The first thing I noticed when I opened the door to the room that Nessa and I were assigned to was that at least eighty percent of it was already covered in pink. How she did that, I'll never know...nor do I care to. I, surprisingly enough, particularly loathe the color pink; my sister knows that! And yet, out of all the colors she could have possibly picked, it just had to be pink! Well, today couldn't possibly get any worse...or so I thought. It turns out I was wrong.

-Last Class of the Day-

To the Mother I Wish I Knew,
First of all, not that you'll read this, but my name is Filía. I am your daughter. You know, the one you abandoned. Not that you care or anything. Well, I'm attending the University that you went to. Today is my first day. I'm here with my foster sister Nessa, just like you were here with your half-sister. History class, the last class of the day, is about to start. It's been a long day, but I can handle long days. I can't help wishing you could have seen me off, though, and shown me around the school yourself... It made me sad to see some other students touring the grounds with their parents last night and this morning. Made me wish you could be here... Wonder if you would if you could. I know that you're alive out there, somewhere; I don't know where. But you're there. I just can't prove it!

I unceremoniously shoved the piece of paper into the back of a book as the teacher wrote on the board: The Story of the Wicked Witch. Oh great, I thought. This should be interesting.

"Hello, class. My name is Dr. Slye. I assume that somewhere along the line someone will have told you this story, but today we will be going into more detail." Dr. Slye said facing the class. "Now, the witch Elphaba was a..." Blah blah blah, whatever. I know the stories inside and out.

Long story short of what he said is that there was a wicked green witch named Elphaba who was able to do all sorts of things with her magic, such as defy gravity, give monkeys wings, and other normal witchy stuff. She was the rival of the good witch Glinda. He said some other stuff that wasn't that important, then pointed out that the "wicked witch" was killed by the simplest thing: water. Now, that story is what it is: a story. Hardly any if it is true! He doesn't know what he's talking about! He has no idea that Glinda was her friend, her best friend, actually. My mother wasn't wicked! At least, she wasn't, not at first; but eventually the people of Oz made her that way.

"Ms. Filía? What's with the look of disbelief" Dr. Slye asked, "Am I not saying what is true?"

"Were you born a teacher, Dr. Slye? Or was it thrust upon you?" I said, without thinking. Then I bit my tongue and tasted blood. Part of me was telling myself to shut up, I'm such an idiot. Another part of me wanted to tear this stupid, stereotypical teacher apart.

"Filía what are you doing?" Nessa whispered sitting behind me.

"I don't think she was born wicked," I said defiantly, and heard several girls gasp at my audacity. Of course that didn't make me stop talking. "I believe that the people of Oz made her that way. She became what they believed she was, and they believed she was wicked because that's what they saw on the outside. The people forced her to believe their own lie, and become something she wasn't." I could feel my classmates gawking at me, wide eyed and probably with their mouths hanging open wide enough to catch a multitude of flies. The thought made me smile.

"You make a valid point Ms. Filía. I assume you'll stick with it?" Dr. Slye smiled back at me, although the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. My smile disappeared. Two can play at that game, I thought. So I cleared my throat before I spoke, with confidence and probably a tad bit too much pride.

"I will." A dead silence filled the room for just a moment. Not a fly buzzed. Well, maybe they caught them all already, I thought. Then, thankfully, mercifully, the bell rang...and not a moment too soon.

"Good. I look forward to seeing your work," he said to me, lightly, like he didn't even care. And then, with a wave of his hand he announced, "Class is dismissed." And indeed it was.

-Back at the Room-

Dr. Slye was more understanding about my outburst than I had expected him to be. He may turn out to be a good teacher, but I don't know. He seems to be a bit too young. Nessa is thrilled to have such a young teacher. She thinks he's very cute. But seriously? He's a teacher...

"I thought Dr. Slye was going to kill you, or something...Who are you writing too?" Nessa asked throwing herself onto my bed next to me.

"Nobody," I said folding the piece of paper, "And I'm pretty sure killing anybody, or something, is illegal."

"I know but still, he was very kind about the whole thing. He was completely chivalrous," She said and swooned. I wonder if she even knows what "chivalrous" means.

"Chivalrous or not, he's too old for you, Ness. Besides, he is a teacher, he could have full name so he might-"

"You know Mom wouldn't give out your full name." Nessa interrupted. I hate it when she does this. She just changes the subject when she doesn't want to face the fact that I'm right. Well, whatever. I don't want to talk about it anyway.

"Don't you have someone to drool over?" I grumbled.

"Don't you?" She quipped. Oh, she can dish it out. It's too bad half of what she says doesn't even apply.

"I'm the non-girly type, remember?"

"Your life must be so boring."

"I have you, there's never a dull moment." Nessa rolled her eyes just when there was a knock at the door. She got up to answer the door, but before she could get to it, surprise surprise, in walked Glinda!

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Nessa asked. "And how'd you get in without a key?"

"I need to talk to your sister, alone." Glinda said with hands on her hips, looking over at me.

"Alright," she said. "I have something I need to do elsewhere anyway." In a moment she was out the door and gone. Thanks a lot, Ness. Love you too, Ness. Just leave me all alone, I got this. I looked up at Glinda and she looked furious. Yeah, I'm dead. But I'm not going down without a fight.

"What'd I do this time?" I asked, getting off the bed.

"'Were you born a teacher, or was it thrusted upon you?' Ring a bell?"

"Nessa!" I said under my breath.

"I know you don't like it when people say your mother was wicked from the start but you know that's what everyone else thinks. You can't just give your opinion like that. What happens when they found out who you really are?" Glinda asked quietly.

"Then why give me my mother's name in the first place?" I asked, not bothering to be quiet.

"You came to me with that name," she said.

"You always said you gave it to me. So, what else have you lied to me about? Hm? What else don't I know!?" I yelled, not caring who heard me.

"Filía-"

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"Why won't you tell me?"

Glinda just stood there, silent as a statue as the fire inside of me started to show. My skin was burning and my face matched a number of Nessa's pink decorations. I was so mad, that when Glinda started to speak I heard nothing but the sound of my own head pounding. Is it really too much to ask about myself? To know who I am, what I am, where I came from? What my mother was really like?

"Are you even listening to me?" She asked as I snapped back to reality.

"Want the honest truth or a flat out lie?" Oh, yeah, I was mad.

"Don't be like this, Filía," she begged.

"I'm asking you a question, and you won't give me an answer."

"Filía I-"

"Just leave. If you won't tell me anything we might as well not waste our breath," I said cutting her off with a cold look. "Besides I have some reading to do." I pointed at the door and waited for her to respond. I expected her to rip my head off. Argue some more. Do something. But no, she didn't. She couldn't. Because for once she had to admit that I was right, but she still wouldn't talk to me.

Glinda simply nodded her head in agreement and left the room. I could hear Nessa comforting our, no, her mother, being the "good" daughter as usual. When she walked back into the room I was on my bed reading for my classes tomorrow.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Nessa said breaking the silence. "She's just protecting you."

"From what Ness?! If she really wanted to protect me she shouldn't have told me who my mother really was. Or told me the whole truth instead of half-truths laced with lies! I don't know what to believe anymore!"

Nessa shook her head slightly, but didn't say a word. The silence lingered. I know she was trying to keep the peace or whatever, but, that's not something I'm just going to let go. Nessa finally moved over to her bed and pulled out her book from underneath. Then she walked over to the door and just stood there.
"I'm going to the library. Don't wait up for me," she finally said.
"I hadn't planned on it," I said. When I saw the hurt look on her face I added, "Not with you being in the mood you're in. Just don't stay out too late." Nessa gave that familiar, understanding smile and simply nodded her head. Then she left and I was left peacefully, blissfully, perfectly alone. And you know what? I hated it.