God, Xander wanted to fix that. William missed out on so many fun and new things because he was too busy being the good boy his mother had raised. Xander thought it must have been cool, in a way, being exactly what your parents expected, but enough was enough. William was almost twenty-three, had been in university for almost 4 years and he still hadn't been to a single party. He didn't want to change his friend all together, he just wanted to get him to loosen up a bit. Have some more fun.
But since it was Halloween, Xander had just the idea to bring William out of his shell a bit.
Xander walked to William's side of the dorm room and sat on his computer chair, watching William read his book. He was going to wait until William noticed him, but he was too engrossed in A Midsummer Night's Dream , so Xander took matters into his own hands.
Xander picked up a pencil off the desk and threw it at William, hitting him on his cheek with the eraser tip. William's head shot out and he scowled at Xander then returned to his book.
Xander sighed and decided to just talk to him. He stretched out his leg and nudged him with his foot. “So, what are you going to dress up as for the Lowell house Halloween party?” Xander asked him, knowing it was going to be something corny, like when he went to his parents Halloween party as a Christmas tree, or the year before that, when he went to Cordy's parents Halloween party as a 'ghost' with a sheet over his head. 'At least I got him to agree to go to the party in the first place...”
William didn't want to be interrupted, but he knew Xander wouldn't go away until he wanted to. “I'm going to be...” he closed the book he was reading, his finger used as a bookmark. He tilted his head in thought, going over some costumes he had at his parent's house. “I don't know, there are so many choices. Maybe... Oh!” William exclaimed then held up his book, his pointer finger—the one that was not being used as a bookmark—was poised under the author.”William Shakespeare!” he said, making Xander jump with his excitement.
Xander lowered and shook his head. “William, are you serious? You're gonna go to a college party dressed as Shakespeare?”
“Well...” William shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head. “Yeah. Why not?”
“Well...” Xander mocked, shaking his head and nodding as well. “It's kind of dorky.”
William's jaw dropped and he stared at Xander incredulously. “It's Shakespeare, mate! He is a legend. I would hardly call that dorky.”
“It's dorky, and you will look dorky. How about this--”
“No!” William blurted, not caring what Xander had to say. “I'm not going as anything you say. Knowing you, you'll probably send me as a bloody vampire or something. No way.”
Xander waved his hand dismissively at his friend. He was about to deny that he was going to say that but stopped. “Well, you were close... but no. I was going to say you should go as like someone punk. A bad boy William. Totally opposite from you, Mr. Goody-two-shoes”
“Not totally opposite! I am bad... sometimes.” William argued, his ego hurt.
Xander rolled his eyes. “Okay... prove it. When was the last time you were bad?”
William's mouth opened and closed a few times, searching for something to say. He really hadn't done anything bad in his life, except maybe when he had thrown his next-door-neighbor's pack of crayons into the brook behind his house in a fit of rage that only five year old boys are capable of. But he didn't think Xander would accept that as bad behavior. But he certainly wasn't a 'goody-two-shoes'. “Oh! There was that time that I... uh...” William's lips pursed and he shook his head. “No, that was you.”
“See--”
William cut Xander off by waving his hand. “I got one! That time when I was with Dru, before she left me. I stole her a purse from that bleedin' frilly store she loved so much.”
“Was this before or after she broke up with you because you weren't adventurous enough?”
William's triumphant smile was quickly lost as he scowled at Xander for the second time that evening. “After.”
“Exactly. Come on, just take my advice and do it. Just for the one night.” Xander asked “I'll even get Cordy and Anya to do a makeover.”
“No.” William said simply.
“I dare you.” Xander said and held out his hand to shake with William's. “I dare you to go dressed up as a punk. Besides,” Xander shrugged his shoulder. “You'll get some women. Girls dig the bad boy look. Haven't you ever read one of those girly magazines?”
William raised an eyebrow. "You have?"
"That's not the point. You're trying to distract me. You know I'm right."
William thought about that. He hadn't had a woman in a while. Maybe—just this once—he would do what Xander said. William put his hand out and shook Xander's. “Alright, I'll do it. But just for tomorrow night.
Xander quickly shook his hand and let go, his smile was wide and his ideas were big. “Great! I'll go call Cordy and Anya right now!”
William watched Xander practically bounce out of the room and he shook his head. 'What have I gotten myself into now?'
Cordy hung up the phone with Xander and she smiled widely. “Well, well, well... William is finally coming out of his shell.” She said to her cousin sitting on the bed.
“William? William Pratt?” Liz asked, looking up from the magazine she was looking at.
“Yup. You know him. William, sandy blond hair, glasses, had a huge crush on you when we were 8.” Cordy replied, giggling mercilessly at Liz' scrunched up face.
“Oh god. I remember him. He followed me around like a love sick puppy! So... creepy.” Liz said and shuddered. “What's he up to these days?”
Cordy stopped her laughing and took a deep breath. “Oh, you know.. Always has his nose in a book. Xander wants me to give him a makeover for the party. First one he's been to.”
Buffy's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. “You're serious? He's twenty-three and has never been to a college party?” she shook her head and looked back down at her magazine and flipped the page. “Someone needs to get laid. Stat.”
“Oh, don't be such a snob. He's a good guy. Better than that Angel guy you were dating. Maybe you could give him a chance. You never know.”
Buffy thought about that for a moment. She was tired of all the pretty boy, jock types she had been dating lately. Plus, when Cordelia Chase was telling you that you were being a snob? Time to switch gears. She could go for a nerdy guy. If anything, it would definitely be different.
“Maybe I will...”
TBC