Author's Note: Thank you so much to elphiesglinda and The Ultimate Queen of Cliffies for your feedback :) This chapter is a bit longer than the others. I don't own anything. R &R if you like. Thanks for reading! ~bwayfan25
Nessa was immediately visible. She was leaning against a locker, while a small group of girls chattered loudly around her. They played with each other's hair, expressed ideas of clothes and shoes, all the while asking Nessa for opinions or advice. Though this seemed to be a normal thing for them, Nessa didn't seem to be into it. In fact, she looked quite nervous. Perhaps the football match nerves were coming early?
This didn't matter to Elphaba though. She was lost in her thoughts, in her regrets.
She's popular. People love her. Wait. Breathe. It's still the imagination.
"Miss Nessarose!" a man's voice from behind Melena and Elphaba rang out, snapping Elphaba back to the scene.
Elphaba turned to see a tall, sandy haired youth bounding down the hallway. He too was tall, about two inches taller than Nessa, and wore glasses. Though Elphaba had never seen him before, he seemed to fit a group that Elphaba frequently found herself a part of: the nerds.
In this world of Nessa being popular, Elphaba half expected her to ignore him, but instead, Nessarose stepped out of her group of friends to meet him.
He slid to a halt right in front of her, and bowed. Much to Elphaba's surprise, Nessa returned the gesture with a curtsy.
"And how are you today, Master Julian?" Nessa said in an overly polite tone. Her hands were behind her back, and, though she forced a passive look, she was hiding a broad grin.
"Very well, Miss Nessarose," he replied, with the same overly polite tone. It seemed that the two were very familiar with each other, but were attempting not to show it. And then it hit her.
This was Nessa's boyfriend. This boy. The tall, goofy boy as dating the most popular girl in school. But he seemed unfazed, even as her friends laughed. Obviously, there was more to him, and to Nessa, then to let this bother them.
Elphaba watched as he politely offered his hand and led her to the nearby courtyard.
"Are you ready, my love?" he asked, moving a piece of hair out of her face. She shot him a look.
"I hope so," she whispered back, placing her head on his shoulder.
"You will be. Anyways, I've got a wager on you to win. I know you won't disappoint me," Julian whispered. Nessa pulled away to look at him in the eye, but he smiled, and her gaze softened.
They stood hugging for what seemed to Elphaba like forever. And, is if to make it worse, they began to gently kiss. Elphaba turned away.
"Can we skip this? Please?" Elphaba asked Melena, averting her eyes. Melena let out a small laugh, and waved her hand once again.
Photographs flashed by of Nessa's day. A calculus class, with Nessa answering every question. A study period in the library.
The photos stopped at the cafeteria. Nessa sat in a center table, surrounded once again by her giggling friends. Alone with her thoughts once again, nerves seemed to eat away at her.
Looking up from her food, Nessa spotted a girl sitting alone across the room. Melena and Elphaba were not close enough to hear what she was saying, but she kept pointing at the girl. Her friends all began to laugh hysterically. Nessa looked offended, and stood in a huff. She picked up her schoolbag and lunch, and made her way to the girl. Elphaba inched closer.
"Hello, I'm Nessarose, but everyone calls me Nessa," Nessa began, smiling at the new girl. "And what's your name?"
The new girl looked scared. Evidently she had seen the way Nessa's friends had acted.
"Um. Lorna. My name is Lorna."
"Nice to meet you," Nessa said, offering a hand to shake. Then she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Weren't you in my literature class?"
The girl nodded shyly. But Nessa just smiled and continued. She asked about the book they were reading, about where Lorna had moved from, and, when the bell rang, Lorna was happily chatting with Nessa on the way to their next class.
Elphaba stood, thinking. This was so much the life she wanted for Nessa. A normal, happy life. But something stuck out to her. It was almost too perfect.
Then Melena waved again. Elphaba was too lost in her thoughts to watch the scenes fly by once again. But she soon felt a slight chill which snapped her back to whatever this reality was.
They were standing in a set of athletic stands. Wind whipped around them, and a cold rain was falling, but it didn't affect Melena or Elphaba.
They sat on the cold benches and watched .
Down on the pitch, the game was already in full swing. Yellow and purple uniformed players darted in and out of focus in the thick rain, while a white ball growing more and more muddy flew back and forth around the pitch. After a few moments, Elphaba recognized Nessa. She was waiting off on the other side of the field.
The score was tied 2-2. Elphaba watched eagerly and the ball soared across the brown and green field towards Nessa. Instinctively, she jumped up to reach it. It fell in front of her and she took off, her purple uniform flitting in and out of yellow players. She ran closer to their side of the stadium, and ran
But, out of nowhere, a yellow player slid into Nessa, knocking her down and making her lose the ball.
A shrill whistle pierced the air. The referee took the ball to the penalty line, but Elphaba was still watching Nessa.
Then she realized what was wrong. Nessa was breathing very hard. Her arm was back. Too far back.
The aids ran to her, but by the time they got there, she had already pushed her shoulder back into place. She stretched it, wincing, but took a deep breath, and ran back in.
"Loose ligaments," Melena said out of the corner of her mouth to Elphaba. "Your sister sitting in the wheelchair back in your reality has it too. I believe you have heard of nature versus nurture? The theory that not only are we made of what our DNA says we are, but also how we have been raised?"
Elphaba nodded, but her thoughts were far from her mother's words.
The game had taken a nasty turn. Time was almost up, and both teams were playing too rough. The rain was too thick and the mud too slippery to tell if slips and slides were purposeful or accidental. But, within a few minutes of Nessa's injury, two players were taken off the field, unconscious, and one was benched for misconduct.
"Only thirty seconds left!" boomed the announcer.
The players scrambled. The ball flew, and, none other did Nessa, the tallest of the bunch, knock it down. She managed to escape from the struggling crowd. Her momentum grew as she sprinted down the field. She kicked with all her might, and all anyone could do was watch as it soared towards to goal.
Three. The goalie tracked it, moving towards the corner.
Two. She jumps.
One. It flies over her head and into the net behind her.
A massive cheer erupted through the stadium and Nessa fell to her knees. Students stormed the field below, singing the school song, cheering madly. They crowded around Nessa. Elphaba watched as the tall boy fought his way through the crowd, and drew Nessa into a massive hug, only to be broken by her parents.
Elphaba loved every moment of it. Watching her sister have a perfect life.
But Melena waved her hand and it all faded. They stood again in the blank white place.
"That's the life I want for her. That's it. All of it. It's…perfect."
Melena shook her head.
"Of course it was. It was based off of your imagination. Your hopes for her created that. Did you not notice how it was too good to be true? Reality is never that perfect, because it is not based on dreams, or at least, it is not meant to be."
Melena's face was much more serious than Elphaba had yet seen it.
"I will now show you the likely reality of Nessarose's life had you never been born," she said in a low, cool voice. "It is not as happy. It is not perfect. It is dark, because it is real."