The girl of sixteen stood in the field, glaring at her uncle. "There's no way you're going to get me up there. No way."
"Come on, Bri," he said, hopping down from the plane. "It's a short turn around the county, then we're done."
Brielle shook her head defiantly. "No way I'm going up in a plane. You know I can't stand heights."
Her mother, father, and little sister all got out of the run-down pickup. Her sister laughed. "God, Bri. Don't be such a baby."
Brielle shifted her glare to her sister. "You're one to talk, Claire. How many stuffed animals do you still have?"
Her mother sighed. "You have to go up there, one way or another. You need to get some aerial shots of the town for your social studies class."
"Why can't we just give Uncle George the camera and have him do it?"
Uncle George laughed. "Because I have to pilot the plane. It takes both hands, you know."
Brielle groaned. "Just give me the camera." Her mother handed it to her and she climbed into the plane.
She took one last look at her family. "If I die, none of you are invited to the funeral."
TWO YEARS LATER...
"."
Brielle reached over to her bedside table, only to discover it was empty. Oh yeah. Alarm clocks haven't been invented yet, have they?
She stood up from her bed and straightened her short nightdress. She walked over to the open window. "Stupid Rooster! Shut up already! I'm awake! See!" She waved her arms frantically at the bird.
The Rooster turned his nose (beak, rather) up at her. " 'Scuse me f'r doin' m' job."
"Could you do your job a bit quieter from now on? It's still summer!"
The Rooster clucked a laugh. "Bri, 'aven't you f'rgotten somthin'? T'day's th' first day o' college f'r ya."
Brielle's eyes widened. "Sweet Oz, that's today? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" She pulled her curtains shut and rushed about her room getting dressed. She pulled on a knee-length dark red dress, black shoes, and black cardigan and ran downstairs at full speed.
She nearly ran into Ayshia. "Oh! Good morning!"
Ayshia laughed. "Bri, I think you forgot to brush your hair."
Brielle blushed. "Oops." She ran back upstairs and quickly ran a brush through her thick auburn curls. She then ran back down.
"I think I remembered everything this time." She looked at Koltyn. "I packed everything last night, didn't I?"
He nodded in assent, not looking up from the morning paper. Brielle rolled her eyes. "Really, Koltyn. You could at least try to say goodbye like a normal person. I'm not gonna see you guys until Lurlinemas Break!"
Koltyn looked up. "Have a good time, kiddo." Ayshia, on the other hand, hugged Brielle tightly. "I'm going to miss you. You're as close to a daughter as we've ever had." She sniffled. "It's hard letting you go."
Brielle laughed. "It's okay, Ayshia. I'm gonna miss you too. Both of you." She relesed herself from her makeshift mother's hold. "I promise I'll write as soon as I get there!" With that, she bolted out the door, grabbed her luggage from the front porch, and ran through town to get to her train on time.
Alright, Bri. Take a deep breath. These are the people you're spending the next four-to-six years of your life with. Make a good impression.
Brielle walked into the courtyard carrying her bags, and promptly tripped over a loose stone.
She jumped back up, brushing herself off. Please let no one have seen that. Fortunately, no one had, for their attention was focused elsewhere.
Brielle followed their gaze. What she saw astounded her. Well, that's a bit odd.
There was another girl standing on the other side of the courtyard. She was dressed in dark blue, with her long black hair in a braid. But, the thing that was odd, was her skin.
It was green.
The girl glared at her audience. "What?! What is it? Is there something in my teeth? Is my underskirt showing?" She gasped in mock horror. "Okay, let's get this over with. No, I'm not seasick. Yes, I've always been green. No, I did not eat grass as a child-"
"ELPHABA!"
A man walked around the corner, followed by a girl in a wheelchair. Brielle assumed the man was Elphaba's father, and the chair-ridden girl was her sister.
The conversation that ensued consisted of reprimanding, parting words, and jeweled shoes.
Brielle zoned out for the remainder of the orientation, until she was given her dorm assignment.
The large headmistress, Madame Morrible, cried out, "D'Aubigne, Brielle!"
"What? Is the campus on fire? I swear, it wasn't me!" Brielle yelled in alarm, earning snickers from the student body. She blushed. Oh, doesn't that figure. They miss your grand entrance, only to hear you confess to being a pyromaniac. Good going, Bri.
Madame Morrible looked at her skeptically. "Er, anyway. You will be rooming with Miss Olwyn Tangwystl."
The crowd parted to reveal a skinny black haired girl with a big grin on her face, waving excitedly at Bri. Bri sighed and walked up to the Headmistress. "Which dorm are we in?" she asked, though she really couldn't care less. If she had to room with a prep, she was going to die soon.
"Room 513, dearie. Right next to Miss Galinda's suite." Brielle cringed. Oh joy. Another one.
Bri grabbed her bags and began trudging toward the girls' dorm, Olwyn following and chattering away.
"Hi! I'm Olwyn! You probably already knew that, though. You're Brielle right? That's a pretty name. It sounds foreign. Not that that's a bad thing or anything. Of course, my brother Einon would say it is. He's a year ahead of us, and he's a big jerk. I stole his train tickets, so he's going to be late to school. Oh! Speaking of late to school, did you hear that Prince Fiyero Tiggular is going to be here? I am like, soooo stoked! He's supposed to be really cute. And my brother found out that they're sharing a room! We're going to get to hang out with a prince! EEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
Brielle plugged her ears. This girl was annoying beyond reason. It was just her luck that she got stuck with the worlds biggest chatterbox for a roomate.
Once in their room, Brielle closed the door, set her bags down on her bed, and sat in the desk chair. "Olwyn, right?"
The girl nodded, hair bobbing around comically.
"Look, I just met you, so I have nothing against you. Yet."
Olwyn's smile faded. "What do you mean, yet?"
Brielle sighed. "Please refrain from doing anything too girly." Seeing that Olwyn was about to interrupt, she held up her hand. "Please. All questions will be answered when I am finished.
"By too girly, I mean randomly painting the room pink, putting sparkles all over the place, randomly breaking into song and/or dance, saying 'like', 'totally', or anything with an unneeded suffix too often, or getting up in my face to give me a makeover or the like.
"I don't want to sound mean or demanding, or like a control freak, but I have boundaries." She smiled at Olwyn. "Is that okay?"
The dark haired girl nodded vigorously. "i wasn't planning on doing any of that. I'll probably be too swamped in homework. Majoring in everything is bound to take it's toll."
Brielle blinked. "Everything? I haven't even chosen my major yet. Are you some sort of child genius, or something?"
Olwyn laughed. "Kinda." She then grew solemn. "I'm sorry about acting all preppy and junk. I'm not usually like that. I was just excited about having a roomate, and I made the mistake of putting sugar on my oatmeal this morning."
Brielle laughed. "Don't worry, I'd have the same reaction." She looked around the room. It was rather spacious, with two queen sized beds, a desk, a window seat, and a large bay window that overlooked Shiz Common. It was rather lovely. "So, what should we do for the rest of the day?"
Olwyn brightened. "I hear the library here is amazifying." Brielle gave her a sharp look. She laughed. "Sorry, I'm still running off the sugar high. So, you want to go check it out?"
"Do I ever!"
"I thought you said you knew where we were going!"
"No, I said I had a general idea!"
"Yeah, and your general idea led us all the way to the other side of the campus!"
Brielle sunk down onto a nearby bench. Olwyn sat down next to her. They'd been wandering the campus of Shiz for nearly an hour, and the library was nowhere in sight.
Olwyn sat up suddenly, startling Bri. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"It sounded like a horse, but not a horse. Almost... You know, human. Let's go see!" She darted off in the direction of the alleged horse. Brielle followed, curious.
About a minute later, they came to a stable. But it was unlike any stable Brielle had seen. In one stall, there was a turtle with wings. Or, was it a Turtle? Bri couldn't be sure. In another stall, was a dog (or Dog) with a rear end that looked like it came out of one of those dinosaur pop-up books Brielle had read when she was little.
She glanced at Olwyn, who was inspecting another of the stable's inhabitants; a beautiful golden-brown Horse with a horn sprouting from it's forehead. It must be a Unicorn. Bri thought. She'd never seen one before, and this one certainly made an impression. It had a huge gold medallion around it's neck with a 'B', and a newsboy cap on sideways. Bri was almost sure that if she looked at it's hooves, there's be a bandana tied around one.
Bri knew it was a Unicorn, because it was talking to Olwyn.
"Yeah, dawg. It does get kinda lonely out here, but a coupl'a kids come out every once in a while. Akchally, there was a girl out her a few min's ago."
"Really?" Olwyn asked, smiling at her new friend. "Who?"
The Flying Turtle rolled it's eyes. "Butterscotch! You have such a mouth on you! Did the possibility cross your mind that she might not want her identity revealed?"
The DragonDog barked a laugh. "Jerry, if you keep talking like that, Butterscotch's head is gonna explode. And do you really want to clean up that mess? Her brains splattered all over the stable, grey matter smeared along the walls, blood covering every inch of the-"
Butterscotch gave a warning whinnie. "Yo! Donny! Yer gonna make me blow chunks, G! Cool it wit' da grossness already, willya?"
Brielle laughed. "You guys are priceless."
Jerry bowed, or at least attempted to. It's fairly hard to bow when your a Turtle. "A pleasure to be of service, Madam."
Olwyn smiled. "How did you guys come to be this way. I mean, you weren't born like this, were you?"
"No, they weren't," a voice said, startling the two girls. The green girl from earlier stepped out from the stable's store room, carrying a bone, a few pieces of lettuce, and an apple. She handed the treats to each animal in turn. Brielle couldn't recall her name.
The green girl turned to face Olwyn and Bri, her face slightly etched with sadness. "These Animals that you see are Sorcery Class projects gone awry. A boy named Piotr Andrei was supposed to turn a Dog into a dragon." She gestured to Donny. "Hakim Sorelli was instructed to turn a Turtle into a bird." She looked at Jerry sadly. "And Lisette Turhen accidentally turned her friend Beatrice Capricia into a Unicorn." Butterscotch nodded, grinning roguishly.
Olwyn stifled a giggle. "Beatrice? I see why you go by Butterscotch."
The green girl's lips twitched momentarily into a smile, then she was solemn once more.
Brielle cocked her head to one side. "What's your name again? I have a bad memory."
The green girl looked shocked. "Erm, it's Elphaba. Elphaba Thropp. The oldest daughter of Frex Thropp, Governor of Munchkinland. You actually forgot? I'd have figured I made an impression. Being a freak and all." He shoulders slumped.
"You're not a freak! You're just-"
"Green?"
"Not what I was going for. You're different, that's all."
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Everyone's different. I go above and beyond the norm."
Brielle laughed. "And since when is that such a bad thing?"
Olwyn nodded. "I'm sorry to hear about your roomate, though. Galinda Upland? I shudder at the thought."
Elphaba nodded. "We already got into a screaming match over which side of the room is who's. I got the side that has no window, and she set up a curtain as a dividing line." She broke into a genuine smile. "But, the bathroom is on my side."
Bri laughed. "Nice. I'm Brielle D'Aubigne, by the way, and this is Olwyn Tangw- I can't pronounce it."
"Tangwystl."
"Right. Hey, do you happen to know where the library is?"
Elphaba nodded. "Having trouble finding your way around?"
The two looked at eachother. "Um, no?"
Elphaba laughed. "Don't worry, I'll show you."
The girls said goodbye to the Animals and followed Elphaba across the campus.
(A/N: I usually have one of these at the beginning too, but I was too lazy. This is my first Wicked fic. I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I don't own Wicked, or anything else I mihgt reference, however obscurely. Feel free to tell me what you think of my characterization, both the Ocs and the original characters.
To clarify things, here's a list of the Ocs so far:
Brielle D'Aubigne
Olwyn Tangwystl
Jerry the Flying Turtle
Donny the DragonDog
Butterscotch the Gangsta Unicorn
Yes, myself and my friends have very twisted imaginations.
My updates will probably be a bit randomly spaced out, 'cause I have no idea where this story is going. Feel free to review with plot ideas, character development, and all that other good stuff.
Okay, right now, this is sounding all professional and indifferent, so I'm just gonna go before I bore you out of your minds.
Review please!
~The Humble Authoress)