Younger Years
by Faithful_14
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy & Co. It's all Joss Whedon, UPN, and whoever else.
Spoilers: None, I'm starting this from the very beginning.
Notes: This begins when Buffy and Joyce move to Sunnydale, but Buffy's only
fourteen.
Beta: None, all mistakes are my own.
Dedication: As always, to my girl, Teremoc. You know I love you with all my
heart and soul.
Feedback: Yes, I need feedback like Buffy needs Faith ;)
"Mom!!!" Buffy screamed from the top of the stairs.
Joyce was in the kitchen making breakfast and she did not understand how Buffy could be so loud in the mornings. "What Buffy?" she wiped her hands on a towel and could hear Buffy coming down the stairs.
"Mom, I can't find the box with my books in it," she came into the kitchen, sat down at the counter, and began to eat her breakfast.
"It's on the dining room table. Remember Buffy I'm working late at the gallery tonight; I've got a lot to unpack yet. And I expect your room to be clean and the rest of the boxes on the dining room table unpacked when I get home. Don't forget to throw the boxes out on the curb," Joyce was running about finishing getting ready for work. She finally got the chance to run her own gallery and it was more hectic than she thought.
"Just because we moved doesn't mean I should be a house slave," Buffy complained.
"Please, dear, just do as I ask. You know we can't afford a house keeper anymore." Joyce finally found her car keys and went to kiss Buffy on the cheek.
"Mom, I'm almost fifteen, I'm not a baby anymore."
"You'll always be my baby," Joyce kissed Buffy on the cheek and said goodbye before leaving the house for work.
After the petite blonde finished her breakfast she did the dishes and went into the dining room. There were still a ton of boxes she had yet to unpack. "This is gonna take a while," she sighed and started to get to work.
*At least this is better than going to school. I'm gonna be a freshman at Sunnydale High. Now that's a scary thought.*
Later that night after Joyce came home from work, they sat and ate Chinese food at the dining room table, which was finally cleared off. Buffy merely picked at her supper with the chopsticks. Joyce noticed the misery on her daughter's face and wanted to say something.
"Buffy.. I know this is hard for you. It's hard for me too. I know it'll be difficult to adjust, and starting high school is gonna be stressful, but I'm always here to help you. You know that."
"I know.. it's just that.. well Dad hasn't called yet, and my birthday's tomorrow. He's supposed to take me to the ice show," Buffy frowned.
"Oh sweetie I'm sure he'll call soon." Joyce just hoped he would come through for Buffy's sake.
They finished dinner in uncomfortable silence.
Afterwards Buffy went about getting ready for her first day of high school as a freshman. She'd missed two weeks already. The Summers' divorce had been finalized last July and Mrs. Summers had gotten total custody of Buffy. She was able to find a place in the small town of Sunnydale to run her gallery. Where she and Buffy could start fresh. They'd gotten the house earlier that August and they moved in just a couple weeks after the new school year started.
But Joyce felt confident enough that they could begin a regular life together after the messy divorce. It would take adjusting to but in a nice quiet little town like Sunnydale California, away from the hustle and bustle of L.A., they'd do well.
Beta & Dedication: Both go to my girl. I love you.
Buffy's alarm clock rang loudly but she didn't hear it. Joyce came in and gently shook her daughter awake, "Happy birthday honey." The little blonde just groaned. "You've got to get up Buffy. You don't want to miss your first day," Joyce opened the shades before leaving.
Buffy finally sat up and rubbed her eyes, "Yeah cause that would be such a tragedy.."
The now fifteen-year-old Buffy dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. She finished getting dressed and put her make up on. She trudged down stairs and ate breakfast, resembling something like a zombie.
She glanced at the clock, "Oh god, it's 6:55, Mom can you give me a ride?" she put on her best puppy-dog face.
Joyce smiled, "Only because it's your birthday."
"You're the best Mom!" Buffy jumped up and went to grab her backpack. Joyce drove Buffy to the Sunnydale High School campus and dropped her off out front.
"Have a good day," she yelled out the car window. Buffy merely waved back, making her way up the walk.
There were a few kids sitting around the quad but otherwise everyone was bustling around getting ready for class. *Definitely not like how they show it on TV and the movies.* There were supposed to be guys playing football, girls chatting, and cheerleaders practicing, but most of the activity was going on inside the building.
Looking around she makes her way to the main office and heads inside. Walking up to the secretary, "Um, hi, I'm here to see Principal Flutie, I'm new."
The secretary smiled, "You must be Buffy Summers. His office is right over there," she pointed around a small corner.
"Thanks," the blonde smiled nervously and headed into the office.
Everyone seemed to know she was coming; it was getting kind of freaky. She knocked on the side of the door, peeking in seeing a man sitting at a desk. "Oh hi, you're Buffy Summers right?" he got up to motion her in and shake her hand. She took a seat in front of his desk as he also sat down.
"Well, firstly, welcome to Sunnydale High. I'm Principal Flutie, and I'd like you to know that my door is always open. You're only two weeks behind so you should have no problem catching up. But should you have problems I recommend seeing Ms. Willow Rosenberg. She's a straight A student and she likes tutoring. Good kid. Oh and here's your schedule," he handed her a paper with all her classes and what books she'd need.
Glancing down at it she read:
Class Room Teacher 1 Spanish 129 Randolph 2 Gym GYM Lundine 3 Computer Concepts 243 Billerman 4 Lunch Cafeteria Staff 5 Science 219 Felix 6 Algebra 104 Kohlar 7 English 212 Harris 8 Global Studies 116 Cochran
Books: Spanish, Computer Concepts, Science, and Algebra
Locker # 187 Combination: 23-43-19
"Thanks," Buffy smiled flakily. *This is gonna be a long day..*
When she left Flutie's office she made her way to her first class. It was already close to first period and she wouldn't have time to make it to the library without being late for class. Not the best impression to make on one's first day.
Buffy walked into her Spanish class and took an empty seat toward the back. Señora Randolf got up from her desk and stood in front of the class.
"Clase de la buena mañana. Abra por favor sus libros de texto para paginar doce," Señora Randolf began writing on the board and Buffy looked around lost.
"Here," the girl next to her moved her book over so Buffy could read it.
"Thank you," she smiled and tried to pay attention and follow the teacher as best she could.
After class Buffy got up and the girl next to her introduced herself, "Hi! I'm Cordelia."
"Hi, I'm Buffy, new here... Buffy smiled sheepishly. ..That's rather obvious..."
"It's okay. If you're looking for a book of your very own they have some in the library."
"Great, thanks.. Um, where would that be?"
"Where's your next class?"
"Let's see... Gym."
"Oh fun. Well the library is down the hall from the main offices. You can go during your lunch period. When do you have it?"
Buffy checked, "Fourth it seems."
"Wow, cool, that's when I have mine. Look for me, you can sit with me and mine. If you do you'll be accepted in no time. But we'll have to give you a test first."
"Uh..Great, and thanks again," Buffy waved good-bye to Cordelia as she turned down a different hallway. "Oh yay, a test and it's only my first day," she said quietly to herself before trying to find the gym.
After gym and Computer Concepts Buffy headed to the cafeteria. She got her food and looked around for Cordelia. "Oh hey, over here!" she heard from her left.
Cordelia waved her over. Buffy sat down beside her and looked around. There were five other girls sitting at the table and she said hello to them. "That's Harmony, Aura, Debby, Crystal, and Melanie," Cordelia pointed to each girl in turn.
Buffy smiled shyly and began eating her lunch. "So where are you from?" one of the girls asked.
"Oh, I'm from L.A."
"Okay, now to test your coolness factor. You're from L.A., so you can skip the written, but let's see. Vamp nail polish."
"Um, over?"
"So over. James Spader."
"Need to call me!" Buffy smiled.
"Frappaccinos."
"Trendy, but tasty."
"John Tesh."
"The Devil," the petite blonde made a disgusted face.
"That was pretty much a gimme but.. you passed!" Cordelia smiled.
"Oh, goody!" Buffy faked her enthusiasm.
A small redheaded girl was about to walk past the table when Cordelia called out to her, "Willow! Nice dress! Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears."
The girl had a plain brown jumper on, she looked down at herself. "Uh, oh, well, my mom picked it out."
"No wonder you're such a guy magnet!" Everyone at the table laughed as the girl named Willow frowned and walked away quickly.
"You wanna fit in here, the first rule is: know your losers. Once you can identify them all by sight," she glances after Willow, "they're a lot easier to avoid."
Buffy let out a nervous laugh and just nodded. *Jeez she's mean..*
"But hey if you're not too swamped tonight you should stop by the Bronze," Cordelia continued.
"The who?" Buffy asked but glanced at Willow as she sat down at another table with two other boys.
"The Bronze, only club worth going to around here. They let anybody in but it's still the scene. Though it's in the bad part of town."
"About a half block from the good part of town," all the girls at the table laughed, "We don't have a whole lot of town here but you should show."
"I'll try. But uh.. I've gotta go get my books," she smiled nervously before getting up to leave.
"Ok, well, I'll see you in English right?" Buffy simply nodded and picked up her tray. "Cool, then you can tell me everything there is to know about you!"
"Great!" Buffy waved back and threw her garbage away. *Sounds like fun..* She shook her head and made her way out of the cafeteria. *Now.. to find the library..*
Buffy spent three minutes wandering the halls looking for the library but eventually found it. She pushed the doors open and was greeted with musty old book smell and it looked like the place was deserted.
She continued inside and looked around. "Hello? Anyone here?" she called out.
"Yes?" a short, stocky man exited a doorway walking into the main part of the library.
Buffy jumped, "Anyone is here.." Taking a deep breath, "I'm looking for some text books. I'm new here."
"Ah, you must be Miss Summers."
"Guess I'm the only new kid, huh?" she shook her head. She didn't like this whole bit, everyone knew she was coming, it was freaky. "So, uh, yeah, I need Spanish, Computer Concepts, Science, and Algebra."
"Alright. By the way, I'm Mr. Sibley," he headed behind the counter to retrieve her books.
"Well, you already know me. Nice to meet you though," she said politely.
He smiled at her and put the books on the counter. "Just one moment, I'm not sure if we have any more Science books.." he walked up some stairs and disappeared into the stacks.
Buffy merely waited at the counter and took a better look around. *What's with the cage?* He came back, Science book in hand. "The last one and it's all yours," he went back behind the counter.
"Oh goody," her sarcasm was evident.
The librarian laughed, "Yes I'm sure you're just thrilled. Here are your books," he pushed them towards her.
"Thanks," she smiled and took her books before saying good bye and leaving.
She headed to her locker, praying she didn't drop her books all over the place, which would have been so embarrassing. She tossed her books on the floor; and they landed with a loud thud. She looked around nervously, hoping no one noticed. Lunch wasn't quite over yet so all the halls were empty for a few minutes longer.
She put her books away and slid her Science and Algebra books into her backpack and got out her schedule to find her next class. The bell rang a few seconds after.
After science she headed to algebra and noticed that that Willow girl was in her class. *Good, maybe I do have a chance of passing my classes after all.*
When the bell rang, signaling the end of sixth period, Buffy ran straight over to Willow and introduced herself. "Hi, you're Willow right?"
"Oh, um yeah, h-hi," the redhead said meekly.
"Hi, I'm Buffy," she smiled and started walking with Willow.
"I know. Is t-there something you wanted?" Willow asked shyly.
"Yeah, I feel really rude but I heard you were the one to talk to if I wanted to get caught up. I have this desire to not flunk all my classes. That would also involve hanging out with me," Buffy smiled sheepishly. She didn't want to start a friendship asking for a favor but if she didn't get some help she'd be done for.
"I could totally help you out! Wait a sec.. aren't you hanging out with Cordelia?" she frowned.
"Yeah.. But I can't do both?"
"Not legally."
Cordelia walked up to them, "She's right. I don't want to interrupt your downward mobility but I'd suggest staying away from the losers if you wanna keep hanging with me."
Buffy was rather shocked at the audacity that the girl had. "Cordelia? You can shove it. Why do you have to be so mean?"
Cordelia was certainly taken aback by Buffy's comment. She made a disbelieving noise, "You've managed to make it to the loser status faster than anyone in history. Now excuse me I have to call everyone I know." She walked off in a huff.
Willow gawked in astonishment, "I can't believe you just did that! No one has ever stood up to Cordy like that!" She glanced around and everyone seemed to be looking at them. Everyone in the hallway started clapping.
Buffy blushed and started walking away quickly. Quietly to Willow, "Why hasn't anyone ever stood up to her before?"
"Because she holds your social status in the palm of her hand. Usually everybody just kisses up to her. Wow, Buffy, you're awesome," Willow almost glowed.
The blonde glanced at her watch, "The bell is gonna ring in a minute. What do you have seventh and eighth?"
"I have Geometry and Global Studies," Willow thought quickly, she didn't want to be late either.
"Great, I have Global Studies too. I'll talk to you then okay?" Before Willow could answer Buffy ran off, Willow's nod of confirmation enough for her.
Soon as English class was over Buffy walked hurriedly to her Global Studies class. In her rush she ran right into a medium height, beautiful brunette. "Watch it!" she mumbled before quickly walking the other way. The second Buffy saw her, she knew there was something different about her but couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
Shaking herself out of her reverie Buffy made her way to Global Studies class and took a seat next to Willow in the back.
The bell rang just after the petite blonde took her seat so they said a quiet hello before paying their attention to the teacher.
Five minutes after the bell had run and Mr. Cochran had begun class, the brunette that Buffy had bumped into in the hallway came sauntering in. She wore old torn up black jeans, a black t-shirt, and old worn boots that were almost falling off her feet. Yet there was still something about her Buffy couldn't put her finger on.
"Ms. Knight, so glad you could join us today," the teacher stopped what he was doing.
She took her seat in the first seat of the front row, "No problem," she grinned. Mr. Cochran removed his glasses and sternly looked at her.
"You know this is your fourth tardy. Go down to the Dean and in addition to Saturday school, your parents will be notified," he crossed his arms over his chest waiting for her go. Buffy had a diagonal view of this girl and she didn't miss the brief look of terror on the girl's face.
Buffy leaned over to Willow, "Who's that?"
"That? That's Faith Knight. She's trouble. Other than she has no friends and hardly ever speaks. She gets into fights a lot too," Willow looked on at the teacher and Faith.
"Faith. Leave. Now!"
The brunette glared at Mr. Cochran before she got up outta her chair and left the class room. Then the teacher resumed class. But Buffy and Willow weren't done talking so they kept their voices really low.
"How do you know?" Buffy's brow was furrowed.
"Well .. they don't actually happen at school..but she comes to school bruised up a lot. She tries to hide the black eyes and cuts."
"Where does she live?" Buffy was just curious, mostly.
"Um, Revello Drive I think. 1632 if I remember correctly. Back in fourth grade we had to do a project together. I had to go over to her house. Not the nicest house," Willow recalled.
Buffy's eyes widened slightly, "I live on Revello Drive, 1630. We're neighbors." For an unknown reason the blonde was rather happy about this. She wanted to get to know the girl. Faith was a mystery, and she wanted to figure it out.
"A warning: Just be prepared for the drunken fights her parents have. I've heard rumors that they're both really loud alcoholics. Apparently they throw stuff too.."
Suddenly she was interrupted, "Excuse me, ladies, is there something you would like to share with the class?"
Buffy and Willow's heads snapped forward immediately, "Uh no... sorry," Willow said meekly.
The blonde mouthed a 'sorry' to her new friend. She had to pay attention now but the brunette named Faith still was in the back of her mind.
When the bell ran thirty minutes later Buffy turned to Willow, "I'll talk to you tomorrow then?" Buffy gathered up her things.
Willow smiled, happy she made a new friend, "Yeah, then you can meet the guys."
Buffy arched an eyebrow, "The guys?"
"Oh, yeah um Xander and Jesse. You will sit with us at lunch tomorrow won't you?"
"Certainly. I definitely won't be sitting with Cordelia anymore," Buffy rolled her eyes at the mention of that name as the two girls walked out of class. Before going their separate ways to go to their lockers they said good bye.
Buffy boarded her bus and five minutes later they were off for home. Her stop was fourth on the route and dropped her off about a block and a half from home. When she'd gotten on the bus she noticed the girl from earlier, Faith. She was sitting slumped down low in the seat, a forlorn look on her face.
She was nervous, and maybe even a little scared, but despite that she went and asked to sit by Faith. The brunette looked up, moved over, and didn't say a word. She had her headphones on and she clutched her torn, black backpack in her lap.
Buffy tried to find her voice, "H-hi, I'm Buffy. The only new girl in school, as I'm sure you've heard."
The girl was silent for what seemed like forever. But she finally spoke softly, "Actually I haven't."
"Oh. It seems everyone else has.."
"Well I'm not everyone else," Faith said, with no emotion in her voice.
"Obviously.. Oh, I mean, I didn't mean that in a bad way. It was good.. Or supposed to be.." Buffy kept babbling on. She didn't know what had gotten into her. She never babbled like this.
Faith let a small smile slip. And Buffy caught it. "Ya know, you should smile more often," Buffy smiled herself.
"Really?" Faith's usual, sardonic tone back in place.
"Yeah."
"Well ya gotta have somethin' to smile about. And I sure as hell don't. This is my stop," she got up before Buffy could say anything more. The blonde got up and got off the bus too, after all they were neighbors.
Faith picked up her pace when she saw Buffy was behind her by a few steps. "You followin' me?" She looked back over her shoulder.
"No, why would I..." Buffy caught up with the dark haired girl, "I live in the house next to you."
"Just peachy," Faith walked quicker, passing up Buffy's walkway to her own door. Buffy was left standing there, deflated. *What went wrong? I even got a smile out of her..* A frown crossed the blonde's face as she went inside.
"Buffy? Is that you?" Joyce called out from the dining room.
"Yeah Mom it's me," Buffy put her stuff down and walked into the dining room to talk to her mother.
Joyce was sitting at the table, looking over some paperwork. "How was your day honey?" she smiled at her daughter.
"Ah.. It was okay. Think I made a friend," Buffy tried not to sound as let down as she felt.
"Well that's good," she stood to give Buffy a hug. Which her daughter didn't return very enthusiastically.
"Sweetie, are you alright?" Joyce was beginning to worry.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wondering, but did Dad call yet?"
Mrs. Summers frowned, "No, but he sent you these." She presented her daughter with a basket of flowers and a card. Buffy merely stared at it, unmoving. A frown marred her pretty face and she ran upstairs and locked herself in her room before she started crying.
Joyce ran after her but didn't get there in time before Buffy shut the door and locked it. She leaned up against the doorframe. She spoke softly, "Buffy, honey, please open the door.." She could hear Buffy crying and she knew she could do nothing. She continued to try and console her daughter from outside her room but after more than twenty minutes she gave up.
She was furious now. *How dare he not call his daughter on her birthday?!* She went downstairs and went into the kitchen to make a call.
From upstairs Buffy could hear her mother on the phone with her father. Both yelling over the phone at each other. This was not anything new to Buffy. She turned her stereo on so she didn't have to hear it. She wiped her cheeks with her sleeve and sat on her bed.
Getting up she looked out the window just beside her bed, facing what would be Faith's house. She looked over and in through the window directly across from hers. If she didn't know better she'd have thought the house was abandoned. There didn't look like there was any furniture in the room.
A light bulb was in the ceiling, with a string hanging from it to turn it on or off. There were a few posters on the walls. Metallica, Nirvana, and The Misfits were displayed; the posters were old and torn. Suddenly the door to the room opened and Faith walked in.
Buffy ducked down low so Faith couldn't see her. Getting caught spying on your new neighbor wasn't a good thing. Her face was bruised and from what the blonde could tell she had a cut lip. If Faith hadn't been wearing black she would have seen the blood stains on her shirt.
Another frown formed on Buffy's face. She was worried about Faith. She knew it was her parents that had to be beating her. She wanted to help, but at present there was nothing she could do. As she glanced at the clock it was already six-thirty.
She heard a knock at her door. Sighing, she got up and unlocked it to let her mother in. "Buffy, do you want dinner?" Joyce offered her a plate.
"Yeah... Thanks," the blonde took it and sat on her bed, eyes staring at her food as she poked it with her fork.
"Honey.. I'm sorry your father didn't call. I won't lie to you, he didn't forget. He just didn't bother," anger became evident in Joyce's voice again. Keeping her anger in check, Mrs. Summers took a deep breath and gave Buffy an awkward hug. "You'll call me if you need anything?" Worry was evidence in her voice.
"Yeah Mom, I will," Buffy smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.
Joyce left her room and shut the door behind her. Buffy ate sparsely and did her homework. Faith momentarily forgotten. When she got ready for bed she glanced out the window and the light in Faith's room was off.
Climbing into bed, she resolved that she would befriend Faith, and hopefully soon be able to confront her about her parents.
The next morning Buffy woke up and went through her morning routine. Soon it would be like second nature and she'd do it without much thought. But since it was only the second day of school she was still getting used to waking up so early.
She finished breakfast and got out to the bus stop early so she'd be sure to get there before Faith. As she stood there she tried to think of what to say. 'Hey do your parents hit you?' wasn't gonna work. *Alright, I gotta be smooth..*
"So.. Hey, um, good morning. How are you? You mind if I ask you something pers.." Buffy practiced out loud but was interrupted.
"You talking to yourself?" Faith came up beside Buffy.
The blonde girl jumped, "Jeez you scared me."
Faith smirked but then flinched; the large bruise covering her left eye was obviously hurting. "Hey, are you okay?" Buffy began concerned and tried to get a better look.
"Just leave me alone," Faith protested.
"Lemme see," Buffy leaned in and went to carefully touch it but the brunette girl slapped her hand away.
"I said, leave me alone. I'm fine," she reiterated for Buffy.
The smaller blonde frowned and backed away. She knew this wouldn't be easy and she wouldn't give up, but right now the bus had pulled up. Buffy decided that she better leave the subject alone for the moment and wait till later. *Maybe after Global Studies.*
When forth period lunch rolled around Buffy immediately looked for Willow. She saw the shy redhead waving at her from a table near the corner. She walked over.
"Hi Willow."
"Hi Buffy. I want you to meet Xander and Jesse," she pointed to the two boys at the table.
They both said hello to her and moved to give her a seat. "Nice to meet you guys," Buffy sat and put her backpack down on the floor.
"So, what do you do for fun? What do you like? What do you look for in a man? Let's hear it!" Xander began.
"Oh, and if you have any dark, painful secrets you'd like us to publish, feel free," Jesse added, leaning in close.
Buffy moved back a bit, "Everyone wants to know about me. How keen."
"Sunnydale is a one Starbucks town, you're pretty big news," Xander said, his mouth full of sandwich. Swallowing it down hard he smiled.
Buffy merely smiled and shook her head, "Well really, I'm not."
The group of four chatted as they ate lunch. When the bell rang they all dispersed and agreed to meet up later.
Buffy stopped at her locker to grab her other books and headed to class. By the time English came around Buffy was getting nervous. *Next period I have to talk to Faith.* She was tapping her foot rapidly and the kid sitting next to her shot her a glare. Buffy merely mouthed sorry and tried to stop.
Finally the time came for Buffy to talk to Faith. And she felt bad for having to blow Willow off after class to do it but this was important.
The blonde caught up with Faith outside in the quad. She pulled her off to the side.
"Faith we need to talk."
"About what?" the brunette was in no rush to get home but nobody ever tried talking to her.
"It's about your bruise.."
"What about it?" Faith got defensive now.
"I- Who gave you that?" Buffy tried asking as gently as possible, the concern evident in her voice and eyes.
Faith was taken aback by Buffy's concern. Nobody ever showed concern for her. She didn't know what to do. After a minute, "It's none of your damn business."
The brunette began to walk away but Buffy caught her by the elbow. "Faith please.."
Meanwhile, Cordelia was caught up in her own little world. Not watching where she was going.
Faith whipped around, "Leave me alone!"
Cordy made the mistake of walking between the two at the moment Faith threw a punch at Buffy. It caught Cordelia right in the nose and she fell to the ground.
"Owwww! Oh my god, are you crazy?!" She touched her nose and when she looked back at her hand there was blood.
"Fuck this," Faith said under her breath and ran away as fast as she could, not wanting to be suspended for punching Cordelia. The outcome of that with her father would be worse than anything she wanted to imagine.
Buffy stood there, looking at Cordy in shock. Everyone else in the quad was dead silent looking at the two girls. A teacher came running out and helped Cordelia up.
"What happened here?" He looked accusingly at Buffy.
"I didn't do it.." Buffy stammered. Cordelia remained silent and let Buffy take the blame for punching her.
"Alright, you're going to the principal's office right now," he took Buffy by the elbow and started leading her away while another teacher escorted Cordelia to the nurse.
Xander came running up and stopped the teacher that was taking Buffy away, "Hey she didn't do it! I saw the whole thing."
The teacher looked at the blonde again. "Then who did?"
Buffy knew to keep her mouth shut, for Faith's sake. But Xander didn't, "Faith, Faith Knight did it. She ran away."
"Alright, I'm going to give her parents a call," he let Buffy go and began to walk away. Buffy stopped him.
"No! Please don't call them! She didn't mean it!"
He looked at her questioningly, "How do you accidentally punch someone?"
Buffy began to stutter, "S-she well, I-.. she was actually trying to punch me.." The teacher merely shook his head, clearly annoyed, and walked away.
Xander came up to Buffy, "Hey, what happened back there? Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh, um, I tried talking to Faith. She went to punch me and caught Cordelia instead. And yeah I'm fine," Buffy replied. Though she was truly scared about what would happen to Faith when she got home.
Author's Notes: Okay, the whole Faith punching Cordy thing is courtesy of my girl, Teremoc. Had to give her credit :)
Dedication: To all the feedbackers, you're awesome!
Faith ran for all she was worth, heading to the docks. There behind a bunch of old crates she had a little 'home away from home', even thought it was better than home. She had a few blankets there, a flashlight, seventeen bucks, a sheet of plastic she found lying around for when it rained, and a cheap pocketknife she stole from a drug store. She kept all of it in a backpack.
Nobody knew about her spot, though occasionally she'd move to avoid the cops. And whenever one of her parents asked where she'd been **Where the fuck have you been?!** She just told them she was at the park or something. Her mother was so drunk most of the time she wasn't coherent.
As for her father.. Well, that was something she tried her hardest not to think about. The bruise on her eye was still fresh. And now that the school had probably called her parents she knew she couldn't go home. Afterwards she'd be 'excused from school due to the flu' or some other bullshit. They didn't want the school asking any questions.
When she got to her spot she was out of breath. But she then thought about Buffy. The girl was new, obviously. *She had to be, she never would have talked to me otherwise.* No one had ever tried to be her friend. She didn't understand why this nice girl was trying now.
Faith knew she'd reacted badly, but given her past, she didn't know what it was like for somebody to care. She didn't know how to deal with it. Deep down she wanted to let Buffy in, but she couldn't. She didn't want to get the small blonde involved in her shitty life and she didn't want anything to happen to Buffy either.
Later that night both Buffy and Faith were feeling restless. The blonde didn't know if she could help Faith. And the brunette didn't want to get caught by the cops and brought home.
As the night wore on it began to get chilly so Faith wrapped one of the blankets around her. But she froze as soon as she saw a light, one from a flashlight. She huddled down and tried to keep quiet.
But it was no use. Soon that flashlight was shown down on her. The blanket was pulled off and when the cop saw Faith he said, "Aw not you again." This wasn't the first time he'd picked up Faith. Nor would it be the last. He pulled her out from behind the crates and struggled to get her in the back of his squad car.
She put up a good fight, but he was twice her size, she was only a skinny little thing. As Officer Wright drove her home he didn't ask her any questions. He always got the same story, "I was just hanging around," she'd say. But when he brought her home her parents always thanked him, grateful to get their baby back. *Yeah right* Faith thought to herself.
Soon they pulled up in front of her house and if you looked, you could see the scared child Faith really was. You could see the look of pure fear in her eyes. He brought her up to the front door and rang the bell. It was about seven thirty and this was the time Faith's mother was always passed out drunk on the couch.
The door opened and her father appeared, "Thank you officer. We're glad to have her back. I was worried sick." Officer Wright merely nodded and took off. Mr. Knight threw Faith inside and to the bottom of the stairs, which she hit with a sickening thud.
"You little slut! I got a call from the school earlier. Heard you got in a fight," he sneered. He was a big man, and Faith couldn't fight against him. And it only made the punishment worse.
He dragged her up the stairs and into his bedroom. The blinds were always shut, just to make sure. "If the school calls one more time about you, I swear I'll beat you to death! It's not like anyone would notice," he threw her to the floor. He backhanded her across the face, almost breaking her nose. Then when she was huddled down on hands and knees he kicked her in the gut. And she hit the wall with a dull thud.
"Don't even think about getting dinner tonight," he then left her alone, hurting, bleeding, and huddled in the corner.
Dedication: To all the feedbackers, you're awesome! And my girl :)
The very next day Buffy was worried sick. She hadn't seen Faith at all. Usually she'd be on the bus or she'd see her in the halls. All day the blonde was dejected, her thoughts always on Faith.
"Buffy? Hey, Buffy..?" Willow tapped her friend on the arm.
"Who? Huh? What?" Buffy looked around, startled. The redhead was getting really worried about her new friend.
"Um, Buffy, you seem kinda out of it.."
"I'm sorry Will. My mind's been wandering today," she smiled sheepishly. But Willow noticed Buffy starring at Faith's empty desk.
Willow was about to ask Buffy about it but once again they were silenced by Mr. Cochran. Buffy mouthed, "I'll talk to you after class." And Willow nodded her understanding.
After class they sat outside the quad on one of the benches before getting on their separate busses. "Will, I'm really worried about Faith. She didn't show up to school today. And I know she only got a warning for punching Cordelia, so she wasn't suspended."
Willow couldn't help feeling jealous. She'd made a new friend and she was worrying about the rebel girl. "I don't mean to pry but.. Why are you so worried? She tried to punch you Buffy, I don't think that she's someone you should be hanging out with."
"I know. And I'm sorry I haven't been hanging out with you, Xander, and Jesse much the past couple days. But I really think Faith needs help, from someone. Her parents beat her. And I think I know why she's not at school today.. I just hope she's alright," Buffy frowned.
It was Willow's turn to frown now. "I'm sorry Buffy, I didn't realize.. Guess after all these years I never really thought about her.. Is there any way I can help?"
"I'm not even sure I can help. I mean, what can I do? I'm just a teenage girl.."
"Aw Buffy we'll figure something out. I can't say I like Faith but I can't say I don't like her either," Willow put a hand on Buffy's shoulder.
"Thanks Will, I really appreciate this," Buffy gave her new friend a hug, which caught the redhead off guard but she hugged back and smiled.
"Hey you could come over to my house after school; I can use my computer to run a check on Faith's parents. I'm kind of a computer geek," Willow said sheepishly.
Buffy only smiled, "it's okay. And yeah that'd be great. I can use your phone though right? Don't want Mom to worry."
"Yeah sure, c'mon, let's go," Willow waved for Buffy to follow her onto a different bus that would take them to the redhead's home.
Once they got there, she called her mom to tell her where she was at before heading upstairs to the Willow's room.
"Alright, just let me log onto the internet and I'll run a search," Willow got straight to work. Though it took a while, because they didn't know Faith's parents first names, they pulled up old police records.
"Alright.. Says here Mary Anne Knight was cited for a parking ticket and use of an illegal substance, pot," Willow read off the screen.
"What about her dad? I think he's the one doing the beating.." Buffy looked over her friend's shoulder.
"Um.. Charles Knight: Arrested for cocaine use, and pot. Also convicted of assault and battery. Apparently a woman, not Faith's mom, filed charges against him claiming physical abuse," Willow looked knowingly at Buffy.
"We should call the police on them. But how am I gonna get away with that not telling mom?" Buffy chewed on her bottom lip.
"I don't think you can. I imagine when the police call you back, or to the station for questioning your mom won't be happy you didn't tell her," Willow frowned.
"If I tell her, she's not gonna want me to, she'd rather do it herself. And she isn't gonna do it right away cause she'll tell me we don't have enough evidence," Buffy sighed and sat back in her chair. "Wait what if we tell her about their criminal backgrounds?"
"Um..Buffy what I did isn't exactly legal. I kinda hacked into the police's computer system.." Willow said sheepishly.
Buffy raised her eyebrows, "You hacked into their system? How?"
"I guess you could say I have a little too much free time on my hands," again she smiled sheepishly. "Ya know how I pulled up their files so quick?"
"Yeah..."
"Well I've hacked into their system before, only takes a few minutes now. Sunnydale's well known for weird disappearances, and deaths.." Willow trailed off.
"What?" Buffy was rather concerned.
"Yeah.. Nobody ever talks about it and police don't do anything. I've pulled up some files on a few people over the past year seeing if I could figure out what's going on," Willow looked back at Buffy.
"Doesn't the Mayor do anything? What about the people, don't they care?"
"Buffy, you don't understand. That's how life is here.. There's something out there.." Willow gazed out her bedroom window to the ever darkening street below.
"Okay, that's really weird, but let's get back to helping Faith," Buffy shook her head.
The two girls decided it would be best to try and get Buffy's mom to call the police and report it. So later that night at the Summers' dinner table, Buffy tried to casually start.
"So.. Mom, how do you feel about child abuse?" *That was a smooth drop* Buffy thought sarcastically to herself.
"What?" Joyce was bewildered. Questions like that usually don't come out of nowhere.
"I was just wondering .. what are you views on child abuse?" Buffy tried to sound as casual as possible in this situation.
"Buffy, what's going on?"
Taking a deep breath and small blonde began, "Okay, Mom, I realize this is probably gonna sound far fetched but you know the next door neighbors?"
"Which ones?"
"Technically the ones who you've never seen, heard, or talked to.."
Joyce raised an eyebrow, "Now I'm waiting for the far fetched part."
"They have a kid, Faith, Faith Knight. I go to school with her. And I'm pretty sure her parents beat her," Buffy was as serious as she could be.
"What makes you think that?" Joyce asked.
"She 'acts out', everyone says she's a rebel and bad, but I know she's really not. I've talked to her and I can see it in her eyes. She wants help, she needs it," Buffy began pleading.
"Honey, you still haven't answered my question. And how do you expect me to help if what you say is true?"
"She didn't come to school today, yesterday the school called her parents because she hit Cordelia. And Willow said that this isn't unusual. When she comes back she always has faded bruises and cuts.."
But Joyce cut her off, "Hold on a second Buffy. What do you expect me do about this?"
"I want you to file a report with the police, maybe an investigator will come out and take Faith away from those awful people, and I'm really worried about her Mom."
Buffy's eyes said it all for Joyce. "I'm sorry sweetie, but without any evidence I can't do a thing."
The blonde merely sighed, she saw this coming. So after dinner she told her mom that she would find a way to prove that Faith's parents beat her. The question of how still unanswered.
Dedication: My girl to for beta'ing and just being her :)
A few weeks passed by, and Buffy was spending more time with the gang. They hung out at the Bronze on weekends. Buffy would have tried talking to Faith over those weekends at least a little but her phone number was unlisted and she was too scared to just walk over there and ring the door bell.
But during the week Buffy did her best to talk to Faith and get the brunette to warm up a little bit. And it was working. They had gotten to talking about how stupid their teachers were; random things about school. And Buffy told Faith about her life, hoping that by showing trust, Faith might in turn trust her.
For the time being Faith was behaving, taking her father's threat seriously. She knew when he drank, which he'd done for years- ever since she could remember, that he could be extremely violent, a lot worse than when he was sober, which was bad enough.
As more time passed, Buffy even got Faith to hang out with the gang a bit. At first it was awkward for all of them but they eventually warmed up to Faith. In Buffy's eyes the brunette was really progressing. And things seemed to be going rather smoothly lately, which was relieving.
A few days later Buffy was feeling confident enough to go over to Faith's house. She was still afraid of the brunette's parents but Faith had confided in her that her home life wasn't good. That was an understatement really but it was a big step. And she figured that Faith's parents wouldn't hurt her that would be too risky.
So after school one day while Mrs. Summer's was still at work Buffy walked next door. As stood at Faith's door she could see in the window. There were empty beer bottles lying on the dirty floor, the few bits of furniture were broken and ripped.
Suddenly the door swung open and a large unkempt man stood looming over her. "What do you want?"
The small blonde's eyes were wide with fear. It took her a minute to find her voice, "I-is Faith here?" She then saw something flash through Mr. Knight's eyes, and she knew what she had done was a mistake.
"No! Don't ever come here again!" And with that he slammed the door in Buffy's face.
She quickly ran across the lawns to her house and after she shut the door she leaned back on it. "Crap!" she was breathing hard and she now feared for Faith's safety. Her father would surely confront her about Buffy's visit.
Later that evening at Faith's...
"Faith! Get your stupid ass down here!" her father yelled. Faith was in her room and dreaded what was to come. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong. Never- the-less she slowly walked down stairs and into the living room where her father was waiting.
"Faith, a little friend of yours came over earlier today, who the hell is she?"
The brunette gulped, "B-Buffy." She saw the beer bottle in her father's hand and prayed to whoever was listening that he wouldn't hurt her this time.
"I forbid you to ever see her again!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Faith cowered back and saw her mother enter the room from the kitchen.
"Charlie what are you yelling at her for now?" She was obvious high and drunk, otherwise sober she would know not to question her husband's actions.
His head whipped around and he practically growled at her, "Shut up Mary Anne this is none of your business!"
"Yes it is she came outta me, not you!"
"Well if you'd have kept your fucking legs crossed we wouldn't have had this little accident!" he pointed over to Faith, who looked about ready to start crying.
Meanwhile at Buffy's...
"Buffy?" Joyce called from the dining room.
The petite blonde exited the kitchen with a glass of pop in her hand. "Yeah mom?"
"Do you hear that yelling?" her brow furrowed.
Buffy took a moment to listen closer and she heard the fowl language. She immediately knew where it was coming from. Her eyes widened in fear. "Next door," she said softly.
Back at Faith's...
"Goddammit Mary Anne shut your hole before I shut it for you!" he got up in his wife's face.
"Oh Charlie back off," she lightly pushed him away, but he didn't budge.
His eyes were wild, blood shot, and angry. Faith wanted to run for her life and her mother's but she knew she was helpless.
He grabbed Mary Anne by the shoulders and threw her across the room, which wasn't difficult. He was a large man and she was small. Her stability was off and she slammed into their table, breaking the legs, collapsing it which caused the mirror, razor, straw, and coke to go flying onto the dirty carpet.
"Bitch, look what you did!" He picked up an empty beer bottle and threw it but it ended up shattering the window instead.
At Buffy's...
Mrs. Summer's immediately jumped up from where she was working at the dining room table and looked out the window as Buffy came rushing up beside her.
"I'm calling the police." Joyce moved her daughter away from the window and went to grab the cordless phone.
She hit 911, "Yes, there's been a domestic disturbance next door and I think someone may be hurt."
At Faith's...
The frightened brunette hid in a corner as soon as she heard the police cruisers pull up outside her house.
Two male officers broke down the door, and drew their guns as they saw Charles Knight holding his wife by the throat, fist cocked back and ready to punch her in the face. "Let her go and back away, right now, hands in the air!" one officer yelled.
He looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he complied. One of the officers went and cuffed Charles and the other looked around the room, seeing the spilled coke on the floor. "Jim... Look at all this!" the second cop said.
Jim turned around and saw the coke. "Alright take her in too," he motioned to Mary Anne who was bleeding on the floor.
"And call for back up, we need to bring this stuff in, and someone needs to get that little girl there," he gestured to Faith as he pushed Mr. Knight against the wall and searched him.
Back up soon arrived and it took two officers to pull Charlie out of the house, another to drag Mary Anne out, and another to escort Faith out to another waiting police car.
Outside on the steps stood Mrs. Summers and Buffy, watching what was going on. Another officer came up to them and began talking with Joyce as Buffy watched helplessly as they put Faith into a police car.
After the officer finished taking Mrs. Summers report he thanked them and the three police cars took off towards the Sunnydale P.D. Faith kneeled up in the back of the squad car and looked back at Buffy.
The small blonde knew this wasn't the end of Faith's suffering but at least she'd be kept away from her awful and abusive parents. Suddenly a thought flashed through Buffy's head. *What if I never see her again?*
It was this thought that made a tear fall slowly down her cheek as her mother led her back into the house.
Dedication: To my little sis, thanks to her I got my ass going on this story again.
At Child Welfare Services-
Faith sat wrapped in a blanket on a chair next to Mrs. Dunbar's desk. It was her that Faith was turned over to after she was brought to the police station. It was already 8:30 and almost everyone else in the offices were gone so Mrs. Dunbar was making all the phone calls herself.
A little while later she gave up and got her purse. "Looks like you'll have to spend the night with me. C'mon, I'll take you back to my house, tomorrow we'll get all this straightened out." Faith merely nodded as she followed the older woman outside to her car.
A few minutes later they pulled up in front of a small ranch. Mrs. Dunbar opened the door for Faith and carefully ushered her into the house. Faith figured she had to be a grandma...it had that smell. "I don't have a spare bed but you can take the couch for tonight," she set down her purse and took off her jacket. She went about getting extra blankets and pillows, turning her couch into a make shift bed.
Mrs. Dunbar stopped what she was doing and looked up, sympathetically at Faith who was standing stock still in the doorway. "I'm sorry dear...everything will be alright," she gave the scared girl an awkward hug and led her to the couch. "Is there anything I can get you?" Faith laid down and shook her head no. "Okay, well if you need anything wake me, my room is just down the hall." She then left Faith alone.
She couldn't sleep though. She tossed and turned all night long on the couch uncomfortably. She feared her parents would regain custody of her...
Back at Buffy's that same night-
"What's gonna happen to Faith?" Buffy asked as Joyce tucked her into bed, something she hadn't done in a long time.
"She'll be fine honey, I'm sure. She'll probably be sent to live with a relative. If not then a foster family."
Buffy sat up to protest, "But Mom, why can't we...take care of her?"
Joyce sighed, "Buffy, just try to get some sleep, everything will be fine." With that she left and turned out the lights. But Buffy couldn't sleep that night either. Her thoughts on Faith.
The next morning Mrs. Dunbar woke Faith up early and brought her back to Child Services. She made more phone calls but there were no people in Sunnydale that would take a troubled 14 year old girl.
While Buffy was still asleep Joyce made a call to the Child Services office. "Yes, hi, you took in a young girl last night, name of Faith Knight...Yes I was wondering if you've found a temporary home for her yet? Until something more permanent can be arranged? ...No? Alright, well I've decided, if it's okay with the state, that I take temporary custody of her...Really? Okay...Joyce Summers, 1630 Revello Drive..." Buffy's mom finished giving Mrs. Dunbar all her information and told her to come in in a few hours to sign all the paperwork.
Later that morning Buffy came padding down the stairs rubbing her tired eyes. Joyce was sitting at the counter drinking a cup of coffee. As Buffy sat down she smiled and got up to get her a glass of orange juice. "Buffy we need to talk..." She set the glass down in front of Buffy and sat down again.
"About what?" she took a drink.
"Faith...I called Child Services and I'm going in this afternoon to sign the papers and pick her up." Buffy's eyes lit up instantly. Joyce held a hand up to quiet her daughter. "Buffy, please, just wait a second. This is only temporary. Until her parents go on trial and they find her a permanent home."
Buffy squealed with joy and hugged her mother fiercely, "Thank you Mom, I'm so going with you!" She bounded up the stairs to shower and get dressed. Joyce merely smiled, glad to see her daughter happy.
...continued in part 11...