Hello everyone!

Heads up, there is a bit of a time skip in the middle of this chapter, sorry about that xD I don't usually like those, but it was rather necessary.

I would like to thank all of you who favorited and alerted the story! I get so happy when I see a new notification in my mail! And, thank you MsPatricia, RandomWeirdGirl and our new reviewer, Trick-or-Treat! You guys fuel my muse xD

Anyways, the cast for this chapter is as usual, with the adding of my own headcannon casting of Meghan Ory as Laura Hale. I know, how very tumblr of me xD

I was listening to the soundtrack for Guardians of the Galaxy while I was writing this, awesome mix! :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Cornflower petals

September rolled around quickly before Simone could even notice the passage of time. Her everyday e-mails to her parents became far and few in between and her frequent calls to her grandmother turned into only a couple of hand-written letters. She only noticed it after Eve laughed at dinner one evening, saying how Simone's grandmother had called to warn her not to 'steal her grandchild away'. But, when she phoned her favorite relative, the old witch had told her not to worry about a senile bat's threats. If she was forgetting to check in, that meant that she was having fun. Somehow, that had brought her comfort that she hadn't realized that she needed.

Simone had finished almost three diaries worth of magical instructions, full with different blends and combinations, along with their effectiveness and effects, and she had barely scratched the surface. Eve still hadn't given her a proper spell or potion to do on her own, as she supposedly wasn't ready. But, Simone didn't mind it this time. Unlike with her mother's restrictions, her Godmother actually wanted to learn the way of the Crafters. If it took time, she would be patient. Regardless of her attempts to convince herself that she had the desired virtue, Simone knew better. She had asked Daniel about his studies in the art and how long it had taken for him to actually use a proper spell. His answer had depressed her on a whole new level.

"I'm not sure." Dan shrugged, munching on his chocolate chip cookie. "I suppose I've been using spells my whole life, since my family is full of Traditionalists." He looked away from Tomoe, his precious Kawasaki Ninja bike, which he was upgrading once more. "Why are you asking?"

"Aunt Eve isn't really letting me do any spells…" Simone murmured, her cheeks reddening. She was more than a little embarrassed by the fact. She was a witch for Gaia's sakes! She should be able to do as many spells as she wished. "She says I'm not ready."

Dan stopped his work, wiping away the sweat from his brow and leaving a dark, oily trail from his dirty fingers. "Trust what she says then." The warlock explained seriously. "Aunt Eve is a great witch, and an even better teacher. My magic was a mess when I came here, even though I knew how to use it."

But, it was a couple of days before the first of September, the beginning of the school year, that Simone finally got her wish. The young witch had just finished washing the dishes, which were in a constant mess at the Inn, as Eve abhorred doing the dishes and Dan usually forgot, when there was a doorbell ring.

Simone quickly rinsed her hands free of suds, yelling towards the door. "Coming!" When she opened the entrance, she wiped her, still wet, palms on the pink apron, smiling at the guest. She had been practicing welcoming new customers with Dan's tutelage, so that she could begin working as soon as the school semester started. "Hello!" She greeted the young woman at the door.

"Hi." The brunette awkwardly shifted from one foot to another, her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. Simone gave her a once over, noticing the lack of suitcases. She wasn't a guest, that much she could tell. The young woman was in her twenties, skinny and fit, and the witch could imagine her being on the front of a magazine. Well, with her leather jacket and dark jeans, she would totally rock sitting on the front of an old chevy Impala, smirking at the camera. God, was everyone in Beacon Hills this good-looking? Simone mentally cursed her gangly limbs and wished for the smooth ease and catlike grace which the young woman in front of her possessed.

"H-hello." Simone stammered once she realized that the brunette was still staring at her, waiting for something.

"Hi." Now, the woman smiled. It was an easy smirk-like expression on her painted lips, which sent Simone into a self-confidence depression spiral. She wished for a day when puberty would transform her from a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly just like this woman. Maybe, in college. Maybe. But, probably not. "Is Evangeline home?"

"Y-yes. Please, come in." Simone moved to the side, allowing the young woman to enter and stand in the hall awkwardly for a moment, shifting from one foot to the other once more, her hands still in the back pockets of her jeans. "Aunt Eve should be downstairs in a minute, she's showing a room right now." The witch finally managed to gather her wits. The brunette nodded, turning in the same place and glancing around awkwardly. "Would you like anything to drink while you wait? Coffee? Tea?"

"Coffee would be great. Black." The young woman had obviously noticed the level of Simone's sheer uncomfortableness and attempted to save her from any further shame. The witch nodded to herself a couple of times and rushed towards the kitchen. As she prepared the beverage, pouring it into one of the white cups with forget-me-nots on them, the brunette wandered into the kitchen as well, her hands now in the pockets of her jacket. Who in the world wears a leather jacket in this weather? Sure, it was almost September, but it wasn't that cold outside.

"Here you go." Simone offered the coffee to the young woman. There was another moment of awkward silence, before the brunette spared the young witch once more.

"It's good." She nodded at the coffee, offering a small smile. When Simone simply nodded, the woman continued. "You're not from Beacon Hills, are you?" Now this was a good conversation topic for the young Jones girl and she felt a breath of relief before speaking up.

"No, I'm not. I just moved here a couple of weeks ago from Colorado." The witch explained, leaning back at the counter, her fingers playing with a lock of her long hair nervously.

"Much warmer over there, isn't it?" The brunette asked, seeming genuinely interested.

"Yes, but it's not too bad here either." The witch stopped for a moment and then forced herself to speak more. "I like the foggy mornings here, they are quite enchanting, especially when you live near the preserve." Simone had promised herself that she would be more outgoing this year. That she would make a friend or two. That she wouldn't be the lone weirdo in the back anymore. But, she had no idea what more to say. Somehow, conversation had never been her forte.

"I can imagine." The young woman smiled. "Be careful of the forest at night, though." She continued. "It is a preserve, after all. There are quite a few mountain lions around and they do sometimes come down from the mountains in search for food."

"I will." The teenager nodded. "Thanks for the heads up." And then, there was yet another silence. The blonde awkwardly stared at the brunette. When the young woman smiled at her once more, sipping her coffee, the teenager looked away, blushing. Maybe she should give up her idea of making friends. Conversation was a really bad point for her.

"Laura!" Simone couldn't manage to suppress the relief on her face once her Godmother appeared in the kitchenette doorway. "I didn't know that you were coming." Eve frowned a bit, the expression strange on her gentle features.

"Evangeline." The brunette headed towards the blonde witch, smiling a little awkwardly. "It's been a long time." The two hugged, but Simone could tell that there was something off. She wasn't sure what, but there was something wrong.

"I see that you've met my Goddaughter, Simone." Eve introduced, beckoning the young witch over and completely ruining her not-so-subtle attempt at an escape.

"Yes, she was quite welcoming." The brunette, Laura, smiled, praising the witch. "Where are my manners." The woman laughed, a deep rumbling sound which made her curls bounce on her shoulders. "My name is Laura Hale." She introduced herself.

"Simone Jones." The young witch said, even though it was most likely unnecessary, seeing as Eve had just introduced her. There was yet another awkward silence.

"Simone, honey, why don't you go and see if the guests in room 2.11 like the place and if they will be staying?" Eve spoke in an overly sugary tone, which definitely set off the young witch's internal alarm bells. With a nod, the teen was off.


Simone sighed, shutting the book on her lap and tossing it on the heavy wooden table next to her. She was giving up. The Basic Circles and Incantations was a tome full of diagrams that confused the living daylights out of her, and the young witch was slowly beginning to give up on the idea of transmutation. Maybe, it was too ambitious to think that she could learn how to properly use magic in a span of a few weeks. It was a craft that one learns throughout their whole life, after all.

The young witch walked to the numerous bookshelves, dragging her fingers along the titles, choosing her next read. She had given up on more than ten books since she had left the basic introductory encyclopedias. Frankly, she was getting depressed. Again. If there was one thing which Simone absolutely hated about herself, it was her tendency to give up as soon as something got difficult. Sure, sometimes she would plow right through the pain and get her goal, no matter how unachievable it seemed. But, these bursts of ambition and determination were rare.

But, she wasn't about to give up on magic. That was something that made her special. It was something that defined her. This one, she would plow through. She would make herself do it.

"The Book of Fire: Battle Magic." The young witch read out loud. She pulled the tome off the shelf and started sifting through. The first hundred or so pages were full of numerous diagrams and magic circles, with lots of explanations about the theoretical aspects of the spells. But, as soon as the teen got to page 101, there were sketches of people making different hand motions. "It looks like a martial art." The witch murmured, skimming through. She placed the book on the table, finding the simplest spell that she could and stood a little further away. "Kind of like this." Simone extended her arms in front of her, her palms straight, parallel to the wall.

"Next is-this." She intertwined her fingers in a second position and then pulled them in to her chest, just as the book showed. She could feel a tingling of her magic, rumbling inside, pushing towards the surface. "Followed by…" Simone peered at the page, undoing her fingers and following the sketch in the book. Her elbows went wide and she made a pushing motion to the front. The rumbling was there, warm, electrifying, just underneath her skin. Her magic was there, responding to the spell. With another glance at the page, Simone completed the spell, thrusting her hands to the front once more.

There was a brief moment of silence.

Nothing happened. The magic was still rumbling just underneath Simone's skin, but nothing happened. She couldn't feel anything. Her previous excitement was gone. Her heart gradually slowed down. The spell hadn't worked. The magic was there, but it didn't work.

A door shut on the top of the stairs and the young witch quickly lowered her hands, slamming the book of battle spells and shoving it back onto the shelf. She didn't know why, but she didn't want Eve or Dan to know that she had attempted those spells.

About as soon as Simone had thrown herself into the chair, re-opening The Basic Circles and Incantations, Eve appeared on the stairs. She wasn't smiling. The blonde witch looked around, finding her Goddaughter.

"Simone." Eve called out. "What are you up to?" The blonde wandered down into the basement library, a smile forcing its way onto her face. It wasn't genuine. She was still bothered about something. There was something off. And if Simone had to guess, she would bet that it was connected to the early morning visit of the model-like Laura Hale.

"Just trying to understand this stuff." The young witch turned the book around, showing the circles and descriptions in Latin to her Godmother. "It's worse than History."

Eve chuckled, this time honestly. She pulled a chair up and sat next to the teenager. "Don't worry about those for now." She took the book and closed it. "Transmutation and transfiguration are two things that you shouldn't attempt until you are comfortable with everyday easy spells." After noticing the confused look on the teen's face, the witch explained further. "You should start with using a medium, such as a candle, incantation or a stone to focus you magic. That way, you won't drain yourself and the spell will be much easier to do."

After Simone gave a nod of understanding, despite the fact that she was still rather lost, Eve opened the Basics once more. "See, transmutation uses magic circles instead of incantations, which makes it much harder for an inexperienced witch or warlock." The long nail painted maroon pointed at a passage in the book. "It explains the method here, but I think that the book is a bit too complicated. That's why it's better to learn from a teacher."

"I see." The teen murmured, her mood plummeting further. All the previous excitement about the battle spell was gone, and she was sinking further into her usual, calm mode. It was like she was underneath the surface of the sea, relaxed, without strong feelings to cause waves on the surface. All the chaos was above, and she was under, in silence, in peace. This way, she could control the rage that often consumed her and made her magic go insane.

"Alright." Eve clapped her hands on her knees, creating a sound which resounded throughout the library. "Shall we choose your first official spell?"

Simone could swear that she stopped breathing. She looked at her Godmother in shock, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She could feel the familiar tingle of her magic, curiously tapping in the back of her head like a tiny drum. It was excited because it could sense her own excitement.

"But, I thought-"

"It's about time, wouldn't you say?" Eve laughed the comment off, standing up. "Now then, since your affinity hasn't manifested yet, we should choose an easy, generic spell." The witch wandered off to the shelves, looking through the titles. "Is there any spell that you would like to try? Something simple, such as lighting a candle or creating a small breeze."

There was a single thought that came to mind at those words. "Is there a spell to change color of a certain object?" Eve smiled.


That night, Simone could barely sleep. She had spent at least for hours listening to the sounds of the forest coming through her open window as she stared at the spell on her desk. Minuit was tight asleep in his place under her bed, content with his treat during dinner. The Lighthouse Inn was quiet.

Aunt Eve had showed her the recipe for the coloring spell, and Simone had spent the afternoon attempting to make the right solutions. The enchantment had two parts, along with potion making. The first one involved the hue which the caster wanted as a result. It had to be made out of natural colors, since magic didn't recognize synthetic ones. So, Simone had gone into the greenhouse in the middle of her Aunt's gardens and found all the blue flowers and berries that she could. With a little help from Google on her phone, she had picked a couple and then proceeded to try and cut and boil the ingredients into the right hue.

The second part of the spell was the fixative, as the color needed something to keep it glued to the desired object. This had been a simple part. It involved water and vinegar, in the right dosage and with the right stirring. Thankfully, it had only taken Simone three tries to get this part right. By the time she had finished both concoctions, her hands were dyed a pale, baby blue and her nails were a much darker hue of the same color.

Daniel had walked in sometime before dinner, looking exhausted and muttering something about IKEA. He had stopped, stared at the working witch for a moment and then shaken his head and walked away. Thankfully, Aunt Eve had come by and checked out Simone's potions before dinner, which the Forester's always had together, after the guests were done. The blonde witch had stirred each potion with her finger, as if testing the density of it. Miraculously, no blue had glued onto her hands.

But, Simone had gotten her spell ingredients approved, and that was all that mattered to the young witch. Now, she was staring at the two identical, hexagonal glass bottles filled to the brim with liquid. In the clear one, the fixative, lay a piece of silk, soaking. The other one held the color, a soft blue made out of cornflowers, which was going to be used later.

Her spell was almost done. Her first spell.

Yet, she didn't feel the rush.

True, she had had fun making the potions and doing the research, as always. But, there hadn't been that rumble under her skin, like when she had attempted the battle magic from the book. There hadn't had been no rush. There had been no excitement. No magic.

Simone sighed, turning around in her bed, so that she wouldn't be looking at the glass bottles that were glimmering in the moonlight. She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to go to sleep. Yet, the only things that she could see were those sketches from The Book of Fire. What in the world was the Book of Fire anyways? She had never heard of it.

Sure, most cultures had different elements as their basic ones. From Ancient Greece to China, and then in modern Buddhism and Hinduism. Even in the Wiccan traditions, the modern version of Crafting, there were the elements. But, she had never heard it mentioned from her mother or grandmother. Eve and Dan had talked about an affinity, but surely, it wasn't something like being a bender, like the Last Airbender cartoon. Simone scolded herself and forced her eyes closed once more.

She would investigate further the next day.

Unfortunately, those plans had vanished with the morning sun.


Knocking sounded on Simone's room door, along with yelling. "Hurry up, slowpoke, you're going to be late!" Dan's voice rang out, as he pounded on the door once more.

Simone jumped a bit, her temper finally showing itself. "I'll be right there!" She yelled out, throwing her brush down and giving up on her messy, long hair. She was done. The witch glanced at her reflection in the mirror for the last time that morning. She was wearing skinny jeans, black, and a large sweater with a picture of a cat in the front. The black feline had always reminded her of Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service, one of her favorite witch cartoons. On her feet, as usual, were her trusty Dr. Martens, maroon and a little off color balance with the whole outfit, but she didn't care. They were her lucky object.

"Simone!" Dan yelled from afar, reminding her that the holidays were over. The teenager checked the contents of her bag once more, panic beginning to grip her. Pen, notebook, phone, charger, tissues, another pen, cat, a couple of Dan's old books, jump drive. Yes, she was ready. Wait, cat?

Midnight meowed, complaining, as Simone picked him out of her bag for the third time that morning. "I'm sorry, little one." She profusely apologized, feeling sorry for the pathetic looking kitten. "I can't take you to school."

And with that, Simone looked at her mirror for the last time, giving her pale and slightly sick-looking reflection an uneasy and very unconvincing smile. "You can do this." She whispered, nodding. "You wanted to come to Beacon Hills, after all." The young witch grabbed her natural lip-balm, a gift from her grandmother, and her bag, rushing out of her room. Before she closed the door, she smiled for the last time at the walls, now pale blue, with designs of cornflowers all over the vintage wallpaper. If she could do a proper spell, she could deal with some rowdy teenagers.

Eve was fussing downstairs, preparing sandwiches and packing them into a sealed plastic bag. When Simone entered, she rushed to pack them into her bag, zipping it up and grinning. "Ready?" The witch gave the teenager a hug after the girl managed a shaky nod. The warm scent of coconuts was familiar and comforting and Simone found herself relaxing a bit.

"Shall we?" Dan walked in as well, pulling a shirt over his head as he did. Simone had managed to catch a nice view of his stomach, though, which had made her face flush. What in the world did the he do to get himself to look like that, the witch wondered, finding her Dr. Marten's quite interesting.

"Daniel." Eve warned with an unamused look on her face. "How many times do I have to ask you to get dressed in your own room?"

"At least once more." The warlock cheekily replied, smirking. He reached for the keys at the counter and turned to Simone. "Are you going to make an impression today or are you going incognito?" He asked.

"Incognito, please." She murmured, shifting from foot to foot and reached for the lock of her hair to twirl it.

"Alright, Signor Ezio." The warlock grabbed the keys of the KIA and headed out. As Simone went to follow him, her Godmother grabbed her shoulder gently.

"Simone." She said, smiling, but the young witch could tell that the woman was serious. "You'll do great today." The blonde whispered, hugging her Goddaughter once more and then patting her hair into place carefully. It seemed for a second like she wanted to say something else, but Dan yelled from the entrance, causing both witches to remember the time. "Go on now, you don't want to be late for your first day of school."


The KIA slowly pulled into the parking lot, Dan skillfully sliding it in between two cars and turning the engine off. Axl Rose's vocals of Welcome to the Jungle cut off mid-word, leaving the vehicle in complete silence. Simone fidgeted for a moment, before her hand flew to her mouth and her teeth latched onto the edge of her nail, biting it. Dan drummed his fingers on the wheel of the KIA, a little uncomfortable.

"Want me to go in with you?" He finally asked, once the teenager didn't show any intent to move from the passenger's seat. Simone shook her head in silence and took a shaky breath. She undid her seatbelt and pushed the door open, slipping out. "Simone." Dan leaned over, calling out to her. "On the bright side, they probably won't even notice that you're new."

As the teenager walked towards the double doors of the school, which were really, the same as any other American high school's, she realized that Dan's words, no matter how pathetic, had brought her some comfort. Simone Jones knew that she wasn't a person that everyone remembered. Heck, she had had a number of awkward situations in the supermarket, where she had had to remind a person who she was once she said hi.

Somehow, the school seemed much more intimidating now, rather than a week ago, when she had gone to get her schedule and register for classes. Maybe it was all the teenagers rushing towards the entrance? Simone didn't know, but, her hands went cold, as usual, and a familiar drum began to pound in the back of her head, her skin tingling with magic. The young witch began rummaging through her bag, looking for her headphones. When she didn't find them, she cursed herself. The drumming in her head was loud, reminding her of exactly what could happen if she lost control of her nervousness.

Taking a shallow, shaky breath, Simone looked up and focused on her goal, first class of the day, Trig. In her mind, she quickly started her calming mantra for extreme emergencies. Two times two is four. Two times three is six. Two times four is eight. Etcetera. By the time she managed to squeeze through the door, passing a couple of boys with white sticks for some sort of a game, Simone was calm.

Well, as calm as one could be on their first day at a new high school.

That's all folks!

Please, review and leave me your thoughts :D

Onto the fun facts of this chapter:

- Daniel is an avid gamer, and he often mentions characters from his favorite games

- The coloring spell which Simone uses is actually made by using natural fabric coloring as an example

- Simone's worst subject it History, closely followed by P.E.

- Daniel watches anime

- Simone enjoyed witch movies as a young girl a lot

- Evangeline is one of the most famous witches in California, due to her family history

Onto the reviews!

MsPatricia: Thank you! I always plan two or three chapters of backstory and end up with at least six hahahaha Oh, Stiles was so adorable in the first two seasons :3 I find him a bit dull now :( I miss the humor and the awkwardness…

RandomWeirdGirl: I couldn't resist xD Stiles was such an adorable spazz in the first two seasons… Now he's getting much more adultier and duller… I miss the weird humor!

Thanks for the heads up! I usually rush with typing out my chapters, as I'm a very slow writer :( Hence, I don't really check the chapters before posting them.. I kinda skim through hahaha But, I did go through the last chapter once more and made a few edits :D

While my English is pretty good, I'm not a native speaker, so I do mess up a lot xD But, I spent some time in the USA in high school (as an exchange student) so I did pick up some of the lingo. I understand the grammar Nazi thing on a personal level… It happens to me as well xD

Actually, the my story is influenced by a lot of things that I've seen, TV shows and the like. The shop was inspired by The Good Witch and The Ghost Whisperer. It's going to be useful later :D

I hope you enjoyed!

Trick-or-Treat: Thank you so much for the review, it made me sooo happy! Thank you for all the compliments.

I'm glad that you are enjoying the story and that you like Simone! I tend to spend so much time researching and making my OCs, so I'm very glad when I see that my readers appreciate them :D As for the source of her character, there are simply one too many overpowered MS OCs in the Teen Wolf section, who are bored and have a tragic backstory and are oh so cool in action. I wanted to take a different path and make her relatable, but not too 'classic wallflower'. In some ways I really relate to Simone, and then in others, we make completely different choices, so it's a great adventure to write someone so stereotypically 'teenager' like. I'm more like Dan, when I take a better look at myself xD

As for lore, I'm doing quite a bit of improvisation. My idea is to separate Traditionalism and Wicca completely, which allows me to use my imagination. Basically, in this story, Wicca is a modern version of Witchcraft, much like in history, as the Rede was written down in the 1900s. The Craft that I am using as inspiration is the original, old, magic and Slavic religion, from the time of paganism in Europe and Asia (from 6th to 9th century AD). I'm mostly concentrating on merging the beliefs of modern Wicca and Slavic paganism to make a new story. Not to mention, that I am creating my own magic categories and spell levels and the like. They are inspired by a lot of books, movies and TV shows that I've seen. Hopefully, this answers your question xD Think of the magic in the story as a mysterious, new RPG skill system that you're playing through :) Most of it I will attempt to reveal, but some will stay a mystery. After all, we are talking about magic here :P

Oh man… Daniel. I really didn't expect him to receive this much love xD But, I get it.. He was made with the idea of 'cool college student' in mind. And let's face it, Beau Mirchoff is hot xD I really adore the character, though, as he's the one that I relate to the most in the story :D

Unfortunately, Dan and Simone will not be having any romantic things going on. It's pretty simple, he sees her as his little sister, since she is a witch, same as him. Simone does have a little crush on Dan, but it's just that, a teenage infatuation. I do have some plans in mind about Dan, though, but, we shall see…

Anyways, this is my long-ass reply to your awesome review :D Keep them coming in little novels form, it's my favorite xD