(NOTE): This comes from the dark(er) side of my mind and it's from Elphaba's POV. I wasn't sure what to rate it, so I just took a guess.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the play or the book doesn't belong to me.
Summary: (One-shot) Almost everyone has memories they want to forget. Some just more than others...
My father had never wanted me to attend any school, public or otherwise, but he had made sure that my sister, Nessarose, had been sent to the best in all of Munchkinland. However, Father never wanted her to be left alone, so I was allowed to go along with her. While in elementary school, I participated as much as I could. I was attentive in class, I took notes, I read the material, I was even allowed to take the tests (though Father could care less about my grades).I also made sure as best I could that Nessa did well, for both her sake and mine. But I think Nessa was a little annoyed that I was always there. No, I know she was a little annoyed. I hardly ever left her side, but the other students wouldn't take a step near Nessa when I was around. So, at recess, I would sit against the wall, calmly watching Nessa talk to people as they shot me nervous glances.
But then we were in high school, where we hardly had any in-school free time. I stayed away as much as I could, until Father had come to school one day to demand the teacher raise Nessa's grade on a history test wehad taken a week earlier. He had stormed into the classroom, clutching the paper in his fist and Nessa had been the first thing to catch his eye. She was sitting in the middle, and I was sitting in the back. When he had noticed this, he had screamed at me "WHY AREN'T YOU WITH YOUR SISTER?". With Nessa's grade forgotten, he had rushed over to Nessa and asked if she was okay. Completely embarrassed, Nessa glared at me as she nodded her head, pleading with Papa to leave. Instead, he had marched over to me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me away from my desk. He shoved me out into the hall and, not caring who was listening, began screaming at me, ordering that I tell him why I wasn't sitting near Nessa. I had tried to explain to him, but he just told me that if I didn't take better care of my sister, I would immediately be taken out of school for good. I couldn't do anything but nod and walk back into the classroom, avoiding Nessa's gaze as I pulled out a chair and sat down next to her.
The last day of our junior year was probably the worst. Throughout the year, I had noticed one boy almost always staring at Nessa. I didn't know very much about him, only that he was called Capit, he was another junior, and he was bad news. Although I had warned Nessa about him, she didn't seem to mind at all that he was staring at her, she actually seemed to be enjoying it. It especially bothered me when she would wave at him, but curiously he never waved back. Unfortunately, I would find out why soon enough.
The bell had just rang on our last day as juniors and as I was pushing Nessa out of the room (we were the last ones out as usual),Capit stepped in the way of the door. "Hey" he had said, in what I assumed he thought to be a smooth voice "you're Nessarose Thropp, right? The daughter of the governor?" Before Nessa could answer, I quickly stepped in by sharply saying "Yes, and she's just on her way home, so could you kindly step out of the way and let her pass?" As Nessa glared at me, Capit raised his eyes to meet mine.
"And, exactly who are you? Her servant?"
"Her sister." I snapped back. "Now could you please move?"
"Elphaba." Nessa groaned.
"Elphaba." Capit repeated. He clicked his tongue. "That's such a pretty name. Now why was that lovely name given to you?"
"Oh, you see, Elphaba?" Nessa said "Haven't I always told you that your name is beautiful?" I restrained from rolling my eyes and forced a smile towards Capit.
"Thank you very much for the compliment, but now we really must be going. Excuse us." I made a move forward, but Capit just backed further into the doorway. He stared at us for a moment. I cringed as he gave a devilish smile.
"I want you to meet me behind the school in exactly half an hour." he said as he picked up Nessa's hand and kissed it, finally backing away "And, please. Don't be late." I raised an eyebrow as he strode away.
"Oh, Elphaba!" Nessa said excitedly "Did you hear that? He wants to meet me behind the school!"
"Well, I'm sorry Nessa, but we can't go." I said firmly as I rolled her down the hall "That boy is nothing but trouble and I have a very bad feeling about him."
"Oh, but Elphaba please!" she begged, but I shook my head as I shoved her outside. "You never let me do as I want!" she complained "Neither you nor Papa! I shall never forgive you for this, Elphaba! All my life you have always been near me! Never giving me a chance to find even a date! And, finally, when an opportunity pops up, you tell me we can't even meet him! Elphaba please. At least give me this one chance. Please?" I sighed as I reached the carriage and stopped to look at her. She had tears in her eyes. I could never say no to her when she cried, and I didn't like the thought of turning up home to Papa with tears in his beloved daughter's eyes.
"Fine." I said "But I'm staying with you and only for ten minutes! Understand?" Nessa nodded her head happily and I asked the driver to wait for a while as I began to push her back towards the school. We arrived there early and I helped Nessa primp herself as we waited. Capit eventually turned up. As he saw us, he raised his eyebrows.
"Why are you here?" he spat.
"I'm here in concern for my sister's well-being." I said calmly "But if this bothers you, then perhaps we should just leave."
"Not you!" he said. He pointed to Nessa "You! Why are you here? I've already kissed you good-bye!" Nessa looked confused.
"You asked me to meet you here." she said.
"I asked her to meet me here!" he said gesturing towards me "You can leave."
"What?" I said shocked "Me? Why in Oz would you want to meet me?"
"We'll get to that later" he said "after she leaves." Nessa looked about ready to cry again.
"But..." she stuttered "but I don't understand. Why..."
"JUST LEAVE!" he shouted. I took a step back, bringing Nessa's chair closer to me.
"Alright." I growled "We'll leave, then! Both of us!"
"NOT YOU!" he reached for me and grabbed my arm. He pried my hands off Nessa's chair and pushed her forward, nearly knocking her out of her seat. He slipped out a knife and held it to my neck as Nessa turned around. "Now" he said to her "I want you to go to the front of the building, sit near the wall, and count to one thousand, and don't come back here either until you've finished counting or you see me come out, or else I'll slit her throat. And don't call for help either! Understand?" Nessa nodded, fear was practically leaking through her eyes. "Good. Now go!" He laughed softly as he watched Nessa raced out of sight.
"What do you want?" I demanded "Why are you doing this? Ransom? If so, I can't guarantee you'll get it!"
"Shut up!" Capit hissed as he led me towards a door I hadn't noticed before. "Move and I kill you." he whispered. He let go of my arm and fished for something inside his pocket. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door. I stumbled as I thrown inside, but I was able to stay on my feet. Capit slammed and locked the door behind him as he walked inside. I viewed my surroundings. It was a large storeroom that was filled with desks and chalkboards. A few lit candles scattered on various desks served as the only light. On the ground, in the clearing near the entrance, was a large gray blanket.
"Sit down!" he commanded as he pushed me towards it. I glowered at him but obeyed. For a while he just stood there, never taking his eyes off me. "You know," he said "I had never seen a green person before I saw you. I could barely take my eyes off your unusual skin when I first looked at you." he gave me the same, strange smile as before "I was absolutely astounded. I still am." Realization hit me just then. It had been me he had been staring at, not Nessa. In my father and Nessa's case, that was a good thing; in my case, that was a very bad thing. I shrank as he sat down next to me on the blanket. He reached his hand out and fiddled with my braid. "I wonder" he whispered into my ear "if you taste any different from normal colored girls?" My eyes widened in horror as I realized why he had dragged me in here. I quickly made to stand up, but he grabbed my shoulders and forced his mouth over mine. His hands moved down as he began slipping the straps of my frock down my arms. His lips moved to my neck and each kiss turned into more of a bite. I screamed, but I knew no one could hear me. And in my heart, I knew that no one, except perhaps Nessa, truly cared.
I can't remember what had happened after that, only that I woke up without clothes and in pain. Thankfully, Capit was nowhere to be seen. Trying to ignore the pain, I reached for my clothes and slipped them on. Luckily, nothing was torn and my hair was still in its usual tight braid. I was putting on my glasses as I heard the familiar sound of wheels rolling towards my door. I straightened up as the door opened, revealing a trembling Nessarose.
"Elphaba!" she said rolling towards me "What happened? What did he do?"
"Nothing, Nessa." I lied "He just...dragged me in here and teased me about my skin as he poked at it with that knife. It was nothing." Nessa sighed a little until something on the blanket caught her eye.
"But he made you bleed!" Nessa pointed to the blood-stained blanket.
"Oh, the knife just cut into me a little bit." I said quickly "Nothing to worry about. I'm fine." I can't remember ever lying to my sister, but I couldn't tell her what had happened. I couldn't.
"Are you going to tell Father about this?" Nessa asked. That was a good question, one I didn't really know the answer to. I don't know whether I thought Father would really care. On one hand I was his daughter, but on the other hand he had practically disowned me. So would it actually matter if he knew what had happened or not?
"Do you want me to tell him?" I asked her. Nessa shrugged.
"Well, it's not like you've never been teased about your skin before. It's the fact that he threatened to kill us that frightens me. So, I think you should at least tell Father about that." I nodded and strained a smile.
"Okay. But let me be the one to tell him, alright? And, let us be alone?"
"Very well." Nessa said "Now come on. Father will be worried sick about us!"
But Father wasn't home when we arrived. I was glad about that. The last thing I needed right now was being yelled at for making Nessa late. I left Nessa to clean out her school satchel ( she insisted she do it herself) while I rushed into our room. I sat on my cot near Nessa's large comfortable bed and let myself cry. I knew it wouldn't change anything, but I felt like it would help. In fact, I felt like I deserved to cry. I can't really say that Capit had stolen my childhood since I had never really had one to begin with, but I can say that he had hurt me, that I was upset, and that I would more than likely earn no sympathy from my Father.
Father came home at around dinner. We sat at our usual places, with Father at the head, Nessa right beside him, and me next to her. I barely touched anything, but no one seemed to notice. Father just continued to chat with Nessa about how her last day was. She reached up to the part when the bell rang and abruptly stopped.
"Uh, Father, I have to use the bathroom. Would you please excuse me?"
"Certainly, darling. Elphaba! Go with your sister in case she needs you for anything."
"Oh, Father, I'll be fine." Nessa said as she rolled away "I don't need Elphaba for this. Besides, I think Elphaba has something to tell you. Okay, Father?"
"Very well, precious. As you wish." I smiled gratefully at Nessa as she rolled out.
"Well?" Father said to me, clearly not caring "What is it?" I cleared my throat.
"Well, um, something happened on the way home today."
"To Nessa?" Father asked urgently "Is she alright?"
"No. I mean yes! Nessa's fine. It's something that happened to me." Father breathed out in relief and glared at me.
"Elphaba, if someone was teasing you about your skin again then I don't want to hear it."
"No, it's not that." I said, getting nervous "Look, throughout the year I had noticed a boy staring at us. At first I thought had been staring at Nessa, but apparently he had been staring at me. At my skin."
"And?" Father said carelessly as he just began to eat again.
" And, well, Nessa doesn't know this, she thinks he just prodded at me with a knife, but he dragged me into a storeroom and he..." I cut off.
"He what?"
"He raped me." There. I had said it. It was out. And as for the reaction, I must admit, it wasn't really what I had expected. He choked on his food and spat it out. He then looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. He looked about ready to either laugh or explode.
"He what? Who in all of Oz want to even touch you much less sleep with you?" I shrugged.
"I don't know. All I know is that he did."
"I don't believe it." he said "You can't be telling the truth."
"When have I ever lied to you Father?" I was angry now. I had expected him to not care not to accuse me of lying "And why would I lie to you about something like this?" He looked at me for a while, considering this.
"Are you absolutely sure he did this?" I nodded. Father then sighed.
"Well, then, I'll have a physician come over to see if your alright." He then went back to eating. Nessa came in at that moment.
"Well?" she asked rolling up to Father "What are you going to do about him?"
"About who, sweetheart?"
"About the boy who threatened us!" Father looked at her in worry.
"He threatened you?"
"Um, not really me, but he did threaten to kill Elphaba unless I did as he told me."
"What did he tell you to do?" He looked at me as if it was my fault Nessa had been ordered about.
"Just to wait at the front of the building until he came out. But, Father, it was what he said as he left that really worries me! He said "Tell your sister that I'll see you both next year"! Father we can't go back to school with him there! We can't!"
"Of course you can't, pumpkin! And you won't! I'll see to it that this boy is put behind bars! Now, what is this boys name?"
"Um, I think it was Capit something. He has brown hair, blue eyes, he looks very strong, and he plays sports. That's all I know." Father got up from the table and walked out, probably to order Capit's capture. Nessa smiled at me. "Well, we won't have to worry about him anymore."
"Guess not." I said trying to smile back.
I'm not sure what happened to Capit, only that he wasn't in school the next year. The physician came and was able to confirm once and for all to my Father what had really happened. He did grow at least a little angry, but I'm sure it was only because Capit had dared hurt his youngest daughter's servant. The one that made sure she had everything she needed and wanted. Basically, her property. I knew not to expect much more than that. The physician said I was going to be fine so I suppose I can live with that. I admit, I was nervous about going back to school, but because of Nessa, I had to. I had never listened to gossip, so I don't know what people thought happened to Capit when he never showed up. To tell the truth, I didn't really care. I was determined to forget what had happened. I knew Father and Nessa had forgotten by the time Nessa (and I) had graduated high school. Soon we shall be attending Shiz University, the place where I can forget my old life and start a fresh new one, with forgotten memories left far behind.