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Part 2
Despite herself, Ivory had to make sure Kenyon wasn't too hurt. She swung by the nurse's office during lunch, inquiring about him. Fortunately, he didn't have any fractured or broken ribs, but would be sporting a pretty nasty bruise for the next few days.
In the cafeteria, she sat with Risa, Hannah, and Jesse at their usual table, where the trio began to discuss their plans for the evening. However, Ivory paid scant attention to the conversation, lost in her thoughts.
"When have we ever gone a Friday night without hanging at the Bronze?" Hannah was asking, looking forward to an evening at Sunnydale's famous dance club. "It's tradition, Jesse, and I do not want it to change anytime soon!"
Jesse scowled. "Look, all I'm saying is that maybe we could use a break from this routine we're in. We could have fun elsewhere, Hannah. Like at that new rollerskating rink that just opened a week ago. Why won't you give it a shot?"
Hannah, however, continued to be stubborn, set in her ways. "Let's vote," she said abruptly. "All in favor of the Bronze..." She and Risa instantly raised their hands to this suggestion.
"And opposed?" Jesse countered, his own arm shooting up. Ivory, in the meantime, gave no answer or any indication that she was even listening. Jesse laughed nervously, looking at her. "Ivory, come on. Help me out here!"
Ivory glanced up, giving him a disoriented look. "What?" she asked in confusion, drawing a few giggles from Hannah.
"Distracted much?" Hannah asked in amusement, pushing a loose strand of red hair from her face. An instant later, she was pulling it back into a ponytail, fastening it with a rubberband.
Ivory blushed slightly. "I'm sorry," she said. "I've just got a lot on my mind... What were we talking about?"
Jesse rolled his eyes. "This evening," he said. "Bronze or Rollers? What's your pick?"
Ivory hesitated a moment, knowing which of the two Kenyon was most likely to show up at. And, since she wanted to avoid another confrontation with him, she opted for the roller rink suggestion.
Hannah and Risa were surprised by this, but neither of them questioned it. They figured that Ivory was entitled to her own opinion. But it left the four of them in a tie, with no one to act as tiebreaker. "So, what are we thinking?" Hannah asked. "To each his or her own?"
Risa nodded, even though it disappointed her that they'd be splitting up tonight; she would have like to spend the evening with Jesse. But she was a much better dancer than rollerskater, so it was the Bronze that she was stuck with. "Sounds fine to me," she said quietly.
Hannah waited until she got similar responses from Ivory and her brother before she added, "Then, it's settled. We'll all have a good time tonight, and everyone will be happy!" She paused, sticking a French fry in her mouth. "Oh, it's going to be such a blast!" she exclaimed.
The young girl's enthusiasm was catching, and it wasn't long before Ivory began to feel pretty jazzed herself, all thoughts and concerns drifting away. The four friends spent the rest of the lunch period just chatting away over various trivial things. Finally, the bell rang, signalling that they all had to go separate ways for now.
Ivory's next class of the day was study hall, which she always spent in the school library. However, since it was the weekend and she had plenty of time to do her homework later, she decided to spend the hour browsing through the stacks.
For a while, she just sort of wandered through the maze of books, looking for what, she wasn't certain. Finally, in one row, she stumbled across some large, rather dusty volumes about vampires, one subject of which she'd always been interested in.
With a smile, lightly biting her lower lip, Ivory pulled one of the books from the stack, paging through it curiously. She had heard rumors that the former librarian here had been extremely interested in paranormal books and had had an extensive collection of such tomes. Unfortunately, he had retired long ago, and most of his volumes had gone with him.
After a few minutes of skimming through it, Ivory shut the book and wandered back towards her table to read. But as she was walking, she noticed something sticking out from between two of the pages.
Ivory stopped and reopened the book, slowly plucking out the picture that lay there and examining it. Then she realized with a start that one of the five people in it was her mother, proving that it was a pretty old photo. And, the setting around them, she recognized as an older version of the library study area.
However, there was only one other person that Ivory recognized for certain: Hannah and Jesse's mother. She was young, still a teenager in the picture, but it was definitely her.
After a moment of thinking, Ivory realized that the three other people were completely unfamiliar to her. One was a fortyish, kind-looking man dressed in tweed and wearing glasses, who appeared to be someone you wouldn't hesitate to go to for help. Another was a teenage guy with wild blonde hair and warm dark brown eyes. He was standing next to Willow, holding hands with her and gazing at her lovingly; Ivory guessed he was perhaps a former flame of hers.
As to the third person\stranger, she was an alluring twenty-something woman with medium-length brunette hair. She looked vaguely familiar to Ivory, but, much as she puzzled over it, any knowledge over where and when she might have seen this woman eluded her.
After a few more moments, Ivory started once more for the main area of the library, curious to find out more on the three unknown people; perhaps they'd be in one of the old yearbooks. She asked the current librarian quickly if they had any copies from that time period, only to learn those volumes had been lost a long time ago.
The bell rang shortly after Ivory checked out the vampire book, and she walked to her next class swiftly, anxious to show the photo to Risa. The two girls sat all the way in the back of the classroom, carrying on a private discussion over the issue.
It was Risa's idea to look for an inscription on the back, and it surprised Ivory to see there was one. And it provided the names of the three strangers, identifying the elder man as Giles, the teenage boy as Oz, and the bewitching brunette as Jenny.
"You know what?" Ivory said softly. "It's amazing how much I don't know about my mother's life, what she was like... Maybe it's time I asked, Risa. There's so much I want to find out... What she did, what her hopes and dreams were, who she was in love with..."
"Who your father was?" Risa supplied when Ivory fell silent. She paused a moment, waiting for an answer. When none was forthcoming, she added, "What if he's a disappointment to you, Ivory? I mean, he did abandon you after your mother's death. What if he just didn't care about you, like my dad didn't about me?"
Ivory considered this. "I'd still like to know about him, even if it may hurt," she said quietly. "In fact, I wonder where he is nowadays. Does he ever think about me, about her? Did he really love her?" She paused, shaking her head. "It's amazing how much I don't understand about my own parents."
The two girls continued the discussion for a while longer, then focused their attention on the lecture the teacher was giving. But Ivory had already resolved to ask Hannah and Jesse's mom about the subject, anticipating the answers she would receive...
Risa stayed after school for band practice (she played the violin), Hannah had cheerleading practice, and Jesse had decided to make a run to the local Starbucks coffee shop, which left Ivory to fare for herself on the way home. The first thing she did after walking in the door was to check the answering machine. Much to her surprise, there was a message from the very person she wanted to talk to, asking that Ivory come over as soon as possible.
Ivory took a moment to put her schoolbags away, then grabbed her jacket and purse, prepared to go out. But then, as an afterthought, she picked up the photo she had found earlier, taking it with her.
It was only a twenty-minute walk from her own own to the Harrises, and Ivory spent the time humming and daydreaming to herself, her usual sunglasses in place. What would she learn about herself, her family, in a matter of moments, she wondered. She could hardly wait to find out.
So lost in her thoughts, Ivory didn't notice the guy jogging towards her until it was too late. She unintentionally stepped out into his path; a mere second later, he collided with her. Ivory let out a startled cry as they both fell to the ground, their bodies intertwined. Her glasses slid off at the impact, and Ivory shut her eyes against the bright sunlight, feeling a twinge of pain at the brief exposure.
A moment later, she heard the young man asking if she was alright, and she could clearly sense him in a state of awe as he gazed at her. Ivory interrupted his reverie by saying, "I'll be fine if you could get my glasses for me." It wasn't long before she had them back, and Ivory got her first glimpse at this person.
He was quite handsome, she thought, with silky platinum blonde hair and piercing black eyes, dressed in blue jeans and a long-sleeved white turtleneck. And he appeared to be very athletic, as if he was accustomed to running. His attitude, however, left something to be desired. "You should pay better attention to where you're going," he said brusquely, his defensiveness surprising her. "Someone could have gotten hurt."
Although Ivory barely noticed when she growled at him, she was aware that every other bit was attuned to take the offensive. "I could say the same to you!" she snapped, sitting up. "Why didn't you watch where YOU were going?!?"
He leaned forward slightly, capturing her in his intense gaze. "I wasn't the one fantasizing, princess," he replied sarcastically.
Ivory scowled. "How dare you!" she said angrily, a hot blush coming to her face as she got to her feet and turned away. But a second later, she turned back, saying, "And for your information, I don't appreciate being called 'Princess'!"
He smirked, in a way that Ivory would have found attractive if she wasn't so peeved. "Testy, aren't we?" he said quite self-assuredly.
Ivory swore she wanted to walk away then, just end this chance meeting right now, but she couldn't make her feet obey for some reason. She tried to remind herself that Mrs. Harris was expecting her, but not even that helped. "No more than you are!" she retorted.
He stood, meeting her eye to eye. "If I bother you so much, what are you still doing here?" he asked with a smug smile.
Ivory paused, silently asking herself that same question. When she didn't reply, the boy relaxed slightly. "Okay, don't answer," he said calmly, with a hint of sarcasm. "I'll see you around... Princess," he added, putting emphasis on the last word. And he was gone just like that, jogging away and leaving Ivory to her confused, mixed emotions.
However, she didn't concern herself with it too long; she'd probably never run into him again, literally or otherwise. With a small sigh, Ivory continued on her way, but couldn't tear her thoughts away from this rude and infuriating young man.
At last, Ivory arrived at her friends' house, ringing the doorbell and waiting. Mrs. Harris opened the door a second later, as if she had been standing right behind it in anticipation. "Hello, Ivory," the elder woman said. "Come on in."
With a smile, Ivory entered, letting Mrs. Harris guide her to the living room. But, surprisingly, she found her foster mother was here as well. "Mom, what are you doing here?" she asked Stefanie. "I thought you'd be in the middle of teaching a class right now! You're not sick, are you?"
Stefanie looked up at Ivory, biting her lip to keep from crying. "I'm fine, honey," she assured the young girl. "Please, sit down. Willow and I have something to tell you."
Ivory glanced back and forth between her two elders curiously, absently reaching into her purse to grip the photo. Slowly, she took a seat next to Stefanie, then asked, "It's about my mom, isn't it? My real mom?" Without waiting for an answer, she pulled out the picture she had found, handing it to Willow and explaining where she got it. "What can you tell me about her? And my father... Did you know him very well, Mrs. Harris?"
Willow sighed heavily, sitting down in the recliner across from Ivory and gazing steadily at the frozen image in her hands. "I had donated that particular book to the library long ago. I had no idea this picture was in it... As to your father, I knew him as far back as when this was taken," she replied after a long moment, looking wistful and glad she was given a starting point to work with. "He loved you and your mother very much. All he wanted when he left you here was to know that you'd be safe. You wouldn't have had that growing up with him, Ivory."
Ivory remained quiet a moment. "I don't understand," she said, removing the sunglasses and placing them in her lap. "What, is he in the witness protection program or something?" she added, half jokingly.
Willow sighed again, exchanging a look with Stefanie. "I wish it were that simple," she said softly. Gazing back at Ivory, she added, "I've thought long and hard over how to tell you this, and I guess the best place to start was the day I met your mother... I was kind of an outcast at Sunnydale High then. Only one or two friends, too shy to stand up for myself or even to talk to people I didn't know... If it hadn't been for Buffy, I'd have been identified that way all through high school. Who knows, maybe I wouldn't even be alive today if I hadn't known her."
Willow leaned forward, folding her hands in her lap. "Your mother was given a choice right from the start to be accepted into the popular crowd, to be just another one of those shallow girls who only worries about how she looks or what she would wear to some important occasion or other... So I was more than surprised when she chose to become friends with me.
"It never bothered her afterwards that everyone shunned her for hanging out with Jesse's father and I," Willow continued, choosing to keep it as simple as she could. "Or if it did, she never showed it... I admired her very much for her courage and her loyalty. And over time, I came to realize that she wouldn't hesitate to protect me if I needed it, as she would all her friends."
Ivory picked up a glass of water from the table in front of her, taking a quick sip. She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes, then said, "What did you mean when you said you wouldn't be alive if not for her?"
Willow debated the right words to use for a moment, then responded, "What I'm about to tell you is going to sound crazy, Ivory. All I ask is that you try to keep an open mind, no matter how radical it gets. Can you do that?"
Ivory nodded, realizing that she was shaking. "What could be so bad?" she asked quietly, overwhelmed by the seriousness of the conversation.
Seated next to her, Stefanie reached over, patting Ivory's hand with her own. "Sunnydale isn't your normal town," Stefanie started. "Maybe it never has been... But for as long as your mother lived here, she was able to keep it somewhat safe."
Willow picked up the explanation. "What Steffi's trying to say is... Sunnydale was overrun with vampires and many other creatures then, Ivory. Hardly the place to live when you could be picked off almost any night. The day I met your mother, I was nearly killed by one. She saved me."
Ivory was skeptical now, still only latched on one word. "Vampires?" she asked, half amused.
"It's true, Ivory," Stefanie put in. "But as long as there have been vampires, there's been one chosen girl in all the world to fight them... She's referred to as the Slayer. I was one, your mother was one, and now it appears that you are as well."
Ivory shook her head, then stood abruptly. "No, this is not happening," she blurted out, beginning to pace the room. "This is not what I came here for!"
"It's real, Ivory!" Willow pressed. "It's very real! And Sunnydale will be doomed to extinction if you don't face it!"
Ivory stopped and turned to face Willow, looking angry. "What kind of sick joke is this?" she snapped. "I don't think it's very funny! I came here solely to find out who my parents were, not to be fed some stupid fantasy!"
Stefanie remained silent a moment, experiencing a case of deja vu. "I know it's hard to accept, Ivory," she started. "But you can't ignore it, at least not for too long. People are going to die if you do!"
Ivory looked at her foster mom in disbelief, surprised that she too was insisting on this. The young girl shook her head, taking a step backwards. "Why are you doing this?" she asked in fear and frustration, tears pooling in her eyes. "If it is true, how come I don't look any different, feel any different? I am not some superhero who's going to save the world! I am just a normal teenage girl!"
"That's what I thought too at first," Stefanie insisted. "I've been there, Ivory, and I know what it's like. But, because I refused to do anything about it, I lost my brother! I almost lost my life!"
Ivory began shaking her head more violently, then abruptly went for her purse, slipping the strap onto her shoulder. "I will not listen to this!" she snapped, starting for the door and slipping on her glasses once more. Only she turned back to offer a parting remark. "When you're ready to tell me the truth, you let me know!" Then, just like that, she was gone.
Willow groaned, leaning back in her seat. "That really went over well," she said, discouraged. "Now what do we do?"
Stefanie looked at Willow with a hint of pain in her eyes. "She'll come around... Something's bound to happen within the next week or two that will convince her, whether it's something she sees or feels... Once that occurs, she'll be back for answers," Steffi said, drawing from her own experience.
Willow nodded. "I hope you're right," she said. "I wish she'd listen now though, so she'd be prepared for what she has to face."
Stefanie smiled faintly. "She already is," the former Slayer said confidantly. "She just doesn't know it yet..."