Buffy stared back at her tired reflection. She had just been sick to her stomach *again*. Hopefully, Willow and Xander wouldn’t be suspicious of the way she had rushed out of Chemistry. It was very possible that her bladder had been busting! Sighing, she looked closer at her reflection. She really had to get it together; people were going to notice something was up very soon if she didn’t. She’d overslept that morning and gotten ready in a hurry. Her hair had been hastily thrown into a ponytail and she’d thrown on a pair of sweats and a baggy T-shirt. The only make-up she wore was the mascara she’d managed to apply in Giles’ car as he lectured her on the importance of not oversleeping, as if she’d done it on purpose. She had gotten to bed pretty early the night before; it must have been one of those other lovely pregnancy symptoms to be so exhausted.

She sighed again and tried to compose herself for the last half-hour of class. She wondered how long she could go on like this before somebody noticed. Luckily, her mother and Giles were so preoccupied with their own lives that they didn’t notice anything different, but Buffy did find her friends and Angel giving her concerned looks.

The bathroom door opened, startling her out of contemplating her looks. Willow walked in and Buffy plastered a smile on her face. "Hey."

"Are you all right?" Willow asked, her voice full of worry.

"I’m fine, I just had to use the restroom. I had a lot of soda before school."

Willow looked at her like she didn’t really believe her, but she didn’t know why Buffy would lie. "Are you sure you’re all right? You don’t…. Well, no offense, you don’t look well."

Buffy shrugged. "Lack of organization, I went to bed too late, overslept, and had nothing planned to wear. Plus, I forgot my car is almost all out of gas and I didn’t get any money from my mom before she left for work and Giles is broke, so I had to catch a ride with him so I had to get ready in, like, 20 minutes, I look trashed I know."

Willow smiled and grabbed Buffy’s hand. "Let’s go back to Chemistry."

"Oh joy." Buffy replied flatly.

"Come on! Open up!" Xander grinned, talking to Buffy like she was a baby while waving a spoonful of tapioca pudding in front of her like an airplane.

"Xander!" Buffy frowned, pushing his hand away.

Cordelia came over to the table they were sharing with Willow and Oz and immediately began rambling about some "outrage" with one of her teachers as she sat down on the other side of Xander. When she got a glance at Buffy, she stopped midsentence.

"Oh my God, did every mirror in your house break?"

Buffy gave her an incredulous look. "I overslept and had to get ready fast, okay?"

"You should have taken your time and been late."

Buffy rolled her eyes and Willow brought up another subject, which Buffy was eternally grateful for. She really didn’t need to have the four of them staring at her like a bug under a microscope.

Lunch finally ended, and Buffy found herself bored out of her mind in classes. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep for a week or so. When the final bell rang, she sprung from her seat and grabbed her books, heading for the school parking lot, until she remembered that Giles had driven her, so she headed to the library to see if he felt like leaving early. If not, maybe she could bum a ride from Cordelia.

"Hey Giles." She greeted unenthusiastically as she walked in the library.

Giles, who was sitting behind the counter with his nose in a book, smiled up at her. "Good afternoon, Buffy. Say, I had an idea. Since you need me to drive you home anyway, what do you say to a little training?"

"Do I have to?" She asked, giving him her best pout.

Giles turned away before it could have an effect on him. "You are the slayer, you must train, Buffy. We have been through this."

Buffy sighed dramatically and dropped her backpack on the table. "Fine, let’s just make this quick, I need a nap."

"That is fine with me, we’ll just spend a half an hour. You’re even dressed for it already."

Giles pulled out the wooden punching dummy. He moved around in the cage and the stacks, putting some books away and taking glances at Buffy. He noticed that she started out okay, but soon was hardly punching it at all, panting, and sweating. She usually took out all her aggressions on the dummy, he often worried she’d break it like she did the last one. He frowned and decided to try some one-on-one training, maybe Buffy was just bored. He suited up and picked up a quarterstaff, handing one to Buffy as well. Giles tried one of his moves that Buffy usually blocked easily and laughed at him for even bothering with, but this time it sent her falling to the floor. As she lay, dazed, on her back, Giles moved and crouched beside her.

"Buffy, are you all right?"

Buffy nodded slightly. "Sorry, I’m just really really tired."

Giles helped her up, chalking it up to her overdoing it with everything going on. "Let’s go home."

As soon as they got home, Buffy went up to bed and slept for a few hours. Joyce finally came up and woke her around seven. The two of them went to Jack in the Box, Joyce felt like she needed a second dinner, and she wanted Buffy to eat *something*. They also filled Buffy car up with gas and headed back to the house. Buffy managed to get her homework done before falling back asleep. It wasn’t even eleven p.m. Joyce and Giles were worried.

The End

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