"Buffy, if you're going out tonight why don't you take your sister?"
"Mom!" Two howls of outrage greeted that question. "Mom!" Buffy said indignantly. "I'm going to the Bronze, she's too young to go to the Bronze, it's a teen/young adult hangout club and she's not a teenager."
"Besides, I was planning to go to Janice's!" Dawn informed her mother. "You remember, my best friend who invited me for supper and a sleepover? They finished their rec room and she was telling me about the cool stuff they've got including a pool table."
"Alright, Buffy, I expect you home at a decent hour."
"Yeah, it's not like I have anything else to do." Buffy muttered. No vampires meant no need for patrolling.
"Except homework." Joyce pointed out. "Parent teacher night may have been interrupted by a gang attack but I did manage to find out your grades are bad. 2. 0 GPA? Buffy, you're smarter than that, I expect those grades to improve or the Bronze will just be a fond memory."
Buffy grimaced. "I'm meeting Willow, I'll see if she's willing to help me. Which reminds me, Ms. Calendar is holding Saturday classes starting this Saturday for those who've fallen behind. Which includes me, unfortunately."
"My point exactly." Joyce leveled a Mom glare at her, making Buffy squirm. "Improvement or no more Bronze."
"I got it, okay!" Buffy shut the front door and took off for the Bronze, this day sucked. Her whole life had changed again, just as she was finally accepting the whole Slayer thing. Mostly because she had Angel to share it with her and now, no more vampires. Angel was human and struggling and she was a Slayer with nothing to Slay. Add to that the reminder that she'd died and the literal proof of that being the existence of another Slayer and now her Mom getting on her about her grades. Sucky day all around.
Buffy entered the Bronze and looking around quickly spotted Willow. Eating a bowl of ice cream, oh no, Willow was drowning her own sorrows. "Why the long face, chum of mine?" She asked, sliding into the seat across from Willow.
"I now know why Xander has never noticed me." Willow sighed. "And why he never will."
"Because he's blind to the hottie in front of him?" She signaled the bartender that she wanted her usual pop and saw him nod.
"He told me he thinks of me as family, like a sister. The only family he has left with Jesse dead." Willow scooped a bite of the ice cream and savored the taste for a moment before swallowing. "And I don't know him nearly as well as I thought I did because I missed a bunch of very obvious things. And it's bugging me that I missed it all."
"Like what?" Buffy handed the bartender some money and accepted the pop.
"That we take a lot of the same classes and he doesn't need my help to pass them, among other things." Willow stirred the melting ice cream.
"Really? I didn't know that either." Buffy said, surprised. "Well, if Xander's not going to notice you and he's made it clear you're not on his menu of options, than you need to focus on someone else."
"Buffy, let's recap my efforts to attract guy attention, shall we?" Willow fixed a half-hearted glare at her friend. "Xander, who thinks of me as a sister. A chat up that turned out to be a vampire that nearly killed me and his friend, who did kill Jesse. A cyber boyfriend who turned out to be a demon in a robot body. My luck with guys has not been good."
Buffy winched, yeah as attempts at relationships went, those weren't great. "Well, on the plus side a chat up won't be a vampire anymore." She pointed out somewhat sourly. "On account of they're all gone. But also on the plus side, there's a guy in the band checking you out."
"Really? You sure he's not checking you out?"
"I'm sure, he's got his eyes glued to you. Don't look directly at him, just peek out of the corner of your eye. It's the short guy with orange hair playing the guitar."
Willow followed Buffy's instructions and got a look at the boy. "He's kind of cute." She decided. "I wonder who he is?"
"Maybe he'll come over and introduce himself. If he does I'll make myself scarce." Buffy promised. "Hey, thanks for putting together that stuff for Angel, by the way."
"Not a problem. How's he doing?"
"Struggling, he doesn't know how to live as a human. He's going to need to get a job and learn a whole lot of things. Life is very different now then it was when Liam of Galway was alive."
"I bet." Willow finished off her ice cream. "You know what, Buffy, I've decided I'm going to go talk to that boy. He's obviously not a vampire, given they're all gone and Xander is never going to be an option and I can't spend my life pining for a guy who thinks of me as a sister. So that means it's time to move on."
Buffy nodded. "Go for it, Will. If you need a wingman or woman, as the case may be, let me know."
"Thanks, Buffy." Willow returned the bowl to the bartender and made her way toward the stage, hoping Buffy was right and the cute boy with orange hair really was interested in her. The way he couldn't seem to take his eyes off her said Buffy might just be right. Willow smiled at him and waited for him to take a break. When he did, he made his own way over to her.
'Willow's day seems to be improving.' Buffy thought. 'But not mine.'