"I have to say, you're taking all this extremely well."

"Well, to be honest, I've had... experience with magic before."

"Are you a witch, like me?"

Charlotte shook her head and bit her lip. What she really wanted to ask had to be phrased carefully. "Listen, Willow, can you answer something for me?"

Willow nodded. "I can try."

"You've seen a lot of stuff, right?" Charlotte rubbed her neck nervously. "I mean, vampires, you said your ex-boyfriend is a werewolf. You and your girlfriend are witches."

"Yeah..."

"Have you guys ever come across something like mermaids? Or fairies or something?" She added the last bit hastily, trying to pass it off as a joke. Charlotte knew that she shouldn't be telling this to strangers, but she wasn't exactly spilling the beans, right? But maybe she could finally get some answers. All she had ever gotten in the way of answers before was the same 'it's magic, don't question it,' routine, but even magic had to come from somewhere, and who better to answer questions about magic than a witch?

Willow's eyes lit up at the question. "You know what, we haven't. I've seen trolls and demons. Our mayor turned into a giant snake once, Buffy defeated an actual god, but I haven't seen any mermaids. Not even in the books either." She grabbed onto Charlotte's arm excitedly, "Why? Have you seen one?"

Charlotte laughed, but even to her own ears it sounded incredibly forced. "No, of course not," she denied, "I just figured, you know, if all that could exist, why not those?"

They were nearing the school, and as if to answer her, there were Cleo, Emma, and Rikki. And just like she feared, Rikki's narrowed eyes were watching the entrance like a hawk. Charlotte ducked into the nearest empty classroom, Willow following with a confused look on her face.

Willow looked over to where Charlotte was staring. Sitting in the grass of the courtyard were three girls and a boy. Two of the girls were blonde, and the boy had an arm in a cast, the other girl was a brunette. One of the blondes looked more than a little pissed at the boy in the cast.

"Who are they, Charlotte?" She asked.

"Oh, um, we used to be... friends. The brunette is Cleo, the blonde girls are Emma and Rikki. The boy in the cast in Lewis." After a slight pause, she quietly added, "I accidentally broke his arm the other day."

"With your Slayer strength?"

Charlotte looked at the ground, ashamed. "It was an accident," she muttered.

Willow put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not blaming you. Could've happened to anyone with newfound supernatural strength."

"And now Rikki wants to kill me."

"What, is she his girlfriend or something?"

Charlotte shook her head. "No, that's Cleo. Rikki's just got a really bad temper." She took a breath, she had been putting this off long enough. "I'm gonna go apologize. I'll see you after school, okay Willow?"

Willow nodded. "Alright, I've got to call Buffy and see what's what anyway. I'll meet you at the house." They walked out the classroom together. "Good luck," Willow called back.

As the red-head walked out of sight, Charlotte wanted to call her back, to use her as a shield or something, and that's when Charlotte realized just how much she had changed. Before all of this, Charlotte would stand up for herself, fight for what she wanted. Now, she was acting like a coward. Well, she decided, not anymore. Just the other day, she had staked a vampire, she had saved someone life. If she could defeat a vampire that tried to literally kill her, why couldn't she just apologize for something she did wrong? They had no right to hold the past against her, she was a different person now. Resolve filled her, and Charlotte strode over to the four, who were all standing up to leave.

Rikki noticed her first, and her eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to say something, but Charlotte quickly cut her off.

"I just wanted to apologize. Lewis, I'm sorry I broke your arm, it was an accident, I really didn't mean to. If there's anything I can do, let me know."

"It's okay, Charlotte, really, it's fine." He indicated his arm. "The doctor said it was a clean break, it should heal in no time."

"I'm glad to hear it." Charlotte smiled at the other girls. "See you guys in class."

As if on cue, the bell rang, and Charlotte walked off to first period, leaving the others confused.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," Lewis said, giving Cleo a quick kiss and running up to catch up to Charlotte.

"She's planning something," Rikki muttered, her hand twitching.

"Rikki, don't start," Emma groaned. "Charlotte's not plotting our demise. She just apologized. You ever think that maybe she's moved on?"

"I'm telling you, Emma, something's up. And did you see that girl she was with?"

"So she's got other friends, so what?" Cleo asked, walking toward class.

"I could feel magic practically radiating off of her. Don't tell me you guys didn't feel it."

Now that they thought about it, they had. The red-head that Charlotte had been with looked normal, but the magic she possessed had been fairly obvious.

"What if Charlotte told her our secret?" Rikki pressed.

"Rikki, stop it," Emma warned, "You're being paranoid-"

"And you're being too naive!"

"Guys!"

The two stopped their bickering at Cleo's shout. "Can we just go to class, and wait to hear what Lewis says before we make any assumptions?" She rubbed her eyes tiredly and marched into their class, leaving Emma and Rikki to follow, still glowering at each other.