Cordelia

"Seriously?" Xander raised his head and asked the sky and he presumed the being of power that visited his dream last night. "Not exactly subtle."

He looked directly in front of him and at the red BMW that had just pulled in with his new ex-girlfriend Cordelia Chase behind the wheel.

"Fuck my life." Xander grumbled. He shook his head, "Still...."

He'd asked for divine help in this Cordelia situation and he seemed to have gotten some. So it was time to see if his two choices power was worth a damn.

Unless he was just dreaming last night. In which case he was about to make a damn fool of himself.

"Fantastic." Xander groaned. Hitching his pack higher up on his shoulder Xander gritted his teeth and hurried toward Cordelia.

When he saw her eyes widen he knew she had seen him. And given the small mouth movement she was cursing about.

Putting his hands out at his sides to appear non hostile Xander approached as Cordelia tried to hurry and get out of her car. He rolled his eyes pitched his voice to carry and said, "I just want to ask a question."

What exactly he was going to say he hadn't decided yet.

Stepping out of her car in a very nice little red dress Cordelia gave him a hard stare. She gave a disgusted sounding sigh, "Fine. Just get it over with."

"Could you tell me the real reason you dumped me? Not the bullshit you said at the dance. I just wanna know, you know?" Which wasn't what he really wanted to ask to test his power but he hadn't really thought up a 'either/or' question yet. He hadn't expected to see Cordy first thing in the morning.

Another disgusted sound, this time a scoff as she tapped her foot on the ground. "Seriously?"

He shrugged. "I wanna know." He smiled as he suddenly had a test question for his power. "I mean... would you rather tell me the real reason or streak naked thru the school?" Seeing the glare falter as she heard his question he added in, "Naked for all the weirdos, mouth breathers and perverts to see."

Xander held his breath and it seemed to him that time stopped. Nothing moved, there wasn't a single solitary sound of nature to be heard and Cordelia stared almost blindly at him like she had been put on autopilot. After at least ten seconds, but probably less, time dragging out due to tension Xander rationalized, Cordelia answered. Answered in a blank autopilot way, devoid of emotions.

"I dumped you because Harmony and the Cordettes were bullying me for dating you. Which made me realized dating you would mean I wasn't the most popular girl in the school anymore. Dating you harmed my popularity slightly so I dumped you."

Xander just blinked in wonder at the answer. He had suspected but... to hear it coldy, clinically, dispassionately stated by Cordy? It was like being hit in the nuts with a sledgehammer. He stared at still on autopilot Cordelia and blinked again. He worked his mouth but couldn't think of anything to say other than profanity.