_____<•>_____

Aspen's onyx-painted fingertips tapped melodiously against the steering wheel as her body bobbed slightly due to the jarring road to school. The heat waves from the morning sun penetrating through the windshield was enough for the brunette to blast the air conditioning, her brown eyes slightly watering. With her leather-clad sandaled feet propped up against the dashboard, a devilish, wicked smirk engulfed Charlie's porcelain features as her dainty fingers retrieved a small snack from the concealed inside pocket of her floral dress. The sound of crumpling plastic brought Aspen to momentary glance at her cousin before drawing her brows to wrinkle.

"Where'de you get a twinkie? We don't have those at home." Aspen questioned. Seeing the ever-growing smirk on Charlie rose-tinted lips as her sapphire eyes devour the sugary delight in her hands, she knew she acquired the snack by other means not pertaining to money.

"No, but the gas station did." she proclaimed, referring to the quick stop they had made before heading to school. In one hastily nimble motion, she had ripped the corner of the transparent packaging open and carelessly discarded it to the side. The blasting air from the air conditioning blew the plastic toward Aspen, and the girl violently grasped the garbage and tossed back to Charlie's face. The blonde was absentminded to her cousin's burning glare as she was prepared to devour the pastry in one whole bite. The girl opted to take a nibble to savor each tingle of her buds to the sweet spongy texture. As she prepares to take another bite, her hazy eyes peer to her left.

It was to their account that the road was empty this morning because the way Aspen glared at her cousin incredulously would have resulted in a car accident by now. An astonished expression contorting her features, Charlie was already sinking lower in her seat, idly taking another bite into her twinkie, keeping steady eye contact with her cousin.

Aspen could already tell Charlie Sulzbach was a real wildcard since the day they met; she never knew what she was going to get from her. Charlie would deviously defy all expectations of her--merely for the sake of it. She was an individual who thrived off spontaneity, rebellion, patience-testing, and adventure, and Aspen miserably lapped up every last ounce of her overwhelming personality.

"I'm sorry, I didn't take you to have klepto tendencies. When did that become okay?" Aspen was practically animated the way she used her hand to lecture Charlie, and the blonde was dazzled that they haven't swerved off the road yet.

"See if it were okay, I wouldn't have hid' it." Charlie's strived excuse wasn't gracing her with Aspen's good side, and it crossed her mind that the girl was still learning control. "C'mon Aspen; it's a fluffy, sugary delight. They won't miss it, okay? Besides, I had to put my dress pockets to good use." Charlie happily swayed the frail material of her dress before stuffing one of her hands in her pockets.

"That is not what they are for," Aspen muttered. For her own sake, she dropped the whole issue altogether. As much as the new Alpha crawled under her skin, she knew the full moon would have a more significant impact on her now that she was a developed Elementalist. "would you just lay low? You just got here, and making a poor reputation of yourself will spread quickly. It's a small town, you know?"

Letting out a heavy huff of air from her lungs, Charlie let her head fall to the side, her head hanging out the window to see the school coming into view. The sun was just behind the building, making her squint from the straining. "You know you lecture me a lot for someone who snuck a boy into her room the other night," Charlie said a-matter-factly as she began observing her orange painted nails she had done the night prior. "You didn't tell me your boy was a werewolf."

Aspen had already parked the car when she tossed a spiteful look toward the blonde who was gradually finishing the last bit of her twinkie as she stared back at her cousin with a satisfied smirk. Her mocha eyes were clouded over and appeared almost sable under the veiled shade car. "Charlie, you cannot say one word about Isaac, alright? It's not my business, and it certainly isn't yours. Especially since you were snooping."

Charlie scoffed with astonishment as she wrung her hands free of the pastry crumbs and turned in her seat to face Aspen. "Okay, for one, I'm a light sleeper. I could hear a feather drop if I tried hard enough. And two, dude, I'm no snitch, alright?" Charlie put her hands up in surrender to end her case. Still eyeing her cousin uneasily, Aspen turned the keys to the ignition, and the car desisted it's shaking. She reached back for her bag in the back seat and stepped out of the vehicle, the sound of students conversating in passing bombarding her. The girl nearly loses her footing upon seeing the familiar head of strawberry blonde hair bouncing off the the distance alongside Allison. A glowing smile replaced her glowering expression, happy to see her best friend was okay.

"Hey, is that the girl who ate the liver?" Charlie asked from the passenger seat as she hurriedly applied lip gloss before stepping out of the car. Her loud voice that was intended for her cousin to hear might have been her downfall. Aspen crouched down to give her cousin a look before jolting her hand forward and pulling on an airs trip to slam the passenger door shut. A yelp effectively slipped Charlie's lips, and she swipes her lip gloss, along her cheek. "Using your powers in public. Ballsy." Charlie quirked her head to the side, jutting out her bottom lip to give her cousin some credit.

"We don't know if she remembers anything, and Scott already messaged me last night about what happened in the woods--" She was rudely cut off by Charlie's finger and used her other hand to wipe the gloss off her cheek.

"Woah I'm lost, what happened last night?"

Aspen told herself she wanted Charlie away from werewolf business. Though her power was more than capable of defensive matters, the situation was simply none of her business. "That's--that's beside the point," Aspen's attempt to brush it off made Charle pout with a quick roll of her eyes before heaving the door open and stepping out into the warm sun that tickled her freezing skin from the airconditioning. Aspen stood straight and jabbed her finger toward Charlie, who had her elbows propped up on the hood of the car, her hands cradling her bored face. "Point is, it wasn't her. And by her being here today tells me that she doesn't remember anything so you cannot bring any of that up. Allison is the only other girl who's aware of the supernatural, and Lydia doesn't need to be near that. So I'm warning you now, if you let one thing slip, so help me god I will sew your damn dress pockets."

Charlie's mouth fell agape as her hands dropped to her side, offended by the threat upon her precious dress pockets. Pushing the door closed, Aspen adjusted the strap of her bag as she sped walk toward the steps of the school entrance to reach Lydia and Allison. "Lydia!"

The strawberry blonde spun around to the call of her name. Her brown eyes scanned the seat of students with her lips pursed before she saw Aspen speeding toward her. An awestruck expression colored her features upon seeing her friend. "Are you wearing makeup?" was the first suprised words that left her glossy red lips. She was proud to see her once awkward friend finally try on her appearance. Lydia being the one who bought Aspen the makeup, was content to see she put it to good use. She always made sure to give her a daily dose of clothing advice, and seeing that the girl was actually listening warmed her heart.

Letting out a heavy minty breath, Aspen stopped in front of her friends, Allison laughing at the dubious look on her face. "Seriously? That's the first thing you ask?"

A proud, shrieking squeal surpassed Lydia's throat as she pulled Aspen by her hand into a hug. Aspen responded with a tight squeeze, resting her chin on her bony shoulder. Finally pulling away, Aspen adjusted her oversized denim jacket and regained her posture to follow her friends in the building, Charlie following behind.

"So, you really don't remember anything?" Allison asked as she played with the frayed material of her brown leather purse, biting on her lower lip.

Lydia rolled her eyes and crossed her small arms over her tight purple dress with a sweater in hand. "They called it a fugue state which is basically a way of saying "we have no idea why you can't remember running through the woods naked for two days.''" A hint of irritation laced her tone as she mimicked the doctor's words with a high pitch of sarcasm. They arrived at the last step, and Lydia stomped her black heal against the cement, shrugging her shoulder with her famous smirk that she flashed every so often when she showed her carless thoughts on certain matters. This being one of them. "But personally, I don't care. I lost nine pounds." Lydia opened her arms to show the girls how the material of her dress hugged her petite figure to defend her statement.

Both Allison and Aspen chuckled at their friend. They were glad to see the bite hadn't affected her and that she hasn't changed in the slightest. However, some parts of her snappy attitude wouldn't hurt to adjust. Allison gave her a weak smile, rubbing her shoulder in a consoling manner. "Are you ready for this?"

Lydia glimpsed down at her shoes and flicked away the hair that had fallen to her face to pass both girls an assuring grin. "Please, it's not like my aunt is a serial killer." with that sharp comment, the girl opened the glass door and strutted inside the building, leaving Aspen and Allison perplexed.

"You know I would've thought she would just be a little more sensitive." Allison looked at Aspen with a pout. "Maybe even a shred of decency for people's feelings." Allison shrugged her shoulder, her tone feigned sarcasm that her statement was almost impossible for Lydia.

Aspen threw an arm over her annoyed friend's shoulder, letting the golden charms on her bracelet chime by her earing clad ear. Dipping her head, she caught Allison's dark eyes to meet hers that were slightly wrinkling in the corner to pull out a small smile. "It wouldn't be Lydia if she wasn't insensitive. And despite her trying to pretend like nothing happened, she'll break. Eventually."

"Yea, eventually." Allison giggled, her famous brows quirking at the thought of Lydia actually breaking down in front of another human being seeming almost impossible. But not impossible for Aspen. Since she had found Lydia crying in the bathroom, the two have grown seemingly closer.

"You never told me she was a bitch."

Aspen and Allison snapped their attention toward Charlie, who was now standing at her cousin's side, crossing her arms over her chest. Feeling Aspen's burning eyes, she ignored the hostility by pushing her hand toward Allison. "Charlie Sulzbach," she said simply, flashing a sweet smile that didn't match her personality in the slightest.

Allison was opposed to shaking her hand, Charlie's previous words not settling well. The raven-haired girl's soft expression faltered to one of piddling annoyance, and Aspen could already tell problems were bound to erupt between the two. "Allison Argent," she replied, not bothering to say more to a girl that didn't have the decency to respect a conversation that had nothing to do with her. "is she the...Elementalist cousin, you told me about?"

Aspen replied with a nod, still staring at her cousin and trying to control her anger. "Yep, regrettably, so." she murmured in a pained low tone.

Charlie suddenly clapped her silver wring clad fingers with wide eyes coming to recognize the name. "Right you're the hunter Scott is dating. He really knows how to pick em'." she laughed, essentially amusing herself. Seeing the unamused faces before her, the blonde took this as a hint to walk away before she had to endure her cousin's wrath.

_____<•>_____

Okay, so fifty chapters!? What? I'm still confused about how I'm even lasting this long, but I just need sassy Isaac like right now. I know this chapter is short, but I just wanted a snippet to have a time between Aspen and Charli to see how their relationship progress. But more updates coming soon to start rolling into season two. Also, I kind of changed my writing style. Thoughts?