Chapter Ten:
"But she was so much more changed, was so much more beautiful."
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens.
Glinda held the train tickets in her hand and stood resolutely across from her mother.
"We're going and that's that. You can't stop us," said the blonde.
Larena Upland pursed her lips. Her golden hair had grayed in the last five years... her skin had puckered but she was still menacing, if not intimidating in her old age.
The smaller blonde didn't even flinch at Larena's gaze... and Elphaba, well, she avoided it altogether, casting a glance at her combat boots and then at her old hand-me-down navy dress that hung too big on her frame. Her bulky bag was held in front of her body, whereas Glinda had placed her suitcases on the floor. She had already put the labels on them that read: Shiz University.
"You're not ready yet, dear. You still have so much to learn. No, no you're not going," Larena took a sip of her tea from where she sat on an old dusty armchair in the living room.
"We are going to Shiz, Mother," declared Glinda shrilly, "It's what Father would have wanted."
"Your father was a fool, didn't I teach you that?" snapped Larena as she slammed down her teacup, nearly breaking the piece of china in the process, the loud clink rang out through the hall, "He knew nothing of what was good for you! I do!"
Both girls knew that the "Father" card was useless to use on Larena but it had gotten the desired effect out of her.
"You want me to be a lady, right Mother? Because if so, then I need to go out into society and learn how to be one," Glinda tried to reason with her, her silk voice never raising above the volume of conversation. Her fingers twitched ever so slightly at her side.
"You can learn everything you need to know right here. There's no need to send you out into that cruel world," growled Mrs. Upland.
The carriage's horses that stood in the front of the house neighed impatiently.
"If you want me to get better then I need to practice, and what better way than to send me to Shiz? I'll write you everyday... I promise I won't forget about you."
Elphaba could sense the tension rising in the air. The two blondes had been at it about this since Glinda had suggested it a year ago, when she had found the envelope full of money that her father had called, "Money for Shiz."
Ever since then Glinda had been desperate to go, desperate to leave this house and her mother. Though she had only revealed that to Elphaba and Elphaba alone up until last week, when she had told Larena that she had arranged everything herself so that the two girls could go.
Mrs. Upland had been livid to say the least, it was no surprise to Elphaba that she was still against the idea now.
"Why should I give you a new assignment when you haven't even finished your other one?" she nodded referring to Elphaba.
The green girl bit her lips, clenched her fists, she did anything she could not blow up in Mrs. Upland's face at that comment. Her magic tingled at her fingertips but Elphaba made a point to stop it just as it started.
Glinda on the other hand was very calm about it all.
"Elphaba can help, she can be my guardian... she can make sure I write to you and come back here for the holidays."
"No, I won't allow it," Larena said decisively.
Elphaba took in a breath, if only to prepare herself for the onslaught of fighting that was about to occur.
The petite girl next to her held a tense face, her features were still but they gleamed with anger.
Glinda never yelled nor screamed or shouted, and she had never cried again after her father, but she radiated those emotions. She did have them, but she just didn't make them clear on her face.
Elphaba knew that was her secret... the one that allowed her to play by her mother's rules and yet try to break free of them at the same time.
Glinda wasn't stupid, of that Elphaba had learned during her time here. She was clever, tactful... enough to out smart her mother.
Throughout the years, Glinda had surprised Elphaba with her intellect. The blonde knew when to pick her battles and she knew what buttons to press to make her mother cave.
She wasn't as oblivious as Elphaba had originally thought and that had been a most welcome surprise.
"You've always said that I would be a heart breaker, let me prove it to you that I can be. Let me show you that I can be cold, truly cold," those words slipped from Glinda's lips carefully and immediately they got a reaction out of Larena.
The older woman leaned forward, her eyes sparkled with interest. Glinda's tone had been cold, icy and that's exactly what Mrs. Upland had been looking for.
"Now there's the girl I raised," breathed Larena excitedly.
Elphaba exchanged a wry smirk with Glinda, but the blonde didn't show any signs of smugness or amusement at getting her way.
"You're making us late," remarked Glinda as she picked up her suitcases and turned on her heel.
"Wait," Larena called out.
Both girls turned around, hesitant.
Larena pursed her lips again, studying them for a moment.
For a moment it flashed through Elphaba's head that she might reconsider, that she might change her mind and keep both of them locked up in here for the next five years but then she spoke:
"Break their hearts, Glinda. Do not fail me again."
The blonde didn't even acknowledge the demand, and she walked out of the mansion first with Elphaba following behind her.
Once they embarked into the carriage, it was then that Glinda spoke again.
"It feels so strange... to be leaving," she said at last.
Elphaba looked at her, seeing the tiniest glimmer of regret in those sapphire eyes and she knew that it was her job to squash the feeling before it grew.
"It's for the best. Just think of it, Glin. We're finally free," Elphaba clasped the blonde's hands tightly.
"For now," the blonde retorted in contempt but a brief smile appeared on her face.
As the carriage drove on, the two spent the ride talking.
"Anything from Nessarose?" ventured the blonde carefully.
"No, nothing," Elphaba said softly, disappointed clearly in her voice.
She had written to her sister a few weeks back about possibly going to Shiz University but nothing had come of it. Nessa never replied to any of Elphaba's letters anymore and though the green girl knew it was a lost cause she couldn't help but still write a letter every once in a while.
"I'm sorry," expressed the blonde as she fixed the collar of her dress, a pristine white ensemble that sharpened her sapphire eyes and showed off her thin frame.
Elphaba nodded but did not comment any further.
"I'm surprised she actually let us go," Elphaba remarked a little while on, "I wasn't so sure that your Mother would relent. You were marvelous."
Glinda barely acknowledged the praise, not even bothering to send a grateful smile Elphaba's way. Elphaba huffed in disappointment.
"I wonder how long she'll let us stay," Glinda's words sounded like freezing water... cold and yet slightly uncertain of how things would turn out.
"Until our studies are done, of course," supplied Elphaba but Glinda didn't look so convinced.
"If I please her, you mean... She could care less about our studies. All Mother desires is for me to break a man's heart into a million tiny pieces."
Elphaba looked at the blonde woman pitifully. She had so much pent up anger and frustration it was heartbreaking to see.
"We'll get through this, I promise," Elphaba reassured her.
To this Glinda said nothing.
The blonde turned her head away to the window shortly after that, obviously exhausted from her passionate begging this morning and said no more until they reached the gates of Shiz University.
Hope you guys don't mind the time jump. It's all about to get very interesting! Thanks for the lovely reviews! And I think it's safe to say that this story will be Elphaba/Glinda friendship with slight hints at a romantic relationship. I just wanted to try and plan it all about before I told you guys but now I have so now you can know! :)
Happy Holidays!
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