My Life is Different Ch. 02

So, it didn't take long before I ran into Terri and she called in the favor that I owed. It seemed pretty innocent at first. She wanted to move off campus and found a great two-bedroom townhouse just a few blocks from the school, in a great neighborhood. Rent was only nine-hundred dollars a month (which was less than what Buffy and I were paying for our dorm room) and we could split the rent three ways.

Also, we'd have our own kitchen and a private shower that we didn't have to share with sixty other students.

Buffy thought it was a great idea, but we popped in and took a look at the place first. Buffy checked to make sure that the hot water heater had a big enough water capacity for three teenage girls. Buffy likes to take long showers and hates it when the hot water runs out.

I checked for pentagrams, unquiet spirits, secret passageways and dark energies. However, despite a thorough inspection of the place, neither Buffy nor I found anything wrong with the place and Terri, Buffy and I all signed a lease and we all moved in on December the fifth.

Buffy and Terri became instant friends. Of course, the fact that Terri punched Parker in the face certainly didn't hurt in that category. Buffy still watches the YouTube video of Terri punching Parker in the face, every day.

Then Buffy's friendship with Terri became even stronger when Terri revealed that she's into girls now.

"I don't know what it was," Terri said, all animated and gesticulating wildly with her hands, "But when I came to UC Sunnydale I thought I was completely straight. And now I'm surrounding by all of these beautiful girls on campus and I'm like 'she's hot. She's hot. She's hot too! So is that one. Oh, my God, I just want to throw her in my bed and jump on top of her!'"

"Oh my God! You too?"

Buffy related her story to Terri. Their stories were almost identical. Both were the only child of a two-parent family. Both had grown up with a normal upbringing in a relatively normal home and they had the standard sexual desires. And then they both came to UC Sunnydale and dated Parker and suddenly they were no longer into guys.

The longer Buffy and Terri talked the more they learned about what they had in common. They both dated Parker. Now they now both hated Parker. They were both recently gay. They were both only children. Their parents were both divorced. They were both athletic. They were both into ice-skating. They're both big fans of the movie "Heathers" and of course they both think I have a really cute butt.

Terri was a real jock and every morning she would wake up before Buffy and me and do about an hour of stretches and ab exercises and then go on a five-mile run and then come home for a shower and then and only then would she eat breakfast.

Wow.

During my teenage years, my main devotion to physical exercise has been running away from vampires, running away from werewolves, running away from mustalid demons, running away from a demonically possessed mailman...well you get the idea. My sort of exercise mainly involved running really, really fast until I could find Buffy or find a safe place to hide. I was nowhere near as athletic as Terri and I was impressed with her endurance and muscle tone and her rock-hard abs.

At any rate all three of us got along pretty well. We eventually fell into a routine where we coexisted with each other without interfering with each other's schedules and priorities. Buffy and I usually had sex while Terri was out on one of her five-mile runs and then Buffy and I would shower together while Terri ate breakfast and got dressed and got ready for class.

Buffy and I and Terri all had similar class schedules and we were all back home by six or seven in the evening. A lot of evenings we would sit around after class and discuss how our days went before we got down to studying and homework. We were kinda like a family of three sisters living together under one roof.

Except for the part where Buffy and I were having mad, passionate lesbian sex every day. In most families you don't find two sisters that have mad, passionate lesbian sex with each other.

Of course Xander paid us regular visits and we introduced him to Terri. Xander tried to impress Terri with his smile. Also his arms were kinda big and impressive from working construction now, so he tried to impress Terri with his arms, but Terri just took off her jacket and showed Xander her own arms, which were kinda impressive from lifting weights and swimming laps in the pool. Terri liked Xander and they probably would have made for a cute couple if it wasn't for the fact that Terri was a lesbian.

"Her too?" Xander asked admonishingly. "Will, have all the women in this town gone gay?"

"Personally, I blame Parker. It seems like every girl that Parker sleeps with turns gay."

"What's up with that?" Xander asked, "And how many women has he slept with?"

I thought about it for a few seconds. There were at least thirteen women in UC Sunnydale's freshmen class that I knew of for sure that Parker had slept with. And there were about twenty others that I strongly suspected.

"Well, it's pretty much a large number."

"This guy sounds like a vampire to me. Only instead of draining women of their blood and turning them into other vampires, he has sex with them and turns them into lesbians. I think Buffy should slay this guy."

"Preaching to the choir, Xand," Buffy said as she walked up behind Xander and me. "But I don't think Giles would appreciate it if I went around slaying humans."

"All I'm saying is maybe he's not really human! Has anyone else thought about that?"

Xander then went on a long, convoluted, pseudo-intellectual rant on how Parker was some sort of sex-demon. He referred to Strange Tales, Weird Tales and Doctor Strange comics as research sources to try and back up his hypothesis of Parker the sex demon. I smiled and struggled to keep from laughing. This is one of the reasons that I love Xander so much. He can almost always make me smile.

Terri broke into our conversation and suggested that since it was December that we put up a Christmas tree and decorate the house with mistletoe and a Christmas wreath and other Christmas decorations.

"Hello? I'm Jewish over here," I said with exaggerated indignation. "Not everybody in Sunnydale worships Santa!"

Terri was instantly apologetic. "I'm sorry, Willow I just assumed that you were... I mean most of the students at UC Sunnydale are... I mean, I didn't know you were Jewish. You never said anything."

Xander suggested a compromise. "Well, couldn't you guys put up a Hanukkah tree instead?"

That made me smile again. No matter how many times we're attacked by vampires and demons and malevolent spirits, Xander always manages to keep his sense of humor.

"Okay, a Hanukkah tree," Terri agreed with a friendly smile on her face.

"With a Jewish Star of David on the top," I quickly added.

"With a Jewish Star of David on the top," Terri agreed.

Decorating the house for Hanukkah turned into the major project for the month. Whenever Buffy and I weren't in class or studying or doing homework or having sex (hey, sex is important!) we were working on decorating the house for holidays.

We frosted all the windows and put up snowflake decorations even though we lived in Sunnydale, where it never snows (well, except for that one time in 1998 on Christmas Day). And of course Buffy and I put up mistletoe in our bedroom and I set up a menorah in the living room, up on the mantelpiece.

Buffy and I decided to invite Xander over to our house for Hanukkah. Terri invited her girlfriend over for Hanukkah.

When I met Terri's girlfriend I was rather surprised. Terri is athletic, extroverted, slender and self-confident, so I was expecting her girlfriend to pretty much be more of the same.

But when Terri brought her girlfriend over to the house, I was surprised to find that she was bookish, introverted, shy, insecure and plumpish...not yet fat, but certainly voluptuous.

I politely asked Terri about their stark differences, and she explained it this way:

"I tried dating a few athletic girls during my time here at UC Sunnydale, but it never worked out. The athletic girls just tended to be too competitive. Every time I accomplished something, they felt obligated to surpass me and then gloat about it. I don't need that in my life right now. What I need more than ever right now is somebody who's supportive. And that's Tara. She supports me in everything I do."

And when Terri and Tara snuggled together, Tara got this adorable crooked smile on her face. That smile seemed both nerdy and seductive both at the same time. I'd never seen a smile like that before, but it was probably the first thing that drew Terri to Tara.

At any rate, the four of us were getting along so well, we all decided to blow off homework, pop some popcorn and do a movie marathon. Buffy went through her collection of VHS tapes and we grabbed some movies that everybody could agree on. We ended up with Heathers as the first movie of the evening (both Terri and Buffy love that movie), and after we finished with Heathers, we'd pop in Undercover Blues and then the Fifth Element.

I kinda have a crush on Milla Jovovich. I think she's really hot. Tara agreed with me on the subject of Milla Jovovich's hotness, so we already found something we had in common.

The four of us managed to fit on the couch all at the same time. We had to scooch in in order to fit, but that just made it all the more snuggly. Buffy's hand rested on my thigh while we watched the Heathers movie and that seemed to make the movie more enjoyable.

We were at the part where two of the school bullies were vainly attempting to intimidate Jason Dean. Jason Dean (better known as JD) was calmly facing them down and I was admiring his coolness and calmness in the face of adversity, when the doorbell rang.

"Who the hell is that?" Buffy asked, obviously annoyed. We were all snuggly and watching one of Buffy's favorite movies. It was really bad timing for anybody to come and vie for her attention.

Both Buffy and I got up to answer the door, and we were both surprised to find Spike leaning up against the front of the house with an apathetic look on his face.

"Spike, what the hell are you doing here?" Buffy asked, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah, good evening to you, too," Spike said sarcastically.

Then he took a drag off his cigarette and added, "It's not like a really wanna be here, but I made a deal with you and Rupert, so I came all the way out here to Slayer-land to bring you this."

With two fingers, Spike reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a mini zip lock bag. Since we hadn't invited him in, he couldn't reach across the threshold, so Buffy leaned forward, took the bag from him and handed it to me.

I examined the bag underneath the light and said, "This looks like a lock of somebody's hair."

"Yeah," Spike responded, "From one of those soldier boys. I figure you can do your witch mojo on it and it'll lead you right to him."

"A tracking spell?" I asked.

"Ding, we've got a winner," Spike announced buoyantly. "I figure you and the Slayer can use your mojo to track that soldier boy down and then you can ask him very nicely what he's doing in your town."

"Ask him nicely," Buffy said sarcastically, "You mean beat him up until he talks."

Spike's facial expression didn't change even a little bit, but I still got the impression that he was amused. "It's your call, Slayer, but I'm sure you'll make the right decision, what with you being the chosen one and the expert on all things big and bad."

"Spike, how did you even get this?" Buffy asked.

Spike took another long drag off of his cigarette, cocked his head to one side and said, "Last night soldier boy and five of his soldier friends jumped me. They had their zap-guns and superior numbers, but a sly old fox like me doesn't go down easy, see? When it was all over, Spike got away and he saved that bad boy, as a present for you."

Spike was trying to impress us, but Buffy had her unimpressed face, and she rephrased the story of Spike's exploits, "So, you got into a hair pulling fight with this guy, you ran away like a scared little girl and now you want us to treat you like you're some sort of hero?"

"Hey!" Spike exploded, going suddenly from his unflappable calm to wildly offended, "I didn't ask for this bloody chip to be stuck in my head! And one of these days, I'm gonna get this damn thing pulled out, so you just watch it, Missy!"

Buffy gave Spike a contemptuous and bored look and leaned against the wall, with her arms folded and in a mocking falsetto tone replied, "Oh no! Willow, Spike is threatening me!"

Then her voice dropped back down to normal and she added, "I seem to recall kicking your ass before you had a chip in your skull, Spike."

Spike still looked wildly offended, however before he got a chance to say anything else, Terri appeared in the hallway and I could hear her behind us, asking, "Is everything alright?"

I almost laughed. Terri had a baseball bat partially concealed behind her back, and apparently was acting as backup in case Buffy and I were in trouble. Terri had no idea that Buffy was the Slayer, so she had no idea how inappropriate it was for her to be trying to protect Buffy from violence. Buffy was far more capable of dealing with physical threats than Terri would ever be.

"We're good", Buffy calmly replied, "But Willow and I have something that we've got to do tonight. Listen, you and Tara go back to the movies. We'll get back to you as soon as we can."

"Oy! Aren't you going to introduce us?" Spike demanded and Buffy gave him a reproachful look.

Buffy gave Spike a contemptuous look and said, "I don't think so."

"What?" Spike asked, "So you go off to college and now you're old friends aren't good enough for you anymore? Is that it? Bloody arrogant, that is."

Buffy groaned and rolled her eyes and gave in, "Fine!" she said, "Terri, this is Spike, he's a swaggering annoyance and a nuisance. Spike, this is Terri, she's a friend of mine and we live together now."

Spike tried to give Terri a charismatic smile and he said, "Don't listen to her love, I'm more charming than I am annoying, and I only swagger because I'm swagger-worthy."

Terri laughed at him playfully and said, "Yeah, I'm sure."

Terri and Spike traded verbal barbs while I went inside and got everything I needed to do a tracking spell.

Other than the hair, I didn't need much. In order for a tracking spell to work, I just needed to create a magical link between the hair that Spike had delivered and the hair on that guy's head. Summoning magic is easier than focusing it, so most practitioners have some sort of focus, to channel the magic in a specific direction or purpose.

A focus is typically a specialized tool applicable to a narrow scope and direction of your magic. I learned through trial and error that silver nipple clips on a short silver chain made and excellent focus for tracking spells.

I secured the lock of hair in the tight jaws of one of the silver clips and fed power into the link between the lock of hair and the guy that it came from. I kept a continuous trickle of energy between the two and the lock of hair felt itself being tugged in the direction of the guy. The nipple clamps and the silver chain helped focus on that the nipple clip and the chain darted suddenly in a southerly direction and very nearly yanked itself out of my hand.

I walked down the hall and passed Terri and heard her ask, "Are those nipple clamps?" as I followed in the direction where the tracking spell led me.

"Um, sort of," I replied, now somewhat embarrassed that Terri now knew I owned a pair of nipple clamps. I suppose I should have waited until I was well away from the house before I did my tracking spell.

"Why do you own nipple clamps?" I heard Terri ask as I walked out of the house and I dreaded the idea that eventually I might have to answer her question.

Buffy ordered Spike to come with us, and as I followed the lock of hair wherever the tracking spell directed me, I heard Spike behind me, asking, "Hey, are those things nipple clamps?"

Seriously, I needed to put some more thought into what I used for foci. Nipple clamps were a great focus for tracking spells, but it could be really embarrassing when people found out you owned them.

Buffy and I ignored Spike's question, but Spike was as persistent as he was annoying.

"Seriously, which one of you has had those things dangling from your pink little nips?" Spike asked, causing me to feel feverish and miserable with embarrassment, "It had to be one of you, right? I mean, you didn't just buy them for tracking spells, am I right?"

"Shut up, Spike," Buffy commanded, but Spike (as per usual) didn't feel like listening.

"Which one of you is it, anyway?" Spike asked, "My money is on the witch, I mean I've always kind of suspected that underneath that innocent, Disney-cartoon-character exterior, there were some really kinky, hidden desires just waiting to be brought to the surface."

Spike's annoying harangue was getting on my nerves and making it hard to concentrate on my tracking spell, and I think Buffy ended up hitting Spike several times to get him to be quiet. I must say, I approved of Buffy's methods, as several times Spike's tenacious oration caused me to lose my concentration and had to recast, however eventually I found out where Spike's hair-pulling opponent was hiding out.

In the charred remains of Sunnydale High School.

"He's in there?" Buffy said with an air of disapproval.

"According to the spell," I answered, not too happy to be wandering through the blackened halls of my old high school either.

"Seriously," Buffy said, her tone bitter, "I thought I was done with high school."

"Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in," I said, and continued to follow in the direction of the tracking spell.

"Does every school you go to turn into a pile of ashes and charred bricks?" Spike asked.

"I heard about how you got kicked out of your school in Los Angeles after you burnt that thing to the bloody ground," Spike added, "Are you part feveris demon or what?"

"Okay, first of all," Buffy said sharply, possibly hitting Spike again, "It wasn't the entire school, it was just the gym, and secondly, I had a really good reason for burning the gym down."

As Spike and Buffy argued, I followed deeper and deeper into the school, following wherever the tracking spell led me, eventually I ended up in charred classroom with a door that was almost entirely incinerated and a dead body lying on the sooty, blackened floor.

"According to the tracking spell, this is the guy that Spike tussled with," I said, "The lock of hair belongs to him."

"He looks really dead," Buffy said.

"Good luck getting him to tell you anything," Spike said deadpan and pulled his cigarette out of his mouth. It had very nearly burned down to the filter and Spike didn't seem to be interested in smoking it anymore.

"His neck looks broken," Buffy observed, "Did you do this?"

"Me?" Spike asked indignantly, "I can't go around breaking necks with this chip in my head! I can't even hit people! Somebody else must've done him in."

"I know this guy," I said as I squatted down and got a close look at his face, "He was a student in Professor Walsh's class. His name was Chet Manning...or Chip Manning... Or something like that."

"Doesn't sound like you knew him very well," Spike said disapprovingly.

"All I need to do is check the student database," I snapped, "I'll find his name and then we'll alert somebody in the school administration that he's dead."