Chapter Two

Dangerous ~ Big Data

"Here. Drink."

Molly shoved the steaming thermos into her sister's shaking hands after cutting the engine. The younger Danvers sister looked away from the building looming in front of them, her gaze curious and slightly confused, and took a careful sniff at it. Though the smell was absolutely wonderful, she was hesitant to take a sip, with Molly staring at her quite expectantly and all. Once she gathered the guts to do it, she tilted the cup to her lips and immediately her mouth was assaulted with the taste of ginger, apples, and surprisingly, brandy.

Willow smiled. "How did you know?"

Molly snorted and leaned back in her seat, quite pleased with her success. "What do you think Mom gave me during my first dance recital? I was terrified."

Her eyes widened as she took a bigger gulp. Her nose scrunched at the slight burn down her throat, but it was soon replaced by warmth flooding through her body as the thick substance went down smoother than a spoonful of honey. As if instantaneously, all she could remember was sitting across from her mother on the first day of high school. It was Kelly Danvers' special recipe for nerves, one she kept a secret from even the likes of her husband.

Though it killed her to do it, she set the thermos between her thighs to wipe the fog from her glasses. "You were twelve though. There is no way you could remember a recipe from that long ago.

With a lazy grin, Molly turned in her seat to face Willow completely. "Mom had a very European perspective on alcohol, thanks to grandma. I guess she figured she'd beat me to it instead of letting me self-medicate on my own," she explained, remembering the day that she caught her mother and grandmother drinking in the middle of the afternoon one summer day.

"You realize this isn't Cuba, right Grandma?" Molly had asked as the two women laughed their way through some tequila.

"Cariña, everywhere is home when you're a Latina. Location is a detail."

And that was the day Molly had her first drink. Her mother had given her another afterward to make sure she didn't tell her father.

She hesitated, staring at her sister with a thoughtful expression. "Just don't tell Sienna, Will. She's like dad, probably make me get rid of the whole stash. You didn't actually hear about that, though, just so we are clear."

Willow looked back at the high school as she took another sip. Her eyes seemed glued to the door with a sign above it, indicating that the office was right there in reach. Though her hands had stopped shaking, Molly could still see the anxiety on her face. She nudged her thigh, encouraging her to keep drinking, before she tossed two granola bars into her lap.

"Eat those with it," she instructed as she pulled her arms through the sleeves of her jacket. "The last thing I need is someone suspecting you are tipsy. Hopefully you aren't a lightweight like Sienna, but, you know, just in case."

While Willow munched away at her makeshift breakfast, Molly hoisted her bag from the backseat. She left the keys in her sister's lap, with a little look of warning. Willow was hardly the type to do anything wrong but Molly knew there was still a chance for them to be more alike than they knew. And, knowing herself all too well, fourteen year old Molly would have taken those keys and drifted across the parking lot. Willow seemed to get the message and nodded her head quickly, a jerky motion that had Molly worried she'd snap her neck if she did it too much.

"I'm going to get our schedules and stuff. Keep eating and drinking. If you start to feel funny, stop. I'll be back in a few minutes," she said once she was halfway out of the car door. "Lock the doors, squirt."

Are you sure that was the most responsible thing to do? You added more alcohol than your mother's recipe.

Molly looked around once the door was shut, searching for that bright orange spot. Across the parking lot, sitting right on top of the Forks High School sign was a small, pretty owl. It stared directly at her, its head tilted curiously to the right.

She'll be fine, Molly responded as she slung her bag across her back and headed toward the office. If she didn't loosen up, she wouldn't talk to anyone. God forbid I prevent her from giving the freshman class a bad first impression.

She could almost picture Nala shrugging off her response. Then it was quiet.

The rain was light this morning – a huge difference from the constant downpour the past few days. It didn't mean much to the girls; they were too busy decorating and furnishing the house to their liking. It was an improvement for this morning, though, since there were several different buildings across the campus. For a school a fourth of the size as her last one, she was shocked to see just how much more room and freedom there was.

I guess the west coast really likes their space, she thought as she jogged across the lot and onto the sidewalk. Once she reached the office, she pushed the door open, setting off a twinkling bell that put her in another world.

"Well, hot damn," she whispered as she took in her surroundings. The office was a huge contrast from the gloomy world that was Forks. The walls were painted a cheery yellow and were covered from floor to ceiling in fliers alerting the student body of everything that could be possibly going on. There was an overwhelming amount of school spirit from the banners, trophies, and signs that were splashed here and there. Back in Pennsylvania, the office was the most miserable place in the building, with equally miserable ladies working the front desk.

The same could not be said for the lady who popped out of nowhere.

"Well hello there!" a rather plump woman dressed in a very loud purple sweater exclaimed. Had it not been for the fact that she was looking for someone, she would have scared the shit out of Molly with that overly cheerful tone. Luckily for her, she was also a redhead, so the girl decided this woman was already one of the best people here. "You wouldn't happen to be one of the Danvers girls now, would you?"

"Molly, ma'am," she said as she held out her hand. The purple lady was impressed by her manners and gave her hand a firm shake.

"Mrs. Cope, dear. Don't make me feel any older than I am," she said with a chuckle and turned around to collect two folders from the desk behind her. "Is your sister Willow with you, or…?"

Molly gave her a sheepish smile. "She's having a bit of a hard time with the first day jitters so she's waiting in the car right now."

Not if she keeps drinking, she won't be.

Ignoring Nala was extremely hard but after years of practicing, she had least learned how to stop herself from outright laughing. A poker face of sorts, even if she couldn't control the small smirk from growing. She just wished the familiar wouldn't be as sarcastic as she was.

That's because I am part of you. You can thank yourself for being a sarcastic little shit.

She just barely managed to cover her laugh with a cough.

"Aww, poor dear. I remember that feeling all too well," Mrs. Cope murmured, her tone filled with affection. Molly hoped that the rest of the faculty would be as nice as her. "Well, tell her in her folder there is a pass for her third period class to come back here." The woman paused and leaned forward, her voice a little above a whisper. "The guidance counselor, Mr. Daniels, wants to check in with her and talk about a few things."

Molly was touched by the woman's effort to give them their privacy, even if she was whispering to a completely empty room. It was the thought that count.

"Will do, Mrs. Cope. She'll be here. Our schedules and everything we need is in these folders?"

She nodded. "Along with a map of the school, though I doubt you'll need it. The students here are very helpful and welcoming. There is also a sheet of paper each of your teachers will need the sign, just so we know you got all the materials you need to finish out your year here. They're expecting it, so if any of them give you trouble, send them my way. I'll straighten them out."

As kind of a lady Mrs. Cope presented herself to be, Molly didn't doubt her at all. It just made her like her even more.

"Oh, and Molly, dear?"

"Yes?"

Mrs. Cope smiled softly. "He also said you were welcomed to stop by at any time, if you should feel the need to talk."

Yeah. Fat chance.

Molly just gave her a tight smile and a mock salute back, before ducking back out the door into the hazy drizzle. She had a perfect view of Willow in the car, giggling and singing along to god knows what. Though the windows were up, she could hear the bass from across the parking lot.

Told you, Nala chastised, causing Molly to grumble as she trudged across the parking lot.

"Didn't I tell you to stop if you felt funny?" she asked once she yanked the door open and settled back in the front seat. The music was blaring so loud she thought her eardrums were going to explode. Even after she turned it down, Willow continued to dance in her seat.

"I don't feel funny, though; I feel great!"

"Yeah, yeah. That's the problem," Molly muttered and tossed her two more granola bars after seeing the empty wrappers on the console. "Keep eating, twerp. You're meeting with the school shrink during your third period, so you better cool it by then."

Willow shrugged. "He won't know. I don't smell like it, right?"

After leaning forward and taking a quick sniff, she decided all she could smell was a spritz of Sienna's perfume. Knowing Willow wouldn't touch anything cosmetic with a ten foot pole, Molly shook her head.

"Really Will? A charm?"

"No one will suspect you spiked my drink."

Until she gets on a desk and starts stripping.

She wanted to argue about assigning blame but she stopped short. It actually was her fault. "Alright, touché, kid. Eat the damn granola and listen up. We got some time before we have to go, so we are going to go over everything."

For the next few moments, Molly relayed everything Mrs. Cope had told her. It took longer than it should have, because Willow kept getting distracted but eventually with Olly's help, they calmed her enough to get a route down on the map for her classes. Luckily for them, they shared lunch together, which seemed to ease any nerves Willow had left. While she talked to Olly about what classes she was excited about, Molly took a moment to look at her classes. Most of her previous ones had transferred – Calculus, AP chemistry, Honors English, American history – but they had bumped her into Spanish instead of Latin.

"Close enough," she muttered, shoving the papers into the front part of her bag. She tried to ignore the near physical pain she felt just from having Calculus first thing in the morning and reminded herself she got lucky with a free period at the end of the day. "Alright Will, where's Olly going?"

Willow unzipped the front compartment, where the black rabbit shifted into a small, black rat. He peeked his little pink nose out and eyed Molly, his whiskers twitching as a greeting. Molly blew him a kiss, thankful her sister got such a total sweetheart for a familiar.

"Lucky crystal?"

She tugged on the rock hanging from her neck. "Check."

"What's our number one rule?"

"Be a witch, not a bitch."

Though slightly impressed she actually remembered that, Molly shook her head. "Alright, what's Sienna's number one rule?"

Realization dawned in her wide eyes. "Oh…" she trailed off, almost staring past Molly before the older sister snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Don't let humans see anything magic related. It doesn't exist to them."

"And?"

"And what you put into the world will come back threefold, good or bad."

Molly smirked in approval. "That's my girl. Now come on Wendy, keep eating because we got like ten minutes to park somewhere else and get to our classes on time."

She couldn't help but smile at her old nickname. "Sure thing, Peter."

It never failed. No matter where she went to school, east or west be damned, Molly always had some weirdo for a math teacher.

Mr. Henderson was a middle-aged man, slightly balding and barely standing a few inches above her petite stature. He was a bland person, dressed completely in shades on the gray scale, down to the laces in his shoes. On top of that, he was awkward; he met Molly's bright smile with a bored face, and ignored her outstretched hand. If anything, the only emotion she got from him was a disapproving downward glance at her clothing.

She looked down at herself. Had she missed the mark with desert boots, jeans, and a knit sweater?

Maybe it's the leather jacket on your arm, Nala said. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if the familiar had hidden somewhere in the classroom.

"You'll be sitting in the second row, next to Miss Hale," he finally muttered, ending their tense silence while forcing a beat up textbook and the signed slip into her hands. Shock filled her when she realized where his voice sounded familiar from.

Kermit the frog is teaching my math class, she thought, biting her lip almost hard enough to split the skin open. "Thank you, sir."

He gestured to her seat, a jerky motion that reminded her of the way she would shoo away an animal. Molly turned to face the class, ignoring all of their curious looks as she tried to find out where exactly Miss Hale was sitting. Lucky for her, the only open seat in the second row easy to spot, and she assumed the blonde staring at her book was her.

She shuffled through the aisle, careful to avoid everyone else's possessions before sliding into the creaky desk. Uncomfortable chair, scratched up desk, possible decade old gum stuck underneath; Molly reminded herself to keep her hands above the desk and tried to forget about it. It was like nothing had changed, even with the unfamiliar faces surrounding her and the constant rain outside the window.

The textbook was heavy and smelled a bit like someone's gym locker. Scrunching her nose, she flipped through the pages, just to see how different the curriculum was, but all she saw were a jumble of shapes, letters, and formulas that sent a sharp pain through her head.

How anyone can enjoy this is beyond me, Nala, she told the familiar before turning to the blonde. From the awkward angle she had of her, Molly could still see she was absolutely stunning. Blonde waves cascading down like a waterfall, sharp cheek bones, and pale skin that rivaled her own; her slim curves, clothed in a cashmere sweater and jeans, would make any model envious. But for some reason, all Molly could think of when she looked at Miss Hale was cold.

"Um… excuse me," Molly murmured, reaching out to tap on the girl's desk. "Can you tell me what chapter we are on? Mr. Henderson didn't tell me."

Without even looking up, the girl answered, her voice hard and stone. "We don't use the textbook."

End of discussion.

There was a finality in her words, one that warned her not to ask any more questions. Though she held some kind of bright allure about her, it didn't shock Molly how Miss Hale reacted. Something about her just screamed pain and anger. Maybe it was just her body language, but Molly prided herself in being decent at reading people.

Soon enough, Henderson passed out worksheets to the class, and Miss Hale's words made sense. At least now she could leave the old book in her locker with a car freshener.

"You can work with others, just keep it down," Henderson grumbled, settling himself at his desk with a newspaper. Molly guessed the internet would be teaching her calculus for the rest of the year.When she turned to ask Miss Hale if they could work together, thinking maybe her response was just a fluke and there was a cheerful girl somewhere in the Ice princess' body. But alas, the girl refused to acknowledge Molly and proceeded to put a pair of earbuds in.

Molly sighed. After a quick glance around, she realized everyone else was paired up and shuffling their desks. Working alone it is, then, she thought as she looked back at the worksheet. God I hate math.

"Hey! New girl!"

Looking behind her, she found herself being stared down by another blond, a boy with a baby face and blue eyes from the back corner. His smile was contagious and comforting, like the warmth from the sun on an early spring day. It was enough, for now.

He gestured for her to come over, and so she did. Lugging the book and her bag to the back, she claimed the empty desk next to his and dropped everything. She couldn't wait to get rid of that stupid textbook.

"Molly Danvers," she introduced herself, her hand out and ready. Instead of the traditional handshake, she got a fist pound. Not what she expected from a clean cut jock but Molly decided she liked it.

"Mike Newton," he responded, smiling down at her. He was decently tall and now that she was closer, she could see a dusting of freckles across his nose. "Nice to meet ya, Molly. You don't know how glad I am to have another junior in the class. I was beginning to feel like a baby with all these old heads."

"That's because you are a baby, Newton," a girl sitting across from them chuckled, already through a decent amount of problems.

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the encouragement there, Melissa. Anyways, don't worry about Rosalie. She's like that to everyone."

"Rosalie…?"

Mike pointed to the girl Molly had tried to talk to. "Rosalie Hale; she and her siblings prefer to keep to themselves. I'm sure they're a nice family but no one knows since they won't actually talk."

Molly looked back at Rosalie, wondering what kept her family from being social. Maybe something had happened to them

He proceeded to introduce her to the rest of the group, a mix of football players, a cheerleader, and then Melissa again, twin to the cheerleader and student body president. Power group, Molly noted after taking a quick scan of the rest of the class. The cliques were still obvious to her because she knew what to look for, but it wasn't as bad as her old school. Everyone else seemed to work together, aside from the few loners that preferred solitude.

"So, Danvers," Mike said. She could almost here the question before he asked. "Where you from?"

"Pennsylvania, about an hour out from Philadelphia," I responded. "Go Birds."

The way he narrowed his eyes was almost comical. "Bite your tongue. You're in Seahawk territory right now, sweetheart. Don't be going around talkin' like that."

"Yeah or you'll break little Mikey's heart."

It felt odd for Molly to sit there and listen to their banter but it wasn't a bad type of odd. She liked that they were including her in it, giving her a chance to feel like not the new kid, but instead an old friend, just another student they grew up with.

That she was normal for a slight second in her life.