Tara adjusted her shoulder bag nervously. She had made it to her university's orientation day to start the new semester. She glanced around nervously around the grounds. The university was small and she had moved with her father and brother to Sunnydale only two months earlier.
Since her mother died six months ago, her father had been rather clingy towards her and her brother Donny. Tara guessed it was part of her father's grieving process to be more attached to her and Donny, she didn't overly mind either and was grateful that she would have someone to come home to each day from uni. Her brother was a mechanic and had picked up a job easily enough in Sunnydale, while Tara was more of a homebody and hadn't gone out too much over the summer preferring to be in her room reading her books.
And now she was out of her comfort zone. She peered down at the time table in her hand, seeing that there were several events on that day- workshops to help prepare you for the stress of uni and other useful academic workshops.
"Hey champ" Tara heard a clear voice from behind her. She whipped around to see a slightly shorter girl with dark hair and intense brown eyes gaze back at her. The girl flashed a smile.
"You look lost" she commented, noticing Tara's awkward stance.
"I-I-I'm new" Tara said lamely, silently cursing herself over her stutter which she had since she was two.
"I gathered that" chuckled the brunette beauty "I'm Faith" she stuck out a hand in introduction.
Tara shook her hand "Tara"
"So what are you studying kiddo?" Faith said light heartedly.
"Psychology. W-what about you?" Tara replied.
"Bio-medical science" Faith replied casually. "I'm in my second year"
"T-that's very impressive" Tara said, taken aback. Everything about Faith screamed that she wasn't your typical uni student- leather jacket, tank top, Doc Martins, dark pants. She looked ready for the nightclub than a lecture.
"The harder you work the luckier you get" Faith replied with a half smile. "I screwed up badly in high school but, if you've got a dream you gotta make that happen, right?"
Tara was simply silent and nodded. Not only was this girl talking to her, which Tara was used to being ignored in school and being a wall flower but this girl was already quite open with who she was.
"Shall I give you the grand tour?" Faith said, noticing the pamphlets in Tara's hand.
"That would be appreciated" Tara smiled. "Only, if you don't mind" she added shyly.
"Not at all. I'm a volunteer for the day, all part of the duty" she winked. "Follow me"
Tara smiled shyly at the girl's confident attitude and walked beside the girl to the main courtyard where many stalls with freebies were set up.
"Here we have the main hang out area. During semester there's music with bean bags around lunch time. Good place to chill out" Faith noted "The stalls have heaps of free shit. This year they have USBs, have you got one yet?" Faith looked up at Tara.
Tara shook her head "I only really just got here"
"Okay, hold tight. I'll be back" Faith left Tara standing before the stalls to go behind one of the university's orientated stall to only return with a couple of USBs and pens.
"Merry Christmas" Faith grinned and placed the goods in Tara's hand. "Even if it has the uni's logo on, it'll save you some money. Speaking of which…" Faith grabbed the blonde's hand and led Tara past a few buildings to a smaller building labelled 'Student Common Room'.
"Here you can get free bread each Thursdays. Totally worth coming in on Thursdays for the free food" she said wisely.
"Sounds good to me" Tara smiled, not complaining about the free stuff to save some money. "S-so you know all the freebies in this place hey?" Tara asked, trying to make conversation.
"Oh absolutely. I'm a typical uni student, you know? Living off two minute noodles and such" Faith replied.
"Well, maybe sometime I can make you something decent… I'm a good cook" Tara said softly, hoping to make a friend.
"You'd do that?" Faith's eyes widened at the opportunity. "Hey, I'm not going to say no to that!"
Tara smiled to herself. "Whenever you're free"
Faith gave a grin. "I haven't seen you around much before. Do you go into town much? I mean, Sunnydale isn't exactly huge"
"Not really" Tara said meekly. "I'm new around here. I've been in Sunnydale for about two months"
"You should come out to The Bronze sometime" Faith said, nudging her with her elbow. "Best place in town. Well, only decent place in town, but it's five by five, you know?"
Tara raised an eyebrow, "Five by-"
"Hey Faith!" Tara was cut off by a short blonde approaching her and Faith.
"Hey B" Faith greeted the shorter girl. Tara detected an icy vibe from Faith, something was off balance...
"Who's your friend?" the blonde's green eyes laid onto Tara.
"Tara this is Buffy, Buffy, Tara" Faith said simply, Tara could feel a strained tension between the two.
"Hi" Tara said weakly.
"Nice to meet you" Buffy gave a polite smile before she turned back to Faith. "Walsh wants you to take over BBQ duties in five minutes"
"Done deal" Faith nodded.
"Was nice to meet you again" Buffy said before walking away from the pair. Tara wondered what conflict happened between the two to have such a short conversation.
"Guess we'll have to cut our grand tour short. But come by the BBQ, more free food" Faith joked. "But seriously though" she reached for one of the pens that Tara held. "Give me your hand" she instructed.
Tara held out her hand that wasn't holding her timetable, USBs and pens for Faith to write her number down.
"Text me later and we can go out to The Bronze sometime. Or if you need help at uni or whatever, text me" she said seriously. She thought for a second "Actually text me when you can, I'm keen for that free feed"
"Oh so you like me for my free food" Tara joked, not knowing where she got her sudden confidence to banter from.
"Man, I didn't mean to give off that impression" Faith looked slightly alarmed at the thought of offending Tara.
"I was, um, joking" Tara said, thinking that her banter needs work.
"You got me. But seriously, I think you're cool and I wanna get to know you more" Faith said, looking relieved.
"I'd like that" Tara smiled.
"I gotta run. But text me, okay?" Faith said hopefully.
"I will" Tara gave a big smile. "And um, thankyou for the tour"
"It was pretty lame ass, but sure. Catch ya soon blondie" Faith winked before walking back to the court yard with the stalls.
Tara watched Faith walk away.
"Maybe uni won't be so bad" she murmured to herself.
Tara walked out of the lecture theatre, after hearing an hour talk of what to expect for this semester she was hungry.
'Free food sounds like a good option. Faith still might be there', she thought hopefully as she exited the building.
"Um, hey" a red head girl Tara recognised from the lecture theatre walked up to her.
"Hi" Tara smiled, slightly unsure what the red head wanted.
"I saw that we're both in the same class. Maybe we can be study buddies?" the hazel eyed girl said hopefully with a goofy smile.
"Sure, I'd like that. I'm Tara" Tara smiled at the thought of making another friend.
"Willow" she smiled. "So uh, have you studied here before? I don't seem to recognise you"
"I'm a first year. New to Sunnydale" Tara replied. "W-what about you?"
"First year psyche student but did a year last year of Business Studies. Too many numbers and boringness. Wasn't my thing, so major change of… Well, my major" Willow frowned, trying to find a better way to complete her sentence.
Tara couldn't help but smile at the babble kind of way Willow spoke.
"That's fair enough. You've lived in Sunnydale for a long time then?" Tara asked, attempting to keep the conversation flowing.
"Yeah, all my life" Willow smiled. "D-do you wanna get some lunch?" Willow looked at Tara hopefully.
"You read my mind. All that talk of study and preparation and such brings on an appetite. I hear there is a free BBQ" Tara replied, starting to relax around the shorter girl. Tara noticed her slight stutter immediately and felt like she could really bond with her.
"Oh you heard right. My friend Buffy is helping with that" Willow smiled as she led Tara down to the stall area.
"I met her earlier on today" Tara commented, wondering how close her and Buffy were and curious to know about the tension between Buffy and Faith.
"Yeah? Me and her have been best friends since high school. She's studying fitness" Willow said proudly.
"Cool" Tara said politely, not surprised at all by this seeing how strong the short blonde looked. They soon approached the line for the BBQ. Tara was pleased to see that Faith was there cooking up the sausages and saw that Buffy was serving the people in line. Faith looked up that moment to lock eyes with Tara's and gave a smile.
"Hey Tara, come here!" Faith called out. Tara walked past the other people in line, leaving Willow behind her. Faith quickly assembled the standard sausage in a roll complete with fried onions and quickly passed it to Tara.
"Here, special treatment for ya" she grinned.
"Thanks Faith" Tara smiled, accepting the food gratefully. "Guessing it's busy?" She felt slightly bad about cutting in front of the dozen of other people.
"It's alright. To be expected, ya know?" she shrugged. "My shift ends pretty soon though"
"C-come find me after hey?" Tara said, hoping the brunette will hang out with her after.
"Of course. Gotta finish that grand tour right?" Faith said with a half grin.
"Right" Tara replied. "I'd uh, better stop distracting you…"
"Oh please, distract away. But yeah… I should probably keep working" Faith glanced over to Buffy who gave her a dirty look. "Gunna get in trouble otherwise" she rolled her eyes.
"See you soon then" Tara said, turning away from Faith and walked back to Willow. Willow's face had fallen.
"Oh… You know Faith…?" Willow's voice had made it sound crossed between a statement and a question at the same time.
"Yeah, I met her earlier today" Tara replied, wondering if the two of them had problems. "You know her?" she asked and took a bite of her lunch.
"Yeah… It's kinda a long story though…" Willow looked at Tara concern etched on her face.
"Oh" Tara wasn't sure what to say. She was a real loner in high school and was excited to gain some friends in university.
Willow lowered her voice, "Just look out for her, hey?"
Tara was taken aback. Was Faith dangerous?
"Oh… Um, okay" Tara had no idea how to respond to that. Faith had seemed to be really nice to her so far.
"Well… To be fair, it did happen a long time ago" Willow seemed to be talking out loud as she shuffled forward in the line.
"Can I ask what happened?" Tara said, curiosity getting the better of her.
"She's evil" Willow said flatly.
Tara's blue eyes blinked in confusion.
"E-evil?"
"I'll tell you after. In private, ya know?" Willow replied.
"Okay… Um, I might grab us a seat?" Tara suggested, noticing how busy it was around campus with other students filling up the courtyard.
"Sounds good, I'll catch up" Willow said cheerfully.
Tara found a spare table near one of the lecture halls. She sat down and continued to eat her lunch hoping that Willow would find her and began to wonder about Faith. Faith seemed nice enough and was eager to have a friend too. Was she a crazy girl or just misunderstood like Tara was…
Within minutes the red head had found her and sat down next to her.
"Isn't it kind of amazing? The simple combination of sausage, bread, onions and sauce make such a good lunch?" she mused before taking a bite.
"Us humans are kind of weird" Tara noted "But it does taste good" She wanted to ask about Faith but decided not to push it right away.
"So why psychology?" Tara asked, changing the subject in her mind. "Seems a big leap from Business"
"I want to help people" Willow said simply. "There's so much pain out there. I want to help" Her eyes were full of compassion.
"I know what you mean… I-I mean, that's my reason too" Tara said. "I can also feel other people's feelings… I think it's useful" Tara added, deciding to reveal some details about herself.
"Oh really? Like a human mood ring?" Willow asked eagerly.
Tara laughed. "Sort of. Depends how close I am to the person or how strong their energy is"
Willow looked at her impressed. "That's amazing"
Tara blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed at Willow's eagerness. "It can be useful" she said softly.
"So detected any vibes here today?" Willow asked curiously.
"O-o-only once" Tara wasn't sure to let on what she knew about Buffy and Faith. "Although it's harder to separate everyone's feelings when there is a lot of people around. I don't like crowds much. Too overwhelming" she explained.
"That's understandable" Willow looked like she was thinking deeply. "Can you turn it off?"
Tara shook her head "Not really"
"That sucks" Willow looked sad. "So what did you pick up today?"
"Um… To be honest, I could feel that something wasn't right between Faith and Buffy…" Tara knew that she was a bad liar.
"Ah. Yeah you would feel that. That powerful though huh?" Willow mused. Tara nodded her head. "I was going to tell you about all that… Long story short, Faith tried to steal Buffy's boyfriend. They had a fight and Faith put Buffy in hospital. To be fair, Buffy put Faith in hospital too. I guess as Buffy's best friend I'm going to take her side. They're both as tough as each other" Willow shrugged.
"Oh… Okay" Tara wasn't sure what to make of that. "But it happened a long time ago?"
"About five years ago, I guess" Willow said, finishing off her lunch. "She has changed, but there's some stuff that you can't forgive, you know?"
"Yeah I guess so" Tara said, not really sure what to add.
"Anyways, that's Faith. Hey, are you going to join any of the clubs? Enjoy the full potential of uni?" Willow asked brightly.
Tara was grateful for the subject change. "Um, I heard there's a-a-a LGBT guild" she said shyly.
"Yeah there is" Willow said warmly "I'm part of it. Except it's only really just drinks once every month. Not overly that exciting"
Tara smiled, she felt slightly scared admitting she was gay but grateful Willow didn't alienate her straight away.
"Oh cool. So you're….?" Tara didn't finish the sentence but hoping that Willow was also a lesbian, to not feel so alone.
"Oh no. I'm straight but an ally. I have a boyfriend" Willow said casually. "It's more of a gay straight alliance. Not many gay people here"
"Oh" Tara's heart sank. So once again she would probably be in isolation.
"But it's a decent night out most of the time" Willow said, noticing Tara's disappointment, not realising that it wasn't about the drinks.
"What else are you apart of?" Tara asked curiously.
"Not much… I volunteer in the library a lot for newbies who need help."
"That's cool" Tara said. "I might need your help"
"Well, if it's anything to do with computers, I'm your gal" Willow said proudly. Willow looked down at her watch "Sorry to cut this short but I need to go, I said I'd meet Oz after his lecture"
"Oh of course, that's fine. Is Oz your boyfriend?" Tara wondered.
Willow had already stood up and put the napkin that was given with lunch in a near by bin. "Yeah he is. He's a guitarist for a band. You should come see them play at The Bronze sometime" Willow said cheerfully.
"I'm sure I will" Tara replied politely, taking note of the mention about the Bronze.
"See ya Tara" Willow waved before walking off.
"Bye" Tara replied. Having finished her own lunch and knowing that she didn't have to attend another workshop for a while she decided to get a coffee. She swung her bag over her shoulder and went to the uni café. Walking past the stalls, she looked over to see if Faith was still serving everyone hot dogs. The brunette was missing from catering duty and Tara figured that she would send a text to Faith's number once she got her coffee.
Tara pushed against the glass door to the entrance of the café only to be bumped into.
"Sorry" Tara said looking down, her force of habit in her shy personality usually meant she apologized for things she didn't need to apologize for.
"Think it was my fault blondie" a familiar voice greeted her ears.
Tara looked up to see Faith holding a cup of coffee and giving her a half grin.
"I was just thinking of texting you" Tara said truthfully.
"I have to admit, when I was finished my shift I was kinda disappointed to not see any text messages" Faith joked.
"Sorry" Tara said again, shyly breaking eye contact.
"Hey, it's no big. Don't stress" Faith said gently. "Want a coffee?"
"I'd love one" Tara nodded.
"This one is on me, for bailing on ya before" Faith said.
"Thankyou Faith" Tara smiled, they both walked to the back of the queue. Faith sipped her coffee.
"I saw you with Red before" Faith said casually.
"Who?" Tara said surprised, she had only been with Willow.
"Willow. Ya know, her red hair. It's open to nicknames" Faith explained.
"Oh. Yeah, she's also studying psychology" Tara replied.
"Huh. I thought she was in Business" Faith frowned.
"She changed majors" Tara said, remembering Willow's explanation from previous.
"Hm, fair call" Faith took another sip of her coffee.
"How was BBQ duty?" Tara asked, wanting to avoid the tension regarding Willow.
"Was alright. Tough job, ya know? Feeding a bunch of hungry uni students. Can be like animals" she winked, clearly joking.
Tara liked her easy going nature.
"How was your thing?" Faith asked, "Course talk, right?"
"That's right. It was, sort of boring really" Tara wrinkled her nose. "Not that inspiring to be honest"
Faith gave a chuckle "Yeah, that's the way they usually. I mean, they try but usually get boring old people to give the talks"
"You're not wrong there" Tara giggled, recalling the grey haired profession from her course talk earlier.
"It gets better though" Faith said gently. "Most lecturers here are pretty cool. It's a decent uni"
"That's good to know" Tara smiled at the reassurance.
The pair made their way to the counter, the girls in front of them walked away with take away coffee cups in hand.
"What do you want?" Faith glanced at Tara, as she reached into her jeans pocket to retrieve her wallet.
"L-l-latte… W-w-with soy milk" Tara said softly, closing her eyes at the first word of stuttering. Ordering food was always the worst and closing her eyes made it slightly easier to get through the bad stutter patches.
"Sorry? What was that?" The cashier asked gently, clearly not being able to hear Tara's quiet voice. Tara looked down, closing her eyes and about to repeat her order.
"Just a soy latte, thanks" Tara heard Faith say. Tara snapped her head up to see Faith give an encouraging smile.
"Thankyou" she said softly.
"Don't mention it T" Faith pulled out $5 and handed it to the cashier.
Within minutes Faith and Tara sat at one of the tables outside the café, both clutching their coffee cups.
"So why Sunnydale, T?" Faith asked. "Why here?"
Tara took a sip of her liquid gold before answering.
"My Dad wanted a change of scene from Texas. So my brother and I came along with him." She took a breath before continuing. "My mother died last year, so Dad is rather clingy since we lost Mom. Was easier to stay with him and Donny."
"Man, I'm sorry to hear that" Faith's husky voice lowered. "Must suck"
"Yeah… I miss her a lot" Tara said quietly.
"I bet. Guessing you were close huh?"
Tara nodded. "Not to sound stereotypical, but she was one of my best friends. I would tell her everything."
"Best friend? Your Mom?" Faith's head leaned to the side, not fully understanding.
"I… Wasn't popular in school" Tara looked down at the table in front of them, embarrassed of her social standing.
"Why not?" Faith frowned, she crossed her legs casually.
Tara shrugged. "I don't know…" she mumbled.
"Well, they're losers" Faith concluded.
Tara glanced up and had a small smile. "Yeah, they were. But I'm glad I had my Mom, you know?"
Faith nodded. "Yeah, you're lucky there. My Mom wasn't really there for me" she said offhandedly.
"No? What about your father?"
"Dead beat drunk who left when I was 12" Faith said flatly. "It's fine. You learn to get by"
"Oh Faith, I'm sorry." Tara said sadly.
"Nah, it's cool. Don't worry about it" Faith shrugged. "Its life, ya know? Sometimes life deals you an ace, sometimes you get a joker. I got a joker there"
"Still…" Tara said, unsure of how to help the brunette in front of her.
"It's no big. I won a scholarship for this place" Faith said proudly. "Like I said, sometimes life deals you an ace"
"That's amazing. You must have been so happy" Tara said encouragingly.
"Was bloody stoked as" Faith beamed. "Hey, what are you doing tonight?"
"Um, probably cooking for Dad and Donny, but not much else" Tara said lamely. She didn't have many hobbies.
"I was gunna ask if you wanna come to The Bronze with me tonight. It's a Wednesday, so it's not a massive big act on tonight. More of an acoustic scene if ya keen?" Faith said.
"I'd love to" Tara said straight away, she couldn't remember the last time someone asked her to anything, not to mention she had never been to see a music performance.
"Awesome" Faith smiled. She then drained the rest of her coffee. "Ready for that tour?"
"Sure thing" Tara stood up and followed the brunette past the café.
Turned out that Sunnydale University was a lot smaller than Tara anticipated and Faith's tour was over in less than ten minutes.
"I know it's overwhelming at the start, but everything is in short walking distance" Faith concluded as they made their way to the café.
"It is small" Tara commented.
Faith chuckled. "It is. But it's kinda good in that way. Not far to run if you're late for a class" she joked.
"That is true" Tara agreed.
"So uh, I'll see you tonight? Say 7pm?" Faith asked referencing to The Bronze.
"I'll be there" Tara promised. "I'll text you soon so you have my number"
"Sounds like a deal. I'll see you then T, I gotta go… Volunteer stuff and what not" Faith shifted uncomfortably.
"Oh of course. See you later tonight" Tara replied brightly.
"See ya" With that Faith headed back to the stalls past the café.
Tara couldn't wipe the smile off her face, the thought of Faith being 'evil' lingered briefly in the back of her mind, but for the most part she had made at least one good friend with the potential of Willow being good friend number two. Things seemed to be looking up for her in Sunnydale.
A/N: If you liked it, please leave a review :)