Chapter 4
The world was purely pink, and purple, for those in the upper uplands of Gilikin Country and for Glinda upland the third most of all. She had bags upon bags of pink clothes and shoes, of make-up and hats. All of which was to accommodate her as she made her way to Shiz University. As the great-granddaughter of Glinda, the Good, she was beyond what would be considered a legacy there. As they made their way into the courtyard of the University, she couldn't help but squeal in excitement. This was the start of her path to following in her Granny's footsteps, and she would not let anything ruin it.
Upon stepping out of the carriage, she caught sight of her friends, ShenShen and Pfannee, already sending their things off with their footman. As soon as they saw her, they screamed, and the three broke out into a sprint of hugs and kisses.
"I don't how I survived the without you Glinda," ShenShen basically sobbed. "I still can't believe my family dragged me to the Emerald City for six months."
Glinda gave her friend the perfect smile, carefully crafting her next words.
"Oh, but Shen, I would've died to spend even a week in the Emerald City. You must tell me all about it!"
"And you must tell us about all the Winkies," Pfannee interjected. "I mean I heard the royal family stayed there for three weeks. And then their Prince, heroically saving that boy. Did you see him at any of the palace dinners."
ShenShen waved her hand, indicating her boredom with the topic.
"Our time there only overlapped a week, and the Winkies kept very much to themselves. I did see him ounce in the gardens though, with his baby sister. I almost mistook him for a Gilikin. Truly he is handsome."
"Well, I heard a rumor he will be attending Shiz this year," Pfannee revealed. "Apparently, he has decided to finish his education in Oz proper, to learn more about his fellow countrymen."
Glinda laughed. Winkies, as Shen had said, kept to themselves. The idea that any outside those living in Oz would attend Shiz was a novel concept. Truly, it was even rare to have more than a few Quadlings or Munchkins in a class at Shiz, which had a student body of mostly Gilikins. It made sense, given the schools status and location. It was, surely, just a rumor.
"Well, I heard they'll be a powerful witch in our class," ShenShen said.
The smile that covered Glinda's face fell slightly at the words. Catching herself quickly, she plastered a newer, faker smile to replace the lost one. While Glinda had some small bits of magic, and a pink mark that almost resembled a wispy, airy heart on the upper corner of her back, no one truly considered her a witch. Her Granny had always told her that some witches are born with raw magic bursting from them, and others must be taught how to draw such magic forth. Certainly, Glinda knew being the latter was still better than the alternative of not being able to harness magic at all. Still, someone who might one-up her in such a skillset felt like an inherent threat to her status.
Glinda didn't like it one bit.
"Really?" Pfannee asked.
"Yes, Ozma herself told me," ShenShen explained. "She was a little out of sorts, probably from all the drinks flowing that night. She spoke to us all with such casualness as she said, "My dearest will be attending Shiz next semester, and oh what a gift it will be for them. A witch above all witches, she will be." Then she disappeared for the rest of the night, with some prompting from her advisors."
"What did she mean by 'my dearest?' You don't think this witch is the queen's…" Pfannee's voice lowered, as she lowered her face and moved closer towards her friends "lover?"
Glinda's left a light-hearted smack against her friend's arm,
"Pfannee!" Glinda whisper yelled, "Don't even suggest such a thing. That's the Queen of Oz you're speaking about, not some common miscreant."
ShenShen was about to speak once more when a shout came from Glinda's parents, calling her back over to say a heartfelt goodbye. Almost tearily, the three separated from one another, despite the fact that they would surely be together in less than a half hour.
--
Opening speeches were about as dull as Glinda expected. She cared for almost none of it, until Madam Margarette, who currently held the title of Witch of the East, made her way to the podium. Unlike other Cardinal Witches, Margarette kept herself far from those she claimed to serve. Not that they might want her there anyways. She was the youngest of the four witches, and kept herself at arm's length, spending more time at the University than in the Emerald City where the other three witches convened.
Despite her munchkin heritage leaving her at odds with magic, she didn't hide her witchery, showing off the large witch's mark that traveled down her spine. It reminded Glinda of fire, both in color and shape, as if it represented a passion she could not quite explain.
"I would like to give a warm welcome to our newest students, who I have great hopes will rise to the occasion, as so many of our Alumni have before. Many of you are hopeful that you will learn great skills here, arithmetic, economics, history, languages and linguistics, sciences of all strides, and of course, sorcery for which Shiz is renowned."
Margarette's eyes swept through the crowd, as if looking for a reaction. There were some from hopeful girls, one or two had small markings on their face, no bigger than the mark on Glinda's back. None of them seemed to be who Margarette was searching the crowd for. When she came across Glinda, a spark of recognition seemed to light in her eyes, having met the young woman a few times before, via her Granny. Though, her stare only lasted for a second before her eyes moved on, still searching. It left Glinda frowning. If not looking for her, then who?
"I'm sure you all will make this institution proud to have been your first step into the larger world, and academia as a whole."
With that, she made her way off the podium, sitting between an Owl and a Goat. The rest of the ceremony droned on until some final words about courage, heart, and intelligence were made. Then they were all sent to the main square to find there rooming assignments. Pfannee and ShenShen were rooming together, and Glinda had been assured that she would get a single room for the semester. It made waiting online tedious, but she did so anyways, under a great level of annoyance. She was about three away from the front when the line began to stall.
"I'm not on the list?" the red-headed girl at the front asked.
"I don't see a Moss, Elphaba listed," The student worker at the table repeated.
The girl took in a deep breath, her lips pursed in annoyance. She seemed less than enthused to be here at all, and now she was dealing with yet another hurdle.
"When did you enroll?" the student asked. "Sometimes late enrollments fall through the cracks."
"I didn't enroll, not traditionally anyways," Elphaba said, causing Glinda to let out a groan.
"If she didn't enroll, why is she even in line?" Pfannee said, her tone drifting upwards as she spoke.
"Like, she's holding everyone up."
"My mentor knows the headmistress," Elphaba continued. "I was invited to take classes, but I didn't accept till a few days prior."
The student nodded, not quite sure how to address the issue. Obviously, it wasn't the norm, nor were they trained to handle such a thing. Going to her supervisor wouldn't help much either, considering they didn't really have protocol for special last-minute admissions.
"I'll be right back," The student said, and headed off to find someone who might know what to do.
Glinda watched the scene carefully. This girl, Elphaba, had been given special invitation to Shiz? Not even Glinda had gotten such a perk. Madam Margarette had told her Granny that Glinda had to apply regularly, like all other students. What was so special about this girl? Glinda couldn't help herself. She wanted to know, so she would, she had decided.
"Hello," she said, steeping out of line and approaching Elphaba.
She tossed her hair as Elphaba turned to see her, plastering a fake smile that had a demure and soft demeanor radiating from her. Elphaba gave the girl a once over, and to Glinda's horror, seemed repelled by her gloriously pink style and the perfect glamor yet naturalness of her make-up and hair.
"Can I…help you?" Elphaba asked, rather skeptical.
"I couldn't help but overhear everything," Glinda said, portraying some sense of sympathy. "I would be mortified if my room wasn't waiting for me, especially if I was honored with a special invitation to study at a place as grand as Shiz."
"I'm not that…it's an honest mistake," Elphaba said, her face contorting into a confusifying expression. "Worst scenario I say at the inn in town till they figure out a dorm for me."
Glinda blinked at her, once, twice, her smile not faltering. She didn't know what to say. Elphaba was far too relaxed about the situation, and seemed more off put by Glinda than anything that might do with her lack of room. Any other emotion Glinda may have been able to play off, but this apathy, she had no idea what to do with.
"Well, isn't that rather kind of you."
"The alternative would be taking my anger out on a random student. If not being irrationally angry is what you consider kindness, I'd reassess your values."
The people behind her began to whisper behind Elphaba and Glinda. Most were from the upper uplands, and another large faction from the lowlands. The Upland family was no less than royalty, and Elphaba's words were akin to a public attack on the crown. Pfannee and ShenShen looked at the scene with mouths agape, processing the scene for a second before they began screaming.
"Do you know who you are talking to!?" Pfannee yelled.
"This is Glinda Upland of the Upper Uplands!" ShenShen cried. "She deserves nothing more than your absolute respect."
Elphaba looked between the three of them, an eyebrow raised as if she was looking at some curious specimen. Then her eyes trailed over Glinda's once more. She saw nothing special in the girl, and nothing she had said or done deemed her anything other than spoiled at best.
"No."
One word, and Glinda was clutching her chest, mouth wide open in shock.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Pfannee asked, not even trying to hide her disgust at Elphaba's words.
"Respect is earned," Elphaba elaborated. "Unlike titles and truly criminal amounts of money and power, some things are not hereditary. You do, in fact, have to work for them."
Glinda couldn't describe what she was feeling. Her face was flushing, and her pulse reeling as she looked at the girl in front of her. For the first time in her life she lost her composure, snapping at Elphaba.
"Like you worked to get into Shiz?"
Elphaba wanted to reply, wanted to slap the girl and make the side of her face match the color of her dress. It would certainly save her on the disgusting amount of blush she surely bought. More than that, she wanted to use her magic, maybe make the girl's hair the color of sewer water or cause all her clothes to turn an awkward shade of orange. She could feel the magic in her hands, the marks across her body struggling to stay hidden under the black dress and tights she wore.
"Miss Elphaba," the boisterous voice of the headmistress broke her concentration. The woman approached the two woman and Elphaba quickly her hand behind her back, though there was nothing to truly hide. "Rain has told me so much about you, including how hesitant you were to attend our fine institution. I can't imagine this experience has made it much easier."
Madam Margarette put out her hand to Elphaba. Glinda watched as the girl hesitantly shook the hand of the headmistress, that odd feeling once again boiling in her. She had been trying to speak to the headmistress for weeks, hoping she would open a seat in her sorcery seminar, but she had been rebuffed by the administration each time.
"Hello Madam Margarette. I don't know if you remember me but I'm-"
"I remember you quite well Glinda," Margarette interrupted. "I am rather busy right now, as you can imagine. Unless you would like to-"
"Anything," Glinda quickly replied without letting Margarette finish. "It would be my honor to help you."
Margarette looked between the Elphaba and Glinda. She knew for a fact that the uplands paid for an extra-large suite for their daughter. It could easily fit another two students. There did seem to be an air of hostility between the two of them though. Margarette had long asked Rain whether her apprentice had a grasp on her emotions, and the magical consequences. Each time she got answers of varying degrees of vagueness. This it seemed was the perfect opportunity to test the heir to the western witch.
"Wonderful," the headmistress said. "It's truly kind for you to take Ms. Elphaba in as a roommate until we can sort out the dorm situation."
Glinda's eyes turned to Elphaba, then back to the headmistress. She wanted to stay in her good graces, that she was sure of. Rooming with this Emerald City rat, that she did not know if she could do. She opened her mouth to protest, but Margarette had already walked away to deal with some other issue, leaving the two girls to sort this out on their own.
"Lurine, kill me now," Elphaba mumbled, as the student worker handed her a packet.
Opening it, two keys fell out, likely because the room was originally made for two roommates. She wordlessly handed one key to Glinda, then rushed away as quickly as possible. Glinda just stood there, confusifyed at what had just occurred. Had everything gone… wrong for her? It couldn't be. This had never happened before.
But it did happen, and she was stuck with that rude girl for Oz knew how long.
--
As soon as Elphaba opened the door, she was assaulted with the smell of flowery perfume. It burned in her lungs and made her head spin. The entire room, which would have been able to contain half the second floor of the Witch's Den was covered in pink boxes. The room even had two bathrooms, and Elphaba could easily tell that it was made for several students to share. She wasn't surprised that the pink powdery girl had taken such a space for herself, though it did disgust her to no end.
With a swipe of her hand, all the pink was relegated to one side of the room. It cleared the space enough to reveal a bed, a desk, and a dresser, in addition to a built-in wardrobe. With another wave she rearranged the furniture, setting the bed next to the window, the desk to the far-right wall, and the wardrobe against the wall parallel to the bed. It would do for now, though Elphaba wasn't planning on making herself particularly comfortable.
As if the unnamed god himself was laughing at Elphaba, it was that moment when the wooden doors to the room swung open, revealing Glinda and her friends. It took no more than a second for the shrieking to begin at the mere idea that Elphaba cut the room into an even half.
"You moved my things," Glinda said, looking like a kettle about to boil over. "How did you even do it so quickly, it's like you're a…oh."
"Like what?" Pfanee said.
ShenShen wacked their shoulder. It was her not so polite way of telling the other to shut up, and that their clueless mind would be filled in later.
"You're a witch," Glinda stated her conclusion. "And I assume you are in Madam Margarette's seminary."
"That is the main reason I'm here," Elphaba conceded. "My…guardian thought it prudent I learn from more than just her, and something or other about making friends and being around people my age, social growth, and a bunch of other completely unnecessary things that I have no interest in."
If Glinda had the semblance of power Elphaba did, the chandler above them would have likely been in a million little pieces. They were perfectly fine though, and that in and of itself was the route of the problem. Glinda was born weak when it came to magic, and so Margarette had no interest in her. All the adoration and attention she wanted belonged to this nobody in front of her. She took a deep breath, letting her anger settle. She knew how to play the game, how to win. Yes, she may have fumbled her first two moves, but she would not make such a mistake again.
"I think we got off on the wrong note," Glinda said, her voice far to cherry for Elphaba's liking. "Why don't you have lunch with us. I think roommates should know about one another."
Elphaba stood up, walking slowly to Glinda and her friends. She had no desire to eat with these people, and even less of a desire to know them. Even so, it would be good to remain amicable, if only to avoid utter miserableness throughout the rest of the semester. She was about to agree when her voice caught in her chest.
The sound of voices, familiar voice rang through the halls.
"You didn't have to come all the ways to the dorms with me Father," the gentle voice of Nessarose Thropp, heir to the lord of Dragon Cupboard, and first Thropp descending filled the hall. "I'm in a wheelchair, not addled. The same goes for you Shell, you have your own dorm to set up."
"And I will, as soon as I make sure your room is befitting of the wonderful person inhabiting it."
Nessa let out a laugh. It was just as Elphaba remembered when they were little. She would tell her funny stories at night to keep away bad dreams, and Nessa would laugh so loud it would wake up the house. Elphaba of course, would feel the brunt of her father's annoyance the next day, often in a physical form. Then there was Shell, who she looked into every once and a while via the Munchkin Post. From all accounts he was a kind boy, unlike their father.
"I promised your mother I would see you to your dorm, and I intend to do just that." Nipp said, walking past Elphaba's door.
It was Nessa who stopped at the sight of her sister. It wasn't that she recognized her. Elphaba doubted anyone could. Something had stopped her though, some hidden instinct that had her staring right at Elphaba.
"What wrong Ness?" Shell said, stopping in the hall with her, him to looking at Elphaba.
"Do I know you?" Nessa said, and Elphaba didn't know what to do.
She was especially lost when Nipp circled back, looking at the distraction to his darling daughter. He stopped for a moment, and it was as if he was studying Elphaba. The way his eyes trailed over her left her uncomfortable to say the least.
"She looks like mother," Shell said, breaking the silence.
Everyone's eyes drew to the boy, seemingly with the same thought. That thought being 'what a weird thing to say.' Elphaba didn't mind much though. It took the focus off her and put it on Shell. Not that he was wrong of course. Once the green had disappeared, she looked just likeMelena, with the exception of green eyes instead of the more common brown of the Thropp line. No, her eyes were purely passed down from her father, a fact she resented often enough when she looked in the mirror.
"'I think I should go," Elphaba said, "Enjoy lunch with your friends, Glinda."
She pushed passed the group of three, then entered the hall, ignoring the racing of her heart as she passed by her father. She didn't need this, especially not today. No, instead she would grab some abysmal amount of food and find a good hiding spot on campus. As long as she returned late enough, Glinda would be asleep and she wouldn't have to deal with any of this.
At least that is what she hoped.