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Post by RubberPiggy on Jun 30, 2005 16:49:19 GMT -5
Chapter Fifteen
We ran. Out into the hallway, as we heard the hysterical shrieks of the pack back in the library. We stopped and looked around in a panic.
“What do we do?” I asked, the horrifying sounds continuing. I could hear crashing as the book cage was certainly being torn down.
“There!” Willow pointed down the hallway to our left. “Maybe we can get into one of the classrooms!”
We ran until we got to the first set of classrooms, right across from the hall from one another. I went left, Willow went right. I grabbed the doorknob and started to turn.
Locked!
“Here!” Willow yelled. Her door wasn’t locked. I dashed over there and Willow closed the door behind us.
The classroom was dark, but we could see well enough. It was a history room. Posters about Washington and Jefferson were taped onto the wall close to us. The teacher’s desk was across the room in the corner with student desks filling the main space of the room.
Footsteps. More laughing. They were out in the hallway now. Looking for us. Hunting us. I listened as they got closer.
“Hide!” I hissed to Willow. She ran over and hid under the teacher’s desk. I went behind the supply cabinet in the back. I’d be hidden well as long as no one came back here. Or turned on the lights.
In which case I’d be a sitting duck.
Suddenly the door opened. I backed behind the cabinet, trying to wedge myself in back by the wall, trying to move so the direct path from my eyes to the doorway would be blocked by desks and shadows. As if they couldn’t see me if I couldn’t see them.
But I could hear them. Walking in the room. I was silent. I don’t even think I was breathing. I could hear them sniffing the air. Hyenas looking for us in the way that hyenas know how- by trying to find our scent, rather than simply turning on the lights.
I sat for moments that felt like a lifetime. Finally, I heard their footsteps get farther away, and the door close behind them.
This was when I realized I hadn’t been breathing and I gasped the air back into my lungs. I moved forward and saw Willow slowly starting to stand up out of her hiding space. I did the same, but as I got a better view, I realized our mistake.
Willow stood up.
“AAAHHH!” she screamed as she found Xander standing face to face with her. He smiled as she ran behind the teacher desk. She started to back away, but found nothing but a wall behind her.
I have to do something! I thought. But Xander moved before I could and he lunged across the table at Willow.
“Hey!” I yelled in some effort to do something to help.
It worked, more or less. I grabbed his attention. He looked just long enough for Willow to get to the other side of the table as he lunged across, switching their positions.
Unfortunately, once on the other side, Willow was looking at me instead of where she was going. She stumbled into a desk and fell to the floor.
No! Xander was up and coming back for her. For the little, weak, helpless girl on the floor. There was no way she’d be able to move out of the way in time.
This time I moved. I ran up to the teacher’s desk and grabbed the desk lamp and swung it at Xander’s head.
CLUNK!
Direct hit.
“Run!” I yelled. Willow hesitated not for a second, and then got up and ran to the door.
Good. She was safe. Now…
Now Xander turned toward me with a not-too-happy look on his face.
Now I needed to start worrying about me.
I backed away clutching the lamp tightly. But it was still plugged in. And from this angle, there was no way I could pull the cord out of the wall without giving Xander a perfect opportunity.
I heard Willow scream as she opened the door to find Heidi waiting for her.
Xander was getting closer.
I threw the lamp at him.
It hit him in the shoulder. Probably didn’t hurt him too much, but it was enough to stun him just long enough for me to get away. I stepped onto the desk behind me and went right over it. I knocked it over to get in Xander’s way as he started coming at me again.
I turned toward the door. Willow had backed away from Heidi and the two of us were both in the middle of them now. Trapped between Xander and Heidi. Probably just as they’d wanted all along. We exchanged a terrified look.
Suddenly, Heidi fell to the floor. Probably because she had just been hit over the head with a fire extinguisher. I just stood there in confusion, now past the point of rational thought.
“Go!” Buffy yelled. Willow had already run out to Mr. Giles.
They had come back. Buffy. Super-powers, evil-fighting Buffy. Right.
Good.
I ran out, too, not realizing until after Buffy kicked Xander in the stomach, that he had just been inches behind me. He fell to the ground right outside the door.
Sudden footsteps! We looked over to see the other three running down the hallways toward us.
“Buffy!” Mr. Giles yelled.
She saw them, too.
“In there!” she yelled, motioning back toward the classroom. We all ran in and Buffy slammed the door behind us. The four of us all pressed on the door, trying to hold it shut, as the wild hyena people screamed and banged on it on the other side.
They were wild animals. All they could do now was think about their prey.
~RP~
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Post by RubberPiggy on Jul 5, 2005 16:13:15 GMT -5
Chapter Sixteen
The wild screeching continued as we pressed our bodies against the door. Impact after impact I felt coming from the other side of that door, I wondered how we were possibly going to get out of this. What there was we could do.
And if we did get away, what we could do to help Xander and the others.
I was getting tired when all of the sudden, the shrieking and slamming stopped. And we heard their footsteps move away.
“I think they’re going,” Buffy said, moving away from the door.
I wasn’t so sure. They had tried this before.
“They could be faking it,” Willow said, thinking along the same lines I was.
“No,” Buffy said, “They’re hungry; they’re gonna be looking for somebody weak.” She put her hands on her head, trying to think. “I’m really sorry, Will, I didn’t know they were gonna come after Xander.”
“It’s okay,” Willow replied.
“So what do we do now?” I asked. “I mean, they’re not attacking us, but they’re just gonna go and attack some other people.”
“We must lead them back to the zoo if we’re going to stop it,” Mr. Giles said.
“And before their next meal,” Buffy agreed. “Guess that’s my job.”
Right. Made sense. Because Buffy had super powers and could defend herself and stuff. Okay.
I realized that I was kind of staring at Buffy as I tried to make my brain believe the whole “Buffy is a superhero” thing. Buffy must have noticed, too.
“My job because, you know, I’m really, um, in shape and stuff, so I can… get away… better.”
I smiled a little.
“It’s okay. Willow filled me in. Slayer. Super powers. Fighting evil. Yada yada.”
“Okay, uh, good,” she said, then gave me a concerned look. “You know, Shelly, maybe you should just go home, there’s no reason you should have do deal with this stuff. You’ve been through enough for one day.”
“Nope,” I replied, “Still not leaving. Wanted to help my friend. Well, friend not yet helped. I’m in this, whether it really is a good idea or not, I’m still not leaving.”
Buffy nodded.
“Okay, then,” she said, understanding. “Well, I should get going. You guys get to the zoo. I’ll bring them to you.”
“Buffy, individually they’re almost as strong as you,” Mr. Giles said, “but as a group…”
“They’re tough,” Buffy said, “but I think they’re getting stupider.” She opened the door. “I’ll meet you at the zoo.”
- - - - -
The three of us got to the zoo not too long after. The zookeeper had left the gate unlocked for us so we could come right in. We quickly made our way over to the pathway to the “Hyena House.” The caution tape and the signs and flashing lights were all still there. Even gotta be sure to keep people out late at night, I guess.
We had to get the pack back here. Mr. Giles said that the zookeeper was familiar with some kind of ritual that could get the hyena spirits back into the hyenas. While Mr. Giles and Buffy had come back to the school for us, he had been here preparing… whatever had to be prepared.
Willow looked around. “Okay, where’s the zookeeper?”
“Well, he must be inside,” Mr. Giles said, clearly a bit nervous. “I-I’ll go help prepare things. You two, just, um, stay outside. Warn us if you hear Buffy and the others approaching.” He ducked under the tape and went running off down the path.
I sighed as silence filled the air around us.
“So,” I said, trying to fill it, “this is fun.”
Willow was quiet. Distracted by her thoughts.
“You okay?” I asked, then realizing the absurdity of that question. “Or, as much as…”
“Yeah,” she said looking up at me. “I just… I wanted to thank you. You probably saved my life back there. So thanks.”
I smiled, a little embarrassed. “Well, you know. I don’t think I would have even made it there if it weren’t for you keeping me from freaking out the whole time.” It was weird. I wasn’t exactly used to sentimental chats.
Willow smiled. “Well, hey. That’s what friends do, right?”
In the midst of everything, all the craziness, all the terror, all the insanity, when she said that, it just made me feel so good inside. All the other stuff seemed to just go away to make room for this other, good feeling. A feeling like maybe I belonged somewhere.
Of course, that feeling quickly evaporated as I heard that now familiar wild shrieking in the distance.
~RP~
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Post by RubberPiggy on Jul 11, 2005 20:25:25 GMT -5
Chapter Seventeen
“Uh-oh,”
They were coming. We could hear them laughing as they ran, getting louder as they got closer. And they were coming fast.
“Come on,” Willow said as she ducked under the tape and started running to the “Hyena House.”
“Right behind you,” I called, hesitating for a moment. I looked out into the darkness. I couldn’t really see anything. Weird, as well as I could hear them coming I’d think I’d be able to see them by n-
“Gah!”
Without warning, I saw Buffy come sprinting out from around the corner, the hyena pack right behind her.
Okay, time to run now.
I tore right through the tape and ran as fast as I could. Okay, to be fair, I didn’t tear through the tape as much as I did pull it out from under the sign that was holding it, and then almost completely trip over the damn thing. But still, I was running.
“Hurry, they’re right behind me!” I heard Buffy yell.
What if Mr. Giles and the zookeeper aren’t ready for them yet? I worried. What if this doesn’t work?
I stopped suddenly as I entered the hyena room. The zookeeper was standing in the center of the room. Right in the middle of this giant hyena symbolly thingy that was painted on the floor. His face was painted, too. Mostly blue with white markings.
Willow was standing in the middle there with him. Only her wrists were bound together and the zookeeper was holding a knife to her throat.
Buffy ran in right behind me and stopped just as I had. After that, everything happened so fast.
“Buffy, it’s a trap!” Willow yelled.
But before anyone could do anything, Xander ran in and tackled Buffy to the ground, kicking me in the side in the process. The rest of the pack followed and circled around us, as we were the prey to the predators.
“Yu ba ya sa na!”
The zookeeper yelled something in Masai, or whatever it was, and all the hyena people looked up at him. In the dim light, I could see his eyes glow green, just for a second. Just before he started growling.
He looked at Willow and growled again.
Uh-oh.
He dropped the knife and held her by the throat. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t make my legs work. Shit! He was going to…
“Willow!”
Xander suddenly jumped up. The zookeeper growled at him, but Xander just ran right at him. Plowed him over, freeing Willow from his grasp.
He had saved her!
Xander’s advantage didn’t last long, though. The zookeeper stood right up and hit Xander so hard he went flying across the room.
But Buffy had wasted no time and was back up, right in his face. She hit him, he hit her back. But it was just a one-on-one fight now. Buffy seemed to have the advantage. One Slayer against one hyena guy.
As mesmerized as I was by the fight, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Oh, crap, the rest of the pack!
I braced myself as I turned around, ready for an attack. But to my surprise, I was not suddenly attacked by four savage hyena people. Instead, I witnessed four scared kids slowly begin to back out of the room.
“Uuurgghh!”
THUD!
The zookeeper suddenly hit the floor in front of me, turning my attention back to the fight at hand. He didn’t seem to notice me, though. He just charged right at Buffy.
But Buffy was ready for him. She caught him as he charged, and she threw him up and back the other way. Right into the hyena pit. The zookeeper tried to climb out, but as we heard the hyenas snarl, he started screaming and was pulled back down. Buffy ran over to the pit, but turned away quickly, obviously having not seen something pleasant.
Kyle and his friends got up then and scrambled out the door, as fast as their feet would carry them. And then everything seemed suddenly quiet. Buffy looked back at us, and I finally found the strength to stand up.
Xander got up, too, and quietly went over and untied Willow’s hands. Willow smiled at him and he smiled back.
Suddenly, a door on the side of the room swung open and four heads snapped over in that direction, expecting another awful and frightening surprise.
But all that came through that door was Mr. Giles. Mr. Giles with his hair all messy, his scarf falling off to one side, and looking confused and flustered.
“Uhh,” he said, looking around the room, “did I miss anything?”
- - - - -
Mr. Giles explained everything on the way back. He told us about how he had gone to see the zookeeper and figured out that the creepy man had been trying to accomplish the ritual to put the hyena essence into himself all along. When he discovered that a bunch of kids had achieved what he couldn’t, he wasn’t happy about it, but he had figured that he could still use them to get the hyena’s power. He realized that he needed a “predatory act” of some kind during the ritual for it to work.
But of course, as soon as Giles figured out his plan, the zookeeper hit him over the head and stashed him in the closet.
Then all the zookeeper needed to do was trick Willow into trusting him so he could spill her blood as a predatory act and get the hyena power he’d always wanted. Then when he got his power, the hyena spirits were expelled from Xander and the others.
Creepy. Disgusting. Sick. Demented. Whatever, it didn’t matter anymore. We were all exhausted. It was past midnight now as we all headed home. Buffy, Willow, and Xander probably had some explaining to do to their parents.
But me? I went home and collapsed into my bed. And that was all.
I dreamed my normal dreams. My normal nightmares, I should say. Terrifying but familiar. But through it all, I kept hearing that laughter.
All through the night, I heard it…
~RP~
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Post by RubberPiggy on Aug 1, 2005 15:49:17 GMT -5
Chapter Eighteen
“Well, to be honest, the whole thing was rather disturbing,” I teased.
It was the next day and Buffy, Willow, and I were talking to Xander about all the stuff he had done during his hyena possession adventure while on our way to class. He didn’t remember what happened, but in the end, he was pretty glad that he didn’t.
Buffy smiled. “But,” she said, “We all know that it wasn’t really you.”
“Well, I remember going on the field trip,” Xander said, “Then, going down to the Hyena House, and the next thing… some guy’s holding Willow and he’s got a knife.”
“You saved my life,” Willow said.
“Hey, nobody messes with my Willow,” Xander said and gave her a little hug. It was so nice to see him back to normal. Nice to see him and nice to see Willow happy again.
“This is definitely the superior Xander,” Buffy said. “Accept no substitutes.”
“I didn’t do anything else, did I?” Xander asked. “Around you guys? Anything embarrassing?”
The three of us looked at each other.
“Nah,” Buffy said with a smile.
“Not a thing,” I said.
“Nothing,” Willow agreed.
Xander smiled, just a hint of worry still coming through.
“Well, we should get to class; we’re gonna be late,” Buffy said and we went our separate ways.
- - - - -
“So where you off to now?” I asked Willow as we walked down the hallway together.
“Computer lab,” she said, “Working on my project for class,”
“Oh, yeah!” I said, suddenly remembering all the normal things I had to deal with, “I meant to ask you about that. I was thinking of taking the second semester computer class to fill one of my free periods. You think the teacher would go for getting me all caught up and stuff?”
“Sure!” Willow said excitedly, “Miss Calendar’s real nice, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. It’s an awesome class, too! I’m sure…” Willow looked a bit embarrassed. “Of course, that’s from the computer nerd’s perspective…”
I smiled.
“I’m sure I’ll enjoy it,” I said. “So do you think Miss Calendar would mind if I went to talk to her about it now? ‘Cause it’s that or go take a nap in the library for a period.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you… wait, you take naps in the library?”
I bit my lip.
“It was only that… twice.”
Willow gave me a look.
“Well, I was bored, and I tried studying, but it was so nice and quiet in that corner of the library and there was no one else in there, not even Mr. Giles, and I just… got sleepy.” I smiled sheepishly.
Willow smiled as she opened the classroom door, “Well, for better or worse, you won’t be napping in here.”
We entered the computer lab and I looked around the room. There were about twenty computers spread around the room, clustered on tables. Two or three computers on each table, each facing a different direction. There were a few students on the computers working on this and that, but most of them were unattended.
At the teacher’s desk at the front of the room was a dark haired woman looking to be about thirty. She looked up from her own computer as she saw Willow and I walking up to her.
“Hey, Willow. Who’s your friend?”
“Miss Calendar, this is Shelly,” Willow said. “She’s hoping to become your newest student.”
Miss Calendar looked at me. “S’that so?”
“Yeah,” I said, “I’m new, and I wanted to get another class for the second semester, and I heard I could take this one if it was okay with you to get me caught up.”
Miss Calendar shrugged casually.
“Okay,” she said. “Pick a computer somewhere, then just lemme help these guys over here, quick, and then I’ll be right over to start showing you stuff.” She smiled then went over and started talking to a guy at another computer.
I just stood there for a moment, surprised. She was so casual, so… kid-like. For the minute-and-a-half that I’d known her, I could already tell that she was a really nice, fun teacher.
I looked at Willow. She was grinning.
“Isn’t she so cool?” she said as she sat down at a nearby computer.
“Yeah,” I agreed, sitting down across from her.
This was gonna be fun.
~RP~
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Post by RubberPiggy on Aug 29, 2005 20:27:15 GMT -5
Chapter Nineteen
I stretched and glanced at my watch. Almost five-thirty. Meh, I was almost done. Just a little longer. Then I could go home and do my other homework.
I had been working in the computer lab ever since school had ended. For the third day in a row. The stuff wasn’t hard- it was actually kind of interesting- but this make-up work was just eating up so much of my time. I wanted to see my friends.
Tonight they were all going to The Bronze, a local club that was kind of the hip place for teens to hang out. I hadn’t even gotten to go at all yet, but tonight was this “Fumigation Party” thingy, right before they close for the weekend to spray for roaches.
Seems like a wonderful place to hang out.
But they were all going. Willow had invited me to come along, but I had to decline, because I had to stay here and work.
At least it should be over soon, I thought. This afternoon when I started the assignment, Miss Calendar had said that I was “almost done.” So that was good. Soon I could have a social life.
I stared, blurry eyed, at the program on the screen in front of me. I’d been spending so much time looking at computer screens I was probably gonna end up needing new glasses. Which I couldn’t afford, so I’d just have to learn to live with not seeing.
Sigh.
Screw this.
“I’ll finish it during lunch tomorrow,” I muttered and shut down the computer.
- - - - -
I had found them. I was so happy, I had finally found them. I had never felt better in my whole life. It was amazing.
Incredible.
But then I knew. In the back of my mind, I knew it, I felt it. Something was wrong. This wouldn’t last. I knew what was going to happen. I knew because I had seen it a hundred times before. I knew what was coming.
But I still couldn’t stop it.
The terror was unceasing. Hideous, gut-wrenching horror.
I tried to get away, but there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.
I watched it happen again. Just as I watched it every night.
I fell to my knees and cried in fear. I knew what was coming next, too.
“Shelly,”
No, don’t say it. Please.
“Why did--“
BRRRRIIIIIIIINNNGGG! BRRRRIIIIIIIINNNGGG!
I woke up in a sweat, tears running down my face, breathing heavily.
BRRRRIIIIIIIINNNGGG! BRRRRIIIIIIIINNNGGG!
I sat there for a few more seconds as I let myself calm down, then slowly reached out and turned off the alarm clock.
You’d think waking up like this every morning, I’d eventually get used to it. But every night, the fear was just as real as the last. It never got better. The fear never lessened.
Not that it should.
I wasn’t used to the nightmare. I figured I never would be. But I was beyond letting it affect me for the day.
I got up and got ready for school.
- - - - -
I carried my lunch down the hall to the computer lab as I had done the last few days. I had to be done with my make-up stuff by the end of the day tomorrow, so Miss Calendar said that I could have my lunch in the lab as long as I was very careful with it. She really was a great teacher and a really nice person to just sit and talk to. If the course hadn’t had a cool teacher, I probably wouldn’t have been putting up with all this annoying make-up stuff.
“Hey, Shelly!” I heard from behind me. I turned around and saw Xander coming out of the library.
“Hey!” I said as I walked over toward him. I was actually really happy to see him right then. I hadn’t gotten to hang out with my friends much lately, so it just made me happy to see him and see that he hadn’t forgotten about me. “So what have you guys been up to?” I asked.
“Oh, not much,” he said. “Buffy was attacked last night by these three assassin vampires.”
He noticed my worried look.
“Oh, it’s fine, she got away from them and now they should be off to kill themselves or something, so they shouldn’t be a problem, but what is a problem is the fact that Buffy had an older, handsome man overnight, in her room. That’s what we should be worrying about.”
He noticed a different look from me.
“I’m just saying.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Whatever,” I said with a smile. “I’ll put you in charge of worrying about that. Meanwhile, I have a computer project to finish.”
He looked disappointed.
“Bailing on lunch again? If this goes on much longer, we’re gonna have to start tying you up and dragging you to the cafeteria, you know.”
“Well, hopefully it won’t come to that,” I said with a sad smile. “I’ll see you later.”
~RP~
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Post by RubberPiggy on Nov 12, 2005 22:39:27 GMT -5
Chapter Twenty
I yawned as I picked up my backpack the next morning. I had spent a good portion of the night awake in bed, so I was pretty tired. I had been hearing some noises outside in the early morning hours, and then I was freaked out enough that it took me a while to fall back asleep after that. Not that there was anything to freak about, just that adrenaline rush from scary noises in the night, you know?
I took one last look around the room, making sure I wasn’t forgetting anything, then went out to begin my walk to school. It was pretty warm outside, but not too warm, and not too brightly sunny, either. It was a nice day.
I walked down the sidewalk of the apartment building as I always did when something caught my eye on the ground. I stopped and looked down at it. It was just a dark red stain of some kind on the pavement.
I started to move again when I noticed another one not two feet away from it, going down the other path toward the other side of the building. Past that one, there was another. And so on. It was a trail of something.
Something nagged away at me about this, and about the direction it was going, but as soon as the phrase “trail of blood” popped into my head, I quickly dismissed the whole thing. I didn’t want to think about that. That probably isn’t even what it was anyway. No need to be so negative all the time. I just needed to think about something else…
I wonder what’s for lunch today…
I wonder what my next computer project is going to be…
I wonder who walked through here bleeding in the middle of the night…
Damn it.
- - - - -
I actually did end up forgetting about the whole “trail of blood” thing as the day went on. I guess I realized that there was probably no value to it, anyway, so I let myself put it out of my mind.
As the school day ended, I got my stuff out of my locker and promptly came right back to the computer lab, just as I had for the last week now.
“Hey-“ I started, but then realized that I was talking to an empty room. Miss Calendar wasn’t in there waiting for me.
That’s odd, I thought, so I just sat down and waited for her. I hope she remembered that she needs to give me the next assignment now.
So I sat there and waited for over ten minutes before Miss Calendar finally came into the room.
“Oh, hey, Shelly,” she said upon seeing me, “What’s up?”
“I need to know my next assignment,” I said, a bit disappointed that she wouldn’t have remembered that.
“No you don’t,” she said, sitting down at her own computer. She smiled as she saw the confused look on my face. “You’re all done. Your next assignment will be with the rest of the class.”
“Seriously?” I asked. I was genuinely surprised. I had spent all week catching up on work, so I had just grown accustomed to it. I hadn’t even been thinking about being done.
“Yep, you made it,” Miss Calendar replied. “You’re all done- you can go.”
I stood up slowly.
“Wow, okay…” I could go. This was new and different. I didn’t have that much homework to do. Then I’d have all this free time. What should I do with it?
Miss Calendar laughed a little.
“Wow, I think you’ve been working way too hard this week.”
“I won’t disagree,” I said with a smile.
“So, go! Get out, have some fun!” Miss Calendar enticed. “You deserve it.”
“Right,” I said, my brain shaking out of its daze. “I will. Thanks, Miss Calendar.”
“You’re welcome. Have a good night.”
“You, too.”
- - - - -
The Bronze. I only walked around in nervous circles in the bad part of town for about twenty minutes before I finally found it. It certainly didn’t look like much from the outside, but once I went through those doors, I was a bit amazed.
The place was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. It was your basic dim lights, loud music type club. Near where I’d come in there was a long bar area with lots of stools along it. Farther out was a section of many tables where mostly teens sat chatting with their food and drinks and took turns playing at the nearby pool tables. Beyond that was a dance floor covered in dancing people and multi-colored lights, right in front of the stage, where a band played with a female singer singing a sweet, slow song. There were a lot of couples dancing.
I started walking over towards the area with the tables. There were brightly colored signs hanging all around, proclaiming tonight the “Post-Fumigation Party.” They obviously consider a lot of things reason to party around here.
After a little aimless wandering, I happened to see Willow and Xander sitting down at a nearby table. Yay! I thought. Time for fun with friends for once! I walked over to them, behind Willow.
“Hey, guys!” I said, unable to withhold a big dopey grin from my face. I was genuinely happy to see them, behold the lameness.
“Oh, hi, Shelly,” Xander said, seeming a little distracted, looking around anxiously.
“Hey,” Willow said absently, staring across the room at something.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I followed her gaze. After searching the crowd for a second, I spotted Buffy. She was leaning in to kiss tall guy in black jacket in the dim light. It seemed very romantic.
“Aw, who’s Buffy kissing?” I asked eagerly, pulling a chair up next to Willow.
“They’re kissing!?” Xander exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table. He quickly calmed himself down. “But I’m not threatened. Nope, not one bit. I bet they’re not even really kissing, right, Will?”
Willow grinned.
“No, not kissing.”
“So who is he?” I asked. “If they don’t stop… not kissing… I’ll never even be able to see his face.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Willow said as they finally began to part, still not taking her eyes off them, “You haven’t been around lately. That’s-“
“Angel!?”
Holy crap. It was Angel! Kissing Buffy! Whoa!
“Yeah. Did Buffy tell you about him?” Willow asked, a bit confused.
Buffy and Angel were talking now.
“No, I know him. He was the first person I met in Sunnydale…” I trailed off. This was just… weird. “I can’t believe him and Buffy…”
This was more than weird. I mean, Angel was a vampire. Buffy slays vampires! If she knew what he was… If he knew who she was!
Buffy smiled at him and walked away, leaving Angel standing there with this dumb, love-struck-guy look on his face.
“Whoa…”
“I know, it’s so romantic, isn’t it?” Willow said, not exactly on the same wavelength.
“Yeah, he’s ‘romantic,’” Xander said bitterly, rolling his eyes. “Hey, Shelly, you say you know this guy, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, shaking out of my trance.
Xander gave a sly smile. “Yeah, well, how well do you know him?”
“Xander,” Willow said disapprovingly.
I shrugged.
“I don’t think he’s the kind of guy that’s easy to get to know,” I said vaguely.
“Yeah, well, get this,” Xander said, “Turns out, Angel’s a vampire.”
Oh, so they knew that.
“Oh. I knew that.”
Brief pause. They stared for a moment in disbelief.
“You did!?” Xander asked.
“You did?” Willow echoed.
“Um, yeah,” I answered, a bit uncomfortable now. “But you know he’s a good vampire, right? He has a soul, he doesn’t hurt people.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Xander said, “It’s the headline of the day. But you knew that this whole time? Some warning could have been nice!”
“Sorry, I didn’t know Buffy even knew him… or anything,” I said defensively. “Is it my fault that you didn’t know what he was?
Xander looked away in somewhat of a girly snit. “No… But that doesn’t mean I have to like him any better.”
I turned to Willow. “So, is it just me, or is there a nasty jealous vibe emanating from Xander’s general area?”
Willow smiled. Xander was silent.
I laughed and rolled my eyes.
“Wow, I sure missed a lot, didn’t I? So Buffy and Angel… They’re okay with the whole Slayer And Vampire dating formula?”
Willow shrugged and smiled. “It’s a forbidden love. But you should see them together more, it’s so sweet!”
I couldn’t help but smile. The shock was gone and I was ready for a little girly boy-gossiping. It was never something I did much, but damn, it was fun.
Xander stood up suddenly.
“If you ladies can excuse me, I’ll be in the bathroom, throwing up.”
Willow and I just giggled, which seemed to make him walk away faster.
~RP~
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Post by RubberPiggy on Nov 14, 2005 22:26:39 GMT -5
Chapter Twenty-One
“Oh great. A book,” Buffy said with only a small lack of enthusiasm.
“That’s a surprise,” I replied with a bored smile.
It was the afternoon, that nice chunk time that comes after the dreary school day. And there we were, still at school. We’d actually been there for a few hours since the school day ended, helping Mr. Giles and Ms. Calendar scan a bunch of the library’s books into the computers.
I didn’t really get the point of that, honestly. What was it, in case of fire or something? But if the library caught on fire, wouldn’t the computers burn as well as the books? I didn’t get it, but it was alright- Ms. Calendar was giving me extra credit for helping out. Dave and Fritz, two guys from my computer class, along with Willow were also here, taking advantage of this extra-credit opportunity.
Buffy and Xander had volunteered, too- mostly just to hang out with us- but I think they were regretting it now.
“Oh, I haven’t gone through the new arrivals,” Mr. Giles said, looking at the book Buffy had taken out of our box. It was a pretty big book. Old, too, with a big demon head on the cover. One of Giles’ occult books he kept here for the fight against evil, I guess.
I wonder how he convinced the school that this was proper reading material for high school students… Oh, well.
“Put it in, um, that pile,” he instructed, pointing over to the big pile of old books next to Willow.
“Here, I’ll get it,” Dave said, taking it from her.
“Thanks, Dave,” Buffy said, “To the Willow pile.”
So yeah, it wasn’t a very exciting project, to put it lightly.
“When I’ve examined it, you can, uh…” Giles tried to remember the computer term he had been taught earlier that afternoon. “Uh, skim it,” he finished incorrectly.
“Scan it,” Ms. Calendar supplied. “Rupert, that’s ‘scan it.’”
Okay. So there was one thing keeping this evening interesting.
“Of course,” Giles said, not quite concealing a scowl.
The two of them had been arguing like little kids all day.
It was funny.
“I know our ways are strange to you,” Ms. Calendar said, “but soon, you will join us in the twentieth century. With three whole years to spare!”
She smiled at him smugly.
“Ms. Calendar,” Giles replied, trying desperately to remain well-mannered, “I’m sure your computer science class is fascinating, but I happen to believe one can survive in modern society without being a slave to the um, idiot box.” He pointed disapprovingly at the computers.
“That’s TV. The idiot box is TV. This is the good box.”
“Well, I still prefer a good book.”
“The printed page is obsolete!” Fritz chimed in before Ms. Calendar could retort. “Information isn’t bound up anymore. It’s an entity.” He stood up suddenly. He probably thought it was a dramatic gesture, but I’m sure everyone else just thought it was weird.
Fritz glared at Giles, as if the man just spent the last hour insulting his mother or something.
“The only reality is virtual. If you’re not jacked in, you’re not alive.”
And with that, he picked up his books and angrily took off for the exit.
No one said anything for a few seconds as he left. If you ask me, the boy had some serious issues.
“Thank you, Fritz,” Ms. Calendar finally called as he walked out the library doors, “for making us all sound like crazy people…”
I smiled. “But we’re technologically advanced crazy people.”
Giles immediately shot me a look.
Oops, I think he needed me to be on his side.
“Technologically advanced crazy people who love and adore books of all kinds,” I amended quickly. He still didn’t really seem happy with it, but he let it go.
“Fritz comes on a little strong, but he does have a point,” Ms. Calendar said, not quite as ready to let the whole thing go.
Giles tried his best “ignore her and maybe she’ll go away” tactic, but it did him no good. She got right up in his face.
“You know, for the last two years, more e-mail was sent than regular mail.”
Giles turned away, but she kept going.
“More digitized information went across phone lines than conversations!”
Giles sighed. “That is a fact that I regard with genuine horror.”
“I’ll bet it is,” Ms. Calendar said with a smile. “Alright guys,” she said, turning to us, “let’s wrap it up for today.”
I don’t think I imagined the sound of a big, collective sigh of relief.
“I’ve just got a few more, I’ll hang for a bit,” Willow said, obviously enjoying herself way too much.
“Cool. Thanks,” Ms. Calendar replied as the rest of us raced to see how fast we could get our stuff together and get out of there.
“Xander, you wanna stay and help me?” Willow asked him as Buffy and I started walking out.
“Are you kidding?” he asked, holding back a laugh.
“Yes, it was a joke I made up.”
“Willow, I love you, but bye! Wait up!” he yelled to us as he ran to catch up.
“See you guys tomorrow!” Willow called after us. I waved over my shoulder, and we were out of there.
“Whew, I thought that would never end!” Buffy said as we exited the school.
“Yeah, that was more boring than I expected it to be,” I admitted. “But hey, at least we had entertainment.”
“Yeah…” Buffy said.
Then the three of us just broke out laughing for a few seconds. It really was that funny. I imagined Mr. Giles and Ms. Calendar just locked in a room somewhere, trying to settle their argument of books vs. computers. And they couldn’t come out until they came to an agreement.
They’d have been in there a long time.
Once the laughter stopped, Buffy sighed. “And now, I still have to go back home, put in some mom-time, and get a pile of actual homework done.”
“Pff!” Xander made a dismissive hand motion. “After that, I’m ready to do anything but homework! My brain is done with school for today. Come on, I bet I know two girls who would much rather be hanging at the Bronze!”
“Sorry, Xand,” Buffy said.
“Yeah, I’m with Buffy on this one,” I said. “I should get home. I’ve got a lot of work to do, too.”
“Aw,” Xander said, disappointed, “you people and your parents who actually care enough to want you at home. I enjoy my free lifestyle.”
Buffy laughed. I tried to laugh it off, too, but it came out as more of an awkward gulpy noise. I hoped they didn’t notice. I had no desire to let my new friends in on the whole “Shelly has no family” thing. I didn’t need their pity.
“Alright,” Xander said, finally accepting defeat. We had reached the end of the road and it was time for us to each go our separate ways. “But remember, you guys owe me fun.”
I forced a smile.
“I’ll write you a check for one ‘fun.’”
I turned and started walking the way back home.
“Okay, I’ll be waiting for that check!” Xander called back.
~RP~
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