Chapter 3
She dragged her feet up the stairs and inhaled sharply when she reached the top.
“I can’t believe the elevator is broken and I just had to walk up 9 floors… at nine o’clock at night!” She added, speaking to herself as she pushed her key into the lock and opened the door.
God, she was tired. It was only Monday but she felt like a wreck.
“Harmony?” She called out.
There was no answer.
“Good! She’s not home.” She sighed in relief, dropping her keys on the counter and letting her backpack fall to the floor on her way to the couch.
She sprawled on it, taking off her shoes and placing her sore feet on the coffee table. With some effort she reached for the remote and turned on the TV. Zombie-like she zapped through all the channels, occasionally mumble something under her breath. Within ten minutes she was asleep.
“Get OUT of here! You’re kidding!”
As if she had been shocked by a powerful electric current, Buffy jolted from her spot on the couch, blinking wildly as her heart pounded in her chest.
“She wore the beige Channel bag with the D&G pumps? I can’t believe that!”
It took a few seconds for her to register that the ungodly screeching she was hearing was actually Harmony chatting on her cell phone. Buffy rubbed her eyes, checking her watch for the time while the tall blonde walked into the kitchenette talking loudly.
“God, you’re so lucky to be in LA, Cordy!”
Harmony’s last hysterical squeak caught Buffy’s attentions
‘So Cordy really did go to LA…’ Her stomach turned painfully at the image that flashed through her mind. Shaking her head, she tried to erase it. ‘No. LA is a huge town, no way they’re going to meet.’ She swallowed hard as her reasoning didn’t seem to ease the knot in her throat.
“There are so many cool people to meet over there. Over here all we have are the local losers.”
Buffy couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she had the slight sensation that just as Harmony had uttered the last word she had thrown a sickened look her way.
“I mean, yesterday I saw this girl… she was wearing a number from last year’s Prada collection. How pathetic can that be?”
The conversation continued, but Buffy wasn’t able to hear the rest as Harmony walked out of the living room and into her bedroom.
Sighing loudly, Buffy forced herself to stand up and gather up her things. ‘I really need a shower.’ She thought.
She was in the bathroom and the water was already running when Harmony burst into the room.
“Oh! You’re going to take a shower?”
“Yeah.” She turned around to face her; her hand lingering on the hem of her sweater.
“Would you mind if I took a shower first? I’m going out tonight and I’m already kinda late.” Harmony whined.
“Sure.” Buffy shrugged taking her things and exiting the room.
“Thanks, you’re a sweetheart.”
~+~
Buffy lay on her bed, tapping her fingers on the mattress and occasionally throwing a glance at the alarm clock. It read eleven thirty and she could still hear the water running in the bathroom.
“She’s been in there for an hour now.” Buffy mumbled under her breath, pushing herself off the bed and slipping her feet into her slippers.
She knocked on the door and got no reply.
“Harmony? Are you in there?”
“Yeah?” Harmony’s muffled voice was heard from the other side of the door.
“Are you done yet?”
“Just five more minutes.”
“You said that fifteen minutes ago.”
There was a moment of pause before the shower stopped. Two more minutes passed before the door was flung open and a cloud of steam invaded the hallway, blurring Buffy’s vision for a second.
“I’m done.” Harmony smiled widely. “Bathroom’s all yours.”
“Thanks.” Buffy breathed, entering the room.
She inhaled sharply, slipping out of her clothes. Her right hand grazed over the steamed mirror and she watched her reflection for a second before she turned on the faucet in the shower.
She stepped inside and let out a deep sigh as the warm water washed over her tired body.
“I really needed that.” She moaned softly under the stream.
She reached for the shampoo bottle and poured some of the blue substance onto her hand before running her fingers through her hair. She massaged her scalp for a while before she let her hands roamed over her chest and down her legs as she dipped down under the stream once more and enjoyed the ‘wonderful, nice, burning…’
Buffy frowned.
‘Actually not that burning… come to think about it, it’s not even hot.’
And it was growing less hot by the second. Soon the freezing water was rushing out of the shower to hit her back.
“Jesus Christ!” She swore, fumbling with the faucets under the excruciating cold.
She jumped in the shower; her attentions divided between the faucet and the showerhead. Eventually, her hands settled on the former and she was able to turn off the water.
“Harmony!” She shouted even though her jaw trembled as the air grazed over her pebbled flesh.
There was no answer.
Determined to get things straight she stumbled out of the shower and quickly wrapped herself in her towel. She stomped her way out of the bathroom and was about to knock on Harmony’s bedroom door, when it was swung open.
“Buffy?” Harmony said with a frown as she walked into the living room and the shorter girl followed her with a fuming expression. “You have shampoo on your hair.” She pointed out as she brushed her hair.
“I know.” Buffy growled. “You used up all the hot water.”
“That can happen? How? I just took a shower.” Harmony wondered, placing her brush on the counter and fluffing her hair. “How do I look?”
“Harmony, you took a two hour shower. What did you expect?” Buffy ignored her question.
“Just wait a few minutes. The water should heat up.” She dismissed her accusations with a wave of her hair.
“Wait a few minutes? It’s almost midnight and I have an early class tomorrow-“
“Whatever. I gotta go. Bye.” Harmony cut her off, swinging her purse over her shoulder and exiting the apartment, leaving a freezing and soaked Buffy in the middle of the living room, barefoot and wrapped in a towel.
~+~
“Miss Summers!”
Buffy jolted in her chair, snapping her eyes open to find a very pissed man looking back at her.
“Glad you could rejoin us.” The professor said sarcastically and a murmuring giggle filled the class.
Buffy felt the blood rush to her cheeks. As if not understand a word of what the Professor Adam was teaching wasn’t enough now she was being caught sleeping in class. She might as well just stop going to any of his lectures for the rest of the year, she was sure to fail now.
Awkwardly, she looked around for her pencil. She found it lost in her lap. Picking it up, she looked at the black board and started writing down the unintelligible gibberish written in white chalk.
She squinted hard, trying to decipher the teacher’s calligraphy which to her was as comprehensible and as elucidating as Egyptian hieroglyphs. She sighed and reluctantly continued to transcribe what she could.
~+~
She let her books fall on the table with a loud thud.
“I hate… Achoo!… college.” She said between sneezes as she plopped down on the chair and folded her arms over the heavy volumes.
“Are you ok?” Willow wondered a bit worried.
“No.” Buffy mumbled, resting her head on her hands and closing her eyes.
“You don’t look so good.” The redhead’s eyebrows came together for a sympathetic frown.
Buffy inhaled sharply and forced her head up, looking at her friend with bloodshot, glassy eyes and a red nose.
“I think I’m getting sick.” She muttered with a nasal voice and a pout. “And it’s all *her fault.”
“Who?”
“Harmony.” Buffy grumbled. “I had to take a freezing shower last night, *at midnight* I might add, all because little Miss Perky just had to take a two hour shower and use up all the hot water.”
Willow tilted her head in compassion.
“And if *that* wasn’t enough she got home at five o’clock in the morning, banging all the doors and practically shouting into her cell phone.” The little rant seemed to exhaust Buffy’s remaining strength and she let her head drop onto the books again. “Ouch!” She protested, rubbing her temple.
“You should go home.” Willow advised, running her hand over the blonde’s forehead. “I think you’ve got a fever.”
Sighing, Buffy sat up straight with slouching shoulders.
“I’ve got two more classes today and one of them is the only one I can actually grasp what the topic is. I can’t miss them.”
Buffy let her eyelids slid closed for a second before she stood up and picked up her books.
“Where are you going? Aren’t you going to have lunch?”
“No. I can’t stand the sight of food, let alone eat it. I’m just going over to the library; see if I can catch some quality Z time. Bye.” Buffy forced a smile and turned around to leave.
“Bye, Buffy. Call me when you get home.”
She nodded and continued towards the large building, adjacent to the cafeteria.
~+~
She was brought out of her dreams by a soft hand tugging at her shoulder.
“Um…” She moaned. “Just five more minutes, mom.”
“Excuse me…”
A male voice reached Buffy’s ears and a frown quickly settled on her eyebrows. Reluctantly, she pried her eyes open to find a young man looking over her shoulder.
“What…” she mumbled as she slowly straightened up and realised she had been sleeping in a sitting position, with her head resting on her folded arms over a table. ‘A table in the college library.’ She noted, observing her surroundings.
“Oh, My god!” She jumped up and checked her watch. It signalled eight thirty pm. “Damn it! I missed my class.” She protested a little too loudly which immediately earned her a couple of angry looks and a powerful “shush” from the old librarian.
“Sorry.” She mouthed apologetically at the grey-haired woman with thick glasses. She was the perfect stereotype of what a librarian should look like.
It was only then that she realised that the person who had woken her was still standing at her side.
“Hey.” The brown-eyed boy whispered, outstretching his hand.
“Hey.” Buffy replied forcing a smile on her face, even though she felt like her nose was clogged up to the top and was about to explode.
“Parker Abrams.” He introduced himself when she finally accepted his hand.
“Buffy Summers.” She replied with a hoarse voice.
“Fell asleep?” He asked.
She nodded.
“Missed the only comprehensible class I have.” She mumbled, lowering her voice when a few heads started to turn towards them.
“Happened to me too. Freshman year. You’re a freshman, right?”
“That obvious?”
“You have all the tell tale signs. “
“Like what?”
“Sleeping in the library is a big one, for instance.”
Buffy couldn’t help but smile. He was… nice. She was about so say something when a powerful sneeze took over her. Instantly, the library lady was throwing her a murderous look, while Buffy held her Kleenex to her nose.
“Got the flu, huh?”
Buffy nodded as she tried to silently blow her nose. ‘Great! First cute guy that approaches me since…’ She paused her trail of thought for a second, trying to avoid remembering that painful period in her life. ‘…since *it* and I look like Bozo the Clown.’ She grumbled inwardly.
When she failed to blow her nose without making too much nose she decided it was best to just leave the library and go home.
“I better head home, before the library lady kicks me out.” She said with a muffled voice.
“Let me help you with those.” Parker offered taking her books from her hands as they walked out of the building.
She let out a low groan when she got outside and realised it was pouring.
“I’m never gonna be able to get home.” She mumbled.
“Do you want me to give you a ride home? I’ve got my car just over there.” He said pointing at the red Honda across the street.
“I don’t know… I could just wait till it stops raining. I live really nearby and-“
“I promise I’m not a psycho killer.” He interrupted her hesitation.
She gave him a questioning look.
“I swear. Look, I’ll even show you my ID. That way, if I try anything funny, you can have me arrested. See.” He said taking out his wallet and showing her his driver’s license.
“But, if you’re a psycho killer you can just cut me into tiny little bits and stuff me in the back of your car and no one would ever know.” She countered with a half a smile.
“Good point. We need a safety witness then.” He looked around but the campus was deserted as the rain continued to pour. “Do you have a cell phone?”
“Why? You’re a mugger too?” She continued, earning a light chuckled from him for her comic effort.
“Maybe.” He leered at her. “My idea is that you could call whoever you want and tell them that you’re going to get a ride with me. Of course I can’t know who that someone is, cause if I did I would just kill them too and once again you would be left without a safety witness, right?”
“Good point.” She replied, taking her cell phone from the pocket of her jacket.
She speed dialled a number and waited for someone to answer.
“Hello?”
“Buffy?” Willow’s voice was heard from the other side.
“Yeah, it’s me.” She said; her eyes fixed on Parker. “Just calling you tell you I’m getting a ride with…” She paused for a second as she read the name on the diver’s licence he had just handed her. “Parker Abrams.”
“Huh?”
“You’re my safety witness.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Tell you about it later. When I get home, ok?” She giggled a little as she handed the licence back to Parker.
“You better.” Willow warned her.
“Ok, talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
“There. Now you can get a ride with me and not worry that I’m gonna cut you into tiny little pieces and stuff you in the back of my car.” Parker joked. “Ready to run?”
Buffy nodded just as they took off and made their way to the car under the heavy rain.
~+~
“This is me.” Buffy announced as the car came to a complete stop.
“Nice. Close to campus. And you were able to get it last week?” Parker wondered leaning forward to look up at the building through the windshield of the car.
“Yeah, moved in this weekend.” Buffy confirmed.
“You were pretty lucky to get it.”
“Well, the jury is still out on that one.” Buffy sighed.
At Parker’s confused frown she elaborated:
“My roommate.” She paused and added: “She’s from Hell.”
Parker nodded and smiled.
“I can relate. I had one of the worst roommates you could get my sophomore year.”
Buffy smiled and there was a moment of slightly uncomfortable silence between them.
“Well, I better…” She tilted her head towards the front entrance of the building. “Thanks for the ride.” She said, picking up her books and reaching for the door.
“Anytime.” He replied. “It was really fun talking to you, Buffy.”
“You too.” She replied. “I better run.” She pointed at the rain that continued to fall.
She was about to open the door when she felt his hand on her elbow.
“Do you wanna have coffee sometime?” He asked her; his fingers lingering on her.
“I’d like that.” She replied after a short pause.
“How about tomorrow?”
“I finish classes at three. I have to do some research for this assignment I have. So I’ll be at the library till five.” She explained.
“So, see you at five at the library entrance?” He asked.
“Sure. I’d love to.” She said as he finally let his hand drop to his hip.
“See you tomorrow, Buffy.”
“See you.”
With a huge smile she opened the door, raced up the stairs and quickly let herself into the building. She looked back over her shoulder to find the car still parked at her entrance. She waved at him and entered.
She raced up the stairs as if she was walking over clouds, not letting herself be bothered by the fact that the elevator still hadn’t been fixed.
“Harmony?” She called out when she opened the door and entered her apartment.
“Hey!” Harmony’s ever chipper voice came from her room.
“I’m home.” Buffy announced as her roommate entered the living room.
She was dressed in a tight red dress that ran high, barely covering her thighs and matching red pumps.
“Wow. You’re going out again?” Buffy wondered.
Inwardly, her smile grew. She was really hoping for some quality alone time.
“Yeah. I’m going with the football crowd to the Bronze.” Harmony explained, putting on a pair of earrings and picking up her purse on the way to the door.
“Well, have fun.”
“I will.” Harmony giggled exiting.
With a tired but content sigh, Buffy walked to her room.