Oz squinted and studied the crowd from his spot on the stage. Another lame dance at the Bronze. He really wasn't in the mood to be here tonight, but since his band "Dingoes Ate My Baby" was the entertainment... he didn't have much choice. He sighed and watched Devon croon out the lyrics to his latest song. Several girls were standing in front of the stage staring at Dev, enraptured as he made eye contact with each of them. Oz snorted as he changed chords. Two hula girls had been dancing right in front of Oz all night, trying to get his attention. Another night of dodging brainless groupies who only want me for my guitar skills, he lamented in his head. And wanted to brag with their friends about how they made out with the lead guitarist. Oh, he's going to write a song for me! Oz squealed in his brain, mimicking their typical reactions. If it weren't for this dance, he would have skipped out tonight to go see the Monster Movie Spectacular at the Revue Theater. He consoled himself with the thought that at least the dance had an amusing theme -- something about bringing the world closer with the student exchange program. Everyone was dressed in costumes to represent a section of the world. The blonde hula girl at his feet was trying to spell something in the air to him with her hands. He took that opportunity to step up to the mike and sing some backup, averting his eyes from her and to the back of the room. Then he saw Her. The backup words died in his throat. And his heart stopped.

There, at the back of the room, holding something that looked suspiciously like an authentic harpoon, was an angel dressed as an Eskimo. He smirked to himself. How cool - an Eskimo. And it was a great costume too. Very authentic looking. No one else would have dared to come as a culture so unique, but this girl wasn't like everyone else. He'd been able to tell that with one glance. He admired her individuality. He liked girls who were willing to go against the grain, who wanted to be smart AND sexy. He couldn't clearly see her hair - it was covered by her hood, but he thought he saw a slight red tint around the edges of the hood. Redhead. I love redheads, he mused. She had the loveliest face he'd ever seen. Deep soulful eyes set in a thoughtful face. It was too dark to tell, but he was willing to bet his guitar that she had green eyes. She looked a little awkward as she watched the couples around her, as if she wasn't sure who to talk to or what to do.

Oz inched slightly closer to Devon, who was now merely dancing and swaying to the music as the band played the bridge of the song. "Hey," he began, getting Dev's attention. Devon swayed closer and closer to Oz until he was standing beside him. He cocked an eyebrow and waited for Oz to finish his thought. Oz gestured with his chin to the angel in the crowd. "That girl. Who is she?"

Devon searched in the direction Oz had indicated for a moment, his eyes lighting upon a beautiful girl dressed in a colorful outfit. "She's an exchange student. I think she's from South America."

Oz had to tear his eyes away from the Eskimo girl to see who Devon was talking about. Oz was momentarily stunned. How could Devon possibly think he was talking about that girl? The Angel-Eskimo had everything over her. "No, not her. The Eskimo!"

Devon shrugged slightly. He didn't recognize the girl dressed as an Eskimo at all. Trust Oz to pick the strangest girl, he thought as he began singing again.

Oz spent the next few minutes observing the girl. She seemed to be watching one particular couple - the colorful South American girl and some guy she was dancing with. He wished he wasn't on the stage playing; he wanted to ask her to dance. He wasn't sure where she could put her harpoon while they danced, but he was so interested in the idea of holding her in his arms that he put the problem away for the moment. Sudden movement on the dance floor caught his eye. The colorful South American girl left her partner as she rushed from the dance floor. And they looked so happy, he thought. She was soon lost in the crowd, but Oz stopped following her with his eyes and watched jealously as her partner approached Eskimo Girl. They spoke briefly and then the guy moved past her, obviously searching for the departed girl. His Eskimo Girl looked hurt as she watched him go. I wonder what that guy said that upset her, he pondered.

Dev shot him a nasty look and Oz realized he had missed a few notes. He looked down at his guitar as he finished the song, taking care not to screw anything else up. Three minutes later the song was finished, and Oz eagerly hopped off the stage and headed in the direction of Eskimo Girl. He could see her talking with a blonde girl. Then an unusually big football player stepped in his line of vision. He moved around the guy as quickly as possible, reluctant to let her out of his sight, and as he cleared the big oaf his heart plummeted a little. She was motioning to her friend and looked anxious. He was once again slowed down by a large guy, and as he reached the spot where she was standing, she and the blonde rushed away. "Hey, I---" he began, watching her rapidly disappearing figure. He smiled to himself, knowing that he would find her. Now that he knew she existed, he'd never stop looking for her. His smiled widened slightly, and he spoke to himself, "Who is that girl?"

Oz had spent the next few days looking for that girl. He'd asked a few people at the Bronze if they had seen a girl dressed as an Eskimo, and what her name was. Although several people had seen her, no one knew her name. Some knew bits and pieces of information about the girl, and he was able to learn a few facts. She was smart. Honor roll-type smart. She was into computers. And she hung out with a blonde girl and a guy almost all the time. He'd been surprised to learn that she went to Sunnydale High, the same school he attended. He was sure he would have noticed her before this. Of course, large amounts of his time were spent in the music practice rooms, and she was a junior, so she wouldn't have been in any of his classes.

The fact that no one seemed to know very much about her piqued his curiosity even more. He promised himself he would take the time to get to know her before he asked her out. He had a feeling that she was VERY worth knowing. Mysterious people always were. He made up his mind to observe what he could of her, find out her likes and dislikes, so when he did ask her out, he wouldn't screw up. If she liked him, it would be worth any effort he made.

The following week, Oz had studiously gotten to school early every morning, and kept an eye out for her as he watched students enter the building. He never saw her. He ditched a few classes and hung out in the cafeteria during lunch periods that weren't his own, hoping he'd see her walk though the doors. It never happened. He spent hours looking for her after school, poking his head in science labs, the computer lab, the drama club, and even stopping by the cheerleader practice. Nada.

That had been three weeks ago. He was now getting more desperate to find her. He was starting to wonder if she was a figment of his imagination. His subconscious desires embodied for a moment of time. He was sure she was perfect. He wished he'd gotten to see her smile, but in the brief time he'd watched her, she'd looked so sad. He wanted to be the one to make her happy.

It was now Halloween. Devon scheduled a practice for that night, more to get out of dishing out candy at his house than anything else. Although lately Dev had really been coming down on Oz for missing chords, skipping whole sections of songs, and generally playing worse than usual. How could he explain that his mind was elsewhere virtually all the time? His frustration in not being able to find Eskimo Girl was making him crazy. How was he supposed to get to know her when she had disappeared off the face of the Earth? Oz went to the band practice completely half-heartedly. He'd been trying to hack into the school's database and search for her picture, but had failed every time. He was anxious to get home and try again, so he was relieved when practice ended.

Oz carefully packed up his guitar and loaded it in his van. It was still kinda early. He could probably get at least two hours' hacking time in. He started the engine and carefully began navigating the sleepy streets of Sunnydale. He noticed that this Halloween had been a bit wilder than previous ones. Garbage cans were overturned frequently and often in the middle of the streets. Pieces of ripped clothing seemed to be hanging from an awful lot of trees. Discarded bags of candy littered the sidewalks in some areas. He slowed down to a stop as he saw a pedestrian begin to cross the road. And again he felt his heart stop and his mouth go dry.

The girl crossing the street was none other than Eskimo Girl. And she looked totally hot. She was wearing a leather skirt and a tight top left her midriff bare, and as she purposefully strode across the street, Oz completely forgot to breathe. So he was kinda disappointed in himself when she disappeared from sight. He abruptly remembered to breathe again. The relief that she was actually real was written all over his face. But he was annoyed that he'd been too stunned to learn anything about her in this brief encounter. He smiled and mused to himself, "Who IS that girl?"

Oz sat dejectedly under a tree in the school's yard. It had been four days since he'd seen his Eskimo Girl. That was last Friday, on Halloween, when she'd been crossing the street. He remembered the slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she had crossed in front of his van, as if she had found something both relieving and amusing. He paused, his brain shutting down completely for a few moments as he imagined what it would be like to actually kiss those lips. Minutes later, he shook his head a little, to break out of the trance he found himself in, and tried to take more notice of his surroundings. He didn't want to miss her if she walked by.

Devon currently sat beside him, alternately humming and pausing to write notes down as he composed his latest masterpiece. Occasionally he shoved the paper in Oz's face, and Oz nodded absently at the scrawl over the page. He was thinking about her again. He so wanted to find out at least her name, since he wasn't getting very far in finding out anything else about her.

Oz sighed and looked out over the school's small square. Plenty of students came out here at lunch and hung out, preferring the warm sun to the cafeteria. Unfortunately, it didn't look like his redheaded Eskimo Girl ever ate lunch. He'd never seen her anywhere. And then the gods smiled upon him. He noticed her the instant she emerged from the door of the school, flanked on one side by the blonde girl he saw at the Bronze and on the other by the guy who'd been dancing with the South American girl.

The small group headed for a tree across the square from him. He watched as they sat and began talking. Eskimo Girl was smiling and laughing at something the dark-haired guy said. She looked absolutely enchanting when she smiled. Her whole face lit up. Oz consciously checked to make sure he was still breathing. He was. They unpacked their lunches and traded food liberally as they ate. Oz noticed that she looked at the dark-haired guy differently. She smiled at him like Oz wished she would smile at him someday. Okay, so now I know she's interested in that guy. Fortunately, it was equally clear to Oz that the dark-haired guy was completely oblivious to the fact. So he had a chance.

Oz watched the guy jealously as he reached inside his book bag and withdrew a frisbee. The blonde immediately jumped up and began brushing dirt of the backside of her pants. The guy reached up to help her and the blonde smacked his hand away. She began making her way across the lawn, preparing for a pass. The dark-haired guy threw it to her, and Oz gasped as he watched her jump much higher than he thought possible to pluck the frisbee out of the air. She must be really athletic, he decided. The next few tosses of the frisbee confirmed his observation that she seemed able to jump just a little farther than he thought should be physically possible. It was like she had superpowers or something.

Cordelia picked that moment to ruin Oz's day. She stalked over to Devon and knelt in front of him. "I need to talk to you. NOW."

Devon hushed her with his hand and hummed for a moment longer. Cordelia looked ready to get up and stalk away again when Oz was struck with inspiration. "Hey, Cordelia," he began.

"What?" she snapped, getting to her feet.

"Do you know those people?" Oz asked, also getting to his feet and pointing out Eskimo Girl and her two companions.

"Those losers?! What makes you think I hang out with them?"

"Look, I'm sure you don't hang with them - I just wanted to know their names."

"Trust me, Oz, you don't want to know anything about that geek squad."

"No, really I do."

She sighed in exasperation and crossed her arms over her chest. "The nerdy redhead is Willow. The blonde is Buffy, and trust me on this - you want to stay away from her - and the loser guy is Xander. Okay?" She kicked Devon lightly, causing him to look up. "NEVER call me again," she ordered. She then walked away in a huff.

Oz carefully sat down again, absorbing what she had just told him. Her name was Willow. It was so appropriate. She looked so strong, and yet so fragile. She would shelter her friends. Willows gained strength and beauty with age. She was like that. She was beautiful. Inside and out. Oz smiled as he watched the dark-haired guy - Xander -- catch the latest toss in his mouth. He then played 'dog' and got on all fours as he crawled off towards Willow. She laughed and patted him on the head as she removed the frisbee from his mouth. She stood and began making tossing motions as she spoke to Xander, who was bounding, just like a dog would, waiting for her to throw it. She tossed it lightly, and he jumped up to his feet and again caught it in his mouth. He then flopped to the ground and began squirming, so Willow dropped to her knees in front of him and giggled hysterically as she 'scratched' his tummy. Buffy let out a little shriek of laughter and rushed across the grass to also tickle Xander. They all stopped abruptly as the bell rang. They scrambled for their knapsacks and bags and briskly walked back towards the school doors.

Willow, Oz thought, turning it over and over again in his mind. It's perfect.

Oz was kind of annoyed when two guys in suits waylaid him a week later in the hallway at school. It was the Career Fair, and he was in a hurry to just get through this section of the school without being snagged by any eager recruiters so he could go outside to his tree and see if Willow was in the school square. They explained that he had been picked with one other student to meet with some software guru. They then carted him into a curtained-off area, and offered him a drink while he was waiting. Oz spent a few moments protesting, but when it became clear that they weren't going to give up, he decided to settle in and wait for it to be over. Maybe if he was cooperative, he could get out of here earlier.

He looked around the room and picked up the tray of canapes in front of him. He was examining them closely when he heard the curtain rustle. The suits were back, and a female voice had joined them. The waiter was offering hors d'oeuvres to the latest victim. Oz heard the female voice politely decline. The sofa sank lightly as someone else sat on it, and Oz tore his gaze away from his tray to view his fellow abductee. He did a double-take as he realized it was Willow. She sat with her hands in her lap, looking at him and around the room awkwardly. They were alone. Now was the perfect time to say something witty. To put her at ease and introduce himself. This moment was important. He wanted to convey that he admired her. That he thought she was special. He scrambled to think of something to say. "Canape?" he finally offered holding the tray out to her.