Chapter Three

Old Time Rock & Roll ~ Bob Seger

Molly couldn't believe it. There was, in fact, a way to be too normal.

Sitting in Spanish was as bad as it was boring. Having been brought up with Latin acting as a second tongue, any of the Romance languages seemed to click in an instant. Not to mention being exposed to the very vocal, very out-there Cuban side of the family; her grandmother and great aunts had made sure they spoke to the girls in their native tongue any chance they could get with hopes they would keep their Latin culture.

Though she was in a higher leveled class, it wasn't enough to keep her focused. Especially not since it didn't get better teacher wise.

She was sure Mrs. Della was a lovely woman outside of the classroom. It was just that woman could drone on and on, and she found herself mentally correcting every mistake in her pronunciation. It was incredibly rude but she couldn't help herself; it wasn't her fault the teacher wasn't too good at her job.

English was a step up from the first two classes but not much of an improvement. The class was structured decently; it was split into semesters, one dedicated to a research paper on some topic of their choosing, and the other based on a book from a list of acceptable choices. Lucky for Molly, Mr. Clarke was willing to let the first slide since the rest of the class were just finishing up their final edits and accepted an essay about her previous academics. By the smug smile on his face, she could tell he thought she'd struggle through the second one anyway, so fair was fair.

What he didn't know was that Willow owned most of those books and many a sleepless night, Molly had browsed and read a few. Combining that with an old research paper, she basically had a second free period.

The one positive thing that came out of the English experience was meeting Angela Webber, a tall, mousy looking girl who barely spoke above a whisper. Molly was charmed by her quietness, even if it was a struggle to hear some of her words, and decided that they would make a good pair. Hell, she would even be someone good to introduce Willow too; she would need someone calm to balance out Molly's antics.

"So Molly, do you have someone to sit with at lunch?" Angela asked as the girls left the classroom. They matched in stride, despite the obvious height difference.

"This kid from my math class, Mike Newton, said I could sit with him but I promised my sister I would sit with her if she didn't meet anyone."

As if summoned by spell, Newton popped up behind the girls, his arms draped around each of their shoulders. Angela squirmed a little bit, awkwardness clear on her expression, but Molly didn't seem to mind much. She was too much of a touchy-feely person to begin with. She just wondered how much Mike pushed his boundaries like that.

"Wait, there's a mini-Danvers too?"

Angela scrunched her nose and nudged him off Molly, too. "You do realize there's this thing called personal space, right Michael?"

"Aw come on Angie, we've known each other since preschool. You should be used to this by now."

After shifting her books into one arm, Molly stopped the pair in front of the lunchroom and faced Newton. He looked confused as she narrowed her eyes.

"Now I don't care if you act like that with me," she said, poking him dead center on the chest. "But if you don't respect Angela's wishes, I promise you I will kick your happy little ass in front of everyone in that cafeteria. Then you can feel just as uncomfortable knowing people saw you get beat up by a girl who is at least a foot or so shorter than you. Are we clear?"

The look on his face almost made the girls laugh. Newton looked so ashamed of himself, like a little boy being scolded by his mother for teasing a girl in the neighborhood. He refused to look at Molly, and muttered his apologies to Angela.

"Thank you, Michael," she responded, a slight chuckle shaking her words as she tried to cover her mouth from giggling more. When he wasn't looking, Angela mouthed thank you. Molly only shrugged.

"Now, I don't know about you guys but I'm starving and I still have to find my sister. For all I know, one of the seniors could have stuffed her into a locker already."

"If she's anything like you, they'll be sorry," Mike muttered. This time neither of the girls could hold their laughter in. "What? It's true, dude. You're a scary chick for being so small."

"Hey. I'm not that small," Molly said as she looked around. Almost a second later, she spotted Willow standing by one of the pillars, scanning the cafeteria for her. "Willow! Over here, kiddo."

Molly could almost feel the relief wash over her once Willow saw her sister. She scuttered over to her, her head down as she tried to ignore the curious looks from everyone else. She moved faster than she intended, and skidded to a stop when Molly grabbed her shoulders.

I guess the tea wore off, she thought, biting her lip as she tried to figure out what mind set her sister was in. "Hey Will! How was class?"

"It was okay," she replied, easing up once she saw Angela and Mike's reassuring smiles. She was as quiet as a mouse, making Molly's heart tug even more.

She's doing better than you thought she would, Nala reminded her gently. Give her some time. She'll come around.

"So, mini-Danvers, I have a question for you," Mike said, pushing past Molly despite her protests and leading Willow off to the kitchen to get food. Willow looked like a deer in headlights but let herself be led away. "Is your sister always so scary?"

"Hey!"

She looked back at Molly with a bewildered expression. "Did you threaten someone already?"

Molly stopped and stared back at her. For once there wasn't any fear or worry in her voice. Had Mike accomplished the impossible?

She squared her shoulders, refusing to admit any wrongdoing. "He was making Angela uncomfortable."

Pursing her lips, Willow leaned back and looked up at Mike for a second. If there was a definition for pure judgment, that face would be it. "If you think she's bad, you should have met our mother," she finally muttered, shaking her head. Molly had to give her that; their mother was a force to be reckoned with. It was something with the women in their family.

So she had been wrong. Willow did like Angela and appreciated her kind, subtle commentary but it was Michael Newton that got her talking. Watching the two of them converse was like watching a match strike and ignite; back and forth the conversation went, with never ending questions on either side. Of course, they included Molly and Angela here and there but the two of them were fascinated with each other. It was the oddest thing, but it looked familiar.

Too familiar, actually.

"That scoundrel is replacing me," Molly grumbled as she grabbed a salad and a bottle of juice from the cooler. Normally pizza would suffice but it looked like it died too weeks ago.

Angela chuckled, following in her footsteps. "Mike really is a sweetheart but he's a handful. I guess he's just happy he found someone who can keep up with all of his talking."

She wouldn't lie to herself – it did hurt that a complete stranger was able to pull back the sister she knew and loved while she couldn't – but Molly did her best to shrug it off. Willow's best interest came first and she knew that even if she found comfort in someone else, she was still the girl's older sister.

Sometimes strangers are better when you are struggling, Nala chided. She would almost feel the swish of her tail on the back of her neck.

Still sucks, though.

After they each paid for their lunches, they followed their newfound friends to one of the larger tables in the cafeteria. There were already some people, but there was more than enough space for Molly and her sister. Angela sat down and kissed her boyfriend – Ben, Molly later learned – on the cheek, while Mike sandwiched the sisters between him and some other dorky looking kid.

"Jesus Mike, you kidnapped the new girls already?" he said, grinning at Molly with weirdest expression ever. It almost looked like his skin was too tight and he was purposing trying to show all of his teeth. "I'm Eric Yorkie, the eyes and ears of Forks high."

"He means the newspaper editor and resident sleuth," Mike corrected.

"Molly," she introduced herself as. "This is my sister Willow."

The introductions were immediate, thankfully; seeing Willow's battle between shying back again and staying animated with Mike, she hoped it would be over soon. Molly learned the girl across from her was Jessica, the chatty girl from her Spanish class, and next two her were two other girls, Lauren and Corey. Both stared at Molly like some bug landed on the table.

I swear, it's like a rule that every school has to have girls like them.

"Tyler will be here in a little bit. He's picking up lunch," Jessica murmured as she rolled a pencil back and forth.

"You're allowed to leave campus during lunch?"

Lauren snorted, making the other girl laugh. "Well duh, you have to be desperate to eat that shit."

There was no mistake; Molly knew she directed her comment towards her lunch. She must have looked like she was going to come out of her seat, because she felt Willow grab her wrist rather harshly. It was enough to snap her back into reality, and probably enough to leave a bruise. Only then did she feel the static hanging around herself.

I know you have better control than that. Knock it off, Nala warned. Molly ignored her comment and just continued to stare at Lauren, wondering if it was her or if she was like that to everyone.

"What do you expect, Mallory? It's high school food. Probably the same stuff they feed the inmates in prison," Mike responded, breaking the tension. "You expect too much."

"Why do you think I bring my lunch?" Ben offered, shaking a baggy in front of her face. Molly barely made out the poor excuse of a sandwich swinging inside of it.

"First of all, ew," Lauren said, her nose upturned as she pushed his arm away. A few strands of blond hair swung into her eyes. "Second of all, I expect a lot more from a public institution. My father's tax paying dollars should be providing a better experience than that."

Molly, don't.

"Well, I'm sure the children in India and Africa would find your argument very compelling, Lauren. Or maybe the local homeless people in Seattle or Port Angeles would be more sympathetic to your cause?"

The table went silent, each person glancing between the girls and having no clue what to say. Lauren seemed to seethe while her blood boiled but Molly only smiled and shoveled a forkful of lettuce into her mouth. She was quite pleased with herself for making the girl speechless.

Now look at what you did.

Eric cleared his throat. "You know, Mike, that's not a bad idea for an article. I'm pretty sure I saw one of the vendor trucks pulling into the prison before."

"Plus you compare it to how Hollywood portrays the food. There's like all of those stereotypes we could investigate," Angela added, smiling encouragingly at the others. She was desperate to make the awkwardness dissipate.

"You just want an excuse to take pictures of delicious food and make the rest of us hungry."

Jessica scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You're always hungry, Mike."

And like that, the conversation was back on track, minus any input from Lauren and her best friend. That was fine with Molly, though.

The hairs on her neck stood up, making her shiver and sit up straight. Molly glanced at her sister but nothing was different with her; she was too busy debating with Mike why books were better than their movie counterparts to notice anything different. She glanced at the rest of the table but none of them seemed to notice.

She knew it wasn't her gift. The world stayed the same – no color changes or silence – but Molly still felt like someone was watching her. It was the oddest feeling, like she felt it but at the same time she didn't. Looking around the room and hoping to find the source, she scanned the room but no one was looking at her.

Wait.

She backtracked and peeked out of her peripheral vision. A round table, set off towards the edge of the room, held five occupants, and she swore one of them had snapped forward, like they wanted to avoid being caught.

Nala, was that them?

There was no answer but that was fine. Even if she was imagining it, she was strangely interested in the five. Her favorite Math person, Rosalie, sat among the group, as beautiful as ever. The other four were just as gorgeous, each oddly different but still the same.

"Uh oh, new girl spotted the Cullens."

Molly turned to look at Eric. "Um, excuse me?"

Eric quickly chewed through his food and spoke after wiping his mouth. "The Cullens; they're the other 'new' kids."

"Dude, they've been here like a year. They aren't new anymore," Ben argued.

"Still, they're the last to move here before these two. Anyway, they're Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They keep to themselves, ya' know? It's weird."

Molly's eyebrows scrunched together, remembering Mike's conversation with her from math class about Rosalie's unfriendliness. "Maybe they're just shy."

Jessica shook her head before she even finished her sentence. "No Molly, you don't get it. It really is weird; the whole family is. Some of them are like together together. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Come on Jess, they aren't actually related."

Jessica shrugged off Angela's comments and leaned toward Molly, eager for the chance to gossip. "You see the blonde girl? That's Rosalie Hale; she's dating the big guy next to her, Emmett. They're literally a thing," she explained. "I don't know about Alice – that's the real tiny girl bouncing in her seat – but I've always had a feeling she and Jasper were a thing."

"Which one is Jasper?" Willow asked.

"The other blond; he's Rosalie's twin. I've never seen them act like a couple but they're always close to each other, so I think they are," she answered. "The bronze haired one is Edward. He's single and, like, so beautiful, but I guess no one here is good enough here for him."

The bitterness was so obvious. Molly wondered how many times this Edward had turned her down for her to care that much.

"Hey, did you ever think the reason they keep to themselves is because of gossip like this?" Molly asked pointedly, one eyebrow quirked. "I wouldn't want to talk to people if this was the kind of shit people were saying about my family."

Molly.

Come on Nala, this is small-town bullshit. It had to be said.

Angela was quick to salvage the lunch time conversation, quickly changing topics to distract the rest. While Lauren was still pissed off, Jessica looked more awkward than anything, like she knew she was wrong. She wouldn't look at Molly for the rest of the period and despite it costing her good first impressions, Molly was okay with that.

It was safe to say that while lunch had plenty of drama and excitement, the rest of her day was pretty boring. Molly had somehow survived American history by the seat of her pants, even though it was the most animated class of the day. She just wasn't interested in it, and would rather be home studying her magic's history instead.

Gym followed afterward, and while she hated the idea of being forced to participate in team sports, Mike was there with her. It was in the beginning of a volleyball match that they discovered they shared a love for music and dance. It got interesting when Coach Sutherland put on a classic rock jam over the loudspeaker and Molly couldn't stop herself from moving along to the beat, making her new friend and a few others laugh at her silliness.

"You know, you could have danced with me," she told him before they left to change.

"Oh no Danvers, you wouldn't be able to handle these moves."

She poked him again. "Just you wait, Newton. We're going to have a dance battle one of these days."

Molly had been hoping he would also be in her favorite class but Mike had made it very clear that science was not his thing. So, while he escaped to go to a regular Biology class, she went on her own way to AP Chemistry.

It was a small class, only about twelve students and mostly seniors, but she kind of liked that. It was quieter, so she could focus more on her studies without distractions, and more personal interaction with the teacher. At least she hoped so.

"Miss Danvers, I presume?"

When Molly turned around, she was shocked to see that the voice did not match the person she faced. This woman, Dr. Wilson, according to the schedule, looked like a high school student from the nineties: dyed blue pixie cut, three plus piercings per ear, a tattoo here and there, racoonish makeup.

And here she was, standing in a yellow sundress too bright for Forks' doom and gloom, with a British accent more proper than the Queen of England.

Okay, what the hell.

"Molly," she said, offering out her hand once her books were securely nuzzled in the crook of her elbow. Dr. Wilson shook her hand, gripping it surprisingly firmly.

"Well then, Molly, may I be the millionth person to welcome you to Forks, Washington. I'm sure you'll learn to see it's charm eventually." The smirk on her face was contagious, and Molly wondered if she had just met her match in wit. "Mr. Cullen, it turns out you'll have a partner after all. Molly, you can take a seat next to him."

She recognized the name immediately and turned around to see which one was in her class. Grinning back at her was the infamous boyfriend of her math neighbor, Emmett, who looked oddly out of place among a clique of nerds and two secluded cheerleaders.

"You've picked a good time to join the class, Molly. I've made it my priority to have my classes enter in the state's science fair, just to pique interest and what not, so today's the day we actually get to talk about it," Dr. Wilson explained as she settled in next to Emmett. "So ideally, each team would choose something chemistry related but I'm open to ideas incorporating other sciences as well. Even though each of you will be taking the AP exam in May, the district still requires a final of sorts, so this project will act as such. Keep in mind, that means it will be worth a decent percentage of your final grade. Still, I want this to be a fun activity where you can expand your interests and research something you find enjoyable.

"So the goal for today: you and your partner need to find a starting point. Locate some principles you both would like to consider, toss around some ideas if you have any, and start taking notes. By the end of this week, I want each team to have decided on at least a topic, though it would be ideal that you have an idea for the project. You can use the computers around the room, but I will allow you to use your phones for once as well. Go forth and learn."

Just that little speech alone made Dr. Wilson Molly's absolute favorite person. She was vibrating with excitement and was absolutely eager to find some kind of epic experiment to perform. When she turned to face Emmett, and saw he had that same mischievous grin, she knew right away they would be perfect partners.

"We need to make something explode."

His laughter was as bold and big as he was. Everyone around the room, teacher aside, turned to see what was going on but he was too busy trying to catch his breath.

"Well hello to you too, short stuff," he finally said, golden eyes twinkling. For a slight moment, Molly wondered if they were natural or if he had an affinity for colored contacts. "While I like where you are going with this, I think anything like that might land us on a no-fly list."

Molly shrugged. "Demolitionists are scientists. They make hella good money and blow stuff up all the time."

"I'm sure the rules have something against that," he responded. After hesitating a few moments, he held out his hand to her. "Emmett Cullen."

His cold temperature didn't phase her much. "Molly Danvers. So, if we can't blow anything up, how do you feel about another type of crime?"