When the bell rang to set us free from our final class of the day, Jess and I gathered our things and headed back to our lockers. I was glad that I had taken Study Hall since I could get a lot of my homework out of the way. That would free up time when I wasn’t in school to spend with Melody, Selina, and Jess, not to mention the rest of our new family. I was also going to have less time available for that kind of thing once I started working at the club in the evenings, and doing my homework in Study Hall would help free up a little time I wouldn’t have otherwise.

I could also use Study Hall to take care of other things, such as my little side trip to the parking lot to entrap Delilah’s car. I would have to be careful about doing things like that too often during that period though, or they might decide to watch me a little closer. Still, I had been careful this time around so, hopefully, the headmistress could not do anything about this.

I had been very careful to go about my day, as usual, today up until Study Hall and had witnesses and the school’s hallway and classroom cameras to account for my presence all day long. Even in Study Hall, Jess and I had sat in full view of one of the library’s cameras. The only time I wasn’t within view of the cameras was in the bathroom, and the only time I had gone there alone was for just over five minutes and the cameras would attest to me entering and leaving the bathroom. I even had witness that I was in there, if needed.

With the cameras in the parking lot not working though, the headmistress couldn’t prove I did anything, even if I was the only Ice magic user in the school. I knew for a fact that I wasn’t, even though I was the only one taking magic classes this semester. The school also didn’t know about my ability to travel through the Fire Plane since we were trying to keep the Salamanders, and the abilities they gave us, a secret.

At most, they might think that I colluded with Melody to pull this off when I went to the bathroom, but that would be quickly disproven. Not only did she not even know what I was up to since I didn’t want this coming back to anyone who I was close to, but she was in her catchup session with Mrs. Jenner while Jess and I had Study Hall. I dare anyone to go against the word of a psychic who was spending that whole period one-on-one with my girlfriend while downloading knowledge into her brain.

Pretty much everyone at school would know that I did this, but it was a prank, and I hadn’t defaced or even physically touched her car as she had mine, so no crime was committed. With no witnesses, physical proof, or video or photographic evidence except for the cameras showing me inside the school all day, any of Delilah’s friends who came forward as ‘witnesses’ wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. So, if Headmistress Collins didn’t embrace double standards and held me to the same rules and the precedent she had established with Delilah, her hands would be tied.

Melody was already waiting by our lockers when we got there, and it looked like she had another headache from her session with the psychic teacher. I checked to ensure no teachers were watching and gave her a quick kiss before announcing, “I am so happy to be out of here for the weekend.”

“Hey, Babe,” the half-Demon replied as she smiled at me, though it seemed a little forced. “Yeah, I hear you there. I could definitely go for a few days without feeling like somebody put my brain in a blender, and without us having to deal with crap from Delilah and her friends.”

I barely managed to cover a giggle at the mention of Delilah’s name, and even though I could see that they were curious, neither my sister nor my girlfriend pressed me on what was so funny. They both were giving me looks that said they knew I was up to something, but probably didn’t want to question me about it. They knew I probably couldn’t resist the compulsion to tell them the truth and they likely didn’t want anyone else overhearing it here in the hallway.

Once we had all grabbed our coats and filled our backpacks with what we would need for the weekend’s homework, we headed off in search of Carmen and Rose. Melody was supposed to be Carmen’s ride home with us and my sister needed a bit of sugar from her girlfriend before we all headed home. With Jess being at her bartending certification class all day tomorrow, the pair likely wouldn’t see each other until the party on Sunday.

Thankfully, Rose’s locker wasn’t too far away from ours and Carmen was already with her, Alison, and Bella since Alison was giving Bella and Rose a ride home. We had told the other Auto Shop girls about Carmen transferring into our class at lunch and they were looking forward to having her come with us to the wrecking yard. The plan now was to help Carmen pick out a good vehicle to work on and then we would all start parts shopping.

While Jess and Rose were getting all touchy-feely, the rest of us started to talk with Carmen about what she was looking for in a vehicle so we could have some idea of what she might like. It was as we were doing that when every one of our phones dinged with a message from our discord group.

Mermaid Mayh3m: OMG! You girls have to see this! I’m streaming it now.

FeyoftheWood: This is hilarious! I wonder who could be responsible?

Nikki was streaming video from her phone of Delilah freaking out in front of the ice walls that were boxing her car in. She was ranting extremely loudly that ‘that Snow Nymph bitch’ must be responsible for it while students in the parking lot stopped to look, take photos, or video like Nikki was doing. Beside me the others were laughing, Bella was laughing so hard that she had to wipe away tears, so I allowed myself to join in as I watched the school’s queen bee freak out.

In the video, Delilah reached into her purse to snatch up what was probably her phone, and less than thirty seconds later she was yelling at someone. Less than two minutes after she shoved the phone back into her purse, there was an announcement over the PA system. “If Crystal Cummings is still in the school, please report to the Headmistress’s office.”

The others gave me a sympathetic look while I just sighed and rolled my eyes at the fact that Delilah likely had the headmistress on speed dial. It wasn’t surprising since when researching her, Melody had discovered that her father had made some big-time donations to the school. I was hoping to put this off until Monday and groaned at how quickly this had happened.

“That was fast,” Jess muttered darkly.

I sighed and shrugged. “Well, since I’m still here, I might as well get this over with so I can enjoy my weekend.”

The entire group followed me without a word as I made my way to the office. I was touched by the solidarity and support, and Bella was rapidly typing messages into our Discord server to let the others know that I had been summoned. Unfortunately, when we arrived, the receptionist looked over our group and said, “Go on in, Crystal, but just you. Your friends will have to wait outside.”

Okay, so this was to be an interrogation then. Obviously, the headmistress wanted me alone so nobody could interrupt, and she could question me directly. Fey can’t lie, everyone knows that, and I’m not the actress that my sister is, but I could handle this. As Aunt Merry said, I don’t have to answer immediately, and selective truths are my friend.

I stepped through the door into the office and closed it behind me before sitting in one of the seats across from a very agitated-looking headmistress. “You wanted to see me, Headmistress? We were just about to go home.”

There were no pleasantries from her, just an immediate start to the interrogation. “What did you do to Delilah’s car, Crystal?”

“Nothing,” I answered both immediately and completely honestly. I hadn’t done a thing to her car since I specifically formed the walls around it and ensured they wouldn’t touch.

The woman on the other side of the desk frowned darkly at me. “I just had a very heated talk with Delilah, and she says that you encased her car in a block of ice. Do you have any knowledge of this?”

“No, Ma’am, that is absolutely untrue,” I countered in my defense. I did not encase her car in ice, I surrounded it with ice. Big difference. As for my knowledge of what happened, thankfully, Nikki had provided me with an out. “I did see a video of what looked like a block of ice in the parking lot and Delilah freaking out. One of my friends thought it was hilarious and streamed it to the rest of us. We were watching it when you summoned me.”

“Crystal…” the woman across from me let out a long sigh. “Part of the reason you’re here is because your Ice magic is very potent. As it stands, you are the only one in the school who could have done this, and you had motive as well. Now, please, tell me what you did.”

I ignored her request since it was not a direct question. Instead, I told her simply, “I’ve only had a total of two lessons. Power isn’t everything. Do you have any witnesses or proof to back up Delilah’s claims?”

“You know very well that the cameras in the parking lot won’t be fixed until Monday, Crystal,” she said with another sigh. “I will be having security check the hallway and classroom cameras to be sure you didn’t leave the school today though. So, now would be a good time to admit what you’ve done.”

“It seems like that’s the fault of whoever fried the cameras to desecrate my car in the first place,” I pointed out. “Let them check the cameras, it’ll just show that I didn’t leave the school. The teachers were paying special attention to me and Delilah today so I couldn’t have left my classes without them knowing, and I was with my friends in the cafeteria all through lunch.”

She seemed undeterred and pressed on. “You had Study Hall last period; did you leave the library for any reason?”

“Only to go to the bathroom,” I replied. Unmentioned was that I briefly left the school from the bathroom. “When I came out of the bathroom, I went straight back to the library. The security cameras will show that too.”

“Magic users with a strong connection to their elements can travel through the Planes connected to their elements like Melody did to bring you to school. Can you do that with the Frozen Plane, Crystal? Did you use that ability to leave the school while you were in the bathroom?”

“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t tried,” I admitted. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t do it. I was warned by both my mother and Ms. Norstrom that the Frozen Plane is extremely dangerous. And before you even try bringing Melody into this, she was with Mrs. Jenner while I was in Study Hall. I would love to know how she could get out to help me do what you’re accusing me of while she had a psychic in her head and messing with her brain the whole time.”

“I was… aware of that, Crystal,” she said with yet another weary sigh. Meaning that she had checked in with the psychic to be sure Melody wasn’t involved before I arrived.

“Do you have any other pointless questions or accusations, or can I leave now?” I snapped. “I get the distinct feeling that Delilah was not subjected to this kind of Inquisition when my car was vandalized. So, unless you have some sort of actual evidence, I think it’s time for me to leave.”

“No, I have no more questions,” she said, and I couldn’t tell whether she was sad or relieved that I seemed to be in the clear. “I do have a request though. I would like you to help Delilah to free her vehicle from the ice.”

The balls on this woman! I was absolutely livid as I told her very directly, “No.”

“What?” she asked as her brows rose in surprise at my refusal.

“No,” I repeated. “Meaning, there is no way in Hell that I’m going to help her with anything after the way she’s treated me and my friends since we started at this school and what she did to my car. There is no school rule saying that I have to either, so you can’t make me. She can use Daddy’s money to solve the problem, that seems to be what she usually does.” As I said the last, I gave the headmistress a pointed look.

She actually shifted uncomfortably in her chair under my glare. “Crystal, I…” Whatever she was about to say was lost as her phone rang. Looking down at the screen, she rubbed at her temples as if she had a headache. “I should take this, it's security, so it’s probably important. Just give me a moment, Crystal.”

With that, she connected the call. “Is this about the footage from last period? I was expecting it to take longer. No? Wait, what do you mean, she set it on fire? Dammit. I’ll be right there.” She disconnected the call with a sigh and turned to me to say, “You can go now, Crystal.”

She escorted me out of the office before hurrying toward the stairs that would take her to the first floor. My friends who had accompanied me were waiting outside and currently laughing their collective asses off. As the headmistress scurried off, I asked, “Okay, what did I miss?”

“De-Delilah got Mallory to… change to her true form a-and used her flames to try to free her car!” Bella managed to get out through her laughing and wheezing as Jess passed me her phone.

It looked like Nikki was still streaming. No, she had one of the others take over because I could see her along with Ms. Norstrom and anyone who had Water magic trying to put out the flames that had completely consumed Delilah’s car. Standing off to the side, I could still see Delilah and it looked like she was trying to smother the flames with her magic as well. That wasn’t going to be easy though, even with Ms. Norstrom there helping because right beside the furious Fire Mage, I could see a red-skinned, demonic-looking girl with fiery wings, black horns, and flaming hair who was wailing apologies.

It just figured that Mallory was an Efreeti. She was the perfect gal pal for Delilah. Efreeti are Demon offshoots connected to the Fire element instead of Death, though like their Demon counterparts, they’re versatile shapeshifters. I thought she was just a Fire Mage like Delilah. The school probably wouldn’t let her use her true form inside the school because it was too dangerous for other students and would probably set off the fire suppression system. They’re practically made of fire, and their flames burn hot and are notoriously difficult to put out. Not as hot as a Salamander can get, but pretty damn close.

“Wow, well, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” I mumbled as I watched the very expensive car doing its best impersonation of a botched campfire marshmallow on my sister’s phone. I didn’t have anything to do with this turn of events, and I hadn’t wanted to damage her car but since it was my ice she was trying to melt when this happened, and it was done by her own hand, I couldn’t help but feel some satisfaction that Delilah was getting her just desserts. Yes, this made us even, at least for now. She would undoubtedly do something else to earn my ire soon enough.

I handed the phone back to my sister as she inquired, “So, what’s the verdict, Sis? Are you getting detention, suspended, or something?”

“For what? I didn’t touch Delilah’s stupid car, and there’s no evidence to prove otherwise. Even if they look at the security footage, they won’t see anything to indicate that I went outside at any time today. She’s also well aware that I couldn’t lie during her little interrogation, and she was asking some very pointed questions too in her attempts to incriminate me,” I replied with a shrug as I tried to hide my relief about the way she had phrased one of those questions.

Headmistress Collins had specifically asked if I could travel through the Frozen Plane. With me being a Snow Nymph and all, it was the most logical assumption. If she had asked if I could do that through another Plane, I probably would have been screwed.

“Well, I guess we should all go home then if you’re not in trouble,” Alison suggested. “My car is on the other side of the lot, so we should probably be able to safely leave as soon as they get the fire under control.”

“Maybe I should see if I can help with that,” I said with a sigh. While I hadn’t been willing to help free Delilah’s car, putting out a fire was a different matter. People could get hurt and cars nearby could be damaged too. I didn’t want someone else to suffer because of the row I was having with her.

Melody leaned in to kiss me, but once our lips parted, she shook her head. “I know you’re probably thinking about other people right now, but that would be a bad idea, Babe. Delilah would definitely make a scene if you showed up to help and I wouldn’t put it past her to lash out with her magic either, with an Efreeti standing right there with her. There aren’t any other vehicles near the fire, most of the ones nearby were moved before she got the bright idea to melt all that ice. Those that weren’t already, were moved with magic when your magic teacher showed up to try putting out the fire.”

“Yeah, I don’t trust Delilah not to do something stupid, especially after that show,” Jess added with a grimace.

Rose turned to grin at me and Jess, “It’s nice seeing that bitch get what she deserves though, and even better that she did it to herself. Oh, and don’t worry about missing the entertainment, Crystal. While Nikki was streaming from her phone, Nova has been filming the whole thing on hers so she can send it to all of us later tonight. I’m gonna watch it before bed for some sweet dreams.”

I shook my head and tried not to smile. The murder bunny could be vicious when provoked and we had all been plenty provoked by Delilah and her crew this week. She was really starting to grow on me as a friend. “I guess we should get going home then,” I conceded. “Smelling like hellfire has had my brain itching all day to get out of these clothes and get a shower in, and we already showered after P.E.”

Melody nodded, not looking happy about the smell either as she sighed. “Yeah, I’m used to the smell, but it’ll take a few washings to get it out of our clothes, and at least a couple of thorough showers to get the hint of it off us. It fucking lingers and overwhelms other scents, and it’s not how you want to be smelling in public places. We really need to figure out something else for getting to school and back home.”

With that, we said our goodbyes, and Carmen, Melody, and I promised to see Bella and Alison tomorrow, bright and early, at Alex’s wrecking yard for a day of fun. Then Melody took us home one by one, though she made sure to take us through the Fire Plane this time so we wouldn’t have to worry about the smell of hellfire getting even worse before we could wash it off. Carmen and I could have just gone by ourselves while my girlfriend took Jess, but we were still under the watchful eye of the school’s hallway security cameras and didn’t want to give away that secret.

As soon as we got back home, we all got out of our stinky clothes and had a shower while Aislinn took our school uniforms and undergarments for a very extreme washing. Laundry fell under the purview of the housekeeping staff, and the Selkie and her Brownie cohorts had been expecting this when they found out how we would be traveling to school for the foreseeable future.

It took a long shower and vigorous washing before I stopped smelling hellfire. It wasn’t all bad though since I also managed to get a few nice orgasms from my handheld showerhead and took the edge off the day’s building horniness and the need to be naked for a while. By the time I was done, everyone else had already finished and were hanging out with Sorcha, Lou, and Selina in the common area watching TV and chatting while Selina played with Sorcha.

That evening was spent much like the previous one. We continued to hang out with the others until they had their dinner and then went down to the club for a couple of hours to have our own dinner, learn more about working there, and do some job shadowing. It was busier because it was a Friday, but for us, it was mostly a dull night watching other people work, and nothing really interesting happened until after we headed back upstairs so I could tuck Selina into bed and say goodnight.