Melinda brushed back her hair behind both ears. She wondered if she looked different, God knew she felt different. Turning from side to side, the teenager observed every detail of her face and body and wondered if the changes she saw were all in her head.

Pondering the significance of the night's events, the brunette jumped at the pounding on the bathroom door. "Jeez, Mel," Chris said as they brushed past each other; her leaving the restroom while he crept in, Mel hurried down the hall to avoid any possibility of her older brother discovering her secret.

Staring after her for just one moment, Chris shook his head shaking off his paranoia for the only time ever. "It's gotta be a girl thing," he mumbled and slammed the door shut.

In her bedroom, Mel stood in front of her vanity mirror; her excitement wearing off as she thought about what would happen if her mother and father could tell what she had done. Pulling her long straight locks back into a messy ponytail, her bangs haphazardly falling in her eyes, she pulled on a hoodie and changed into oversized sweats hoping that no one would notice anything.

"Mel! Dinnner is ready," her mom called up the stairs and the teen wiped off the last traces of lip gloss and tossed the tissue in her waste basket. "Coming," she yelled down as she dragged her feet.

Wyatt was home from college for spring break and was spending a lot of time with Chris as the middle child prepared to graduate and get ready to leave for school in New York. "Hey, kiddo. How was the movie?"

"Fine. I mean, for a remake of a remake."

"What's wrong with you," Chris said as he sneak attacked and stole Melinda's seat right from under her. Moving around him to sit closest to her mother, she thought she might actually be able to get through dinner without having a complete panic attack.

"Mel," Leo said as he helped Piper bring in the casseroles, "are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, Daddy. Thank you for taking me to my test."

"In one day our little Melinda will have her permit. I still can't believe it," Piper smiled wistfully. Chris would be off to school in a couple of months and Melinda was starting to think about her future after high school. It thrilled Piper to no end that her children had lives outside of magic and she was proud of each and every one of them.

"Are you still saving up for a car," Wyatt asked.

"Well, I kind of already bought one," the youngest child said and each member turned to look at her in surprise. "Old Mrs. Banks has this vintage VW Bug in a pale ice blue color and she offered to gift it to me if I would work for her while I'm still in high school."

"Mel, that's a very nice offer but I'm afraid it's taking advantage of our neighbor," Piper said. "How can you be sure that you will want to work for her for the next two years?"

"Well, she said that after a year I wouldn't be obligated to continue but she's offered to teach me everything she knows about literature and she's got contacts in the publishing world," the girl said. "She sent one of my short stories to her son and he seems to think that it might be good for the young adult audience."

"Wow, you're getting published? Good job, kiddo," Wyatt reached over to pat her on the head while Chris just grinned.

"When you become rich I'm expecting you to keep me in the life to which I want to become accustomed," the middle child joked and his father cuffed him lightly on the head.

"That's a great opportunity, Mel, but I don't want you to depend on something that isn't guaranteed. Besides," Piper looked to Leo for support, "it's an older car and the parts are hard to find especially since its foreign. What will you do when the car breaks down?"

"Dad's a mechanic," Chris interrupted and received sharp looks from his parents. "Jeez, I'm just trying to help my little sister," he said.

"I think it's great," Wyatt said. "I mean, you're responsible and you have a job and a great future ahead of you and that car has a lot of character. I didn't know that you knew how to drive stick," he added on a side note.

"Daddy taught me on his old ford," she said and Chris and Wyatt shoved their seats back and dropped their forks.

"Are you kidding me?" and "You refused to teach me!" came screaming from their lips and Leo had the god grace to look sheepish.

"I will teach you boys, but girls mature faster and she's my little girl," he said smiling at the fifteen year old. "I have to make sure she's prepared for everything."

Dinner ended and Melinda was just relieved that her secret was still intact. That no one had noticed was only slightly upsetting ; sure, it would be nice to finally be recognized as a woman and an adult but at the same time she wasn't ready for the others to know about that part of her life.

Now that she thought about it, it was exciting to be the only one to know, other than Luke. Thinking of Luke, she could help the giddy smile the plastered across her face as she released her ponytail and took off her oversized clothes for more feminine sleeping attire. Ingrid Michaelson was playing in the background and she moved to the window seat where she curled up and looked at the stars.

Today, she was more than just a Halliwell witch.