Again I Go Unnoticed

"Did you know "sinep" is "penis" spelled backwards?"



Willow stirred around the ultra lumpy mashed potatoes on her tray and sighed heavily. "Huh?"



Xander raised a brow. "Nothing – just something I actually learned in chemistry today. What’s with the Willow frown-y face?" He smiled warmly before making a retching sound at the meatloaf covered in gravy the cafeteria lady swore passed for eatable, "You know I can’t stand to see the Willow frown-y face."



"When’s the last time you saw William?" she asked looking up from her food.



"I just saw him the other…" Xander paused, "last week," he sighed. "Haven’t exactly heard from him after our mall adventures."



Willow nodded. "Me either and he hasn’t been at school. Not that he needed to be here anyway, but you know, William wouldn’t ruin his perfect attendance record for just anything."



The two friends exchanged worried looks before simultaneously turning their attention on the large, round crowded table off towards the back of the cafeteria, both zeroing in on the blonde huddled over her food –



Xander absently took a sip of his milk. "Think maybe the search should center on Buffy’s backyard?"



"Xander…"



He shrugged. "What? It’s possible." Off of Willow’s look Xander added, "Remember in the third grade when we were all playing at Buff’s and your ‘Suzy Wets Herself’ doll went missing? I’m telling you, the Summers backyard is a gate for unspeakable evil…"



"William’s probably sick." She rolled her eyes. "We should go by there after school."



"Or call the police…"



"He’s not buried in her backyard, Xander."



"Are you really sure about that?"



**



"Ugh, I must’ve had a complete lapse in sanity," Cordelia made a face as she dramatically slid into her seat at the table and pushed the offending tray in Buffy’s direction. "I dunno why the hell I picked this up – hotdogs make me retch. Mystery meat in a tube? Who’s bright idea was that?" she shuddered, "Buffy do you want?"



Buffy absently stirred around the lumpy mashed potatoes on her tray, head down, seemingly ignoring her friend…



"Hello? Earth to Buffy…"



"Huh?" she jerked her head up, coming face to face with Cordy’s unwanted hotdog.



"Do you want this thing or not?"



Eyes wideninuffyuffy could feel her cheeks flaming – never before, to her, had a hotdog looked so much like that other thing…



"No thanks," she replied weakly.



"Whatever," Cordy sighed, "I’ll give it to Riley, he’ll eat anything."



"Are we still on for my place after school?" Anya plopped down next to Buffy. "Ooh, hotdog…" She greedily snatched Cordelia’s food and took a big bite.



"After school for what?" Cordy asked, closely inspecting a soggy French fry before dropping it back on her tray with a sigh of disgust.



"Chemistry final study session," Anya brightly informed her, "oh and Buffy wanted detailed instructions on how to give great blowjobs…"



Cordelia snorted. "She wouldn’t even eat the hotdog."



"Tact is a completely foreign concept to the both of you, isn’t it?" Buffy glared.



"Tact is just not saying true stuff," Cordelia handily supplied, a wide grin suddenly breaking out on her face. "So, that’s why Angel was late to first period…"



"As much as I want to see your diagrams, Anya, I have a mandatory study sesh at Spike’s," Buffy sighed heavily then grumbled sarcastically, "who the hell needs a high school diploma these days."



"You’re studying with Spike?" Cordelia asked, taking a bite of her salad. "What, did he take over for ‘Wee-Willie?’ "



&qUm, Um, yeah…sorta," Buffy lied. "And Spike’s just as not fun to put up with."



"I could come over to Spike’s with you," Anya beamed. "I’m sure he won’t mind."



"Yeah, sure Ahn," Buffy said absently, her eyes roaming back to her food. "I’m not even sure if these are potatoes…"



Cordelia leaned in, dropping her voice to just above a whisper. "You know Willie hasn’t been seen for like a whole week?! I heard some drug dealers were after his insane-o sister and he was killed as a warning."



Buffy rolled her eyes. "That’s not true."



"I’m just telling you what I heard," Cordelia said flippantly.



"And his sister’s not crazy," Buffy shot back defensively. "Sure, she’s been through some stuff, but she’s not…"



"Oh please," Cordelia cut her off with an eye roll of her own, "that girl’s two Valiums passed functional."



Buffy narrowed her eyes. "You don’t know anything about her Cordy, so drop it."



"Okay, okay," Cordelia threw up her hands, "you don’t have to get all unnecessarily touchy. I don’t see what the big deal is, it’s not like you care or anything."



Buffy angrily stabbed her fork down into her ‘mashed potatoes’; of course she didn’t care! She got over feeling sorry for Spike’s screwed up family unit a long time ago – but that didn’t mean just anybody could talk about Dru…



"You’re right, I don’t care."



**



"Something’s going on with William, I’m sure of it," Anna Hall whispered dramatically into the phone as she poured her cup of coffee. Manuvering around the kitchen island, cup in hand and phone held up by her shoulder, she grabbed the plate of eggs and managed to slide onto the barstool without missing a beat.



"He claims he’s sick, so I’ve let him stay out of school for three days now, but get this mum, I caught him sneaking in at seven in the morning Sunday – yes, William!" she cried in disbelief, mouth full of food. "And you won’t believe what he’s done to his hair…"



For Anna, appearances were everything. Once upon a time, when her husband made the careless, but tiny mistake of not paying his taxes for the previous five years, all eyes in Sunnydale were on she and her family. They watched the Repo trucks pull up to her beautiful home, stood by as those sweaty workers carted out all of her belongings, and shook their heads in pity when the Hall family was forced to move into a less than swanky home across town.



And then there was Drusilla…



A disappointment of a whole nother color.



"I’m worried about him, is all. Dressing strange and talking more and more like his sister – I won’t let that happen to him. Did I tell you he was accepted to Dauth?uth? William’s the only bright spot this family has, and I’ll be damned if I let him end up like Drusilla…"



The sound of the kitchen door swinging on its hinges caught her attention and Anna turned, suddenly finding herself face to face with her daughter.



Dru casually flipped her hair and folded her arms; she’d heard everything,



"Are mgs rgs ready yet, mummy?" she said wryly.



Anna gave her a patronizing smile. "Yes dear, they’re ready; all nice and fluffy, just the way you like ‘em."



"Tell grandmummy I said ‘hello’," Dru called over her shoulder as she casually took down a plate from the cabinet.



"I’ll give you a ring later, mum," Anna quickly whispered into the phone, "bye." Painful smile etched on her face, she turned to face her daughter, "Dru, honey, why don’t you run upstairs and see if your brother’s hungry as well, huh?"



"William doesn’t like eggs."



"Well, he doesn’t have to have eggs," the older woman sighed, "I can fix him something else."



"But it’s time for eggs." Drusilla leaned in close to her plate and sniffed before lightly poking her eggs with a fork. "Thought you said these were fluffy…?"



"Could you do what I ask for once!" Anna shouted suddenly, startling her daughter. "Christ sakes Dru, just go upstairs!"



Plate in hand, and a rather solemn look on her face, Dru gave her mother a tiny nod of her head,



"Yes, mum."



**



"I’m telling you, Willow, we shouldn’t rule out the backyard…"



"And I’m telling you, Xander, that I stopped listening to you about an hour ago…" Willow smiled sweetly as she flipped between radio stations. Finding anything worth listening to was virtually impossible in Xander’s car – mostly the broken antenna on the back was only good for picking up static; not even the tennis ball Xander had shoved on the end of it ceremoniously helped.



"Doesn’t Buffy have a well?" he asked, giving Willow a sidelong glance.



She gave him a look. "I don’t remember, why?"



" ‘It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again…’"



"For the last time," Willow sighed heavily, "William’s not buried in her backyard!"