In the Cullens' kitchen, all of the vampires were pitching in to prepare a meal for Bella and Elphaba. They were following the instructions of the chef on the T.V. "Are you sure she's even Italian?" Rosalie groaned, thinking this was all a waste.
"Her name is Bella," Emmett replied, as if that solved everything.
"Well, what about Elphaba? That's in no way Italian."
"Sure it is." And to prove his point, Emmett said in his best Italian accent, "Elphaba." The whole family burst into laughter, except for Rosalie and Alice. "Cut it out, guys!" snapped Alice. "You know what Edward said: no making fun of her just because she's green. And no staring either!"
Luckily, coming up the stairs, Elphaba and her two companions didn't hear much of the conversation. When they appeared in the doorway, the Cullens stopped cooking, and Esme, the mother of the group, greeted their guests. "Hello, Elphaba and Bella!" she smiled. "Come on in; we made some Italian for you."
"Oh, thank you," both the non- vampires said in unison. Then, Bella said something in a strange language, and Esme replied happily in the same tongue. Elphaba had no idea what the Oz they were saying, but it was obviously a greeting of some sort. "Um… Mom? They already ate," Edward informed.
Rosalie, in a rage, dropped the bowl of salad. To think that I have a bad temper, thought Elphaba. "Ignore her," whispered Edward to his friends.
"Great; let's all pretend this isn't dangerous for all of us!" exclaimed Rosalie.
"But I- we," Bella corrected, "would never tell anyone anything-,"
"She knows." Edward cut her off.
"Well, she should also know," Rosalie continued ranting, "that the entire family could be implicated if this ends badly!"
"Badly as in…" Elphaba started to say, but then decided against it.
"That we would become the meal," finished Bella. To both the girls' surprise, the family giggled a bit… well, except for Rosalie, of course. Elphaba didn't blame the girl or anything, but it would be nice to not be so tense this whole time.
One by one, the Cullens introduced themselves. So far, Elphaba liked Alice the best, because she actually seemed nice. Then again, if you were a vampire, green skin is probably something they've seen before.
Suddenly, Elphaba was aware of something that made her feel a little (okay, a lot) envious. Despite not being united by genetics, the Cullens were a family: something that the green girl had but never truly experienced. Tears welled up in Elphaba's eyes as she thought of her father and Nessa. "Are you okay?" asked Alice, sensing something was wrong.
"Yeah, I just…" Elphaba tried to answer, and then decided she would have to tell the truth sooner or later. "Since you mostly trust me and Bella with your secret, I think I should tell mine. I think it would please Rosalie to know that… well, I'm not quite human. I'm… I'm a… witch."
The word just came out, and she couldn't take it back. Everyone nodded, as if they understood her situation. Bella, however, let out a small gasp. Elphaba rounded on her, snarling, "What?! I'm a witch, okay! Go ahead, fear me if you want… but I never, ever tried to hurt you!"
Now, it was clear to Bella why Elphaba had gotten so upset on the way here. "It's okay, Elphaba. I trust you," she reassured. "It's just… I was a little shocked, that's all…" But the witch continued ranting how she had given up everything she ever loved to defy the Wizard and defend the Animals, but none of her old friends trusted her anymore. Afterwards, though, Elphaba was crying like mad, and she insisted she leave.
"Elphaba, wait!" called Bella, starting after her. Edward held her back. "Let her go," he said. "She needs to be alone."
Elphaba was not in school that next week, and even Bella could figure out why. "Is she coming back?" she asked Alice,who could see into the future.
"Yes," Alice answered. "I think if you invite her to play ball with us Saturday, she might come. Not because she'd actually play, but I think she's had enough time alone."
So next Saturday, Bella invited her to go play baseball with the Cullens. Reluctantly, Elphaba accepted, and they drove down to Edward's. Not a word was exchanged between the girls on the ride there, and Elphaba didn't really play ball or socialize that much. She felt a little uncomfortable that these people knew her secret identity.
Things became interesting though, when Rosalie hit what seemed to Bella as a homerun into the forest. "I don't know about that," Esme smiled. "Edward's pretty fast."
Obviously, he wasn't as fast getting the ball as his mother expected. Rosalie ran all four bases and was high fiving her siblings when Edward came back with no ball. "Elphaba, there's a guy in the forest," Edward said to the green girl. "He says he knows you."
Well, this was enough to get her talking again.