"Oh, yeah, they definitely are," Buffy assured the younger blonde with a nod and a smile. "You’re doing way better than I did when I was your — well, you know, a couple years ago,” she amended with an awkward chuckle. God, when did she start sounding so old..?
"I just know that high school can be… really tough." Extraordinarily tough. Supernaturally tough. "And I know there’s been a lot of loss for this school, so, y’know, understandably… grief follows. And I’m here to help you guys, any way that I can, even if it is just talking." Buffy hoped Caroline understood she was being sincere, here. It was tricky to convey that sometimes, what with grown-ups being the ultimate bad guys when you were a regular teen. Although… there was something off about Caroline. Something she couldn’t quite place? So she was hoping she felt comfortable to open up, even just a little. Whatever helped.
Miss Summers' awkward chuckle was met with a small giggle of her own, a small smile replacing the slightly nervous grin that had been directed at the woman before her. Caroline had to give her some credit, between some students not taking her seriously because of her age and the schools terrible track record of mysterious deaths, trying to give counsel to the students has to be quite a challenge. The slightly older blonde didn't seem to be letting all the things stacked against her hold her down, she was trying to be supportive and there for Caroline and the younger blonde wasn't sure how to respond.
She didn't know what to say, the things that were weighing on her mind weren't things that she could really open up and tell just anyone. There were only two types of responses she could think of if she spoke up about her troubles and one of those responses was a stake to the heart, which wasn't something Caroline wanted to bring down upon herself. Guilt simmered below the soft smile that Caroline was directing at the counselor, Miss Summers was trying and she was avoiding. That wasn't fair.
"High school isn't the tough part..." Caroline is popular, she is captain of the cheerleading squad, had good grades, school was one of the things on her to-do list that she was getting through just fine. Sure there had been a time in the past when all those accomplishments left her feeling nothing but hollow, but she'd moved past that and had reconnected. "It's... everything else. All these weird happenings-- the deaths, my dad... Elena." Her voice cracked, her gaze dropping down as her words dropped away. She'd lost a lot over the last year, and the grief over the actual deaths was only made worse by the lack of contact with certain friends that were still alive, hopefully.
