Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It helps. This is short, and I'm not sure if Elphaba stayed in character enough, but she was suppose to change here⦠I'm not sure.
Btw, I might've messed up something while trying to summit this (me and technology aren't exactly best friends all the time).
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Elphaba stood at a door and took a deep breath. She knocked.
"Come in." Her father's voice called from his office. The door opened with a creak and the green girl walked in slowly. His face twisted into a scowl when he saw who was there. She saw these things even more now; ever since the night she had realized how her father felt about her, not a single grimace or look of disgust went unnoticed.
"Hello Father." She said politely, quietly.
"I hope you have a good reason for coming in here and wasting my time. I have work to do." He told her, looking down at the work on his desk rather than up. She was unsure of what to say. This had been a good idea in her head, but actually being here was different.
"Why do you hate me?" She blurted, and then closed her mouth tightly. She hadn't meant to ask outright! She sat down in a cushiony chair, looking down at her hands, afraid of what might come next.
"Surely you know what you did." He replied, still not looking up. His voice was cool and controlled. An icy feeling rushed down Elphaba's neck. He hadn't denied it. He hadn't denied he hated her. Whatever hope she might have had vanished in that moment.
"What did I do?" She managed. She hadn't done anything so wrong that he would hate her like this. The only thing she could think of was being born strange. But how could it be her fault that her skin was green?
"Don't be ignorant!" He cried at her, suddenly angry. Elphaba shrunk away. "It's because of you my little Nessa is disabled! It's because of you I gave Melena those wretched flowers to eat! It because of you she's dead and Nessarose will never walk!" He was livid. Elphaba didn't understand and didn't know what to say. Could what he said be true? Her instinct told her to run away, and she was about to when a man walked in.
He stopped short at the sight of Elphaba, who ducked her head and blushed a dark green with embarrassment.
"I apologize- my-my daughter." Frex stuttered angrily, practically choking on the last word.
"Your daughter?" The man asked, bewildered. Elphaba turned even darker green and took that moment to escape. As she flew out the door a strong wind came out of nowhere and whipped the papers on his desk around the room.
She ran to her room. Nessa was with the nanny and wouldn't need her for a while, so she had time alone, which she sent doing something between brooding and sulking. So she knew for sure now. Would Frex lie? She didn't think so. So was it really her fault Nessa was in a wheelchair? It would never be intentional! But it must have been her. She sighed and picked up a green bottle under her pillow.
Why had she been so embarrassed to be seen? Because she was green? She had been. She had been embarrassed of herself, of something she couldn't help! She shouldn't have to hide her face for her whole life because of that! She had seen few new people since the families trip to the flower fields, and now she was embarrassed, she realized. A sort of rebellious anger rose in her, and she clenched and unclenched her fists.
She wasn't going to sulk any longer. She was going to do something, anything, to prove she was not embarrassed. Let them stare! She wouldn't care what anyone thought.
Elphaba smiled to herself and made her way to the busier side of the house, where governor related things were carried out. Also the side of the house she was forbidden to go to during work hours. Here, random businessmen from other parts of Oz would be working. Perfect.
The green girl stalked though the halls with her long black braid trailing behind as people turned and blinked in surprise. There was a special thrill in breaking the rules, and whatever consequences came from this would be well worth it.
Eventually she opened the door to find a room full of people. It seemed as if some sort of council had just come to a close and the men were milling about afterwards. Heads turned as she walked as quietly as she could in. They all stared at her, then muttered in various tones to one another. Elphaba couldn't hear much of what they said, but it only took the words 'green' and 'freak' for her to get angry.
"What?" She asked the room, just loud enough to be heard above the noise. Silence.
"What are you looking at?" She asked louder, with more intensity. It wasn't just the few people she'd seen before who acted as if she carried some sort of disease! It was all of them! They were all so shallow and ignorant it was unbelievable!
Elphaba backed against the wall and clenched her fists. At that moment, a decorative vase shattered, sending glass pieces flying in all directions. A fire started where the vase had been, and began to spread across the floor. There were shouts and the room erupted into chaos, and people ran around, trying to put out the flames. At last they did, leaving a smoldering hole in the carpet, and Frex stormed into the room.
Elphaba sat on the ground frightened of what had just happened, when her father grabbed her by the arm and practically dragged her out. She was too scared to do anything but follow. Had she done that?
"What happened?" Frex growled at her when they were alone in his office.
"I- I mean- I don't know." She whimpered, still scared.
"You shouldn't have been wandering around here! Now I'll have to explain to all those men about you! It may very well ruin my reputation!" He cried, "Not to mention having to pay for a new rug!"
"I'm sorry." The green girl said, and then looked up from her hands. "I just wanted to show them I'm not embarrassed! Why should my skin matter? They think it does, but I'll show them!" She spoke with intensity and her rose to a shout by the time she finished, but this was not a time or person to confess these things to, she realized as soon as the words were out of her mouth.
"You should be embarrassed. I'm embarrassed." He said cruelly, "Now get out of this office and try not to blow anything up." He scowled.
"Yes sir." She said and ran back to the part of the house for living, while mixed emotions swirled around in her like a twister.
As angry as she was at the things that happened recently, and at herself for being embarrassed, Elphaba knew she would have to keep those feelings contained. What happened with the vase had been her doing. She could be dangerous.
