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Cordelia walked up to the front entrance of the Sunnydale High cautiously, shining the flashlight she found in the car in order to see in front of her. Judging by the darkness of the area around her, tonight had to be the one night the streetlights by the school didn’t work.
The tennis shoes she was wearing made a soft, padding noise as she went up the front steps of the school, causing her to stop for a moment and look around nervously. The big, double doors were shut, and pulling on their unyielding weight, she sighed. She had known they would be locked, but it hadn’t stopped her from entertaining the thought.
She went round to the side of the school, where she knew there was a small, basement window that she might just be able to squeeze into. Luckily for her, the thing could never properly be shut, due to a rusty hinge ... or something like that. At least, that’s what that cute guy Tony had told her during a makeout sesh they’d had in the basement. But that was BX – before Xander. Why Tony had thought to point out that useless little fact to her, she didn’t know, and at the time, didn’t really care, but she could hug him now for telling her. She hoped that the rusty hinge deal still applied in this world. With her luck it would have been fixed a long time ago.
A quick inspection proved that the hinge was indeed rusty, and therefore the window was not fully shut. Cordelia yanked it open roughly, with none of the regard for her manicured nails she normally would have. She eyed the window doubtfully, trying to gauge its width. Lowering herself to the concrete, she slid her legs in experimentally. She tried squeezing the rest of her body through the small opening. When her hips seemed to become stuck, she panicked, but a little bit of wiggling and she managed to get through. she thought gratefully.
So she was inside the school at last. The basement, anyway. Luckily for Cordelia, the door leading out was not locked, and she made her way through the ominously dark halls to the Library. Strangely enough, it turned out that that too was left unlocked, and she pushed open the swinging doors and walked inside, flicking on the light switch on the wall as she did so.
“What took you so long?” asked a familiar voice. Cordelia jumped, and she looked around frantically for the source.
Angel stepped out from behind the stacks, smiling broadly. She stared at him in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
Angel thought it wise not to mention the fact that he had followed her to school because he was worried about her. He was the one who had unlocked the doors to the Library and the basement, but he had a feeling she would not take to the news kindly. “I thought you might need some help looking up stuff in the stacks,” he explained. It was only half the truth, but it would do.
Cordelia’s expression softened only slightly. “I don’t need your help, but thanks,” she said, rather huffily, trying to hide the relief she had felt upon seeing him. She walked past him, into the shelves and shelves of books. She had no idea where to start, but pride prevented her from asking for his assistance. She grabbed the first book that caught her eye and made her way to a table, refusing to catch Angel’s eye.
“Cordy.”
“What?” she mumbled.
“I don’t think that book will do you any good,” he said gently. “That’s on the Loch Ness monster.”
Her face burned in embarrassment. “I’m not as dumb as people think I am, Angel,” she said hotly. “I can do this by myself. I don’t need you.”
He ignored her words and walked up to her, grabbing her shoulders firmly. “Look,” he said, staring deep into her eyes. “Remember what I said earlier? You’re my friend, Cordy. And I’m going to help you, whether you like it or not.” He let go of her, and smiled sadly. “Think of it as sort of a goodbye present. You’ve done a lot for me already, more than you know. I want to pay you back.”
Cordelia grinned half-heartedly. She drew him into a tight embrace before releasing him and stepping back. “Well get cracking, then, slave,” she said, sounding a little more like her old self. “Researching gives me hives. Why don’t you pull out the books we need and I’ll flip through them?” She gave him a little shove in the direction of the stacks. “This way, I can be sure I won’t break a nail.”
“Even extreme strain doesn’t change you much, Cordy. Still worried about your nails?” Angel gave a low chuckle and headed off to look for the books they required. Cordelia stared after him, then down at her hands. Dirty, blistered hands, and yes, broken nails. She clenched her fists by her sides and walked went over to help Angel. She had more important things to worry about.
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