Ethereal - Zadison

Chapter 3 - Attention

The next morning didn't go as the brunette had expected it to. Then again, she didn't know what to expect. So much had happened in the one day that she had attended Miss Robichaux's Academy, that she couldn't think straight. Madison. How was she doing? She wondered. Was it her fault? She regretted not keeping an eye on her even though Madison probably wouldn't have let her anyway. How could she make it up to her? Her intrusive thoughts kept her from getting much sleep the following night but the little she had didn't make a difference.

The sun peered in through the window and much to Zoe's surprise, the blonde was nowhere to be found. She sat up and stretched, her attention grabbed by the pile of clothes on the ground near her bed. It was the set of clothes she had given Madison the night before. An inside-out sweatshirt with a matching pair of sweatpants. She picked them up and threw them in the laundry bin. "Something Madison easily could've done herself," she thought, rolling her eyes. She decided to take a quick shower before going to her classes. Zoe opened the door to reveal her roommate.

Madison stood before her in a short towel and red puffy eyes. She looked like she'd been crying for a few hours or so. There was a hint of running mascara still visible under her eyes. She seemed to be trying to clean it off.

"Jesus, Benson, anyone ever teach you to knock?" she asked with a sharp tone, hiding the underlying hitch in her breath. "Sorry, I didn't know you were in here," she replied panicking, quickly shutting the door. Zoe sighed. "Hey, Madison?" No response. "Are you okay in there?" "Does it fucking look like I'm okay?" she yelled. "I could help you get that makeup off if you want." "The last person I want help from you is, no offense," she grumbled. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?" Madison stood quiet, but she heard her.

Zoe got dressed and headed downstairs. The other witches came down one by one, except Madison. Surprise, surprise. Zoe was worried about her but chose to listen to the other girls. "Don't worry, Zoe. She's late to class every day," Nan smiled at her. Zoe didn't know how she had read her mind but it calmed her nerves.

"Alright girls, today we'll be practicing telekinesis," Cordelia announced as she walked into the room. "We already learned that," Queenie groaned. "Now, while that's true, I want to give Zoe a chance to try. You three can help her," she finished slowly. "Where's our third?" Nan responded, "Late again." Cordelia nodded, "Alright then, we'll go on."

She brought the girls to a table that held marbles. "These are small enough that you should be able to move them," she said, reassuring Zoe. "So, what do I do?" Zoe asked awkwardly. Cordelia chuckled. "So, you focus on the object you want to move and where you want it to move. It must be the center of your attention.

Zoe set her focus on a hazel-colored marble. It contained flecks of blue and brown as well as green. She picked this marble because it reminded her a lot of Madison's eyes. She found comfort in them. Ever since she met the girl, she was all she could think about for whatever reason. Little did she know, her fellow witch was struggling just as much as she was. Zoe kept herself from even thinking about the idea of getting closer to her like that. She couldn't risk putting either of them in danger in case they were soulmates. That idea was near impossible, of course. You almost never find your soulmate, even so, she felt this protective nature towards the blonde. She put focus towards the tiny ball and it went shooting off the table. Cordelia raised her eyebrows in shock.

"Wow, Zoe! Very well done, indeed!" Cordelia said happily. Zoe tried to put her focus on another marble. She began lifting it up, slowly spinning it. Then she heard the clip-clopping of heels going down the staircase. "Hey losers," said a familiar voice. Zoe's eyes wandered to the girl. The marble dropped with a thud. The blonde becoming her new center of attention.

"Well, Madison, I hope you slept well," Cordelia said, making a disapproving face. "Whatever." Except she wasn't asleep. She was actually awake early enough to make it to class before it had even started. She walked over to the table, leaning her arm against it to watch Zoe. "Zoe's been doing very well," Cordelia said to Madison smiling. "Who cares?" she asked cockily. Madison lifted all the marbles and flung them off the table. "Madison!" Cordelia said, raising her voice. Queenie and Nan made "ooo" noises amongst themselves while Madison stormed off. Her studded jacket bouncing as she stomped away. Zoe decided to follow after her.

The blonde led her to the front stoop of the house. She sat on the stairs with a cigarette in hand. "What do you want?" Madison sighed. "What was that back there? Is this about last night?" Zoe asked, saying the last part quieter than the first. "I don't know what you're talking about." Madison began to light her cigarette in an attempt to tune Zoe out. "You might need actual help after what happened. Like therapy?" "Zoe, I don't need your help. I'm fine. It was just some one-off incident. Let it go. I know how to take care of myself," Madison yelled. "Fine, sorry for trying to be a good friend!" Zoe yelled back. She didn't raise her voice often but Madison brought it out in her. Before going back inside, Zoe noticed a few men that looked to be police officers step up to the gates. "Shit," Madison whispered.

The men and the girls went inside. Cordelia was alerted and brought them into her office. Cordelia stood quietly at the back as they interrogated the two sitting in chairs. They were detectives it turned out and they thought that Madison and Zoe had a role in the bus flipping.

"When you're a famous movie star, Miss Montgomery, it's easy to hear who and where you hang out. Some people mentioned they saw you in a back room with the frat boys that were killed last night." He started. "Are we your suspects?" Zoe asked worriedly. "Now, now, Miss Benson. We're just trying to figure out what happened that night. Did you loosen the brakes of their bus or mess with the steering wheel?" "This is stupid. I wouldn't even know how to do that," Madison replied defensively. "Did they not give in to your advances or something to that nature?" He asked. Madison sighed, "No, I wasn't making 'advances' on anyone that night because I was there with Zoe. She's my girlfriend." Zoe turned her head to look at the blonde in shock. Madison with her eyes conveyed a "go with it, please." Zoe did as she said and smiled at the detective. "Trust me, I wanted nothing to do with those boys. They brought me to the back for some pathetic orgy or something. When I turned them down, they left. That's all there is," Madison continued, smiling as if she had won. The detectives gave up and dropped it. Madison grabbed Zoe's hand and walked out of the office. She wanted to seal the idea in their heads just in case. As soon as the doors closed behind them, she dropped it.

"What was that?" Zoe asked, brows furrowed. "Ugh, it got us out of it. Didn't it?" Zoe sighed. "I swear to god, Benson. I wouldn't want to be your girlfriend anyway. You're not my type." "Yeah, and what is your type?" Madison's mind went fuzzy. She retained a name, a name she knew would sting the brunette. "Kyle," she stated as she went upstairs. Madison was right. It did sting, but not for the reasons she thought it would.

Meanwhile, Fiona had entered the coven for the first time since Zoe had arrived. She walked through the front door confidently like she owned the place. Probably, because she did in fact own the place. Zoe sat on the couch as the other witches did their own things. Nan was upstairs practicing some spells while Queenie was watching a movie on the loveseat next to her. Fiona meandered over to Zoe. She huffed loud enough for Zoe to hear her.

"You're a new one, aren't you?" She asked, leaning down to her like a child. She nodded. "Huh, just when I thought the lineage had died out. Where's Cordelia?" She asked. Zoe pointed to her office. "Thank you," she said before realizing she hadn't introduced herself, "Oh, and I'm Fiona Goode. The Supreme. You've probably heard of me." Zoe's eyes widened. She's heard of a supreme from her talk with Cordelia the day before. "God, do you talk, child?" "Oh, I'm sorry ma-" "No, no, 'Miss Supreme.'" "I'm sorry, Miss Supreme. It's nice to meet you," Zoe said, flushed. "Better," Fiona said before heading over to her daughter's office.

A bing went off from Zoe's phone. She grabbed the black phone, that went with the rest of her outfit, out of her coat. A big grin had gone wide across her face after reading who it was from.

Kyle :) : How are you and Madison doing?

Zoe : Good, how are you?

Kyle :) : Good! I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go to see a movie tonight or something?

Zoe : Sure! That sounds fun. :)

Madison was having a struggle of her own in their shared bedroom. She was sitting on her bed on her computer, looking through social media. Suddenly, she began coughing. She had to sit up to breathe. Madison ran to the bathroom sink to drink water from the tap. Her face appeared pale. She looked at the mirror before a possible reason for this crashed through her thoughts. "Oh, fuck."

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A/N: I plan to be updating this story often since I'm kind of in the writing zone. But, please guys leave votes and comments. It motivates me to keep updating! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next! - Sky