AUTHOR: Emily
E-MAIL: Email: DoylesPrincess@aol.com
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Joss "The Crackhead" Whedon, unless I
made them up. The song "Elsewhere" belongs to Sarah McLachlan.
RATING: G
FEEDBACK: It gives me happies.
DISTRIBUTION: My site, if you want it ask.
NOTES: Response to a challenge on the BuffyChallengeFic list. Also, the place
that I'm using in this story is actually where I live... :-) And it didn't
take me too long to write this, so if I messed up on something, I
apologize... :-)
Willow stepped off a bus, carrying only a small suitcase with her. People
pushed by her, but she seemed to be frozen in place.
*And I thought Sunnydale was a blip on the map...* She thought to
herself, glancing around. She had left Sunnydale, at first she was going to
look for Oz, but she had changed her mind. He didn't want her anymore. If he
did, he would have come back.
The truth was, in the past few months, Willow had felt like no one wanted
her. Buffy had Riley, Xander had Anya, and Giles was Giles. It was as though
to her friends, she no longer existed. So she packed and left.
She realized she was a hypocrite, yelling at Buffy for running away and
then doing it herself. But she had no importance in their lives, right? It's
not like she had to save the world from impending doom.
She had been dropped off in front of a shopping mall. A shopping mall
across from a car wash and a Dunkin Donuts. Yeah, cuz that made sense. It was
about three in the afternoon, and she decided she needed to find a place to
stay.
Willow got a cab and pulled up in front of a motel about 15 minutes
later. It was run-down, but she couldn't exactly afford to stay at the Plaza
Hotel, so she tried to ignore the creepy feeling she got from the place. She
walked into the front lobby, ringing the bell on the counter. A guy about 45
came out of the back room, receding hairline and not the kind of person you'd
want to meet in a dark alley no matter what time of the day it was.
"Can I help ya, miss?" He asked, a heavy accent marking his voice. Willow
couldn't exactly place it, but she tried her best to ignore.
"Yes...hi...I need a room..." She said, her voice quivering a little.
*Why did I leave Sunnydale again?* She asked herself. He coughed as he
reached underneath the counter.
"How long will ya be stayin'?" He scratched the stubble on his chin, and
she shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm not sure. Maybe just overnight." She glanced around the room as he
eyed her, she pointed to a picture on the wall. "Betty White stayed here?"
She asked. He turned around, trying to see what she was talking about.
"What? Oh no... I wrote her a fan letter once... and she sent me back an
autographed picture. She's a doll, that one..." He came out from behind the
counter, and Willow stepped backwards, startled. "I'll show ya to yer
room..." He gestured for her to follow him, she adjusted the bag on her
shoulder and followed him.
"Room 16. Best room in the place. Here's yer key..." He handed her the
key and then left, she went inside. She flipped on the light and looked
around.
"Looks clean enough.." She muttered to herself, she threw her bag onto
the bed and looked around, bored. "Okay, enough of this..."
She walked around downtown, a lot of old shops made up the streets. Many
had boarded windows, but there were still a lot of antique shops, pizzerias,
and other places that she could go inside. A couple kids skateboarded by her.
"Hey - watch it!" The one kid yelled back at her, laughing. She rolled
her eyes at him and looked across the street.
"They actually have a Starbucks here?" She questioned, amazed. It simply
didn't fit in with all the other places they had there. She crossed the
street and went inside. A group of people sat at the table in the front
window, people sat in front of the fireplace and at the little tables.
"Can I help you?" A girl asked, Willow smiled at her.
"Yeah... can I get a tall caramel frappuccino?" The girl screamed across
the counter.
"Tall caramel frappuccino!" She then turned back to Willow. "That all?"
Willow nodded.
"Oh wait - can you put extra whipped cream on that?" Willow asked, the
girl shouted the order to the person making the frappuccino. She paid, then
decided not to stay inside to drink it.
She walked past the windows, and was almost knocked out by a women
bringing a mannequinn outside of the thrift shop.
"Watch out!" The woman cried, Willow looked at her apologetically.
"I'm sorry.."
"Don't you realize that this is an antique?" Willow raised her eyebrows
at the woman. "Not the mannequinn...her dress!" The lady shook her head and
adjusted it til she thought it was right, then went back inside.
"Cuz everyone says that Sunnydale is strange..." She sighed heavily and
began to walk back up the street.
Willow turned the corner and continued walking, passing apartment
buildings and then a YMCA. She looked in the window and saw a sign
advertising country line dancing lessons. She walked inside and to the woman
seated at the front desk.
"Hi." Willow stated, the woman looked up at her, bored.
"Can I help you?" She asked, putting down her nail file.
"Yeah. There's a sign up for country line dancing lessons?" She had
wanted to take them for a long time, but had no one to take them with. Well,
too bad. She'd take them now, by herself. And she'd have fun.
"Hmmm-hmmm. Wednesday nights, 8 - 9:30. You interested?" Willow nodded.
"Yeah... how do you sign up?"
"You fill out this form." The lady picked up a clipboard and slammed it
on the desk, Willow's smile faded, but she took the form.
"Thank you..."
She stepped out of the YMCA a few minutes later, ready to start her
country line dancing lessons.
Walking back to the motel, Willow wanted to call Buffy. Or Xander. But
she decided not to. She could make it on her own... without anyone else. She
could get a job here, and get an apartment, and maybe call them in a few
days. Let them know she was still alive, and that she was fine. She opened
the door to her room and laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"I can do this..." She said, smiling. She reached over and turned on the
radio, Sarah McLachlan's "Elsewhere" filling the room.
*I believe
this is heaven to no one else but me
and I'll defend it as long as
I can be left here to linger in silence
if I choose to
would you try to understand it
I would like to linger here in silence
if I choose to
would you understand it
would you try to understand...*
THE END
Okay, that's the first time I've answered a challenge before...so be kind! :-)
Here's the challenge:
-Write a fic where one of the main characters leaves town permanantly. The
only stipulation is I dont want a fic about Oz leaving in "Wild at Heart" or
Angel leaving in "Graduation Day Part 2". The events in your fic must not
have happened on the show.
Ok, and as always, please include 5 of the following 10:
-a mannequin
-a stolen painting
-an ET Reference
-a Sarah McLachlan CD or song
-someone taking country line dancing lessons
-someone going to confession
-whipped cream
-someone handcuffed to someone else
-an autographed Betty White picture
-a main character's impending parenthood. (Could be male or female)
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