Part 6--New Friends
“Who is that?” Buffy asked.
“Who?”
Buffy pointed to the young man with hunched shoulders, scurrying down the hallway. “Him, who is that? I’ve never seen him before.”
“Oh, that’s Spike.”
Buffy lifted an eyebrow. “He doesn’t look like a Spike.”
Willow nodded. “I know. He’s in my English class. His real name is William, but he asked the teacher to call him Spike.”
“He looks…well, kind of geeky.”
“He’s very geeky,” Willow confirmed. “He’s in the Chess Club, but he’s nice enough.”
“Does he have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t think he has any friends at all. He hasn’t been here long enough, and he keeps mainly to himself.”
“Interesting.” Buffy began walking towards the good-looking stranger. Despite the glasses and the messy, curly hair, he was very cute. Buffy wanted to get a closer look. Willow grabbed her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to say hi.”
“Are you sure?”
“Um, yeah. I’ll be right back, Wills, don’t worry. Besides, didn’t you just say yesterday that I should move on?”
“Well, Spike is hardly your type.”
Buffy shrugged. “Maybe it’s time for me to move out of my comfort zone. Besides, I don’t want to marry him, I just want to introduce myself.”
“Say hi for me.”
“Will do.”
Buffy hurried through the hall until she caught sight of him again. She tried to get his attention by shouting his name, but he didn’t hear her over the din of the crowded hall. She finally caught up with him just as ducked into an empty classroom. With a shrug, she followed him in.
The room was your standard classroom, except it already had chess boards set up on several of the tables. William was seated in the very back, concentrating hard on an untouched board.
“Hey,” she said hesitantly.
He looked up, and Buffy was immediately enthralled by his deep blue eyes. “Oh! Oh. You frightened me.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to. Just wondering what you’re doing?”
He gestured to the board in front of him. “Getting ready for today’s meeting.”
“Oh yeah, Willow told me you were in the chess club.”
“Willow?”
“Pretty redhead? She’s in your English class. She’s a friend of mine.”
“Oh, right, right, I remember her. I’m Spike.”
Buffy couldn’t help but giggle. “You don’t look like a Spike.”
“Yeah, what’s your name?”
“Buffy.”
It was his turn to giggle. “Buffy? What kind of name is Buffy?”
“It’s a better name than Spike.”
“Please, Buffy is the most ridiculous name I’ve ever heard.”
She rolled her eyes. “I came to introduce myself, not to get insulted. I guess I’ll just leave you and your chess pieces alone.”
“No, no, no, I’m sorry about that. Buffy is a lovely name.”
Buffy sniffed. “So, where are you from?”
“London. My parents just moved here.” “They couldn’t wait until you finished school? It must suck moving your Senior year.”
Spike shrugged, “S’not so bad. I don’t really care where I’m at, I make do.”
“You guys move around a lot?”
“Mum’s a writer. She goes where the work is.”
Spike sat down on bench next to the window, and swung it open. He tapped the seat next to him, and she joined him. He then silently offered her a cigarette.
“You smoke?”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry, but the smoking and the name doesn’t quite match my first impression of you.”
Spike shrugged, “There’s more to me than meets the eye.”
“You seem like you should be wearing leather and riding a motorcycle—not setting up for the Chess club meeting.”
“I like to play chess. I’m quite good at it, in fact.”