burn // buffy

hyenas in sunnydale

The lady in the office had clearly been skeptical of Matt's good intentions, but truthfully, she needn't have worried. Matt was, yes, a darkly dressed individual, and undoubtedly resembled a brooding troublemaker, but his appearance was misleading at best. You see, Matt was not a troublemaker- at least, not on purpose. Really, he was only brooding. 

And brooding was something he liked to do in the library -he supposed asking the secretary where the library was had earned him some brownie points with the administration- with or without a good book. And as he was running dangerously low on those, and Sunnydale was dangerously lacking an actual public library, well. Matt supposed that he was stuck with a PG-13 reading list until he could get the hell out of this town. 

It wasn't until he was halfway to the library that he realized he couldn't remember exactly where the secretary had told him to go. "Fuck," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked around for somebody who looked like they would be willing to help. 

There weren't many people who fit the mold, ironic for a place called Sunnydale, but most people were just... viciously unfriendly looking. Which he supposed was alright if you wanted to be left alone, and if you were like him, but he also supposed that these people weren't introverts, and that they were just dicks. 

"You look lost," a voice said, and Matt turned slightly to notice a brown haired girl smiling at him winningly. He smiled softly at her. 

"Yeah, actually," he admitted, rocking back on his heels. "Do you know where the library is?" The girl paused, blinking at him in confusion. Matt frowned at her. "Uh, sorry, do you not know where it is either?"

"What? No, of course I know where it is!" the girl huffed, crossing her arms. "I just didn't expect you to ask for actual directions."

Matt tilted his head. "Then... why did you ask me if I was lost?" Defensively, he crossed his arms over his chest. 

The girl opened her mouth slightly, then let it hang there for a little bit, her jaw bobbing up and down as if she didn't quite remember how to close it. Matt helpfully reached over and used a finger to push on her chin, effectively bringing her teeth together with a soft click. The girl looked at him with foggy eyes for a moment, then shook him off. Odd. 

Molding her expression into a flirtatious smile, the girl stuck her hand out for him to shake. "Cordelia Chase," she told him. 

Matt shook back, less enthusiastic and ten times as awkward. "Matías Valdez."

Cordelia smiled at him again, and Matt was suddenly aware of the fact that oh, she hadn't been interested in giving directions. She'd only been interested in getting directions. To his pants.

"Well, Matías," Cordelia began. She pronounced the accent wrong. "I'm taking it that you're a new student?"

Matt nodded. "Uh, you can just call me Matt," he said, slyly pulling his hand away from hers. 

"Wonderful," Cordelia stated. 

"Yeah, um," was all that Matt managed to say. "Look could you uh, just tell me where the library is?"

Cordelia frowned at him, clearly offended that he didn't want to stay and talk, but she nodded nonetheless. "Down the hall to the left, it's right there." She smiled largely at him. "Can't miss it."

"Thanks," Matt said, nodding at her casually. He began to walk away, and Cordelia looked after him anxiously.

"Don't you want my number?" she asked hopefully. "In case you get lost again?"

Matt waved at her over his shoulder. "I'm good." He could hear Cordelia's offended scoff from behind him, and the tittering of some other girls, but he couldn't bring himself to care.