A delightful story of Tara Maclay before she comes to UC Sunnydale and joins Willow and the Scoobies on the Hellmouth. Her mother has died eight months before the beginning of this tale, her family relocated from Nebraska to Vermont, and she is the new girl at school. Tara faces her fears, grief,  and unexpected magical threats while trying to survive the horrors of high school: bullying,  dodgeball and where to sit in the cafeteria.