The School Counselor
by Faithful_chickie
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: These characters are the property of Joss Whedon.
Spoilers: Set in an AU after Help. Season seven - episode 4 of BTVS.
Please Note: Faith is not a slayer. She is only fifteen and a
sophomore in High School.
Warning: SEX BETWEEN A MINOR AND ADULT!
Feedback: Yes. Please. (It helps the updates get written faster.)
Faith leaned back in the bleachers, a cigarette dangling from her lush lips. Her dark eyes lazily surveyed the crowd as she waited with her fellow classmates for the pep rally to begin.
"Faith!" The girl sitting near began elbowing her. "Principal Wood is right there!" She gestured frantically.
"Ah, screw him!" The sexy teenager flicked her cigarette and took one more drag before tossing it into a nearby trash can. "I just lit that one, too," she grumbled bitterly as the principal approached.
"Faith." His eyes slid over her companions. "Kit. Carlos. What are you doing over here? This section of the bleachers is closed for a reason."
"Yeah?" Faith gave him a disinterested look.
"Didn't you see the ropes?" Principal Wood pointed impatiently at the yellow ropes surrounding the large section that they happened to be sitting in.
Faith shrugged. "Thought it was decoration." She smirked as Kit and Carlos chuckled.
"Get up." He irritably waved the teenagers over with the others, not noticing the trash can smoldering behind him.
Faith and her friends snickered as several of the students begin pointing and drawing attention to the fire. It didn't take long for a fairly large disturbance to erupt, causing several of the football players and the team mascot to rush from the field to bravely snuff the fire.
The laughter went through the stands as Dawn and her group of friends tried to get a view of the commotion.
"What's going on?" Dawn asked, standing on her tiptoes.
"I think someone set the trash can on fire," Janice informed the group, snickering.
"Why would someone do that?" There was a hint of amusement in the teenager's voice as a chaotic situation started to evolve.
*Yippee! Excitement at Sunnydale High... and it doesn't even involve monsters. Wait 'til I tell Buffy.* Dawn giggled while obediently following the others from the stands. Apparently, they were evacuating the bleachers.
"Cool! This should eat into sixth period," one of Dawn's other friends observed, causing more excited chatter.
"Who's that?" Dawnie pointed to the very pretty but definitely tough looking girl who was being escorted from the area by Principal Wood.
Janice shrugged. "Some new girl. She's only been here like two days. I think her name's Faith."
"She looks like a slut. Mmmm... look at that tight, leather clad body." Zack's voice took on a wistful tone.
"Zack, you're such a creep." Dawn nudged him in annoyance.
"What?! I didn't say it was a bad thing." The boy laughed, holding up his hands as the girls all swatted at him.
"You're never going to believe what happened in school today!" Dawn chirped excitedly while piling mashed potatoes onto her plate.
The slayer's eyes grew wide.
"No. Not that. Not everything is about demons, you know?!" The teenager let out an exasperated sigh.
"In my world it usually is." Buffy stated, giving Willow a quick smile.
"Especially when it comes to Sunnydale High." The red head quipped.
"Well not this time. This time it was just your regular high school hijinks." Dawn smiled proudly, knowing that the witch would like her using the word hijinks. Xander and Willow were weird that way.
"Good. Because I'd really hate to think that the forces of evil at the high school have figured out that I take Mondays off." The beautiful blonde turned toward her sister. "So what's this amazing thing that happened at school today?"
"Oh, it was too funny! Some girl set a trash can on fire at the pep rally."
"Charming." Buffy rolled her eyes, while Willow chuckled.
"No, wait. That's not the best part. Mrs. Beekman saw the smoke from her window and called the fire department. It was totally great. We missed almost the whole afternoon of classes. And of course by the end of the day, the rumor was that she had planted a bomb in the school." Dawn blurted it all out in one breath. She was obviously very amused by the incident.
"Sounds like another case for the trusty school counselor." The witch smirked, glancing over at Buffy.
"Great. I'll get right on it," she responded in a flat tone, giving them both a wry look. With a dismissive hand gesture toward her a little sister, the slayer moved the conversation onto more pressing matters.
Dawn tuned them out. Her mind wandered back to the new girl. *It would be kind of fun to be bad like that.* Recalling Faith's absolutely unruffled demeanor, the teenager decided, *She's so cool.*
In a seedy part of Sunnydale, a young, pretty girl entered an apartment, to be greeted by no one. She strode past the worn furniture and clutter, unaffected by the shabbiness. Slipping into her small room, she flopped down on her bed and reached under to retrieve the tattered notebook that served as her journal.
Smiling slightly, Faith scrawled the date, then began to write.
[Another day in this new town, Crappydale.] She snickered and added, [Actually it's not too bad. I totally like it here better with my Aunt. It's kinda generic though. And everything is so shiny clean. Not like Boston.] Faith chewed the end of her pen, lost in thought for a moment.
[Today was kinda funny though. I totally got frickin' busted. Well... not totally. But I could've been suspended; he just didn't have any proof. What happened was this, me and two of my new friends, Carlos and Kit had to go to the lame ass pep rally so we were just hanging out and I was just havin' a smoke. But the tight-ass principal showed up to bitch us out about where we were sitting so I had to ditch the cigarette.] The brunette paused to take a sip of her coke.
[Guess the trash can wasn't the best choice. Anyway, the thing sorta caught on fire. No biggie though, if they all weren't such wusses. Some dumb ass teacher even called the fire department. Gimme a break! It was a frickin' trash can! I coulda put out in like two seconds. It was funny though seeing everyone run around, and at least we didn't have that goddamn pep rally.] Laughing, Faith reached over and pulled a pack of cigarettes from her jacket. Taking one out, she lit it and then returned to writing.
[It sucks though cuz I totally got dragged in by that prissy principal.] She paused and took a long drag, smirking. [Man, that guy would get eaten alive if he were principal at my old school. He was a frickin' pushover.] Snorting, she flicked her ash into the empty coke can.
[He came in all puffed up and shit, trying to blame it on me. Too funny though, cuz he had no frickin' proof and we both knew it. So he starts with that whole 'I want you to talk to our counselor crap.' Screw that!]
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she wrote. [I'm not doin' that whole bullshit sharing thing. Nobody's gonna help me. Besides, I don't need help. I can figure shit out on my own. I got myself to a new school and a new life, didn't I? So fuck the school counselor!] Faith scowled, pausing for moment.
[Principal HardWood didn't like my attitude. So now I have detention for the rest of the week. Big whoop! If he thinks that's gonna make me suddenly fall in line, and be all 'yes sir, no sir', then that guy's got another thing coming. My attitude is just fine, and I'm not changin' it for nobody... so there! Frickin' Principal Woodie!]
The brunette laughed and snuffed out her cigarette, finishing her entry. [So that was my day. Pretty average I guess.]
Shortly after her arrival, Principal Wood greeted the slayer and invited her into his office. Obviously he had been lying in wait.
Giving a bright smile, the petite blonde entered his office and took a seat. "Well good morning to you too." She grinned, adding, "Ya need something, don't ya?"
"Very perceptive. Actually, yes." He leaned forward in his chair. "It's a big favor, and it means extra hours, but it does also means extra pay."
"Well then count me in. What is it?"
Breathing a sigh or relief, Principal Wood sat back in his chair. "You'll really be helping us out of a bind here, Buffy. The board has just suspended another one of our teachers and... " He held up his hand to wave off her question. "Don't ask."
"Okay." The slayer made a face, shifting uncomfortably while she waited for him to continue.
"Anyway, as I was saying, we are completely understaffed." He spoke more slowly, gauging her reaction. "I was hoping that you could maybe take over a study hall period and possibly help out with some other classes."
"You mean be a teacher?" Buffy's eyebrows shot up.
Chuckling, Principal Wood replied. "Not exactly. More like a teacher's assistant. However, for the study hall period you would be on your own, but that's really little more than a babysitting job."
"Wow!" The little blonde beamed. "That means I have a class though, right?"
"Yes." He couldn't help but smile at Buffy's enthusiasm. "So I take it you're interested?"
Buffy grinned, excited. *Wait until I tell Willow!* Nodding her head vigorously she reached out and shook his hand. "Thanks."
"Quite a grip you have there." Principal Wood noted, wincing.
"Oops... sorry." She immediately released his hand.
He smirked and added, "By the way, you may want to hold off thanking me until later. You might decide that you don't like dealing with the students in a classroom environment. It can be trickier."
"Don't worry." The small slayer spoke with confidence, "I've faced worse. Now when do I start?"
"Today, if you can. You'll take over one of my other teacher's sixth period study halls; that way I can assign him to a regular class." He began jotting down some notes, while Buffy waited.
Thinking about her newfound opportunities, she began mentally rearranging her schedule when it occurred to her. *But I don't have a degree.* Worriedly, she inquired. "Don't I need a degree or some kind of teaching license-thingy at least?"
Her phrasing made the principal smile. "Yes, if you were teaching a class. But as far as for assisting, I'm sure we can enroll you in the appropriate college courses so that you qualify as an intern."
Buffy took on a positively radiant quality, jumping to her feet. "This is great. I have to go call someone. Are we done for now?"
Principal Wood gave her a friendly wave. "Go on then. I'll come and talk to you again later."
The slayer rushed happily to her desk to call Willow.
Carlos stood out back with Faith while she finished her cigarette. "C'mon, we're going to be late."
"So what! It's friggin' study hall. Who cares?" The brunette leaned back, taking one more drag before dropping it to the ground and carefully crushing it.
"Those things will kill ya." Muttering, he trailed after the sexy girl, waiting while she stopped to grab books from her locker.
The two teenagers entered just as the bell rang. Carlos stopped talking mid-sentence causing Faith to look up. *Holy shit!* Blushing, she turned on her heel with Carlos close behind. "Idiot, you made us walk into the wrong room."
"I was following you." He grimaced, glancing at the room number. "Wait a sec." They both blushed harder when they realized they were going to have to go back in.
"Fuck." Faith gritted her teeth and walked in ignoring the chuckles and tittering from her fellow classmates. As she sat down, one of the guys near leaned close and whispered, "Don't feel bad. I think like half the class did that."
Carlos re-entered more reluctantly, getting laughed at harder. Buffy watched with some sympathy as the boy turned positively red. After he found a seat, she stood up and smiled cheerfully. "Hi, I'm Ms. Summers. I'm taking over for Mr. Reynolds. So from now on I'll be your study hall monitor." The slayer reached back and picked up the attendance sheet. "If you all can just sign in for me, since I don't know your names yet."
One of the boys in the front scrambled from his desk and took the sheet.
Carlos mumbled to Faith as he slid lower in his seat. "I've died and gone to heaven."
"Huh?" The brunette slowly tore her eyes away from the petite beauty. "Wha... huh?"
Dawn clattered through the door of the Summers' residence, tossing down her books and heading into the dining room. "Hey, sorry I'm late. Janice's mom had to run a few errands before dropping me off."
The teenager flounced down in her chair, briefly acknowledging their dinner guests. "Hey."
"How was school?" Xander asked, sending a warm smile in her direction.
"Yes, tell us about your day and what happened at school. We would all like to hear," Anya added, stiffly feigning interest.
"Just your typical Sunnydale High crap. That's all." Dawn reached past her sister and grabbed a piece of pizza. "Other than Justin and his friends being big jerks, I'd say it was regular." She peered over at Buffy. "And monster free."
Dawn took a bite of her pizza before continuing. "Oh, and I guess there's a new teacher or something. Janice's stupid brother kept going on about how pretty she is. I hope that I don't have her for any classes." The teen wrinkled her nose in disgust. "There's nothing worse than having to witness one of those hormone fests. It's like all the boys turn into freaks. It's so totally annoying." Dawn paused for a moment, remembering a recent incident. She snickered. "Then again sometimes it's funny." She broke into a fit of giggles. "Like when they have to go up to the blackboard."
Everyone chuckled slightly, except for Xander. "Hey!" He blushed furiously, the memory of his once uncontrollable and ill-timed erections too fresh to joke about. "Sometimes that can't be helped. Give the guys a break."
"Dawn!" Buffy chastised, trying not to laugh. "That's not nice, and Xander's right. Boys' bodies are going through changes at that age too... just like yours, so be nice."
Still smirking, Dawn lowered head. "Okay. Whatever."
"Enough about that. Willow and I have some exciting news." The slayer grinned at her best friend.
"What kind of news?" Dawn folded her pizza and took a huge bite.
"Your sister and Willow are going to be teachers," Anya announced brightly.
"What?!" The teen scowled at her sister. "You didn't even graduate from college." Then she turned to the redhead. "And you're still in school. So how can you be teachers?"
"Not teachers exactly, just teaching assistants. Wil's already qualified for interning, and the school's staff is very thin these days, so I recommended her today to Principal Wood." Smiling proudly, Buffy added, "Right after he offered me some added responsibilities."
Dawn stared, asking in a tightly controlled voice, "What kind of responsibilities?"
"I'm a study hall monitor. But I only have the sixth period class right now." The slayer picked at her pizza toppings. "And if they need me, I might fill in for other things too." She looked up, smirking at Dawn's horrified expression. "So little sis, looks like I'll be hanging around at your school a lot."
"Ugh! Buffy, you can't do this to me!" The teenager jumped up in a dramatic rage.
"Do what?" Buffy peered at her, amused.
"You know what!" Gesturing to Willow, Dawn said, "It's okay if Wil's there. At least she's cool... but you! Argh!" The teen stomped off.
Unconcerned, the pretty little blonde reached for the last piece of pizza. "Anyone going to eat this?"
"Buffy?" Willow gave her a questioning look.
"She'll get over it." The slayer waved her hand. "She got used to me being there as a counselor."
"Yeah, but now it's like you're mixing with the teachers." Xander observed, trying to point out Dawn's grievance.
"Oh. Hmm... Never thought of it that way." Buffy's brow wrinkled slightly. "Okay, I'll go talk to her after I'm done eating."
As soon as she arrived home, Faith flopped down on her bed and reached for her journal.
[Okay, Today sucked. I had my first official day of detention for that trash can fire. The principal is making me do it because I won't go and talk to one of those schmuck counselors. He thinks I'll get tired of it and give in. Well he can bite me for all I care! So I have detention for a month! So what?!]
Reaching into her pocket, the brunette extracted a pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. She sat up, slipping it between her lips as she went digging for her lighter.
"Faith? Faith, are you in there?"
"Yeah. Hang on." Tucking her journal under her pillow, Faith went and opened her door. "What's up?"
"I have to go to Vegas again. Are you gonna be okay here?" Her aunt smiled, ruffling Faith's dark locks. "What am I talking about? Sure you are. You can take care of yourself, Faithy." She headed toward the front door. "I left some money on the table. I should be back in a week or so, 'kay? Bye, sweetie."
The teen stood watching her aunt leave. Shrugging, she lit her cigarette and went back to her room to finish her journal entry.
[There was one funny thing that happened though. We got this new teacher for study hall. I swear, she gave half the class a hard on.] Faith chuckled and took a drag.
[Her name's Ms. Summers or somethin' like that. Anyway, she's this totally cute blonde number. Wonder what her story really is.]
Faith grinned and put down her notebook. With a sigh, the teenager closed her eyes. She could picture the pretty little blonde perfectly.
PART 5 - Helping the Summers' Women
Dawn stood on her tiptoes reaching for her books. "Give them back! Justin, I'm serious!"
"Or what?" The boy snickered, holding the books above her head.
"Shit!" Carlos mumbled under his breath, glancing at Faith. They had just entered the building and he knew what was coming. In an instant, his sexy friend had gone to the girl's aid. He rushed after her.
"Or this!" Faith punched Justin in the stomach, causing him to immediately drop the book bag. With a smile, she caught it and handed it to Dawn.
"Bitch!" Peering up in pain, Justin winced and ran for the exit.
"That's right! You better run!" Carlos laughed and turned to his friend. "Faith, you're lucky Principal Wood isn't around. You're in enough trouble."
"Thanks." Dawn gave her a brilliant smile, which Faith eagerly returned.
"No problem. I'm Faith and this is Carlos."
Lowering her head shyly, Dawn introduced herself. "Dawn..." The teen hesitated, no reason to tell Faith her last name and have the cool girl know her sister was on staff. *Nope, no reason for that.*
"Well Dawn, we're going to lunch. Wanna join us?" Faith grinned, leaning back on her heels.
"Sure."
"Hurry up, Carlos. I don't wanna be late." Faith scowled at her friend, causing Kit to laugh.
"Since when?"
"No, she's right. We have to go." Carlos handed Kit her stuff and followed after the other brunette.
"Over there." Faith nudged the boy toward a couple of seats near the front.
He gave her a sly grin as he settled in. "Good call."
The two teenagers exchanged a glance as the teacher walked in. She was as hot as they remembered. Giving Carlos a wink, Faith immediately jumped to her feet. "Here, lemme help you with that." She took the stack of books that Buffy was carrying.
"Uh... thank you." The slayer smiled as several of the students stood up to help her. One boy rushed to close the door, another held her chair, and a dark-haired, leather clad girl grabbed her books.
"No problem, Teach." Faith gave her most charming smile as she set the stack of books down on the little blonde's desk.
Pausing long enough to have another good look, Faith decided. *Goddamn, she's cute!* With a nod, the taken teen found her seat again, as did the other students.
Carlos smirked at the brunette. "Nice job, you kiss-ass."
Faith leaned close and snickered. "Hell, I'll kiss her ass any day."
"Okay, you got a point." He relented, reaching for a pen as the attendance sheet was passed around.
Smiling, the little slayer stood up to address the class. "Okay you guys, I have Mr. Reynolds' list here on what each of you should be working on. But since I still don't know your names, I was thinking we could have assigned seating for a week or so." Buffy held up her hand. "Just until I know everyone's name."
"That bites!" A boy in the back grumbled, but before Buffy even had a chance to deal with his complaint several other boys smacked him upside the head.
"No! That's enough. No hitting." Nervously, the little blonde moved toward the assaulted boy.
He peered up and quickly apologized. "Sorry Ms. Summers."
"That's okay. What's your name?"
"Dave." Worriedly, he glanced back at his classmates who still held a look of warning. "Assigned seating sounds great."
"You bet it does, you frickin' wuss!" Faith snorted, ready to join in on beating this Dave character.
"You!" Buffy pointed at the tough brunette girl. "What's your name?"
Faith could feel herself blush. "Um... Faith. Why? What'd I do?!" Her defenses came up as she stood.
"Nothing. You can sit down, Faith. I'm just trying to learn everyone's name." Reaching onto her desk, Buffy snatched up the seating chart and wrote down Dave and Faith on the two desks directly in front of hers. "Okay, see this chart." She held it up. "I want everyone to write their name on a seat where they'd like to sit. These two chairs are taken though." She smiled at the brunette before handing the chart to Carlos.
Faith grinned back at her, so thoroughly smitten that she didn't hear Carlos.
"Faith! Hey! Are you listening?!"
"Huh?... What?" Slowly the teen turned. "What is it?"
"Damn, what's with you?! I need a pen. Mine's out of ink." Carlos waved his hand in front of Faith's face.
"Here." She threw her pen. "Dumbass, why don't you ever have a pen that works?!"
When she looked back, she found Buffy smiling at her. *Fuck!* Swallowing hard, Faith quickly opened one of her books and began studying or at least pretending to study. Whenever she could, she stole peeks at the cute little blonde sitting no more than ten feet away.
Faith soon noticed that she wasn't the only one. Glancing around, she caught most of the other kids staring at their new teacher too. *Perverts!* Glaring in their direction, the dark beauty was able to discourage most of Ms. Summers' admirers. Carlos was the only one that she didn't feel comfortable threatening.
Checking over the college schedule, Buffy sat carefully choosing her courses. Occasionally, she peered up at the students, but she seemed to have been blessed with good kids. They all worked quietly and kept to themselves. With a pleased expression, the slayer stood and stretched, checking the clock. She missed seeing all the attention focused on her tight little body as she arched her back and yawned.
Faith stared, open-mouthed. Her gum fell to her desk. "Fuck!" she muttered and tried to catch it before Carlos noticed.
"You guys have been so nice and quiet today. You can leave early." Buffy walked over to open the door. Surprise etched on her features when only a few of the students moved. "Class dismissed. You can go now."
Finally, the remaining students got to their feet to leave.
Buffy shook her head in confusion as she watched the kids slowly shuffle out.
"Weren't you chewing gum, Faith?" Carlos teased as they made their way down the hall.
"Shut it." Faith laughed, nudging him. "You were just as bad."
"Except this one's mine, chica," Carlos bragged, grinning.
"Whatever! Like you could steal a girl from me?!" Playfully, she slugged him as they passed the group of jocks that stood waiting for Buffy.
"I've got fifty bucks that says Ms. Summers will be sucking my cock within a week," R.J. loudly announced.
Several of the boys chuckled and started making their own wagers.
"Faith, no!" Before Carlos could stop her, the teen jumped the boy, throwing him against the lockers.
"You frickin' pig!" Faith growled, kneeing him in the gut.
"What's it to you, Faith?!" R.J. nervously looked up, coughing.
"Take it back! Or I'll bust up your pretty face!" She lifted her fist.
"Okay! Okay, I take it back." He held up his hands, backing away. "We were just trying to make a bet, you know? Who's gonna make it with the hot teacher first. That's all. Didn't mean anything by it," R.J. offered, glancing back at his friends.
Faith smirked. "Alright, I'll get in on that." She removed some crumbled bills from her pocket.
"Yeah, who are you betting on?" Justin grinned at the sultry brunette.
"Me." Faith spoke without flinching. All the boys chuckled, but Carlos immediately pulled out some cash.
"My money's on Faith."
"So you like the girls? Should've known." Nodding, Justin took her and Carlos' money. "Here's who's in so far." He stood back, motioning for those betting to get close. "It's me, R.J., and Faith. Anyone else who wants in has to tell us tomorrow before class, got it?"
Someone called out. "What if no one gets her?"
"Like that's gonna happen." R.J. snickered. "But if it does, everyone gets their money back."
"Let's get out of here." Carlos grabbed Faith's arm when he saw Principal Wood coming down the hall.
Whistling, Faith strolled down the street. She lit a cigarette and smiled. Now she had an excuse to try and seduce that little blonde dream. She closed her eyes and imagined kissing Ms. Summers. *Mmmm...*
Being roughly shoved brought Faith back to reality. "Watch it, Asshole!"
Some weird looking guy blocked her path. "What's a pretty treat like you, doing out after dark?"
"Detention. Hey, what's with your face?!" Faith cocked her head, checking out his bumpy features and glowing eyes.
"Skin condition." The vampire shrugged. "What'd ya say me and you get friendly?"
"Yeah, come here." Faith crooked her finger, gesturing to a doorway.
"Darn it!" Buffy crouched low, mumbling under her breath.
"What's wrong, Slayer?" Spike tried peeking around her.
"That's one of my students."
"Really? That little chippie? She's pretty damn cute." The bleach-blond vamp grinned.
"Down Spike, she's a fifteen year old." Buffy glanced around, trying to think of a plan. "Go over there and help her. I can't let her see me."
Sighing heavily, Spike moved toward the pair. "Alright, but you owe me."
As the vampire leaned in, Faith flicked open her lighter, catching his shirt on fire. "There ya go, babe. Hot enough for ya?" Laughing, the teen ran off.
Spike chuckled as the vampire turned to dust. "Well, look at that Slayer. Your girl didn't need our help after all." Wiping his hands, the bleach-blond's blue eyes followed the dark beauty as she disappeared around the corner. "She's a smart one."
Buffy came from her hiding place. Her eyes followed his. "Yeah... she is."
PART 7 - No Crushing On Faith!
"How was school today?" Buffy tossed down her coat and made her way to the table.
"Pretty cool actually. I was just telling Willow about Faith."
"Faith? What about Faith?" The slayer knit her brows.
"Nothing. But she punched out Justin today. He took my books and wouldn't give them back." Dawn smiled proudly. "Then she invited me to lunch."
"Oh she did, did she?" Buffy frowned slightly. "Dawn, I don't want you hanging around Faith."
"Why? She's so cool!" the teenager whined, glaring at her sister.
"That's exactly the reason, because you think she's cool. Dawn, smoking and getting into fights isn't cool." The slayer glanced at Willow, hoping for support, but the witch awkwardly excused herself from the table.
"See, Willow doesn't even agree with you," Dawn pointed out.
"No, leave me out this." The redhead quickly retreated to the kitchen.
"I can't believe you, Buffy, being so narrow-minded." The little brunette scowled and got up to leave the table. "Just because she dresses sexy and doesn't take anyone's crap, you have it in for her. Geez, you're already like all the other teachers."
"Dawn, that's not it at all." Buffy became flustered as she racked her brain for a tangible reason, which the teen soon unwittingly provided.
"You know, that trash can fire wasn't even her fault," Dawn complained. "Principal Wood can be so unfair sometimes."
"What?! She's the one who did that?" The little slayer jumped to her feet, ready to lay down the law. "Dawn, you are absolutely not allowed to socialize with her, and that's final. Do you understand me?!"
With tears in her eyes, Dawn nodded and stormed out of the room.
Sighing, Buffy went into the kitchen shaking her head. "Can you believe that? She wants me to let her hang around some juvenile delinquent. Ugh!"
Willow shifted uncomfortably on the stool. She was looking over some information for her new teaching position. Glancing up, the witch casually remarked. "Buffy, I think Dawn has a little crush on this girl."
"NO! There will be no crushing on Faith and that's final!" Stamping her foot, Buffy walked from the room with Willow trailing after her.
"Wait a minute, Buffy." The redhead spun her around. "So you're okay with gay people as long as it's not your sister, is that it?"
"No Wil, that's not it. You should see this Faith girl. She's all attitude and leather. It's hard to believe she's only a teenager. She's all curvy and... and..." Buffy began to blush. "Never mind. I just don't want Dawn palling around with her. Faith is sooo the bad girl. She just isn't the type of influence I want around Dawn."
Willow raised her eyebrows skeptically. "I think I'm with Dawn on this one. You're not being fair, Buffy."
Sputtering indignantly, Buffy replied, "I don't have to be fair. Just right. Dawn is not to become friends with Faith."
"Well, I wouldn't worry. The worship sounded like it was one way. I think Dawn was the only one taken." The redhead shrugged and sat down. "I'm sure Faith thinks she's too cool to bother with our little Dawnie."
"Yeah, that's true." The slayer settled down slightly, taking a seat next to her best friend. "Besides, I seriously doubt Faith is gay."
The witch shook her head. "Buffy, I doubt Dawn's gay too. These are just teen crushes. It doesn't necessarily mean anything either way."
"Oh." Pouting her lips, Buffy looked apologetically at Willow. "Not that it matters."
"Yeah, right." The redhead returned to her reading, leaving the conversation at that.
Lying back on her bed, Faith tucked her hands under her head and stared up at the ceiling. She was going to have to really work to win over Ms. Summers. Justin and R.J. were no slouches. They'd be stiff competition, not to mention she already had an uphill battle ahead of her... being a girl and all. The pretty little teacher struck her as the severely straight type.
*Oh well, more of a challenge.* Smirking, Faith rolled over and reached for her journal. Her entry began with. [Today was pretty damn interesting...]
"Faith, look." Carlos nudged her. Tottering through the school doors was Ms. Summers carrying an armload of books.
A broad grin spread across the brunette's face. "That's my cue. Catch up to you guys later." Faith raced down the hall and caught the door, holding it for Buffy, then she immediately reached for the books. "Lemme get those for you."
Kit and Carlos laughed when they noticed Justin's dejected look. "You snooze, you lose," Kit teased before waving him over. "Hey, I wanna put twenty on Faith."
"Yeah? Well, the stakes have gone up. Tell Faith we have more contestants. She needs to put in another hundred bucks," Justin informed them, taking Kit's twenty. He looked at the two teens, snorting. "That is if she has it."
"Oh, she has it alright." Dawn walked up, catching only Justin's snide comment. "Her leather jacket has to be worth a couple of hundred easy."
"Alright Summers, when we win, we'll take Faith's jacket." R.J. snickered, dragging Justin off.
"Summers?" Carlos paled, glancing past Dawn in a desperate attempt to locate Faith.
"It's okay, Faith. I can carry these."
"Hey, you remembered my name." Faith could feel herself grinning despite her attempts at coolness. "No seriously though, lemme help. I want to." Wrenching most of the books away from the little slayer, Faith gallantly followed her down the hall.
"Thank you." Buffy eyed the brunette carefully as Faith set the books down on her desk.
"No problem." Reaching in her pocket, the teenager pulled out an apple. She polished it against her shirt and placed it on the stack. With a wink, she ducked out of the room, leaving Buffy staring after her.
Once in the hall, Faith immediately bumped into Carlos.
"Hey Faith, we need to talk. Come here." The boy tried to drag her away before R.J. and Justin could corner her.
"Faith, the ante has gone up, but your little friend over there has staked your leather jacket. Here, lemme see if it will fit Diane. I'm gonna give it to her after I win." R.J. grinned shamelessly at her.
"Screw you, you ain't winning, so hands off the jacket."
"Hey, don't get mad at me. Your girl Dawnie over there is the one who put up your jacket." R.J. chuckled, elbowing Justin.
"Huh?" Faith peered over to see the very smitten brunette heading in her direction. "Oh brother!"
The group of jocks now gathering all laughed at Faith's dilemma. "Hey, don't sweat it Faithy. I'm sure little sis can put in a good word for you."
"What?" Before they could answer, Dawn was by her side, tugging her sleeve.
"Faith, can I talk to you?" Batting her eyelashes, the lovesick teen waited for the sexy dark-haired girl's attention.
"Uh... yeah." Faith followed her, blushing furiously as the guys made smooching sounds and other nasty gestures.
"So... um... what's up, kiddo?"
"Kiddo?! I'm like totally older than you, Faith." Dawn snorted, intrigued anyway. After all anything Faith said was cool in the teenager's mind.
"Huh?" The brunette appeared distracted.
Immediately Dawn shook her head. "Never mind. Look, I just wanted to ask you over for Friday night. We can like go do something after school and you can come over to my house and have dinner and everything. Maybe even stay over. I want my sister to meet you and see how cool you really are."
"Yeah... um... as fun as that sounds, I think I've got other plans." Faith awkwardly backed away. "I have class so... yunno, gotta go."
Darting down the hall, the leather clad teenager made her escape. Carlos caught her just outside the doors. "Faith, do you know who that is?"
"Yeah, some kid whose ass I rescued yesterday from that prick Justin. What of it?" The sexy girl leaned back and lit up.
"Well, yeah that too. Remember her name?"
Arching an eyebrow in annoyance, Faith glanced over. "Uhhh... April... no, wait... um... Danielle..." The brunette snapped her fingers. "Okay, it started with a D, but it was some hippie name, right?"
Carlos shook his head. "Sometimes you're worse then a guy, I swear. Her name is Dawn... Dawn Summers."
"Yeah? So?"
"Miss Attention Span... hellooo... Dawn Summers as in Ms. Summers."
"Fuck you." She shoved him playfully. "That ain't her mom. No way!"
"You're right about that. It's her big sister, but I hear she's taking care of her or something."
"What?... You're telling me, that twiggy shy thing is Ms. Summers' little sister?! Her?!" Faith peered over to see Dawn exiting to an outside hall. The teen excitedly waved to Faith before stumbling a bit and blushing. "I mean she's cute but... damn. For real?! Wow, so she's all sisters with that foxy little study hall chick... huh!"
Kit wandered over. "Hey, what's up?"
Chuckling, Carlos told her as Faith pushed off the wall with her foot. "I gotta go. Thanks, by the way." A wicked grin spread across her face.
"Noooo... Faith, don't do what I know you'll be regretting... c'mon." Kit objected fiercely as the bad girl made a beeline for Dawn. "Carlos, this whole thing is getting to be fucked up and you know it."
He held up his hands. "Hey, not my doing. Besides Faith's leather jacket is riding on this, and it's Dawn fault so...."
"Ergh...." Kit walked away, shaking her head in disgust.
Approaching Dawn's small crowd of friends, Faith flicked her cigarette down and squashed it. Peering up, she gave Dawn a sexy smirk and motioned for her to come over. "Hey, about Friday. Let's do that thing if you're still interested."
"Yeah!" The teen squeaked, absolutely thrilled. "Oh my god, it'll be so great. My sister might be a bitch at first, but you'll totally grow on her. I just know it."
"Sure. Tell me what big sis is making for dinner, and I'll bring the wine." Faith smirked as Dawn and Janice tittered excitedly. Carlos sauntered over and grabbed her sleeve.
"Faith, study hall. Come on."
"Yeah, 'kay. Gotta go, Dawn." Faith winked at her and followed after Carlos.
"Omigod!" Janice squealed. "How did you get to know Faith? She is like SO cool."
"Like we can't hang out with cool people... we're totally cool too." Dawn lifted her chin, causing their friend Lisa to chuckle.
"Yeah, we're cool... in an alternate universe maybe."
Carlos grabbed Faith's arm before they entered study hall. "You know, Kit officially disapproves of this thing now. She thinks the kid is nice, and you're a shit for using her."
"Then she can fuckin' date her. I want the grand prize." Flipping her hair back, Faith strutted into the room and stared directly at Buffy smiling. "Hey there... so um, how's my favorite teacher today?"
The little blonde blushed prettily before retorting, "Fine. How's my favorite student?" *Omigod, did I just say that?!* Buffy could feel her blush deepening as she lowered her eyes.
Faith swallowed a bit, uncertain if she was reading the reply right. *Holy fuck, I think she's flirtin' back at me.* A huge grin spread across her face as she took her seat.
PART 10 - Tricking & Trapping Buffy
When Dawn arrived home that evening, she spent a great deal of dinner waiting for Buffy to become distracted. It didn't take too long before the witch and slayer were knee deep in some discussion about the latest Sunnydale baddie.
The teen saw her opportunity. "Oh, Buffy, I have a study buddy coming over tomorrow night. She'll probably stay over too. That's okay, right?"
"Huh...?" Buffy glanced at her sister, annoyed that she'd interrupted Willow. "What? Yeah, I don't care. Shhhh... we're talking about something really important here, Dawnie." The little blonde waved her sister away.
Gleefully, Dawn excused herself and bounded up the stairs. She was so relieved that Buffy hadn't asked the friend's name, but she knew from experience that if you were to interrupt Buffy at the right moment the slayer was just an utter scatterbrain about things.
Pleased with her momentary success, Dawn picked up the phone and called Janice. "Guess what? Buffy said yes."
"Only because you didn't tell her who. Am I right?" Janice snickered, listening to Dawn sputter nervously.
"A minor detail. Besides, I know my sister well enough to know that once Faith gets here she'll be polite. She gets that from our mom. The whole nice in front of company and angry, yelly person later."
"Yeah, but she'll be planning your massive punishment the whole time." The teen sighed. "Dawn, is it really worth it?"
"What? To have like one of the coolest people in the whole school spend the night at my house? Uh, yeah, duh! It's a definite status boost for all of us." Dawn insisted, stuffing another stick of gum in her mouth. "Look, I have to go. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?" She quickly hung up as Buffy poked her head in.
"I have to go out patrolling. Get your homework done and get to bed by eleven or no company tomorrow."
"Consider it done." Dawn smiled cheerfully and waved. "Have fun."
Buffy arched an eyebrow, suddenly suspicious of her little sister's behavior but was distracted by Willow's voice. "Okay Wil, I'm coming down now. Is Xander here yet?"
Dawn breathed a sigh of relief as her door was pulled shut.
Faith set down her backpack and carefully smoothed down her blouse. For some reason the brunette found herself inexplicably nervous. She peered down at her dressy clothes and adjusted the bottle of Chardonnay she was holding. Taking a deep breath, Faith reached out and lightly pressed the doorbell.
"I'll get it." Dawn rushed toward the door, but Buffy got there first.
"I've got it, Dawnie." The slayer opened the door, despite her sister's protests. "Oh simmer down, I promise not to bite your little friend." Chuckling, she turned toward the guest.
"Aw, too bad." Faith grinned.
"Faith?" Buffy gasped, obviously surprised.
The raven-haired beauty shifted her feet, uncomfortable. Her smile faded. "Um... hey, uh... I guess Dawn didn't tell you I was coming over." Clearing her throat, she held out the bottle of wine. "I brought this... yunno, for you to have with dinner."
Arching an eyebrow, Buffy reached for Faith's offering. "Aren't you a bit young to be purchasing alcohol?"
"Too young?" The brunette shrugged. "I don't know about that. Age is all kinda relative, don't ya think?"
Giving the teen a skeptical look, she gestured for her to enter before dryly replying, "No, I think the law is pretty specific."
"Yeah, I guess. But that's not really a problem for me, since my aunt always keeps a healthy supply of the stuff around the apartment." Faith chuckled, reaching for her backpack and missing the little blonde's frown.
"Faith, why don't you take a seat in the living room?" Buffy turned toward a rather sheepish looking Dawn. "In the kitchen. Now!"
As soon as they were in the room, Buffy whispered angrily. "What the hell are you trying to pull here, Dawn?! Answer me!"
"Buffy, please. She'll hear you." Dawn whined nervously, glancing to Willow for support.
The witch was removing something from the oven. Straightening up, she peered over at the squabbling siblings. "Faith's here?" The redhead nosily peeked out. "Ooh, she's pretty, Dawn."
Buffy's face became red with rage. "Wil, don't encourage her!"
"See! Willow's ready to give her a chance. Why won't you?" Dawn complained bitterly.
"Here's a perfect example!" Lifting up the wine bottle, Buffy muttered. "For chrissakes, she brought this with her. How old is she?! Hmmm?!"
"I don't know," the teen lied.
"Well, since she's in my sixth period sophomore study hall, I'd say she's probably fifteen or sixteen, wouldn't you?" The little blonde set the bottle down angrily.
"Faith's in that class? Oh geez!" Dawn covered her face mortified. "Now she's going to think I'm a total dork."
Willow casually picked up the bottle. "Yum! Chardonnay."
"Wil, don't open that!" Buffy scowled as her friend went for a corkscrew.
"Why? Are you going to give it back to your student?" The redhead arched an eyebrow before chuckling at Buffy's tortured expression.
"Fine." She waved her hand and turned back to Dawn. "This isn't over, missy. You are going to be SO grounded for this little stunt."
Tears filled the brunette's eyes. "You're not going to embarrass me and send her home, are you?"
"I should. I really should. But that would be rude." Buffy grabbed Dawn and propelled her toward the door, hissing in her ear, "She's not sleeping in your room though!"
...continued in part 11...