Chapter One
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'This so wasn't fair,' repeated over and over in Buffy's head. She was sitting in her father's home office, as both her parental units stared her down. Well her father glared and her mother sort of leered at her through drunken eyes.
She rubbed at one red rimmed eye; it was irritating the hell out of her - Stupid red, dry eyes - Why didn't Visine work like it advertised? Buffy hunched further back into the plush leather chair, all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep for two weeks, but instead she was forced into the Summers Inquisition at ten in the morning.
Hank had had enough. He gripped the morning's newspaper in hand as he marched over to his daughter, pausing to stand in front of her. Joyce stayed back, reclining on one of the chase lounges in the corner, her glass of amber liquid catching the rays of sunlight; causing the ice cubes to sparkle.
“We've had enough of your antics, Buffy. You stay out all hours of the night, only God knows where you are, what you’re doing.” Her father paused, looking down at the paper in his hands. “No, correction, we know just what you've been doing.” Disgusted, he threw the newspaper at her. Buffy grabbed it, scanning over the pictures as well as the article which graced the whole front page of the LA Times. Man, she must have really done something bad last night to make the front cover. Normally it was Star, In Touch Weekly, Us, and other lowly gossip magazines that she was usually featured in.
But not this time.
There she was in full color for all to see. In the first picture Buffy was sitting at a table in what appeared to be the Viper Room, guzzling down some bright pink liquid. And the second, she was topless giving Justin Timberlake a lap dance. Of course the photo was a shot of her back, but she just had to look over her shoulder and wink at the paparazzo that took the photo, giving her identity away for all to see. And the small smirk that graced her lips so wasn’t helping her cause right now. Buffy sighed; at least there wasn’t any nipple showing! That would really go over well with her dad.
Buffy could hardly remember anything from the past five days. She had been on a partying binge; lots of drinking and some sex. Okay, fine, if she was truthful with herself, there was lots of sex. That, she could remember. It wasn’t nameless, faceless sex though; the guys were all her friends… sort of. So it was all good. Buffy’s eyes traveled to the headlines; “Buffy Anne Summers, daughter of Mayor Hank Summers caught in some very compromising positions!” She skimmed down to speed through the article. “How will this affect the out come at the polls for the Mayoral election? Hank Summers built his campaign on family values. But clearly his family must have missed that speech.”
Buffy groaned, tossing the paper to the floor. What could she say? 'Sorry that I was getting all freaky with J.T. but the liquor made me do it.' She knew she was in deep shit as it was, no use in adding fuel to the fire. If it wasn’t election season her dad wouldn't have given the article a second thought, and she wouldn't be sitting in his office getting the third degree.
“Well? Got anything to say young lady?” Hank asked, hands firmly on his hips.
Would it be too harsh to say that this was all her parents fault? She was a spoiled little rich girl, raised with privileges that other kids could only dream of. And with those privileges came lots of freedom. Oh, she had had some of the best Nannies employed on the west coast, a top notch education and a future of nothing but fund raisers, charity events and the like laid out ahead of her. But with that freedom came the normal pit falls that faced all rich kids. The lure of narcotics and intoxicants. Could anyone blame her? Her mother was a professional drunk, her father, a workaholic who spent all his free time fucking his two whores. Buffy was set up for failure the moment she popped out of her mother and took her first breath of smoggy Los Angeles air.
“No, dad, I don't have anything to say,” she spat out with a roll of her eyes.
He just glared at her before turning around and heading for his desk. The clinking of ice cubes filled the silence as Joyce took a healthy gulp of her preferred liquor, draining the glass dry.
Hank sat down in his plush leather chair, the material giving protest at being stretched as he leaned back in it. He had yet to utter another word. A silent Hank was never of the good. Buffy swallowed, hard, she was expecting the worst. Had she pushed her father to far this time? The suspense was killing her, god, she wished he’d say something already, but when he did Buffy wished he stayed quiet.
“You know it’s campaign season and I’m trying to get re-elected. But I guess since you’re so busy with your fabulous life you wouldn’t have notice that. To busy spending my hard earned money on drugs and booze.” He paused, sending another icy stare her way. “Your mother and I have been discussing this as we waited for you to get home this morning, and we’ve decided that it’s best to send you away for a little while.”
Buffy’s eyes bulged out of her head. She couldn’t believe her ears. Had she just heard correctly? Were her parents sending her away like some problem child? Hello, she wasn’t the problem.
“Um, yeah, would you mind running that past me again ‘cause I don’t think I heard you correctly. You’re sending me away?”
“Yes, Buffy. It’s for your own good.”
“My own good?” Buffy spat out, menace dripping from her voice. “Don’t you mean it’s good for your reputation? Wouldn’t want your sank of a daughter getting you kicked out of office. Oh, never mind the fact that you’ll hump anything with a cunt and your wife is banging the pool boy.”
Joyce’s only protest to her daughter’s accusations was a drunken snort of disgust as if what she said about her was untrue. Hank’s face had turned bright red, as he jumped up from his chair slammed his hands down upon the wooden desk.
“This is exactly the kind of behavior you’re being sent away for. I don’t ever want to hear you speak about me or your mother in that way again. Am I understood?!”
’Oooo, now he gets all fatherly on my ass. It’s the truth though,’ she desperately wanted to say but bit her tongue. With a sigh and roll of the eyes Buffy nodded her head in agreement, which pacified her father as he sat back down.
“Well, just where are you shipping me off to?”
“You’re a-aunt’s ho-ouse,” the inebriated woman managed to get passed her lips.
“WHAT!” It was Buffy’s turn to jump from her seat at the outrage of it all. Not only were her parents getting rid of her but they were shipping her off with her mother’s sister, Anna Beth, a woman she hardly knew. But the topper, the added insult was that she lived in a sleepy little town about two and a half hours away from Los Angeles called Sunnydale. God, could life get any worse?
As if on cue her father replied. “You’ll be leaving tonight. Carmon is in your room, packing up your things.”
“No, this… this is so not fair! You can’t be serious?” Buffy asked incredulously. She was whining, which irritated her father to no end, but she couldn’t help it. “Look, I’ll stop; I’ll clean up my act. Just don’t send me away… please.” If licking her dad’s shoes clean with her tongue would keep her at home she was willing to do it at this point. She’d do anything to keep from being shipped off like the black sheep of the family.
“I’m sorry Buffy, but you made the decision for us. Your actions speak louder than your words do, and clearly at such a delicate time for me you’ve proven that you cannot be trusted. Now head up to your room and get ready.”
Buffy rose from her chair and ran, tears slipping down her cheeks uncontrollably.
****
It wasn’t even evening yet when Hank came knocking at her door. Buffy glanced at her wrist watch, it read 4:30 pm. He was ecstatic about getting rid of her it seemed, and that knowledge made this situation hurt all the more. It was safe to say that Buffy was one pissed off teenager.
Whipping the door open she just stared at him. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.
‘Not like I have a choice!’ she desperately wanted to yell at him. “It’s not tonight yet.” Buffy pointed out, folding her arms defensively across her chest. She wanted to pout, but little good that would do.
“Yes, well, there was a change of plans. It seems your Aunt has to be some place later tonight and wanted to be home to greet you, so you’re leaving now.”
“And this was just being brought to my attention now?” This just kept getting better and better with the badness. Not only did she not get the memo with the change of plans, now she wouldn’t get to see her friends for the last time. This definitely sucked.
“Don’t take that tone of voice with me, young lady.” Hank sighed as he shoved his hands into his tailored trousers. “Listen, I know this is going to be hard on you, and it feels like right now we are rejecting you. Trying to hide you. This isn’t the case, it’s for your own good, Buffy. You’ll be an adult soon and the choices that you make now can come back and haunt you in the future.”
’Yeah, and like sending me away isn’t going to scare me for life,’ she mentally added.
Buffy’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “And sending me away to Sunnydale is going to help how?”
“It’s quiet, slow paced. It doesn’t have all the trappings of the big city. You’ll do well there. Just, please, give it a chance, sweetie. You’ll see, and you’ll understand when you’re older.” He finished, taking her into his arms and giving her a hug. Buffy didn’t return it though, she was to upset, and she couldn’t fight the tears that spilled from her eyes. She would rather do a stint in rehab than be shipped off. At least then she’d still be in LA, around her friends, and even her screwed up parents. But in Sunnydale she’d be utterly alone, no one there would know her or even care about her. Not even the family she hardly knew.
****
The plane touched down an hour later at the Sunnydale Airport. It was larger than Buffy had imagined, and she could see the non-descript driver waiting for her on the tarmac, most likely there to make sure she arrived at her designated destination. Buffy snorted to herself before retrieving her travel bag and heading for the exit.
She sat in the car gazing out the tinted windows as the bag man loaded her belongings into the trunk. It was weird knowing that the majority of her things were now packed away in Louis Vuitton luggage and, would be residing in a room that wasn’t hers. She signed, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to come. She wanted to stop crying, but Buffy figured that wouldn’t be for a while. She never thought being rejected by her parents would hurt so much; it was of the not so good variety.
What she couldn’t understand though was why the rejection hurt as much as it did. It wasn’t as if Hank and Joyce were the world’s greatest parents, they weren’t even in the close running for sorta okay parents. They were never really there for her her entire life. From the moment she’d come home from the hospital she was pawned off to a nanny, and only graced with their love or at least affection when it was time for bed. When she had started elementary school, Hank had taken her shopping and bought her a puppy, she named him Pike. Her dad ran over the poor puppy three months later while heading off to work. Buffy cried for a week straight.
Dance recitals, plays, and the likes, Hank and Joyce would come and show their support, but that was all the interaction Buffy ever had from her parents. They were never there; they never told her how much they really loved her. Sometimes she thought she was unwanted. And now, well, she was in Sunnydale, going to live with her mother’s sister and her family.
Lost in thought she hadn’t realized that the car had pulled off the highway and onto local streets until they turned a corner onto a quite street. The homes were all similar in design. The lawns were well kept, deep green in appearance and the air was thick with that just mowed smell. Just by looking at the cars Buffy could tell this was a suburban area, working class, but the residents had some money. Which was good, she wouldn’t be completely slumming it. The driver pulled up in front of one of the homes, turned off the engine then exited the car. Buffy watched as he walked around to her side and opened her door.
“This is it, huh?” she asked, staring up at the non-descript house.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Buffy stood in front of the car gazing at the bungalow styled house and frowned. This was where she’d be living for God knew how long. She was about to turn around, slip back into the car and, refuse never to come out. Just as she was about to put action to her words the front door opened, and out walked a woman who looked much like her own mom. She came to a halt on the covered porch. Buffy could just make out a shadow that stood back inside the door frame. The woman smiled, “Welcome, Buffy.”
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A/N If you read this and liked it, let me know by dropping me a review. Thanks.