As it turned out, Malia and Cora were in Mari's PE class after lunch. She hadn't noticed the two the day before, but she chalked it up to her first-day nerves. They were playing basketball today, and the two girls were fierce to say the least. They flew down the court, making quick work of shooting basket after basket, decimating the competition.

Mari was thankful that she was on their team, especially after she watched Cora smash into a tall brunette on the opposing team. The brunette fell to the ground, pulling a ginger boy down with her, and there was an audible crack as skin met polished wood. The girl screeched, and Mari saw that she was cradling her arm to her chest. Mr. Wallis blew his whistle, rushing on to the court. Cora was smirking and whispering with Malia, even as the injured girl started to sob.

"Eric, take Juliana to the nurse's office," the teacher instruced. The ginger boy - Eric - nodded his head, softly wrapping his arm around Juliana's shoulder and leading her away. The teacher turned his attention to Cora, releasing a long-suffering sigh. Mari came to the conclusion that this was not new behavior for the other girl.

"Ms. Hale, this is the second time you've severely injured another student this year. I assume you know where the principal's office is?"

Cora said nothing, giving Malia a small high-five before following Eric and Juliana out of the gym. Mr. Wallis sighed again, trudging off the court. He blew his whistle again, followed by instructions to, "Get changed. I'm letting you out early."

Mari went out of her way to catch up with Malia as the girls in the class walked to the locker room. "What was that about?" she asked, grabbing the other girl's arm.

Malia shook her off, still smirking as she turned her head. "Juliana was talking shit earlier, and she thought Cora wouldn't hear. She was wrong. She should know better than to mess with a Hale." She grinned, baring her teeth, and left a stunned Mari standing next to the bleachers.

"I think they might be crazy," Mari muttered to herself.

Mari's last class of the day was Forensic Science. (She had no real interest in it, but it had been the only open class.) She slid into her seat seconds before the bell rang, having had to talk with Cammy during the break. Just like the day before, the table's other spot was empty. Maybe she just didn't have a partner. She hadn't thought to ask the teacher.

Mrs. Pendrall began to write on the whiteboard, and Mari took a moment to get out her notebook and her pencil case. For all that she tried to appear to be a rebel, she was actually very meticulous when it came to taking notes. Each class had a notebook and a section in her accordion folder, and all of her notes were color-coded with pens and highlighters. (It didn't hurt that selling copies of quality notes was a good way to bring in some extra cash.)

The teacher turned around to begin her lecture, and Mari poised a purple pen over the blank page before her. But before either could begin their task, the classroom door swung wide open, slamming into the adjacent wall. Pendrall turned her head rapidly, glowering as she took in the intruder.

"Mr. Stilinski, you're late again."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Mrs. P. Coach wanted to talk strategy with Scott and I, and we lost track of time." He brandished a piece of paper in front of him. Mari assumed that it was a note of some sort.

Pendrall snatched it from him, squinting at the page for a moment before sighing and placing it on her desk. "Very well, then. Take your seat, Mr. Stilinski."

Stiles nodded, making his way towards the back of the classroom. He came to an abrupt stop in front of Mari's table. "What are you doing here?" He was hissing, for some reason.

"I sit here?" she replied, confusion plain in her voice.

"Mrs. P., really?" Stiles called, facing the teacher again. Her mouth was open, ready to try to begin class, but instead she sighed again.

"What is it now, Mr. Stilinski? Your peers are here to learn and you are keeping them from that."

"Why is she - " he flailed his hand in Mari's general direction, "at my table? What happened to Roger?"

"Mr. Tersch transferred out after your last...incident. You were the only student without a partner. That situation is now rectified."

"But!"

"Please, Mr. Stilinski. Take. Your. Seat." Pendrall looked like she was on the verge of blowing a gasket. "Or do I have to send you to the principal again?"

Stiles deflated. "No, you don't. I'll be quiet."

"Liz, these people are pazzi!" ("crazy")

"Mari, take a breath. First of all, didn't your sister say that you need to speak English? You can't just go slipping into Italian all the time." Elizabette Andrews, better known as Liz, was Mari's best friend from her schools in Senise. Liz had moved to Italy from the United States back in scuola media, and the two girls had been inseperable ever since. The second biggest heartbreak Mari had ever experienced - after the death of her mother, of course - was having to leave her best friend behind.

"Sì! Ma mia sorella è la più pazza di tutti!" ("Yes! But my sister is the craziest of them all!") Mari was practically shrieking. She was extremely stressed out by the events of the past two days, and by the fact that apparently people at her school already hated her. They hadn't even had a chance to get to know her! If they hated her after that time, she could understand that. She'd had many enemies back in Senise and Colobraro. But for people to judge her right off the bat...

"Mar, stop! You're in the United States now. You need to speak English! You know how much we hated it when stranieri (foreigners) came to town and refused to speak our language. Now you must do the same with your new home." Liz was trying her best to calm down her flustered friend. But Mari wasn't having it.

"Questa non è casa mia! Questa non sarà mai la mia casa! Blue vedrà l'errore che ha fatto!" ("This is not my home! This will never be my home! Blue will see the error she has made!")

"Mari, seriously, breathe." Mari took a deep breath, and Liz smiled on the screen of the video chat, "Okay, what's really the problem? I thought you'd come to terms with Blue's decision. Well, as much as you can agree with another person's decisions."

"There are...others...here. In the town we've moved to."

"Others?"

"Other people like me. People with powers. Soprannaturali."

Liz nodded. Mari had long ago confided in her friend about her magical powers. Her mother had told her that she could confide in one person, and that person had been a girl that was as much of an outcast as Mari herself would be if anyone found out. Liz hadn't been very popular when she'd first moved to Senise, with her acne and thick glasses and braces. That had changed when they reached the liceo classico, and Liz had outgrown all of her awkwardness. She'd become beautiful, but had remained by Mari's side.

"Okay. Are any of them cute?" Liz had wanted Mari to get a boyfriend for an extremely long time, ever since her breakup with her scumbag ex, Alessandro Brivio. And a boy with supernatural powers would just be the icing on the cake.

Mari shook her head ruefully. Her friend's antics used to make her angry, but now they just amused her.

"I don't know. I haven't met any of them yet. I sensed them in this old building I was exploring. They came in before I could learn anything about them. There were a lot of them, easily a coven or a pack. I'm worried, since I haven't exactly announced myself. I'm sure they know I was in their space. They won't be very happy with an unknown supernatural in their territory. What am I going to do?" The witch girl had been calm at the beginning of her speech, but was now verging into hyperventilation territory.

"It'll be fine, Mari. Didn't your mom give you a book or something? Hyacinth was the most overly-prepared woman I have ever met. I'm sure there's something in there about meeting other soprannaturali, and moving into their territory, and other such things." Liz had always been the voice of reason in the friendship, while Mari was sort of the muscle, so to speak. Not to say that Liz wasn't strong or that Mari wasn't smart, but Liz tended to think with her head, and Mari thought with her heart and fists.

"You're right, as usual." The witch sighed. "Please, tell me about your life so I can calm down." Liz blushed furiously at the request, which peaked her friend's interest.

"Well, a boy asked me out..."

Mari screeched a little bit, thankful that no one was home to hear the ruckus. "Who? When? Where? How?"

"It was Maximillian Dioli. You know, the brother of Cammy's friend?" Liz paused her friend confirmed her knowledge with a nod. "He asked me out right after you left. He said that he had been wanting to do it for some time, but you alway scared him too much for him to do anything."

Mari snorted at this. She had a bit of a reputation at her old school. She was beautiful but deadly. Several boys had called her a succube before, which was a laughable concept. She had met a succube once, when she and her mother had gone on a job in a neighboring town. The woman had been something of a black widow, married five times in the past seven years. Elenora Svetian had been her name, and she had been the most gorgeous creature Mari had ever seen. Certainly nothing like a thirteen-year old witchling yet to even grow into her own.

"Did you say yes? Inquiring minds want to know."

Liz stuck her tongue out in response, cheeks flaming even more. "Well, he is very cute, and very sweet. Cammy was right about both of those things." Cammy had often reported on Maximillian's dateability after returning from visiting her best friend, Evangeline Dioli.

"But what did you say?" Mari pressed the issue, mostly forgetting all about her fairly terrible second day of school.

"I said that I would think about it. But I'm thinking I'll tell him yes. I've seen him reading Tolstoy and Poe in the library, though I didn't know his name at the time."

Mari definitely screeched this time. "He's Il Ragazzo Libreria (The Library Boy)? Why didn't you tell me straight away?"

"I wasn't certain you would remember me mentioning him. That was right around..." Liz paused, her face sobering. Mari remembered her friend's first mention of the boy, just a week before her mother had passed away. The day after Liz's sighting, Hyacinth had gone into the hospital, and they had both been too preoccupied to consider the issue.

"Well, I'm happy for you," Mari said after a few moments of silence. Liz smiled tentatively.

"I should probably go to bed. It's so late here," Liz replied, "Thanks for listening."

"And the same to you. Buona notte, Lizzie."

"Buona notte," Liz replied before ending the chat.

Mari closed her laptop and turned her chair away from the desk. She rose, heading towards her bed. She flopped down, her head hitting her pillows and allowing her to muffle her screams of irritation. Moving was bad enough, without all this added supernatural nonsense. Blue was never allowed to plan anything ever again.

"Worst. Move. Ever."

A/N: I know. I know. I'm the worst. I haven't posted a chapter since December. But winter quarter was crazy and I didn't have any inspiration for this story AND I ended up starting another fic with my friend (go check out "Pacing the Cage", my other Teen Wolf OC fic). Thank you all for being patient! I hope you enjoyed, and I promise legit plot is coming soon!