Anya Jenkins

"Buffy?" said the giantess's voice again. "Is that you?"

"Anya?" asked Buffy. "Er, yes, it's me. Can you put me down, please? You're starting to hurt my ribs."

"Sorry, Buffy," said Anya. "I'll put you in my purse."

"No!" cried Buffy. "Not your purse!"

"Okay, I'll put you on this bench," said Anya, placing an used gym towel over Buffy to hide her from the view of the other girls.

"Gee, Buffy," said Anya. "I always thought that you were a bit shorter than me, but this is ridiculous."

"This wasn't my idea," said Buffy. "Someone put a spell on me."

"Oh, really?" asked Anya. "Who did it?"

"Am -- er, nobody really," said Buffy.

"Oh, really?" asked Anya. "And I take it that you're mad at this person?"

"Wouldn't you be, in my place?" asked Buffy.

"Why, yes," said Anya. "Would you like to get back at this person?"

"Why, yes," said Buffy. "But not right now. Right now I just want to get back to my normal size."

"Well, you could make a wish, you know," said Anya.

"Why would I want to do a dumb thing like that?" asked Buffy.

"What makes you think it would be dumb?" asked Anya with a frown.

"Because people in the real world don't solve problems through wishing," said Buffy. "If they did, my parents would still be married and Ms. Calendar would still be alive."

"Perhaps if you made the right wish in front of the right person..." said Anya.

"I'm sorry, Anya," said Buffy. "I know you mean well, but that just sounds stupid."

"I'm trying to help you, Buffy," Anya said through gritted teeth.

"And I appreciate that but right now I need to see someone who really knows something about magic," said Buffy. "Like Giles."

"Oh, really?" said Anya.

"No offense," said Buffy.

"None taken," said Anya.

"I'm sure you know a lot of stuff about a lot of things but I don't really think you can help me as much as Giles can," said Buffy.

"You're right," said Anya.

Anya reached into her purse and pulled out some earplugs.

"What are those for?" asked Buffy, but Anya just silently inserted an earplug into each of her ears without answering.

Then she grabbed Buffy and threw her into her purse, not even giving her as much as a handkerchief to cover herself with.

"Hey!" exclaimed Buffy, but Anya obviously could not hear her.

Then Anya stood up and said, "I think I'm going to play hooky today and go see my old friend Hallie. I'm sure the two of us can find a lot to talk about. And it's not like there's anything else I really need to do today."

"But what about me?" cried Buffy. "What about Giles? I thought you were going to help me."

Anya just smiled as if an invisible someone had just told her a really funny joke. Then she exited the locker room with Buffy trapped inside her purse.