This chapter is soooo short, I'm sorry.

Started writing: 26.09.2019

Finished writing: 29.09.2019

Chapter 5
Mail

"Look what just came with the mail."

Melena swept into her husband's study without knocking and let herself fall into the empty chair before Frex's desk. The man looked up from his papers and smiled upon the letter Melena held in her hands.

"I assume it's travelled here from Shiz?" he asked slightly amused and pushed away the papers he'd just been reading.

Melena nodded, her fingers making quick work of opening the envelope.

"Let me just skim it, then I'll read it aloud," she said and unfolded the letter.

Curiously, Frex leant forward, supporting himself on his elbows as he studied his wife's face whilst she read. He knew exactly where the nickname 'Rose of Nest Hardings' came from; Melena was a woman of raving beauty. She had a slim face and a straight nose, full, rosy lips and big brown eyes with that she showed so much emotion that Frex sometimes couldn't look into her eyes without falling in love with her all over again. The long, brown curls of her hair were so dark that they could easily be considered black -just like Elphaba's hair- and they framed her beautiful face shockingly perfect.

But as she read, a frown began to set on her forehead and slowly, her face fell. Her eyes were dancing across the paper she held so fast that Frex couldn't tell which line she was reading and with each word that she formed silently with her lips, her skin grew paler.

Shifting awkwardly in his seat, Frex leant even further forwards and tried to get a quick look at what his oldest daughter had written. But just then, Melena folded the paper again and let her eyes travel upwards to meet Frex's. Her hand slowly leapt out for his and her long fingers brushed against the back of his hand as she sighed deeply.

She opened her mouth in an attempt to say something but closed it again, hesitantly pushing the letter towards him.

She held his hand whilst he read, squeezing it a little more with each line that travelled past his sight.

"I can't believe it's that bad already," she whispered, her voice breaking with each word.

Frex looked up and let the letter fall onto the desk before him. "It's just like she'd feared it would be."

Melena nodded. "It's even worse. She told me she feared that they wouldn't like her and that she wouldn't find any friends. This is not just not-liking her."

Frex didn't know what to say. She was right; of course, she was, she never was not right.

With a sigh of sadness and sudden exhaustion, Melena stuffed the letter back into the envelope and let her eyes wither shut for a short second.

"I'm going to write to Madame Morrible and let her know," she said, rubbing her forehead.

Frex sat up straight, eyeing his wife in suspicion. "And what should she do against it?"

He saw Melena arch her back as she straightened and crossed her legs. "I don't know, just... something. Anything."

Again, the woman brought a hand to her forehead and sighed. "I wish I could be there with her, supporting her."

He shook his head.

"We won't always be there for her, Melena," he said, his look something between sadness and frustration. "She has to go through that on her own someday."

The woman uncrossed her legs, exasperation displaying visibly in the pools of her deep brown eyes. "But not yet, not in college. She's still so young."

Frex glanced at her with an embittered look. "She never really was young, Melena. She had to grow up so quickly, being rejected by almost everyone in such a young age already."

His wife averted her eyes to look at her hands, folded in her lap, as though they were the most interesting thing in all of Oz. When she looked up again, the sadness in her eyes had turned into anger and the warmness of her eyes now hardened.

"So, what!" she snapped as composed as she managed. "Should we just sit there and watch?! Should we just accept that people treat our daughter like shit?!"

She spat out her last words as though she was disgusted by simply saying it. Two hands brought up to her head, grabbing a hand of her hair, she rose from her place and started pacing up and down before Frex's desk.

"Who do these spoiled little brats think they are?! What do they think they're doing!" she was almost shouting now, her voice high-pitched and shrill as her face flushed in anger. "Is this the way to treat people? Is this how they'd want to be treated?!"

"Melena…," Frex began but was cut short by his wife, whirling around and slamming her hands onto the tabletop.

"Madame Morrible has to know! She has to put a stop to this," with a deep breath, Melena straightened up.

Frex reached out to take her hand and pulled her back into her chair, feeling the shudder that anger had caused in his wife.

"Melena," he tried again, locking eyes with her. "Please, see reason. None of it would make things easier for Elphaba. I even dare to say it would only make it worse; having the Headshiztress interfere into the students' personal affairs. They'd blame her for the consequences they'd have to take, make her the grass and the poltroon that ran to her parents for support."

The brown-haired beauty slowly slipped her other hand into her husband's, sighing deeply as she said in a small voice, "Why must the universe be so cruel to her?"

He squeezed her hands, waiting until she'd fought back the tears and looked up into his eyes again.

"I don't know, my love," he said. "I really don't know."

The door slammed against the wall so loud and so unexpected that the whole classroom flinched. A boy appeared in the threshold; tall and lanky, with worn-out clothes and a bag shouldered that was as old as Oz itself, he stumbled into the room, cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Doctor Dillamond looked at the intruder with something between curiosity and shock in his big, brown eyes.

"And who might you be, disturbing the lesson?", the Goat asked, and the boy cleared his throat.

"' M sorry," he mumbled. "' was in the wrong class."

Doctor Dillamond arched an eyebrow at him, bent over his list and asked, "What's your name?"

"Aurelion Wilmine," his voice was not more than a whisper.

Elphaba frowned, her pen tapping against the edge of the table as she thought. Wilmine. Didn't that sound Gillikin? A common last name in the Glikkus? No, but Elphaba was sure she'd heard that name before.

"Wilmine," the professor repeated, his eyes downcast onto his documents. "From the Emerald City, then?"

The green-skinned woman drew in a sharp breath. The Emerald City.

Aurelian nodded, unsure of what to say. Or maybe, Elphaba mused, he just was a little shy. It seemed to her that he was.

"Yes, here it is," Doctor Dillamond murmured and looked up, scanning the classroom.

For a second, his eyes lingered on a spot in the back of the class, then he shook his head slightly and said, "You may sit down next to Miss Elphaba."

Elphaba's eyes widened but when she opened her mouth to start addressing the issue before the boy himself could, Aurelion had already crossed the room and sat down beside her, silently without a word of resentment.

"Well…," Doctor Dillamond said, skimming his documents. "Where… oh, yes. So, the reason for the division of the Gillikin into Gillikin and Glikkus was?"

Elphaba tugged her hair behind her ear and sat up straight. Her hand was already halfway up when she suddenly heard a whispered "Hi." from next to her and it fell all the way down again. She whirled around. "What?"

The boy, Aurelion, flushed in embarrassment. "Hi."

"Y-You-" Elphaba found herself at a loss of words. "Um… A-Are you talking to me?"

He nodded. Elphaba had to suppress a nervous giggle as she straightened up even more and whispered back, "Hi."

He smiled lightly and turned a little more towards her. "So… you're… green?"

Elphaba arched an eyebrow at him. "Obviously. And you're not."

She bent over her notes again and hastily scribbled down what Doctor Dillamond was saying after not having his question answered.

"I-I don't want to sound rude but… how come?" Aurelion asked and furrowed his brow at Elphaba's shrug.

He pulled out some sheets of paper and began writing down something, tearing the paper in two, handing her the written piece.

Talk later. It read. Elphaba nodded, returning her thoughts to the lesson.

The whole class through, she couldn't help but wonder how Aurelion could possibly be unbothered by her skin, her mind aching for answers that wouldn't be found until she'd asked.

So, when the class had ended, the green-skinned woman turned to the boy and said bluntly, "Don't you find it weird?"

And, surprisingly, he shook his head and smiled shyly. "It's just a colour."

A smile crept onto her lips and she quickly turned away from him, hiding her smile.

Maybe, just maybe, she'd find a friend after all.

But then Elphaba heard the high-pitched giggles and heeled steps hurry near and her head snapped up.

No, no, Miss Elphaba. She said to herself as she saw Galinda and her friends approach. Don't get your hopes up. You'll just have them crash back into your face in the end.