Chapter 4

Sunnydale High was, to Tara, big. Big, and full of people.

Tara had already gotten her locker assignment and class schedule, and everything seemed pretty cool so far. She had seen Buffy a few times in the hallways, and once had caught a glimpse of Willow heading into her Chemistry class, but for the most part her schedule didn't seem to mesh with any of the students she had met in the Espresso Pump. That wasn't so bad, though she could have done with a little more Willow.

A few of the students in her classes were pretty friendly, there was one guy, Jonathon, who had been really nice and offered to help catch her up in math. They were a little further ahead here than her old school was, so she was about a week behind in the math lessons. Jonathon had promised that it wouldn't be hard to catch up, and they both had a study period after lunch where they could work on it. The bell rang and students made their way through the door; most of them had their lunch period next, Tara included.

The cafeteria was also a world of big. There seemed to be a lot of people sitting outside eating, but until she had made a few friends, she decided to stay indoors. Maybe she could meet someone in here, anyway. Tara paid for her lunch and looked around for a small, unoccupied table, finding one next to the window.

The sun filtered down through the leaves of a medium-sized palm onto a picnic table, and as the witch watched through the glass, one of the faculty members she had yet to meet sat down at the table. He wore round-framed glasses and had a serious expression on his face as he looked around the courtyard. A moment later, a blonde girl came up from behind the teacher and sat beside him – she was pretty sure it was Buffy. The teacher jumped when he saw her, then hastily removed his glasses and polished them vigorously, in what Tara thought was an attempt to look nonchalant. The girl began to speak animatedly, and Tara was now almost positive it was Buffy by her mannerisms.

The teacher and Buffy talked for a while, and one of the guys from the Espresso Pump, Xander, joined them at the table. He had a broad grin and Tara could see his profile as he spoke, gesturing now and again. Buffy was chuckling and the teacher smiled hesitantly, almost like he was afraid of looking like he was enjoying himself too much. Tara felt a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, and wished she could go out there and sit with them. They looked like they were having a good time.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" a male voice asked. The blue-eyed girl started and turned away from the window, just as a certain redhead in a knit cap started to head towards the table outside to join Buffy. Looking up, Tara saw a raven-haired, Goth-looking young man before her, with a bag lunch in his hand.

"N-n-no, I'm … I'm a party of one today," Tara answered with a slight sigh. "You're welcome to sit here, though."

The boy smiled, showing a row of even, white teeth. He really had a nice smile, she observed. "Thanks. You're new here, aren't you? I saw you in my history class first thing this morning. I'm Michael."

"Hi, Michael. I'm Tara," she said, extending her hand, which he shook politely. It probably looked incongruous to have them seated together, she in her long patterned skirt and airy shirt, he clad head to toe in black. Neither of them minded, though. It was good to have company. "I just transferred here from up north."

Michael nodded, digging through the bag looking for something. "That's cool. There's a lot of people here, but don't be intimidated - I'm sure you'll fit in pretty easily." He looked up and noticed Tara gazing out the window again, focusing on Willow, who held a witch PEZ dispenser and studying it now and again. He smiled, realizing she wasn't aware he was looking at her, and gently asked, "Have you met them yet? Buffy and her friends?"

The blonde blushed and looked down, her hair falling down to partially hide her face. "Um, yeah, I w-work at the Espresso Pump? They came in the other day, some of them." She tucked the hair on the right side of her face back behind her ear and smiled shyly. "They seemed really … nice. Buffy introduced herself…."

"They are really nice. Kinda weird sometimes, but hey, who am I to talk?" the youth grinned disarmingly. "Lots of people think I'm pretty weird." He turned to the window and Tara followed his gaze. "I'm sure if you've met Buffy, you know who Xander and Willow are. They've been pretty much best friends since the first day of kindergarten. Xander, he's kind of the class clown type, sarcastic a lot, but a real nice guy. He's dating Cordelia Chase, have you seen her?" Tara nodded, absorbing every word and filing it away for future reference. Michael continued, "Kind of still puzzled by that one myself. Now, Willow, she's really smart. Amazingly smart. Like last year, she filled in for our Computer Science teacher when Miss Calendar…" He searched for a delicate way to put it, but was coming up blank. "When she … died. Anyway, they're really close, Willow and Xander. If you see one of them, the other isn't usually far behind.

"And that older guy, the scholarly looking one, he's the librarian, Mr. Giles. We had another librarian the year before who just vanished towards the end of the semester. So we got Mr. Giles. That was two years ago, when we were sophomores. We see him a lot more than the old librarian. It's kind of cool, you know, that he's not always cooped up in there. He gets out, talks to the students." Tara smiled, thankful to have Michael informing her of everything going on. He seemed pretty nice. Michael returned the smile, and the both glanced towards the window as Oz approached the picnic table outside. "And that's Oz. His real name's Daniel Osbourne, but even the teachers call him Oz now. He plays lead guitar for Dingoes Ate My Baby, and he's pretty quiet. Introspective, maybe, would be the better word. He's been with Willow for around a year or so, about as long as Xander has been with Cordelia. Buffy, I don't think I've ever seen her with a steady guy. There is this dark-haired girl I keep seeing her with, though…."

Tara immediately turned to face Michael, a surprised look on her face. "I'm not saying they're together," he chuckled, "just that I see them together a lot. Maybe they are, though, who knows? Our quarterback, Larry? I don't know if you've seen him yet … a big guy with short hair, blue eyes?" Tara shook her head. "Anyway, he's the president of our school's GSA. Gay/Straight Alliance," he clarified. "We never had one before this year, he kind of pushed to get it approved. Principal Snyder couldn't say no in the end. With Larry being really popular and really out, a lot of people go to the meetings. Most of the football team, actually, it's kind of funny. But I've never seen Buffy at the meetings." He shrugged and took a gulp out of his thermos.

"So you go? To, to the meetings?" Tara asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, of course. It's a good time, and it promotes tolerance and not being shoved into lockers." He grinned. "The football guys used to be pretty bad about that, before. Now it's mostly just my appearance that gets me in the lockers, I guess." Tara immediately had the Concerned Face, but Michael waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Tara. It's their problem, not ours."

Tara nodded, understanding immediately. She related to that. "So, um, when are the meetings?" Her cheeks reddened slightly. "I'd, I'd like to check that out."

"There's one tonight, actually. We meet once a week in Room 248, upstairs in the east wing, after the last class lets out. It usually runs about an hour. If you're free, we'd like to have you there."