The next morning, I was able to drive the Charger to school again and when we arrived, I found Clarice, Trixie, Nova, and Nikki all leaning against Clarice’s twenty-year-old, red Ford Mustang with expressions of pure delight on their faces. It was a nice car that used to be her father’s until he bought something new, and last year he gave it to Clarice after she got her driver’s license. It barely ran when he gave it to her, but she had put a lot of work into it over the past year to get it roadworthy again. That car was her baby and the big reason she was working on a project car for my sister instead of herself.

After I parked the Charger beside Clarice’s Mustang, we all climbed out and Melody was the first to ask our group of friends, “Okay, what gives? Why are you all looking so happy and smug?”

Her question was answered with a question as Nikki beamed at us and pointed at the car parked directly across from Clarice’s. The blindingly blue vehicle in question was a complete and utter eyesore, easily one of the ugliest cars that I had ever seen up close.~ Do any of you know what that is? ~

I knew very well what it was, but I quickly suggested a few other things she might be referring to. “A very expensive paperweight? An investment in misery? A neon sign for the worst kind of attention? Something I would never be caught dead driving? The ugliest mom mobile I’ve ever seen?”

“Yes!” Nova agreed gleefully,” To all those things! But it is also Delilah’s new ride! She got to the parking lot just before us and we saw her get out of it. She was wearing a hoodie and trying to hide her face though.”

For several seconds I found myself just staring at their smiling faces before looking back at the car in question. Then I burst out laughing, so hard that I was bent over, and it brought tears to my eyes. I was laughing so hard that I could barely get the words out as I sputtered. “That’s… awesome!”

I barely heard Carmen ask in utter confusion. “Wait, so you’re all happy that Delilah is getting a new car after what she’s done to Crystal? I mean, yeah, it’s ugly, but it’s still a set of wheels.”

“You poor girl. You have so much to learn about cars, but we’ll teach you,” Clarice tutted teasingly. Then, since I was still laughing my ass off, she explained. “That’s a Nissan Cube, it’s easily among the ugliest cars ever made. They were discontinued here in North America in 2014 due to poor sales, so it’s probably a decade old, or close to it. It’s bright blue too so like Crystal said, it’s going to get her the worst kind of attention for someone of her status and ego, the humiliating kind. Delilah’s Daddy must be pissed at her to make her drive something like that. It’s like he purposely picked the ugliest vehicle on the lot.”

“Uh-huh, and you just knew all that stuff about it off-hand?” Jess asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Well… we may have checked Wikipedia on my phone for the exact details, but I did know what it was and that it was discontinued,” Clarice admitted with a shrug.

“Just look at that thing though,” Trixie added with a grin, “driving that around where people can see her is gonna be social suicide for her. Or maybe not, we all know that the girls at school only follow her because she’s filthy, stinkin’ rich. Still, I give it a week before she torches this one, on purpose this time.”

It wasn’t long after that when Alison showed up with Rose and Bella and parked on the other side of Clarice’s car. She drove a green 1996 Ford Taurus that she kept in good repair even though it was almost 25 years old. It was her first car, and she got it at a steal because of the age and the condition it was in when she got it, but she was absolutely in love with the Jeep Cherokee she had picked out for her project and would probably be selling the Taurus once the jeep was running.

I was still occasionally looking at the Cube and giggling when Alison and company climbed out of her car. If Delilah thought I was going to try to do anything to this vehicle, she was bound to be disappointed. Once the new arrivals were informed of just who that eyesore belonged to (and they stopped laughing), we all agreed to not touch Delilah’s new vehicle. We all wanted to see her driving that thing at least until she graduated at the end of the year.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t sit around laughing at Delilah’s rightful misfortune all day since we had to get to class. So, we all headed into the school before the warning bell could ring and made our way to our first classes of the day. For me, that was Drama, a class that I was happy to share with my sister and our girlfriends, with no Delilah in sight.

The four of us even got to group together for team skits today. I was pretty sure that I was the worst actress of the four of us though. I could put on the bimbo act if I had to, but that was more by allowing myself to get distracted by my urges rather than fighting them, and by carefully considering how I replied to things. Overall, it felt awkward pretending to be someone else though, and if I was going to be getting on a stage, I had other ways to entertain people, ways that I was good at, at least according to the Dicken sisters.

I guess I wasn’t terrible, or at least the teacher didn’t think I was. She said that I lacked passion and enthusiasm for acting though, which was fair since I only took this class to hang out with Jess and Melody at first, even if some of the stuff we were learning was interesting and useful for my future career. Jess and Rose thought I was good at facial expressions and tone of voice, but actually getting into a character or connecting with them mentally and emotionally just wasn’t something that I could do as easily as the rest of them.

Jess and Rose both had actual acting experience in television and movies. Sure, they may have been in bunny form during those roles and didn’t have any lines, but they could connect with their characters and make them convincing. They had also been around human actors and actresses enough during that time to pick up a lot of things that go beyond what we were learning in class.

Even Melody already had some sort of practical acting experience. She had played the role of a ruthless killer and bounty hunter for years, pretending to be tough as nails well enough that she had convinced actual killers, bounty hunters, and Demons that it was true. Sure, she had killed some people, but only people who really deserved it, and had put on a convincing enough act to work with the PDA occasionally to make innocent people disappear so they could start over somewhere safe with a new identity.

That whole act when we first met had been pretty damn convincing after all. The people who had witnessed Seth’s ‘death’ certainly thought it was real. If it hadn’t been for those Kadduran who were watching our apartment having heat vision, we probably would have gotten away with the whole thing.

I was a lot more enthusiastic about my next class as Bella and I escorted Carmen to Auto Shop. This was something that I was passionate about, and soon I would be able to start taking apart the engine in my Supra. Thankfully, we had a hoist available, and I was hoping to take the engine out using that with some help from Mrs. Svenson. After that, I was hoping to get it taken apart and to clean and examine all the parts over the next few weeks in class, so I could figure out what needed replacing.

After that, I would mostly have to have a good look at the undercarriage and everything else under the hood, order or find any other parts needed, and then I could get to work in earnest. I had brought all the replacement parts that I knew, or suspected, I needed and had bought from the shop and the wrecking yard, so at least I had plenty to work with until I knew the state of the engine and drivetrain in more detail. Hopefully, the mods, replacement grille, and bumper panel that I had ordered from Auto-Worx Parts ‘n Mods would arrive later this week, but I could at least replace the broken headlight.

I figured I would replace that headlight during the next work class if I had time after pulling out the engine and getting it to my workstation to take apart. I had quite a bit of work to do to get the Supra ready to drive, but I was looking forward to it. It was as we were walking to class, and I was planning out my work in my head, Bella asked Carmen, “Are you looking forward to your first Auto Shop class, or nervous?”

“Honestly, a bit of both,” Carmen admitted. She certainly sounded nervous.

“Aww, don’t be nervous, Mrs. Svenson is awesome, one of the nicest teachers at this school and she knows her stuff too. You won’t have to just jump right into working on engines and stuff either. Now that the first week is over and we’ve all got our projects to work on, she said we will be alternating learning classes with workshop classes. Today will be a regular class, just in the shop instead of a classroom,” the redheaded Metal Mage assured her.

“Nova is new to working with cars too,” I added as I put an arm around Carmen in a shoulder hug. “Since the rest of us have experience and know our way around under the hood, on the workshop days, Mrs. Svenson will probably be working with the two of you a lot; showing you where stuff is, explaining how it all works, and watching over you both while you work on your projects unless one of us needs help with something big, like getting that engine out of my Supra. That’s not a one-girl job.”

A grinning Bella quickly offered, “Ooh! I can totally help with that, Crystal! I’m getting pretty good at controlling and moving metal with my magic; it helped a bunch when I was stripping vehicles for parts in the wrecking year on Saturday. Metal Mage for the win!”

“Sweet! Thanks, Bella, that would be awesome,” I agreed with a grin right back at her. Then I turned my attention back to Carmen. “So, like Bella said, today will just be book learning; diagrams, a lot of theory on how things work, and that kind of stuff. As for the workshop stuff, Mrs. Svenson will be there if you need help and tomorrow you can just work on replacing the hood and the front panels and stuff instead of jumping right into engines and stuff. You already know how to remove them after Saturday, and the rest is essentially the opposite.”

“And if you need any help, you can ask Mrs. Svenson, or any of us if she’s busy helping someone else,” Bella quickly added. “I know working on cars can be a bit intimidating at first, but I guarantee that by the end of the semester, you’ll have a working vehicle and at least most of the knowledge you need to keep it in good working order. This is my second year taking this class, so I’m pretty confident that you’ll get the hang of things.”

“Your second year? Did you fail or…” Carmen asked but she seemed uncertain how to finish that question.

“Nah,” the redhead replied, waving off the aborted question. “Most of us try to take it whenever it’s offered, we have a free elective, and we can fit it into our schedule, so we can increase our knowledge and get more practical experience working on vehicles. Each of us having our own projects to work on is new this year though, because Alex was willing to sponsor us. Usually, it’s just one big class project that gets auctioned off to pay for some sort of class activity or trip at the end of the year. I’m really excited to get to work on a car for myself this year.”

By this time, we had arrived at the auto shop, and we all got settled on the stools by our workstations for a lecture and some reading from our textbooks. While it wasn’t as fun as working on our vehicles, Mrs. Svenson had a way of making even the dry textbook knowledge interesting and fun. Carmen spent the whole lecture part of the class, hurriedly jotting down notes of anything that sounded even remotely important.

We did end the reading portion early so we could all show Carmen where the various tools and other necessities were kept. Mrs. Svenson also explained what some of them were for and how to use them, when necessary, since Carmen was new to everything mechanics-related. We even had a couple of minutes to check on our project cars. Carmen’s Kia Optima SX Turbo was delivered by Alex sometime yesterday, along with all the larger parts that people had scavenged for their projects. It was too bad that we didn’t have time for more than a peek because everyone was excited to get started, and nobody wanted to wait for tomorrow.

With Auto Shop finished for the day, it was now time for Home Economics, so I met up with my sister at our lockers and then we headed to class together. We were trying our hands at baking cakes today and Jess and I opted for chocolate with chocolate icing. Because chocolate is, of course, the best flavor.

I didn’t mess with the batter that Delilah and Mallory were working on today, mostly because I wanted to wait until Delilah wasn’t expecting that before trying it again. Besides, their cake pans, spoons, and measuring cups were all extremely cold to the touch for some reason. I wonder how that could have happened. Mallory tried to warm them up at one point, after some furious hissing from Delilah, but after Delilah almost burned herself on a mixing bowl, they decided to wait for things to return to a normal temperature on their own. They were still waiting for their cakes to come out of the oven when the rest of us left for lunch.

Delilah had been downright abusive to Mallory during class, hissing quietly at her apparently former best friend so the teacher wouldn’t hear, but I could see from the look on her face that poor Mallory was upset. I resolved to try not to put Mallory in the middle of our little feud and maybe see if I could talk to her later. The poor girl looked completely miserable working with and being bullied by Delilah.

Me and my friends were all eating our lunch peacefully and minding our own business when Delilah stormed over to our table looking furious. I half expected Mallory to be with her, but their interactions while working together during Home Ec. were not pretty. I felt kind of bad for the Efreeti since it looked like Delilah blamed her for what happened to her old car as much as she did me, instead of taking responsibility for her actions.

Delilah’s glare was focused on me as she practically snarled, “You were messing with my shit during class again, you fucking bitch!”

I calmly raised an eyebrow as I looked up at her from my meal. That had been a statement, not a question, so I wasn’t required to answer or be truthful about it. Instead, I cooly asked, “Do you have proof of this? Are you sure you’re not just a terrible cook? I think we both already know by now what happens when you try to accuse someone without evidence.”

“I know it was you, you little slut,” she hissed.

“If you’re looking for a confession, maybe try a church,” I suggested with a smile. “You won’t be getting one here.” Then I focused my mind on Melody and our connection through the Salamander network. ~ Honey, could you maybe check the bathrooms and stuff for Mallory? Delilah was being a mega bitch to her during our last class and she looked pretty upset. You’re the only one here that I figure would be safe on your own if Delilah or her other friends get any ideas. ~

~ Sure thing, Babe. Probably best I go anyway if she’s upset since I’m fireproof and have Fire magic, ~ she agreed immediately before excusing herself to go to the ladies’ room. That earned her some looks from everyone else at the table, but Delilah ignored her, her sights still set on me.

“Bitch,” she hissed again. “I’ll get you for what you did to my car, and for humiliating me like you did yesterday.”

Seriously?! Was she honestly that self-absorbed and deluded that she was believing her own lies, or was this just something to save face in public? Maybe it was both? For a moment I was too angry to respond, and Alison beat me to it. “Yes, because how dare she humiliate you by turning around your plan to humiliate her and get her arrested at her home, on her birthday,” the blonde Glaistig snarked as she rolled her eyes. We both knew yesterday was only the party and not my actual birthday, but Delilah didn’t need to know that.

Jess was just as pissed as I was though, and her tone was filled with cold fury as she stood up and glared at the Fire Mage. “Did you seriously just threaten my sister?”

“What are you going to do if I did, bunny?” she retorted, glaring right back at Jess. She was so fucking brave with the twin who didn’t have magic to defend herself. Uh oh. Nobody is allowed to call Jess ‘bunny’ but me, Mom, and maybe her girlfriend. And Rose was looking like she wanted to start throwing her weight into this fight too.

“Not me,” my sister replied, with a cold smile. “You have no idea how many powerful Paranormals you pissed off with your stunt yesterday, do you? If I were you, I’d hope it’s our Aunt Merry that gets to you first, she might let you live… for a very long time and in such exquisite agony. Carmilla has already made it clear to the PDA that she wants to handle this, and you do not want the Night Princess coming after you.”

Delilah paled at the mention of Carmilla’s more well-known moniker, but she quickly shook it off and sneered. “If you really knew her, I’d probably already be dead. You’ll need to come up with something better than that, puck.”

My sister and Rose both stiffened at the p-slur for Púca. Since I had managed to calm myself down, I needed to do something about this before this escalated further and that bitch had two very angry shapeshifters beating the living hell out of her. I wouldn’t have minded if she got beat up, but I didn’t want Jess and Rose to get suspended and Delilah wanted someone here to make a move and get punished for something she could prove.

The air of confrontation hovering around us was making me uncomfortable, I needed to get Delilah’s attention back on me and give those two a chance to cool off before they did something they would regret. So, I taunted her. “I didn’t touch your car, Delilah, the one who destroyed your car was you, not me and not Mallory. Why are you complaining anyway? Daddy already bought you something to replace it, didn’t he? I’ve seen it, it’s very… attention-grabbing, and different than your last car. You’re so brave driving something like that in public.”

Her attention was back on me now, and she was fucking furious. If she had any fire available right then, I was sure that I would have been testing just how fireproof Cinder made me. Apparently, she was too angry to even form coherent sentences and, after a bit of word salad that included some choice slurs and possibly some vague threats, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the cafeteria.

We had all managed to calm down a bit by the time my girlfriend returned to the table with Mallory in tow. The Efreeti looked miserable, and her eyes were red and blotchy from crying. “Thanks for finding her, Honey, I needed to deal with the Delilah situation,” I told Melody. Too bad the cafeteria was full, or I would have pulled her in for a nice steamy kiss as well. “How are you doing, Mallory? I’m sorry if you’ve been caught in the middle of Delilah’s beef with me.”

“It’s… not your… fault,” she replied between sniffles. “Delilah is a bitch and I… kinda ignored that since she was never a bitch to me until now. I guess… I was useful. She just hates you ‘cause you’re prettier than her.”

“Why the fuck do you hang out with her then?” Bella asked. “Everyone in school knows that she was just using you because you’re an Efreeti.”

The Efreeti wiped away her tears and shrugged. “Nobody else wanted to get close to me, I didn’t have very good control over my flames when I first started here, and still don’t, it’s why I have to stay in a human form. So, I guess the other girls were afraid of me. Delilah wasn’t and she treated me nice... well, nicer than she treats other people… at first. She would take me shopping and buy me nice clothes, and we’d go to spas and stuff. I guess she thought if she was going to keep me around, she didn’t want me ruining her image by being… not as well off.”

For the rest of the lunch period, we tried to shake off our communal anger at Delilah and to cheer Mallory up as we tried to get to know one another better. It was honestly no surprise that Mallory had clung so tightly to the attention she was getting from Delilah. She came from a single-parent family and her mother was working two jobs just to pay the bills. She didn’t want to be a burden, so when the obscenely rich girl started taking an interest in her, money talked.

The only reason that she can manage the tuition for the school is because she has a PDA scholarship to attend. The people who registered her at the PDA felt that without proper training for her abilities, she would be a danger to the public and the Paranormal secret. She didn’t have a car either, so she needed to take public transit every day and the nearest stop to the school was a ten-minute walk away. Delilah had sometimes given her a ride to school or back home, saving her bus fare.

At one point, Clarice asked Mallory, “How are you in the kitchen? If you’re looking to make some extra money and don’t mind working after school and maybe on Saturdays, my dad is looking for someone to help him in the kitchen at the café. It would mostly be prep work, but he’d probably train you as a cook as well if you’re up for that. The pay isn’t fantastic, but it’s not horrible either and your meals and drinks on shift would be covered.”

Mallory’s eyes widened at the kindhearted offer. For a moment it looked like she was going to ask why before she actually considered the question. “I usually have to make my own meals at home so I’m pretty good, at least I think I am. When someone isn’t freezing things that they shouldn’t be.” The last was said with a glance in my direction, but there didn’t seem to be any malice in it, and she tried to smile to take the sting out of the words.

I smiled back. She seemed okay when she wasn’t trying to impress Delilah, and I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be a problem anymore after how she treated her today. The poor girl needed real friends though, and maybe a helping hand, so I was glad that Clarice had taken the initiative on that. The young Deer Woman in question nodded and smiled as well as she offered. “Cool, we can go talk to my parents about it after school, I can give you a ride, but my car can only seat four. Alison, would you mind giving Nova a lift home with Rose and Bella?”

“Sure, I don’t mind, she doesn’t live too far out of my way,” the Glaistig replied without a second thought. With the post-school ride situation figured out, it was time for us to get back to classes. Mallory had Gym next with Clarice, Melody, Rose, Jessica, and me, so after we all grabbed our stuff from our lockers, we headed there together.