Choices Graduation Day I

The Prom


Prologue

Buffy wakes up in Angel’s bed after a post slayage nap. He’s been watching her sleep.

Buffy feels her hair. “Ohh, not good.” She starts to sit up, and Angel asks her where she’s going. “To go kill a cat on my head.”

Angel reminds her that he has no mirrors.

Buffy starts talking about getting a mirror, and a drawer for some of her stuff if she is going to be doing this sort of thing again. Angel gets a little nervous. She doesn’t notice and continues talking about them going to the upcoming Prom together. Angel doesn’t seem anxious to talk about it. He thinks it’s time for her to be going.

Buffy gets out of bed and goes to the window. “No. must be a few more hours before sunrise.” She opens the curtains and Angel gets hit squarely by a beam of sunlight coming in through the window. He rolls off the bed to get out of it.

Buffy quickly pulls the curtains shut. “Sorry! I guess it’s later than we thought.”


Act I

Xander starts up the front steps of Sunnydale High, and is intercepted by Anya. “Well, hey, it’s demon Anya. Punisher of evil males. Still haven’t got your powers back?” He gets a little nervous. “You haven’t right?”

“No,” says Anya, “I will, though. It’s just a matter of time.”

“So now, how did that work?” asks Xander. “Women would wish horrible things on their ex-boyfriends. You’d show up and make it happen.”

“That’s right,” says Anya. “The power of the Wish made me a righteous sword to smite the unfaithful.”

“Well, hey! Good luck with that. Hope it works out for you.”

“You know, you can laugh,” says Anya, “but I have witnessed a millennium of treachery and oppression from the males of the species and I have nothing but contempt for the whole libidinous lot of them.”

“Then why you talking to me?” asks Xander.

Anya is embarrassed. “I don’t have a date for the Prom.”

“Well gosh. I wonder why not. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with your sales pitch?”

“Men are evil,” says Anya. “Will you go with me?”

“One of us is very confused,” says Xander, “and I honestly don’t know which.”

“You know, this happens to be all your fault,” says Anya.

“My fault?” Xander is getting more confused.

“You were unfaithful to Cordelia so I took on the guise of a twelfth-grader to tempt her with the Wish. When I lost my powers I got stuck in this persona, and now I have all these ‘feelings.’ I don’t understand it. I don’t like it. All I know is I really want to go to this dance and I want someone to go with me.”

Xander is not impressed. “Be still my heart. Oh wait, it is. How come I got the short straw?”

“You’re not quite as obnoxious as most of the alpha males around here,” says Anya. “Plus I know you don’t have a date.”

“I haven’t settled on anyone yet.”

“Fine. Look, I know you find me attractive,” says Anya. “I’ve seen you looking at my breasts.”

“Nothing personal,” says Xander, “but when a guy does that, it just means his eyes are open.”

“Whatever,” says Anya. “Look, do you want to go with me or not?”


Xander tells his friends about his Prom date. Oz thinks that it’s an interesting choice. Willow is not thrilled. “If Anya tries to get you killed, put me down for a big ‘I told you so.’”

Buffy is more understanding. “Well, at least we all have someone to go with now. Some of us are going with demons, but I think that’s a valid lifestyle choice.” She has a really kick dress for the Prom. She figures Angel is going to lose it when he sees it. “Not his soul,” she quickly tells them, “His it.”


Joyce drops by Angel’s for a visit. She has never been there before. She thinks his place is amazing, and is a little surprised by some of the decorations, such as the chains on the wall. She’s there to talk to him about Buffy.

Joyce knows that Buffy spent the night, and Angel starts to explain what happened, but that isn’t why she’s there. She is concerned about their entire relationship. “I don’t have to tell you that you and Buffy are from different worlds. She’s had to deal with a lot. Grow up fast. Sometimes even I forget that she’s still just a girl.”

“And I’m old enough to be her ancestor,” says Angel.

“She’s just starting out in life,” says Joyce.

“I know,” says Angel. “I think about it more now that she’s staying in Sunnydale.”

“Good,” says Joyce. “Because when it comes to you, Angel, she’s just like any other young woman in love. You’re all she can see of tomorrow. But I think we both know that there are some hard choices ahead. If she can’t make them, you’re going to have to. I know you care about her. I just hope you care enough.”


Willow describes the dress she’s thinking of getting for the Prom to Buffy. Giles enters the conversation late, and thinks she is describing a demon. He has been busy trying to learn more about Mayor Wilkins’ upcoming Ascension, and getting pretty much nowhere. The pages Willow stole from the Books of Ascension have told him that the Mayor is going to transform into some sort of demon, but he has no idea what sort.

Wesley doesn’t think that they should be wasting time on such trivialities as a school dance, until Cordy says that he’d look way 007 in a tux. Wesley changes his tune a bit and announces that he will be attending the actual event, as a chaperon.

Buffy suggests that she and Willow go shopping at April Fools, next to the magic shop for Willow’s dress.

Don’t go there!” says Cordelia. Everyone looks at her. “I shop there.”

“I myself am dipping into my road trip fund to procure a shiny new tux,” says Xander, “so look for me to dazzle.”

“And I myself will be wearing pink taffeta as chenille would not go with my complexion,” says Giles. “Can we please talk about the Ascension?”

“Giles, we get it,” says Buffy. “Miles to go before we sleep. But especially if we’re all going to vapourise or something on Graduation Day, we deserve a little prommy fun. One night of glory, not to much to ask.”


Someone places a video tape into a VCR in the basement of a run down old house. A beast, looking half human, half dog struggles against its restraints in a cage. Its head is bound in such a way that it’s forced to watch the television screen.


Buffy and Angel are getting married. There is no one else in the church except for them and the priest.

After the wedding is over Buffy and Angel walk down the aisle together toward the door and the daylight. Angel starts getting worried. They step outside and Angel squints against the unfamiliar sunlight, but nothing happens to him.

Buffy bursts into flames.


Angel wakes up from his dream in his bed.


Act II

Buffy and Angel climb down a ladder from a manhole into the sewers.

“I always say patrol’s not complete without a trip to the stinky sewers. Couldn’t we just let this be the vamp that got away?” Buffy holds her hands apart. “We could say he was this big.”

“What can I say?” asks Angel. “I need closure.”

“You need clothes,” says Buffy. “You don’t have a tux, do you?”

Angel doesn’t think this is the time to be discussing formal wear. He tries to change the subject back to hunting the vampire. Buffy gets annoyed, and when the vamp attacks her she just stakes it without any of the usual pre-staking pummelling. She has noticed that every time she brings up the Prom Angel gets grouchy. She wants to know what’s bothering him.

Angel really doesn’t think this is the time or place for this conversation, but Buffy insists. “Angel, drop the cryptic. You’re scaring me.”

“I’ve been thinking…about our future,” says Angel. “And the more I do, the more I feel like us—you and me being together—is unfair to you.”

“Is this about what the Mayor said?” asks Buffy. “Because he was just trying to shake us up.”

Angel thinks the Mayor was right. “You deserve more. You deserve something outside of demons and darkness. You should be with someone who can take you into the light. Someone who can make love to you.”

“I don’t care about that,” says Buffy.

“You will,” says Angel. “And children.”

Buffy thinks Angel is really jumping the gun. “I kill my goldfish!”

Buffy may feel that way now, but Angel thinks that will change. “Before you know it, you’ll want it all, a normal life.”

“I’ll never have a normal life.”

“Right, you’ll always be a Slayer. But that’s all the more reason why you should have a real relationship instead of this, this freak show.”

Buffy really doesn’t want to be having this conversation. She tries to go, but Angel grabs her arm and holds her back “I’m sorry. Buffy, you know how much I love you. It kills me to say this.”

“Then don’t. Who are you to tell me what’s right for me? You think I haven’t thought about this?”

“Have you?” asks Angel. “Rationally?”

“No. No, of course not. I’m just some swoony little schoolgirl, right?”

“I’m trying to do what’s right here, okay?” says Angel. “I’m trying to think with my head instead of my heart.”

“Heart?” asks Buffy. “You have a heart? It isn’t even beating!”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what? Don’t love you? I’m sorry. You know what? I didn’t know that I got a choice in that. I’m never going to change. I can’t change. I want my life to be with you.”

“I don’t,” says Angel.

“You don’t want to be with me? I can’t believe you’re breaking up with me,” says Buffy. “How am I supposed to stay away from you?”

“I’m leaving,” says Angel. “After the Ascension, after it’s finished with the Mayor and Faith. If we survive, I’ll go.”

“Where?” asks Buffy.

“I don’t know.”


Buffy can’t go to sleep. She sits on the roof outside her window and watches the moon set.


Angel stands alone in his house, staring into his fireplace.


Willow sits on Buffy’s bed with her the next morning. “Well, he’s a fool. He’s just a big, dumb, jerk person if you ask me. And he’s a super-maxi-jerk for doing it right before the Prom.”

“It’s not his fault,” says Buffy. “He’s 243 years old. He doesn’t exactly get the Prom.”

“But he should,” says Willow. “If—”

“Will, it’s okay. You don’t have to make him the bad guy.”

“But that’s the best friend’s job: vilifying and grousing.”

“Usually, yeah,” says Buffy. “But he’s right. I mean, I think, maybe in the long run, that he’s right.”

“Yeah, I think he is,” says Willow. “I mean, I tried to hope for the best, but… I’m sorry. It must be horrible.”

“I think horrible is still coming. Right now, it’s worse. Right now, I’m just trying to keep from dying.” Buffy starts to cry. She leans forward and puts her head on Willow’s lap. “I can’t breathe, Will. I feel like I can’t breathe.”

Willow holds her friend.


The beast escapes from its cage.


Xander walks by April Fools and spots Cordy inside admiring that dress again. He goes in for another session of insulting her. A salesgirl comes up and asks Cordy if he’s a friend, or a customer.

“Neither,” says Xander. “Just stopped by for my daily helping of bile.”

“So you better get back to work and quit goofing,” she tells Cordelia. “Mrs. Finkel so has it in for you.” She looks across the store to where the manager is glaring at Cordelia.

“You work here?” Xander asks Cordelia. “But, uh, why?”

“I’m trying to buy a dress,” says Cordy.

“But don’t you already have all the dresses?”

“I have nothing, okay?” says Cordy. “No dresses. No cell phone. No car. Everything’s been taken away because Daddy made a little mistake on his taxes…for the last twelve years. Satisfied? Are you a happy Xander now? I’m broke. I can’t go to any of the colleges that accepted me. And I can’t stay home because we no longer have one.”

Xander is stunned. “Uh, wow!”

“Yeah, neato,” says Cordelia. “Now you can run along and tell all of your friends how Cordy finally got hers. How she has to work part time just to get a lousy Prom dress on layaway. And how she has to wear a name tag!” She lifts the lapel of her jacket to show Xander her name tag. “Oh, I’m a name tag person! Don’t leave that out! The story just wouldn’t have the same punch!

The beast smashes through the shop window. Xander pushes Cordy out of its way, and grabs the beast. It knocks Xander to the floor, and is about to do some serious damage to him when it spots a guy who is trying on a tuxedo.

The beast instantly forgets about Xander and goes for the guy in the tux.

Suddenly the beast stops its attack, and leaves the store. There’s a boy outside with an electronic box who seems to be controlling it.


The gang examines a copy of the tape from the store’s security camera in the library.

“You know the part that totally weirded me out?” asks Cordelia. “That thing had good taste. I mean, he chucks Xander and went right for the formal wear.”

“That’s right,” says Xander. “He left behind his copy of Monster’s Wear Daily.

“I’m serious.” Cordelia points at Xander. “Look at the outfit that Xander’s wearing.” She points to the TV screen. “Now look at the kid that the monster went after. Very smooth lines, till he was shredded.”

Xander starts to rewind the tape. Buffy doesn’t want to watch it again. She separates herself from the group and goes to sit on the library steps by herself. Giles thinks she should put more effort into studying this creature before she starts to hunt it, but Buffy thinks she’s seen enough.

“She’s right,” says Willow. “I mean, you’ve seen one big hairy bringer of death, you’ve seen ’em all.”

“Not really,” says Wesley. “If I’m not mistaken, this is a Hellhound.”

Giles agrees. Hellhounds are particularly vicious creatures breed for an ancient war as demonic foot soldiers. They feed off the brains of their victims.

Wesley wonders what Cordelia was doing in the store with Xander. She starts to hunt for an explanation, but to her surprise it’s Xander who supplies it. He tells Wesley that he just happened to bump into her while looking for his tux for the Prom.

Oz recognises the boy in the background who seems to have called the beast off as Tucker Wells. They were in chemistry together.

“Let me guess,” says Wesley. “He was quiet, kept to himself, but always seemed like a nice young man.”

“He didn’t seem the murderous type anyway,” says Oz. “Something must have happened to him.”

Xander goes over to where Buffy is sitting on the steps reading a book, and asks how she’s doing. She tells him she’s fine.

“Well, I just wanted to say that your impersonation of an inanimate object is really coming along,” says Xander.

Buffy flips a page. “Thanks.”

Willow breaks into Tucker’s email account. He has been sending threats against the students on Prom night. Giles realizes that he has been training his Hellhound to attack people in formal wear.

“Oh, are we all catching up now?” asks Cordelia.

“This Tucker is planning to attack the Prom tonight,” says Giles.

“Once again, the Hellmouth puts the ‘special’ in special occasion,” says Oz.

“Why do I even buy tickets for these things, I ask you?” Xander slams a book down on the table.

“I wonder if I can take my dress back?” asks Willow.

Buffy wakes from her funk. “Don’t you dare!”

“But Tucker is going to—”

“No!” says Buffy. “You guys are going to have a Prom. The kind of Prom that everyone should have. I’m going to give you all a nice, fun, normal evening if I have to kill every single person on the face of the earth to do it!”

“Yay?” says Xander.


Act III

Buffy hands out assignments. She sends Wesley and Cordy to check out Tucker’s home address. She asks Willow and Oz to go see the guy that Tucker was sending his email threats to, to see if he knows anything. Buffy asks Wesley and Cordy to check out the magic shop too, but Xander volunteers to take that one. He’s to see if anyone has been buying supplies for raising Hellhounds.

“Giles, you said this thing eats brains. Any brains?” asks Buffy.

“Um, I suppose,” says Giles.

“Then Tucker must be feeding it, right?”


Buffy goes to the meat packing plant, and gets the address of a weird kid that they have been delivering cow brains to lately. She sees Angel there. He’s picking up some blood. They are surprised to see each other. She fills him in on what’s happening with the Prom.

“You still planning to go?” asks Angel.

“Strictly in the chaperon capacity,” says Buffy. “But it’s fine. I mean, I’m cool with going stag. I’m over the whole Buffy gets one perfect high school moment thing. But I’m certainly not going to let some subhuman ruin it for the rest of the senior class.”

Angel volunteers to help, but Buffy tells him she can handle it.


Cordelia starts to leave the dress shop that evening. The other salesgirl reminds her to take her dress.

“As much as I hate to admit it,” says Cordy, “I haven’t finished paying for it yet.”

The girl hands Cordy the dress in a plastic bag. “Well, somebody did.”

Cordy takes the dress and checks the attached bill.


Buffy arrives back at the library. None of the others found anything useful. She tells them it doesn’t matter, she’s got the address. She tells Willow, Oz and Xander to go to the Prom while she goes to deal with Tucker.

Buffy’s friends are reluctant to let her handle it alone, but she insists. Buffy looks at each of them in turn. “Have. A nice. Time.” They get the message, and quickly leave. Buffy tells Giles that she wants him to go too. To keep an eye on things just in case something gets past her.

“I don’t have to tell you that you’re being rather rash,” says Giles. “Finding an address hardly adds up to case closed.”

“Look, it’s done,” says Buffy. “You want to go after them and tell them that they can’t go? That all of their planning and dreaming was for nothing? That they can’t spend tonight with their honeys of all nights?”

Buffy heads into the library cage and starts to arm herself. Giles realizes that Angel isn’t going to be taking her to the Prom.

Buffy tells Giles that Angel is leaving her. Leaving town. He’s sympathetic and tries to console her. “Um, I understand that this sort of thing requires ice cream of some kind?”

“Ice cream will come,” says Buffy. “First, I want to take out psycho boy.”

“You sure?” asks Giles.

“The great thing about being a Slayer,” says Buffy. “Kicking ass is comfort food.”


Xander arrives at the Prom, which is being held in the school gym, with Anya on his arm.

Anya is telling Xander all about the men she cursed during her demon days. “So she wished her husband’s head would explode, which was great, except we were standing three feet from him at the time. What a mess. Of course, you know, during the plague it was always parts falling off. Well, that got old since pretty much they were anyway.” She starts describing some of her Renaissance curses.

Wesley and Giles stand together near the snack table. Wesley thinks this is an odd kind of event.

“Oh yes,” says Giles. “At an all-male preparatory they didn’t go in for this sort of thing.”

“No, of course not,” says Wesley. “Unless you count the nights you made the lowerclassmen get up as girls and watched them…” He sees the look Giles is giving him, and turns back to the snack table for some nachos. “Dip is tasty, isn’t it?”

Wesley sees Cordelia enter wearing her dress. He nearly chokes on the nachos he is eating. “Salsa’s hot,” he gasps. He’s still staring at Cordelia. “Very hot.”

Giles follows the direction of Wesley’s stare, and rolls his eyes.

Willow and Oz arrive. She thinks maybe that she and Oz should get some dancing in quick before they are besieged, bedeviled, beheaded or something, but Oz is confidant that Buffy will take care of things.

Wesley crosses the dance floor to greet Cordelia. He is so mesmerised by her that he doesn’t seem to see anyone else, and bumps into a couple dancing as he heads toward her. Cordy is glad to see him.

Xander spots Cordy and Wesley as Anya is telling him her latest story about how one time this woman wished that her ex cannibalize himself. “Even I had a hard time watching that, let me tell you!”

Xander is desperate for a respite from Anya’s stories. “Cordelia! Wesley! My god in heaven, it’s good to see you. How are you both? And details, please.”

“Very well, thank you,” says Wesley.

“Yes,” says Cordelia. “Thank you.

Xander smiles at Cordelia. “It looks good on you.”

“Well, duh!” says Cordy.

Giles anxiously scans the students entering the Prom looking for Buffy. He doesn’t see her, but Jonathan comes in, with a beautiful girl on his arm. She’s about six inches taller than him.


Buffy comes down the stairs into the basement where Tucker has been training his hound. The hound is there, and so’s Tucker. He’s about to set it free.

Buffy grabs Tucker from behind and throws him away from the cage. “Sorry, new plan. The Prom’s a go and you’re pathetic.”

“Maybe.” Tucker grabs a lamp off a shelf. “Maybe not.” He tries to bash Buffy in the head with it.

Buffy easily blocks the lamp, and it shatters on her arm. She brushes the broken shards off her shoulder. Tucker arms himself with a screwdriver, and backs away from her.

Buffy looks around the basement. On top of a TV showing static is a stack of video tapes. Teen slasher and angst movies. Prom Night, Carrie, Pretty in Pink and others. “So that’s how you did it? That’s how you brainwashed the hounds to go psycho on Prom?”

Tucker is pleased with himself. “Neat, huh?”

“I don’t get it,” says Buffy. “What kind of sicko wants to destroy the happiest night of a senior’s life?”

“I have my reasons,” says Tucker.


Flashback—

“Do you want to go to the Prom with me?” Tucker asks a girl.

“No.”


“Whatever,” says Buffy. “Every maladjust has his reasons. Luckily for me, you’re an incompetent maladjust.”

Buffy takes the screwdriver away from Tucker, and ties his hands behind his back using the cord from the lamp he broke on her arm. She shoves him up against a door. “Now I’m going to lock you in here…” She opens the door, “…and then I’m going to party like it’s nine—”

Buffy stops. In the room she just opened are three more empty cages in front of three television sets.

“Got to have a redundancy system,” says Tucker. “Any incompetent knows that. My three fiercest babies are on their way to the dance right now. You think formal wear makes them crazy? Wait till they see the mirror ball.”


Act IV

Buffy intercepts the three Hellhounds outside the school. She kills the first with a shot from her crossbow. The two surviving hounds sniff at their dead companion and then look up and see Buffy. They start to run toward her.

This is fine with Buffy. She turns and starts to run. “That’s right. Follow Buffy. Good dogs.” She leads them away from the gym.

They don’t follow her very far. The sound of Celebration by Kool & the Gang starts to come from the gym. The Hellhounds stop, and reverse course.

“Oh, come on,” says Buffy. “That song sucks!” She chases after them.

Buffy catches up with the Hellhounds just outside the gym. They are clawing at the doors, trying to get in. They see Buffy and turn to attack her.

Buffy kicks one of them in the head and pulls down a curtain, using it as a net to slow it down while she deals with the other one. The free Hellhound attacks her and she falls back onto a table, with the hound on top of her. They roll off the table, and onto the floor. Buffy gets up off of the hound. It has a knife sticking out of its chest.

The other Hellhound frees itself from the curtain, and starts toward Buffy as a guy in a tux comes out the doors from the gym. The hound takes one look at the tux, reverses course, and charges him.

Get back!” yells Buffy. She grabs the hound by its rear legs and stops it just before it reaches the guy.

Buffy and the Hellhound roll on the floor together. She gets a hold of its head and gives it a twist, breaking its neck. She lies on the floor, with the dead Hellhound on top of her.

“Bathroom?” asks the guy.

Buffy nods down the hall.

“Th-th-tha—” stutters the guy.

“You’re welcome,” says Buffy.


Buffy drags the Hellhound bodies off into the bushes, and reaches into her bag of supplies. She pulls out a garment bag with her Prom dress in it. She heads off into the school to get changed.


Buffy arrives at the Prom. She spots Giles across the dance floor, and gives him a little nod to let him know everything’s okay, and then goes to join Willow and Oz.

Buffy and Willow compliment each other on their dresses. Oz asks if everything is cool.

“Coolest,” says Buffy. “Devil dogs are history. How’s the prom?”

“Strangely affecting,” says Oz. “I got all teared up when they played We Are Family.

“Everything’s perfect,” says Willow.

Buffy smiles at her friends.


Later in the evening they are handing out the various class awards. Buffy is hanging back from the proceedings by the punch bowl. The award for class clown goes to Jack Mayhew. Jack puts on a silly balloon hat and prances up to the stage to collect it.

Xander is miffed. “Please! Anybody can be a prop class clown,” he tells Anya. “You know, none of the people who vote for these things are funny.”

The Master of Ceremonies beckons for Jonathan to come up to the microphone. There’s one more presentation to be made. Jonathan asks if Buffy Summers is there.

Everyone looks around until Jonathan spots Buffy by the punch bowl. She’s suddenly a little nervous to find herself at the center of attention.

Jonathan proceeds. They have an award to hand out that has never given before. There was a write in campaign in favour of it. He pulls a card out of his pocket and says that the Prom Committee has asked him to read it.

“We’re not good friends,” he begins. “Most of us never found the time to get to know you, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t noticed you.1 We don’t talk about it much, but it’s no secret that Sunnydale High isn’t really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here.”

“Zombies!” calls out a guy from the audience. “Hyena people!” adds a girl. “Snyder!” yells another guy. He gets a laugh.

Jonathan goes on with his speech. “But, whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you at one time or another. We’re proud to say that the Class of 99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history.” He has to pause for a round of applause. “And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class, offers its thanks, and gives you, um…this.”

Jonathan is handed a miniature decorated umbrella with a small metal plaque attached to the handle. “It’s from all of us,” he says, “and it has written here, ‘Buffy Summers, Class Protector.’”

Everyone starts to applaud and cheer enthusiastically. The crowd parts to clear a path for Buffy to come forward to accept her award. Buffy walks up to the stage, and Jonathan hands her the umbrella. Buffy turns to look at her classmates, and smiles.


Epilogue

The students have returned to dancing. Giles is sitting in a chair watching them with a contented smile on his face.

Wesley approaches him. “Mr. Giles, I’d like your opinion. While the last thing I wish to do is model bad behaviour in front of impressionable youth, I wonder if asking Miss Chase to dance would—”

“For god’s sake, man, she’s eighteen!” says Giles. “And you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just…have at it would you, and stop fluttering about.” Something catches Giles’ eye, and he gets up and heads across the dance floor.

“Right then!” says Wesley to Giles’ departing back. “Thanks for that!”


Nearly everyone is paired off dancing. Willow with Oz, Xander with Anya, Wesley with Cordy. Buffy watches from the sidelines with her umbrella.

Giles comes up behind her. “You did good work tonight Buffy.”

Buffy holds up her umbrella. “And I got a little toy surprise!”

“I had no idea that children en masse could be…gracious,” says Giles.

“Every now and then, people surprise you.”

Giles looks over Buffy’s head and sees something. “Every now and then.” He reaches out to take the umbrella from her. Buffy turns to see what he’s looking at.

Angel has just entered he gym, wearing a tuxedo. He slowly walks across the floor to Buffy.

Buffy goes to meet him. “I never thought you’d come.”

“It’s a big night,” says Angel. “I didn’t want to miss it. It’s just tonight. It doesn’t mean that I—”

“I know,” says Buffy. “I mean I understand.”

“Dance with me?” asks Angel.

Buffy and Angel join her friends on the dance floor.



Death Toll

Who or What Where How
Vampire The Sewers Staked by Buffy
Guy in a tux April Fools Shredded by a Hellhound
Hellhound 1 Outside Sunnydale High Shot with crossbow by Buffy
Hellhound 2 Sunnydale High, outside the gym Stabbed with a knife by Buffy
Hellhound 3 Sunnydale High, outside the gym Neck broken by Buffy

Notes

  1. Jonathan’s opening strongly echoes his conversation with Buffy in the school clock tower in Earshot. I missed this the first time The Prom was aired, because of the original postponement of Earshot.