The Thing About Timing (The Becoming of Elliott Goode)

Chapter 57 (pt 1)

By the time Cordelia and Misty had woken up the next morning, Elliott was already gone, her pajamas folded neatly on the chest at the end of the bed. The two women wasted no time, immediately jumping out of bed to prepare, but after Cordelia had gotten dressed, she found herself sitting on the bed, unable to shake the weight of the previous day. "I'm worried about her." She finally said, meeting Misty's eyes in the mirror.

"Of course ya are." Misty said, "Yesterday was a hell of a day."

"Not just yesterday." Cordelia said, "This whole month. First the thing with David, and now this?"

Misty nodded solemnly, "It's been rough, but she's a tough kid. Just give her a bit."

"Did she even sleep last night?" Cordelia asked, "Because even if she did, it wasn't nearly enough."

Misty smirked, "She slept, not a lot, but it was at least somethin'."

Cordelia put her head in her hands, "She shouldn't be taking her exam today. I should've put my foot down."

"Yea," Misty chuckled, "Cause that would've gone over well."

Cordelia threw her a look in the mirror, causing the swamp witch to turn around and face her, "Dee, she'll be fine. This is somethin' she's been workin' on for weeks, all she's doin' is givin' the presentation, and we know that girl loves to talk."

"Not lately she doesn't." Cordelia grumbled, looking up to see her lover staring at her expectantly, "This never should have happened."

"You are right, it shouldn't've." Misty said, nodding slowly, "But it did."

Elliott sat outside the greenhouse with the other girls, her back leaned against the wall as the girls were called in one by one. Zoe had made everyone draw numbers, because apparently it was the fairest way, and Elliott had the pleasure of going last. She hated going last, in fact, she would have sold her soul to go first, but the universe always had a way of flipping you the bird, and right now it was giving Elliott just enough time to work herself up into a panic, although that might have been the lack of sleep, but Elliott would rather blame Zoe's stupid system.

Cordelia sat inside the greenhouse, planted right between Zoe and Misty, although she wasn't sure why she still had to be there, given that each group was going separately. Still, she had made a commitment, although she was seriously regretting it after she saw her fifth love potion of the day, and by the eighth she was practically bored to tears, completely zoning out as the group droned on. Each one was always the same ingredients, with the same basic technique, the only difference between them being whatever protection factor the girls had decided to sprinkle in. They must have all colluded, it was the only way they could have virtually the same thing, but somehow managed to each use a different protection factor, narrowly avoiding being accused of cheating.

A familiar voice caught Cordelia's attention, catapulting her back to reality once her eyes landed on Elliott's face, breathing a sigh of relief that the torture had almost ended. Misty chuckled under her breath, the supreme glancing over as Misty smirked at her for a moment, before refocusing her attention on the girl at the front of the room and smiling, "Alright darlin'. What are ya makin' us?"

Elliott felt her cheeks blush as she cleared her throat. It shouldn't have made her nervous, these were all people she was comfortable with, but that was also the issue. This wasn't a casual conversation, it was a formal presentation, and something about being formal with the people she considered family seemed embarrassing. She bit the inside of her cheek, looking away from the panel of teachers as she spoke, "A protection potion."

Misty and Zoe exchanged confused glances, knowing they went over just about every formulation of the beginner's protection potions, and the ones they didn't go over were far too complicated. The two glanced over at Cordelia, looking for some sort of direction, but the woman just nodded, even though she felt like her stomach had turned into a giant rock.