Story
I was reading a book on writing today, and one of the exercises was, write something off of this sentence: that was an ugly green monster parked ouside the house. So, here it is. As with most of my things, it's BtVS. Season One, just for the heck of it.
That was an ugly green monster parked outside the house. Ugly. Ugly with a capital UG, and LY. Who did she know that had a car like that? No one. Oh, God, what if someone saw it? She'd never live it down. Then again, she was already currently dealing with rumors circulating that she'd never be able to live down, so she should be used to it.
Yeah, right. She'd never adjust to being a social reject. A freak. Someone who's night life consisted more of cemetaries than night clubs. Who's only friends fought alongside her. Or, tried to fight, and she saved their butts. Repeatedly. She, who used to be a cheerleader. Most popular girl in school. Or at least in the running for it. Top ten, at the lowest. But she was up there. She was the school’s it girl. That started going down hill even before she burned down the gym. When the people you hang out with start dying, you develop a reputation. When the people you hang out with keep getting saved by you, you develop a reputation. Neither of them good. More like, stay away from that girl. Trouble follows her. I hear she’s a gang member.
Nope, no gang member. Just a freak. That’s right. She was a freak. Just like X-Men, except there were no other freaks for her to identify with, which sucked. Maybe more like Spiderman, except, well, female. And he was bit by a spider. Hers happened naturally. Magically. Whatever. She had the nifty superpowers, sure, but it was a harsh trade off. She wouldn't have chosen it, that's for sure. She wouldn't force this choice, or non-choice, as the case may be, on anyone. Never. Never, never, never.
Never say never. It makes a liar out of you. Not that she was the world’s most honest person. Please. She’d learned a long time ago how to lie to her mother well enough to get an Emmy. And to her friends. And Giles. And… well, everyone, really. She could lie with a straight face, which came in handy a lot. She wished she didn’t have the talent sometimes. She wished she’d get caught. No dice. You train yourself well enough, and you develop body memory. Her mouth had its own body memory.
Some habits are hard to break. Well, all are, really. But some are harder than others. Lying was one that was really hard. And she kept doing it, and kept skating by, and people kept not calling her on it. Except Snyder, but he called everyone on everything, so that didn’t really count. She could tell him that the sky was blue with some clouds, and he still wouldn’t believe her. Price to pay and all that.
Sometimes the price was higher than she’d like. Someday the price would be her life.
Oh, my god. Someone’s getting out of the green monstrosity. And coming to her door. Someone she recognized. She opened the door, and met them on the walk. “Let me guess. Big ugly evil coming to town, and I need to fight it. But before I do, we need to research it. You know, there has been this invention called, the phone. Maybe you can use it sometime?”
“Buffy? Where are you going?” Oh, great, another lie session for her mom.
”To the school, Mom. Mr. Giles came to pick me up for a study session with Willow. He’s helping Willow tutor me.”
“All right. Be home for dinner, we’re having your favorite.” Her mom reached out and brushed her hair out of her eyes.
“Will do, Mom. See ya.”
”Thank you, Mr. Giles, for your help. Oh, and Buffy? Be careful. There are a lot of gangs here. Try not to get caught up in them.”
That was an ugly green monster parked outside the house. Ugly. Ugly with a capital UG, and LY. Who did she know that had a car like that? No one. Oh, God, what if someone saw it? She'd never live it down. Then again, she was already currently dealing with rumors circulating that she'd never be able to live down, so she should be used to it.
Yeah, right. She'd never adjust to being a social reject. A freak. Someone who's night life consisted more of cemetaries than night clubs. Who's only friends fought alongside her. Or, tried to fight, and she saved their butts. Repeatedly. She, who used to be a cheerleader. Most popular girl in school. Or at least in the running for it. Top ten, at the lowest. But she was up there. She was the school’s it girl. That started going down hill even before she burned down the gym. When the people you hang out with start dying, you develop a reputation. When the people you hang out with keep getting saved by you, you develop a reputation. Neither of them good. More like, stay away from that girl. Trouble follows her. I hear she’s a gang member.
Nope, no gang member. Just a freak. That’s right. She was a freak. Just like X-Men, except there were no other freaks for her to identify with, which sucked. Maybe more like Spiderman, except, well, female. And he was bit by a spider. Hers happened naturally. Magically. Whatever. She had the nifty superpowers, sure, but it was a harsh trade off. She wouldn't have chosen it, that's for sure. She wouldn't force this choice, or non-choice, as the case may be, on anyone. Never. Never, never, never.
Never say never. It makes a liar out of you. Not that she was the world’s most honest person. Please. She’d learned a long time ago how to lie to her mother well enough to get an Emmy. And to her friends. And Giles. And… well, everyone, really. She could lie with a straight face, which came in handy a lot. She wished she didn’t have the talent sometimes. She wished she’d get caught. No dice. You train yourself well enough, and you develop body memory. Her mouth had its own body memory.
Some habits are hard to break. Well, all are, really. But some are harder than others. Lying was one that was really hard. And she kept doing it, and kept skating by, and people kept not calling her on it. Except Snyder, but he called everyone on everything, so that didn’t really count. She could tell him that the sky was blue with some clouds, and he still wouldn’t believe her. Price to pay and all that.
Sometimes the price was higher than she’d like. Someday the price would be her life.
Oh, my god. Someone’s getting out of the green monstrosity. And coming to her door. Someone she recognized. She opened the door, and met them on the walk. “Let me guess. Big ugly evil coming to town, and I need to fight it. But before I do, we need to research it. You know, there has been this invention called, the phone. Maybe you can use it sometime?”
“Buffy? Where are you going?” Oh, great, another lie session for her mom.
”To the school, Mom. Mr. Giles came to pick me up for a study session with Willow. He’s helping Willow tutor me.”
“All right. Be home for dinner, we’re having your favorite.” Her mom reached out and brushed her hair out of her eyes.
“Will do, Mom. See ya.”
”Thank you, Mr. Giles, for your help. Oh, and Buffy? Be careful. There are a lot of gangs here. Try not to get caught up in them.”