Hello! Chapter II here!

Gothic Butterfly, in America, Speechless comes on at 8:30 Eastern Time on Wednesday nights on ABC. I don't know if you have ABC down under, but just so you know. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Two weeks after Frex's irresistible discounted breakfast, the new school year started. Shell was going into his second year of intermediate school, Elphaba was beginning her third year of upper school, and Nessa was starting her first year of upper school. This was an especially big change for Nessa, as both her lower and intermediate schools had been exclusively for students with disabilities. Now she would be going to the same school as her sister, Restwater Upper School, and to say that Frex was worried would be putting it lightly.

"Bad news, pet," Frex said, coming into Nessa's room a few days before school was to start. "I just went by your new school, and they told me that Elphaba will not be allowed to assist you at school. They've already hired some woman from some agency, and I really wish I could abuse my powers as governor and arrest them, but instead I'm just going to sue them …"

"Father," Nessa cut him off. "Don't sue. Please. I think there's a good reason Fabala isn't allowed to help me. We're in different years. She won't have time. But really, I'm fine with whoever the school has picked for me."

"You sure?"
She nodded. "Yeah."

The first day of school came, and as usual, it was a rush to get out the door at Colwin Grounds. Nanny, in her own opinion, almost had a heart attack trying to make breakfast, and more importantly, getting all of Melena's precious children to eat it in a timely fashion. After breakfast, all four Thropps headed out, thankfully with a professional driver at the reins instead of Frex. Shell was dropped off first.

"Have a good day, son," Frex said as Shell gathered his things.

"I will, Father."

"Don't do anything stupid," Elphaba couldn't resist adding.

Shell lightly hit her with his book bag. "Shut up." Then he departed the carriage with a general, "Bye!"

Not too long after that, they arrived at Restwater Upper School. After the three of them unloaded, they were met by the principal, Mr. Cestalla. "Oh, it's the Thropps!" he said excitedly. He shook Frex's hand vigorously. "Delighted to meet you, Mr. Governor! I'm Mr. Cestalla, principal here at Restwater. And there's Restwater Upper's superstar, Elphaba! It's wonderful to have you back! You know, Mr. Governor, you should be very proud of this one here. Top of her class two years in a row! And that streak will continue this year, right Elphaba?"

"You know I always do my best, Principal Cestalla," Elphaba said, not wanting to look at her father at that particular moment.

"That's the spirit, kid! But who is this? Restwater's newest student, Nessarose! Welcome! We're so excited to have you!"

Nessa smiled nervously. It was then that Elphaba decided to extricate herself from the conversation so she wouldn't have to witness the inevitable clash between her father and Mr. Cestalla. "Well, I should probably get to first hour," she said. "Good luck, Nessa. Hopefully I'll see you later today."

"Elphaba," Frex called in a voice that Elphaba knew meant she had to turn around and listen closely. He leaned into her. "None of … you know."

She nodded. "I know. Bye, Father." And after a final affectionate pat on Nessa's shoulder, she disappeared into the mass of students pouring through the school doors.

"So, Mr. Cestalla," Frex began. "Your staff told me that you had an aide for Nessa."

"Yes, I do!" Mr. Cestalla exclaimed triumphantly. "She should be here any minute … Ah! Speak of Kumbrecia! There she is! Gawnette! Over here!" Frex and Nessa turned to see a young woman in a shockingly short skirt walking over to them. "Mr. Governor, Nessarose, this is Gawnette. She's from Abilify, the best agency in Munchkinland!"

"Hi, it's lovely to meet you!" Nessa greeted her, finally overcoming her shyness. "Please, call me Nessa."

"Yeah, hi," Gawnette responded, sounding very disinterested. "Just call me Gawnette; I don't have a nickname or anything."

"Alright, we've got an aide," Frex said, trying to reassure himself that Gawnette was going to properly take care of his daughter. "Now, where's your wheelchair ramp?"

"Right this way," Mr. Cestalla said. He led Frex, Nessa, and Gawnette around to the side of the school, where there was a side door that had a little ramp leading up to it. It didn't have the usual safety rails on the sides. It looked to Frex like …

"A garbage ramp?!" he asked, outraged.

"I-It's not just a garbage ramp," Mr. Cestalla said nervously.

"No, it's a garbage-and-my-daughter ramp!"

"I-It's acceptable alternate access …" The principal silently prayed to the Unnamed God that he wouldn't be arrested on the spot.

Just then, the school janitor came down the ramp, pushing a dumpster full of trash. Frex jumped at the opportunity. "Oh, look who's coming down the 'alternate access' ramp now! It's the mayor of Ovvels, Quazos Galleman!" He reached into the dumpster and pretended to shake hands. "Enchanted, Mr. Mayor! How do you do?"

"What's happening?" the janitor asked, very confused.

"I'd like to play a little game," Frex announced. "It's called 'Trash or Person.'"

"Father, no," Nessa groaned.

Frex started rummaging through the dumpster. "Let's see, disposable milk cup, trash or person?" When he got no response from his audience, he answered himself. "It's trash! Now, Mr. Cestalla, are you trash or are you a person?"

"Um …"

"You're a person, Mr. Cestalla," the janitor said. "Of course you're a person."

"I'll tell the senate that Restwater Upper School needs money for a proper ramp," Frex concluded. He kissed Nessa's cheek. "Have a good day, pet."

Little did any of them know that Elphaba was watching all this from the second story window overlooking the ramp. She couldn't help but shake her head. Everyone at this school will hate Father by the end of the year.

She was brought out of her thoughts by an unfortunately familiar voice. "Artichoke!" She turned to see Sirah, the leader of the school's most exclusive clique.

"Oh, let me guess," Elphaba said. "I dress like an undertaker, I must be part Snake because I'm green, and people would actually like me if I wasn't so weird all the time."

Sirah was very much taken aback. "W-Well, yeah."

"Yeah, Sirah, we've been doing this since primary school. I kind of know your routine with me. You might want to think about getting a new one. Just some advice." Then Elphaba continued walking to her first class, leaving Sirah bewildered.

"Oh my Oz, you should totally try that with Pfannee and ShenShen!" Galinda squealed. That night, the girls were up late, swapping stories from their grade school days.

"Yeah, the only problem is, Pfannee and ShenShen are a little smarter than Sirah was," Elphaba pointed out. "I would just be giving them ideas."

Galinda giggled in agreement.

Meanwhile, Nessa and Gawnette arrived in Nessa's first hour class, history. As soon as they entered the classroom, the teacher, Mr. Joule, cried out, "There she is! Everyone, give Nessarose a hand!" The whole class got to its feet, clapping as if Nessa had just ended world hunger. It made her extremely uncomfortable, and even more so when Mr. Joule said, "Wait! Standing is insensitive! Everybody sit!"

Most of the class obeyed, except for one boy who called out, "Nessa! Look! I made you this!" He pulled a sign from his bag that read: "NESSAROSE FOR PRESIDENT." The boy looked quite proud of himself.

Nessa struggled to say something that wouldn't be blatantly rude. "I'm not running for student council president!" she finally managed to say. "I'm going to be governor over all of you one day!" She rolled over to an empty desk. "Now, can I please learn history like a normal person?"

"I'll be right outside if you need me," Gawnette said. Great, she's not a hoverer, Nessa thought. She settled in for a good history lesson.

Three hours later, over at Restwater Intermediate School, it was Shell's lunch hour, and he couldn't find a seat in the cafeteria. He hated the cafeteria anyway. So he managed to slip out without any teachers noticing. He wandered about the school, looking for a place to eat, until he found a classroom door with a note on it which boasted that a biology club met there during fourth hour. This is fourth hour! Shell had always had a fascination with biology even since he was a toddler, a passion born out of trying to figure out why his sisters had their respective abnormalities.

Shell entered the classroom to find a lone girl looking through a microscope. "Hi," he said. "I'm … um … looking for the biology club."

"You found her," the girl said with a shy smile. "I'm Tilla."

Shell shook her hand. "I'm Shell. Nice to meet you. So, what are we looking at here?"

"Oh, I was just observing a culture of euglena. They really fascinate me because they can both-…"

"Perform photosynthesis and cellular respiration! I know, that fascinates me too!" As Shell moved over to look through the microscope, he couldn't help but think, Wow, Tilla's pretty. This could into something!

But back at the upper school, Nessa was not so happy. She had to use the bathroom, and Gawnette was nowhere to be found.

And that's all for now!

Thanks for reading! Cheers,

Elle Dottore