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part one:
DESTINY ARRIVES IN A BLACK S.U.V.
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September 15th, 1997; Sunnydale, California, U.S.A.
7:56 AM; Joyce Summers drives her teenage daughter, Buffy,
in for her first day at a new school, Sunnydale High.
Sunshine and scenery passed by at thirty-five miles per hour, the familiar scents of flowery air freshener in her mother's black S.U.V., the sounds of a vehicle in motion with the air conditioner on, and Karma Chameleon by Culture Club playing on the radio at low volume. Looking out the window but not really seeing, Buffy thought on her dreams the night before. [Armies of demons crashing through town... and a blonde vampire named Darla killing me? Not a very promising start to a day... Well, at least the vampire was cute.] She mused to herself dryly, as if trying to find an upside to the whole thing. Looking over to her mom, she thought about saying something to her, but before the words would come, the car stopped.
The death-preoccupied Slayer looked out the car door window again and saw, well, it was a school really. Not a very big revelation there. But the sun was shining, only a few snow white clouds in the sky. Students bustled around, just starting off the school day. Despite herself, she was kind of looking forward to this. A normal day at school, meeting new people, that sort of thing...
"O.k.." Her mom's voice broke her train of thought, such as it was.
"That's my conclusion." Buffy said absently.
"What?" Joyce looked at her with a bit of confusion.
"Idonknow." Her daughter shrugged. "But here I go off to school. Have a good day mom, don't do anything I wouldn't do." She flashed her a slightly teasing smile.
"O.k.." Joyce said with a bemused smile. "Someone's feeling a little better."
"What can I say? My outlook is bright, my future is doomed, what else is there to do but enjoy the moment?" Buffy replied reasonably and with a good amount of her own style of cheer as she got out of the car.
"Doomed, huh?" Her mom replied.
"Yeah." Her daughter answered back, leaning in to look through the open car door window. "But don't worry mom, I'll try to get through at least one day without getting kicked out. This I promise you."
"Well, now I feel much better." Joyce said with a bit of wry motherly sarcasm.
"You should mom, it's a brand new day. Who knows, maybe things'll go good?"
"I'm sure you'll do great." She said with hopeful confidence in her daughter.
"Girl's gotta try." Said Buffy, with a charming smile, as she turned and walked off to her first day at Sunnydale High.
It struck her on her first few steps, how wide open and bright things looked.
Maybe it was a good omen?
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8:27 AM; having checked in at the administration office,
Buffy is 12 minutes into her first class...
Looking out the classroom window, she absently noticed the wind rustling the leaves of a bush that had pale pink flowers blooming on it. [Mhmm, Black Death...] She thought with mild annoyance of what the teacher was talking about. [Why can't they have classes outside on a day like this... I mean, would it really be such a shocking bad thing to teach people things like this in the fresh air? ...meh... old people are so stodgy sometimes... I wonder if I told the teacher I was dying, she'd let me have that as a last request?]
"You know, it's not the best way to get a passing grade." She heard a hushed voice say from next to her.
"Huh?" She gradually looked over at who'd said this, seeing the girl next to her looking at her with some amusement. Long well-kept brunette hair, tanned skin, dark eyes that seemed very engaging for some reason. "Oh. I guess you're right about that." Buffy confessed easily. "Just wishing I was outside I suppose." The girl was wearing a burgundy sleeveless dress shirt, a sweeter actually tied around her shoulders in true prepish style. Her arms, though not showing much muscle at all, did evidence that she liked to keep in good shape. She looked nice. And her understated, and probably fairly expensive, perfume did make for a nicer classroom environment somehow.
"I can relate." Said the girl, with understanding and a little of a smirk.
"Hehem." They heard from the front of the class. And looking in that direction, they saw a slightly annoyed teacher.
"Sorry." The girl next to her had the grace to look a little embarrassed.
"It's all right Cordelia, just try to pay attention a little." Said the teacher as she got back to her lesson.
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9:15 AM; history class is dismissed for the day...
Leaving the classroom, Buffy walked with her new acquaintance. "So I'm guessing your name is Cordelia? I'm Buffy. Thanks for letting me use your textbook and all. That was nice of you."
"No problem." Cordelia smiled back as they walked. "You can probably get one of your very own at the library."
"Thanks."
"So, you're from Hemery, right? In L.A.?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah, that's me all right." Buffy confirmed.
"Oh, I would *kill* to live in L.A. That close to that many shoes?"
"Shoes, huh?" Buffy smirked. "Well, I have to admit, Brentwood Center's got some quality footwear... If you don't mind the parking of course."
"Of course." Cordelia said excitedly, making sure to keep her cool. "My mom went there a few years ago, she said it was horrible. The parking I mean."
"Well, lots of people, small spaces. It's kind'a like a different world." Buffy commented.
"It must've been so exciting living there." Cordelia said, visions of what she thought it would be like dancing in her head.
"It was that." Buffy admitted with a little of a knowing smirk. "Well, I think I should go look around a bit before my next class, make sure I don't get lost. So I guess I'll catch you later? It was really nice meeting you, Cordelia." She said, touching her briefly on the arm and giving her a well-meaning smile.
"You too." Cordelia smiled back sincerely, acting just a tiny bit flustered. "Say, would you want to come hang out at the Bronze later with me an' my friends?"
"The Bronze?"
"Yeah, you should be able to find it easy. It's like the *only* club worth anything around here. Not up to L.A. standards, I'm sure, but it's cool. An' it's the place to be if you go to this school." Cordelia explained.
"Sounds like fun. Guess I'll see you there." Buffy smiled just a bit flirtatiously as she went off, waving to her new friend as she went.
"Great, see you there." Cordelia called back.
"Who was that?" A familiar voice asked Cordelia curiously.
Cordelia turned to see her best friend, Harmony Kendal. "Oh, that's the new girl. Her name's Buffy, she's from L.A.."
"Buffy? What kind of a name is Buffy?" Harmony asked.
"Ionknow." Cordelia shrugged. "Maybe her mom was a deb and her dad was a hippy or something?" She smirked in amusement, causing Harmony to laugh.
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11:35 AM; After walking aimlessly for a while and idly looking
around, Buffy had gone on to her next class and her next...
Now, the much-hallowed tradition of lunch beckoned her like a siren...
[Ah, food.] She thought wantonly. [How I do love you so.]
Making a b-line for the snacks machine, she picked out the tastiest junk food available and let her quarters do the talking.
[Got'a admit, being a Slayer has it's perks sometimes.] She thought to herself as she retrieved her fifth purchase. [No way I could eat like this without it, not without being some kind'a super athlete, or having to do much too much heath-club time at any rate... Poor ordinary people.] She thought to herself guiltlessly as she carried away her booty, passing several of those ordinary people going about their normal lunchtime activates. A slightly cooling breeze carried by her the scents from the cafeteria, and she scrunched up her nose a little in reaction.
Not exactly feeling up to doing the socializing thing at the moment, she opted to go exploring some more instead. Maybe find a place with a good view to eat her lunch in where she could put on her head-phones, relax, and zone out for a while... hopefully someplace where she'd get a breeze coming in off the ocean some miles to the west, instead of anything less appealing coming from the school. The wind direction was good for it at any rate, so she was hopeful. One thing Sunnydale did have all over L.A. was air quality, and she aimed to enjoy it.
A few minutes later, after walking around a while and munching on some of her snacks as she went, she found a fairly nice spot off to the side of the school with a light wind from the side and something of a view out towards the mountains if she set facing right. [Not half bad.] She thought with reasonable satisfaction. Wistfully, she remembered the times in her L.A. school where she would go to her fav hideaway spot to think. Memories of a simpler time. She'd found her way to the school roof's that was overlooking a nearby park and spent her time there letting herself process her life... She pondered the possibility of finding a roof access later... even though her Slayer abilities made that technically unnecessary... making use of them in broad daylight like that though? Not exactly discreet.
Going over to the spot she'd selected, she put down her book bag and was about to settle in when she noticed that she wasn't quite alone.
Looking over to where one of the school's many pillars had hidden the other girl's presence, she got up and went over to her.
"Hi. Sorry, I thought I was alone out here. I guess I'm not the only one looking for a little quiet space... I can leave if you want?" She offered with a little friendly hesitation. Not wanting to intrude where she might not be wanted.
"Huh? ...Oh. No." The girl looked up at her momentarily. "It's fine. I don't mind."
The girl wore a pair of faded blue-jeans, high-tops for shoes, and a halfway form-fitting tie-dye long-sleeved shirt that covered down to the back of her hands with a neckline like a standard tee-shirt. She had long brown hair that seemed to have flecks of gold in the sunlight, her hair fell over her face a little as she looked up and reveled her face. Angular features with dark eyes that blinked and looked at her, she could tell, without really seeing. Looking closer, Buffy saw that the girl had clearly been crying.
"Hey, are you alright?" Buffy asked softly. "Is something wrong?"
The girl turned to really look at who she was talking with. Slightly tan skin, Buffy wore a pair of jeans-shorts and a white silk shirt, along with a small gold locket and a somewhat worn, but still expensive looking, suede jacket. She had attractively styled dyed-blonde hair, about three or four inches past shoulder length, a few strands of it falling loosely over her face, managing to give her a very cutely casual air... and yes Cordelia, she also had some really nice shoes on; open toed sandals with only a very low heal as it turned out.
There was something in Buffy's eyes, the girl sitting there decided, that just made her want trust her.
"No. It's just my mom ya'know?" She looked down as Buffy sat down next to her, crossing her legs Indian-style. "She's... she's not very easy to live with sometimes." Looking up at her. "Sorry. My name's Amy, Amy Madison." She smiled over at the blonde-haired girl.
"Buffy Summers." Buffy offered her hand for a light handshake. "It's nice to meet you."
"Um, 'Buffy'?" Amy questioned the unusual name.
"Yeah." Buffy said a bit wryly. "I know."
"I haven't seen you around before I don't think, are you new here?" Amy asked.
"Yup, just got in today in fact." Answered Buffy.
"Why'd you move?"
"Oh, um, well... That's kind of hard to explain really... I moved here from L.A., and... I guess you could say things got a little too tense back there and I guess was decided that it was time for a change of scenery... My mom and dad broke up, so now it's just her and me out for a new start I guess." She sighed, looking off into to the distance contemplatingly.
"Sounds like it might've been a tough time for you... I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories or something." Amy looked away, unsure of herself.
"No, it's o.k.." Buffy assured, putting her hand over Amy's to convey that it really was alright. "It wasn't easy, that's true, but it's o.k. now. I've got a whole new life ahead of me, I'm sure. New rules, new town... It might turn out great." She said cheerfully. "Or it could be a disaster and I could end up dying a painful, horrible death." She confessed wryly. "But I'm hopeful." She smiled over at her.
Amy smiled back, feeling a lot better despite herself. "Well, sometimes hope's all you got, right?"
"Maybe..."
"So is she nice?" Amy asked.
"Who?"
"Your mom, is she nice?" She clarified.
"Oh, well, I guess so, yeah." Buffy said thoughtfully. "I mean no one's perfect or anything, but yeah, she's always been nice to me, or tried to... Even though I can tell she fakes it sometimes." She said with a smirk. "I'm told I can be quite a handful at times."
"I bet." Amy smiled back at her.
"Hey, now don't get the wrong idea. I'm a great person, truly I am." Buffy mock-defended herself.
"Oh I don't doubt it." Amy assured playfully.
"Well that's good." Buffy concluded. "I wouldn't want you to get a bad impression of me." She was somewhat flirting and she knew it; which, she considered, maybe not the best thing to do under the circumstances.
"Nah, the impression's a good one." Amy smiled halfheartedly over at her.
"You um... You wanna talk about it? Your mom?" Buffy asked, sensing her companion's mood begin to sadden a little.
Looking back at her for a moment, Amy considered what to say. She liked this girl, and it had been a while since she'd really had someone to talk with. It was... nice, just sitting around and talking with someone who genuinely seemed to want to listen to her. "Sure." She smiled a little. "I think I'd like that."
"It's just." Amy began. "She... I think she really doesn't like me much." A pause. "I mean, like, she thinks I'm a disappointment or something... Does your mom ever think that about you?" She asked.
"Sometimes, probably." Buffy admitted. "More so lately, I'd imagine. In one very notable case, almost certainly." She looked down at her lap a bit. "I guess it's natural for kids to want to please their parents though... I mean... I know I don't like disappointing her, but it seems inevitable that I do some times. She tries to hide it, but..."
"Yeah... At least she does try to hide it." Amy said bitterly.
"Not yours, huh?"
"Not even a little, as far as I can tell." Buffy noticed Amy's hands squeezing into tense fists.
"What... Why do you think she... I mean--" Buffy tried to find the right words.
"Cheerleading." Amy stated simply. "Stupid, pathetic, fucking, pom-pom waving cheerleading!" Amy said in disgust, shaking a little with the anger she felt. "I mean I do good in school, I stay out of trouble, I have goals..." She looked over at Buffy with searing eyes. "I'm a good person! Or at least I try to be, but is that ever enough for her?!?!"
"I'm guessing not." Buffy said, now feeling a good dose of anger herself at the absent Mrs. Madison.
"Peh! 'Not' is right! If I'm not wearing a skirt, skinny as a post, and bitchy as hell to my friends, I'm worthless to her." She said sadly.
Buffy was quiet for a moment. "Want me to punch her?" She asked. It was what she was good at, after all.
"What?" Amy looked up at her incredulously, a bit of a blank look on her face.
"Yeah. Ya'know, like wham! Right in the face, my fist." She stated with clarity. "I'm really good at that ya'know." She assured her new friend.
"Punch her..." Amy said again, still not quite believing she'd heard this seemingly scary nice girl just say that.
"Just say the word." Buffy nodded confidently.
Smiling at this, Amy started to dissolve into a fit of giggles, which soon became full blown laughter.
Buffy joining in, the two girls just laughed for a bit together, letting tensions fade.
Settling down, Amy looked over to her new friend. "Thanks. I think I needed that." Amy smiled.
"Any time." Buffy replied. "My fist and I are here to help." She smiled over at Amy.
Chuckling at this, Amy shook her head and said "I don't know what good thing I did to meet you today, but I'm glad I did." She smiled shyly over at Buffy. It was kind of unreal how at ease she was feeling. A shaky and tentative connection she could feel forming between them, even through her jagged and frayed emotions, one that had seemed like it'd just walked in and decided to stay of it's own accord... It was so nice, feeling like there might be someone who was at least a little on her side again. Someone who seemed to think she was worth their time.
"I'm glad I met you too." Buffy gave her a smile back. "Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm starving here. You wanna get some lunch in before the bell?"
"And thanks for bringing that subject up." Amy said unenthusiastically, looking over at her pack. "Salad, lemon wedge, and juice. This should be good..."
Buffy just looked at her. "Your mom?"
"Yeah... It's my newest compulsory diet." Amy said resignedly.
"That's just evil!" Buffy exclaimed. "Now I really must punch her, just on principle!" She grumbled.
That got another laugh out of Amy. "I usually just supplement with school lunch, no matter how inedible it is, but today I just..."
"Wanted some alone time..."
"Yeah. But I'm glad I didn't get it." She smiled back at Buffy, just a little shyly.
"Tell you what, I've got plenty. None of it very healthy, very few ingredients you'd find on any diet plan." She grinned daringly at Amy. "Wan'a share?"
"Love to." Amy said, with obvious food lust.
"Great!" Buffy exclaimed as she pulled Amy to her feet and led her over to her pack.
"You know, I was a cheerleader once." Buffy commented as they went over.
"You lie." Amy contested as they took a seat and Buffy spread their fair out before them.
"God's honest truth." Buffy pledged, holding up her hand as if she were being sworn in.
"No way." Amy said. "I wouldn't have guessed. You don't seem..."
"Stuck up?" Buffy questioned with a smirk, taking off her jacket and setting it aside.
"Yeah, that."
"Well, it was only for a little under three months, so I don't think there was time for the programming to take root." Buffy explained. "I just did it 'cause a... friend of mine, she was going to join too... It, um, didn't end well." She said wryly, a small note of sadness in her voice.
"Oh yeah? What happened?" Amy asked.
"Long story. I'll tell you later if you want." Buffy provided, eyeing her food with a small predatory glint in her eyes. "So, what's your pleasure, Amy?" She questioned, indicating the food she'd set out in front of them.
Eyes a little wide, Amy said in astonishment "You can't tell me you eat like this all the time?!"
"Well..."
"No way!" Amy said incredulously. "You'd- I'd be like a house if I ate like this all the time. You look very much not like a house." She accused with slight suspicion, studying Buffy's athletically built form again, her legs already having testified to the facts, and now her arms, mostly bare as well without the jacket on, joined in their agreement. Though it was easy to see she couldn't be accused of starving herself to look good, she saw no evidence of any unwanted fat anywhere. Buffy was all sleek and well built curves, like an athlete. Amy could tell she was actually fairly muscular too, if she looked closer... She actually had the momentary urge to touch the other girl's skin to find out for sure, but prudently dismissed it as being inappropriate.
"I've got a fast metabolism." Buffy shrugged sheepishly in her own defense.
"Really." Amy agreed enviously, feeling just a little warm under her skin saying it.
"Yup, it seems like I can just eat and eat and eat, pretty much. My mom's a little freaked by it to tell the truth." Buffy supplied abashedly. "She wonders how someone my size can have room to put it all."
"She's not the only one." Amy said, shaking her head in maintained disbelief.
"Well come on. Let's dig in!" Buffy prompted as she picked up a half of her fully decked out ham sandwich and sank her teeth into it with delight.
Looking as Buffy begin to make short work of the sandwich, Amy figured she'd best stake her claims while she could.
And as they munched contentedly away at their meal, Buffy took a slow sip of Amy's juice box, having since downed the salad in five bites. She asked Amy "Hey Amy, do you wanna head over to the Bronze with me tonight?"
"Huh?" Amy looked up at Buffy after she'd swallowed a bite of Reece's Peanut Butter Cup with a delighted groan of pleasure.
"The Bronze." Buffy clarified. "This girl I met in my history class, she invited me to meet her and some of her friends there later. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?" She asked hopefully.
"Oh, um, sure! That sounds great." Amy smiled. "Who are we meeting?"
"Her name's Cordelia. Do you know her?"
Silence.
"Cordelia? As in Cordelia Chase?" Amy asked, again finding herself incredulous.
"Idonknow, I guess. I never heard her last name, but how many people can there be with a first name like that in a school? I mean 'Cordelia' is no 'Buffy', not many names can match mine for sheer memorablity." She assessed logically, not particularly caring that memorablity wasn't really a word. "But it's still a pretty unique name." She finished her small bit of babbling. "Why?"
"Oh, um." Amy looked at her with a wry expression of her own. "No reason. She's just like the queen of the school or something."
"Queen of the school?" Buffy looked at her skeptically.
"Yeah. You know." Amy moved her hands a bit by way of exposition. "Like in, most popular, has her own band of hangers on, known for being a royal bitch when she wants to be... Oh, and unless the world has the hiccups, she'll be a cheerleader this year." She said with a crooked smile as she shook her head a bit. "What, you didn't know?"
"Nope, 'fraid not." Buffy said still a bit in wonder. "She seemed normal enough to me. A small of a case of being slightly posh, and a bear sized crush on all things L.A., but nothing as bad as that... She seemed nice in fact. I got a good vibe from her." She reflected honestly.
"Huh, well o.k. then. It's not like I really know her or anything." Amy said, shaking her head. It was true, she didn't really know Cordelia very much herself, at least not lately anyway. She tended to try to avoid that whole crowd like the plague actually. She just knew what she'd heard about her. "You're really something else, ya'know that Buffy Summers?"
"So they tell me." Buffy smirked, a bit sheepishly.
"I guess you never really know with people sometimes." Amy wondered.
"That's true." Buffy agreed. "So, you still wanna go?"
Amy looked at her for a bit, then smiled. "Sure. Why not."
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to be continued in part two...
SKIPPING SCHOOL ON YOUR FIRST DAY IS HEALTHY, IT SAYS SO IN BOOKS
see you next time!