8:30am.
Buffy Summers was bored to tears. Her teacher Mrs. Wilcox, despite her incessant exclamations, knew nothing about the English language. She went on and on about Jane Austen, D.H. Lawrence, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “the greats” she would proudly say. But no matter what the children did, she did not seem to understand that “the great works” no longer applied to the modern age. No one talked like that anymore. To Buffy, “the greats” were the pathetic losers of their time. And therefore, Buffy was bored to tears.
She leaned her forehead against the cool window and stared longingly at the gorgeous day outside. She was on the brink of falling asleep when a sudden crash broke her concentration. Buffy bolted upright in her chair, but could not see what was going on from the back row. She craned her neck to get a better look. Just when she caught a glimpse of the cause of the blissful disruption, Mrs. Wilcox began shouting “Quiet down! Quiet! Quiet down everyone!” And the room was silent.
Slowly, brown curly hair rose from beneath the desks. A pair of enormous glasses hid the majority of his face, but his desperate and embarrassed smile was easily visible. As the class went back its its routine, Buffy closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep. The boy was obviously new and a geek, and therefore someone she could wait to get to know. A soft tap on her shoulder interrupted her half-dreaming state.
“Is this seat taken?” The kid with the glasses pointed to the chair to her left.
“Does it look taken?” She eyed him curiously.
“Well, I- um, well, um, no.” Eventually he sat down and put his books on the floor. He looked like he was angry with himself, or talking to himself, Buffy was not sure. She stared at him for another minute, shook her head and turned away. Clearly the boy was lacking in the social skills department. Buffy began drifting into slumber when yet another tap broke her concentration.
“WHAT?!!” she yelled. Only after her exclamation did she realize that she interrupted the clearly riveting class discussion. It was obvious by the way half the students stared at her gratefully while a few in the front row glared from their seats. Embarrassed, Buffy looked down at her desk. A soft “sorry” came from the boy to her left. She looked at him angrily, only to find him glaring straight down at his own desk.
The bell finally rang. Buffy grabbed her books and pushed her way out of the room. Her best friend Dru was waiting outside for her.
“Hello Buffy,” she said in her typical, sultry voice.
“Hey Dru. How was your weekend…” She cut herself off when she saw Dru bat her eyelashes at the boy who caused her humiliation. In turn, the boy, who she expected to be fumbling around considering his vicinity to her gorgeous friend, stood still. Curious, she thought. “Dru, I said-” Dru glided toward the new kid. “Apparently nothing important,” Buffy finished.
“Well you’re sexy one, aren’t you?” Dru stood completely still in front of him. In the heat of the moment, the boy dropped a book, which caused a chain reaction of several other books to splatter across the floor along with his glasses. After a moment, Dru began to laugh and walk away. Buffy felt the familiar pity for the boy who, like many others before him, had fallen for Dru at first sight. Too bad none of them knew what was good for them. The boy did nothing but stare longingly as she walked away and continued to laugh.
“It’s not your fault you know,” Buffy said. She bent down and helped him collect his books.
“What’s not my fault?”
“Her laughing at you.”
“Oh, so I bet that happens with every stud like me she meets.” Buffy was struck by the British accent she had not noticed before.
“Actually… yeah.”
“Oh.” The boy seemed contemplative. Suddenly, he looked up at her with brilliant blue eyes that had her mesmerized. After an uncomfortable silence, the boy gave a small smile. “My name is William.”
“Buffy. So… you're new, right?”
“Yeah. Just moved here with my dad.” Both of them stood up. William put his giant glasses back on and Buffy felt a pang of sadness that she wouldn’t be able to look at his eyes any time soon. “Who was that?” He looked over his shoulder.
“Oh, Dru. Don’t waste your time.”
“What?”
“Well, you’re not exactly her type.”
“What’s her type?”
And then she lost it.
“Look. I’m not your ‘in’ to Dru. She does not and will never go for a guy like you.” she retorted as she crossed her arms. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave it alone.” With that said, Buffy walked in the opposite direction. Now Dru is going to know that I'm pissed off at her thanks to William the maxi-geek with gorgeous eyes and… No! Not gorgeous. Infuriating. Just another one of Dru’s worshippers. I- Buffy’s thought was caught short when she saw William out of the corner of her eye.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8:30am
William Giles was completely and utterly lost. He tried to understand the small markings on the map the office had given him, but it was useless. The bell had rung at least fifteen minutes prior and William was on the verge of tears. First, his father Rupert tore him away from his friends and school and moved him to a town no one, even in America, had heard of. Then, he was forced to go to school the next day, despite that the classes were already halfway through the year. But being financially dependant on his father had taught him to passively deal with his problems on his own.
He finally found the classroom: Mrs. Wilcox, room 417. After giving himself a short pep talk, William let go of the breath he was holding and turned the doorknob. Unfortunately, that little pep talk did not prepare him for tripping on his own shoelace the moment the door opened. And of course, his books spread out as inconveniently as possible. To make the humiliation of his first impression worse, not one person got out of a seat to help him. They watched as he scrambled to stand.
But when he stood, his world came crashing down. Of all of the people in the class, in the world, one radiant and angelic soul stood out at that moment. In the back of the room, a petite blonde girl slept peacefully. The sun, slanted from the windows, lit up her face and William swore he had seen heaven itself. He was so drawn in that he did not even notice he had walked to her. Without thinking, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Is this seat taken?” Well, it could have been worse.
“Does it look taken?” She looked slightly agitated, but perhaps interested? William was not sure. In his state of conflict, he began to stutter. Then, she once again laid her head against the windowpane. William had to touch her. He tapped the mysterious beauty on the shoulder, but did not expect the outburst that ensued.
*“WHAT?!”
Unable to think of something to say, he mumbled “sorry”.
The bell rang. William saw Buffy bolt out of the classroom. Naturally, he followed her in the same manner. When he reached the hallway, he saw a darkened beauty. She was the complete opposite of his dream girl; he found her rather morbid and pathetic, dressing up in the latest Goth garb and swishing her hair like she believed it was god’s gift to mankind.
Yet, so lost in thought considering the range between the two, William did not notice his books on the ground for the second time. It occurred to him he must have missed what she said because she cackled as she walked away.
“It’s not your fault you know,” Buffy said. As confused by the statement as he was, William was awestruck. Her voice made him want to write sonnets.
“What’s not my fault?”
“Her laughing at you.”
“Oh, so I bet that happens with every stud like me she meets.” William replied honestly.
“Actually… yeah.” Apparently, she hadn’t caught on. He learned her name was Buffy when the teach woke her up in class. Any other bird with that name would have resulted in his full-out laughter, but because it was she, it seemed the most wonderful name in the world. He felt the need to continue the conversation.
“Who was that?” He nodded past her shoulder.
“Oh, Dru. Don’t waste your time.” He found it odd that she believed him immediately in love with her friend. Especially when Buffy was the obvious beauty between the two.
“What?” he replied, wondering if he detected jealousy.
“Well, you’re not exactly her type.” She seemed put off.
“What’s her type?” William was willing to say anything to continue talking to her, but he did not expect the violent explosion of pent up aggression.
“Look. I’m not your ‘in’ to Dru. She does not and will never go for you.” He wished he had said something different. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave it alone.” With that, she walked away in a huff. She was angry with him already? But he hadn’t done anything wrong. He almost dropped his books a third time in an attempt to catch up to her.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“What’s wrong with me, then?” he said between pants. He hoped he could fix it and he could have a chance with her. Buffy turned around looking bewildered.
“Well, you’re certainly not the most handsome in the bunch,” Buffy immediately felt bad for saying it, but something about William pissed her off to no end.
“Well look at you miss high and mighty! Thinking she’s all that…” William was really grasping at straws. Seeing an opportunity, he said, “I bet Dru would give me a chance and you’re just… just… jealous!”
Buffy was seething.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!