Summary: All her life Elizabeth has done exactly what everyone expects of her. Now in her first year of college, she discovers the vast possibilities in life. But can she escape the ghosts of her past and find the courage to explore the new paths before her...including the affections of an infuriating young sophomore named William 'Spike' Giles?
Rating: NC-17
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Spike turned and raised one quizzical eyebrow at the little blond that sat next to him. “Kathy or Elizabeth?” he demanded before she’d even fully noticed his presence.
Elizabeth turned and her first response was – well, she bit back her first response. Second was retro much? “Elizabeth,” she informed him primly, taking in his earring and scarred eyebrow disapprovingly.
“’Lizabeth,” he repeated. “Summers, right?”
“That’s me.”
Honestly, black leather and white hair! Who did he think he was impressing anyway? Certainly not her. Well, except for the gorgeous cheekbones and blue eyes and sexy accent and... Are you crazy? Her mind screamed to her sex drive. He couldn’t possibly be less your type!
“And you are?” She made sure her inquiry was as cool and disinterested as possible.
“Spike,” he flashed her a cocky smile and extended one hand.
Reluctantly, she accepted it, and before she knew what was happening, he’d panted a gentle kiss on her wrist, just right on the sensitive pulse point... She jerked her hand back as if it had been burned.
“Nice ta meet you, Summers,” he said, looking completely unashamed of himself.
Her face flushed a bright crimson, and she quickly turned to her salad. “I don’t seem to recall there being a ‘Spike’ in our house,” she commented coolly.
“Oh!” Willow’s hands fluttered into the air. “Now that we’re all here, we can do introductions! Oh, except Kathy’s not here...”
“Still,” Spike commented, “introductions are fun. Innit that right, Summers?”
She clenched her fork a bit tighter and shoved the greens into her mouth. She had never met a man that she so quickly wanted to...kill. Yeah, that was it, kill... “I can do Kathy’s bit,” she offered politely to Willow, ignoring the irritating young man beside her.
“Great,” Willow said with a bright smile, “so we’ll just do name, where we’re from, major, year, and...er, whatever else you want. I’ll start. I’m Willow Rosenberg, DC, bio and compsci, senior, and...er, head of the local Wiccan coven.” She turned to the blond Elizabeth didn’t recognize on her left. “Your turn.”
The blond rolled her eyes and mimed chewing the last bite of her food before speaking. “Anya Jenkins. Kiev, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and sometimes Stockholm. Econ. Sophomore. If anyone needs a tutor in anything, I’m willing to do it...for money,” she added cheerfully.
“Ah, how we’ve all missed you, Anyanka,” Spike joked.
Anya gave him a dirty look. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” she demanded. “I could sue you.”
“ ‘The cost ‘f acquirin’ a lawyer outweighs your annoyingness...for the moment’,” Spike quoted back at her.
“I have peas,” Anya countered. “I can quite easily flick them across the table at you.”
“An’ I’ve got corn,” Spike threatened.
Oz stilled his hand. “Let’s try to go at least one day without a food-fight,” he suggested, obviously amused. “We don’t want to scare off all the freshmen.”
“Fine,” Anya sulked and lowered her spoon from where it had been poised to catapult a pea straight at Spike’s head. “I’m done,” she added, abruptly perky again.
Next to her, Jonathan gulped. “J-Jonathan Levenson,” he began nervously. “M-Math... What were the other questions?”
“Where you’re from and what year you are,” Willow provided helpfully.
“Seattle. Freshman.” He shut up like a clam, studying his food intently and blushing horribly.
“Faith?” Willow quickly stepped to his rescue.
Faith flashed a sultry smile to the large bulk of the male population that sat across from her. “Faith Vlore,” she informed them, checking each out in turn and deciding that living here would be fun. “I’m a freshman from Boston. I don’t know what I want to major in yet, so...” she cast a hungry look in Devon’s direction, “any advice you can give me would be...appreciated.” Her eyes flicked over to Spike, and she licked her lips. “Verrry appreciated,” she amended.
He gave her a sexy little smirk in response. “Haven’t quite decided yet myself, pet,” he responded flirtatiously, “but you’re welcome to come over to my room any time you like to talk about it...”
“Count on it.” Faith appraised him again and found out he was even better looking the second time over.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the man beside her. “Pig,” she grumbled under her breath before speaking up. “I’m Elizabeth Summers from Sunnydale – that’s near LA. I’m a freshman econ major.”
Spike groaned. “Not another one!” he complained. “We’ve already got our hands full with Anyanka! Please, tell me you don’ talk to your money, too?”
“My name is Anya,” Anya insisted, “and I was not talking to it! I was merely clucking in a comforting manner after you scared it.”
“See?” Spike whispered conspiratorially in Elizabeth’s ear. “She thinks it’s human. Downright creepy at times.”
“I heard that,” Anya informed him. “I still have peas!”
“No food-fights,” Willow reminded her.
Anya grumbled in a resigned manner.
“Guess I’m doing Kathy next, huh?” Elizabeth dared to speak up again.
“Lucky Kathy,” Spike muttered under his breath.
Elizabeth’s eyes shot wide open before she turned back to pointedly ignoring him. “So, yeah, about Kathy...”
A cheerful voice from behind interrupted her, however. “What’s this about me?” Kathy inquired.
“Oh, Kathy, good, you’re here!” Willow said. “You can introduce yourself to everyone.”
Kathy let out a put-upon sigh. “I’m Kathy,” she said primly. “Kathy Ashton. Of the Vermont Ashtons. I’ll be moving out into Tri Xi next week.” She turned to Elizabeth. “C’mon, Bitsy, we need to help set up for the party.”
“ ‘Bitsy’?” Spike repeated, amused.
Elizabeth cast him a dirty look before turning back to Kathy. “ ‘Bitsy’?” she herself demanded.
“I still think it’s cute,” Kathy shrugged. “Let’s get out of here.”
“I’d kind of like to...finish eating,” Elizabeth finished lamely. Truth be told, she was quite aware of the fact that Spike would be going next and felt the irrational urge to seek revenge on the peroxide blond.
“There’ll be food there,” Kathy insisted impatiently.
Spike snorted derisively. “Beer an’ Doritos – all part ‘f a balanced diet,” he said sarcastically.
Kathy gave him an annoyed look. “Was I talking to you?” she snarked.
“No,” Spike said in a low growl, “you were jus’ interruptin’ our conversation. Don’t the ‘Vermont Ashtons’ know any manners?”
“As if!” Kathy exclaimed. “And who do you think you are, anyway? Like, the eighties are so dead...”
“I know exactly who I am,” Spike retorted. “Do you? Do you have even the slightest identity below that cheap cardboard exterior?”
“Not!” Kathy retorted.
“Sorry,” he said with an evil little smirk, “I meant ‘overpriced plastic exterior’...”
Kathy looked visibly flummoxed. “E-Elizabeth...”
“I’ll catch up to you later,” Elizabeth insisted, studying Spike intently and trying to determine whether or not he’d just intentionally bailed her out. Kathy practically fled from the scene, and Elizabeth turned back to Spike. “Asshole much?” she felt obliged to at least put up a token defense for Kathy’s sake.
“What?” he retorted snidely. “You buy every little thing your television tells you to, too?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “At least I’m not trying to impress everyone by dressing all in black and then shooting off my big, loud mouth.”
“Yeah, you’re right. You don’ have to shoot it off. Your mouth’s big enough that you don’t need to.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said with false sweetness, “did I break your Big Bad delusions?”
“Did I break yours?” he retorted in just as saccharine a tone. “Go on, tell us how much you love econ. Is it because your Daddy told you to?”
“Asshole.”
“Bitch.”
“Pig.”
“Stuck-up chit.”
“Prick.”
“Oh, you’d better believe it, baby,” he retorted with a lascivious smirk.
She watched his tongue run up under his teeth. His face was only inches from hers now, their bodies having moved closer together with each insult as if drawn together by some kind of magnetic attraction. Elizabeth suddenly felt the nearly irresistible urge to reach out and just...throttle him. Yeah, that was it... She pulled back instead, a coy little smile on her face.
“They say,” she informed him matter-of-factly, “that show-off guys – you know the type,” she glanced up and down at him, “dress to stand out, get angry easily... – are usually virtual eunuchs.”
Spike’s face flushed a deep red, and he pulled back, his eyes wide.
Across the table Anya was laughing hysterically. “Beaten by a freshman!” she exclaimed between giggles. “Too priceless!”
Spike cast Anya an annoyed look and turned back to the table, seemingly ignoring the fact that his argument with Elizabeth had ever occurred. “Remember to breathe, Anyanka,” he said with one eyebrow raised.
“Too funny!” She finally began to calm down.
“Are we all right now?” Willow asked nervously. “We’re not already falling apart even though school hasn’t started yet, are we? Are we?!”
“We’re fine,” Spike reassured her with a little smile, his eyes turning to Elizabeth and staring at her pointedly.
She noticed just how blue his eyes were once again and that cute way his scarred eyebrow quirked upward and... She shook herself out of it. “Fine,” she gave Willow a bright smile and turned back to her food. She was all too conscious of Spike’s leg as it brushed against hers when he repositioned himself.
“Good,” Willow breathed a sigh of relief. “It was your turn, Spike.”
Spike leaned back in his chair, draping one arm over the back of Elizabeth’s chair – which she was fortunately nowhere near – and playing with an unlit cigarette in his other hand. “Name’s Spike,” he began, “in case you somehow managed to miss it... ‘m from Cambridge, England and here, too. Faculty brat in case you couldn’t guess...although not quite so bad ‘s Red here.”
“Your parents aren’t half the intellectual, socially-dysfunctional freaks mine are!” Willow cackled evilly.
Spike spared her an amused smile. “What else? Oh yeah, don’ really have a major yet. Might end up with history just by default – tha’s what my da does. ‘m a sophomore. That it?”
“Just anything else you want to add,” Willow shrugged.
Faith leaned forward on her elbows, exposing a good deal of cleavage for his perusal. “How about where you got that sexy scar?” she asked saucily.
Spike gave her an appraising look followed by a sensual smile. “Piercin’s an’ bar fights don’t go well together, luv,” he said, fingering his scarred brow lightly.
“And yet you still have them,” Elizabeth commented on the silver ring in his ear.
“Like the dark beauty said,” he gave her a hesitant little smirk, “sexy.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and turned back to her food.
“So, yeah, next?” Willow was determined not to let Elizabeth and Spike get into another fight...at least not today.
Oz nodded. “Oz. Everywhere. Philosophy. Junior. The lord of brevity.”
Everyone laughed at that.
It took Devon a while to notice it was his turn, despite Oz’s constant nudging. “Huh, what? Oh yeah, I’m Devon, and...” He trailed off before laughing. “I’m stoned out of my mind.”
Willow rolled her eyes. “Oz, you do the honors.”
Oz nodded. “This is Devon, my roommate. I’m his official spokesperson. He’s from New York City, a junior, and...what is your major, anyway?”
Devon shrugged.
“So, uh...yeah...” Oz finished lamely.
Willow coughed something under her breath before smiling pleasantly once more. “Next?” she said, a hint of dread in her voice about what could possibly still go wrong...
Xander gave everybody a little finger wave. “Yeah, I’m Alexander Harris, but you can call me Xander. Or Xand, Xand-man... I’ll pretty much respond to anything with an X in it. Just don’t call me Professor X. That one’s so nerdy it even scares me.” He got a couple chuckles from Willow and Faith at this, and a little smile from Elizabeth. Encouraged, he continued with more confidence. “I’m from the little, tiny town called St. Simmons in Florida. It’s officially the most boring place on earth – only ten blocks and twelve retirement homes.” More laughs. “And the real scary thing is that my uncle Rory still searches through them for old rich widows.”
“Him and my step-dad number two,” Faith raised her glass in salute.
Xander gave her shy little smile before finishing. “And I’m another of those clueless freshmen with no majors. Think that’s about it.”
Willow breathed a sigh of relief when all possible chance of disaster had passed. She turned to the dishwater blond on her right. “Your turn.”
The blond gave her an amused little smile. “You made me go at the end on purpose, didn’t you?” she accused good-naturedly.
“Just saving the best for last,” Willow said with a little grin.
On her other side Anya was making gagging noises. Spike was trying not-so-hard not to laugh. Willow cast them both annoyed glances.
“Hi,” the dishwater blond finally spoke up, “my name is Tara McClay. I don’t exactly live here, but I’m Willow’s girlfriend so I’m around a lot. My room’s over in Freedman Hall. Um...I’m a senior, and English major... I’m originally from this little hellhole town in Virginia, but I’ll lie and say that I’m from here because it’s so much nicer. That it, sweetie?”
“Yup,” Willow gave her a shy little smile.
Anya promptly began making gagging noises again, and Xander accompanied her with little kissy faces.
Elizabeth couldn’t fight back her amusement any longer and even spared Spike a small smile when he leaned forward to whisper in her ear again.
“Crazy bunch, ‘ey Summers? An’ this ‘s about a normal as it gets...”
She turned to face him and instantly discovered just how close they really were. She suddenly felt very hot and debated removing her sweater...until she decided that she absolutely did not want Spike to see her in nothing but a strappy little tank top. Hell, he’d probably think she’d done it just for him, as if she would ever be interested... It was just...really hot in here, was all. And she was done eating so it was OK to leave the table, and Spike had nothing whatsoever to do with her choice... Really.
She stood up abruptly, pushing him aside a bit rudely as she did so. “I have to go catch up with Kathy,” she informed the table before practically running off.
Spike’s eyes followed her back, and a scowl crossed his handsome features. “Bloody irritatin’ chit,” he grumbled under his breath as he turned back to the table.
Willow and Tara exchanged a knowing glance and a little giggle at his reaction.
* * *
“Ooh, ooh!” Kathy exclaimed. “You still have to meet Di!”
Elizabeth followed the perky brunette wearily. She’d felt inexplicably energized after dinner, but her energy dwindled rapidly every minute she spent with Kathy. She’d never realized just how much effort it took to keep up her popular facade.
“Now where did she go...?” Kathy looked around, puzzled.
“Don’t worry about it,” Elizabeth sighed. “I can meet her later...”
Kathy turned to her with a wide grin. “Isn’t this just super cool? Sure is great to get away from all those losers we got stuck with!” Kathy shuddered. “Especially that freak with the white hair. I mean, what’s his damage, anyway?”
“I think it’s safe to say you irritated him,” Elizabeth said with a tight-lipped smile. Something about Kathy insulting Spike just rubbed her the wrong way...well, more than Kathy usually rubbed her the wrong way, that is. At least when she had insulted Spike, she had done it to his face...
“Whatever,” Kathy shrugged disinterestedly before squealing in delight. “Greg’s here!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Is it OK if I, like, leave you alone and—”
“Go.” Elizabeth couldn’t stop the irritation from leaking into her tone.
“Thanks, Bitsy!” Kathy exclaimed, running off. “You’re the best!”
“Thought she’d never leave,” Elizabeth grumbled under her breath. She had just about decided that she was ready to leave when a hand tapped her on the shoulder.
“Hey, Elizabeth!” Riley said brightly. “Glad you could make it!”
Elizabeth forced a smile onto her face. “Yeah, well, a friend of mine was coming too, so...”
“A friend?” Riley’s brow furrowed. “It’s not one of Osborne’s crowd, is it?”
“No, she pretty much hates Oz,” Elizabeth sighed. “Kathy Ashton. You know her?”
“Kathy!” Riley’ face instantly lit up. “She’s neat, isn’t she? A bit much to handle sometimes, though...”
Elizabeth laughed at that. “Oh yeah,” she agreed. “Frequent breaks are necessary.”
Riley smiled and nodded, and a brief awkward silence followed. “You want a drink?” he finally asked.
“No,” Elizabeth had to consciously force back the fear in her voice. She followed it up by a nervous laugh. “I mean I’m...heh-heh...not thirsty and...yeah.”
“Sure, whatever,” Riley shrugged. “You, um, like basketball?”
Elizabeth gave him a half-hearted smile.
“’Cause I play center, you know,” he informed her proudly. “Team captain, too. The Panthers. You should come watch us. We’ve got a chance at the championship this year.” His arm slid casually onto the wall behind her as he said this.
“Really?” she tried to sound interested. “Back in high-school, I was a cheerleader. But our basketball team never really got anywhere...”
“You should join the squad here,” Riley encouraged her. “You could cheer me on.”
“Maybe,” Elizabeth said with an encouraging little smile. “So, yeah...”
“Yeah...”
“You dance?” She felt obliged to at least make an effort.
“Not really. You, uh...wanna...?” he trailed off, baffled.
“Right,” Elizabeth agreed.
Another awkward pause stretched out.
“Look,” Elizabeth finally said, “I should probably get going. I’m more tired than I thought and...yeah.”
“Leave?” Riley sounded forlorn. “But it’s only eleven! The party’s barely started!”
“Yeah, well, I have class tomorrow and...more class,” Elizabeth began inching slowly towards the door. “I had a great time, though. Thanks!” And, with that, she was out the door.
“Who was that?” Graham asked Riley.
“The woman of my dreams,” Riley said simply...
* * *
Elizabeth bit back a groan when she entered their makeshift lounge to find Spike sprawled all over the couch, watching television.
“Back so soon?” he quirked a scarred eyebrow in her direction. “Sucked more than the usual Delta Phi parties then...”
“It was fine,” Elizabeth insisted, pausing in the doorway to her room. “I just didn’t want to be tired for class tomorrow.”
Spike rolled over onto his back to look up at her. “Don’ fancy frat boys an’ booze?” he teased.
Elizabeth let out a sigh of exasperation. “I bet you’re the kind of guy that just keeps picking at scabs, aren’t you? Sometimes it’s just best to leave a wound be...”
“Gotten all metaphoric on me now, Summers,” he said with a wry grin. “Better watch it or ‘ll start to think you’re jus’ another one ‘f us nerds.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help but giggle at that. ‘Nerd’ was just about the last word she’d used to describe Spike. “Tell me,” she said lightly, “are you always this irritating, or are you just trying to drive me crazy?”
“Actually,” he said with a devil-may-care grin, “’m usually more irritatin’. You’ve got me on my best behavior.”
Elizabeth raised a skeptical eyebrow. “This is your best? Then maybe we’d better work on teaching you to act civilly this semester...”
“You gonna tutor me, Summers?” he teased. “Knew you liked me...”
She snorted derisively and rolled her eyes. “You wish,” she countered before entering her room and slamming the door shut behind her.
Great. How was she possibly supposed to sleep, knowing that idiot was in the next room? She crawled under the covers and let out an annoyed huff at the sounds of the television...which she could barely even hear, but still! Nevertheless, she shut her eyes, images of her day flooding through her mind. They seemed to linger on a certain peroxide blond and blue eyes that sparked with mirth and anger a bit longer than was absolutely necessary. And, surprisingly, she had no difficulty falling asleep at all, pleasant dreams that she wouldn’t remember in the morning overtaking her subconscious...
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