It was a dark and foggy night, the night when Elissa Rose arrived in Sunnydale. She sat at the airport, waiting for her ride. You could see her nervousness in the way she pulled and twisted the end of her skirt around her hand. It was her first time meeting her cousin Buffy and she wasn't sure what to expect. She heard that she was a nice girl but a terrible troublemaker. I bet you she's one of those punks who are stuck in the eighties and beats up their cousins. She thought. Then she sighed. Talk about judging people! I haven't even met her yet and I'm already afraid of her! I'm sure that she'll be great! Elissa had already met her Aunt Joyce. Unfortunately, it had been at her own mother's funeral. Only she knew how her mother had died. And that's why she had asked her father to visit Sunnydale. Finally, she heard her aunt's voice. " Elissa! Over here!" Joyce called running over and hugging the girl. After a moment, Elissa pulled herself out of the embrace and replied " Hi Aunt Joyce." Elissa studied the girl next to her Aunt and at once thought differently of her cousin, Buffy. Wow! Talk about over-reacting! Elissa stared at Buffy who looked stylish and quite nice. She looked down at her skirt and blouse that her parents always made her wear to special occasions and realised how dopey she looked. " Elissa, I'd like you to meet your cousin Buffy." " Hi, nice to meet you." Buffy said, extending her hand. " Hi." Elissa managed. " Come on you too. You'll have plenty of time to talk when we get home. I'm sure that Elissa will want to get settled in before the night is over." Joyce Summers said while she started to carry Elissa's bag towards the doors of the airport. Elissa grinned and followed her Aunt to the parking lot.
Buffy watched as her cousin unpacked her clothes into Buffy's drawers. She didn't know what to think. The first thing she was worried about was explaining anything weird that was going to happen while her cousin was staying with them but that was pretty hard to manage for two months. And protecting her cousin from Angel. That was definitely a top priority. " So, are you excited about starting at a new school?" Buffy asked, trying to start a conversation. Elissa made a face and replied " Yeah, well, school is school is school but I'm hoping to check out the guys you've got here in Sunnydale." And with a wink she continued to unpack her stuff. That comment had caught Buffy off guard. By the way her cousin had acted at the airport and on the way home, she'd expected her to be a bookworm or something like that. She didn't look like someone who would be after cute guys. " Before I totally scare you, I have to tell you something." Elissa said, turning towards Buffy. Elissa waited for Buffy to respond as she twisted a shirt with her hands. " Shoot." Buffy answered. " I don't actually dress like this, my dad thought that it would be a good idea to make a good first impression." " Okay!" Buffy responded with a laugh. " What's so funny?" Elissa asked, watching Buffy's amused face. " It's just that I was thinking that if you were the type who liked to stay home and study then I would've had no idea what to do with you." The two laughed as Buffy helped Elissa put away the rest of her things.
Outside the window, someone watched. He smiled as he watched the two girls start chatting about guys. But it wasn't a warm smile. It was an evil smile. So, my Buffy has a cousin. I can have some fun with her. ( Opening credits.)
Buffy's alarm clock buzzed and she awoke with a start. She'd had another nightmare about Angel. She shook her head and went to turn off her alarm clock when something stopped her. The mattress on the floor next to her bed was empty. She looked frantically around the room until her eyes laid on a piece of paper folded neatly on the foot of her bed. Oh my god! Angel's kidnapped her! She thought. Buffy reached for the paper and unfolded it. Sure enough, it was a drawing of her cousin sleeping. Buffy quickly turned off her alarm clock and ran down the stairs. She burst into the kitchen. " Mom! Elissa's been kidnapped!" She said, her voice full of panic. She glanced at her mother waiting for an answer. Instead, she received a puzzled look. Hearing a noise, Buffy looked towards the refrigerator. " Buffy, are you alright?" Elissa asked, taking an orange juice carton out of the fridge. " Yeah. I must have panicked." Buffy replied a little dazed. " Honey, what made you think that Elissa had been kidnapped?" Her mother asked, putting a hand on Buffy's shoulder. " Oh, I just had a bunch of bad dreams last night. I guess I wasn't really thinking straight." She replied, taking the orange juice that Elissa passed her. Buffy and Elissa returned to Buffy's room so they could get dressed for school. " God, you scared me half to death. Why were you up so early?" Buffy asked Elissa. " Oh, I couldn't sleep. Anyway, I'm used to getting up before school to jog. One morning you should come with me!" Elissa said getting excited. " If you can manage to get me out of bed, I'll be there." And with that the two started to get ready for school. The jeep pulled up to Sunnydale High and two girls got out. " You sure you'll be okay? You don't want me to come in with you?" Joyce asked as Buffy and Elissa took their schoolbag from the backseat. " Mom? Could you be a little more lame? Anyway, I'll be there to show her around." Buffy said, reassuring her mom. " God knows you certainly have enough time with all the cutting you do. By the way, no cutting!" Joyce said. Elissa poked her head in the door and said " Thanks Aunt Joyce. I appreciate it." " It's nice to know somebody does." Joyce responded, looking pointedly at Buffy. " I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Buffy said as she closed the door to the jeep. " Wow, this school is big. And confusing." Elissa commented as the two walked down the halls of her new school. " Don't worry about it. It looks big, but really, once you get used to it, it's nothing." Buffy returned, hurrying ahead as she spotted her friends. I hope so. Elissa thought.
As Elissa caught up to her cousin, Buffy started to introduce them. " Willow, Xander, this is Elissa. Elissa, this is Willow and Xander." " Hi!" Willow said, looking as friendly as ever. " Hello! So your a new girl? I must say I love new girls! And may I offer to be your personal guide to the wonderful world of Sunnydale High." Xander took Elissa's hand and was about to kiss it when Willow poked him in the side. " Xander!" She cried. " Sorry." He said, withdrawing his hand. " May I finish my introduction?" Buffy asked. Xander nodded. " This is my COUSIN...." " Your cousin?" Xander squawked quietly. " The freshman...." She continued. " The FRESHMAN!" He replied in amazement. " Yup." Elissa replied laughingly at Xander's antics. " Well, then, excuse my hormonal behaviour while I sit here in all my shame." He responded. The three girls laughed and started to walk off to class, chatting. " Isn't it just like me to be left out?" Xander said to himself as he ran to catch up.
It was lunch and already Elissa had made tons of new friends. She was already popular which really was no surprise to Buffy. For the first day of school, Elissa wore something that Buffy would never wear herself, but nice and stylish just the same. Elissa didn't have blonde hair like Buffy but she was close with her dirty blonde hair. It was cut to her chin like a bob and she wore it down. For her first day at a new school, she'd chosen a pair of creme and white plaid pants, a white tank top and a creme coloured cashmere button up sweater to wear over it.
Around her neck was a beautiful silver cross with blue jewels embedded in it. She also had little silver cross earrings to match. I'm glad that she's wearing some kind of protection against Angel. Buffy had thought when she'd seen Elissa put them on earlier that morning. " So are you going to stay here for the rest of the year?" One of Elissa's new friends, Sara asked. " Well, for awhile but for now I'm staying with my cousin. I know that I'm staying for at least two months, but I'm not sure if I'll be leaving then or what." Elissa replied as she sipped her chocolate milk and made eye contact with a guy sitting at another table. He winked and she gasped in surprise. " Did you just see that?" Alexis, another of Elissa's new friend's asked. " What?" They all replied. " Jeremy Barbour just winked at Elissa! I think he likes her!" Jane squealed as all the girls screeched as discreetly as possible. " Who's Jeremy Barbour?" Elissa asked, looking back towards his table. Again he was looking at her and this time he grinned. " He's only the hottest junior in the entire school!" Alexis said with a sigh. " Then why would he like me?" Elissa asked, in doubt. " Listen to me. He's not the usual snob guy who dates only ditsy popular girls to improve his image. If he likes a girl then he gets to know her and if he still likes her, then he asks her out!" Sara replied. " That's why he's so popular!" Jane said knowingly. " You guys are nuts! I'm going to get another milk, anyone want to come with me?" Elissa asked. " I'll come." Crystal said, another girl that Elissa had just met. The two girls went up to the line and talked about school. " Do you have Mr. Lawrence for anything? He's the most boring teacher in the world! And be careful about Mr. Snyder the principal. I think he hates kids." Crystal warned. " Weird. I don't know many of my teacher's yet. I've only been here for a morning." Elissa replied." That's true. So who is this cousin your staying with?" Crystal asked. " Oh, Buffy Summers. She's a junior here." Elissa replied picking up a chocolate milk.
" Really?" A voice said from behind them. The two girls turned to see Jeremy Barbour standing next to them. " I'm sorry to eavesdrop, but Buffy is in my Biology class. Well, sometimes. She doesn't always show up." He said smiling at Elissa and Crystal. " Hi Jeremy." Crystal said, a little strangely. Elissa looked over at her and noticed that her friend was staring at Jeremy intensely. " Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?" Jeremy responded, pretending to look a little hurt. " Huh?" Crystal asked, looking confused. Elissa gave Jeremy a knowing look and decided to introduce herself. " Hi, I'm Elissa Rose. Buffy's cousin." She said giving him a friendly smile. " I'm Jeremy Barbour. You must be new because I'm sure I would've noticed you before." He said shaking her hand. " I am but even so I'm not that noticeable." She replied giving him a modest smile. " I wouldn't believe that! And if you don't believe me, you can ask my friends." She turned towards the table where Jeremy had been sitting and all of his friends
waved and smiled. " They noticed you too." He leaned over and whispered in her ear. She blushed and turned to face him again. She stepped out of the line after paying for her milk and waited for Crystal to finish fumbling with her change so they could go back to their table. She watched as Jeremy helped Crystal with her change and Elissa noticed something odd. " Jeremy?" She asked on the brink of laughter. " What?" He asked, looking confused. " Aren't you going to buy something?" She asked, gesturing to his empty hands. " Oh." He turned and realised that there was no way he could get something now because the way to the food was completely blocked by other kids waiting to buy their food. " Oh, well. I wasn't really that hungry anyway." He looked over at Elissa who started to laugh and he flushed a deep red. Crystal had finally finished paying for her milk and the two girls started back to their table. " Wait!" Jeremy called after them, grabbing onto Elissa's arm. " What?" Elissa asked thinking there was something wrong. " Do you want to sit with me?" He asked her, looking deep into her eyes. Her heart fluttered but then she remembered her new friends. " Sorry, but I should really sit with my friends." She said gesturing towards her table. " Well, then would you mind if I sat with you then?" He asked, giving her his killer smile. " Okay." She said happily as her heart skipped all the way back to the table.
" So he sat with you the entire lunch hour?" Cordelia asked Elissa after school in the library. " yup." Elissa replied sighing. " I don't believe it! Harmony will be so jealous!" Cordelia said. After school, Buffy, Willow and Xander had taken Elissa to the library. Of course they weren't going to tell her about Buffy being the slayer but they had to take her somewhere. When they got to the library, Elissa had been introduced to Giles and Cordelia. The minute Cordelia had found out about Jeremy Barbour having a crush on Elissa she'd become Elissa's ‘new best friend'. But Elissa didn't mind. She thought that Cordelia was really nice. " Buffy? May I have a word with you in my study?" Giles asked, gesturing towards his office. " Sure." Buffy replied and the two went off to talk. " So is this where you guys spend all your afternoons? What do you do here anyway?" Elissa asked. " We don't always spend our time here after school. Sometimes we spend it in detention." Xander spoke up defensively. " And we have lots of fun here in...the library. But we don't always study! Sometimes we just..uh..sit." Willow added. Elissa laughed. Meanwhile in Giles office.... " Buffy, what are you going to do with your cousin staying at your house for such a long period of time? I realise that there is nothing that you can do about it, but it is of utmost importance that you keep your secret." Giles said, sounding very worried. " I know, but what am I supposed to do. She's cool anyway. I'll just tell her that I'm meeting some guy later tonight and that I have to sneak out to do it. She wont tell and that way I can still go on watch." Buffy replied. " But what about..." Giles stopped, realising that he was speaking quite loud. " But what about Angel?" He repeated in a quieter voice. " I don't know but I'll figure it out. Don't worry. Hopefully I've got it all under control." Buffy said, leaving the office to talk to her friends.
That night Buffy, Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz took Elissa to the Bronze. A kind of welcome to Sunnydale thing. When she walked in, she looked around the room in awe. They definitely didn't have a place like this where she lived. It was great. And everybody was talking or
laughing or dancing. Just like a normal teenager. She thought happily. She watched as Willow and Oz went up to the stage as Oz's band was getting ready to perform. " Come on, Elissa! I have to introduce you to my friends! They'll love you! But I have to warn you first, their kind of snobby." Cordelia told Elissa, pulling her away from Buffy. " Kind of snobby? No, I never noticed." Xander joked as the two weaved their way across the floor. Elissa stared at the groups of people listening to the music. She looked back at the stage where Oz's band ‘the dingoes ate my baby' got ready to stop the tape and perform. Finally, Cordelia stopped in front of a group of seven or so girls. " Harmony, this is Elissa. Elissa, these are my friends." She said smiling expectantly. " Hi." They answered. " So, you're new aren't you?" Harmony asked. " Yes, I'm staying here with my cousin." Elissa replied as coolly as possible. " Who's your cousin?" One of the other girls asked. " Oh, Buffy Summers. Do you know her?" Elissa asked, not sure what they're reaction would be. " Oh. Don't you think she's kind of weird?" Another one of the girls asked politely. " I don't think she's weird. I think she's cool." Jeremy said coming into the group. He smiled at Elissa and joined her by her side. " Well, I didn't mean weird, I meant well different." The girl corrected quickly. " I think she's fun." Elissa replied, sticking up for her cousin. " And she used to hang with that hot guy over there, remember him?" Harmony pointed at a guy standing in one of the corners of the Bronze. Elissa stared at him as another one of the girls said " Wow, he is so hot!" And all the girls agreed. " Forget him guys. He's a loser." Cordelia replied, looking in his direction with disgust. " Too bad." Harmony murmured to herself. " You aren't going to choose him over me now are you?" Jeremy asked, only loud enough so that Elissa could hear. " Let's dance." He said louder, pulling her towards the dance floor. When Elissa was younger, she used to always dance. Almost every time she heard music she would be dancing. The band's notes took over her thinking and she moved to the music as it engulfed her soul. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed dancing. " Cool band, huh?" Jeremy yelled over the loud music. " Yeah. I just met one of the guys in the band." She yelled back, trying not to get tangled up in the jostling bodies. " Which one?" Jeremy yelled back. " Oh, the lead guitarist." She returned, turning her focus back to the band. " Cool. He's really good. Can you introduce me?" He asked. " Sure!" She replied grinning. He grinned back. Angel watched Buffy's cousin dance to the music. She looks at home on the dance floor. Maybe I'll ask her to dance. He laughed inside his head, thinking of the pleasure he'd have, seeing Buffy's face after he'd killed her cousin. He watched smiling and he made eye contact with Elissa. He winked and a look of surprise crossed her face, then she looked away. She looked kind of scared. Did Buffy tell her something about me? He laughed again. I doubt it. Buffy would never tell her. Not the truth anyway. That means her cousin will have no idea how dangerous I really am. At that very moment, Buffy and Willow walked by him. Buffy looked at him for a moment but no sign of recognition crossed her face. It was almost as if she'd forgotten about him. I hope she hasn't forgotten about me because that's dangerous. And if she has, I'll make her remember.