Chapter 2

September 1st, 1997…

Mom dropped me off at school today. I’m actually glad, since long walks ain’t so easy now that I don’t have Slayer stamina. First stop – the Library, to see Giles.

Buffy pushed the doors open, walking in with her usual sunny disposition.

“Hey, Giles! First day of school, huh? Exciting…”

“Oh, uh, Buffy…yes, quite. Do you need something…books, perhaps? As you can see, I’m a little…swamped.”

She hadn’t realized that every student would have to come in here to get their textbooks. Ooops, so much for timing.

“Well, I do need books, but I can come back later? No biggie.”

Giles glanced briefly at her while handing another student their requested books. “Thank you, dear.”

“Okay, um…have you seen Willow?”

“She was the first here this morning. I’m sure she’s somewhere on campus.”

The next student stepped up, and more were jostling up to the counter to get their textbooks before the bell, so Buffy made her retreat back out to the hallway. She had just enough time to get to 1st period, and hopefully, Willow or Xander would have the same class.

----------------------

“Nice shoes, Buffy,” Cordelia said, passing by to her seat two classes later.

“Whoa…I think Queen C just paid you a compliment, Buff! Is the world ending and we didn’t get the memo?” Xander whispered to Buffy from the seat next to her.

She opened her mouth to answer, when the teacher started talking, to begin the class.

“Welcome to American History…”

Great, another history teacher that spoke in monotone.

----------------------

“Hey, Buffy! How have your classes been so far?” Willow asked, as Buffy sat down at the lunch table.

“Pretty boring, Wills, as usual. Oh, there was something weird, though. Cordelia actually complimented my shoes! And not in the ‘I’m saying ‘nice shoes, but I really mean they’re hideous’ kind of way.”

“Wow…”

“Yeah, I think she’s possessed…or it’s the next sign of the apocalypse,” Xander added. “As far as I knew, Cordelia Chase was incapable of being nice.”

“Well, they are great shoes. I got them in L.A. when my dad gave me his credit card,” Buffy gushed, wiggling her foot so her friends could see.

“Ooo, those are cute! You had a shopping spree and didn’t call me?” Willow pouted.

“I would have…if I had a car to pick you up, Wills. It is, like, an hour away.”

“That’s true. Okay, I forgive you this time. Have you seen Giles, yet?”

“For about a minute. He was totally swamped in books this morning. I can’t believe so many people were in the library before school! Since when did everybody get so studious on the first day?” Buffy took another sip of her soda. “I’ll stop in after school. He’s probably going to want to talk about all the changes.”

“That’s right – no more superhero antics for the Buffster. Whatever will you do at night now?” Xander asked.

“Whatever I want, as long as it doesn’t involve a cemetery! I’m completely free of any obligations once the new girl shows up.”

“When is that?”

“I have no clue. That’s what Giles gets to keep track of.”

“Do you think she’ll be nice?” Willow asked.

“I don’t know, Wills. The Council normally trains girls from a young age, so she might be like a mini-Giles with super strength. I only have to be around her long enough to give her the grand tour of Sunnydale’s nighttime hot spots. Which includes making sure she doesn’t stake Angel on sight.”

“Have you seen him this summer?” Willow wondered.

Buffy shook her head. “Not since we cleaned up after the Master.” It was easy to see she wasn’t happy about that.

“I’m sure he’ll drop by, now that you’re back,” Willow said comfortingly.

“Right…”

The bell rang, signaling lunch was over. Xander headed off to shop class, while the girls had English.

-----------------------

“Giles, it’s been kind of a long first day, so is there anything important you want to talk to me about?” Buffy asked as she entered the library later that afternoon.

“Uh, well, firstly…how are you doing?”

“Well, most of my teachers seem pretty boring, per usual; Cordelia liked my shoes – weird, I know; oh, and I got through the whole day without any embarrassing accidents or spills, so – pretty good in the land of Buffy,” she replied.

Giles sighed. “I meant, how are you coping with…recent changes?”

“Oh. Well, at first, I was a lot more clumsy, and stuff, is like, heavy again, but it’s cool. I don’t have to lie to my mom anymore, at least not about where the latest demon bloodstain came from, so that’s a big plus. And sleep – I had a whole summer of sleeping whenever I wanted to. It was fabulous!”

“Good, good. I’m glad everything’s going so well for you, Buffy. The new Slayer will arrive in a few weeks, so until then, I have asked Angel to keep patrolling the cemeteries to keep the vampire population down. I hope you are more careful out at night, now, without your powers?”

“Yes, Giles,” Buffy answered, rolling her eyes. “I know better than anybody what to avoid, okay? And I still keep a stake and holy water in my purse. I’ll be fine.”

“Yes…well, remind Xander and Willow that they shouldn’t be out there, either. The three of you don’t need to be involved in the supernatural any longer,” he asserted.

“Maybe…but we’re still going to bug you here in the library,” she said with a smirk. “I gotta go. Mom’s picking me up.”

---------------------

Buffy was taking out the trash that evening, when Angel materialized out of the shadows.

“Hey,” she greeted him.

“Hi. You think being out here after dark is a good idea? Demons know what you look like, Buffy.”

She pulled the stake out of the back of her shorts to show him. “See? I’m armed. Geesh, no ‘hello, how was your summer?’”

He looked a little sheepish as he moved closer. “How was your summer?”

“Good, thank you. I did lots of shopping, and went to the beach. My dad even took a day off and we went to Universal Studios. It was fun.”

“Good. I’m, uh, glad you had a good time. So…uh, did Giles let you know I’m patrolling still?”

“Yep, until the newbie arrives. Sorry to stick you with that,” she said sympathetically.

“It needs to be done…Uh, Buffy?”

“Yeah, Angel?” she replied, amused.

“Never mind. You should go back inside. Your mother’s at the window.”

She rolled her eyes after glancing back behind her. “Yeah…I should. Ugh, she’s going to interrogate me about talking to a man on the sidewalk now. See ya around?”

“Yeah,” he replied, and walked off.

Well, that wasn’t quite like I pictured it, she thought. Buffy spun on her heel, and yelled, “Coming, Mom!” as she walked back inside the house.