I wanted to make this chapter light and happy, because a lot of stuff is about to go down. And this one has line breaks, but for once actually follows the same theme instead of switching topics and places and stuff. Anyways, enjoy this! Because I'm not sure when it will be this happy again...
Warnings: minor violence
"So," Quilla said loudly as she slammed her lunch tray down on the table Elphaba and Nessarose claimed as their own. "Do you two have dates to the gala yet?"
Retira, a pretty brunette with freckles who always tailed Quilla, let out a shrill laugh. Though Retira would gladly have jumped off a cliff if Quilla asked her, Quilla still looked please with herself.
"Away," Elphaba said sternly.
"I'll take that as a no for miss asparagus here. What about you Rosie? Got a date yet?" Quilla sneered. Nessa stared at the table. Her hands were flat on it's polished wooden surface and seemed to be shaking.
"Oh, hello Dr. Thropp," Elphaba said looking over Quilla's head.
Quilla's neck snapped around so fast the Thropp girls could hear it crack. Elphaba laughed hard as Quilla turned back, her face red hot as her least favorite teacher was nowhere to be seen.
"You'll pay for that, green girl," Quilla said as she stood. Retira stood too, nodding profusely. "You and your precious sister there."
At the word 'sister', Nessa looked up at Quilla. Her face was blank.
"Sit down, Quilla," Nessa instructed. Though her hands were still shaking visibly, her voice was clear and calm.
Quilla narrowed her eyes, but did as Nessa told her. Elphaba scooted over a few inches so as not to touch her.
For a few seconds, Quilla and Nessarose just looked at each other. Then, without any warning, Nessa's hand flew across Quilla's face. The force of the slap threw Quilla off of the wooden bench. Elphaba and Retira both sat in shock as Quilla began to shriek in anger.
"What's going on here?" A heavyset man shouted as he approached the scene.
"She... She hit me! Just out of nowhere! I was trying to be nice, because they seemed lonely by themselves," Quilla cried.
The man grabbed Elphaba by the arm and tried to pull her up.
"It wasn't me!" Elphaba shouted. His grip redoubled.
"Don't lie to me, girl," the man barked. Elphaba recoiled as his spit hit her in the face.
"It was me, sir," Nessa said in the same calm voice.
Everyone in the crowd around them turned to look at Nessa. The man looked between the sisters. Then he pulled Elphaba out from the bench. He pushed her towards the nearby wall as he released her.
"Get your sister and follow me," he ordered.
The crowd parted as Elphaba pushed Nessarose out of the courtyard and back into the building. He led the way down the way down the main hallway and to the office.
A short while later, Elphaba and Nessarose sat side by side outside of the headmaster's office.
"And what do you call this?" Ameya was fuming. She looked between the girls. Nessa's face was still blank. Elphaba, on the other hand, was doing the best not to laugh out loud.
"I slapped Quilla Aspool across the face," Nessa informed.
"Why?"
"She was taunting us, ma'am. I couldn't help myself," Nessa informed a bit confusedly. The answer seemed so simple.
"Uh-huh," Ameya bit her lip and turned to Elphaba. "What about you? Why are you here?"
"Nessa slapped Quilla and I didn't do anything to stop her," Elphaba giggled.
"Stop giggling. This is no laughing matter. What punishments did you receive?" Ameya demanded. Nessa raised her eyebrows. This was the first time they had seen her mad at either of them.
"Nothing. I asked for detention, but the headmaster refused."
Ameya stood for a moment, considering.
"You will not be allowed to read for pleasure for a week. This behavior is not tolerated. No matter how much she deserved it, " Ameya stated, silencing Elphaba, who's mouth was open to argue. Nessa looked up in alarm but said nothing. "Come on. The carriage is waiting."
Ameya turned and stalked down the hallway that led to the small side road on which their carriage sat.
Elphaba stood, and began pushing Nessa down the hallway. Neither said a word as they passed Quilla and Retira huddled in a corner. But neither could later deny they saw the handprint still red on Quilla's face.
"I still can't believe you did it," Elphaba said with a smile. She wrote a large 'x' through something on her essay. A few scribbles seemed to fix the problem.
"Neither can I," Nessa agreed. She dropped her pen on the table, but was smiling. "I'm still shaky."
"What exactly made it happen?" Elphaba asked, putting her own pen down. "Because if I were to make a list of everyone in Oz who would ever slap Quilla Aspool, you would be at the bottom of the list. No, sorry. You'd be one step above Retira Delvo."
"Well... I have wanted to slap her for a while," Nessa began.
"As we all have..." Elphaba agreed.
"And... And then she started talking about the gala and something just...snapped. I got angry... More angry than I ever had been and... I think I just went into this automatic mode. Words came out of my mouth without me really knowing what I said. And then when she sat down, I felt this sense of control. And I just looked into her eyes and... That was it. I slapped her before I could even recognize what I did. But I don't regret it. The only really odd part about it is that when I have been mad in the past, I shake but then I- I think I outwardly show it. On my face, I mean. But this time, I felt emotionless. But still shaky," Nessa hypothesized.
"Nessarose Melena Thropp. I have never been more proud of you than I am right now," Elphaba beamed. "I feel, as do many others at our school I assume, owe you a debt of gratitude for your efforts to quell the Quilla Aspools of the world. And for that, we thank you. And apologize for what is likely to come of it."
Nessa laughed, but gave a nod of understanding nonetheless.
"Will you look over this? I think I covered the topics well, but I feel like it's a bit..." Nessa handed a stack of papers across the table to Elphaba.
"Long?" Elphaba queried, as she accepted the twenty page thesis her sister had just handed her. "Nessa, it's only supposed to be five page essay. Not an in-depth book defining every singular plot point."
"I know, I know. But I just love the book so much. It's hard to narrow it down."
"Nessa, you devoted eight pages to the markings on his sword," Elphaba accused, flipping through the pages.
"They are important!" Nessa argued. Elphaba gave her a look. "Okay. Not important per say, but relevant."
"Cut out pages three through seven, eight through sixteen, twenty one, and twenty four. And then, you know, revise from what's left," Elphaba isntructed, handing Nessa back the pages. Nessa frowned, but began taking out each page. Elphaba watched her work for a moment.
"Nessa?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you get angry because she mentioned the dance?"
Nessa stopped shuffling papers and looked up. She gave a half-shrug.
"A bit, I guess. I-I'm not that interested in the dance, but the dinner sounds fun," she said, resuming her shuffling.
"You've changed quite a bit then. A few weeks ago, you feigned sickness when our neighbor came over for sugar," Elphaba stated, raising an eyebrow. Nessa shrugged again.
"I think... You know, I honestly think it's Ameya's influence. I feel different. I want to go out and do things. With people. I-I never wanted that before," Nessa sighed. "I don't know what I want or think or feel."
Elphaba paused to consider for a moment.
"If you really want to go, I'll go with you."
"You wouldn't have any fun. And anyways, it's not important," Nessa said. Her pen moved as if she was rewriting a sentence, but she wasn't focused on the paper at all.
"You don't want to go with me," Elphaba stated, holding up a hand to silence Nessa's arguments to the contrary. She smiled. "It's okay. Really. Oz knows that I am not one for going out and doing things. Or people. Or fraternizing in general."
"I...I don't know if I really want to go," Nessa said, a slight air of sadness in her voice.
"What if you had a date?" Elphaba suggested. But Nessa just shook her head.
"Possibly. But that would be a long shot," Nessa muttered. She straightened her papers. "Please don't worry about it Elphaba."
"Hey. Yurik," Elphaba whispered across the hallway the next day.
She had managed to give Nessa the slip by 'forgetting a book' in a classroom on the opposite side of the school. As Elphaba had conveniently remembered the book right outside of a classroom Nessa had been heading for, there had been no reason for her to follow. It was the perfect opportunity to execute her plan.
"What?" Yurik hissed.
Elphaba waved him over frantically until he finally caved and crossed to her.
"What do you want? I can't be seen with you," Yurik muttered. He glanced over his shoulder for witnesses, but most had already left for their breaks.
"Then I'll make this short. You like my sister. Yes?"
"You have a sister?"
"Yes. Nessarose."
"She's your sister?!" Yurik said in disbelief. His eyes had widened to the size of quarters and his mouth hung open.
"Yes. She is my sister and has been so for seventeen years now. We sit next to each other at everything. We shared a dormitory together," Elphaba sighed, exasperated. "Oh come on. We look alike!"
"But she's not green," Yurik stated. Elphaba rolled her eyes.
"No. She's not. Wait. Do you think my entire family is green?" Elphaba asked, both taken aback and a bit distrubed. Yurik shrugged. "Because they're not. I'm the only- Ah. Anyways, you like my sister. I can tell. You should ask her to the gala dinner. She isn't interested in the dance, and I assumed you wouldn't be either, as I have seen you dance and frankly, it's frightening. But you have liked her for a while now, and haven't had the guts to do anything about it. Now is your chance."
Yurik considered this for a moment before nodding.
"That actually sounds like a good plan. I'll do it," Yurik agreed. But then he narrowed his eyes. As long as you're not setting me up."
"Setting you up?" Elphaba, her emerald face the definition of nonplussed. "Yes. That's... that's what this entire conversation has been about. I am setting you up with my sister. You know... Actually, don't ask her out. You two might not be such a great match after all."
"No, no. I mean you're not going to set me up to get tricked or something. Are you?" Yurik asked. Elphaba continued to look highly puzzled.
"Why in Oz would I do that?"
"Because you're the prankster. I have it on good authority that you put that tack on Professor Jethro's chair. And that wedding ring in the butter. And that-"
"I hope your good authority is Quilla, because she did all those things," Elphaba said, cutting him off from what she was sure would be a long list of exploits.
"Oh yeah? If you're not the prankster, then why is your skin green? Because Quilla said that you once planned some trick with green dye and it backfired and you ended up permanently green," Yurik claimed. At the look of shock on Elphaba's face, he folded his arms in triumph.
"That is the most ridiculous theory I have ever heard," Elphaba said stunned. "And I have heard them all. That... That one is worse than the one that claimed I chewed grass as a child."
Elphaba immediately recognized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth.
"I like that one," Yurik said, a wide grin spreading over his freckly face.
"Fine," Elphaba sighed. "If you ask my sister to the gala dinner, then you can spread the rumor that I chewed grass as a child."
"I was going to ask her anyways, but that just makes it better. Thank you, uh, Elphaba!" Yurik said with glee.. Then at once, he turned and practically skipped down the hallway.
"Sweet Oz. What have I done?" Elphaba muttered to herself.
"Elphaba! Elphaba! Guess what!" Nessa shouted, greeting Elphaba at the door to Ameya's house.
"What?" Elphaba asked, setting her dripping umbrella next to the door.
"Yurik Delvo asked me to the gala dinner! He said that he has liked me for a while, and finally had the chance to do something about it! Someone told him to go for it. And he did!" Nessa exclaimed. She was practically bouncing with joy.
"That is wonderful," Elphaba said with a smile. "Have you told Ameya yet?"
"Yes. And she was pleased. But you aren't surprised nearly as much as I would have expected," Nessa stated, her smile beginning to fade. "You were the one who told him, weren't you? Oh, Elphaba. How could you?"
Elphaba's brain jumped into overdrive to save her sister's happiness. But as soon as she started to panic, she knew what to say (mostly because she believed it and had never said it before).
"I have never spoken to Yurik. And why should I be so surprised? You are beautiful, funny, and smart. Once somebody gets past your shyness, you are exactly what everyone wants."
Nessa didn't seem convinced at first. But after a few moments consideration, she nodded.
"Okay. Well. I need to figure out what I am going to wear. Will you help me pick something out?" Nessa asked.
"I shouldn't- You should probably ask Ameya about that," Elphaba insisted.
"Why not you?" Nessa asked, slightly concerned.
"Well, to be honest Nessa, I don't have a very good taste in color."