Title: All In A Day's Work
Author: Angelic Devils (or Anita and Tejal)
Posted: 03-02-2003
Email: devils_with_a_cause@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13 for language
Category: AU, Buffyverse, humour
Content: A/C, Riley/Buffy, Spike/Harmony (only for humour) and W/O. Also some later pairings and references to other pairings.
Summary: AU. Two new guys bring excitement to SunnyDale High
Spoilers: None. But references to episodes.
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: Fanfiction.net
Notes: If you like Buffy and hate Buffy bashing, then you probably shouldn't read this. We have nothing against SMG or Buffy...except the fact we don't like her...at all...
Notes Insane1: Here we are again! Wow! I can’t believe Mrs O agreed to do this with me! I mean, if I wasn’t enough of a hassle to her before…lol…
Notes Mrs O-Town: When Insane1 told me about this, it was REALLY hard to refuse. We’ve been talking about this for a couple of weeks now and we really love where this is gonna go. I hope you enjoy it to and let us know if it sucks cos feedback is vital! Kisses and Hugs, Mrs O XxX
Feedback: All feedback is vital to us. So good or bad, please review.Part 1: Blast From The Past
Buffy Summers-Giles strolled down the halls of SunnyDale high, whistling to herself. It was the first day of her senior year and she was on top of the world. Strangely enough, though, she had no reason to be. Maybe it was just the relief of escaping her boring little home life for a few hours each day. That made sense. What had she done all vacation? She had been forced to stay at home and help her mother and father with the gallery, that’s what. However, her non-identical twin, Faith, had been allowed to do whatever it was she felt like…And why did Faith get preference?
Because she was the oldest by…oh…2 minutes, and yet that was all it took for her to be granted more respect and trust and what-not. She hated Faith. Faith was always the one to help out, the one who did her homework yet the one who seemed to go to waaaay more parties. Buffy was baffled at how she did it. As a consequence, she hated her for it.
Needless to say, the youngest Summers had issues.
“Hey Buff!” Xander Harris called, rushing over to her.
She smiled at him. “Hey Xand.” She replied. “Whatcha up to?”
Shrugging, Xander hooked an arm over her shoulders. “Not much. Dreading anything school related this year…Other than the girls,” He gave her a sly smile and a wink.
The blonde rolled her eyes and whacked his chest. “Never gonna happen,”
She didn’t know why he never got it. They’d been best-friends for over 2 years now, and Xander still hadn’t gotten over his crush for her. At first she’d been flattered, but now it worried her. What if Xander was just hanging around for the first chance to get in her pants and then leave? That was what had happened with Angel back in LA….and Parker after that frat party….and Riley, her current on again/off again, was beginning to give off the same kind of vibe.
Xander grinned back at her. “It’s a pity…You don’t know what you’re missing out on,”
“And, what a pity, I never will.” She threw back at him playfully. “Besides, Riley and I are back together….” She paused. “Again.”
Xander tried to force his face not to fall, but he rolled his eyes at her anyway. “When did that happen?”
They’d reached Buffy’s locker and she started fiddling with her books. Now it was her turn to shrug. “Last week. He called me and practically begged for another chance.”
Okay…so it was a teenie tiny lie. She may have been the one to ask if they should try dating again, but what did that matter? “So, yeah, we’re going out again,”
“Hey…You talkin’ about me again?” Riley’s voice sounded behind her.
She smiled and accepted his embrace. “Hey…” She said, nuzzling into his shirt. “What’s up?”
“Not much…Word on the grapevine is that there’s a new guy on campus.” He responded.
Xander grinned. “Hate to tell you this, but there’s a lot of new guys on campus.”
“This guy’s different. He’s already got the whole school talkin’ about him.” Riley tossed back nonchalantly.
“Really?” Buffy asked, genuinely intrigued. “Why’s that?”
“Few reasons really.” Riley shrugged, hugging her closer to him and breathing in her shampoo. “One: he’s from LA, which is a big thing in a small town like ours. Two: he’s repeating his senior year here. And three: he was apparently football captain of his last school.”
“Sounds like a dumbass to me,” Xander scoffed.
Riley glared at the smaller young man and looked back at his once-again girlfriend. “Well, I hear they've already picked him for this year’s captain here at good ol’ SunnyDale High.”
"What? What about you?" Buffy almost screamed. Did they have any idea how bad it would seem if she wasn't dating the football captain? God! Now it was like she was gonna be dating...a regular Joe.
Riley shrugged and ran his fingers through his sandy hair. "Yeah....well....life's like that I guess."
"Well, who is he?"
"Some guy....never caught the name. Just the rep. He's somewhere between badass and jock if what they're saying is true." Riley responded with yet another shrug.
"Well, I've been picked to be head cheerleader." Buffy boasted, in a (bound to be ill-fated) attempt to change the topic. Again, not a total lie. Cordelia had been awarded that honour, but she was Vice.
Riley brightened at that. "Really? That's great. Here I was thinkin' good ol' Queen C would get it again-”
"She did," Cordelia interrupted as she arrived at her locker which was situated near the group.
Xander flinched. This was not a good situation.
Buffy went red and turned to face her opponent. "Oh..." She chuckled nervously. "Did I say head? I meant vice..."
Xander winced even more. This was gonna get ugly if Buffy didn’t learn to shut up.
"Sure..." Cordelia smiled as she put her books in her locker. Why was it she didn’t sound convinced? That’s right… Because she wasn’t.
The tiny blonde grimaced and turned away again. Suddenly her cheery outlook had turned grey. "Well....I'm gone. Snyder's got me helping out in the library again." She paused and smiled a little. "Maybe Will's gonna be there too..."
"Well….Make sure you're at practice. There's a game Friday night. We have to cheer on the new captain." Cordelia reminded the lesser woman…er…Buffy.
Now Riley grimaced.
Cordelia caught the other teen’s expression, "Don't worry, we'll cheer on the rest of the team too." She informed him earnestly.
Xander hid his smirk and watched as Buffy tried to be calm in her reply, forcing a cute little fake smile onto her lips. "Well...I'll see you this afternoon then. Gotta run," She turned to leave but paused and gave Riley a kiss on the cheek before heading down the hall. Xander lost his smirk.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. She almost felt sorry for him. ‘Almost’ being the operative word in that sentence. "I'll see you in English, Xander. Remember we have that essay due today." She told him.
"Essay? Cordelia....We just got back from summer vacation....It's our first day of school. There was never any time to be given an essay." Xander replied, watching as she grinned back at him like some evil Cheshire cat.
She shook her head, that annoying smile still plastered on her face. "Summer essay, Xand."
Xander's face dropped. "Awww shit. No one told me!"
Cordelia chuckled and Riley patted him on the back. "Uh...Xander, think back to two weeks ago. Our phone conversation? I said ‘Don’t forget we have that essay on Hamlet’ and you said ‘Yeah, don’t worry about it, I got it all under control’.”
Xander gulped and looked at them, hitting his head against his locker at the same time. "Crap....First day back and I'm gonna get detention. Could it get any worse?"
"Harris!" A voice boomed from behind him.
Xander grimaced and looked at the ceiling. "I just had[ to ask." He turned and forced a smile. "Principal Snyder, what a surprise seeing you here....at school...where all principals and students usually go....” He looked at the glaring animal before him and lost his grin. “I'll shut up,"
The dwarflike man crossed his arms and snarled up at the boy. "Open your locker."
Xander looked down at the creature...er...his principal in horror. "Why?"
Snyder could practically smell the fear emanating from the boy in front of him. This was perfect. He was killing 3 birds with one big fat boulder. "I said OPEN IT!"
Xander tried to stand his ground. "You have no right to-"
“OPEN THE LOCKER BEFORE I MAKE SURE YOU NEVER GRADUATE!”
"O-o-okay…sir," Xander responded quickly, fumbling with the combination. He opened the door slowly, hoping that there was nothing incriminating sitting in plain view. "Ahh…crap." He muttered.
Snyder lunged forward and grabbed at Xander’s beloved Playboy. Riley stifled a laugh and Cordelia cackled along side him.
Both Xander and Snyder turned to glare at them and they stopped.
"What are you laughing at?!" The principal demanded.
Cordelia forced the smile to go away. After all, she was an excellent actress. "Nothing. Riley here just told me a joke is all." She nudged the Iowa boy. "Isn't that right?"
The teen in question rubbed his now aching ribs and nodded. "Yes sir. I was just trying to impress the lady." He added as solemnly as possible. Cordelia groaned at the other teen’s phrasing, but smiled at Snyder anyway.
Snyder turned his attention back to Xander. "In my office -- NOW!"
Xander hung his head and followed the evil dwarf down the hall, fighting the urge to sing 'Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho! Off to my fiery death we go' as he went.
As they trudged along, Snyder muttered things about confiscating the magazine and something about the perfect punishment. Xander was half listening and skidded to a halt when the principal said the words ‘Harris’ and ‘tour guide’ in the same sentence.
“I’m sorry…I coulda sworn you just said I’m gonna be the tour guide to the new kids.” He stammered, chuckling nervously. “Which is funny ‘cos only the geeks get to do that and-”
“Silence” Snyder hissed angrily, stopping at the office door. “You will do as I tell you, understand?”
“But-”
“You WILL do as I tell you.”
Xander sighed and Snyder opened the door to reveal two teenage guys dressed completely in black. Xander only had to glance at them to know that the tall, dark haired one was SunnyDale’s newest football captain. He had no idea, however, about the kinda scrawny bleached one though. Either way, he knew he didn’t like these guys.
Snyder snarled at the newcomers. “This is Alexander Harris. He will show you around and then you will retrieve your books from the library and head straight to class. Any misbehaviour at all and you will ALL be spending you’re afternoons with me for the rest of the semester. Is that clear?”
Xander nodded slowly and watched as the other two reluctantly followed suit. After a second or so, Snyder snapped at them.
“Well…What are you waiting for? Get out of my office now!”
Xander watched as the bleached wonder and his cohort walked out before gladly following them. Once the door was shut behind them, he heaved a sigh of relief and then proceeded to punch the nearest locker while colourfully cursing Snyder’s name.
“I take it he’s not one of these namby-pamby types then?” The bleached guy spoke up behind him. He had an obvious cockney accent and something about his tone just rubbed Xander the wrong way.
He spun and rolled his eyes. “You think?” He asked, sarcasm dripping from his tone. Then he decided it couldn’t hurt to be polite to the new guys….especially if they were like Riley had described the dark haired one. He gruffly extended his hand. “Sorry. I just hate the guy….but that was kinda obvious. Name’s Xander.”
The bleached guy took his hand and shook it. “Spike.”
Xander couldn’t help smirking. “Interesting name”
The tall, dark guy let out a short chuckle. “Yeah…” He began, his tone somewhere between patronising, informative and joking. “Hard to believe he named himself.”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Better than yours you big poof.”
Xander watched as the two interacted and held out his hand to the bigger guy. “So…You have a name…or nickname…or anything you want to be called?”
With a small smile, and a *really* strong grip, the tall guy shook his hand. “Angel.”
“Angel, huh?” Xander repeated. “That’s…different.”
“Long story.” Angel replied.
Xander nodded and started to head down the hall. “Look forward to hearing it,”
That earned a laugh from Spike. “You must *really* lead a boring life.”
At this Xander laughed genuinely. “This is SunnyDale…nothing interesting ever happens here.”
Spike and Angel chuckled as well and Xander started to show them around. Once he was certain they’d covered most of the grounds, he guided them back to the library. He swung open the doors and Wesley (or Mr Wyndham-Pryce as he preferred to be called- not that anyone actually did) greeted them.
“Wes…These guys are lookin’ for some text books,”
The Brit smiled, slightly disturbed at the use of his first name by the teen, and looked them over. “I don’t suppose you have a copy of your subject lists?”
They were in the process of gathering their required texts when Buffy and Willow emerged from the back office.
“…So I thought we might head to the Bronze tonight after practice and catch up. You have no idea how much I need to get out of the house. I mean, all I hear at home is ‘Faith this’, ‘Faith that’, ‘Faith did this’, ‘Faith did...Angel?’.”
Buffy skidded to a halt, her mouth gaping open.
“No…I can’t remember Faith being with any Ange-” Willow was rambling, having been a few steps behind the blonde and not seen the others. She stopped once she noticed the good-looking new guys and Buffy staring at the tall one in particular. “-Oh.”
Part 2: Shakespeare In Love
Angel grinned back at the pintsized blonde. It had been a couple of years, but he still remembered her like it was yesterday. Still, he didn’t know her social status and they hadn’t exactly ended on friendly terms, best to play it cool. "Buffy, right?"
She nodded slowly, unable to form a sentence. He was the last person she thought she'd see standing across from her in the SunnyDale High library.
Xander stood to the side, unaware of their past. "You guys know each other?"
Buffy nodded. Angel shrugged.
‘Wait....He shrugged?’ Buffy thought. That wasn't right. Not at all. Time to set matters straight. "Yeah...." She stated, finding her voice. "We were together....a while ago."
Just then, Riley entered, followed by Cordelia. The former stopped. "Who was together?" He asked, before noticing the guys in black. He looked from the darker one to his girl, then back at the guy. "You're kidding me."
Cordelia also looked between the two.
Spike smirked. "Likin' this school already." He muttered to the nearest stander by “It’s better than Passions.” His comment went past unnoticed.
"Hey...." The new brunette said, obviously putting two and two together. She looked back at the tall, dark guy. "You're the new football captain, right?"
Riley wanted nothing more than to hit his head against the wall.
Angel nodded, ignoring the look on the tall guy’s face and looking directly at the girl standing next to him. "Angel. And you are?” he asked with a smirk on his face. This girl was definitely H. O. T HOT.
"Cordelia Chase." She batted her lashes and held out her hand. "Head cheerleader."
Buffy tried not to snarl.
Angel swept his eyes over Cordelia, deliberately checking her out and smiled broadly. This is what he'd been missing. He took her hand and placed a small kiss on it. Spike coughed the word 'cheesy' at him and he ignored it. "We'll be seeing a lot of each other then."
She grinned back and chuckled. Heck, if he was already resorting to cheesy come ons she's have him around her pinky in no time. She nodded and gave him another smile, watching the gleam in his eye as she did. "Yeah….Well, me and Riley need to get some books."
Buffy was still confused....and the bleached guy was looking at her funny. So she did the first thing instinct told her to do. She marched over to Riley and wrapped her arm around him, hoping that this action made the proper statements to the parties that counted.
Her boyfriend gladly accepted her embrace. After a moment of silence he decided to introduce himself properly. After all, if he was going to be on the football team with these guys, they might as well be on good speaking terms.
Moving towards the new guys, he held out his hand. "Riley Finn. I'm on the team as well."
Angel looked him up and down. The dude didn’t seem that bad, but Angel just hoped Riley knew what he was getting himself into with Buffy. He gruffly shook Finn’s hand. "Angel. And the annoying blonde behind me is Spike."
Spike growled. "Annoying blonde?" He cut in, sounding mildly insulted, but still with a gleam of laughter in his eyes.
Riley forced a smile at the other guy, before gesturing towards the others in the room. "This is Willow and my girlfriend Buffy..." He paused. "But you seem to have already met..."
"Yeah, me and Angel had a thing," Buffy said.
Angel tried to hide his rolling eyes. "It wasn't much...." He added. "Just a few dates."
Buffy was shocked. Just a few dates? They had been dating for almost a year! And he was the one she first....gave herself to. She'd loved him...and he'd said he'd loved her...
After a couple of seconds Buffy noted the stares Angel was sending towards Cordelia while she was collected some books.
Suddenly it all clicked and she was very, very angry.
She watched as Angel saw Cordy trying in vain to reach a book on a high shelf and grimaced he ran over to help.
Buffy tore her gaze away and looked back up at Riley. "Well...we have class to get to..."
Cordelia nodded, "Uh huh. We're doing Shakespeare in English this semester. My favourite." She grinned.
Buffy froze and turned to look at her adversary....er....peer. "What?" She asked in shock.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Shakespeare. He's my favourite topic. Of course, if you'd spent a little more time in class than in here, you'd know that." She stated matter-of-factly, before opting to add "I do have layers Buffy."
"Yeah...like an onion," The blonde replied, thinking of Shrek. ‘Oh that was really classy. She reminisces about Shakespeare, I reminisce about a cartoon ogre and his donkey!’
Cordelia rolled her eyes again in true Queen C fashion and Angel followed suit. It seemed that Buffy was outnumbered.
Well, that was the last straw. Buffy got all huffy and stormed out of the library, Riley reluctantly in tow. Willow waved shyly and left a few seconds later, leaving Xander to shrug and followed them as well.
Spike watched Xander leave. "Wait a tic...Isn't he supposed to be our guide?" he pointed towards the swinging library door.
Now Cordelia shrugged. "He's Buffy's lap-dog. She won't give him a second chance. And he's not really a thinker….Poor guy." She stopped and smiled genuinely at the blonde guy. "So I guess you're stuck with me for now."
Spike immediately brightened. "Now that doesn't sound too bad at all..."
Angel grinned and said, "I don’t mind that," at the same time.
The dark boy paused and glared at his friend. This was his territory and, even though they were good friends, Spike wasn’t getting anywhere near Cordelia Chase. Angel had already decided that she was his and if he had to win some stupid flirting contest to prove it then so be it. And make no mistake; Angel would win.
Cordelia loved this. Guys threw themselves at her almost everyday.... but she never tired of it. Besides, this was the new football captain. The one from LA. Her status on the popularity meter would go through the roof. Plus, he was drop dead gorgeous.
Then again, his friend wasn't too bad either, but Cordelia generally never went for blondes. His accent was to die for, though. No matter. He seemed a bit more interested in Buffy anyway. Which was strange, but good nonetheless because Cordelia genuinely felt drawn to Angel. He seemed more.... interested.
But one thing was for sure, she wasn't going to jump into either one of their beds….not like Buffy was known to do. Cordelia knew Buffy hadn’t had much luck with men, and she couldn’t count on her fingers the number of times she’s seen Buffy moping over some guy.
Still smiling, Cordelia let Wesley check out their books and then personally escorted the boys to their next classes, all the while maintaining a general conversation, and leaving Angel hanging on her every word.
Of course, she got a few glances from the other students. New students, cute ones especially, were a big deal and with her being Queen C, everyone knew these guys were gonna play important roles this year in their gossip lives.
Their next class was English. Well, Angel and Cordelia's was. Spike was actually supposed to be in History with Buffy. Lucky him(!).
Not that Spike really minded the prospect of spending the next 45 minutes with Angel’s ex. Buffy was a looker....and he’d heard stories from his best friend that suggested other things.... plus she had a fiery attitude. So she had a boyfriend....that didn't really bother him. Finn was….an obstacle. Sure he seemed like a good guy, but seriously, this was dog eat dog.
Breaking away from the head cheerleader and the captain of the football team, Spike disappeared into the classroom further along the corridor and scanned the room for his blonde ambition.
Meanwhile, Cordelia led Angel into the English room and weaved in and out of the rows. She finally sat behind Xander and Riley. Angel frowned at first. But brightened when he noticed the fact that she’d saved him the seat beside her, directly behind Riley. He gave her that half smile of his; the one he patented at age 13 to make any girl’s knees wobble, and moved to sit down, deliberately brushing against her arm as he settled in.
Cordelia didn’t outwardly react to his touch, although on the inside she was tingling all over. She hoped he didn’t know, but Angel was more than aware of the effect he had on women.
***
Nobody seemed to mind that Angel and Cordelia had instantly bonded. Well, maybe Xander minded a little bit. Even though he had a thing for Buffy, Xander still liked chatting with Queen C. But it seemed Angel would be taking any chances of that from him.
Oh well, it seemed only natural that the football captain and the head cheerleader hit it off anyway. But nobody was expecting it to happen by the first lesson.
Then again, Cordelia wasn’t really the predictable type.
Angel was about to lean in and ask her something, like what they were supposed to be doing, when the teacher interrupted him. He groaned. Cordelia smiled secretly.
While the teacher went through the agenda, Angel spent most of the time staring at Cordelia and studying her model-like features. She seemed perfect to him, much more attractive than the models he’d seen in Playboy...not that he’d ever bought one...it was Spike’s...honest! For a brief second he glanced at Xander and grinned.
Cordelia had told them on the way to class that Xander had been given the chore of showing the new guys around because Snyder had found a Playboy in his locker.
Chuckling internally, Angel looked back at Cordelia, noting the way she gently bit her lip when she was concentrating or taking notes with a pink feather pen. Okay, so the pen seemed a little immature and girlish...but it was kinda cute all the same.
Besides, he was sure that she was much more mature in other ways. A sly grin appeared on his face as he thought of the many things he would be able to do soon enough.
Angel was snapped out of his revere as the teacher called out his name. “Uh…what?” he asked.
The teacher sighed as the rest of the class glanced at the new guy. Correction- new football captain.
“I asked if you would mind being Cordelia’s partner? She’s a good student and I think she’d be good for you-”
Angel smiled and looked at Cordelia. “I think so too,” He muttered just loud enough for most of the class to burst into giggles and whispers.
The teacher rolled her eyes and went back to pairing up the rest of the class. Angel was more than pleased to have been paired up with Cordelia. She was slightly pleased as well…not that she'd admit it just yet. She did have a rep to maintain.
Cordelia hid her smile and turned to Angel, who was more than eager to start work….well, not the work assigned of course. They started chatting about the different works of Shakespeare and before long Angel learnt that she really knew her stuff.
However, Angel could have done without the continuous interruptions from Xander and Riley who had to ask Cordelia questions about their task. He wasn't surprised. Not every cheerleader was a brainless blonde.
Not every blonde was brainless either. Even Buffy had proven to be smart upon the odd occasion….
"So..." He started, forcing the thoughts of his past from his head. "What's your favourite Shakespeare piece?" ‘Great conversation opener Angel’ he internally chastised himself.
Cordelia thought for a moment, nibbling her bottom lip again. "'Taming of the Shrew', no contest," she replied confidently.
Angel nodded, a little surprised at Cordelia’s choice. "Strange. I had you down for a 'Romeo & Juliet' kind of girl." After all, that was usually the case for many girls. Especially most of the ones he’d known. They just loved the whole romance thing.
Man, this girl was definitely different. Considering the fact that she was glaring at him. Wait….That couldn’t be right. Why on earth would she be glaring at him? They’d been hitting it off well and he hadn’t said anything wrong. He’d been careful not to. So why the dirty look?
Cordelia continued to glare at him. "Why is it that guys IMMEDIATELY assume that we all like 'Romeo and Juliet'? He has written far better things, you know," She snapped matter-of-factly. "And plus, Romeo and Juliet has been soooo overdone. I’ve seen many a relationship based upon that,"
Okay….That hadn't been the reaction he'd hoped for. "You don't think it was a great romance?" Angel asked, trying to get into her pants...mind! He was trying to get into her mind. He grimaced at his trail of thought and silently barked at himself. ‘Jesus Angel! Watch what you’re thinking! You’re still in school for god’s sake! And it’s only 9:25’
Unaware of Angel’s internal ramblings, Cordy snorted. "Pfft, hell no! Look at the facts. One- He's on the rebound. Two- She's a teenage girl that is cranky at her parents,” Cordelia counted off her fingers.
By this time, Xander and Riley had already tuned on to their conversation. Riley shook his head. Angel had asked *that* question. Xander and he, as well everyone else that had ever been in one of her Shakespeare studying classes, knew there was no shutting Cordelia up when the subject of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ came up.
"-Not to mention the fact she was 13!" Cordelia continued. “She sees a kinda cute guy, but the fact her parents would kill her if they ever found out about *this* particular guy makes her want him more. There was no love! Only a mismatched pair of twisted people and a whole lotta lust!" She ranted in response. She REALLY hated that play. It was the one thing Shakespeare did wrong.
Neither Cordelia nor Angel noticed that the room had fallen silent and the whole class was listening to their conversation. Even the teacher was listening intently. She'd never seen a high school student that actually paid attention to Shakespeare, let alone debated the essence of his work. This was amazing.
"Whoa...." Angel chuckled, holding his hands in 'Time out' position.
"'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is okay I guess, but nothing is anywhere near as good as 'Taming of the Shrew'," Cordelia continued, ignoring the 'time out' signal.
He laughed openly this time, noticing their audience and blushing ever so slightly. "Cordelia...." he began.
"I mean, many movies have been made based on Shakespeare but the adaptation of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ was the only one truly modernised and that really related to today's society…"
"Cordelia" He tried again, this time catching her attention.
"What?" she said breathing deeply to regain her breath. Boy, she was tired. Ranting- true passionate ranting- took a lot out of a girl. She watched as Angel smiled and gestured around the room. "We have an audience"
Cordelia glanced around and put her hand to her mouth. “Oh,” She grinned at their teacher sheepishly. "Sorry….got carried away..." She said as she sunk into her seat.
"Don't worry, Cordelia. I enjoyed it. It’s nice to see someone take such an interest in Shakespeare and be prepared to argue and back up their opinions on his works." The teacher smiled back broadly. It had been amusing and truly amazing. She never expected the jock and cheerleader to actually WORK.... "If you carry on like this, you may well get an A+ before the end of term."
Cordelia smiled back happily, regaining her composure. "Thanks..."
"But do try to keep it down," The teacher added.
Cordelia nodded and glanced at Angel, who smiled at her. The class laughed and the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson.
Cordelia got up, only to be stopped by Angel. "Listen," he said as the class filed by
She looked back at him, trying to ignore the fact that his hand was still on her arm. "Yeah...?" Oh...this wasn't good. He was actually making HER feel giddy. She hoped that this wasn’t about her little rant. Secretly, she wished it was something a little more personal. ‘Cordy!’ Her mind chided. ‘First day, remember? Lead him along. Make him go giddy. Rep to maintain!’
Angel took a deep breath. Cordelia forgot all about her internal rambling."I may need some help in English. You seem to know a lot and I really need to pass this class. would you mind...tutoring me?" He asked
Oh. Well, that was a let down. And yet, why did it still sound like a cheap come-on to her?
Slightly deflated, she raised her brow at him. "Me? Tutor you?" She asked.
He was hoping she'd say yes, and ignore the obvious come-on that his request was. English was his best subject....he'd topped his graduating class in it last year....but she didn't have to know that. "That's what I said." He replied casually.
"But you seem to know a lot anyway. Plus, I’m already tutoring Xander….I really don't think I can tutor two people." Cordelia reasoned with him.
Xander had needed her help a lot and spent a few nights at hers writing essays...okay, well, Cordelia wrote a majority of the essays verbally, Xander just pretended to understand it, while writing them down word for word as she spoke.
Angel looked a little dejected. "Oh.... Well.... What if I asked Buffy to tutor him? I mean, she wasn't bad at English if I can remember correctly...." He stopped, realising that it wasn't helping talking about their past. "Not that I spent that much time with her....” He brightened. "Besides, I’m sure Xander would like that..."
Cordelia sighed, unsure of the entire situation. "Look, I’ll ask about it. Right now I’m late for Gym." She said. Angel took out his timetable, feeling like the biggest geek as he did. "It says I have Bio 101.... Where’s that?" Silently he hoped she'd show him the way. As in lead him there by the hand.
"Right down the hall. You're in luck, Buffy's in that class," Cordelia said with a small smile. “I’m all the way over there.” She said, gesturing in the opposite direction. “Sorry.”
Angel tried not to grimace. "Oh....Well…. thanks. I'll see you later then." He muttered. With a wave and a swish of long, mahogany hair he lost her to the crowd.
Angel cursed to himself as Spike walked up beside him.
"So..." The peroxided one said, throwing an arm over Angel's shoulder in a friendly gesture. Truthfully it annoyed the hell out of Angel, but that was really why he did it. "How'd it go with the cheerleader?" Spike asked, smiling.
In truth, he’d just witnessed their display and decided to patronise his friend (in jest of course). Angel growled at him in response. “That good huh?”
Angel rolled his eyes and shrugged the other boy's arm off. "Actually it didn’t go too badly....But it could've been better."
Spike grinned and nodded in understanding. "So, Where are you off to now?"
"Bio 101....or so the timetable says." Angel paused and looked at his friend. "You?"
Spike pulled out his sheet of paper and inspected it. "Hey! You're in luck. I'm in your class."
"What?” Angel asked. “Biology?"
"Yes, Biology." Spike replied, matter of factly.
Angel rolled his eyes. "Oh goody(!)" He said sarcastically.
"Hey!" Spike said indignantly. Angel shook his head, "Not you. Buffy's in our class and she’s coming this way." Angel said, looking for an escape route.
Spike, on the other hand, seemed to perk up. "She is, eh?"
Angel looked mortified. "You're kidding me, right?"
Spike shrugged. "What? A man has *needs* and from what you've said about her I thou-"
Angel cut him off. "Whatever, just as long as I get Cordy."
Spike held up his hands as if to surrender. "Whatever you say Peaches."
"Don't call me that, William," Angel shot back
Spike's eyes widened in horror and he glanced around the hallway, praying nobody had heard that.
Ignoring Spike’s sudden eagerness to erase time, Angel looked at his watch. "We'd better get to class." He stated. "Any ideas where it is?"
Spike shrugged again. "Dunno....I say we follow Blondie...." He gestured down the hall, towards where Buffy was walking out of sight.
Pretty soon the three were in their class. Buffy making a few goo-goo eyes at Angel, which Spike mistook to be his...deliberately.
Angel kept his gaze on the teacher, pretending that if he didn't see Buffy she might disappear. Unfortunately his plan hadn't worked so far, nor did it work for their next few classes. So when the bell rang for lunch, Angel hurried to avoid his ex. No such luck there either.
"So, Angel. Are you heading out to the track? We're making up some new cheers for you." Buffy said sweetly.
Angel shook his head, "Sorry Buff, but I've already made plans....But maybe Spike can go with you. He's on the team too."
She looked the other blonde over. *THAT* scrawny thing was on the team? He had to be joking. "Uh....you know what....I think I was supposed to meet Riley...." Right. Riley. As in the boyfriend. She stopped to think for a second. ‘As in you’ve gotta stop throwing yourself at you ex.’ Her conscience hissed.
Spike, however, grinned like the Cheshire cat at her and tossed his arm over her shoulder possessively, drawing her closer to him. "Great....I've been wantin' to get to know my team-mates…." He said happily.
Buffy was less than impressed. She looked to Angel for help and groaned when she realized that he didn’t care. In fact, if she didn’t know any better, she’d say he was enjoying seeing her suffer.
Truth be told though, it wasn't that she didn't feel attracted to this Spike guy, but she'd rather have Angel….Wait. She was still with Riley. Conveniently, She kept trying to forget that. Damnit. So now she had a crush on one guy, her ex no less, a boyfriend that she really didn’t need and another guy that she really didn’t want to be left alone with.
Angel simply beamed back at her happily and started to move away. He waved as he headed down the hall. "Have fun kids..." He called, disappearing to find *his* cheerleader.
At first it was hard to track her down, but then Angel asked a few people who were more than willing to help find her for him.
Then he saw her. Standing in the middle of the hallway, surrounded by girls that obviously wanted to be her. However, Cordelia was the only girl he acknowledged when he strode over. "Hey...." he greeted smoothly, watching as some of the younger girls melted at his tone. God he was good. But then, why wasn't she acting all mushy for him? Because she was different. She was special. And he was determined to make her his.
Cordelia hid the weakness in her knees and turned to grin at him. "Hi...." She replied. "How was biology? Oh, and your other subjects?"
Angel shrugged. "Okay, I guess. How about you?"
"Gym? Yeah....it was okay. We didn't really do much with it being first day back and all...."
Angel nodded. "Wanna get some lunch?" He offered. "My treat."
"Oh gee and cafeteria food is always so first class." She tossed back playfully. On the inside, though, her heart was doing summersaults.
"No, I meant there's a little cafe near my house. I could take you there and we can argue some more about Shakespeare." Angel smiled
She smiled back. "That actually sounds nice." She paused and checked her watch, even though she had already made up her mind. Still, she didn't want to let him know that she wanted him just yet. Better to lead him on for a while. "I suppose we can do that."
Angel's smile grew as he realized she was actually going to join him.
They walked together to his car, chatting politely about a variety of meaningless things and ignoring the crowds of students already formulating rumours about them.
***
Once seated in the cafe, Cordelia relaxed a little. This was really nice. He was being a real gentleman. It was slightly unnerving, but relaxing at the same time. Cordelia had never really felt like that before. Which scared her to bits. "So…. where did Spike get to?" She asked.
Angel grinned wickedly. "He's busy….meeting people."
Cordelia laughed. But there was a nagging feeling at the back of her brain that told her that she had to be somewhere. Oh well…. It was probably nothing important.
Suddenly her cell phone went off. She picked it up. "Cordelia speaking."
"Where the hell are you?" Harmony hissed on the other end. "You're missing practice."
"No I'm no….Oh my god!" Cordelia suddenly jerked upright in her seat.
Angel was startled by her sudden movement. She hung up, tossed her phone back into her purse, stood up and headed out the door. He followed her as quickly as possible. "Cordelia....wait up!"
Catching up to her, Angel grabbed her arm gently. "Wait, what's the matter?"
She spun angrily. "Practice. I'm missing it. Because I’m here with you." She heard the harshness of her tone and stopped. "I'm sorry....I'm just....I don't want to lose my place on the squad...."
Angel nodded. "Wait...does that mean I have football practice too?" he asked.
Despite the circumstances, Cordelia chuckled. "Well....we're both officially screwed."
Angel nodded, "Okay, let me pay the bill and we'll go together, alright?"
She agreed and waited at his car, thinking about what kind of rumours would start to circulate now, seeing as they were both significant members on the high-school hierarchy and they would both be late....together.
She couldn't help but dwell on some of the images that sprang to mind. Wait! BAD Cordy. Very Very Bad.
She smiled a little as Angel came towards her and escorted her back to school.
***
They rushed to their positions just as everyone was finishing their warm ups.
Cordelia received looks of intrigue from most of the girls and a glare from Buffy.
Angel received hoots and hollers of approval from his team-mates.
Cordelia smiled and rolled her eyes as she heard some of the commotion from the football field. Oh yes. They were never going to live this down. ‘Better start apologizing then’ She thought.
Looking at her coach, Cordy had the grace to look ashamed. "I’m sooo sorry I'm late. I…umm…I kinda forgot."
"You…forgot?" Their coach repeated, and then shook her head. "This is the last time, Chase"
She looked to her coach, to the squad, then back at the coach. "I'm so sorry, Angel took me to this really cute little cafe near his house and…let’s just get on with the cheers."
A series of murmurs and girly 'oohs' followed her statement and she glared at her squad. "I said cheers, girls."
They laughed, all except Buffy, and got into position.
Meanwhile, across the field, Angel was apologising to his coach. "....I honestly didn't know." He finished. "It won't happen again. I promise."
The coach nodded, "Okay, I'll let you off this time. But the next time you decide to have a little fun with one of the cheerleaders, make it in your own time."
There was another round of hooting from his team and he shook his head. "Coach, the next time I decide to have a little fun with a cheerleader, it might actually happen." He muttered under his breath.
Luckily the only one to catch it was Spike.
The blonde in question grinned and put his arm around his friend’s shoulders, "Don't worry Peaches…" he taunted.
The entire team laughed and Angel blushed, before scowling. "Thanks, *Will-"
To Spike’s relief, Angel was cut off by the whistle.
After the mini-game, Angel and Cordelia headed their separate ways to their locker rooms and next classes. Already gossip about their whereabouts and actions at lunch had started to emerge. Angel grinned as he passed by one group, slightly intrigued at the mention of whipped cream. ‘Hmmm....’ He thought to himself, ‘Might have to remember that....’
On the other side of the school Cordelia was fighting off questions and suggestions left, right and center. "No...i'm not saying anything!" She hissed at people as she made it to her locker. Even then she had to fight everyone off. That was it. She’d had ENOUGH!
Queen C spun angrily. "It was LUNCH okay?! There were no kinky acrobatic sex-capades in a janitor's closet!" She yelled out in frustration.
Unfortunately for her, everyone had chosen that very moment to become silent as Snyder had chosen that same very moment to walk past.
Cordelia moaned. “Oh CRAP!”
Continue on...