Xander shrugged. "If they're smart, eating something so they don't pass out from starvation before the day's over." Xander walked over to the lunch line with Cordelia and wrinkled his nose at the cheap excuse for food he found there. "Though, if we're still assuming that they're smart, then they totally *wouldn't* be eating *this* food. Hell, even I can make a better burger than that.... thing." Xander pointed a finger at the school's attempt at a burger, which consisted of under-cooked meat on a burned bun with droopy, brown tinged lettice and no good condiments to disguise it's taste. He shuddered and led Cordelia away from the lunch line. "Well, obviously rule #1 at West Roswell High is 'bring a sack lunch or starve' if this stuff is the norm. Ick."
Cordelia rummaged in her shoulder back and produced two snacks. "I have an apple and a granola bar, take your pick. But if our evil hunting takes us well into the evening, then someone owes me dinner."
Xander grinned and gave Cordelia a peck on the cheek. "Sure thing. And I'll make you up an Eclipse Burger before we go to the Crash Festival, deal?" He looked longingly at the apple as his stomach growled noisily. "Can I have the apple? I'm not that fond of granola... stuff."
Cordelia handled Xander the apple as she opened the offending granola "stuff" and started to munch on it. "So, what's up with this Crash Festival thing? Its like a big alien party?"
*************
"I can't help worrying," Liz whispered, but the words were so soft that she wasn't sure she even actually said them. Maybe she just thought them... She looked at Michael for a moment longer, then she sighed. Nothing would come from this right now. She would have to talk to him later about it, try to make him see reason.
Going back to her earlier question, Liz extended a hand toward Michael. "Can I see the necklace... please? I want to examine it. You know, for clues."
Michael didn't answer Liz in words. Instead he simply raised an eyebrow and nodded his head in Max's direction, directing Liz's attention to the fact that he had already handed the amulet to Max, therefore she'd have to ask their fearless leader if she could see it.
Then, on second thought, he decided to speak up after all. "Parker, that thing gave me one hell of a vision/headache. And if it could do that to me, who knows what it could do to you? It's too dangerous. I don't want you touching it." His eyes moved from Maria to Isabel before turning back to Liz, silently including all three girls in his little speech. "Any of you." If he knew that arbitrarily deciding that none of the girls could touch the necklace was an extremely sexist action on his part, Michael didn't mention it.
"Why not?" Maria asked. "We don't know what this thing is. If Mr. O'Shea planted it as a booby trap for you three - " she indicated Michael, Max, and Isabel with three pointed looks - "the worst thing we could do is let you two be the ones to examine it. And even if it was just a weird vision thing, it still won't have any effect on us powerless human beings."
Unlike Liz, Maria was definitely not a scientist. She didn't trust Mr. O'Shea, nor was she inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt until she was absolutely sure that he was neither an alien nor a member of the FBI. She didn't want him or his weird necklace hurting Michael or Max or Isabel.
Besides, how much damage could this thing possibly do to her?
"I've got an idea," she said. "Either we figure out what this thing is right now, or we give it to me or Liz and deal with it after school." Michael especially received another patent-pending Maria-Look. "Unless you want to set it off in the middle of class."
Michael shook his head vehemently, his attention focused solely on Maria. "No. No way. I am not letting you put yourself in danger. Not gonna happen."
He crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning back against the wall, and returned Maria's look with a trademarked Michael-scowl. "We don't have any idea of what this thing can do. It's too dangerous," he told her gruffly. "And if Mr. O'Shea comes looking for it, I don't want anyone taking the fall for stealing it but me." He shrugged. "Besides, as long as I keep it in the box and don't actually *touch* it, I should be fine. It only seemed to give me those trippy flashes when I touched that black jewel in the center."
Liz nodded in support of her friend. "I agree with Maria. I don't want... anything to happen to you guys." And she really didn't. Michael was her friend, now once and for all. And Max, well, she would never want Max hurt. Ever. And even Isabel, with whom she'd had such harsh words earlier, Liz wouldn't want any harm to come to her.
Turning to Max, Liz held out her hand for the necklace. "I'll take it... I'll keep it safe. I promise. And while I have it, I can examine it, maybe under a microscope in the computer lab." Liz didn't normally use such a no-room-for-disagreement tone with Max, but occasionally she had to. Briefly, her mind flashed to the time when she'd had to make him understand that she was going to the Indian reservation to find out about the alien artifact (a different necklace) from Atherton's. She hadn't taken no for an answer then either.
**************
Tires squealed to a stop as a dusty bus rolled into the Roswell Bus Station. A load of excited tourists scurried off, rambling about some festival. A blond teenager got off after them. She looked around at the desolate desert landscape. Buffy Summers pushed back her hair from her sweaty brow. It's even hotter here than it was in southern California, she thought. She grabbed her duffel and her weapons bag. First stop, motel, to drop her stuff off and shower, then the school. She had to talk to the gang about the vamp in Sunnydale who had also talked about aliens. "Now, I've really heard everything," she muttered to herself. The only answer was the desert wind, blowing dirt in her face.
20 MINUTES LATER
Buffy finished changing and stepped outside the tiny motel and headed in the direction of the High School. When she arrived, she looked around anxiously for one of her friends. She didn't see anyone. She wished Giles were here. Her Watcher would know what to do. Or Angel. she was worried about him. He was still very strong, but he was also still human, and he was always doing more than he could. She didn't want anything to happen to him. She could not live if anything happened to him while she was away. She saw a flash of red hair. Willow? she wondered. She hurried towards it.
Willow was still waiting for Aidan to give her some more names for the suspect list when she saw someone out of the corner of her eye that she was not expecting to ever see in a backwater place like Roswell, New Mexico.
Jumping to her feet, Willow turned and faced the blonde newcomer with a big grin. "Buffy! What are you doing here? It's great to see you!"
"Buffy!" Aidan exclaimed, dropping his chicken salad sandwich in surprise. "What are you doing here? Did something happen to Giles? Is there a crisis on the Hellmouth?"
"Hi guys," Buffy said breaking a smile. "Calm down. Giles is fine. There's no crisis. Well... not apocalyse ones or anything like that. What's up here? Has anything else happened? The reason I came without telling you is because it was really important. A couple of days ago, I busted a vamp nest. They were doing all this weird ritualistic stuff. We dusted them, but before that one of them was babbling about those alien vamps again and that something big was coming up. This might be really bad. Where's Faith?" she said all this really fast. She had a bad feeling about all this. Something wasn't right. This didn't seem like the usual evil she fought. Something was different. Really, Roswell, New Mexico? What the heck was going on, she wondered.
"We're still trying to find out what's going on here," Aidan told Buffy, making sure to keep his voice down so no one in the yard could hear them. "We've been doing surveillance, and we've found quite a bit of suspicious things going on here, but no answers, as of yet. And no super vampires, either. Just rumors from the regular vamps of vampire gods. And of course, the one who said the super vampires were actually aliens. None of that has been verified though."
Taking a deep breath, Aidan finished, "And, as for Faith, I don't know where she went. She was here a few minutes ago, but now she's gone again. She hasn't been much of a team player while we've been here."
Buffy looked at Aidan strangely,"What do you mean? What's she been up to?," she asked, fearing the worst. She didn't really trust Faith. She was too violent for her own good.
"All I know is that she hasn't been around here," Aidan said with a frustrated shrug. "That doesn't mean she's doing anything bad, but it does mean that she's not helping us with our vampire problem." Aidan still felt weird about this whole situation. It was hard to talk about it with anyone, but especially Buffy, the other Slayer. He was *supposed* to be a Watcher. He was *supposed* to be able to help, guide and train a Slayer, but apparently now Faith was above having a Watcher. He didn't understand what was going on, but he wished things were better.
Buffy shrugged,"Well, I supposed to send her back to Sunnydale to help out there, so at least she might be out of our hair for awhile," Buffy said feeling a little relieved that it was nothing major with Faith. She sensed that Aidan wasn't really comfortable talking about it. She could understand that and felt a little bad for him. No one could control Faith. It had always been that way. She sighed and leaned back against the tree,"So where's everyone else?"
*************
Michael tore his gaze away from his latest "glaring contest" with Maria over the necklace and looked at Liz. "Are none of you hearing a word I say?" Michael stressed each of his next words carefully. "It's. Too. Dangerous."
He gave Liz one of his "I'm not budging on this one" glares as well. Two could play that game. "We need to know more about the necklace and about Mr. O'Shea before anybody does anything risky."
Max tuned back in to his surroundings and was instantly aware of the quickly climaxing tension. Liz and Maria seemed dead set on protecting him and Michael from the dangers they perceived in the necklace while Michael was hell-bent on protecting them from the same. Liz was in fact so determined that she wasn't making sense. Why would they have a microscope in the computer lab? At any rate, he had to share with them what he had learned in his reverie.
"Everyone just calm down. Look, I know there is a lot we don't know about where we come from," Max said looking at Michael and Isabel, "But everything we've encountered so far has had a certain feel. It resonates. And more importantly it resonates like we do. And you can practically feel it. This thing, it doesn't feel right. It feels like it belongs here in a way that nothing else from our planet does -- the pod chamber, the orbs. This feels human. I don't know how I know that, I only know that I do.
"Given that it is human, there is no reason to believe it would be any safer for you to mess with it than us. It would be more likely to hurt you, I would think. I don't think we ought to mess with it at all here at school. If Mr. O'Shea or any of the other newcomers who may or may not be in league with him catch us we'd be in serious trouble. I say we meet before the Crash tonight and see what we can SAFELY find out. No one is taking ANY unnecessary risks." He locked eyes with each member of the group trying to gauge their reactions, hoping he'd diffused things and not made them worse.
Michael had been prepared to tell Max - after he agreed with Liz, since he *always* agreed with Liz - that he was wrong about the necklace and that it *was* dangerous, he could sense it. He was prepared to challenge Max's authority as leader if need be. Anything to make sure that Maria - and Liz and Isabel - were safe from harm. He was ready to start a fight right here in the band hall if that was what was required!
When Max finished speaking, Michael opened his mouth to start objecting when he realized that Max hadn't agreed with Liz after all, shock of all shocks. He'd agreed with Michael! Quickly changing tactics without missing a beat, Michael said, "There, you see? Maxwell agrees with me. And he's the leader, so I guess he must be right." Michael nodded his head decisively, giving Max a grateful smile. He was glad the other guy had seen things his way.
"Fine," Maria muttered. "But if anything happens to you, you're getting a big fat told-you-so." Clearly not happy with losing the argument, but not able to find anything wrong with what Max had said, she settled for a glower. She knew that Michael was trying to protect her - and she knew somehow that his stubbornness on the issue had more to do with her than with Liz or Isabel - but that didn't make her any happier.
"What do you mean, it's human?" she asked suddenly, turning her attention to Max. "Maybe it's not made by your species, but that doesn't mean it isn't alien. Last I checked, human necklaces didn't make Michael go all trippy."
"Like Liz said, maybe it's some kind of weird gypsy magic thing. Who knows?" Michael shrugged, not feeling the need to glare any more since he'd won the argument already. "We'll figure out what it is later tonight, before the Crash Festival. Speaking of which, we are all going, right? Spy on Tess duty and all of that." Assuming that the answer was yes, after all, he'd made a good plan, they all said so. Why wouldn't they be going? "Do we need to see about getting some of those dorky costumes? Because I'll tell you one thing, I do *not* wear tights or sequins of any kind. It would ruin my reputation."
Michael couldn't help but grin a bit when he remembered Maria's costume from last year's festival. It had been green and tight and sparkly. She'd looked fantastic. He wondered what she would find to wear this year, though he would never tell her that. At least not in front of Max and the others. Again, something that would ruin his reputation.
Liz had remained quiet during Max's pronouncement, and her quiet had turned into a moderate sulking spree. Who did Max think he was? Yes, he had senses, and he "knew" things sometimes, but if any of them got hurt... Well, that was just their own fault then, wasn't it. Liz tried to console herself with that, but the consolation was hollow. She didn't like this. She didn't like it one bit.
Finally deciding to take part in the conversation again, Liz darted Michael a saccharine-sweet smile as she lapsed into their newly-familiar bickering routine. "You don't have to worry about me, Michael. I've got my costume already picked out, and it has sequins in *all* the right places."
"Why, Parker, I didn't know you had it in you!" Michael raised an eyebrow, giving Liz an amused smirk. "In *ALL* the right places, eh? This I've got to see." His look was the equivalent to a dare. It said, just in the set of his jaw and the smirk lingering behind his eyes, "Pure and Perfect Liz Parker trying to be a harlett in her sequined costume? Yeah, right. I'll believe *that* when I see it!" Though he secretly hoped that she would prove him wrong, if just for the look on Max's face when his "dreamgirl" was stealing the attention of all the guys at the Festival. He'd choke on his own lungs. Michael knew it would be priceless.
Liz glanced up at the clock and realized that lunch would be over in just a few minutes. "Look, guys, I've got to go. My next class is on the other side of the school. Is there anything else we need to talk about?"
Max likewise glanced up at the clock. Time sure did fly when you were angsting, didn't it? "I don't think so. Let's meet at the Crashdown at 4:30. Okay?"
*******************
"Thanks," Jeffery replied. Then, cradling his injured hand only a little bit, he sat down in the window sill and jumped inside. He closed the window after them, and locked it. "Don't want to give away our presence," he explained.
"Wouldn't want that, would we?" Jessica muttered. She started looking through the basement, but aside from the usual plumbing, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
Then he headed to the stairs leading up. When he got up to the top, he opened the door slowly and peered inside.
His tense posture relaxed a bit when he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Opening the door and walking through, he whispered down to Jessica, "It's just a kitchen."
"Kind of a letdown. I was hoping for demonic symbols or something." Jessica climbed up the stairs and started poking through the cabinets. So far it was the typical kitchen with an overabundance of weird white linoleum.
With one major exception.
Frowning slightly, Jessica closed the cabinets and went over to the fridge. She opened the door and poked her head in. "Shouldn't kitchens have food?" she asked, stepping back to reveal the bare fridge.
Jeffery opened the cabinets one after another. Some of them were filled with dishes, and one even had some old boxed foods, but by the dust level, Jeffery could tell that they had not been touched in a long time.
"I doubt many 'normal' human girls live in houses without food," he agreed. He shut the last cabinet door quickly. "Let's try upstairs. Bedrooms, after all, are usually the most revealing..."
Jeffery walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. Once there, he stopped and looked around. The place looked positively sterile. There were a few pieces of furniture, but it looked like a model home -- something that had never been lived in. Nothing seemed to have been touched in months, there were no personal artifacts illustrating the life of a teenaged girl laying about the room. He reached down and rubbed his finger along one of the end tables. It came away coated with dust.
Looking up at Jessica, Jeffery said, "I guess Tess isn't too concerned with living somewhere homey..."
"I don't think she lives here at all." Jessica bent over and looked under the sofa. Nothing. "What gets me," she said as she sat back on her heels, "is why a demon would go to all this trouble in the first place. Why would she go to all this trouble to have a pretty little house and then not live in it? I could understand it with vampires, but..." She waved her hand vaguely. "We're missing something here. I just wish I knew what."
"Me, too," Jeffery agreed. The door connecting the living room to the rest of the house was closed. Jeffery walked over and opened it. Things were quiet. Very quiet. He found himself in an entry hall. He looked around. "Well, if she does live here, I don't think she spends much time downstairs." Turning to Jessica, Jeffery asked, "Shall we continue with the downstairs, or head on up?"
*******************
Isabel had sat watching the meeting unfold, with interest. Not so much in the discussions taking place, but more in the actual dynamic of the group.
And all it did to her was make her feel more like an outsider.
It was plain to her that Michael and Maria were back together. Max and Liz had issues still, but Isabel could tell that they were still each others world. Maria and Liz had the whole best friend thing going on, and Michael and Liz seemed to have gotten closer over the summer.
It surprised her that once the discussions proper started, she was virtually ignored by the rest of the group. Max, through the occasional concerned glance her way, which she certainly aprecited, but it really was a disscussion between the two couples. Isabel knew that she could have ventered an opinion at some stage, but when had they ever really listened to her, or done anything she suggested, unless Max and Michael both agreed. Even before Max found out her was the leader and Michael his 2nd, they treated Isabel with less than equal rights.
She had done some damge to her relationship with Liz, which was another reason why she had remained silent. Liz, as usual was taking a large role in the discussion and if Isabel had disagreed the chasm between the two could have grown even wider. She was surprised that Liz had acted the way she did earlier during lunch, but she also knew that if she wanted that friendship back she would need to walk the first few yards on her own. And Isabel really needed it.
While part of her yearned to get a new friend, for talking to about everyday stuff, without any off-worldy implications, she knew that there would always be a barrier to that friendship. One that she could not let be crossed again. With Liz, there was no barrier.
Except the ones she put there today.
"4.30 it is then," Isabel said as she got up and walked out the door.
Max frowned after his departing sister worried about her, tuned back in just in time to raise an eyebrow at the banter between Michael and Liz about sequin placement and wondered if this normal thing he kept hoping for was all just a myth that didn't exist in real life and was only a setting on his dryer.
Liz looked from Isabel to Max. "All right. 4:30. The Crashdown." She didn't really want another meeting today, but she had to work anyway. "I'll be working, but I'll do my best to be there for what I can."
Suddenly, Liz thought of something. "Maria, speaking of work. Are you coming in today? Agnes called in sick this morning, so we're short-handed. One of those new girls, Jessica, applied for the job, so I could call her if you can't come in, but I told my dad I'd check with you first..." Liz sighed. "I suppose, at least if we employ the new kids then at least we can watch them, right?"
But Liz would rather have Maria working by her side any day. Liz had missed Maria so much, and, even though she was back, Liz still missed her. They hadn't gotten to spend any one-on-one time together. They'd both been busy, and somehow they had crossed signals and missed their meeting in front of the school this morning. All these thoughts flashed through Liz's head as she waited to see what Maria, and the others would say.
"I can do it," Maria said immediately. She didn't want Liz working with any more strange new people than she possibly had to, but mostly she just wanted to hang out with Liz and be normal, slightly overworked teenagers with weird alien bobby things on their heads. "It would look kinda funny if I showed up for the meeting and not for work, right?"
Another thought occured to her. "Michael, are you on this afternoon, or is it Xander?"
Maria raised both eyebrows. "Wow. How many of these people do you have there?"
"Dad hired Xander to replace Jose," Liz explained. "I didn't think anything of it at the time. Three weeks ago, Xander was the only new person in town that I know of."
Michael shrugged, picking up his bookbag and trying to decide if he was supposed to wait for Maria or give her some alone-time with her best friend. He finally chose the former, though for purely selfish reasons. But he justified it by the fact that he and Maria both had Art next, so it would make sense for them to walk together. Really.
Remembering that Liz had actually asked him a question, Michael spoke up. "Actually, your dad said he was expecting quite a rush of those wacko tourists who come in for the festival, so he scheduled both of us. Me on grill and Harris as the gopher."
"Well, then," Liz said, "I guess I'll see you all later." She turned and left the band hall, feeling, somehow, extremely alone as she headed down the hall to her next class.
Suddenly, she realized that she didn't know what class she was actually going to. Liz stopped in the middle of the hall and dug her schedule out of her bookbag. Juggling her things while balanced on her new clogs, she unfolded the slip of paper and skimmed down until she found the right entry. Her face fell.
"Music Appreciation. Woo-hoo."
Liz was more a science person. She enjoyed creative arts like writing, but music was foreign turf to her. With a sigh, Liz made her way to the music room and found a seat in the middle. Apparently the guidance counselor had decided she'd put off taking her fine arts credits long enough. Once settled, she looked at the clock. The bell would be ringing in just a minute or two and then the class would begin. Glancing at the empty seat next to her, Liz wondered idly who would sit in it.
********************
Max frowned also at Liz's retreating back wishing he could make everything right for her. He shook his head and turned back to Michael and Maria. Drowning in worry, weighed down by responsibility and consumed by Liz Parker, it had still not escaped his notice that there had been a radical alteration in the way the two interacted since this morning. 'Note to self, when having that talk with Michael, ask him about the Maria thing.'
The bell interupted his thoughts. "I'll see you two at 4:30, then," he said and then joined the throng in the hall to find his way to his next class. He pulled out his schedule and was dismayed and even dejected to read "Speech." Get up in front of a large group of people and talk? Were they joking? Max did not ditch class, unless mission related, but he had a decidedly Michael-like desire to blow this class off entirely. Duty and responsiblity won out and resignedly he drug himself off to the room he was sure would be the bane of his existence.
Michael watched both Max and Liz leave, also frowning. When had everything gotten so tense in their group? He could still remember a time last year when they had been each other's world, and as much as he'd fought against it at the time, it had been nice to have a family for once. How'd they manage to lose that so quickly?
[One word, bud: Destiny. Sucks, doesn't it?]
Looking over at Maria, Michael attempted something resembling a smile. He wasn't sure if he succeeded or not.
"So, I guess it's art time for us..."
"Yeah." Maria slung her bookbag over her shoulder. She wished she had Michael's resiliance - there he was smiling and all she could manage was an awkward grimace. Or possibly a sickly grin. Either way, she was betting she didn't look happy and cheerful.
Now for a change of subject. She cast about for one and finally came up with something that sounded fairly non-explosive. "So do you have to wear those springy antenna at the Crashdown?"
********************
"On their various missions," Aidan said. He glanced around the school yard, but no one seemed to be paying the new guidance counselor and his two young friends any undue attention. "Come with us to my office, and I'll fill you in on what we know so far."
Aidan reached down and picked up some of Willow's lunch supplies. "I'll help you carry these."
Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling the end of this lunch period and the beginning of afternoon classes. Aidan knew that they needed to hurry now. Soon he had to start his part of the plan and call Cordelia and Isabel Evans into his office for "scheduling problems." But they had to fill Buffy in first. He started walking toward the school along with the hordes of high schoolers headed for class, and hoped that Willow and Buffy wouldn't lose him in the crush.
"So, Will," Buffy said softly under her breath," How's life?" Buffy had missed the rest of the Scooby Gang while they were away. She had looked forward to seeing them again, especially Willow. A lot had happened that she had wanted to talk to her best friend about.
Aidan was glad to see that Buffy and Willow were still as good of friends as when he'd left Sunnydale. It was good, then, that Willow was here at the same time as Buffy. Despite the shock of it all, it would be good to have them here for however long. That made Aidan realize that he didn't know how long Buffy was staying. Willow had said she was leaving after the Crash festival, but he didn't know about Buffy. They really needed to talk.
When they got to the door of the school, Aidan held it open for the girls to enter, and then he led them through the rapidly emptying hallways to his office. He held his office door open for them as well, and then he followed them inside and shut the door.
"All right," Aidan said. "Willow, we need to fill Buffy in on everything we've learned in Roswell thus far. Maybe you could show her one of the packets Xander made for us. But the problem is that we've got to find another place to talk because, remember, I'm supposed to call Cordelia and Isabel Evans to my office to go over their 'scheduling problems.'" Aidan turned to Buffy and explained, "Isabel is the sister of one Max Evans, and Max is, well, some of the strangest occurances in Roswell have centered around him. We're investigating him as covertly as we can."
He thought for a minute. "Maybe you two could go to the teacher's lounge. It's bound to be fairly empty after lunch..."
"Teacher's lounge, it is," Buffy said." Let's go." The trio walked down to a room tha Aidan showed them. It was empty. Buffy and Willow went in and sat down in the drab room, decorated in a faded Mexican style. Everything in this town seemed to be drab and faded. Small towns are all alike I guess, she thought thinking of Sunnydale. She still had the strange feeling of misplacement here. Something is *definitely* different about this town. She shook her head, trying to shake off her thoughts and the feeling of dread she had. She turned to Willow,"So, what *is* going on here?"
Willow shrugged. "Kinda weird, which is normal for us, I suppose." She gave Buffy a grin. "But enough about me, I've only been gone for a day, after all. I want to hear about you. What happened to send you here? Was it another big baddie that we have to fight? Not that that would be anything new, but I believe in being prepared. Girl Scout motto. Not that I was a girl scout or anything, but it seemed like good advice. And I'm babbling, aren't I? I'm have a babble fest. Babble City, that's me." Willow smiled sheepishly at Buffy. "Shutting up now."
Luckily for Willow, Aidan began to talk before she could get to talking non-stop again.
*******************
Spike used to be able to sleep like the dead, ironically enough when he was still alive. Enough years of being equal parts hunter and prey had altered that. Big bads don't last too long if they can be caught napping. So it was that the subtle noises from downstairs had waken him. His feet hit the floor before he remembered even where he was. Seeing no immediate danger he looked around him.
Of course, he was in his attic abode at Tess' house. What sort of basement came with eastern facing windows? Rooftops were not exactly vampiric abodes, but it beat the hell out of greeting the dawn with smoke. So, who was in the house. Was Tess back from school or whatever it was she did out and about? Spike listened and heard voices. Well, she wouldn't be talking to herself. Now the question was, did he go down and greet them or hope they just went away.
Curiosity and impatience quickly won out and he crept down the stairs. On the second floor he started to smell it: one of them was bleeding. He wasn't hungry, the couple and then the teacher from last night had been really rather filling. But you can't just walk into a vampire's home bleeding and no expect attention. Coming slowing down the main stairs he saw more members of the sodding Scooby Gang. "Well, well, what 'ave we 'ere? A few would-be felons is it?" He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and leaned against the wall smirking.
Jeffery looked up to see a peroxide blond lounging against the wall with a cocky smile on his face. A face Jeffery hadn't seen in a long time -- not since that night at the Bronze when he and Zeke had tried to put the bite on Kandy, Jeffery's partner of the moment.
"Spike... what the hell are you doing in Roswell. Just couldn't stay away from us, could you?"
As Jeffery spoke, he moved slightly, so he was between Jessica and Spike, and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet as he'd learned in fighting lessons with Aidan, Giles and whatever Slayer was handy. He didn't want to get into it with the vampire, but he didn't know if he would have a choice. The stake tucked in his waistband, under his shirt, gave him a small sense of safety, as did his spell repertoir... as much of a sense of safety as he could have in this situation.
Jessica had bounced to her feet the moment the Billy Idol would-be had appeared in the living room. Another moment had determined that if she got any curtains open, it wouldn't have done any good; the sunlight probably wouldn't have hit him.
She knew she was the one in the most danger if this guy - demon - decided to attack, but that didn't mean she couldn't help out. And she could always mace him if worse came to worse.
"What kind of a name is Spike?" she asked, moving forward so that she flanked Jeffrey. She was quite fervently wishing that she had some sort of amazing, kick-butt power - in fact, she was really wishing she was elsewhere. None of that showed in her face, which suggested watching linoleum curl was slightly more interesting than being face to face with an unexpected vampire. Besides, if she kept talking, chances were his attention would stay on her and not on Jeffrey.
Her eyes traveled up to his hair and she quirked an eyebrow. "Didn't bad British punk go out about ten years ago?"
Jeffery had to stiffle a chortle at Jessica's remark. Trust Jessica to point out Spike's fashion faux pas in such a "delicate" mannor.
He didn't add anything to the conversation yet, though. He wanted to see how Spike would react to the put down. He was ready with his freezing spell, though, and the stake, just in case. He didn't want to stake Spike, though, at least not yet. What he really wanted -- and what he was sure Aidan and the others would want -- was to find out why Spike had followed them to Roswell.
"A spunky little blonde! Wherever did you pick 'er up? Trite-R-Us?" Spike inquired keeping a more careful watch on Jeffery than his tone or stance betrayed. The kid was trying to be prepared. The only question was, what did he have up his sleeve. The helpless human thing was too much to assume with these folks.
"I'll tell you where I got her when you tell me what you're doing here," Jeffery repeated with as much force as he could muster. Breifly, he hoped Jessica would forgive the chauvenistic-ness of that remark, but now wasn't the time for being Politically Correct.
"Me, mate?" Spike asked with a laugh. "Aren't we cocky for someone who cut himself breaking into someone else's house?" Spike glanced down at Jeffery's hand just in case he'd forgotten.
Jeffery shrugged. He hadn't had time to do a healing spell on the hand yet, but maybe it would make a good point.
"Easily fixed," Jeffery said.
He took off the make-shift bandage and put it in his pocket. He touched the cut with his good hand and whispered the words to the simplest healing spell he knew. Seconds later, the cut was healed. And Jeffery still had power reserves. He never got over how, the more you used your magic every day the more reserves you built up. It was a great thing.
He gazed back at Spike. "See... no big deal. And I think you're pretty cocky for someone who must have broken in as well. Unless you're friends with Miss Harding?"
Jeffery doubted that Spike would answer truthfully, but maybe revealing his warlock nature would at least force the vampire to give Jeffery more respect than he would an ordinary human. The last time Jeffery and Spike had tangled, Jeffery didn't know himself that he could do magic.
Jessica knew full well how to use a distraction when it presented itself. While Jeffrey was healing his hand, she had delicately pulled the mace out of her purse and hid it behind her hand, ready should she need it.
She just hoped Jeffrey had more power. She had not seen him use a lot of magic, so she had no idea what his limit was.
Not that she was going to show any insecurities around Bleached Blond.
"Probably getting cheap thrills here," she said, falling back on the old clique attack she had used in junior high. She didn't want the vampire deciding she was intelligent or worth his time; she didn't think karate would work all that well if this Spike was watching her.
******************
"Willow," Aidan said, "I'm going to let you fill Buffy in while I go see about that Isabel/Cordelia thing. Then I'll meet you back here. If anyone questions you being in here, just tell them your cover story..." Aidan did not want to say in front of Buffy that Willow's cover was as his girlfriend. That would get him no end of teasing. He would let Willow say that when he wasn't around. "... and direct them to me. I'll come back here after I set things in motion for Cordelia to question Isabel."
Aidan handed Buffy and extra copy of Xander's weirdness-in-Roswell packet. The tabloid article about Max Evans and the healing at the Crashdown Cafe was stapled right on the front. "Xander did some research for us and made up these packets. We've been using them as a guide for where to start our investigations, but we haven't made it too far yet. We've only been in operation for a day, after all. Less actually. Anyway, Willow will explain the details, and you can use this packet as reference. Don't lose it, though. We wouldn't want any Roswellians getting suspicious about us."
With that, Aidan turned to leave. "I'll be back in a bit."
Willow nodded and gave Aidan a jaunty salute. "Right-o, snookums!"
She waited until Aidan was safely out of earshot and then spun around to face the Slayer. Grinning at Buffy, she said, "Now that he's gone, I have *got* to dish. It's time to make with the girl talk." She shrugged, pushing her long, auburn hair behind her ears as she talked. "I know we have big baddies to fight, but it's been a whole entire day since I talked to my best friend. I have a desperate need to gossip. You would not believe what's been going on!"
"Hold on, Will," Buffy said gently smiling."I need to know what's going on here first. I have a really bad feeling about this place. Fill me in quick though because I got some girl talk for you too," she cast a glance a the door,"Anyway what is the cover story here? We're gonna need an excuse if we are caught in here. I don't even officially start school here until tomorrow."She looked at Willow expectantly. Was it her imagination, or was the redhead blushing slightly when she had asked her that?
Willow just knew she was blushing, but she tried to make light of it by rolling her eyes and shrugging her shoulders. "Well, you're a new student and I'm... er... also new in town, so we can just say we got lost trying to find our way around. We'll look like a couple of complete ditzes, but no one will question us too much." Willow looked down at her boot-clad feet for a second, wondering again how the Slayer had convinced her to wear this ridiculous outfit. "Besides, my cover story is that I'msupposedtobeAidan'sgirlfriendfromoutoftown," she mumbled in a single rush of words. "So he can back me up on the whole 'new in town' thing."
***************
Aidan walked down the hall to the office and smiled at the secretary. "Could you do me a favor, please. I need to see Isabel Evans and Cordelia Chase in my office for scheduling. Would you page them for me."
The pert, red-headed secretary dimpled a smile at the handsome, single guidance counselor. "Of course, Mr. O'Shea."
Aidan smiled at her. "Thank you, Miss Owens."
Then he turned and went back down the hall to his office. Once there, he pulled Isabel's folder and prepared things for the upcoming conference. It didn't take him long to manufacture a reason for the meeting with Isabel.
In the meantime, Miss Owens used the P.A. system to contact the girl's in their classrooms. When the teachers gave the OK for the girls to go, she paged Aidan in his office. "They should be there soon."
"Thank you," Aidan called to the empty room, hoping Miss Owens had heard him. Then he just had to wait.
***************
Amy heard the bell ring and started to hurry. There was the usual crush of pre-bell activity and miraculously, she managed to find the music room and not get trampled in the process. She slid into a seat and heaved a huge sigh of relief. Setting her bag on the floor beside her and pulling out her notebook, she took a glance around her. Sitting next to her was a petite brunette dressed to the nines. Amy smiled at her, if somewhat bedraggledly.
"I never thought I'd find this place. I just hate the first day at a new school," she confided hoping to start a conversation.
Liz's first reaction upon the new girl's friendly overature was to think, "There's ANOTHER new person in town? Maybe Michael isn't being paranoid after all!'
But Liz didn't want to be that way. She didn't want to be suspicious of people all the time, not unless there was really a reason to suspect them of something.
Keeping any shock off of her face, Liz hesitated just a second and then smiled warmly at the new girl. "I guess first days can be confusing. I wouldn't know, though. I've lived in Roswell and gone to school in town all my life. My name is Liz, Liz Parker. It's nice to meet you."
As she waited for the girl to respond, Liz tried not to listen to the tiny voice inside as it whispered, 'And if you talk to this girl, maybe you can figure out if she's in on whatever conspiracy brought all these people to town...'
Amy was heartened to see her welcoming smile. "I'm Amy Madison. I just moved here from California." No one had heard of Sunnydale, what was the point of referencing a town no one who wasn't envolved in the Occult from one side or the other had heard of? "I knew where everything was at my old school," Amy went on. "And I knew more people, at least casually. Here it's just a sea of faces and confusing room numbers that don't seem to go in order."
Contemplating the chaos that could be West Roswell High -- even for a non-alien -- Liz had to agree. For someone who didn't know all the tricks, the place would be confusing.
"Just look for the letters," Liz advised Amy. "The numbers are a bit erratic. There was a section of the school that got demolished in the late seventies, and the numbering system never quite recovered. Or so the story goes. But The letters in the upper, left-hand corner of the doors go pretty much in order. As much as anything does around here."
"Hey, thanks!" Amy enthused, glad for some kind of explanation.
Liz hesitated, and then added, "So, California, huh? I've never been there. What... what made you decide to move to a small town in the middle of New Mexico after living in California. Did your dad get transferred or something?"
Amy's smile faded. "Actually, no...um. My dad...passed on last semester. My mom had died the year before. My brother and I moved here to kinda start over." Which was mostly true.
"I'm sorry," Liz said with feeling. "I don't know what I'd do if my dad... or my mom... died. I'd be devestated."
***************
Max sat in the very back of the classroom and stared at his desk. He was doing his best impersonation of a hole. He had ample practice at blending in with the background, being non. He sincerely hoped his teacher would not see through his camoflage and actually call on him to participate in this Speech class which violated the 8th ammendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishments.
The voice over the PA brought his head up. Isabel was being called into the office? She wasn't quite the ideal student he tended to be, but she wasn't a slacker either. She didn't get called into the office. And after what he'd learned today from Michael and Maria about the new Guidance Councilor and his experience with Miss Topulsky made his heartrate skyrocket.
Before he could properly evaluate the implications let alone what he could do about it, he heard the kiss of death: the teacher calling on him.
"You, in the back...What's your name?"
Max looked around for someone else Mrs. Greenslade could be speaking to, but no such luck. Her gaze was locked on him. "Me?" he inquired somewhat stupidly.
"Yes, you. Come, dear, your mother must have named you something."
"Uh, Max... Max Evans."
"Max. Fabulous. Okay, Max, why don't you just step right on up here and tell us a little about yourself."
"Do what?" was his incredulous response.
"We're getting our feet wet in public speaking," she explained patiently. "Just a little casual discussion. And what's easier to talk about than yourself?"
'A lot of things when you're not exactly human,' screamed through Max's mind.
"Right up here," she encouraged. "We won't bite."
Max knew there could be no hell worse than this.
****************
Xander shrugged. "Something like that. Everyone wears wacky costumes and they have a re-staging of the '47 crash complete with fireworks and stuff. People supposedly come from all over. It's like this town's one big touristy thing, so they kinda have to capitalize on it, I guess."
Just then, a voice called over the intercom, which could be heard by the entire school: "Cordelia Chase and Isabel Evans, please report to the guidance counselor's office for schedule consulting. Thank you."
Xander grinned and gave Cordelia a quick hug. "Looks like it's show time. You'd better get going. I'll see you after school?"
****************
Inside, Liz was trying to tell the suspicious little voice that *yes* starting over was a valid excuse for moving to Roswell, despite all the other newcomers. Though the California thing was ringing too many bells for Liz to be entirely comfortable.
"So," Liz said, "does your brother go to school here, too? I guess you're living with relatives or something... Not that it's, um, any of my business."
"Actually, he's my big brother," Amy said, pride evident in her voice. "He's going to Eastern New Mexico State. He's my legal guardian for the remainder of my time as a minor. Do you have any brothers or sisters?" she inquired just trying to be sociable.
"No..." Liz said slowly. "It's just me, Mom and Dad, which is lucky because we have limited space in our house. We live above my Dad's restaurant, the Crashdown Cafe. You might have seen it downtown..."
Suddenly, everything clicked. "You said you're last name is Madison?" Liz asked abruptly. "Your brother wouldn't happen to be named Jeffery, would he? I met a guy named Jeffery Madison last night at the Mini-Mart. He drove this stylish red Camaro."
Her breath caught in her chest as she waited for Amy to answer. If Amy was indeed connected to Jeffery then that was another link in the chain of newcomers. Michael -- Mr. Suspicion -- would have a cow about that. But Liz had started to kind of like Amy. She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping everything would be OK. She would be wary, but she would not be absolutly suspicious until Amy gave her reason to do so.
"Yeah, that's him." Amy said with a grin. "He's so proud of that car. Men and their toys." Amy shook her head in amusement. "What a small world. Or a small town at any rate. Guess this isn't too different from home after all." Considering what kept Sunnydale so small she desperately hoped that wasn't true, but then, they wouldn't really be here if everything was normal...
"Well, that is a co-incidence," Liz murmured thoughtfully. Suddenly she found herself groping for something else to say. She couldn't really come out and say "So, you're not really an evil FBI agent or a hostile alien here to kill three of my friends, are you?"
She looked at her watch. It was already five mintues past the hour. "Boy, Mrs. Thacker sure is late today. I wonder what's going on. I guess the five-minute rule doesn't really apply to high school classes, huh?"
"Wouldn't that be nice?" Amy agreed with a wry grin. "Do you know her? Is she a good teacher or dull as a heart attack like the majority of Sunnydale High's faculty?" Amy was glad for the chance at inside information. She had a list of teacher names that meant nothing to her. Liz probably knew them all. A little niggle in the back of her mind told her to be more investigative and less chatty in her conversation, but she did have to go to school here after all and she couldn't be asked to be on duty 24/7, right?
Liz felt a pang of sadness for bringing that mournful look to Amy's eyes.
"Um... personally, I find the whole subject of Music Appreciation dumb," Liz grumbled. "Mrs. Thacker could tap dance her lessons in full show-girl costume -- not that she would, I've heard she's a real stickler for propriety -- and it wouldn't make a difference. I'd rather take an extra Chemistry or something, but they insist on the whole well-rounded thing here." Liz pulled out her schedule and looked at it. "That's why I'm in this class *and* Drama this semester. I didn't take a fine art last year and now I have to make up for it."
Amy had to laugh, both at Liz's mental picture and her take on the Fine Arts.
Glancing at Amy curiously, Liz asked, "What other classes do you have? I could probably give you the dirt on your other teachers."
"That'd be great!" Amy exclaimed pulling out her schedule. She leaned over the aisle so both she and Liz could read it.
It read:
Amy Madison
1 AP World Lit -- Mrs. Ender -- 47b
2 Economics/US Government -- Mr. Edwards -- 12f
3 Chemistry -- Mr. Sherman -- 4c
4 Calculus -- Mr. Endemano -- 52a
5 Music appreciation -- Mrs. Thacker -- 21d
6 Spanish 3 -- Mr. Estrada -- 34h
7 Journalism -- Mrs. Hemwall -- 79e
8 PE -- Mrs. Long -- Gym
Liz skimmed down the schedule with a practiced eye. "Mrs. Ender is really nice, but a stickler for proper grammar. She'll take off a whole point for a misplaced comma, sometimes five points. But she always has great writing assignments. I've never had Mr. Edwards, but I hear he's cool. Mr. Sherman, well, he just rocks. No one can explain molecular bonding like he can!"
Amy smiled at Liz's enthusiasm. Science was definitely close to her heart.
Toning down her geeky, Chemistry excitement, Liz continued, "Ug. Watch out for Mr. Endemano. He's harsh. You have to show *all* your work in his class. I had him for Alebra." Liz shuddered at the memory.
Amy grimaced knowing she'd have to work really hard in that class. Math wasn't the worst subject in the world, but she definitely had to work at it. "Thanks for the advice," she mumurred.
"Oh, hey, we've got Spanish together next period. I can show you the way. I had Sra. Montemayor for Spanish 2 last year -- they have the honor students on the accelerated language track -- but I've heard he's OK."
"Great!" Amy exclaimed. Liz had been extremely nice to her and she thought she had the beginnings of a friendship here. And she wouldn't have to face another class entirely alone.
Darting a smile at Amy, Liz continued her list. "Mrs. Hemwall is great. I've done some work for the paper. You'll have fun in that class. But Mrs. Long -- and she prefers Coach Long, actually -- coaches girl's track, softball and volleyball. She's way into sweat. If you don't dress out and participate your grade is lowered by a lot. She only lets you have *2* free days." Liz shook her head. "I *hated* gym, can you tell? I'd much rather be reading, or writing, or something else actually fun!"
Amy groaned. "Me, too! I'm not much of a sportsman -- or sportswoman rather -- either. I mean, what's the point of running around in a circle? You don't get anywhere, the view never changes and it definitely doesn't require any kind of thought. Why do they call this 'education?'"
[There's not much point in running around in a circle, unless it's practice for running from things that actually turn out to be scary] Liz thought, but she couldn't say that. Amy either wouldn't know about such things, or (remote possibility, in Liz's opinion) she *was* one of those things.
Aloud, Liz said, "Well, at least you have gym last period. You don't have to go to another class all sweaty and gross. I hate that. Almost as much as I hate the scary showers in the girls locker room."
The only time those showers had not been gross in the extreme was the time she and Max... Liz could feel her face heating up and quickly squelched those thoughts.
"Yeah, you have a point there, I guess," Amy struggled to agree with the silver lining Liz was trying to find.
Amy surveyed the classroom. People were chatting much as she and Liz were and some grinned with that mischievous glee that comes when there are no teachers present and therefore nothing to prevent untoward behavior. "If the teacher doesn't get here soon I think the natives will get restless," Amy murmured to Liz indicating the others in the room.
***************
Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap
It wasn't a very melodic beat, but it was just enough to keep, Harmony, moderately interested, as her art teacher rambled on about something. To be honest, even though Harmony, had wanted to concentrate on this, her final year, her mind was still rolling around the simple fact that the one person who mattered to her more than anyone else was in Roswell. Jeffrey Madison had by a simple act of fate, or be in demonic in nature, arrived in the one place that she never thought she would see him again.
Harmony's mind hadn't started to actually process what exactly her feelings were for Jeffrey. She just knew that she was extremely happy to see him. It said a lot for her recent past, that Jeffrey was the closest thing she had to a real friend. It said even more that her next closest friends were a group of people she had only met an hour or so ago. If Harmony had been thinking about friends, she would have thought about Cordelia Chase.
For a number of years, Cordelia Chase was the 'friend'. It was only now, with the benefit of a number of factors, that Harmony saw that relationship for the reality it was. The first factor was Cordelia's dumping of the cool 'clique'. Sure Harmony and the others tried to make it sound like they dumped her, but behind that false persona, they knew that they had been the ones left behind. The next factor was that night with Jeffrey. She had come over to his place, with nothing more than mischief on her mind. But owing to a number of events, she found herself blind, covered in goo and wearing a abominable outfit, courtesy of Wal-Mart. And yet Jeffrey Madison, who she had never said a word to before, kept her safe, and in that time they shared a bond that had yet to fully develop.
The third factor was her move to Roswell. Being in a new town, surrounded by new people, is one of the easiest ways to change your ways. So much of a teenagers behavior is habitual, that a simple change of locale can have quite startling effects. Not that it was an overnight thing for Harmony Kendall. There was two months of feeling sorry for herself and two months of resenting everything in Roswell, before she snapped out of her 'tude. She had already decided to work at school, try and make some friends, and make the best of a situation before she saw Xander at the Crashdown, a few nights ago.
So this was the 'new' Harmony. Not so much a personality transplant, but simply a New girl, for a new town.
If she HAD been thinking about Cordelia, she would have wondered what Cordelia's impression would have been. But she wasn't thinking about her. She had hardly thought about Cordelia, except for mentioning her in a gossip session with Isabel Evans, since she left Sunnydale.
That was until she almost fell off her chair in biology, when a ladies voice came booming across the school's sound system.
" Cordelia Chase and Isabel Evans, please report to the guidance counselor's office for schedule consulting. Thank You"
After the initial shock had passed with Harmony simply staring at the solo speaker in the corner of the room, she looked around the room, just in case there was another Sunnydale alumni sitting behind her, poking their tongue out, mocking her. She felt as if she was the one person not let in on the punch line to a joke. Except she knew what the joke was, and it wasn't funny.
Not one single bit.
***************
Isabel was silently sitting in her classroom, trying to will the clock to move quicker when she heard her name announced over the speaker system. The fact that it got her out of class was all that she thought of as the teacher and her exchanged nods, to say she could leave.
It was only as she was walking towards Aidan's office, that the full implications of the invite became clear. She was being invited into the probable 'lions den'. The last time something like this happened, Miss Topolsky called a number of them in. She briefly flirted with the idea of not going, simply walking out the door, but on the thought that either, they were all way too paranoid for this early in the school year, or it was unlikely anything would happen in school hours, Isabel decided to continue to the office.
Just as she got to the door, she tried to remember who the other girl was that was called. For some reason she could remember the name. 'Cordelia, something.' It disturbed Isabel, that the name had a memory looked inside, but she didn't know any 'Cordelia'.
She was about to open the door when she remembered. Harmony had mentioned a girl called Cordelia. The fact that she had never heard of that name before, pushed the co-incidence quotient even higher. And if this was the same 'Cordelia' that Harmony had mentioned, why did Harmony mention her. Why was the new Guidance Officer wanting them both for.
It was with all of these internal questions that Isabel entered the office.
"You sent for me?" she asked innocently as she too a first look at the person who may very well be looking to kill her.
"Yes," Aidan said. He opened her folder and pulled out his copy of her scheduling information. "There is an oddity on your schedule that I thought we should discuss before things go any further." He gestured to the chair across from his desk. "Please, Miss Evans. Have a seat."
***************
Michael's eyes widened. "What? No way! You couldn't pay me enough to wear those things... er... not that they look bad on you... just that... um..." Michael trailed off, sensing that this was a loosing battle. Change of subject time. "So, we'd better get to art. I don't want to be late. Someone might take my seat."
Maria gave him a Look. That was all she felt was needed at this point.
Michael opened the door to the band hall and followed Maria out. It didn't take them long to reach the Art room, which was already filling up with students, though the substitute teacher was nowhere to be found. Michael glanced around and saw that a group of freshmen were sitting at his table. Michael scowled at them until they turned white and began to gather their supplies and scurry away.
All but one of them.
Michael was about to give the blonde still sitting there a piece of his mind when he suddenly realized he recognized her as the girl from lunch and Mr. O'Shea's office.
Tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention, he said, "It's Harmony, right? Glad to see you're still conscious." Michael ran a hand through his unruly, but hat-free, hair. "I guess it was the hat, after all. Otherwise you'd be passed out by now."
Taking his seat at the table, Michael looked around him for Maria. There were two empty seats left at the table and Michael was hoping she'd take one of them. His glare kept anyone else from even thinking about taking the seat until she got there. Better safe than sorry, after all.
"Harmony, right?" Maria almost gave Michael another Look - one that asked what he was doing eyeing this blond girl - but she decided to refrain. She was, after all, nothing if not demure.
[And when you believe that, I have a bridge I want to sell you.]
Harmony shook out of her shock and noticed who had come up to sit with her. Smiling gratefully, she welcomed them.
"Hi Michael," turning to Maria, "Maria."
"Do you know who's teaching this?" she asked, more to start a conversation than anything else. "I'm kinda hoping to skip the whole wireframe thing this year."
"I don't think I can concentrate at all today. Don't they have a rule about slowly edging you into schoolwork?" Harmony quipped.
Michael shrugged. "Who knows what's in store for us today? We've got a sub. Mr. Stalinksi 'disappeared' without giving the school any notice." He hoped no one else noticed that his voice was a sounding a little weird... a little strained, perhaps. He still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that his favorite teacher had just vanished off the face of the Earth. But he wasn't about to let the fact that he missed some old artsy guy who all the kids used to make fun of become common knowledge. It would ruin his reputation.
Michael pulled out his scetchbook and set it in front of him on the table top before digging in his second-hand backpack (it had been Max's before his dad bought him a new one and he gave it to Michael to use) for his drawing pencils. Substitute teacher or not, this was one class that Michael was prepared for.
Taking one of his pencils in hand (they were a really nice set of drawing pencils in varying sizes, a christmas present from Isabel last year) he opened his sketch book to a blank page near the back, carefully flipping past the detailed drawings of Maria that he'd been working on over the summer so that she wouldn't see them. Then he started to work on polishing a doodle that he'd been working on in English. It was a silly looking charicature of Max, with exaggerated ears and a stern looking frown on his face. A smirk appeared on Michael's lips as he looked at the psuedo-Max. He started adding funny looking antena on top of Max's head, similar to the ones that the waitresses wore at the Crashdown, just for fun.
Harmony looked over at Michael and tried to bend her eyes around to see what he was drawing. As she did she let out a little giggle, the drawing reminding her of an old show she had caught on cable on day called "My Favorite Martian", and more recently the remake movie.
She pulled out a sheet of paper and starred at it, trying to think of something to draw, since the teacher had yet to materialize and assign actual work. As had become usual from her summer drawings, she started to draw an impression of some of the fights that she had heard about in Sunnydale. Fights between Buffy and vampires. She didn't know why she felt so drawn to sketching those events. She hadn't actually witnessed most of them. But it was a subject that gave her plenty of material and kept her busy over the lonely summer days.
*****************
A worried frown crossed Liz's face. "Mrs. Thacker... she's not the type to be late. She's the stiff-necked, straight-laced kind. This is very strange." Liz tried to push away bad thoughts. She didn't want bad things to happen. "Maybe she's just running late. She teaches music at the Junior High in the mornings. Maybe there was a traffic jam... in downtown Roswell... in the middle of the work day..." Her voice trailed off at the illogic of the idea.
Just then the door opened and Miss Owens, the school secretary, walked in. "Um... excuse me," she said in a small voice.
The class talked on for a bit, but gradually quieted. Miss Owens was a favorite among the students. She always had free candy, and she treated everyone nicer than they deserved.
"We've just gotten a call," Miss Owens said when she could get a word in edge-wise. "Mrs. Thacker will not be in today."
"What happened?" a guy with glasses, sitting in the front row, called.
Miss Owens looked sad. "I don't know. All I know is that she didn't show up for her classes at the Junior High this morning, either. And she's not answering her home phone."
The class sat in stunned silence, unsure of what to do.
"For today, you're all being given a free period to go to the library or the computer lab," Miss Owens told them. "Tomorrow we will have sub for you."
Under Miss Owens's direction, the class started moving to their various new locations. Liz sat in her seat, feeling and looking shell-shocked. This was the closest the disappearances had hit her.
"Oh no," she whispered quietly, suddenly oblivious of everything that was going on. "What is happening here...?" Tears started to spill out over her lashes, making wet trails down her cheeks.
Amy had her suspicions, but they weren't exactly something she could share with Liz. Amy was just wondering if Aidan knew about this and was thinking along the lines of her investigation at police headquarters this afternoon and what she ought to report to the Guidance Councilor before hand when she caught sight of Liz. Disappearing teachers was a fairly common occurrence at SHS and given why they'd come, Amy was not all that surprised. Liz did not have her Hellmouth experience to fall back on. But how could Amy console her? She couldn't exactly volunteer that there was a team of good guys here to combat the evil forces and everything would be okay. Anything but the truth would only sound cliché and of no help whatsoever.
Amy put a hand on Liz's back and rubbed consolingly. "I'm sorry, Liz," she murmured. 'It'll be okay,' didn't make it out. Liz wouldn't believe her anyway.
Liz didn't believe Amy for a minute. She didn't know why she was freaking out so much over Mrs. Thacker's disappearance. She didn't even know the woman -- this would have been Liz's first class with her. Maybe it was that this was the first disappearance to really affect her personally -- she couldn't write them off as crazy tourists leaving town without word any longer. Maybe it was the fact that she knew what was going on. Somehow, some way, this had to be an alien thing. And if these aliens were taking humans, what more would they do to Max, Isabel, Tess and Michael? Or, maybe, it was just Liz having a hard time accepting the fact that, no matter who she broke up with or how hard she tried, things would never be the same again.
Using the sleeve of her new shirt to wipe the tears off her eyes, Liz hoped that her mascara -- something she didn't use too often -- hadn't run or smudged. It was something innocuous to focus on for a second, anyway. Something not life and death. Then she took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
"Thanks, Amy," she said quietly. The room had emptied out as the students trickled off to the library or the computer lab.
Liz came to a decision. "Hey, I'll see you in Spanish, OK? I've... I've gotta go... um... clear my head." Giving Amy a tight smile, Liz gathered her things and hurried for the door. She felt a little bad about leaving the new girl stranded like that, so she paused at the threshhold and looked back. But what could she say, really? Nothing. With one last half-hearted smile, Liz hurried out the door and down the hall.
She knew what she was looking for. One glance at Max's schedule when they were talking earlier and it was burned on her brain -- a fact that had annoyed her at the time but now was coming in handy. She headed straight for the classroom where Speech class would be. When she got there, she peered in through the window. Max was standing at the front of the class, looking less that happy to be there.
[Come on] she willed him. [Look at me. Figure out that I need you to come outside...]
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Isabel took her seat and sat their patiently waiting to see what the new Guidance officer threw at her. No doubt some cryptic question to throw her off her guard. Or, and in the unlikely situation of him being just simply a guidance officer, he would no doubt have some mundane question a bout what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
She decided to keep the fact she knew that he and Harmony knew each other secret. Waiting for an opening before entering that piece of information into the debate.
"What's wrong with my schedule? I thought It looked all okay to me" she enquired.
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