Slayers and Guardians Book Two (Worlds Colliding Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

chapter 19 - I Only Have Eyes For You

Into every generation, there are Chosen Ones. A Slayer will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. With each Slayer comes a Guardian. They are protectors of the innocent.

Day One

Night - The Bronze

(Song:) Change - Splendid

Buffy/Eric, Brooke/Wyatt, Brady/Alice and Xander/Cordelia were dancing on the dance floor, smiling. Willow and Zoey were looking around for Carmen, looking up and spotting her on the upper level leaning against the railing and watching the band.

A boy named Ben approached Carmen. "Hey." Carmen turned to face him, surprised. "I'm Ben. We had Algebra II together last year."

Carmen shrugged. "Sorry, I pretty much repress anything math-related."

"Ms. Jackson," Ben explained. "Second period. You sat in the seat three over and one behind."

Carmen nodded in remembrance. "Oh, yeah, I remember now. It's the one with the desks and the chalkboards and pencils and stuff, right?"

Ben chuckled in amusement. "That's the one."

Carmen smirked, pointing at her head. "Like a trap."

"So, I was wondering, you know the dance tomorrow night?" Ben asked. "Are you going to the Sadie Hawkins thing? The deal with the girls ask the boys?" Carmen shrugged. "Well, I thought maybe, you know, if you're free, you might ask me."

Carmen was surprised, flustered. "Oh, gosh, I..."

Ben held up his hand. "Oh, oh, hey, hey, no, don't--don't worry about it."

"No, no, you seem like a really great guy, but..." Carmen trailed off. "It's me. I'm not seeing anybody, every again, actually."

Ben nodded. "Oh, that's--that's too bad. Okay, well, I better."

Ben gestured, walking away.

Carmen watched him go, glancing sadly at the band. "Sorry."

Carmen walked toward the stairs, walking down. The girls walked up to Carmen.

"Hey," Buffy told her. "You're bailing?"

"Well, we were gonna stop by the library," Alice explained. "See if my dad wants us to patrol."

"Yeah," Zoey agreed. "And then I was gonna sack it."

Carmen nodded in agreement.

Brooke looked from Zoey to Carmen. "You've both been doing that a lot. Patrolling and sacking. In fact, you've kind of been All-Work-And-No-Play Zoey and Carmen."

"I play," Zoey told them. "I have big fun."

"You did," Buffy agreed. "Before..."

Buffy didn't finish, but they she meant before Angelus had killed Enyos, Jenny and Snowy. Zoey looked away. Carmen looked at Zoey sadly in guilt, blaming herself.

Zoey looked at the others. "We both came here tonight, didn't we?"

"You came," Alice answered. "You refused to dance, which is not normal Zoey behavior at all."

Buffy nodded in agreement. "Carmen saw. She rejected."

Alice nodded upstairs. "We saw you up there with that guy. I know you're not in the date mode right now."