Xander had spotted something and he needed to check into it, so he made his way to the payphone and called his father.
"Dad, I need you to check something out. One of the teachers is out and we've got a substitute. On the surface it looks like a grown up version of Cordy, but whoever or whatever it is, has a glamour going. And not a great one, I was catching glimpses of something hard and black thru the glamour. She's calling herself Natalie French, substitute teacher."
"Give me a minute, I'll look her up. Natalie French is 93 years old and retired. We've got a problem. Guard yourself magically, Xander. Do what you can to find out what it is, but keep safe."
"I will." Xander hung up and took a moment to murmur a spell of protection. 'Hopefully it's broad enough that whatever it is won't affect me.' He thought and made his way to class. When he saw how eager his fellow classmates were, he realized they weren't seeing the holes in her glamour. 'She must be augmenting it somehow.' He thought. Then he tried not to freak when she twisted her head around while her body stayed facing the blackboard. She was clearly checking out the class. After school he called the group together.
"Freaky things are going on with that substitute teacher I had Dad check into. No one else is seeing thru the holes in her glamour, everyone is buying what she's projecting. But besides the glimpses of something black that I can see, she turned her head completely backwards."
"You mean like a bug or something?" Charles asked. "Interesting, just because we haven't seen it before, doesn't mean it isn't possible. A giant bug would need a glamour to avoid being noticed. We'll check into the possibility. Anything else?"
"Yeah, the bug thing is probably a good place to start. she's teaching about bugs and is very knowledgeable about them. She offered to help make egg sacks for the science fair. All the boys were real eager to help. I pretended to be too and she picked me and Blaine Mall to help her. We're to meet at her house tomorrow night."
"That alone would make me suspicious." Jessica said. "A grown woman inviting teenage boys she doesn't even know to her house. Be careful, Xander. Whatever she wants, I doubt it's anything good."
"She's a teenage boy's wet dream." Cordelia said in her usual blunt fashion. "I'm certain Blaine thinks so. He probably thinks he's going to get lucky."
"Other circumstances and I might be too." Xander said, grinning cheekily at her.
After a meeting called in the library, Xander made his way back to the payphones and called his father again. "Buffy was on patrol last night and ran into a vamp missing a hand and using something in place of it. It's not the vamp that's the interesting thing though, the vamp ran into the new substitute teacher, she did her head twisting trick and scared the shit out of it. So now the Watcher is checking into it too."
"Our own research shows it's probably a giant praying mantis. They can turn their heads like that. They also use pheromones, which would explain why no one else is seeing thru the glamour. You're used to seeing what others trick themselves into not seeing. Scary thing is, like the little ones, they mate with and eat the males. Which may be what she wants you and Blaine for."
"I'll play up the fact that I've been invited to her place. Once the Watcher figures out what it is, he'll send Buffy to deal with it." Xander answered.
"Good idea, but just in case, we're going to follow you and keep an eye on you ourselves. If she doesn't show up and it does turn out to be a giant praying mantis, we'll deal with it ourselves."
When the bug lady offered Xander alcohol, he pretended to sip at the glass. The fumes made him lightheaded and he wondered if there wasn't something in the alcohol as well. When he felt dizzy, he realized there probably was and pretended to pass out. When bug lady completely dropped her glamour and deposited him in a cage, he prayed either the Slayer or the group got here quick. When he pretended to come to, he saw Blaine in a cage next to him and then Blaine started babbling at him.
"She's some kind of giant bug. There was another guy here, she did this kinda sexy dance thing and got him worked up and then she bit his head off! She's a monster."
'Yeah.' Xander thought. 'That confirms it.' Then he heard something screeching and a few minutes later, Buffy came in. She freed both him and Blaine and was explaining about Ms. French being a giant praying mantis and wanting to use him and eat him because he was a virgin. 'Great, Cordy's going to get a laugh out of that.'
She did. "She wanted you because you're a virgin?!" She was giggling.
"Please remember that I'm just barely past my sixteenth birthday. And you're also a virgin."
"She better be." Charles Chase muttered and gave Xander the evil eye.
"Hey! I've been a good boy."
"He has." Cordelia assured her father. "Mostly." She added with a big grin.
"Keep it that way as long as possible, please. We don't need to be distracted ourselves."
"I've mostly been a good boy?" Xander asked later when he and Cordy were alone.
"Well, I like when you're naughty." And kissed him. 'Yeah, being naughty is fun.' He thought, as the two of them made out for awhile. Hey, downtime could keep you sane, especially when you're fighting a war in the shadows.