Chapter 1

Jean

I woke with a start. I had fallen asleep with my hair all tangled around my face, but Carole or Sue had obviously pushed it away at some point during the night. My eyes focused. I did a double take. I wasn't in the cabin. I was in some type of dorm room. I heard a groan from the bed next to mine "Jean? You awake?" I heard Sara say.

"Yeah, barely." I almost gasped. I didn't have to work to say that! My voice sounded … normal!

"Where the hell are we?" Sara asked, sitting upright in bed. I looked over at her and had another shock. Sara's back was normally like an accordion, always curved and bent, but now it was as straight as a stick. But that was simply the tip of the iceberg. Sara's skin was incredibly, impossibly, unnaturally … green! "What? Why are you looking at me like I just landed from Mars?"

"Sara, you're …" But before I could continue, there was a knock on the door.

"Miss Elphaba? Miss Galinda?" From what I could tell, the person knocking was female, probably in her fifties. "I thought your sister might want to be with you this morning. Is that alright, Miss Elphaba?" Before I could think, I was on my feet. I was on my feet! I could walk! Behind me, I heard Sara gasp, but I was busy walking to the door. Walking to the door!

"At your service," I said in my new, non spazzo voice. Outside the door was a middle aged woman with way too much makeup and … Yvonne!

"Ah, Miss Galinda!" the woman exclaimed when she saw me. "Is Miss Elphaba up?"

"I … think so," I said cautiously. "Do you want me to take …" I indicated toward Yvonne, whom to my surprise was confined to a wheelchair, no plastic leg.

"Miss Nessarose?" the woman finished for me. "Yes, of course! She must be extremely close to her sister! How truly touching! See you at sorcery seminar, girls!"

"Jean!" Yvonne exclaimed as I pushed her into the room. "Gosh, you can walk! Where are we? The signs in the halls say 'Shiz University.' There's no such school! Sara! What happened to you? You're …"

"Yes, yes, I know I'm green," Sara said dismissively. "The question is why. The bastards must've found a CP cure, thus Jean can walk. They tried to put a leg on you, but something goofed up. But my recently developed verdigris? Who the hell knows?"

"You look like the Wicked Witch of the West," I commented.

"Thanks, Jean. Just the compliment I need."

"I'm just happy I can say that without stuttering. W is hard for me. Or, at least, was."

"But, Jean, you may be on to something! The clown lady who brought Yvonne, she called you Galinda. Like Glinda from The Wizard of Oz."

"Oooo!" Yvonne squealed. "I just noticed what shoes the old hag put on me! Jean, Sara, look!"

"Gracious peace!" Sara breathed. For enveloping two very real feet were Dorothy's iconic silver shoes!

"Sara, are we …?" I started to ask.

"Wait!" Sara ran over to the bookshelf. "Aw, shit, I can walk too! Bastards! Oh, look at this! Textbooks! 'A Guide for Sorcery Beginners.' 'A Detailed History of Oz.' Damn, ladies! We are in the fricking land of Oz!"

"Wild," Yvonne said. "But I guess if I click my heels … oh, right, I CAN'T!"

"Cool it, sister, you're still a Crip at least. What about we go to breakfast? I'm hungry, y'all!"

Breakfast was quiet. People called Sara an artichoke, but she told them to piss off. A Munchkin kept looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I sunk in my seat. I wasn't used to that kind of attention.

"Sara! Jean! Yvonne!" A handsome boy strode up to us. "You guys are different! I could hardly recognize myself this morning!"

"Willie?" Sara asked in the most innocent voice I had ever heard from her. "Oh God! You're … oh, Willie!" She stood up and hugged him like she hadn't seen him in years, and he had changed for the worse.

"Hey, Sara, it's cool," Willie said. "I hear they do magic here. Maybe you can change me back. After all, now you look like a witch!"

Sara chuckled. "Ever the gentleman, Willie! But I've been thinking. What if we're replacing the Witches of the West and East and Glinda? What if they're at Camp Courage?"

"Hold up," Yvonne said. "I'm still wrestling with the fact that we're in Oz, and these witches are actually real. I mean, think about the movie. It's out there!"

"I'm more worried about the Wicked Witch of the West terrorizing Camp Courage," I said. "She could have killed half the camp by now." We all fell silent at that thought.