After school, the group got together in the square, and there was only one topic of conversation this time.

"So," Buffy inquired, "what do you think of Jasper?"

Willow responded immediately. "She seems nice. But don't you think it's uncanny she's transferring so close to the end of the year?"

"Actually, I think it's foundd with a double 'd'." Oz remarked. Now it was his turn to be stared at by everyone. "Fun and odd put together," he said, trying to save himself. "Foundd with a...never mind." And he gave up.

Xander restarted the original conversation. "Maybe her parents had to move or something."

"Don't you think you're being a little weird Will?" Buffy asked with concern for her friend.

"Yeah," Willow admitted. "I think it's just paranoia. I get a lot of that lately."

Just then, Cordelia walked up to join the group. Dressed in her usual style, she got the same reaction from Xander that Jasper had.

"Hey. Have you guys seen the new girl?" she blurted, not even pausing for a decent hello.

"Who, Jasper?" Buffy answered her with a question.

" Yeah, her." Cordelia affirmed Buffy. "Now there's a girl who can dress. She seems cool," Then, Cordelia turned to Buffy to give her her daily slandering. "but, of course, that's what I said about you."

Buffy knew better than to take this seriously by now. "Gee, I feel loved," she remarked in a coy way.

Cordelia didn't let this stop her. "She sounds like she's from out of town. She had a European accent or something."

"And you know what they say about European girls." Xander joked to Oz. They both started laughing, until it hit Oz.

"What...do they say about European girls?"

Everyone stopped talking when they saw Jasper running towards them.

"Buffy!" she called out. "Wait up!" Jasper paused quickly to catch her breath. Then, she continued. "I talked to the woman in the office. Since I'm coming so late in the year, I get to choose my classes. I was thinking, maybe I could spend Monday with you and get to know the teachers."

Buffy turned to Willow and gave her the what-do-you-think-I-should-do look. When Willow shrugged, Buffy knew she was on her own. "Um...yeah. I guess we could do that."

"Great!" Jasper exclaimed. "I feel like celebrating tonight. So, where do we hang out around here?"

Cordy made sure that she was the one to answer her. "Hi, you're Jasper, right? I'm Cordelia. Well, let me give you some advice. If you want to get anywhere in this one Starbuck town, you have to know two things. One: always make sure your makeup style matches your clothing style. Two: the only place worthy of our business is the Bronze."

"The Bronze?" Jasper asked with uncertainty.

"It's pretty much the only place in town," Oz remarked.

Jasper smiled at that remark. "Well, I'm going out tonight. Are you guys going to the Bronze?"

Willow was quick to answer her. "Actually, we were planning..." But she stopped short. Jasper started to stare right into Willow's eyes. Almost instantly, Willow's attitude changed.

"Yes," she remarked, almost drone-like, "we'll be going to the Bronze tonight." Everyone stared at Willow, totally confused.

"Okay!" Jasper cried out. "I'll see you there."

She left, and everyone turned to Willow, demanding an explanation.

"Hey, Willow, I thought we were going golfing tonight." Oz expressed his concern.

Willow seemed confused as well. "I don't know. For some reason I just felt like we had to go to the Bronze tonight. Besides, our anniversary is officially tomorrow. We can go mini-golfing tomorrow night."

"Okay, if that's what you want to do," Oz assured her.

Then, Xander spoke up to Willow. "Geez, you'd think Jasper had given you one of Ted the robot's cookies."

*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\

As the group started to return to the school, they saw Giles coming up to them. Buffy was the first to comment.

"Well, look who ventured out of his cave."

Giles didn't seem to notice her remark. "Buffy, I'm glad I found you. Listen, I feel that you've been working too hard. Why don't you take a couple days off?"

Everyone gave Giles puzzled looks.

"Giles, are you running a fever or something?" Buffy asked. "You never give me free time."

Giles seemed to understand her confusion. "Well, I finished looking through my journals, and I didn't find anything that is supposed to happen. So, take it easy for a while. Just keep a look out for anything."

Xander leaned closer to Buffy. "Take the advantage and run with it," he whispered to her.

She got the point. "Okay, well, we'll all be at the Bronze tonight. If you find anything of true importance, come and find me," she told Giles.

"All right," he replied. "See you tomorrow." And he left.

Everyone looked at each other. "Did anyone besides me find that weird?" Cordelia asked. Everyone nodded in agreement.