(A/N: This chapter is shorter than most of my others will be, but I just wanted to provide a bit of an interlude here, along with some basic background and plot development. I apologize if the New Teens seem to be taking over the story, but I need to focus on them to fill in some of the missing timeline with their relationships. The adults will (probably) be back full force next chapter, which should be up in a week at most, depending on schoolwork and a possible period of depression if the Shrub wins reelection. Though this chapter is short, I hope you enjoy it, and as always please R/R.)

The next day, at the high school, Maria and Endora were hanging out in front of their lockers in between class periods, hoping to catch either Madeleine or Abigail in the hallway. At length, between fifth and sixth hour, they were rewarded with the sight of Madeleine heading hurriedly towards them.

"Hey, Maddie," Endora greeted her for the both of them when their "friend" walked over to say hello. "How's it going?"

"Hi guys. As well as can be expected," she replied, making a sour face. "We just had Journalism."

Endora and Maria looked at each other knowingly. "Oh," said Maria, carefully modulating her voice to convey empathy. "Any nasty blow-ups?"

Madeleine sighed. "Not today, but Abigail was practically glowing over her appointment."

Endora frowned. "Really, Maddie, I don't think you're being fair. You two need to get past this juvenile rivalry of yours."

"Yeah," agreed Maria heartily, "It's not like she actually did anything underhanded to take the position away from you. I mean, that rumor that's going around is just so ridiculous that I don't know how you can believe it."

This got Madeleine's attention. "What rumor?"

"Oh," exclaimed Maria, "you didn't hear, then? It's stupid, really. Never mind. I shouldn't even have brought it up"

"No, I want to know what's being said," Madeleine insisted.

Maria thought about it for a second. "Alright, but I'm warning you, I don't think you should believe a word. I heard it in the lunch room, and apparently some people think that Abigail hacked into the network and sabotaged the article portfolio you submitted."

"Now, please," Endora added when the color began to rise in Madeleine's face, "remember that you know as well as anyone how unreliable the gossip is here. I'm sure it's just a couple kids who want to cause trouble."

Sure enough, Madeleine was thoroughly incensed. "The snake! I'm sorry, you two, but if it was anyone else, I wouldn't have believed a word, but Abigail…? That's exactly the sort of thing she'd do! Oh wow, I have to get going, but thanks for the heads up."

As soon as Madeleine was gone, Endora gave Maria a discreet high-five. "Nice one. She totally bought it. I must say, your idea of sabotaging her portfolio and laying it on Abigail seems to be working quite nicely."

Maria smiled slyly. "Why thank you. Although, I've gotta admit, after five years of this, those two are so willing to believe anything about the other that our job is really not that hard. I think what really did it was when you zapped Abigail and made her fall down those stairs when Madeleine was right there."

"Yeah, it was simple enough a hex, but pretty well-placed, if I do say so myself," Endora admitted with fond reminiscence. She might have started feeling strangely awkward about wreaking havoc in these people's lives of late, but that didn't negate the natural pride she still felt in a job well done.

"I just can't believe how easy it's gotten," Maria repeated. "A couple of years ago, we had to be so much more subtle about pitting them against each other, but now they just eat it up. And Abigail's even worse than Madeleine."

"That's true," the young witch observed. "She does have a pretty paranoid and suspicious personality. Probably not surprising, though, considering someone's been out to kidnap her all her life. I think it's made her unusually quick to believe that someone's out to get her."

Maria snickered. "Boy, these stupid mortals are so gullible."

"You better watch what you say," Endora rejoined with a good-humored smirk, "you're talking about your own kind.

She shivered at the thought. "Ugh, don't remind me! Not for long, though: I will become a full-fledged witch someday."

"Your mom's really not going to be happy about that," Endora pointed out matter-of-factly.

Maria displayed no undue concern. "She'll have to learn to deal with it. I know she doesn't want me following in her footsteps, but I see how the great mass of people are just manipulated like lab rats, by people like us, and I don't wanna be like them. Which is why I need someone to help me get started."

Endora groaned. "Not this again. Look, Maria, we're best friends, and I love you like a sister, but sometimes I really want to kill you, painfully, especially when you get all fixated on a particular idea. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm not doing it."

"Come on," Maria pressed, "if neither my mother nor yours will teach me any witchcraft, you're the only one left who can."

Endora shook her head. "No, Maria, you know I've been strictly forbidden."

"Christ, why am I the only one willing to break a few rules when you're, like, Rosemary's Baby?"

"You already know why, you're just being stubborn. Just because my birth was a great boon to the Forces of Evil doesn't mean I'm exempt from their rules. I won't be authorized to corrupt people down the path of darkness for a couple of years, and if I do, our friends in the basement really won't like it."

Maria looked at her best friend imploringly. "Please," she pleaded, "you know why I have to do this."

Endora understood. "Your father."

Maria's entire countenance was overtaken by pure hatred. "No," she corrected bitterly, "the loser who got my mom pregnant and then skipped town when she was in the hospital, with no way to take care of me or pay my medical bills, since he never even managed to send us money like he promised. I've seen the guy, oh, maybe five times in my life that I can remember. I'll never call him 'Father.'"

Endora did sympathize with her friend. After all, she was none too fond of her own father. Still, it didn't change the facts of their situation. "Look, I know you hate him, but…"

Maria laughed viciously. "Hate? That's an understatement. I want him to suffer as much as humanly possible, and then be erased from my existence forever. You know how I've begged my mom to let me legally change my last name to Bennett, but she always refuses. After all these years, she still hasn't gotten over the scum! She's ruined her life over him, become something she hates, and still she gets angry at me if I 'disrespect' him. Oh, I'll do worse than that; I'll make him pay a hundred times over for everything he's done to us!"

Maria had gotten herself so worked up that her voice had steadily risen way above the hush that the two of them generally used when discussing such things in public places. "Shhh!" Endora hissed urgently, "Keep it down! Do you want the whole school to hear you? As I've said before, I'm not telling you not to get your revenge, just that it can wait awhile, until you're old enough to begin an apprenticeship."

Maria shook her head furiously. "That could take years. He's returning to Harmony for a little while in a couple of months to visit Abuela Pilar, oh, and me, or so he claims," she added, rolling her eyes.

"It's the prefect chance, and I need to be ready. Please help me, Endora," she begged, hot tears threatening to spill down her face. "You're my best friend, the only one who understands what this means to me."

Endora felt herself starting to waiver. "Well, there are a few spells and hexes I could probably teach you without too much risk. There's not a lot of time, though; I'm not sure how far you could get in only a couple of months."

"Pfft! I'm not worried about that," Maria assured her friend. "My name might be Lopez-Fitzgerald, but I'm still a Standish woman, after all, with all of the innate supernatural ability that entails and none of the pesky morals. I think I can manage." Having said that, she engulfed her friend the typically overly enthusiastic hug of a teenage girl. "Thank you so much! I promise you, you're not going to regret this."

"I certainly hope not," Endora intoned uncertainly. That matter settled, for better or for worse, the two of them headed off to Calculus, hoping that Endora's glamoury would prevent their teacher from noticing that they were at least fifteen minutes tardy.