Chapter 8: Mistletoe and Paint
Buffy's POV:
"I just don't understand how this can happen..."
And I really can't.
My mom sighs and nods her head slowly.
"I know, honey. But these things... They just happen. You know?"
But why now? And why to me? This is it. What finally makes me crack. I'm barely eighteen, I can't handle all of this.
"What's going on?"
Dawn breezes in the kitchen blissfully ignorant. Oh how I long for those innocent days. My mom carefully looks from Dawn to me and back. I close my eyes in submission. I can't stand to hear the words.
"Well...Dawn. Sweetie,... We seem to be out of yoghurt."
The pain hits me like one of those icy spike things through the heart. The kitchen is silent, all of us in speechless despair. But I refuse to cry, I won't have it. I shakily let out a breath to control myself.
"Oh, well are there Cheerios?" Dawn chipperly asks.
Chipperly? That's not right.
"We're out of yoghurt, Dawn." I repeat. She mustn't have heard right. Who gives a damn about yucky Cheerios when there is not a drop of yoghurt to be found?
Dawn, my lovely little sister, rolls her eyes. She grabs a seat by the counter and takes hold of the Cheerio box. She tauntingly waves it at me.
"I don't care." She sings.
"Dawn, honey, let's try and be more understanding of Buffy and her-..." My own mother hesitates and gives me a strange look. "-.. attachment to yoghurt."
"Eww... Who wants yoghurt for breakfast anyway? Well, ok, maybe in the summer but not in the winter. That's just insane. It's too cold for yoghurt. Not that...it actually gets cold here. It's just-..." She looks at me helplessly.
This is the part where I roll my eyes.
I roll my eyes.
"Whatever. I think I'm starting to understand Faith's lightweight comment." She sticks out her tongue.
That little-..!
"Mom!" I turn to my mom for help.
Hey, if Dawn can be four, I can be six.
"Girls, aren't you getting a little old for these games? Maybe I should rethink whether or not I should let your friends come over on Christmas." She dangerously warns.
"Mom, no!" I immediately respond.
She can't take away Christmas. I've been looking forward to it for like...ever.
Xander, Willow, Oz and I were talking about what we were going to do on Christmas a while ago. We were just hanging out at the bleachers, supposedly watching Cordelia practice. Well...I guess Xander really was watching. This was a while ago, you understand.
Anyway, Oz was going to be at a big family thing all winter break. Willow was going to work on some extra credit. And Xander saw himself hiding out in the basement until his crazy family drooped off.
Me? Mom, Dawn and me were just going to open presents and hang out all day. Pig out at lunch, watch some movies,... Just hang.
My Christmas was unanimously voted least likely to suck.
Then we started talking about the others and what they would be doing for Christmas. We figured Giles would just do what he does every other day and only figure out it was Christmas until he saw one of us again. And then it got us thinking if Giles ever got lonely. And that was depressing.
So we moved on to Cordelia. Xander said she was heading over to Spain with her parents for Christmas. When we asked Xander if he thought she felt bad about not spending Christmas at home, he started laughing. What do you think he meant by that?
Then, although she was the first on my mind, Faith came up.
"Hah. She'll probably be at the Bronze!" Xander chuckled.
Willow gave a little laugh and smiled.
"Yeah." Her eyes widened. "Or at one of those other, wilder, clubs she goes to."
And then I decided to voice something that had been bothering me for a hell of a long time.
"But...Do you guys think she has any family or anything?"
A combination of blank and thoughtful looks passed over my friends. Not like anyone could blame them. Faith wasn't exactly known for her talkativeness when it came to her family.
"Well..." Willow began. She had her research look going on so I got a little worried. "Hasn't she told you...anything?"
They all stared at me, waiting for an answer, like they were all thinking the same thing. Hadn't she told me anything?
"Well..." I looked at each of them. "I-..."
I'm not a very good public speaker.
"Okay, so she hasn't told anyone anything about her family? Or even whether or not she has one?" Xander asks incredulously.
"Didn't anyone ever ask?" Willow added. "I know I did, but she always evaded or changed the subject or-..."
"- absolutely ignored my existence!" I finish.
So it's not just with me!
"Exactly." Xander agrees. "And I thought she just didn't want to talk about it with me."
Sneaky Faith.
"She doesn't wanna talk about it with anyone." Oz concludes.
That is both relieving and disturbing. Willow is looking at me with puppy dog eyes.
"Buffy! That is so sad!" She actually whimpers a little.
"If only she was with me..."
"What?" Xander asks.
Er... If... only she was with me? That sounds about right.
Wait... Oh crap.
"If only all of you were with me."
Xander watches me curiously.
"With you?"
"In my house." I nod. "On Christmas."
"Oh."
Phew. Good save.
Willow then suddenly lights up completely.
"Oh my god, Buffy, that's perfect!" She jumps up on her knees and grabs my arm, excitedly hopping up and down. "If we could all spend Christmas day just being with friends and family-."
"...and not absolutely hating it." Xander adds.
"And not absolutely hating it. Wouldn't it be great to hang out with the gang and Dawnie and your mom and ooh, Giles!" Willow exclaims.
Oh my god. That would be great! And then maybe Faith would open up more. Maybe she'd want to stay. Maybe there'll be lots of mistletoe and-...
"I'm sorry I can't make it." Oz says.
"Oh, right! I forgot!" Willow gasps and then deflates in disappointment.
Oz smiles and hugs her.
"I just really have to go to this family thing."
Will nods in the hug.
"I know, I know. It's just..."
"I know."
They break the hug but Oz keeps his arm around Willow's shoulders. They're so cute together.
"Well wasn't that just absolutely gag-worthy?" Xander says in mock disgust. "Ofcourse I'm afraid my lovely Cordelia will barely notice my absence in Spain. Who knows, she might find some other-... Are Spanish guys hot?"
I give it a few seconds thought and then nod. Xander groans in distress.
"Noo! I’ll be single again by New Year!"
Hah. It was a lot sooner than that. It's not even Christmas yet and he's already all by his lonesome. Poor guy. I have no doubt he'll find a nice girl some day though. I think he'll be quite a catch all grown up. I just won't be fishing for him.
Anyway, but that was how we thought of the plan. The Christmas plan. We thought it would be nice to have everyone come over Christmas morning and we all unwrap gifts together.
"You know I love cheese but even that's pushing it, B."
Three guesses to whose reaction that was on the plan. She went into a lengthy 'Ode to Gouda' after that. Nevertheless, I got Faith to think about it. Or at least I got her to tell me she'd think about it. Ofcourse that was way back in the beginning of November so I doubt she remembers. On the...tenth of December.
I would.
But as I was saying...
"Mom, you can't take away Christmas. Everyone's already coming!"
Dawn swallows a disgusting mouthful of chunky Cheerios and raises her spoon in the air.
"Do I have to get presents for them?" Mom ignores her and raises an eyebrow at me.
"Oh, really? Well do you have any RSVP's? Do they know what time they should be here? And who exactly is coming over?" She triumphantly asks.
Checkmate.
Not that I know how to play chess. Willow tried to teach me once. Hey, it wasn't as bad as when she tried to teach Faith. Faith has sharp things. She twiddled most of her pawns in miniature stakes. I'm an honor chess student compared to her, I swear.
"Well, Xander's coming. Willow's coming. Oz is not coming. And Cordelia's not coming." ...How amused would Faith be if she heard me say this?
I see Dawn's back shaking slightly with laughter. Oh god no...
"Buffy..." Mom says impatiently.
"Fine." I give in. "Fine. I'll make sure to have a decent plan by next week."
Nothing.
"By Wednesday?"
"I want to know exactly who is coming, when they're coming, what you plan to do and what you expect from me by Sunday evening. Deal?"
I think it over.
"Deal."
Faith's POV:
Things are pretty tense.
The gang is barely ever complete anymore and whenever me and B are together... It's weird. I don't know what it means.
Speaking of B and the gang, they're in class. I could look them up if I wanted to. Buffy, Xander and Cordelia have Home Ec while Will and Oz brain it at Advanced Computers.
I didn't really mean to memorize their schedules. It's just that I hang out at the school a lot. I just kinda figured it out and it stuck in my head.
On Mondays, you can find Xander playing with wood at sixth period. You'll find him at the end of the east wing. Woodshop. On Thursdays, Queen C has third period Drama. You'll find her painting her nails in the classroom next to the auditorium in the west wing.
Ofcourse Wednesdays are my favorite. That's when B has gym and I hang out at the bleachers.
Yeah, baby!
B totally thinks I'm a perv.
The first time I discovered magic Wednesdays was when I got lost in the school. It was way in the beginning and a scooby meeting just finished. So I hung back a little at the library and then decided to head back to my place. I realized I was lost when I passed the cafeteria for the fifth time.
So I decided to pay more attention to my surroundings instead of just walking around blindly. I slowed my pace and looked around the hallway I was in. I passed a couple of double doors with windows in them. I just wanted to get the hell outta the school, I didn't give a fuck what was going on inside. But there was definitely movement inside and I glanced in.
And that's when I smacked against the wall.
Hot chicks running and jumping around in the gym! What? I have great appreciation for the beauty of the female species. We're fucking hot, man.
I snuck into the gym and found myself a nice little out of the way place to watch the show. One group of girls were playing volleyball and another one was just running laps. It's not like I'm really that intrigued by boobs flopping all around or anything. Cuz to be totally honest, I was just watching Buffy most of the time anyway. And though she's fucking hot, her rack isn't exactly the most floppable.
I like watching her move, I like watching her laugh, I just like watching her.
"Faith? What are you doing here?"
Shit. I lost my eye on her to watch how they took care of one girl who got hit by the volleyball. And now she's standing there, looking up at me.
What am I doing here?
"I was just chilling, B." I reply.
She quirks an eyebrow, not entirely sure she's content with that answer. This was way in the beginning, remember?
"Well can you blame me, B? There are some hot girls in your school, you know?"
And that was the first time she actually choked because of something I said. Good times.
Fuck it. Today, the only reason I'm at the school is cuz Giles asked me to stop by. Did he sound pissed? Fuck, I don't remember, I was watching TV.
But yeah, it's not like I wanna be here. I really don't wanna run into anyone. Except maybe Cordy. Not that I'd mind bumping into Xan, Willow or Wolfboy. It's just that they're usually around Buffy. And I don't wanna bump into her. Well not really. Not completely anyway. If you'd switch that b with an h, you'd have yourself a willing volunteer. I'll hump B any time.
Almost did a couple of times.
But let's not get into that right now. What's up with Giles? It's not the first time he's called and asked me to come over. Just not alone. Alone with him.
No. Don't go there. Dontgothere.
It's just Giles. It's Watcherman. G-man. Tweedy. Rupe.
Right.
If you ask me though, the whole concept of old British men watching some young girl all the time is pretty pervy.
But where was I?
Library.
"You rang, Rupert?" I call out.
"Oh, yes. Faith, I'll be out in a moment." I hear him mumble from somewhere in the back. He must really be busy with something, he didn't even mention me calling him Rupert.
I squeeze my right hand in the backpocket of my jeans and pull out the IQ test Giles gave me to fill out. I hop up on the counter and lean back, idly looking around the area.
"You sure know how to keep a girl waiting there, G." I remind him of my presence.
Sure enough, just moments later, he emerges from between the bookcases.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Faith. I was just finishing up with something."
"New batch o' demon books?" I hop off the counter and follow him in his office.
"No, no. New batch of Physics actually." He sits down behind his desk and stamps a book a couple of times. "Thank you for coming on such short notice but something has come up. Something that I feel should be discussed with you so we can plan a course of action."
He gestures for me to sit down in the chair in front of him and I cross my arms, leaning against his table. I think I know what this is about.
"I didn't do it, you know." I look him straight in the face and wait for lightning to strike me down.
...Nothing.
He quirks an eyebrow and leans back in his chair.
"Oh?"
Oh? That's it? Oh? At least gimme something to work with, G.
"I didn't." I repeat.
He studies me for a moment and he actually succeeds to almost make me feel a little bit guilty.
But that asshole had it coming!
"Everything seems to point your way. Don't you find that strange, Faith?"
It can't be. I made sure no one saw me. I made absolutely sure! I've done worse shit than this in Boston and now I get caught for this in Sunnydale? No fucking way.
Shit. You know what? Fuck that. It's not like it's the end of the fucking world or anything. At the end of the day, I'm with the good guys. Who's gonna cry over some midgety old fat dude with bad fashion sense?
"Damnit, Giles, so I TP'd his house, alright? I TP'd Snyder's house and I don't care. Guy had it coming, G, and you know it. And it's not like I really damaged any of his property or anything! Except for that one gnome."
"Gnome?"
"A decorative one. For in the garden, you know?"
"Oh."
"Yeah. So what's the big fucking deal? Okay so I wasted perfectly good toilet paper. But Snyder got some exercise cleaning it up and the neighborhood got a good laugh watching him do it. So what's the big deal?" I stand in front of his desk defiantly.
He stares at me silently.
"Well?" I ask him.
His eyes bore into mine and still not a word. And then he smirks. Which turns into a full-out smile. Which turns into a deep belly laughter.
What the fuck?
I stand frozen in his office watching him laughing his British ass off. Finally, the old man calms down and he takes off his glasses. Wiping at his eyes this time before wiping his glasses a little and placing them back on his face.
"You alright, now, G?" I ask him, eyebrow raised.
He smiles softly and nods.
"Faith. Please, sit down. I believe I have some explaining to do."
I cautiously lower myself on the old chair and slouch down, still eyeing him.
"You sure do, Lucy." I mumble.
"Well, first of all, let me begin by saying that this has absolutely nothing to do with your juvenile little pranks. As part of the staff of this school I do however greatly dissapprove of your actions and should probably fill in the principal." He pauses and smiles again as he sees the indifferent look on my face.
"As your Watcher, it is none of my concern. And as your friend, which I hope I am, I find the whole thing quite amusing."
Hehe, Giles is pretty cool.
"Thanks, Rupe." I respond. "But seriously. What's this thing about then?"
"Ah, yes. Let's cut to the chase. Good idea." He opens a drawer and takes out a white envelope. He places it between him and me on the desk.
"I received this letter today from the Counsel. I had been awaiting it's arrival for quite some time now." He slides the envelope towards me.
This can't be good.
Buffy's POV:
What's Faith doing here?
I block out the French teacher's droning and try to concentrate on the slayer connection.
She's... moving. In the neigborhood but not neccesarily in the school. Oh wait... Yeah, she's in the school.
I shiver slightly when my freaky sixth slayer sense finally pinpoints her. She's in the library. I check the clock.
Argh, still half an hour.
It wasn't long after Faith arrived in Sunnydale that the whole Slayer connection came up. It wasn't like we could just ignore it. It was pretty obvious to both of us.
Sometimes I tell Will or Xander if I feel her nearing. But mostly I like to keep it to myself. Like today.
Ofcourse it happens that she just stops by and then leaves before I see her. Those times suck. And I get really moody until I see her again. And when I finally do catch up with her, it's like I'm mad at her for making me moody.
The gang is practially split in half. Whereas it used to consist of Faith, Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia and me. Now it's Faith and Cordelia. And seperate from that, the rest of us. Although Faith still hangs out with the guys regularly.
It's Cordelia's fault. I swear. I think. A little. She knows how I feel about Faith and wants me to sort it out. And for some reason she thinks keeping Faith away from me will help me do that. Or maybe... What if Faith's the one avoiding me?
What if I freaked her out too much? What if she hates me even more now? Oh. My. God.
I raise my hand. I am determined to get out of this class and sort things out with Faith in the library right now.
"Buffy, what are you doing?" Willow asks next to me.
"I need to go the library." I whisper. She looks at me strangely.
"Okay. But why are you putting your hand up? And why are you whispering?"
What kinda questions are that? I look around me pointedly to help her realize that we're in-... an empty classroom. What the hell? I must've been really into my thoughts. Weird.
"Nevermind. Let's go." I answer and gather all my things in lightning speed. I drag Will out of the class and head towards the library.
I'm too pumped up and the hallway is too chaotic to just calm down and feel whether Faith's still there so I just work my way through all the teens and hope for the best.
"Are you going to ask Giles about Christmas?" Willow asks unsurely as I shove aside some jock.
"That was Gavin! The Razorbacks' star quarterback!" Willow informs me, horrified.
Yeah, yeah. It's not like I broke his arm.
"You must be really excited about Christmas." Will comments.
Alright, the library is straight ahead. Now I'll know whethere she's here or not.
And...
She's not. Crap.
It's completely empty except for Giles and now us too I guess. He's standing behind the counter, with the 'Best Librarian in the World'-mug I gave him. I think he prefers his little teacups but someone left his set in the weapon's cage for some reason and Oz kinda trashed it at the last full moon.
Shame.
"Goodmorning, girls. I wasn't expecting you until after school." He stirs his tea and smiles.
I finally let go of Willow's arm and approach the counter.
"Aren't two girls allowed to visit their favorite librarian anymore?" I ask and dump my bookbag on the floor next to the counter.
"Ofcourse they are. Especially if they're returning one, if any, of their long overdue books."
"Aha!"
Not this time, Bookman! Has Buffy Summers got something for you!
I grab my bag and take out an oversized book I found in my room. I have absolutely no idea how it got there but it's huge so it can't possibly be mine. I'm hoping it's Giles'.
He places his mug on the counter and I hand him the book. He takes hold of it with both hands turning it the right side up, humming thoughtfully.
I share a knowing look with Willow and roll my eyes.
"This is your last year History book." Giles says incredulously after a moment.
I shrug. I didn't know that. Well I guess that explains all the clocks on the cover. I was wondering about that.
"How did you ever pass that class?" Willow asks me, shocked.
I shrug again.
"How did I miss this?" Giles is looking really... bamboozled. Not sure what that word means but that's what he looks like right now. I was going with baffled but it doesn't seem quite right.
He takes out an even huger book and starts leafing through it.
"You know, it might be easier to keep all these records on the computer." Willow comments.
Giles pauses but doesn't look up. Willow glances at me nervously.
"Which you have."
I raise my eyebrows at the unmoving Giles. Did he break?
"But never use." Willow tries again.
I then notice that Giles isn't even looking at the book anymore. He's staring at a bunch of crumply, withered, folded pages on the counter next to it.
"But don't really need to. Books are fine. Written things, hurrah. Computers are evil. Buffy stop me."
I place a hand on Will's back and smile a comforting smile.
"Yes, yes...Evil." Giles finally mumbles as he slides the books out of the way and unfolds the tattered pages.
Willow and I watch as he stares at the pages wide-eyed. He glances from me to the Willow and then places the pages on the counter, front down.
"Er...Buffy." He grabs the book I gave him and hands it back. "It shouldn't take you too long to find it's proper spot. The History books are in the furthest row, I believe."
I mutely stare at the book for a few seconds and then accept it. He's never asked me to return books in their place. Ofcourse...come to think of it, I'm not sure I've returned any books before.
I pause a little, holding the book.
Sure, Giles. By the way, have you seen Faith?
"Sure, Giles. By the way,... Uh. I was meaning to ask you something. If maybe... I just wanted to know if you-..."
"- would like to spend Christmas at Buffy's house?" Willow finishes for me.
Incorrectly.
"Well... I..." Giles begins.
As I contemplate whether or not there was a chance I was going to finish my sentence in the first place, Giles stutters about helplessly.
"...-and so I had contemplated perhaps-...-and no Shepherd's Pie-... -disturbing turkey fascination-..."
"It's with Buffy and Dawn and Mrs Summers and Xander and me and Faith!" Willow elaborates. "Well we're not sure about Faith yet. Have you seen her?"
Suddenly Willow gasps and glances at me worried. Giles watches apparently just as clueless as Willow acts like she's just murdered someone.
It's been like this for a while now. I guess she noticed the strange effect mentioning Faith had on me. Which has lately not been a good one.
Hey, I don't mind now. She asked if Giles has seen Faith.
"Oh, well... That sounds wonderful. Christmas at the Summers sounds absolutely lovely. I wouldn't miss it for the world, Buffy. Thank you for inviting me."
"Er... Yeah. That's... great. Yeah, you're welcome. We'd love to...have you there." I squint my eyes suspiciously. Did he just evade the question?
"The book, Buffy?" He gestures at the book in my hand.
Is he trying to get rid of me? Does he need to speak to Willow? Alone? About Faith?
Well...I know when I'm not wanted.
"Right." I glance from him to Willow and back. "Right, right. Back row, eh?"
I'm just gonna go and return the book and leave them with their secret little meetings.
"Yes. Back row. Quite right." Giles uncomfortably says.
Look at him trying to be sneaky. Hah! But that's alright. I'm mature.
I walk up the steps and between the rows of bookcases.
Oh, no. I forgot what row he said this belongs. Oops. Maybe it's in that row over there. The one where I could hear everything said at the counter without being seen. Yes, I think I'll take a look over there first.
"I knew it!" I heard Willow excitedly whisper. "She couldn't be stupid."
...Huh?
"Yes, quite. Nevertheless even I didn't expect such a result." Giles whispers back softly.
"So what do you want me to do?"Willow asks.
"Well I have pondered about Faith and her rather shortcoming school carreer." I hear him walking around a little. "I've approached Faith on the matter several times with no succes. I rather feel we'll have to be...Well. I think we'll have to be rather sneaky about it to be honest."
Wait wait wait... Let me get this straight. Those papers somehow showed something about Faith's intelligence. Apparently she's not stupid.
I don't really think any of us thought she was stupid. Just that she didn't go to school alot. Which kinda gave her a disadvantage at some times. But barely. I'll personally visit, laugh at and kick the ass of the first hypocrite who calls Faith stupid.
Anyway so now Giles is approaching Willow on how to make Faith do something with her smarts? Are they trying to get her back into school? Good luck.
Faith's stubborn. They've got no chance in hell.
I dump the book on the shelf and make my way back downstairs.
"Got it." I lie and get my bag. "Wills, we gotta go or we'll miss English."
"Right. Um. Right. Well Giles..." She grabs her own bag and widens her eyes at Giles, apparently trying to relay some sort of message. Probably related to the Faith thing.
She is doing one crappy job though, Giles looks like he did the first time I was babbling to him. Blank.
"We'll uh..." She scrunches her nose and raises her eyebrows meaningfully. But that meaning is not getting through. And Wills is definitely not of the sneaky. "We'll see you later."
"Right." I say, pretending not to notice their 'covert' operation. "And don't forget Christmas. We're opening presents and I'm impatient so be there at six. In the morning." I add.
"I'll be there at ten."
"Deal. Bye, Giles."
"Bye, Giles." Willow gives Giles one last 'sneaky' look and we leave the library.
"Wow. So uh, that's great that Giles is gonna be there, huh?" She says as we walk towards our English class.
"Yup. Fantastic." I agree. I then decide to tease Will a lil'. Will a lil'. Get it? Whatever. "So what were you and Giles talking about?"
She freezes in her tracks and giggles nervously. All the blood in her cheeks dissappears but then returns in ten-fold.
"Will? What's wrong?"
"We...were...talking about..." She could start hyperventilating. Her eyes dart around and it looks like she'll either pass out or cry. ...Or both.
She could say anything right now. They could have been talking about the Christmas thing. They could have been talking about books. Magic. Demons. School. Computers.
Anything.
But according to my best friend, Willow Rosenberg, the smartest girl in the school, they were talking about...
"Paint."
Paint? That's disappointing. She could've at least said something more interesting. Paint?
"Paint, Willow?" I sigh, lower my head and shake it dissappointedly.
And I walk away.
"What? We were talking about paint." I hear her call after me.
Paint.
Faith's POV:
Holy shit.
Holy fucking shit. What in the flapping fuck just happened?
What am I gonna do? Shit, I don"t know what to do.
I stop at the corner of the street and look at the envelope in my hand. I take out the neatly folded letter and skim to the part that completely fucks me up.
'We are pleased to inform you that the proposal has been approved and an account has been opened for Faith Spencer with you, Mr Giles, as her guardian.'
That's not even it yet.
'We have also taken the liberty of arranging proper living arrangements for miss Spencer at the below mentioned address.'
I look at the key they enclosed with the letter and trace it with my fingers. Is this the key to my place? My own place. Will holding this key feel familiar, like home after time? And should I buy a PS2 or wait for the PS3?
All these important questions, it's making my head hurt.
So the Counsel finally decided to do something good. I guess they were really appreciative with that last apocalypse. Those crazy winged dyke demons were pretty fucked up. Kinda sexy. But fucked up.
I check the address in the letter again.
62 Sariza Lane. That's in the good side of town. I wonder whether I should check it out right now.
I could. And I am curious. But it feels like a big deal. And I dunno... I feel like... Almost like I should-...Oh god. I feel like I should share it with someone!
What the fuck?
I stare at the key for a while. Who do I want to share this with?
I sigh.
I have to go back to the school.
