Drusilla Reynolds walked through the long corridor with one single thought in mind – revenge. She was the richest, most envied – and definitely the most beautiful girl in school, if not the entire town. She had always gotten everything she could possibly desire, practically handed out to her without lifting a finger. Nobody would ever go up against her; they all knew she would gladly destroy anyone who dared even think about double-crossing her. She was their queen, or better yet – their goddess. Everybody adored her.
And yet, the unthinkable had happened. Drusilla’s eyes narrowed and fury started welling up inside her as she recalled the events of last night. How she had entered her bedroom and found her Angel, her lover, her man, naked as the day he was born, with that filthy harlot – Darla Rayne – all over him. Darla hadn’t spoken a word, just watched her, calmly, a confident smile playing on her lips. Angel on the other hand...
The spineless coward had practically stumbled over himself in a pathetic attempt of getting away from the blonde woman, stuttering weak apologies and begging for her forgiveness. His obvious guilt had only made Drusilla more furious, but the evident fear on his flawless face was at least a little bit satisfying. Of course he should fear her wrath. Darla would as well. She just didn’t know it yet.
“You what?!” Buffy Summers stared at her best friend in shock, shaking her head in denial. “No. William, this is crazy. You can’t be serious.”
“I am.” William swallowed nervously, a somewhat uncertain look on his face. This was certainly not going the way he had planned. For a moment, he wished he hadn’t said anything. Then again, he had kept his true feelings to himself for years, it was time for Buffy to know how he really felt about her. He took a deep breath. “Buffy, I lo...”
“No!” She interrupted him before he could finish the sentence, a panicked look on her face. “Don’t say it.” Seeing his hurt expression, her face softened a little. “I’m sorry, but what do you want me to say? You can’t just blurt something like this out, and expect me to...” She hesitated. “William, you’re my best friend.”
“Well, yeah.” He cleared his throat, lowering his eyes to the floor. “Was kinda hoping we could be... you know, more than just friends, pet.” His voice trailed off and he closed his eyes for a moment, suddenly wishing the floor would just open up and swallow him. This was a mistake; he should have known better than declaring his undying love to his clearly oblivious friend in an empty lecture hall after class. For one thing, it was a horrible place to be rejected in.
Buffy was quiet for a moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely more than a whisper. “How long have you...? I mean, why are you telling me this now?”
“I just...” William let out a sigh. “Look, Buffy, I realize this must come as a total surprise to you. But I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember. School’s out in a few weeks, and after that... Well, who knows what happens. I just wanted to tell you...”
“No, no, no...” Buffy interrupted him again. “This isn’t happening. William, you can’t do this to me. Not now.” When she looked at him, he noticed that she had tears in her eyes.
“Not now?” For some reason, seeing her tears made him feel defensive. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She gave him an exasperated look. “Well, for one thing, I’m seeing someone!”
“Who, Captain Cardboard?!” William snorted. “We both know he’ll never be good enough for you.” Seeing how she opened her mouth – most likely to yell at him – he raised a hand to stop her, a pleading note in his voice as he went on; “Buffy, please. Just give me a chance. Give us a chance.”
Her bottom lip was trembling. “Riley asked me to marry him.”
William opened his mouth, then closed it again. His eyes widened as her words started to sink in, but he remained quiet. At first, he wondered if he had actually heard her correctly, thinking that it had to be just some cruel joke. But the look on Buffy’s face told him otherwise. He inhaled, shakily. “Oh.”
Buffy bit her lip, clearly trying to keep the tears from falling. “Look, this is just... I was going to tell you. But...” She swallowed. “Let’s not do this here. Please? Can’t we just go somewhere and talk about...”
“No.” It was his turn to interrupt her, his eyes suddenly cold. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m sorry for bothering you with this. Forget I said anything.” He turned around and hurriedly left the lecture hall, not wanting her to see the tears in his eyes. At that moment, his entire world crumbled around him.
“William, wait!” Buffy took a hesitant step towards the door, then stopped. Her body ached for her to follow him, but for some reason, she suddenly found herself unable to move. She had to talk to William, she needed to explain. But right now, he probably wouldn’t let her. He had just poured his heart out to her, and she had handled things so horribly wrong. She slid down to the floor, burying her face in her hands. “I never said I accepted,” she whispered.
Drusilla smiled to herself, having been standing just outside the door and listening in on the conversation on the other side. This was perfect! As usual, things had a way of playing out to her benefit. She wasn’t exactly sure how just yet, but she would find a way to use this unfortunate situation to her advantage. She always did. Waiting until William had disappeared around a corner – not wanting him to find out that she had been eavesdropping on him and that blonde, uptight little slut – she finally started to follow, slowly.
If Angel thought that she would just let him get away with his betrayal, he was sadly mistaken. A plan was slowly starting to take form in her head, however, she couldn’t go through with it all by herself. She needed someone to help her, someone too caught up in his own misery to realize what was happening until it was already too late to back out. Someone she could fool into believing that she was the one doing him a favor instead of the other way around.
Of course, William was nothing but a pathetic loser, a nobody. But she could change that. She had the resources and the power to turn him into the most wanted man in Sunnydale. And then she would use him to get back at Angel. The best part was that William would never realize what hit him; she would make him think that she only had his best interest in mind and genuinely wanted to help him. Drusilla giggled. She was allowed to have a little fun along the way, wasn’t she?
TBC