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Buffy Summers pushed open the door to the cafeteria, her heart heavy with the prospect of having to sit at lunch by herself. At a table by herself. No words could express her true loathing for having to sit alone while so many others around her laughed and ate together. As the door swung shut behind her, she looked around for an empty space. While there were many long tables full of people, she spotted a few of the plastic booths that were hidden in the corners of the large room. Only a few people occupied one of them. Making her way over slowly, she looked around the cafeteria, wondering when she had last ate in there. She always went out. At least, when Cordelia had the car. If she wasn’t present, she, Faith and Harmony would make their way to Harmony’s house to eat. They would never dare venture into the cafeteria. As her eyes moved around, seeing people circulating , sitting down, looking at her oddly, writing, she unconsciously checked the crowd to see if he was there. She knew he was wearing a white t-shirt. A mere glance of him earlier had given her that fact. Sliding into the long bench as she removed her bag and threw it onto the table, she sighed. She knew no one in here. She didn’t talk to anyone other than her little group. And she was usually fine with that unless they all decided that they would not come to school, failing to give her notice. Buffy hated it but didn’t have much choice. She hardly knew anyone else and hadn’t bothered to meet anyone since she had moved to the school over a year ago. Having been a new sophmore in Sunnydale High, she was not easily comfortable. People smiled, people smirked, people laughed. That was until Cordelia had taken her in and Buffy hadn’t looked back. She had never been popular at Hemery so she had jumped at the chance to be a Cordette. As time passed, though, she knew that she wasn’t happy or as at ease as she had been when she wasn’t constantly wondering where the latest party was. Wondering if her nail polish was the right color for her skin tone. Wondering whether or not her friends would actually arrive to school that day. Scanning the room once more, she pulled her Literature text book out of her bag. Opening it up to the most random of pages, she looked down, not at all comprehending the words. They didn’t matter. She didn’t want to read. She had never been good at the whole school thing. It was only for show. To show people that she wasn’t just sitting there because she had to. Plus, it was better than eating. She didn’t really care about food at the moment, though, because she knew her teacher in her next class wouldn’t mind if she ate in there. She wasn’t really all that hungry. And she would rather get stares of envious hunger than pity. Staring at the book before her, she began to recognize that she was reading a poem by Anne Bradstreet. Something about a burning house... Whatever the hell it was, Buffy didn’t care. Several minutes passed by as the small blonde idly turned the pages to the book, looking at the words on the paper with little interest. She could hear a little voice in the back her mind counting down the minutes as they passed, slowly getting to the point where she could escape. Then she looked up and froze. A thin page stilled between her fingers as the man she had been crushing on since the moment she had seen him last year walked into the cafeteria, his movements slow and sure. She always noticed he walked with confidence, something she envied him for but was awed by at the same time. She then threw herself to the side without thinking, diving against the seat. What was he doing here? He couldn’t be here. It was wrong and not the way Buffy wanted him to see her. Not sitting by herself. Definitely not looking like the loser of all losers. They had only spoken twice. Nothing more than a simple, "Hi" or "Do you have a pencil I can borrow?". And she never talked to, or about, him when she was around Cordelia. The tall brunette appeared to have no patience for him and Buffy secretly knew that she liked him as well. She remembered hearing her mumble, "Hello salty goodness" the first time that Buffy had seen him. And then all the rich girl did was deny whenever asked by Faith and Harmony. Buffy didn’t realize that she had been staring over the top of the table, her eyes never leaving him as she made his way across the cafeteria, his intent clear as he approached the pop machine that happened to be on the other side of the large room. She wondered what he was doing in that hour. Didn’t he have class? She had yet to see him during her fifth hour and had assumed that he had lunch at another time. Maybe she was mistaken? But she could have sworn... And then he was looking over at her. Buffy’s eyes widened as she quickly sat up, her hands running down her top. She was merely picking up her pencil. Yes, her pencil had fallen on the ground. Never to be found. Buffy cursed the pencil she knew was sitting in her bag. She couldn’t very well reach over, grab it out for all to see and then pretend it had fallen and she had really been reaching for it. Looking down at the forgotten book sitting on the table, she stared at the word "the" in a poem about something by someone. She didn’t move as she stared at the book, her ears attempting to pick up any sound of his approach. Would he approach her? Would he say something to her, making it three times? Several seconds passed before Buffy finally allowed herself to look up quickly to see if he was still present. Present he ever was. He was walking towards her! Buffy felt a mixture of fear, nervousness and anxiety attack her as he got closer. Her eyes widened once more before she looked down, pushing her face closer towards the book. Brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, she counted to ten, hoping and dreading him passing. He sat down on seven. It took Buffy three seconds to look up at him. She inhaled sharply. "Hi," she blurted loudly. Buffy feels her insides melting as he smiled. "Hi," he replied. Buffy felt her mouth drying as her breathing quickened slightly. What was it about him that made her body go crazy? She wanted to jump up and run away from the weirdness while at the same time ask him if he would go out with her. She didn’t do anything though. She merely stared at his face. She could see the amusement in his dark eyes. "Are you avoiding me?" His deep voice startled her slightly and she blinked owlishly at him. Avoiding him? Why, no. Why would he think that? Buffy’s mind raced back to before the hour had started. She had spotted him walking towards her in the hallway and she had felt the butterflies in her stomach fluttering wildly in her stomach. She had pretended to see someone in a classroom and had then darted in, waiting for him to pass before she darted towards the cafeteria. That was how she had known what he was wearing. And that was probably what he was talking about. "Because you’re avoidable," Buffy said in a nervous voice, trying to force a joking tone. It didn’t sound like it worked... She watched as he lifted an eyebrow. Buffy smiled, looking down before looking back at him, an attempt to cover the bright red face she surely had. He didn’t respond and Buffy felt the smile on her face loosening. What was he doing here anyway? Why was he sitting here? Why wasn’t he in class? Didn’t he have a girlfriend? Why was he staring at her? Questions whirled in her mind as she fought to keep her composure. Buffy bit the inside of her lip as he smiled at her once again, a gentle smile that made her mind instantly blank. "I like you, too, you know..." The End l be kind, rewind l back to top l
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