Chapter One

Willow Rosenberg smiled as she walked outside and found herself greeted by the warm June sun. Walking to the library was always more pleasant when the weather was nice. Attached to the redhead's side was a tote bag filled with books. Willow did not just go to the library to check out a book or two. When this girl went to the library she came home with as many books as she could carry and she would devour them in no time at all. The librarians all knew her very well by now and seemed to be fascinated by her. Never before had they seen a 15-year-old girl who had so much interest in gaining knowledge.

Willow had become addicted to books back when she was nine years old. That's when her parents started taking business trips all the time, which meant they paid little attention to their daughter. They would leave her with babysitters, but they were always old and boring ones. Willow had to find entertainment on her own and books had provided her with more entertainment than she ever could have imagined.

The redhead took her usual route to the library, admiring how picture perfect her town looked under the bright sunlight. One house in particular caught her attention. She had seen it before, but this time was different. It was the standard suburban house with a white picket fence, but today there was a beautiful girl in a blue sundress sitting on the front step.

The girl's blonde hair was glistening underneath the radiant sun. The light hit the pale, creamy skin of her face just right so that every delicate feature was visible. Her deep, ocean blue eyes were intensely focused on the pages of the book in her hand.

Willow had never seen this girl before which seemed strange to her since they lived in the same neighborhood. She thought she would have at least seen her around school a few times, but she definitely had not. She would have remembered seeing this girl.

What really caught the redhead's attention was the book though. It was rare for her to see a girl her age reading books instead of spending time at the mall or gossiping with friends. Willow sauntered over to the mystery girl without even giving it a second thought. She just felt drawn to her.

"Hi, I'm Willow."

The blonde girl was so engaged in her book that she didn't even realize there was someone standing in front of her until she heard a voice. The unexpected voice startled her so much that she dropped her book in the grass.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Willow exclaimed before picking the book up from the ground and examining the cover. "I didn't mean to scare you. Really, I didn't. I was just passing by but then I saw you sitting here reading and I never see other girls my age reading for fun like I do so I just wanted to talk to you…." she babbled.

"It's okay," the girl spoke softly, giving the redhead a sweet half smile. "I was just surprised, that's all. I'm Tara, by the way. Tara Maclay."

"Through the Looking Glass," Willow read from the cover of the book before handing it back to its owner. "The sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Do you like it?"

Tara timidly nodded her head in response.

It felt so weird for her to actually engage in conversation with someone her age. Usually her peers just pretended she didn't exist because she was so shy and quiet. Often she felt lonely, though. One reason she had turned to reading books was because of her loneliness. Escaping into a fictional world allowed her to live vicariously through the characters of the book, leaving her loneliness behind for a few hours. Having a friend was what she wanted more than anything though. Books were great but they would never compare to having a great friendship. Someone you could talk to about anything no matter how silly or serious it was. Someone that would always be there for you. That was what Tara Maclay desired most.

"I love it," she finally spoke up. "It's fascinating. Have you read it before?"

Willow shook her head.

"No, I don't read novels very often. I spend most of my time reading nonfiction books. I love discovering new facts about, well, anything," she explained before showing her new acquaintance the contents of her bag.

Tara's eyes widened, shocked by how many books she saw.

"Wow," she said softly. "That's impressive.

Willow brightened when Tara complimented her. She was half expecting to be called a nerd or a freak or some other name. That's the only response she had ever gotten from the kids at school.

"Thanks," Willow said with a smile, taking a seat next to Tara on the step. "Hey, why haven't I seen you around school? Do you not go to Sunnydale High?"

Tara shook her head.

"No, my parents don't really like the idea of me going to public school. I go to the private school, St. Paul's," she explained. "I wish I could go to Sunnydale High though. I'm not a huge fan of my school."

"Trust me, Sunnydale High's not great either. I love learning so it's not the classes that I mind. It's the people. I'm not exactly the most popular girl in school," she admitted.

"Oh believe me, neither am I," Tara chimed in. "It's rare for anyone in my school to say a word to me unless they're asking me to move out of their way. I don't have many… well any friends."

Willow saw the sad look on the blonde's face and empathized with her. She felt the same way. Sure, the students at Sunnydale High talked to her but their harsh words were almost worse than no words at all. There was one group of girls in particular who had made it their life's mission to cut her down. She tried not to let it bother her but how could it not?

"I'll be your friend. I don't know you too well yet, but I think you seem pretty great. Anyone who enjoys books as much as I do automatically shoots to the top of my list of favorite people."

Tara giggled quietly at Willow's reasoning.

"I'd love to be your friend, Willow."

The redhead couldn't help but to grin from ear to ear. She was elated to have someone she could call her friend. She would finally have someone to spend time with other than those boring babysitters.

"So I was on my way to the library before we started talking. Do you want to go with me?" Willow asked hopefully.

She could only imagine how much fun it would be to go to the library with someone her age who also liked books. They would be able to recommend books to each other and maybe they could even read some of the same books and talk about them. Like a mini book club! Willow really liked that idea.

Tara nodded her head, smiling.

"Sure, that sounds great. I just have to check with my parents first. They're kind of strict. Wait here and I'll be right back," she told her new friend before scurrying inside.

A few moments later Tara returned, a wide smile on her face after gaining approval from her parents to go to the library. She had fibbed a bit and told them she was going with a girl from her school because if they knew she was going with a girl from Sunnydale High they definitely would have said no. Sometimes her parents were just unreasonable but she was starting to find ways around it.

"Shall we?" She asked.

"We shall," Willow replied as she began to lead the way to her second home, the library.

When the girls arrived there, Willow emptied the contents of her bag by placing each book, one by one, into the return slot. Feeling ten times lighter, she proceeded to enter the building with her new friend close behind her.

"What section do you wanna go to first?" She asked Tara.

"The fantasy section if you don't mind. Maybe I could pick a novel for you to read," she suggested. "I know you like your non-fiction, but there's some pretty amazing fantasy stuff out there too."

"Okay, " the redhead agreed. "I think that would be pretty cool actually."

Willow had been to the library countless times over the past several years so she knew exactly where every genre was located. When they reached it, the two girls wandered around the fantasy section together. Tara was searching for a good novel for Willow and Willow was simply observing her surroundings as usual.

In the lounge area, there was a display of artwork that caught Willow's attention. She walked over to the display, her gaze focused on one painting in particular. The black, purple, and blue paint swirled together in a way that created a very realistic looking galaxy with bright stars scattered everywhere. Willow was amazed that someone had actually created that from a blank canvas.

Once Tara managed to find what she thought was the perfect novel for her new friend, Willow was still staring at all the artwork.

"Whatcha looking at?" Tara asked softly as she approached the redhead from behind.

"Oh, I just saw this art over here and decided to take a look. This painting right here is amazing," she said while pointing at the painting of the galaxy.

Tara's eyes followed where Willow's finger was pointing and she instantly started blushing when she realized what her friend was admiring. That was her painting. Her art teacher had asked her about a month ago if it was okay to enter that painting in the local Young Artist's competition. Tara had given her consent, but she hadn't given it much though since then. Apparently she had done well.

Willow furrowed her brow when she realized how silent Tara was being. She turned around to look at her and saw the blonde's cheeks were flushed a vibrant shade of red.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Tara said, shaking her head. "It's just... that's my painting."

Willow's big green eyes widened to double their normal size. Talk about coincidences. She couldn't have been more shocked if Tara told her she was the Queen of England. She spun around to examine the painting again and sure enough, in the corner the initials T.M were written in small, neat cursive.

"Wow, Tara, I'm impressed. This painting is gorgeous! You're really talented."

By now the blonde's face was on fire. She wasn't used to receiving attention and compliments like this. She found it hard to believe that someone actually liked her work. Her parents had always told her that art was frivolous and silly. They preferred for her to focus on things that had more practical applications in life.

"Thank you. It means a lot. You really like it?" She asked, the surprise in her voice evident. "The only person who's ever complimented me before is my art teacher."

"I love it," Willow responded without missing a beat. "Seriously, it's absolutely mesmerizing. Your painting is the reason I even walked over here in the first place. I wanted to see it close up and then I couldn't look away."

The redhead realized how badly she was making the girl blush and decided to stop with the compliments.

"Okay, I'm done. I don't want your face to catch on fire or anything," she teased. "Then I'd be friendless again."

Tara giggled before holding the book in her hand up for Willow to see.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Willow read the cover.

Tara nodded.

"Yep. This is the book I picked out for you. I mean if you want to read it. You don't have to."

"I want to read it," Willow assured her friend. "If you're recommending it then I'm sure it's great."

She took the book from Tara's hand and placed it in her now empty bag of books. This bag always came with her to the library. There was no way she would be able to carry all the books she planned to check out in her arms.

"So when did you start painting?" Willow asked with peaked curiosity.

"Around third grade when we started working with paints in art class. I don't have any of my own supplies at home so I'm limited to painting in school only. I spend my study halls in the art room though which gives me some time to work on things."

"What made you want to paint the stars? Sorry for asking so many questions. Like I said before, I like finding out new information and I think you're interesting. Color me curious."

Tara found herself blushing again at being called interesting. That was the first time that adjective had been applied to her in her entire life. She usually thought of herself as plain and ordinary, not interesting.

"Well, I love the stars. They're beautiful. I sit in my bed every single night looking out the window and I just stare at them. I've always wanted to go on a camping trip just so I can lie there and look up at the stars all night until I fall asleep."

"That does sound nice," Willow admitted, imagining how peaceful something like that could be.

Suddenly a thought popped into her head.

"Let's have our own little camping trip. I have a tent in my basement. I'm sure we can figure out how to pitch it and then we can camp out in my backyard for the night. It'll be fun!"

Tara's face lit up at the idea of actually sleeping outside and stargazing. Sharing something like that with her new friend would make it even better.

"Really? That would be wonderful. I'll have to check with my parents to make sure it's okay but I don't think there will be a problem. When do you want to me to come over?"

"We could do it tomorrow night if you want. It's not like I have any other plans. My parents are out of town on business and the babysitter is probably the most boring person alive. Having you over will be a very welcome change."

Tara flashed Willow a huge smile.

"Tomorrow night sounds perfect."