A/N: I need to thank Karin Obichi-chan and sweet little nightmare for being awesome and reviewing my story! *Gives virtual hugs and pink and green cookies!* Sadly, though, they're the only people who reviewed. (sigh) Oh well, maybe I shall have more reviewers for this chapter... Please?
Disclaimer: Wicked is mine! / It makes the sun shine! / And it makes me smile! / (I'm still in denial) :( So, sadly, no, Wicked is not mine.
After dinner, all of the boys and girls had gathered in their cabins to "get to know each other". Elphaba had three other girls in her cabin who were so pink and prissy, that a mere glance in their direction was enough to make her brown eyes roll.
The blondest, most giggly, spoiled, and popular girl was Galinda-or G-AH-linda with a "Ga", if you pronounced it wrong. She gave herself airs like a princess, and was, in reality, close enough. Her parents were upper class Gilkinese aristocrats, as the blonde constantly reminded all of the girls.
"Alright, before we go to dinner, everyone's going to introduce herself. Who wants to go first?" asked Milla. She was a nice enough counselor, about seventeen years old with dirty blonde hair, bright blue eyes, freckles, and a friendly expression. But since it was her first year at Shiz, it became rather easy for veteran campers to manipulate the poor counselor.
Galinda Upland immediately shot her hand up in the air and began waving it around ridiculously, as if trying to summon a boat to a desert island. In her angst, she didn't seem to notice the fact that no one else had a hand raised.
"Umm, Galinda, I gue-" started Milla, before being cut off rudely by the eager blonde.
"Okay, everyone! I'm Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, but you can just call me Galinda. It's my second year at Camp Shiz, I go to Shiz Elementary, I LOVE pink, and my two very bestest friends are Pfannee and ShenShen!" exclaimed the blonde in one big gush. Elphaba rolled her eyes and attempted to get out of her bed for a flashlight from her suitcase (it was beginning to get too dark to read) when a pink flip-flop hit her and knocked off her glasses.
"Hey!" called the green girl.
"Oh, hi!" answered the blonde, clearly missing the angry note in the other girl's voice. She didn't look down as she said this.
"That's not what I meant! You knocked off my glasses with your foot!" exclaimed the one on the bottom bunk, irritated with the blonde's perky attitude.
"I'm sorry! It was an accident!" Galinda defended herself.
"I can cause accidents too, you know!" said Elphaba sarcastically. Galinda looked down at the girl in the bottom bunk to reply. At the sight of her green-skinned bunkmate, her bright blue eyes went wide.
"You're-you're-but…how are you…?" she stammered in shock.
"Green? It was a birth defect. Did that aristocratic family of yours in the Upper Uplands ever teach you that it's impolite to stare?" asked the green girl icily. The rest of the cabin, Milla included, stayed silent through this conversation, and, not having noticed the drab girl reading, paid her no mind until now. They gawked at her verdant complexion, eyes wide. Nessarose looked at her sister with pity, but Elphaba could see that she was ashamed.
Elphaba put the book as close to her face as possible to hide her blushing green face and to avoid the stares.
The stares. Being green wasn't so bad as long as you could avoid them. Having no friends was something Elphaba could deal with. She could tolerate occupying her own lunch table, people ignoring her, the whispers and rumors and lies that swept back and forth whenever she entered a room. She could ignore the ignorant comments and the irritating jokes about her skin color. But the stares.
She tried to pretend she didn't care, that it wasn't important to her. She tried to glare at these people and use her weapons of sarcasm and sharp wit, but it didn't work.
She was a fool to think camp would be any different.
Fiyero and Avaric were in trouble as soon as Boq Haley sat down on his bed.
"Hey! Who are you guys?" asked the friendly munchkin (he was quite obviously a munchkin, judging from his height).
"I'm Fiyero and he's Avaric. It's Biq, right?" asked Fiyero. The longer he kept the conversation going, the more shocked the munchkin would be when he discovered the prank they pulled.
"Boq," corrected the munchkin, his bright expression dampening a little at the boy's mispronunciation.
"Boq, right, right… So, it's your first year here?" asked the prince, a cocky grin gracing his handsome face.
"Yes! I go to Shiz elementary," answered the munchkin. "Is it your first year here?"
"Nah, it's my fourth and Avaric's third. We love it here," replied the prince. "We do the best pranks," he continued, casually. Boq began shifting uncomfortably on his bed. He was startled by a small lump on the other side of his bed that appeared to be…breathing?
"Is there something in my sheets?" he wondered aloud, getting up from his bed and stripping his comforter.
"Ahh!" he cried. "It's a frog! It's a frog! Get it oooffff!" he screamed, running around the cabin like a lunatic. Avaric and Fiyero snickered and high-fived one another. Their counselor, Neko, entered at that moment. He'd been their counselor before, and knew of their reputation for pranking other cabins and their own. Neko had dark skin and was by far the tallest counselor on campus at six foot five. He frowned disapprovingly at the campers, but he'd seen them do worse.
"Fiyero, Avaric…" he grumbled, "don't do it again." Boq looked at the counselor in disbelief. He was supposed to punish those boys! He was in a position of authority, after all! Fiyero and Avaric snickered at their cabin mate. Poor, naive Boq still had much to learn about Shiz… His mouth was still hanging open in shock when two more boys entered.
"Hi. I'm Crope and he's Tibbett," said the first boy. They appeared to be identical twins, both with bright red hair, jade green eyes, and mischievous expressions.
"We're twins," they said simultaneously. Fiyero and Avaric groaned. The twins were in their cabin last year. They did everything together-pranking, activities, games, even speaking in unison.
"It's our third…"
"…year at Shiz." Tibbett started and Crope finished. Boq looked slightly puzzled at their odd speech pattern and Fiyero and Avaric rolled their eyes. This was going to be a long week.
After all of the campers had introduced themselves after dinner, the "Welcoming Party" took place. It was basically to welcome all of the old campers and the new arrivals to Shiz. It always took place in the gym, and each year had a different theme. This year, it would be a retro 80's party, with games, music, phrases, and "guest appearances" from 30 years ago.
Fiyero neatly combed his hair when Avaric wasn't looking. One of the games the campers played was called "Sunglasses". Basically, two lines were formed-boys and girls. Two boys would sit on either side of a girl holding a par of sunglasses, and she would choose which one she wanted to dance with down the aisle and give the other boy the sunglasses. The other boy would choose between two girls, and so on.
Fiyero, in all of his four years at Shiz, had never gotten the sunglasses and he didn't wasn't to start now.
On their way to the gym, Nessarose quickly explained to her sister what would happen at the party. Apparently, it was a bit like a welcome party for all of the new campers and a "welcome back" party for those returning.
"So what do we do after they've welcomed us?" asked the green girl. Since it was her first year, and Nessa's second, the younger one could fill in the elder in all of the activities, parties, and traditions at Shiz.
"Well, teams are chosen first. You'll be an Olympian, most likely, because I was last year."
"So it's like a competition?" asked Elphaba. Her sister nodded.
"Yeah, pretty much. The team with the most points at the end of the two weeks wins the Shiz Cup. Each team has its own special traditions, motto, colors, and such. Oh, and you are required to wear your team colors during competitions, like basketball games, some night activities, and the talent show at the end of the week."
"What are our team colors?" asked Elphaba, horrified.
"Um, green and white," she answered, a little embarrassed at bringing it up. Elphaba groaned.
"Great. The two colors I look the worst in."
"Oh, come on. It won't be that bad. I bet no one will even notice," said Nessa cheerfully, trying to be optimistic.
Elphaba stopped in her tracks to stare at her sister. "Really, Nessa? They won't notice the emerald girl who looks like a cucumber?" she asked sarcastically. Nessa sighed and kept walking. No, they would definitely notice.
So, what do you think? Only one way for me to know! REVIEW! (letters light up in bright green for Elphie's sake) Come on! You know you want to! And the button's right there... It's tempting, isn't it? Mwahahahaha!