unrequited

1

"Zoe, I swear to god, if you space out one more time," The brunette looked up from the cook book and shook out all of the thoughts that were scrambled around inside of her head. She inhaled a deep breath and scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hands as a desperate attempt to keep herself awake.

"Okay, um, it says here to add garlic," Mallory threw her hands up in the air and groaned.

"What? What did I do wrong? It literally says right here to add garlic!" She pointed at the ingredient written on the page with her index finger, and the more she examined it the more she started to question what it actually said.

"Wait, does that say basil? I really can't tell...."

"See? You can't even think straight!"

"Thinking straight isn't something I usually do if you haven't noticed already. It's like a jagged line or- something, I don't fucking know,"

Mallory closed her eyes in frustration and opened her mouth to continue to release her anger.

"For the past twenty minutes you've been slipping in and out of consciousness, and you don't even know what step we're on!" Zoe shook her head, and ran her fingers through her hair. She had been paying attention, she just zoned out for a couple of seconds.

"Of course I know what step we're on!" She protested as an attempt to prove her fellow witch wrong. Mallory rested her hands on her hips and gave her that famous glare she loved to give people.

"Really?"

Zoe nodded.

"What step number is it then?"

She nibbles on her bottom lip, and racked her brain for any previous information. Had she really been zoned out for longer than a couple of seconds? How long was it? Minutes? An hour?

"W-We're on step six. You added water to the pot and now we're adding the seasoning for flavor. Right?" Mallory rolled her eyes at the girl in front of her.

"You've been taking all of these trips to La-La land and I don't even know where the hell your mind wanders off to while I'm talking! It's like the lights are on but no one's even home!"

She let out a stressed sigh, and let her eyes travel over the marble countertop. It wasn't fair that her behavior was affecting Mallory, along with the other people surrounding her.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying." All of her words sounded deflated, and Mallory even felt like all the life had been sucked out of her friend. Instead of keeping her thoughts to herself, she inched forward to try and comfort her.

"Zoe, it's been a year. Aren't you over her yet?"

She remained silent, and chewed on her bottom lip in response to Mallory's simple question. Well Benson, if it was so damn simple why don't you answer it?

Mallory placed a hand on her shoulder, and tried to reassure her in the only way she knew how.

"Being with Madison wasn't worth it, Zoe. She held you back from all of those amazing opportunities that Cordelia offered to you. You could've been such a major part in this Academy, but instead you buried yourself in this fantasy of finding her."

She felt tears sting her eyes while she kept her mouth shut. Mallory wouldn't understand what she felt for Madison. She never did. That's why when she wanted to find her, she had to rely on herself and no one else.

"It's best if you just tried to forget about her. I'm sure she's done the same with you."

Zoe shrugged off Mallory's hand, and took a step away from her. "Don't talk about Madison like that."