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- Anya!
- I thought you were with Giles studying how to not kill people.
- I just got back.
- Are you asking me to be a counselor?
- Spike's insane in the school basement,
Xander's there doing construction on the new gym
- I was, uh, wondering why I
- have this job?
- I still haven't finished college.
- These students need someone around here who understands them;
I need someone who understands these students.
- You did good work on her. She looks good.
- Thanks. She's all set for the service tomorrow.
- Good. All right then. I'll see you in the morning.
- G'night.
- Hey.
Sorry.
- 33 minutes. Since when do we go through all this trouble for one lousy vampire.
Excuse me, one lousy potential vampire.
- Vampire by vampire. It's the only way I know how.
- I think this thing has a freakin' child lock on it.
- Shh!
- You know, I'm not the shortest one here.
I don't know why I had to be in the kid coffin.
- Look, I know it's my job
- No, no. I'm sorry. I wanna help.
I guess I've been a bit stressed out lately. I'm sorry I took it out on you.
- No big. Been kinda stressed myself.
- Well, the whole Willow sitch is not unstressifying.
I mean she's here, but not "part of the gang"
here and hopefully not "under my feet here in another time dimension" here.
- There's Willow. There's the looming humongo bad.
And it's a school night. I should be home in bed, cuddled up to my insomnia,
and worrying about how I'm gonna mess up tomorrow.
- You'll be fine. You'll be a great counselor.
- It's my first week actually talking to the kids.
What if their problems are all weird and tricky?
- I think you underestimate your familiarity with the world of weird and tricky.
This job's perfect for you.
- Check out perfect me.
- Taking my sister on an educational outing to the
- Dead body.
- I don't know. Amateur opinion here, but she looks dead.
I mean like natural causes dead.
- The paper said she had unusual cuts and contusions on her neck.
- Maybe she cut herself shaving and then died naturally of embarrassment.
- She looks
- Peaceful.
- I am not peaceful.
- That, I can help with.
- I always thought closed caskets were more tasteful anyway.
~ HELP ~
season 7 ep. 04
- Hello?
Come in! Hi.
- Mr. Miller sent me here.
- Do you know why?
- I'm not sure. Maybe 'cause this guy was picking on me.
- I don't wanna talk to you.
- OK. That's fine.
- I'm serious. I don't wanna talk.
- OK.
- You know, I hate to miss Bio, but I thought it was best I come speak with you.
- So, what's on your mind?
- On my mind?
- Are you worried about school? Uh, friends, girls, your parents?
- Yeah, yeah, that's it. My parents.
- What about them?
- Oh, issues of divorce.
- You know, it's awful being teased.
But the thing is, you know, with bullies like this, they're really just
- Insecure? Yeah, everyone says that.
You know, I'm really tired of everyone being so insecure.
- Divorce is terrible. My parents got divorced when I was a kid.
Yeah, my parents are happily married. It's hard. Uh,
I feel left out. B-but I'm also concerned about girls.
OK, I'm just bored. Maybe I should get back to Bio?
- You have to stick up for yourself, Amanda.
You need to show this bully that you're not gonna take any more of his sh
guff. Uh, any guff.
- 'Cause that's what I did. I stuck up for myself.
The other day after class, I jumped him in the parking lot,
and I slammed his stupid-*** insecure face right into the pavement.
- You what?
I guess that's another reason Mr. Miller wanted me to see you.
Do you think I should pound on him some more?
- I bet she's giving them great advice.
- Absolutely! Those kids are lucky to have Buffy looking out for them.
I just wish she believed it.
She's still stressing over the whole "dropped out of college,
not actually qualified" thing.
Plus the salivating hellmouth underneath her feet and the whole
- From beneath you, it devours.
It's not the friendliest jingle, is it? It's no "I like Ike" or
"Milk: it does a body good."
- I know. It's gonna be bad. It's gonna be real bad.
And I wonder, will I Well, if it comes When it comes, will I be able to help?
- I think so.
- I don't know. I don't know what I can do. I mean, frankly,
I'mI'm scared of what I might do.
Yeah, I get that.
Figuring out how to control your magic seems a lot like hammering a nail.
Well, uh, hear me out. So you're hammering, right?
OK, well at the end of the hammer, you have the power, but no control.
It takes, like, two strokes to hit the nail in, or you could hit your thumb.
- Ouch.
- So you choke up. Control, but no power.
It could take like ten strokes to knock the nail in.
Power, control. It's a tradeoff.
- That's actually not a bad analogy.
- Thanks.
- Except I'm less worried about hitting my thumb,
and more worried about going all black-eyed baddy
and bewitching that hammer into cracking my friends' skulls open like coconuts.
- Right. Ouch.
Sorry. Xander, being back here I don't know
It'll take time.
Are you sure you're ready for this?
- Hey.
- It's me.
- I'm scared. I don't want to be left all alone.
My brother's joining up with the Marines. Whew.
You know, if he knew I was making a fool of myself, he'd smack me in my head.
I guess I'm just being stupid.
- Sounds like your brother's pretty tough.
- Yeah, he's a man. I'm just all messed up right now.
- You are not messed up. It is not messed up to worry about your brother.
- What if he doesn't come back? What if he gets blown up?
- Have you talked to him? Have you told him how you feel?
- No. No, I don't wanna talk to him. I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna talk to him.
- OK.
- You understand?
- So, Josh, what's on your mind?
- Well, I'm worried that I'm gay.
- OK, first of all, I
I think it's great that you would come and talk to me about this.
And second of all, you should know that there is nothing shameful about being gay. Nothing.
- I-I know. It's justI'm not positive, so, uh, I was thinking that
why don't you go on, uh, a date with me so I can be sure.
- It sounds like it's difficult for you.
Like maybe your sister makes it hard for you to establish your own identity.
You said she's controlling, she doesn't let you make your own decisions
- Yeah, and she borrows my clothes without asking.
- I understand. That must be hard.
- So, you're not doing your homework.
- I guess not. It all just seems kind of whatever.
- I know high school can seem kind of frustrating.
But if you just get through it, then you can go to college, you know,
or you can join the French Foreign Legion, or anything you want.
Yeah, well, I'm not gonna do all that stuff.
- OK, no Foreign Legion. I get that. I mean all the changing your name,
and being indentured for all those years, and occupying Algeria
It's just that I'm not graduating from high school.
- Why not?
- I really like that shirt. Where'd you get it?
- Cassie, don't change the subject. Why won't you graduate?
Because next Friday I'm gonna die.
- What?
- Can we talk about something else?
- No, we have to talk about this.
- Just never mind.
- Cassie, what makes you feel like this?
- Feel like what?
- Like you wanna hurt yourself.
Oh, I'm I'm not gonna commit suicide ifif that's what you're saying. No way.
OK then. Then what are you saying?
- Look, I don't mean to be a pain. You seem really nice,
and I know you're just trying to help. But I'm wasting your time.
- No you're not. This is why I'm here.
Cassie, please tell me, why do you think you're gonna die?
- I don't think it, I know it. I just know.
- What do you mean, you know?
A-are you saying that someone's going to hurt you? Has someone threatened you?
No. No, I just know that next Friday I'm gonna die.
Some things I just know. I don't know how, I just do.
Like I know there will be coins
- Coins?
- Mm-hmm. Lots of coins. Weird ones.
And I know that you'll go someplace dark underground. I-I don't know.
- What do you mean underground?
- And I know you'll try to help
- Cassie, I-I don't understand what you're saying.
But you can't, OK? I gotta go. Trig.
I don't want Mr. Corrigan sending me Principal Wood again.
- Cassie, please
Thanks for being so nice. I really do like that shirt.
You should put a sweater on so it doesn't get stained. I gotta go.
Cassie, wait, please
- Gotta go.
- What am I supposed to do?
- Well, you did what you were supposed to do. You reported the situation to me.
- And
Listen, Buffy, it's hard. Kids this age they're hurting,
and they say things. Sometimes they say awful things.
When I was in high school, I had a thing with this guy, right?
Real bully. I kept telling everyone that he'd better sleep with one eye open
'cause I was gonna bust his ***. Well, I got suspended.
Talk like that is taken pretty seriously where I come from.
- The hood?
- Beverly Hills which is a hood.
- Listen, the point is, I was talking big because I was scared.
I couldn't bust a move back in high school, let alone someone's ***.
Most of the time, that's what it is when these students act out. Fear, pain
- But sometimes, it's not just talk, right?
Every time there's a threat like this, we do the same dance.
Inform teachers, search lockers, but we can't
we can't know what's gonna happen, and we can't search their brains.
We justwe just do what we can.
- It's not enough. I need to fix this.
I don't usually get a heads up before somebody dies.
- What do you mean usually?
No. No, not sinceI mean,
I'm sure it's not usual to get a chance to stop something like
I just I need to do something, OK? I have to make this better Oh! Oh, shoot.
- I have a job for you.
- What're you drawing?
- Don't you have a history test to study for?
- When are you gonna design me a tattoo?
- A tattoo? Oh, right. I could imagine that.
- Come on. Design something. I mean, maybe we could get matching tattoos.
How 'bout like a snake with fire coming out of its mouth.
- Hmm. Or a sexy hula girl who wiggles when you flex?
- Yeah, now you're talking. Sexy hula girl. But a sexy snake hula girl.
You are so ridiculous.
- So, I was thinking maybe we should go to that dance after all.
- What do you mean "after all." I told you I don't wanna go.
- Well, I assumed you were kidding.
- It would probably be lame anyways.
- Well, yeah, but lame is funny� and, you know, maybe fun if,
you know, we're hanging out together.
- We hang out together all the time.
- Right. And therefore we should hang out together at the winter formal.
Hey. Um, I'm in ceramics class with you.
I'm Dawn Summers. I forgot if we had an assignment last week. I spaced.
- Right. Um. Hey, Dawn. Uh, yeah, you know we did have an assignment,
but I didn't write it down. I think something to do with glazes
As scintillating as the pottery talk is,
I'd better actually go study. I'm Mike, by the way.
- Hi, Mike. I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
- Oh, don't worry about it. I better go hit the books if
I'm gonna ace this test. Nice meeting you, though. Cass, I'll see you later?
Yep. Hey, Mike, you're gonna get a "B".
- Oh, "A+" baby, "A+".
- So, um, is that any good?
- Yeah. Actually, yeah.
- What do you have to read it for?
- Oh, just for me, I guess. I kinda stopped reading my homework assignments.
I just read what I want.
- That's so cool. I'd do that, but my sister'd be down my neck in a second.
- Summers hey are you the counselor's little sister?
- No. She's my sister. Lucky me, huh?
- No, no, she's-she's really nice. I actually just saw her this morning.
Oh, really? What about? Uh, I'm sorry, that's none of my business.
- No, I don't care.
- So, Mike's a cutie. Are you guys going to that dance?
- No, I don't think so.
- Oh. I mean, didn't he ask you?
- Uh, like 105 times.
- And you said no?
- 106 times. No, I-I can't go. I'm not gonna be around that night.
- Cassie's records all show the same thing. Good grades, good kid,
then all of a sudden not so good grades,
absenteeism, comments about apathy and depression
- So, the question is, what changed?
- Right. If she did have some sort of psychic vision, that would explain it.
- Do you really think this girl is some kind of precog?
- Oh, I don't know. I told you about the shirt, right?
- Buff, you spilled a cup of coffee.
I'm not saying you don't have slayer grace, but it's not the first time.
- I mean maybe, just maybe,
you're trying so hard to help that you're seeing paranormal when there's just normal.
- Maybe. But maybe not.
- Want me to check her medical records?
- Her doctor already sent them.
Let me see that. Strep throat. Ear infections.
Yeast infections. None of my business no real info here.
- Have you googled her yet?
- Willow, she's 17.
It's a search engine. Look. OK, let's see what "Cassie Newton" pulls up.
Hey, look. Check this. She's got her own site.
- A day and a half of researching, and we finally try looking up her.
- Wow, that's a lot of poems.
- Poems. Always a sign of pretentious inner turmoil.
- The sheets above me
- cool my skin
- like dirt
- on a mad woman's grave
- I rise into
- the moonlight white
- and watch
- the mirror stare
- Pale fish looks
- back at me
- Pale fish that will
- never swim
- My skin is milk
- for no man to drink
- My thighs unused
- unclenched
- This body is
- not ready yet
- But dirt waits for no
- woman
- and coins will
- buy no time
- I hear the chatter
- of the bugs. It's they alone
- will feast.
- OK, death is really on her brain.
- We all deal with death.
- This girl isn't just dealing, she's giving death a long, sloppy word-kiss.
She has a yen for the big dirt-nap.
- I don't know. I mean, a lot of teens post some pretty angsty poetry on the web.
I mean, I even posted a melodramatic love poem or two back in the day.
- Love poems?
- I'm over you now, sweetie.
- Love poems!
Look, all I'm saying is that this is normal teen stuff.
You join chat rooms, you write poetry, you post Doogie Howser fan-fic.
It's all normal, right? Let's see what other sites there are.
- You guys are way off track. I got a hunch on this one.
Oh, wait, no, here's something. No, that's Philip Newton.
- No, that's her dad. Open it.
- Guys, I'm telling you. I got this case cracked wide-open.
I got the perp fingered. I told you 'bout Mike Helgenberg, right?
- Uh, that's the guy that asked her to the dance?
- Right. The one that keeps asking her to the dance. I'm
thinking, who likes to be rejected? Nobody.
I'm thinking, some people can't handle the rejection. I'm thinking that
- Hey, I got something. Whoa, drunk and disorderly,
disturbing the peacethere's a lot of charges here.
- Her dad's a drunk?
- A violent drunk?
- We'd better find out. I have his address right here. Got your keys?
Guys, I'm telling you, I'm liking Mike Helgenberg for the perp.
Let's collar him before he lawyers up.
- Buffy, the vampire slayer, would break down this door.
- And Buffy, the counselor?
- Waits.
- Mr. Newton?
- That's right.
- I work at your daughter's school. I need to talk to you.
She's not the sharpest apple in the barrel.
- She's got some problems.
But it's, um, it's kind of you we wanted to talk about.
- What about?
We know you've been picked up by the police a couple of times.
We wanted to know if you still drink a lot.
- What's that got to do with Cassie?
- Frankly, we were worried that you might
drink too much and hurt Cassie. That's all.
- Oh. Oh, I see. That's-that's all.
You just come in here in the middle of the night,
into my home, and start accusing me of beating on my daughter? That's all?
- We just want to make sure that Cassie's
Well, that's a lie! Who told you this?
Did Cassie's mother put you up to this, 'cause I pay my support, OK? To the dime!
She just wants to take away the one weekend a month I get to be with my girl.
- Which is when?
- What?
- Which weekend is it?
I-I just had her last weekend. Look,
I may not be the greatest dad in the world, but I don't beat up my daughter.
- So, you won't be seeing her this Friday, then?
- Not unless my ex-wife gets a personality transplant.
- OK.
- OK, what? OK now you'll get out of my house?
- Yeah, we will.
- It's not him. He's not the one who does it.
Thank you for trying, but I probably shouldn't have told you anything.
You're making such a big deal out of it, and I want it to all to just go away.
- Are you talking about killing yourself?
- No, of course not.
- Then fight. Try.
- There's no point. I told you
- This doesn't sound like someone who really wants to live.
You think I want this? You think I don't care? Believe me,
I want tobe here, do things. I want to graduate from high school,
and I want to go to the stupid winter formal
I have this friend, and it would be fun to go with him.
Just to dance and hear lame music to wear a silly dress and laugh and stuff.
I'd like to go. There's a lot of stuff I'd like to do.
I'd love to ice skate at Rockefeller Center.
And I'd love to see my cousins grow up and see how they turn out
'cause they're really mean and I think they're gonna be fat.
I'd love to backpack across the country or,
I don't know, fall in love, but I won't. I just never will.
- You will. Cassie, you will. You just have to tell us what you know.
You have to tell us everything. Please, help us.
- I can't. I just know it's gonna happen.
I don't know why and I don't know how, but something out there is gonna kill me.
Hey, how're we doing? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.
- Oh, no, that's OK. I just didn't get much sleep last night.
- It's been a long week, huh. Well, thank God it's Friday.
I can't believe I just said that. See you later.
- I sit alone at my
- window sill
- Trees crackle,
- sunshine blares
- and
- children laugh like death
- their sharp happiness is a
- knife to me
- One jealous snake on a
- window sill
- They will be here, trees and sun
- and children with canes
- and pruney skin
- when I am but a memory
- a laugh in the trees
- of time. I sit alone
- and try to love them
- I sit alone, a snake
- I sit alone and try to
- love them
- I sit alone
- and laugh.
Spike, what are you doing?
- Nothing. If I don't move, if I don't think,
if I don't listen to the voices, then I won't hurtmuch.
- I need to ask you something.
- Don't.
- There's a girl, she's in danger, and she needs your help.Now.
Time is running out. It's Friday, the day Cassie said she's going to die.
- I can't. I can't hear you.
- Is there something evil in the school?
Down here, maybe. Spike, please, do you know anything?
Yes. There's evil. Down here. Right here.
I'm a bad man. William is a baaad man. I hurt the girl.
Spike, stop it! What did you do?
- I hurt you, Buffy, and I will pay.
I am paying because I hurt the girl.
Spike. No. It's not me. It's a different girl, OK?
Her name is Cassie Newton. Please, do you know anything specific?
- Don'tdon't leave me. Stay here, and help me be quiet.
I think it's worse when I'm here.
- Don't let him hurt the girl.
- Well, there's nothing in this one. What've you got?
- Where's your hall pass?
- No hall pass. I got a free period.
- You seem kind of upset. Something on your mind?
No, not really. Well, I got a lousy "B" in Egyptian history.
Knew this stuff cold, so that, you know, that pisses me off.
- You get pissed off a lot?
- No, I
- Let me cut to the chase.
I hear you can't get a date for the winter formal.
Oh, whoa, look, I know it's your job to talk to kids with problems, but
honestly I don't have any. I'm fine.
All right, look, it's really no big deal.
I have a friend that I really wanted to takeI don't know,
I guess she doesn't see me that way. She makes me crazy.
- Crazy?
- Yeah, sometimes I jus That's funny. You're Dawn's sister, right?
- Uh, that's right. Dawn is my sister.
- Oh, that's so weird. I was just thinking about her.
Yeah, I was thinking if, you know, Cassie won't budge, maybe I'll ask Dawn.
- You aren't mad at Cassie, with her rejecting you like that?
- Nah, she's a girl right? Making boys crazy is like your job description.
You're asking my sister to the dance, and she's your second choice?
I'll be keeping an eye on you.
- Seems like someone's got quite a coin collection, huh?
- You wanted to see me?
You have locker number 281?
- Yeah, why?
I want you to tell me what this is, and what this has to do with a girl named Cassie Newton.
I don't know. I-i-it's late. I'm going to miss my bus.
- I know it's late.
That's why I don't have time to mess around, so you need to talk to me. Now.
- Believe me, i-i-if I knew anything, I'd tell you. I just don't.
- Do you know why I came back to Sunnydale High?
- To creep me out?
To help. I'm a counselor here because I wanna help.
I know what it's like to walk these halls and feel lost, alone.
I just want to make things better, connect.
And I'm going to connect with your face if you don't stop wasting my time and help me do my job.
- I please, I
- A girl could die.
- I guess I know who you're talking about. She's some weirdo suicidal poet girl.
These guys I know wanna mess with her. They've got this plan
- Well, I guess this is goodbye.
No. I mean, let me walk you home.
- Oh, don't worry about it, I'm going to my Mom's. It's kinda far.
- Far is good.
- Dawn, I know what's going on here.
- What?
- Buffy told you about me, right? She told you to pretend to be my friend?
No. Maybe. Cassie, she was scared. She wanted to help you.
- Well, she can't.
- Maybe she can. She's not like you think. She's got powers of helping.
And look, she was worried and now I'm worried and I wasn't pretending at all.
I really wanted to be your friend.
You are my friend.
- I am?
- Yeah. Just remember, I'm not as dumb as I look.
I'm glad.
- Hey, Summers!
Listen, Dawn, whatever happens now, it's not your fault, OK?
Uh Uh, what's up, Peter?
- I was just wondering if anyone had asked you to winter formal.
What? Oh, uh, no. not exactly.
Well, uh, I was just doing a poll. I'll see you.
That guy is such an ***.
Cassie? Cassie? Cassie!
- All present?
- All present.
Then we begin. Mandel, shut up.
- Sorry, dude, it's It's just so cool,
I mean We're gonna be rich!
- Keep your shorts, all right.
We have to do the ritual if we wanna score.
Oh, Keith, did you take care of the fire exits?
Yeah. Anybody tries to bust in here's gonna get a nasty surprise.
I set up this *** trap my cousin Ben always used to do
Then nobody is getting in
and nobody is getting out.
- Dude.
This is our sacrifice.
Extinguish.
- OK, thatis going on your permanent record.
Wait, this isthe counselor! What the hell is she doing here?
I-it was his idea!
- Back off. Get back!
- Do you know how lame this is?
Bored teenage boys trying to raise up a demon. Sorry it didn't show.
I bet it's 'cause you forgot the boom box playing some heavy metal thing,
like Blue Clam Cult. I think that's the key to the raising of lame demons.
That lame demon?
Dude, help!
- No!
- No! Ow!
- Spike?
- Here to help. No hurting the girl.
- Untie her. I'll take care of this.
- She'll tell you. Someday she'll tell you.
- Are you OK?
- Uh-huh. Ow.
You can't be dead. Where are my infinite riches? Ahh! Ahh! It bit me!
C'mon.
- Help! Help me, please! I'm bleeding.
Sorry. My office hours are 10 to 4.
- It's all OK now. I hope you're not too disappointed.
See? You can make a difference.
- And you will.
- Cassie? Cassie. Cassie. No, come on. Cassie. Cassie.
- How is her mom?
OK. As OK as she told me that her family had a history
of heart irregularities, but she never told Cassie.
- Cassie didn't know? Then it was fate?
- I think she was gonna die, no matter what, wasn't she. Didn't matter what you did.
- She just knew. She was special. I failed her.
Uh-uh. No. You didn't, 'cause you tried. You listened,
and you tried. She died 'cause of her heart, not 'cause of you.
She was my friend because of you. I guess sometimes you can't help.
- So what then? What do you do when you know that?
When you know that maybe you can't help?