Being temporarily homeschooled worked well for Tara. She got most of her assignments from her teachers via email, but for things that required a physical copy, her neighbor delivered them quickly and left without any more than a "hello" and a "goodbye".
About a week after leaving school, a letter had come in the mail a week earlier from Wellesley. They had withdrawn their admissions offer. Tara's immediate reaction was anger. Her face flushed a deep red and her fists clenched at her sides. Though she couldn't see them, her eyes glowed an electric blue and the same faint golden sparks from the fight with Darla appeared there.
After another long bike ride, Tara had calmed herself down and locked herself in her room to simply wallow in her woes. She was not surprised that Wellesley had chosen not to take a chance on her, but she was disappointed in herself for letting Darla get under her skin. She stayed in her room for the weekend only emerging to make the occasional sandwich and use the bathroom.
A couple days later, things were a bit closer to normal. At least, Tara was eating meals with the family again.
Tara laid on her bed reading the assigned chapters from The Scarlet Letter. It was short, but the language in the book made it more difficult than she had expected. Nonetheless, she deeply enjoyed the story. Tara found a kind of kindred spirit in Hester Prynne with regards to her isolation.
"Tara, Grandma's on the phone. She wants to speak with you." Mr. Maclay poked his head into the room and held out the rarely-used cordless family telephone. Tara smiled at her father, but he only looked at her sadly as she took the phone from him.
"Thanks," Tara sat in the chair at her desk. About a week had passed since the fight with Darla at school, and her parents had been regarding her with the same strange expression ever since. Donnie was normal, but something had obviously changed with her parents.
After a few seconds of staring, Mr. Maclay finally left the room.
"Hey, Grandma," Tara said happily. She loved her grandmother more than anyone else in the world. Though she only got to see her once a year at Christmas, the distance never put a toll on their relationship, and Grandma Maclay always managed to raise her spirits. Since she was a child she had felt an unexplained connection to her grandmother.
"Hello, sweet child. How have you been? I heard about what happened at school."
"I'm…," Tara thought carefully about her answer, "I've been better."
"Thanks, Grandma."
"What about that Massachusetts school?"
"Wellesley," Tara snapped. She immediately regretted letting her short temper affect her conversation with her grandmother, but she didn't know how to apologize for it, so she said nothing.
"I'm sorry, dear. How are things going with Wellesley?" Grandma Maclay knew that Tara's uncharacteristic irritability was only one of the necessary changes she had to go through to fulfill the prophecy, so she did not take it personally.
"I can't go there anymore." Tara's small voice was heartbreaking.
"Everything will work out for you. I'm sure of it."
"I just hope my backups will still take me."
"What are your backups?"
"Oh, I applied to a couple state schools. They're actually really good but…"
"But you wanted to get out of North Carolina." Tara's grandmother knew her better than she thought.
"Yeah."
"Actually, Tara, that's what I wanted to talk to talk to you about," her voice grew more serious, "Have you looked into any other schools in the country?"
"No. There's no point now," Tara did not try to hide her dejection.
"There's always a point, dear. You may not realize it now, but you're going to do great things."
"I guess-"
"You got mail, T." Donnie whispered as he tapped on the doorframe and tossed a thick white envelope to her.
Tara plucked the envelope out of the air without much effort. As she examined the envelope, she saw that it was from the University of California – Sunnydale.
"I've never even heard of this place," Tara thought out loud.
"What is it?" Grandma Maclay's voice brought Tara back to their conversation.
"Oh," Tara said distantly, "I just got mail from some school in California."
"California?" She was surprised that the package had arrived so soon. "Well, I should go now. I have some errands to run."
"Okay. It was nice talking to you."
"I love you with all my heart, Tara. And remember," Grandma Maclay added, "When one door closes, another one opens. Take a chance."
"Thanks again. I love you."
"I'm always here for you. Goodbye."
"Bye."
As she disconnected the call, Tara checked again to be sure the envelope was addressed to her before opening it. She had been accepted to the college of arts and sciences at UCS. Also, according to the letter, she had not only been nominated for a scholarship from the California Women's College Fund, which she had never heard of, but she had been chosen to receive it.
"This is strange." Tara said quietly to herself. She thought back to the conversation with her grandmother and she smiled as she put two and two together.
"She did this," Tara whispered to herself shocked with her grandmother's actions.
The only problem she saw with the situation is that she had never even heard of the school. What if this was some sort of scam? She had heard of a lot of money scams that prey on older women like Grandma Maclay.
Her grandmother's words returned to her, "Take a chance."
"Why not," she said as she opened her laptop and Googled the school. She looked at their official website and read some individual student blogs about life in Sunnydale. Tara wanted to major in history, and apparently, they had the strongest history department in the University of California system.
She researched the town and found that they had an abnormally high crime rate, but everything else about it was ideal. It had a larger population than she originally wanted, but she figured she could get used to that.
"Take a chance," she whispered to herself as she reread the acceptance letter.
Her options were Sunnydale or the college an hour down the road. Once the reality of the thought of being only an hour from the place that had made her life hell settled, she realized which was the obvious choice. She began filling out the required forms to reserve her spot as a student at UC Sunnydale. Apparently, her registration fee had already been paid too.
The rest of the school year and her summer passed uneventfully. Graduation was hot and sweaty. She walked across the stage, got her diploma, and took pictures with some of the girls she had been friends with in elementary school before she left Peace High School forever. She never once looked back at it as they drove home. Darla didn't say a word to her.
Whenever Tara tried to ask her grandmother about the scholarship, she wished her quick congratulations and changed the subject. Her parents, though happy for her, seemed to be as in-the-dark as Tara.
When it was time for Tara to head off to school, Mr. Maclay wanted to make it a big family road trip. He said he wanted to be like Chevy Chase in 'National Lampoon's Vacation', but Mrs. Maclay eventually talked him out of that idea.
They decided that Tara would take a plane, and since tickets and a hotel room were expensive, the rest of the family would stay home. Grandma Maclay asked to accompany her because she had never seen the Pacific. The Maclay women took off from North Carolina on a hot August morning before sunrise.
The plane ride was similar to the one the Maclays took to Massachusetts: crowded and loud. As uncomfortable as it was, the two women arrived safely in Los Angeles before noon. Once they found their bags, Tara looked around and saw a small blonde woman holding a sign that said "Tara Maclay and family".
Hesitantly, Tara approached the woman.
"I'm Tara Maclay," she said softly with a small wave.
The woman's face lit up as she put her oversized black sunglasses on the top of her head.
"Great! I'm Buffy," she enthusiastically shook first Tara's then Grandma Maclay's hand, "I've been assigned to take you to the school and show you around."
"Nice to meet you," Tara smiled a little brighter with the woman's bubbly personality, "This is my grandmother."
"I really am excited to meet you two, but we should really get going."
"Of course," Tara readjusted her bag on her shoulder.
"Let me get these for you," Buffy grabbed Grandma Maclay's bag and the larger of Tara's luggage ignoring Tara's protests, "My car is this way."
The ride from LAX was awkward, but Buffy refused to let it be quiet. She pointed out every location between Grandma Maclay's hotel and UC Sunnydale including her mother's house, some place called The Bronze, and the lot where her old high school once stood.
"What happened to it?"
"Oh, I blew it up," Buffy replied nonchalantly. She was about to point out The Espresso Pump when she realized what she had just revealed to Tara. She glanced over to the passenger seat and saw Tara staring wide eyed at her.
"Blew it up?"
"Uh, yeah. Long story," Buffy said quickly.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence. Buffy was beating herself up about not being able to keep her mouth shut; Tara was slightly confused about the whole situation; and Grandma Maclay simply had nothing to say.
"Buffy, dear, could you drop me off at the Hilton up ahead. I have reservations," Grandma Maclay spoke for the first time since leaving the airport.
"No problem."
"The Hilton?" Tara asked bewildered, "How can you afford the Hilton?"
"Oh, you have to spoil yourself sometimes, Tara. Plus, a friend is paying for it as a gift."
Buffy stopped the car in front of the hotel and she and Tara got out to help the older woman with her bags.
"You two get back in the car." Grandma Maclay waved her hand at them, "I'm not too old to carry my own bags. And look," two employees with a trolley came from the hotel, "I have help."
"If you're sure," Tara said.
"Absolutely."
With that, the two younger women began to get back in the car, but Grandma Maclay caught Buffy by the arm.
"Take care of my granddaughter," she said as she stared strongly into the small blonde's eyes.
"I will defend her with my life, you know that," Buffy answered just as intensely.
Grandma Maclay let go of her and stepped back with a small smile, "I'm just making sure."
Buffy got back in the car and pulled away from the building.
"What was that about," asked Tara.
"Nothing."
About ten minutes passed before Tara looked out her window and saw a red brick sign that read "University of California – Sunnydale".
The campus was not as green as the schools she had seen in the east, but it a lot greener than she had expected. The tall brick buildings and arches were beautiful. Students and families were busy moving in, but some people were simply lying out on the grass taking in the sunny day. It looked like the type of school you'd see on television.
"You'll be staying in Stevenson Hall," Buffy spoke for the first time since they had left the hotel, "In fact, I'll be your roommate!"
"That's cool," Tara was glad she wouldn't have to share a room with a complete stranger. At least, she had known Buffy for over an hour.
Buffy parked outside the building and they gathered Tara's bags.
"Where is your stuff?"
"I moved in last week," she opened the door and held it for Tara.
"Oh," Tara felt kind of dumb for asking.
They took the elevator up to the third floor and Buffy led the way to their room. Buffy opened the door and revealed a tall dark haired man lying on a bare bed playing with a kitten and a small redhead sitting cross-legged on the bed closest to the door frowning at a laptop.
"Guys, this is Tara. Tara, meet Xander and Willow."