Strange Fieldtrip
**Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. The characters presented were created and are owned by Joss Whedon**
Field trip days were the worst. Not only were they subjected to the most boring of subjects but it also meant that she couldn’t sneak away from the group. Headcounts and constant parental checks deterred her from being who she was. Then again, what did she expect with all the trouble she’d been in lately. Only Giles, Willow, Xander, Angel, Oz and Cordelia understood that she was the slayer but they never really knew what that meant. Or that she didn’t mean to find trouble wherever she went. It was something that sort of happened. Buffy was loathed to admit that as the vampire slayer she was a magnet for trouble. Yep, that was it. She was attracted to it like bees to honey.
Standing in line with the rest of the senior class, she sighed as she waited. No one knew where they were going and that was the downside. In a place like Sunnydale being taken places that no one knew about was dangerous. At least, in her defense, Giles was a chaperone on this insane trip. With him being faculty after all. At least she would have her friends there to distract anyone that might ask the wrong questions. For a moment, though Buffy was close to freaking out, as she heard the words come from Principle Snyder’s mouth. Oh, he was good at upsetting all the student body with a few words.
“Listen up!. You are about to get on the bus in teams. Each team will be accompanied at all times by a chaperone. If you fail to check in each hour you will pay the cost in suspension. Do we understand?”
The sound of the student’s grumbling around her made Buffy hide a smirk behind her hand. No one wanted to be chaperoned but they had no choice. Snyder was good at making field trips mandatory and he liked to suspend students for the smallest infraction.
“When I call your name get on the bus with your teacher.”
After that, she zoned out for a while. There was no rhyme or reason to Snyder’s naming list but she had no doubt if he had a choice he’d have her in his group but he couldn’t do that. As the principle, he couldn’t just have one group he was responsible for. At least until she heard her name she planned to zone out. There wasn’t anything that she could do to stop herself from zoning out anyway.
“Buffy Summers. You’ll be in the group with Mr. Giles. I expect that he can keep you in line.”
Smiling a small facetious smile, Buffy climbed on the bus, happy that all her friends were in the group. This was going to be some trip. Hunkering down into the seat she sighed as she waited for them to speak to her. Sunnydale wasn’t a huge town but it never seemed to fail that wherever they went was a place that seemed to spring up out of nowhere, somewhere around the town.
Turning her hazel gaze to her friends and watcher, Buffy asked the question that everyone wanted to know. “Giles? Do you have any idea where we are going?” Her tone was hopeful and cautious at the same time.
“I’m afraid I don’t Buffy. Snyder wouldn’t even tell the rest of the faculty where we were going. He was afraid that the students would find out and then, well, someone would pretend to be sick or something. Though considering there aren’t many places field trip worthy near Sunnydale I can’t even begin to image where we are going.” He said as he removed his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.
It was a gesture that meant he was as frustrated as he was letting on. Not knowing anything about where they were going to be didn’t help any of them prepare. Heck, it didn’t even let them bring the right weapons and it seemed that weapons were always needed on field trips and the like. Silence descended upon the bus as everyone caught sight of Snyder’s glare. Sinking lower into her seat Buffy tried to mentally convince herself she wasn’t there.
When the bus jolted to a stop the tiny blonde made sure her group was the last to get off. They didn’t want to be in the line of sight of the principal; it would only cause problems. Moving to stand just to the right of Willow, Buffy waited for the grand reveal. Wherever they were it smelled like syrup and peanuts and she wasn’t quite sure that was a good thing. When the principal cleared his throat, Buffy stood up a little taller hoping to see whatever was going on.
“Students, thank you for gracing us with your presence. We have arrived at our destination. This is Grandma Nutt’s Peanut Brittle factory and you will be workers for the day. You will learn everything you need to know about making the snack and then you will be selling some to help raise money for the swim team. Now get to work.”
The tone in his voice brokered no argument. All Buffy could do was blink and stare up at the factory that made the one snack she couldn’t stand. Who created a peanut brittle factory in Sunnydale? “They’ve gotta be a demon.”
