Buffy and Angel.

Hacking the NSA would have been easier.

While Jenny was racking her brain for ways to break up Buffy and Angel short of killing one or the other, she had another role to play – in the surprise party for Buffy. Jenny caught up with her after school.

"Oh, I didn't see you there," Buffy said.

"Sorry. Um, Giles wanted me to tell you that there's been a change of plans. Uh, he wants to meet you someplace near his house… 'cause he had to run home and get a book or something."

"'Cause heaven knows there aren't enough books in the library."

"Uh, he's… very thorough," Jenny tried to cover. Fortunately, Buffy didn't seem to suspect anything.

"Oh, which is not to bag. It's kind of manly in an obsessive-compulsive kind of way, don't you think?"

"Mm-hm," Jenny agreed. "You know, my car's here. Why don't I drive you?"

"Okay."

The car turned into an alley near the Bronze.

"Are we goin' to the Bronze," Buffy asked.

"I'm not sure. Giles gave me an address, I'm just following his directions."

As they rounded a corner, Buffy noticed something up ahead. A truck was parked in a loading area and people were loading something. Something didn't feel right.

"This looks funky. Stop for a sec."

"No, Buffy, maybe you shouldn't."

"Sorry. Sacred duty, yada yada yada."

Buffy got out of the car and went to investigate.

Sure enough, it was vampires. Buffy recognized one of them as the vampire with glasses who had been raiding DuLac's crypt.

"Every time I see you, you're stealing something," she quipped. "You really should speak with someone about this klepto issue."

A big vamp attacked Buffy. She kicked him away just in time to hear the truck start. Another vamp was in the driver's seat, while Klepto Glasses was trying to close the cargo gate.

Buffy tore open the door and staked the driver before he could react. She swung around to the back. Klepto Glasses dropped the box and took off.

Smart move.

Before Buffy could catch her breath, the big vamp tackled her from behind. Buffy threw him off of her and turned to face him.

Angel peeked out from behind a column. "Where is she?"

"Shh!" Willow hushed him from behind the pool table where she was hiding along with Oz, Giles, Xander, and Cordelia. "I think I hear her coming!"

Oz had done this sort of thing plenty of times before. The Dingoes had thrown a surprise party for Devon for his birthday last September. Of course, it all depended on bringing the victim to the location. All Oz knew was that Ms. Calendar was handling that part of the plan.

He heard a bang from the wall, like something had slammed into the Bronze. Before he could guess at what it was, he saw Buffy smash through the blacked-out window. She was followed by a very large man, who had presumably thrown her and was now trying to jump on top of her. Buffy threw him off in a move that no person that small should be capable of. She leapt to her feet and grabbed a drumstick from a nearby drum set. When the man charged her, she drove it straight into his heart.

At that point, he exploded into dust.

By now, everyone had left their hiding places, and was staring at Buffy.

"Surprise!" Cordelia yelled as she popped out from behind the pool table.

Correction. Now everyone had left their hiding places, and was staring at Cordelia.

"That pretty much sums it up," Oz replied.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked Buffy.

"Yes, what happened?" Giles inquired.

"There were these vamps in the alley. And one of Spike's guys was –"

She noticed the decorations.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, um… surprise party." Giles blew on his party favor.

"You guys did all this for me?" Buffy smiled. "That is so sweet!"

"You're sure you're okay?" Angel asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine," she assured him.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked Oz.

"Yeah," he replied. Finally, he lost his composure. "Hey, did everybody see that guy just turn to dust?"

"Uh, well… sort of," Willow mumbled.

"Yep," Xander sighed. "Vampires are real. A lot of them live in Sunnydale. Willow will fill you in." He walked off.

"I know it's hard to accept at first," Willow began.

"Actually, it explains a lot," Oz replied. Why so many people died from neck wounds in Sunnydale, among other things. He also surmised that he was the only person in the room who did not know about vampires.

I wonder if other monsters are real. Like werewolves? Man, I hope not. It would suck to be a werewolf.

Ms. Calendar entered the room carrying a large box.

"Hey, can someone give me a hand here?"

Angel and Giles took it from her, and set it on the table.

"Those creeps left it behind," she explained.

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"I have no idea," Giles said. "Can it be opened?"

"Yeah. This looks like a release right here."

Buffy worked the latch and opened the box. She peered in, a look of disgust on her face.

An arm, clad in armor, leapt out of the box, grabbed Buffy by the throat, and started choking her.