This is the next entry in my series. The characters aren't mine. Just the storyline.
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Part One
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Buffy nearly dropped the plate that she was putting away. She looked at her mom with terror-filled eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me." She said bluntly. "I've been out of school a week and already you're trying to get rid of me?"
"I think it would be good for you." Said Joyce, "I don't want you spending all summer cooped up here. The only time I ever see you leave this house is at night. A couple of weeks outdoors in the sunlight won't hurt you."
"But mom, camping? Aren't I a little old for this?" she shoved the plate into the cupboard, then turned to face her mother.
"Not for this group. They're mostly high school students."
"But I won't know anyone."
"That's exactly my point. You'll make some friends. You need to make a change. All you ever do is go to that stupid dance club with the same four people. I want you to at least try something new and exciting."
Buffy cringed at the irony of her mom's words. If you only knew, she thought.
"Maybe I like those four people." She said.
"Buffy!"
Uh oh, Buffy thought, not her warning/threatening tone. Now I'll never get out of it.
Joyce sighed. "Please. Just this once. If you don't have fun, I promise, I won't push you to go, next year."
Buffy hated making her mom plead with her.
"Alright, but just this once and never again."
* * *
"Camping!"
A million emotions came to the word when Xander said it. He obviously was no fan of the great outdoors.
"That's what I said." Said Buffy, taking a sip of her soda.
"Outside for a week with the bugs and bears and other weird creatures of the night!"
"I know, and I get enough of that around here. It's so unfair and actually it's two weeks." She put on her sunglasses. They sat at an outdoor café and the sun was just getting hot.
"I think it sounds like fun." Said Willow, "Try looking at this from a positive view. At least you get a break from slaying. It's like a vacation."
"But it's two whole weeks! We could all be dead by the time she gets back." Said Xander.
"He has a point." Buffy agreed, "Vampires don't go on vacation. I don't know what could happen while I'm gone. I don't like leaving you two here but, I don't know what- Hey, why don't you guys come with me?"
"Oh no." said Xander, "You won't catch me out there, a million miles from everything I hold near and dear. I'm not risking another ‘6th Grade Camp Fiasco'. No!"
"Ok, I've obviously missed something." Said Buffy, waiting for an explanation.
"You know how everyone goes on a hike at 6th Grade Camp? Well, Xander got lost on his. He makes way too big a deal out of it." Willow explained.
"I was missing for two days!"
"We'll keep an eye on you. Please, don't make me do this alone." Buffy pleaded.
"I'll go." Said Willow.
"C'mon, Xander. It's either that, or you can stay here in boring Sunnydale and watch you're summer slowly pass you by. It's your choice."
Xander sighed a rather annoyed sigh, "Fine, but if I get lost…"
"You can blame me all you want."
* * *
"You're going camping?"
This was a new reaction. It was somewhere in between disgust and asking "Why?" Angel sat across from Buffy with a perplexed look on his face.
"It's not my fault. My mom thinks I'm not having enough social interaction or something like that. She keeps telling me that it would be good for me." She had to speak loudly on account of the music coming from the stage. Other conversations in the room also added to the regular noise of the Bronze.
"Have you told Giles, yet?"
"He hit the roof. He thinks so much like Xander that it scares me. They both seem to think that the world will come to an end if I leave."
"What are Xander and Willow gonna do?"
"I convinced them to come with me."
"So, basically, you're telling me that I'm gonna be bored for the next two weeks."
"Sorry."
"When do you leave?"
"Crack of dawn, Saturday morning."
"Are you still going to Cordelia's party, Friday night?"
"I wouldn't miss it."
"Good, I'll need company."
The slowed music and became softer.
"You wanna dance?" he asked.
Buffy yawned, "A quick one. I'm tired."
A few minutes later, the song was over and they were on their way out.
* * *
The next two days went by slowly and Buffy had little sleep. She couldn't explain it; she simply couldn't get to sleep at night. This made Giles happy, because whenever she couldn't sleep, she would go out hunting.
On Friday evening, after an hour of hunting, when she entered her room through the window, she received a surprise. Angel was in her room. He sat on her bed and looked as though he were waiting.
"Did you forget something?" he asked her.
"Huh?" she was obviously confused.
"The party."
Buffy gasped as it came back to her. She should have been there an hour ago. "Oh, my God, I completely forgot!"
She rushed to her closet and clumsily fumbled with a blue, long-sleeved shirt and some black pants. She pulled it from the closet.
"Would this look good?" she asked him.
"Buffy, relax." He told her, "We have time. She won't mind if we're a little late."
"I know." She said, as she pulled on the shirt, "I just hate being late for these things."
Angel could hear the stress in her voice and asked her, "Are you Ok?"
"I'm fine." She said firmly, then realizing that she had sounded almost mean when she'd said it, she added, "Sorry. I just haven't had much seep lately. I'm a little worn out."
"Would you rather stay home tonight?"
"No! My mom is on one of her rampages. Believe me, I welcome the chance to get out. If I stay here with her, I guarantee that one of us won't make it out alive." She yawned.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes! Look, why don't you wait for me outside? I'll be out in a little bit."
He shrugged and left the room through the window. A few minutes later, she was done. She bounded down the stairs.
"Bye, Mom!" she called through the house.
"Wait, honey!" Joyce ran into the room, "Have you packed, yet?"
"I can do it, when I get home."
"Well, don't stay out too late. I don't want to have to get you up tomorrow."
"Don't worry, mom. I'll be up and out of the house, before you even wake up."
"Well, alright. You, have fun."
"Bye, Mom." Buffy kissed her mother then left the house to meet Angel outside.
They walked briskly to Cordelia's house and finally reached it by 9:30. It was a huge house with a canyon in the backyard. In fact, because it was in the hills, there were quite a few canyons around. Buffy knocked on the door, then lifted a hand to her hair to check for and bumps or loose hairs. Before she finished, the door opened and Cordelia stood on the other side.
"It's about time, get in here." She said.
They entered the house and found their friends inside. Willow and Xander stood by one of the windows talking. From where they were standing, they could see everything.
The room consisted mostly of old people. It was more her parent's party than it was hers. A few teenagers lingered in various parts of the room. They were Cordelia's cousins.
"Hey." Said Buffy to her friends upon arriving at the window.
"Hi." They both drawled. They weren't paying attention. They were looking in a corner of the room, where three girls were sitting.
"Uh, what are we looking at?"
"See those girls over there?" said Willow, "According to Cordelia, one of them's a man. We can't tell which one, yet, but I think it's the in the middle."
Buffy and Angel turned their gazes to the corner.
"The one on the left." Said Buffy.
"I'm telling you Wil, it's the one on the right." Xander insisted.
"No, she's right." Said Angel, "It's the middle one. Look at her shoulders. Women simply don't have shoulders like that."
"What's wrong with her shoulders?" asked Buffy.
"They're too broad. Look at them."
This continued for the next twenty minutes until Cordelia returned to them and declared that they were all wrong. They had been looking in the wrong corner. She showed them who it was and they all said, "Ooh" simultaneously.
The night went well. There were only two problems: first, two of Cordelia's cousins tried to pick up on Xander and Angel. Buffy having had very little sleep lately, was cranky and had a very short fuse. It nearly resulted in a fistfight. The second problem was Cordelia's uncle, who had made a complete spectacle of himself. Apparently about halfway through the night he had gotten drunk. By the end of the party, he was passed out on the couch.
At midnight, Buffy and Angel announced that they would be leaving.
"Are you guys walking?" asked Cordelia.
"We kinda have to, unless you're willing to give us a ride." Said Buffy.
"Sorry, I can't, but you can probably take Uncle Tony's car. He's too drunk to drive home, so, he'll be staying here tonight."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's no problem. Before you leave, tomorrow, leave the keys under the front seat and I'll come by and pick up the car."
Tony's car was a red ‘95 Corvette. Buffy didn't think she would ever be more thankful to have her license. It was a beautiful car without a scratch on it.
"Be careful with it." Said Cordelia, "Tony's very protective of this car. He treats it better he treats than his own kids."
Buffy hopped into the front seat and started it up. It purred like a kitten. She backed out of the driveway and soon they were on a winding road, back to town. When they were finally alone, Angel said to her, "You're really enjoying this aren't you?"
"Oh, yeah. I love this car and I'm normally a car person."
"Well, don't get too attached."
"Why are you jealous?"
"Of a car? Why, should I be?"
"Probably."
Angel laughed. "Don't tell me I'm being replaced."
"I don't know. My mom says that if I get good enough grades this year, she'll buy me a car as a graduation present. I want this one."
"You do know I'm gonna make you chose right? It's me or the car, Buffy."
Buffy was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing. It was harder than she'd laughed this in weeks. She was finally truly enjoying herself. She rounded the corners, quickly on the curvy road.
Buffy saw a turn ahead and realized almost too late that she was going too fast to round it safely. Had it not been for the truck on the other side of the street, rounding the corner at exactly the same time, they would have made it. Instead, the Corvette broke through the fence at the side of the road, and went right down the side of the canyon. It rolled on its side down the hill, throwing its passengers violently against the interior of the car. Finally, it reached the bottom, where it stopped, but not for long. The ground from underneath the car, collapsed. The car fell into an underground tunnel, where it stayed, with both passengers still inside and completely unconscious.
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