Chapter 3: The New Girl In Town

Madison sat in the sun, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face, she hadn't smiled properly in years and it felt good.

' Hey new girl' Madison looked up to see the pretty blonde woman called Sookie, who had been nice enough to help her the other night,

' Hey Sookie right?'

' Yeah how you settling in to Bon Temp?'

' I have to say I love it'

' So you'll be pitchin' up here for a long stretch then?'

' Yeah I think I just might' they smiled at each other and continued to talk like they were old school friends getting reacquainted,

' Gosh it's hot out today, hey why don't we go to Merlotte's I can show you round and introduce you to some folks round here'

' Sounds good to me, be even better if it involves a cold beer'

' I'm sure we can manage that for the new girl in town'.

Sookie drove them both to Merlotte's and talked about her boyfriend Bill, she was most surprised when Madison didn't react to Bill being a vampire,

' Aren't you shocked?'

' Not really, the heart wants what it wants, whether it beats or not'

' So you're not gonna call me a fang banger or anything like that?'

' Why would I do that?'

' Most people just aren't that accepting is all?'

' Well I say each to their own if you guys make each other happy and you're in love why shouldn't you be together'

' I am so glad you came to live here' they both laughed as Sookie pulled up into the car park at Merlotte's, Sookie liked this girl already but she was troubled that every time the conversation steered towards Madison's life she asked another question about Sookie's life, "what are you hiding?"

' I'm not hiding anything' Sookie gaped at Madison, as Madison herself realised her slip up,

'I…erm…I'

' It's ok Madison, I can hear thoughts too'

' You can?'

' Sure think of something and I'll tell you what it is' Madison thought for a few minutes and watched Sookie, Sookie spoke,

' You have a brother named Aiden, your parents are called Edward and Marla, and you're in the middle of a divorce'

' Oh my god' Madison spoke slowly ' I've never met anyone else who could do that'

' I've met one in Dallas, but he didn't really embrace it shall we say'

They sat in the car discussing their shared gift and both agreed not to let on that Madison shared Sookie's talent,

' So Maddie, can I call you that?'

' Only if I can call you Sook' they laughed

' Deal, so can you block out other peoples thoughts?'

' Yeah it took me ages to get it but now it's really easy to me, there's times when I just don't wanna hear what's on other peoples minds'

' Tell me about it' the two walked into Merlotte's, it was quiet, since people were still at work, but it would pick up in a couple of hours, a red haired waitress stood behind the bar flicking through a magazine,

' Hey Sookie' she said without looking up

' Hey Arlene, this is Madison, she's new in town' Arlene's head snapped up,

' Oh so you're the new girl, nice to meet you I'm Arlene, you girls want a drink?'

' Soda and a beer for the new girl please' Sookie said smiling

' Where's everyone else Arlene?'

' Oh Sookie don't get me started, Sam's taken off he won't be back till tomorrow evening, terry's watching the kids till the babysitter shows up, Lafayette's not due in for a couple of hours, and only god knows where Tara is, I'm all on my own'

' What about that new girl that was supposed to start tonight, Stacey?'

' Called bout 15 minutes ago, she got a better job offer so she won't be coming'

' Oh great so we're a waitress down again'

' I could help you guys out if you want, I was a waitress for a while back where I used to live'

' Oh my god I love this girl' Arlene exclaimed hugging Madison,

' You sure you don't mind, it can get pretty chaotic in here' Sookie was offering her a way out but Madison knew she really didn't want her to take it,

' I'm sure, I can handle chaos'

' See Sookie she's fine and Sam won't mind, lord knows we need the help'.

Arlene went back to her magazine and Sookie and Madison chatted out the back while Sookie searched for her spare t-shirt for Madison to wear,

' You don't mind me asking but this divorce you're going through, is it really bad?' Madison froze as the thought of ruining the day by talking about Drew but she knew she had to at some point,

' It couldn't be worse, the circumstances aren't great and that's an understatement but can we talk about it another time?'

' Oh gosh yes I didn't mean to upset you or anything'

'It's fine Sook I'm just happy to be away from him' another understatement.

The night went by in a blur, the people in the town seemed nice, occasionally she and Sookie communicated in their special way to each other, sharing jokes or interesting thoughts people were having, when they finally closed up Madison got to meet everyone else properly, she loved Lafayette and his over the top behaviour instantly, terry seemed like a sweet guy and Arlene obviously cared for him a lot and vice versa, Tara was strong and opinionated and Madison respected her for it, though she was very loud. In the car with Sookie on the way back they talked and laughed about the night,

' Well everyone loved you, I'm gonna put in a good word for you with Sam, that's if you want a job there?'

' I'd love one, you think he'll give me one' she hadn't met Sam and had no idea what he was like, she pictured a chubby, always grumpy, sits on his ass in the office, bald headed middle aged man, with a stick thin, big haired wife and a couple of bratty kids, yeah that sounded about right,

' Oh yeah Sam's the sweetest guy, I'm sure he'll give you a job, I'll talk to him tomorrow night and call you with the good news'

' Thanks Sook' she laughed, god it felt amazing to laugh,

' You wanna hang out tomorrow?'

' Sounds good but first thing I have to do tomorrow and it very important…'

' Oh my gosh what is it, you're not sick or anything are ya? Do you need me to drive you to a doctor in the morning? What is it?' Madison had to laugh at how flustered Sookie got,

' Relax Sook, just gotta do something with my hair and do some shopping'.