Lina had seen Buffy sneak away from third period.  Buffy wanted a normal life, yet she refused to attend school regularly.  Lina sighed and headed towards the library.  She’d have to give her teacher that note about being excused anytime tomorrow.  She strutted down the empty corridor and entered the dull looking, dim room at the end of it.
     “I must say now, we have had almost no activity for three weeks.”  The unsure and somewhat anti-social voice of Giles, laced with a quivering British accent.
     Lina remained silent as she entered and huddled between to bookshelves, listening intently.
     “So,” Buffy replied “ Do you know if there’s anything actually wrong with this no show vamp squad or are we just worrying our pretty little heads for nothing?”
     “A-at this point I really - well no one can be sure what’s going on.  They may be injured or, more likely planning an ambush of sorts.  I can only really suggest that you be on the look out - take more precautions.  Look over your shoulder.”  He paused.  “I don’t mean to make you paranoid or anything, but, with Sunnydale on a Hell mouth-“
     “I know, I know.”  Buffy exaggerated a sigh.  “With demons and vampires everywhere, a little paranoia is the best medicine.  That and a stake.”
     Lina paused.  She had known there was something weird - really, really weird about Sunnydale.  Aside from it being a one Starbucks town that could brag the nation’s highest mortality rate and no one ever doing anything about it or even moving away.  And now she knew.  Demons and vampires and a Hell mouth.  And Buffy was the Slayer and there could be only one, just like that Highlander movie, whose tune kept rolling through her head.  And this was the involvement Giles had in the whole thing.  Giles was Buffy’s Watcher and was sworn to help her in any way he could and guide her, protect her with knowledge.  Lina had assumed a relationship as such from the beginning but she was glad that this confirmed it.  It was good to have some basic facts before setting up for the actual accusation.  But the more she thought about it, the more she planned to delay springing that on Buffy.  First of all, there had to be more to it.  This wasn’t it, not all by any means.  Lina could feel that there was more in Buffy’s life.  There was compassion, but she had no idea for whom that compassion was directed.  Also, Lina realized, any accusation to Buffy should wait until after this whole vampire mystery was over.  To be worrying about being exposed as a Slayer at the same time as fearing an ambush would push anyone over the edge.
     Buffy retired to the back room to practice kick boxing and Giles wasn’t in the main library, so Lina decided it was best to make a break for it and head back to class.  The odds of them mentioning something to make her hour long stay worthwhile were slim to none, so she headed for the double doors and trudged back to dreaded third period; math class.

    Lunch break took its sweet time arriving at Sunnydale, and Lina was waiting obediently at the Snapple machine when Buffy came from the library.
    “So, how was your first three hours at Sunnydale?”  Buffy grinned.
    “Oh, pretty good.  What class do you have for third period, Buffy?” Lina smiled inwardly.  I’ll innocently put her in the hot seat she thought to herself.
    It worked like a charm.  “I have…I…have…I think…oh, where’s my brain today?  I totally forgot what class I just came from…”
    “Wow,” Lina sweetly played along, “That’s some tuning out.  You’ll have to teach me how to do it.”
    “Yeah,” Buffy seemed uninterested.  “Oh look, there’s Xander and Willow by the window,” she pointed at the two waving adolescents.
    Lina and Buffy headed over to them and sat down.
    “Will, Xander, I’d like you to meet Lina.  She’s new to the school.”
    “Hi,” Willow smiled.  She seemed very kind, the type of person who should be able to make friends quite easily.
    “Hey there,” Xander seemed genuine, but unsure of himself.  She could tell be liked Buffy and she could tell equally well that his feelings were not at all reciprocated by Buffy.
    “What’s for lunch?”
    “Same old.” Willow cast an uneasy look at the cafeteria.
    “I don’t know what they put in it, but I doubt it’s fit for man or beast.” Xander looked down, and seemed to examine Buffy’s hands.
    Buffy didn’t seem to notice.  “Look, I’m really hungry, so I’m gonna go get something.  You want?”
    “Nothing for me” Lina replied.
    “Me neither.” Xander continued his gaze.
    “I’ll have, if it’s okay with you, some 1% - no, skim milk.  And could you please grab a straw, cause I hate drinking out of those cartons.”  Willow beamed appreciatively.
    Buffy left to get her food as Lina was left alone with Willow and Xander.  They wouldn’t be on their guard so much, so this was the perfect opportunity to extract some more information.
    “So, how long have you guys known Buffy for?”
    Willow frowned.  “I don’t know, maybe a year almost.”
    “She’s seems very independent.” Lina went on.  “What kind of stuff is she into?”
    Xander shrugged.  “There’s a club called the Bronze that we like to hang out at.  You should probably ask her yourself.”
    “Oh I tried.  But Buffy - don’t tell her I told you this - seems a bit paranoid.  Very suspicious, very secretive, as though she’s really got something to hide, you know?  Now I didn’t mean to be invading her privacy asking you guys instead of her.  I knew you were true friends and wouldn’t tell me something that she wouldn’t want me to know.  But all the same, you guys wouldn’t get as defensive as her.  The way she acts, you’d think she’s on a secret mission or something.”  She giggled at her own unfunny joke.
    Xander was silent for a moment and then forced himself to chuckle before resuming a straight face whereas Willow didn’t manage that much.
    “I never would have used that analogy…” Willow tried to avoid eye contact with Lina.
    Lina nodded thoughtfully.  “I suppose then, you could say that she’s so standoffish it’s like she has a hidden agenda.  Like she’s some sort of super hero and this whole Buffy Summers thing is just some elaborate secret identity.  Clark Kent style, you know?” Lina carefully guaged their reaction to that.  It was predictable, because as people went, Willow and Xander were pretty damn predictable.  Xander just looked more and more uneasy as the seconds ticked by, while Willow avoided eye contact, directing her very intense stare towards the coke machine.
    “I’ve never noticed.” Xander filled the silence.
    “Hmm.  Well, you two are her friends, and maybe she only gets like that around people she doesn’t know.  I’m not sure.”
    Willow flashed a desperate look towards Lina.  “So, how do you like Sunnydale?”
    “The school, or the town?”
    “Both.”
    “Well, the town seems nice and all.  But I read some statistics before coming here.  A little city like Sunnydale probably wouldn’t get much attention from maps or books on statistics or almanacs or anything like that.  Well, before I came here, I didn’t know the size of the city so I thought I would be able to find some information on it.  The only thing I found was that the death rate in Sunnydale is tree times that of Los Angeles and New York put together!  Can you believe that? Well yeah, you probably can, since you’ve lived here all your life.”
    Xander looked around, trying to spot Buffy in the lineup while absently excusing his hometown.  “Now, you can’t believe everything you read.  Our little suburban Sunnydale can’t be that violent.”
    “Oh really.  Willow, what’s this school’s population?”
    “Five hundred and fifty-three…or was it fifty-four?”
    “Last year the population, according to the school records I came across in the office this morning, was six hundred and ninety.  The year before that, almost eight hundred.  Either Sunnydale is the most unpopular school I’ve ever heard of or the rapid decrease in population somehow is linked to the sky-rocketing mortality rate.”
    “Anything else?”  Willow didn’t mean to sound as rude as she did, but she was ready to bolt.  This kid knew way too much.
    “Yeah.  If it isn’t an inconvenience, after lunch, could you show me to the library?  There’s something I wanna check on.  I don’t know what the Sunnydale library is like, but at my old school the library was very old and filled with a tremendous amount of beautiful and very informational books.”
    “Well, if you want.”  Willow tried hard not to arouse any more suspicions.  “But the library here isn’t much to speak of.”
    “Sure it is.” Buffy joined them, allowing Murphy’s Law to take its effect.  Her timing was impeccably bad.
    “Well, nothing compared to what you’re used to, Lina.”  Willow directed some silent conversation towards Buffy.  “Just a few dozen stuffy old books from the turn of the centaury.  So out of date is not even funny.”
    “Oh, but I love antiques.  I could even appraise some if you want.  I’m learning how to do that, you know.”
 
 

    Lunch passed slowly, but much faster than third period had, and the group made polite small talk until they only had a few minutes before the bell rang.  Lina was exhausted.  She kept having to pin them into a corner, asking suspicious questions, acting mysterious and really smart.  She wasn’t stupid at all, or she wouldn’t be pulling this off the way she was, but researching, and appraising antiques!  She didn’t even want to know where she came up with that. Lina wasn’t even reading any vibes off of them anymore.
    “Well, I know we only have a few minutes, but do you think we could still go to the library?” Lina looked up at Buffy.  Buffy looked at Willow and Willow looked at Xander and Xander looked at a tall brunette across the room who was wearing as little as she could get away with.
    “I guess so.” Buffy hesitated, then got up, grabbed her purse and lead the procession down the hallway to the dull looking corner of the school where sat the library.  She held the door open as Willow, Xander and Lina entered.  Lina forced a surprised and very much impressed look on her face and said, “Willow, you said this library had nothing in it!  Shame on you for taking this archive for granted.  Wow, it’s really amazing.”
    “Buffy?”  Giles entered the main library.  “Oh, you brought someone.” He didn’t sound angry, just unsure of what to do.
    “J- Mr.Giles, this is Lina.  She’s new to Sunnydale.”
Giles awkwardly shook her hand and adjusted his fragile looking glasses.  “That’s right.  I didn’t think I’d seen you here before.”
    “Probably because no one ever comes in here.” Xander supplied and everyone shot a dirty look in his direction.
    “Oh, I don’t believe that!  With all these books, and still no one comes in.” Lina examined the room, wide-eyed.  All of a sudden an idea, maybe a name hit her hard.  “Calendar.”
    “Hmmm?” Buffy looked at her.
    “Ms. Calendar.” Lina wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean but she had to say it.  Whenever a word or name entered her mind the way that one did, she would think about it and think about it, and eventually say it because after a while it gave her a headache to keep it inside.
Giles shot around, anguish in this face.  His eyes seemed sunken for some reason and he was pale.  “What did you say?”
    Lina repeated it carefully.
    “Oh god.  Why did you say that?”  He was careful too.  He couldn’t help show emotion when hearing about the whomever it was with the name Ms. Calendar.  But he didn’t unnecessarily give her an excuse, a clue, or an easy way out.
    “Ms. Calendar,” Lina looked around, and Xander, Willow, Buffy and most importantly, Giles, and they were staring her down.  He frowned at her and she bit her lip.  Whatever she had said, she wanted to take it back now.  She had seriously ruffled his feathers, and now she wasn’t sure whether to tell him that it just came to her, or spin off some elaborate fish story about how she had always known a Ms. Calendar, a dear, but quite decrepit old nanny from her toddler years. “Ms. Calendar was a friend of my mother’s back from when I was just little.  She came to our house every Sunday for tea and she used to give these chewable mints.  The smell in here reminds me of her.  Why?  Is there something wrong?”
    “No, of course not.”  She had a feeling he didn’t believe her and she sure as hell didn’t believe him.  Besides, it certainly didn’t smell a bit minty in this room.  More must than mint.
    The school bell broke the silence spell and Buffy, Willow and Xander didn’t seem the least bit inclined to leave.  Well, Lina figured she had better get going, or at least look like she was going to.
    “Thanks for showing me the library, guys.  Mr. Giles.  I’ll see you all later!”  She turned and headed out of the library.
    Lina peeked in through the window in the door.  They certainly didn’t show any sign of movement, so they were probably going to skip fourth period.  Naughty!  It wasn’t a wise move to skip classes the first day at a new school, but she had more important things to do.  In the back of her mind she wondered if they would be talking and if so, about her.  She had certainly given Willow and Xander a reason to.  She leaned again the door, opened the library return drop slot just a crack and caught an interesting conversation.
 
 

<<<Back<<<

>>>Next>>>