Chapter 1: Lunchroom Brawl
(August 8th)
Buffy sat in the corner, munching slowly on her somewhat soggy ham and cheese sandwich. Ok… maybe nibbling was more the right word. She was taking forever just to eat one half of it. That was normal for her, though. She liked to take her time with things. She had no reason to rush.
It wasn’t like she had a social life to get back to. In Sunnydale High, there were five main social groups that people got classified into: 1) Morbid/Suicidal Goths and Punk Rockers/Skaters, 2) Rich/Popular Girls, 3) Jocks/Athletes and Major Hotties, 4) Total Losers/Geeks/Nerds (aka Social Suicide), 5) and last but not least, the Nobodies.
That’s what Buffy was. She was a “nobody”, which meant she was virtually invisible to the rest of the student body. She didn’t mind, though. She was used to living this life, and a part of her liked being a loner. It meant she didn’t have to put up with snobby people and their bullshit high school drama. She had too many problems of her own to worry about someone else’s.
Truth be told, she didn’t really care what other people thought of her. That was one of the reasons why it only took her five minutes to get dressed in the morning. She didn’t spend half an hour searching her closet for the “perfect outfit” and doing her make-up. She just threw on whatever she grabbed first.
Today she was wearing a back, long-sleeved turtleneck and ripped jeans. She knew she needed some new jeans, but she didn’t have the money to buy them at the moment. She knew her father wouldn’t give it to her. He didn’t even give her money to eat lunch. She had to get up early and pack herself a sandwich every morning.
She didn’t usually wear make-up at all, and she didn’t like messing with her hair. She had honey blonde, shoulder-length hair, which she currently had braided. It was just easier on her that way. She had naturally wavy hair and she didn’t feel like taking the time to straighten it every morning. For one, she didn’t have a straightening iron.
The only time she’d ever really felt bad about her physical appearance was the first day of her freshman year. She’d been walking down the hall, minding her own business, when the star quarterback of the football team, Angel O’Connor, had run straight into her and knocked all of her books out of her arms. He’d then proceeded to tease her mercilessly.
“Why don’t you watch where you’re going Betty? Maybe you need some dorky glasses to match your dorky outfit.” Then he’d grinned cruelly and his friends had snickered. He’d gotten in her face and continued his taunting. “Where do you get your clothes? Out of the dumpster? I’ve seen the house you live in, so I know your parents aren’t poor.
Maybe your mommy just doesn’t want to waste her precious money on a piece of trash like you.” His words had cut her deep, like a knife, and it was just by sheer luck that she didn’t burst into tears right then and there. He and his friends had walked off laughing, and she’d picked up her scattered books before running to the bathroom to cry.
She’d stayed in there through all of first and second period, just hiding away from the world. Then she’d managed to get herself together enough to go to the library. She’d found she really liked it there. It was quiet and no one disturbed her. The librarian, Mr. Giles, was incredibly nice. She thought that all the teachers should be as nice as him.
That was the first day she’d ever skipped her classes, and she hadn’t done it since then. Throughout the year, Angel had never spoken another word to her, and she was highly relieved at that. She learned to ignore him and he, in turn, ignored her. The same went for this year. So far… it was only three weeks into her sophomore year.
She looked up from her sandwich when she heard a commotion in the middle of the lunchroom. She couldn’t see what was happening though, because practically all of the students in the room had stood up and formed a circle in the middle. It quickly became clear what was going down when the crowd started chanting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
The only thing unclear was who was doing the fighting. After about another minute, the doors to the cafeteria opened and the Nazi weasel, Principal Snyder, strutted into the room. The students that were clumped together immediately scattered and clung to the walls of the cafeteria. The smart ones fled the room.
Buffy just stayed put exactly where she was. Her eyes widened slightly when the two people in the middle of the room became visible. It was none other than Angel O’Connor and his biggest enemy, William ‘Spike’ Giles. Spike was, by reputation, the biggest bad boy at Sunnydale High. By rumor, the school had 911 on speed dial for him.
Buffy knew a lot of rumors about him, from what she’d heard floating around the school in the last year, but she had no idea if they were true. She wasn’t the type of person to get to know people and make friends, but there was something about him that made her want to get to know him. She wanted to know who he was behind his reputation.
As Buffy stared at the middle of the room her eyes widened comically. Spike was standing up, breathing hard, next to a human-shaped lump on the ground, which happened to be Angel. Spike was barely injured. He only had a scratch on his cheek and bloody knuckles. Angel looked like he’d had every inch of his ass thoroughly kicked.
His lower lip was busted open and blood was pouring down his chin. He was already starting to get a nasty black eye, and the left side of his face was swollen up from being used as a punching bag. He was definitely going to look like shit the next day when he came to school. A very small part of Buffy, which she kept under wraps, was happy about that.
For once he would know what it felt like to be looked at like a loser. It would also pay him back in her mind for what he’d said to her the year before. Though she’d never admit it to anyone, she was glad he’d gotten his ass kicked. That just made her want to get to know Spike even more than before.
Snyder stormed to the middle of the room and glared at Spike. “Mr. Giles! You’d better hope you have an excellent explanation for this, or you’re out of here!” Snyder looked down at Angel then back at Spike and said, “Get him to the nurse, and then meet me in my office.”
He turned his beady little eyes around the room on the remaining students, and then he said with apparent disgust, “The rest of you… back to class!” He stormed out of the door and all of the loitering students quickly followed. Buffy stayed sitting there for a moment, not wanting to get squished in the crowd of crazed teenagers.
She glanced toward Spike and was surprised when he looked back at her. She blushed slightly and quickly looked away, but that one little look was enough to leave her skin tingling. He had the most gorgeous blue eyes she’d ever seen, and impossibly sharp cheekbones. She found herself wanting to trace them with her fingertips.
She realized that the doorway had cleared, so she quickly gathered her things and exited the cafeteria. She hurried to her locker to get the books she’d need for the rest of her classes that afternoon. Then she headed off to her third period class, making it in her seat just as the bell rang. She knew she shouldn’t have stayed so long, but his eyes were… breathtaking.
For the first time in a long while, she spaced out during class instead of doing her work. In the meantime, Spike picked the bloody, groaning Angel up off the ground. It seemed the brooding all-muscle no-brain quarterback was going to milk this injury for everything he had. He was acting like he’d been shot, not punched around a bit. Spike knew the pathetic display was just to get attention.
He dragged Angel to the nurse’s office and left him there, rolling his eyes in disgust at how the nurse fretted over him like a worried mother hen. He then made his way toward Snyder’s office, dragging his feet and feeling like he was headed to the gallows. He truly hated that little rodent of a man with ever fiber of his being.
He knew that whatever the punishment was, he definitely wasn’t going to like it. There was no telling what concoction Snyder would think up next to torture him. He was in his junior year, and he and Snyder had hated each other since he’d gotten to Sunnydale High. He knocked on the door and got a gruff “come in” for a reply.
He slowly pushed the door open and walked inside. He immediately knew he was swimming in a puddle of shit, just from the evil glint in Snyder’s eyes. He shifted uncomfortably where he stood. “Sit down, Mr. Giles.” Spike did as he was told and sat down facing Snyder, wishing he could leave already.
Snyder spent a good twenty minutes lecturing Spike on how he’d hurt the school’s football team by injuring the star quarterback. It turned out that Spike had also broken Angel’s nose and wrist. Angel wouldn’t be able to play again for the rest of the season. That filled Spike with utter glee, but he made sure not to let it show on his face.
Spike had almost expected to be expelled, but he wasn’t. Instead, he was suspended for a week and he asked with surprise, “That’s IT?” Snyder smirked and said, “Hardly.” Spike groaned and cursed himself for even asking. “On top of your suspension, you’re going to be tutored by a student of my choosing.
You’ll meet with this student at least three times a week, for at least two hours per session, until you’re passing all of your classes with B’s or better.” Spike felt like shooting himself in the head. This was like a death sentence for him. Snyder dismissed him and he quickly fled the office and went to class. He couldn’t wait for the day to be over, so he could enjoy his week of solitude.
When the bell rang, Spike made a mad dash for his car and drove himself home. Buffy went to her locker and put her books in her book bag, getting ready to walk home. She felt a presence beside her, and she quickly turned her head. She was shocked to find Snyder there, and she immediately wondered if she’d done something wrong. “Summers… I have a job for you.”
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!