I am really sorry for such a delay. I had planned to see Wicked again for my birthday, but due to a set of disasters, I fell behind in a lot of things, both my writing and uni work.

I'm now back, and here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy!

'Something has to be done', the girl thought darkly. She tenderly rubbed her arm where a large bruise was forming, the result of being forcefully shoved into a desk just 15 minutes previously by the self-contented brat sitting just next to her.

'Something has to be done. And for the love of Lurline, I'm going to be the one to do It.'

Rose felt her breath hitch in her throat. She span on the spot, grabbed the classroom door, hauled it open, and ran down the corridor as if her life depended on it. Locating the room she wanted, she barged yet another girl out of the way to get at it, trying to minimise the amount of time they could see her. But it didn't matter, from just one glance the damage would have been already done. Rose locked herself into a cubical, brought her feet up onto the edge of the toilet seat cover, and bowed her tear stained face onto her knees.

It was just at the end of morning break, and Rose had re-entered the 'Ash' classroom, hoping to find out where her next lesson was, when it had happened. The whole class had been brought to an abrupt standstill by her arrival, and after a second of shocked silence, had began to laugh. Hysterically. Some people began to clap in appreciation or vicious encouragement, others looked round to see if their friends had noticed Rose's arrival.

Each with a menace in their eye, they laughed, they whispered, they pointed. Her pride completely deflated, Rose had fled.

The class turned their attention to Phoenix. Swarming around her, they each fought for their silly little question to be heard.

"How did you do that?"

"What did she do?"

"She looked a right piece of work, but I didn't see anything that bad from her…"

"That was truly amazing."

"How much shall I give you to do that to my ex-boyfriend?"

Phoenix tried in vain to be heard over the din, then finally shouted to gain their attention.

"EVERYONE! EVERYONE! I didn't do this,"

A sandy haired boy made to protest, but Phoenix turned to him in anger.

"I did not do this. But like you're all saying, I'm the only person who could. Yes, the potion was mine, but I never gave it to her." She paused, looking round at her friends in cold anger. "Which leaves us with a big problem- the potion was in my bag; who has been stealing from me?" she finished in a deadly low whisper which everyone heard.

There was a silence as the students tried to fully comprehend what she had just said. Phoenix was the quirky one, the kind one, the practical joker, the witch. She was the unestablished leader of the year group, she disbanded disputes, she made people happy when they wanted to cry, she rallied people together when they felt like defeat. She rarely accused people of anything; she had earned peoples respect, and rarely had anybody abused her trust.

"Come on, you all know I had it, after my little display with Kris. He deserved it, but as far as I know, the new girl didn't. Who thought they had the right to go rummaging through my bag, and steal from me? My potion- You don't even know how it works, what it might do, side effects and other things. As it happens, I needed to use several dangerous and very expensive ingredients. It cost a lot of money to put that together. I am a witch, but that doesn't mean that that is free. I know what your parents whisper about my family behind our backs. I hope you appreciate me a lot more than this suggests you do."

She gave the class a final cold glance before walking away. At the doorway, Mr Simons the teacher watched her with concern as she approached him. As she drew level with him, she softly spoke, barely able to contain her anger. "I believe the new girl will not be making her next lesson. I am going to make sure her teacher is aware of this." She slipped past him, and out of the classroom.

She began walking down the corridor, before she stopped and turned back. One girl had followed her out of the class, seeking a word with her in private. Phoenix surveyed her with wounded disappointment.

The girl began recounting her excuses.

Rose angrily wiped the tears away from her cheeks with the material of her skirts. They stung her skin with a salty bitterness, like salt water on really sensitive or grazed skin.

She carefully withdrew a clip from her hair- there was really no point wearing it now- and ran her hands through the locks. Her slender manicured green hands.

Through the material of her cream silk tights, she could see the emerald green glow beneath. She had raided up her shirt a couple of inches and again saw the unnatural colour adorning the flesh round her waist. Though she had no mirror, she knew the colour had infected her face as well. All of her skin had been tinged with this unholy colour.

Her mind screamed in chaos. She wanted to tear; to claw at the filthy infected skin. She gave a half choked scream of despair, as one hand jerked over the back of her arm in a sudden haze of frenzied panic, before an unnatural stillness overtook her.

She surveyed the back of her hand in morbid shock and disgust. It chilled her as her wounded mind considered the sick question of what colour her blood coursing through her veins had now become. Green fingers lay poised over the soft, green skin, before falling redundently to her side, as Rose lay mentally exhausted.

Her eyes flooded with tears again, and with half muffled sobbs, she laid her head once more on her now damp skirts, her hands hanging uselessly below her.

The bathroom door swung open. Rose held her breath.

There was the soft noise of hesitant footsteps, and the long shadow came to rest in front of Rose's cubical.

Phoenix knocked on the closed door. "Hello?" She asked cautiously.

"Go Away." Rose replied quickly. Her voice was choked, and there was an aching weight in her throat; a sign, so obvious, of her current emotional state. Phoenix was slightly taken aback. "My name is Phoenix, I-"

"Go away. I don't want you here." Rose cried, her voice rising dangerously in pitch and volume.

Phoenix had to take a moment to consider her response. She sounded like a trapped, wounded animal. A wounded animal, ready to attack the hand which helps it. The girl didn't know the facts; she didn't even know who anyone was yet. It was her right to be angry. Just not at her.

"I'm sure you don't, but I wasn't the one to do this to you." Replied Phoenix softly.

She leant cross-armed against the cubical door in a casual manner.

"But, but that green boy, who came running in earlier? I thought you… Or am I confusing you with- Yes, I'm confusing you with someone else, now, aren't I?" Rose babbled, her voice trailing off as embarrassment added to the numbness of her mind.

"No, that was me. Kris had been my boyfriend for a little while. He had gone and told the new drama teacher that I wanted to star as the Witch of the West in the planned production for GreenDay. Everyone but that teacher knows I absolutely hate that celebration, so she comes up to me to talk about auditions and whatever. Kris had near collapsed in hysterics, laughing his head off behind her. He didn't seem so nice after that. So I decided to get some revenge. That's why I mixed up that potion."

"So then why do I deserve it?" Rose cried in outrage.

"Like I said, I wasn't the one to give you the potion. It was stolen from my bag, by someone who you apparently had offended."

There was a second of silence. "Sorry?"

"She said that you had pushed her hard into a desk after your rather botched self introduction. She also said that you had been insulting Mr Simon and- her friends." Phoenix explained. She knew Rose understood exactly who 'her friends' meant, but it didn't seem right to outright state it was she who had been insulted. Phoenix wasn't trying to accuse or depress Rose further. Her punishment had been humiliating in the extreme; Phoenix was just trying to make amends.

There was another lengthy silence. Both girls glanced around their surroundings in awkward absent mindedness. Phoenix decided she had finally outstayed her welcome.

"Look. The potion will only work for a short while- an hour or so. Stay here until it wears off, then go to your lessons. I'm going to tell your next teacher not to expect you, alright? Oh, and just a word of warning. Keep away from water. That pigmentation is the same mineral which made the real Witch of the West green. As it happens, the stuff reacts violently with water. I've used less than she had in her skin at any one time, but it will still probably burn or irritate your skin if you splash yourself. So try and keep your face dry. You'll be normal soon."

The shoes turned, and retreated out from Rose's sight. She didn't know the girl, but she was the first person to have actually acknowledged her as a real person. In an awkward last moment attempt at returning the favour, Rose uncertainty found her voice again.

"Wait. I, er, I guess… Thanks." She glanced round in aggravation. Phoenix stood poised by the door.

"How did you know I was in here?" Rose concluded quietly.

A little chuckle escaped Phoenix's lips. "Where else does anyone go when they want some privacy. Yours was the only locked door, yet there are no feet to be seen underneath. I would be deeply surprised, and shocked, if you had been using the facilities."

Rose smiled slightly, despite herself.

There was a scream of hinges, and then Phoenix was gone.

I hope you've enjoyed this long awaited update. I promise I'll try and get the next one up faster. Please check out my forum, I give up to date details of how a chapter is progressing, and expected update times. You can find the forums via my profile page.

Whilst I do proof read, sometimes things slip past, so if you do notice any grammatical or spelling mistakes, or anything which sounds awkward, please let me know, and I will make changes if appropriate.

And now for reviews:

Maureen is me: yeah, I've tried to make Rose and Phoenix fairly realistic in their personalities, without saying "She's Glinda's daughter, therefore she's a mini Galinda." You will also come to find out why there personalities are like that. When you've heard Rose's full story, you'll understand completely why she behaves the way she does in the earlier chapters.

ClarkeWithAnE: Nice to see I've kept you interested! I hope I can score another 'excellent chapter' with this one!

ChocolatStar: Thank you so so much. Yeah, she learns. As you've spotted, her past background at school has taught her a completely different way of socialising, which when it comes down to actually needing to make friends, she is completely unprepared for. She will make a friend, and she will learn. And you'll be meeting Glinda fairly soon. Not next chapter, but soon.

Gatermage: I'm sticking with Phoenix now, it seems easier. Rose has her own issues, and you will understand them better in the next chapter, when she really explains herself to Phoenix. She's not quite so mean as she seems, its just been programmed into her, that's the way she's learnt to behave at her previous school. We'll see!

Thank you also ElphieandFiyero4Ever, and from WoO Forums, defyngravty08, girl in the mirror, Trap Door Lover, and Steve, on Wicked the forum.