Gretel stared miserably out of the window as she lay on her bed, watching the rain pelt against the glass. The sudden sound of footsteps passing the door into her bedroom made her turn her head, "Is there anything you need Miss Gretel?" Maria asked, folding Gretel's clothes in neat piles.
"No." Said Gretel, "Maria…can I ask you something?" Ever since her encounter with Elise, Gretel thoughts remained fixed on the girl with the pink star. She tried flipping through magazines and newspapers but nothing she did took her thoughts away from Elise….. "That girl in the dining room…with the pink star-"
"Is not to go anywhere near you, or you her." Maria said sharply, because it was so unlike her to be anything but cheerful and friendly, Gretel was taken aback, "Your Mother was quite clear on that, and quite frankly I don't blame her…" the maid trailed off, shuddering.
"Why?" Gretel asked, "Why aren't I allowed to talk to her?" she had a feeling she already knew, Elise was….not like most girls, Gretel knew that, she also knew that girls like Elise weren't liked in society.
"Because girls like her….they're unnatural." Maria's lip curled, "Your mother only wants to protect you." As Maria spoke, Gretel felt the dark, dull feeling fester in her stomach, she tasted bile in the back of her throat listening to the maid's voice, thick with contempt.
From somewhere, Gretel plucked up the courage to ask, "Maria, how do you know," She stopped herself briefly, garnering the courage that was starting to disperse, "If you're one of those girls?"
A horrible silence swallowed the room, Gretel was sure she could feel Maria tense up. "Normal girls don't need to ask themselves that question." She said through a stiffened jaw, "Do they Gretel?"
"No." She said, holding back her tears, trying to mask her cracking voice.
Elise watched as Veronika looked her shovel up and down with thorough scrutiny, "You couldn't dig through ice cream with this." she muttered, making Elise laugh. They'd been digging in the garden for hours and they both didn't know why, they were just ordered to dig holes and that was that, "What did that girl want with you last night?" Veronika asked when she eventually realised that staring intensely at her shovel wasn't going to make it any sharper.
"Nothing really." Elise shrugged, "She asked me what my name was." But the smile on her face told Veronika there was a lot more to the story than she was letting on.
"And?" She prompted, careful to keep her voice low and hushed so the SS guards didn't hear them.
"And nothing…."
"I think you're lying." Veronika told her with a triumphant grin, "You like that girl."
"And what if I do." Elise couldn't help but smile. Her situation may have been awful, a predicament which more or less promised death, but when she thought of Gretel, none of that daunted her.
"Forget about it girlie." Veronika snorted, "She's the commandant's daughter, girls like her don't normally take a liking to your sort, if you get my meaning." Elise did get her meaning, but took no heed, there was something between them that night, she knew it.
"The thing is, I don't think she's that different to me, Veronika." Else finally said, wondering if this time it was Veronika that would get her meaning.
AN: First of all, I'm having so much fun writing this story :) Please feel free to leave a review if you like it! And Elise's face claim is Holly Earl for those wondering :)