Three Months Later
Tara left the room disappointed and disgusted with herself. Four meetings deep and all she managed to do was to take minutes once and assist with several cookie bake sales in the Quad. Frustration deepened when she realized these Wicca wannabe's were just feminists in disguise. None seemed remotely interested in anything she had to say about the things her mother taught her and they were all "Goddess" this and "Gaia" that, and so she stopped talking. She might have quit going altogether but the impulse to have human contact (besides her classes) was too strong and she swore after every meeting it would be her last until once again that feeling tugged at her heart.
Tara knew she was very fortunate to have a full scholarship at Sunnydale U, but money was tight and she made every penny count. To have a little extra to spend on simple items like candles and incense at the local 'magic shop', she took a job at a local coffee place, the Espresso Pump. She worked her way up from the kitchen to bussing to being a barista and it was that she enjoyed - serving people. Although no one knew her name (even with her big shiny name tag displayed prominently on her vest) she got to know everyone's names. Well, she thought with amusement, the names she gave them.
There was "Extra Large Double Double", a older gentleman from Canada. All she knew about him was that in Canada, they drank big coffees with two shots of cream and two tablespoons of sugar. He didn't tip, so she guessed that they didn't tip for coffee in Canada.
Another fellow, who was rather pleasant looking (if not for his leer at her cleavage on occasion - harmless really) who ordered his coffee black and liked to have it in a thermos. He looked like a construction worker, but she called him "Pervy Guy" just the same. He always tipped, unless of course he was with his clingy oddball girlfriend, a pretty socially awkward blonde. She ordered a cappuccino with lots of sugar, syrup and whip cream. She always counted her change and never tipped, ever. Tara dubbed her "Wing Ding A Cha-Ching"
Pervy Guy and Wing Ding A Cha-Ching sometimes sat at a table with an even stranger group of people. A 40 something Englishman with a thing for Earl Grey tea ( "The Earl of Grey"), a blonde athletic girl who drank syrupy coffees ("Sugar Much") and a very cute red head who loved chocolate lattes ("Red Eye"). When they were all together, they would tip her well, but they didn't seem to notice her at all so she figured that they must have tipped out of habit. They were always talking in hushed tones and looked nervous at times. Tara thought they looked like a dysfunctional family of sorts. A family with laptop and books.
A lot of the college crowd hung around the Pump, as she called it, and they mostly studied and took up space. They'd nurse a small coffee for her entire shift and would take up three or four tables. They didn't tip either. What was it about people in Sunnydale? Must be a California thing, she surmised.
On the rare occasion she took a evening shift and a different lot occupied the tables and chairs. They were worse than the college kids because they didn't order anything! They just sat around gazing at the people on the main street as if they were sizing them up for...well...for a meal! The worst one of them was a creepy British man who looked alot like Billy Idol. She called him "Billy Wannabe" and avoided him at all costs. He never seemed to notice her anyways. Actually none of them did. Sometimes on break, Tara would look in the mirror just to make sure she wasn't invisible or something.
Eventually she had to quit the job. The money was okay but she was starting to lose important study time. She would miss certain customers...a lot but she came to Sunnydale to get her degree, not to become a waitress. On her last shift, as she was hanging up her barista smock for the last time, she noticed the dysfunctional family come in. She was sad - she would never get to know their real names. It's was bittersweet so she opted to take the back door to avoid being ignored by them one more time. That's just what you do to survive, she thought.
Back at the dorm, she entered her room and was relieved to see her roommate had come and gone without incident. A small note pinned to Tara's pillow let her know when the girl would return. She sighed and looked around at the lights strung around the room and smiled slightly. It reminded her of the beautiful night skies back...where she came from. Suddenly a well of emotions quelled up inside her and Tara felt a tear fall down from her cheek and she wiped it off quickly. "I really thought life was going to be different here", she said aloud as she sobbed to the empty room. That night was long and she never felt so lonely. Maybe she had been wrong about everything. Maybe her father had been right after all, and she repelled people with what she truly was. It took along time before she finally fell into a fitful sleep.