Right or Wrong
by Bwriter
Part nine
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Part nine
Willow walked to Buffy's classroom, hoping to see the blonde, but found it empty.
Sighing, she headed off to the library, hoping to borrow the English book she knew they were going to need for next months project.
"Hey Giles."
Giles gave her a tight smile in greeting.
"You okay? You seem a little stressed."
He shook his head, indicating that he was fine.
Willow shrugged went into the stacks to get her book.
She had been there for five minutes, when she heard Giles and Principal Wood talking.
"You can't suspend her. I have told you the truth of the matter."
"I have no choice Mr Giles. I have informed the school board of everything you and Miss Summers told me, but they need to follow procedure, and it seems Miss Evens has put in a complaint."
Willow had never heard Principal Wood sound so angry, he was usually a nice mannered man.
But now she knew Buffy wasn't okay, and that Faith had something to do with it.
"Buffy never touched the girl, not like that."
Willow's eyes widened.
"It was Faith that hit her, not the other way around."
Principal Wood sighed and pinched the top of his nose.
"Giles I know all this, so do the school board, but we have to follow procedure I'm afraid. Miss Summers will be suspended for two weeks while everything is investigated."
Willow gasped and tightened her grip on the book.
"Does she know?"
"Yes, I just got off the phone with her. The board will be sending out someone to speak with both you and Buffy. Just tell them everything you have told me."
Willow waited until their voices faded into the office before tearing out of the library and going to find Cordy who was at Cheerleading Practice.
She had to get over to Buffy's, and she needed to borrow Cordy's car.
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Buffy stared at the bottle of wine in front of her, the unopened bottle.
She was never much of a drinker for two reasons.
The first being she usually made an idiot out of herself when she was drunk, the second was, it had been a drunk that had killed her parents, so she didn't have a good relationship with alcohol.
She was suspended for two weeks while the School board investigated Faith's claim of sexual harassment.
What the hell was she going to do for two week?
Opening the bottle, she poured herself a glass of wine and set it in front of her, not drinking it.
After she had called Lorne, she had called Anya, who was ready to come down and kill Faith.
She had asked Buffy if she wanted her to come down, but Buffy told her no, that she would be fine. She was starting to regret that decision now.
Even though the school board had Giles' account of what happened, they still needed to investigate it, which lead to Buffy being suspended for two weeks while they carried out their investigation.
She was expecting someone from the board to call, they had told her there would be a visit soon, so she jumped when she heard a knock at the door.
Standing, she made her way to it, seeing Willow through the glass. Sighing, she opened the door partway, but blocked the redhead from entering.
"You shouldn't be here."
Willow frowned and moved to enter the house, but Buffy's stance wouldn't allow her.
"I heard about what happened."
"I guess it's all over the school by now." Buffy snorted and kicked a little at the door.
"No, I overheard Giles and Principal Wood talking about it."
Buffy tightened her grip on the door.
"Then you know that you really shouldn't be here."
"Why?" Willow moved closed to the door, seeing Buffy tighten her grip on it.
Buffy gave a small laugh, though it wasn't a happy one.
"Why? Willow wake up! They are investigating claims of harassment, how's it going to look if someone saw you here?"
Willow hadn't thought of that.
"I just wanted to see if you were okay."
Buffy shook her head, about to tell her to just go home, when she saw a car enter her drive.
"Dammit!" Reaching out, she pulled Willow inside.
"You need to hide."
Willow's eyes widened.
"Huh?"
Buffy was pulling her through the house and along a hall.
"A car just pulled in, I don't know who it is, but I'm expecting the school board. I can't let them find you here."
Willow followed Buffy, well, more like Buffy pulled her alone the hall.
"But I can just tell them what's going on."
Buffy laughed and stopped at what looked like a blank wall.
"Yeah, because they will believe that."
Willow's eyes widened when Buffy opened a door that was practically invisible.
"A secret room?"
Buffy pulled Willow inside and flipped the lights.
"A lot of old houses had them. I turned mine into a game room. Its soundproofed so feel free to play."
Buffy turned and closed the door, leaving Willow in the room alone.
She had just closed the door, when the bell rang.
-----
Willow sighed and ran her hand over the pool table before walking over to the pinball machine.
"Pac man."
Sighing, she started up the game, pouting when her little guy kept getting eaten.
"No fun."
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Buffy offered the lady a drink and led her into the kitchen.
"If we could get right down to it, we know of Faith's problems, and we have Mr Giles account of what happened as we just interviewed him. Now, I am here for your account."
Buffy handed the lady her water and sat down, indicating that Mrs Gibbs should as well.
Buffy started by telling her what had happened, leaving out none of it.
Taking a sip of her water, Mrs Gibb gave the young woman a smile.
"I believe you Miss Summers. I've been in this job too long, I know when someone is being honest and when they are not."
Buffy let out a relieved breath.
"Call me Buffy."
The woman smiled, before it fell.
"I don't know how far Faith is willing to take this charade."
Buffy sighed and rubbed at her neck.
"Try far, like all the way."
The woman echoed Buffy's sigh and stood up.
"She is my next stop. Hopefully I can talk some sense into her."
"It wont matter though will it."
Mrs Gibbs tilted her head to the side.
"I mean, its bound to get out, small town like this and once it does, guilty or not, I doubt the parents of this town will be happy with me teaching their children."
Sighing, Mrs Gibbs stood.
"I shall talk to Faith. See if we can't put this mess right."
Buffy gave her a small smile and walked her to the door.
"I'm sure that we will see each other again."
Buffy bid her goodbye and closed the door, resting against it before pushing away and moving back to the kitchen, forgetting that Willow was in the game room.
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