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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 16, 2008 21:46:57 GMT -5
Claire Heart sat in her room brushing her golden locks, thinking of the days ahead and all the excitement in store. Her brother had only been gone from the room a few minutes, but her mind had been miles away for hours. She hadn’t listened to a word he said about homework and classes, she was thinking about the party at the end of the month. The midsummer ball was just around the corner, and she needed a date and a dress. She had already decided upon the pale pink shoes with bows on the toes, and of course her pearls from Nanny Silva. But the dress outweighed them ten to one. So up she sprang after running the brush over just once more and bounced over to the closet, “party dresses…party dresses...party dresses…” she mumbled again again and again pulling things off the hangers and flinging them on the floor.
"Now, let's see. The pink dress....or the pink dress...or the pink dress...ooh! That's a pretty shade!" She dug through the mass of thingytail style dresses from ballet to fuschia in varying shades. "How will I ever sort through this mess and decide?" She sighed and flopped down on the floor in the pile of pink fluff. Her eyes traveled upward to the ceiling where the tiny skylight was pushing the last bits of sunlight into the room. Her mind again drifted to what others must be doing right now, something more fun than laying in a pile of party dresses, surely.
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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 19, 2008 19:47:12 GMT -5
It suddenly occurred to her that her new roommate, and mentee, Ellie Baum would be arriving to move in today. She began throwing all of her dresses back in the closet hastily so as not to appear a pig when her roommate finally arrived.
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Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 20, 2008 9:17:06 GMT -5
There was a quiet, almost shy knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer, Ellie Baum walked into the room. She looked slightly discheveled, having been on a train for several hours. Her clothes were slightly flattering, but old and worn. The only bag she had was a small satchel. No other luggage. Ellie walked over to the bed across the room from Claire's. She marled at how large the room was - more like a palace than a room. And they each had their own closets?
The bed looked like the softest, most comfortable thing she would ever lay on. She threw her bag down, then turned to Claire. "Hi, I'm Ellie" she said. Then almost as a second thought, she nodded towards the door, and it closed on its own.
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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 20, 2008 9:30:08 GMT -5
Claire blinked twice, stunned a little by the self-closing door. "My!" and she trotted toward Ellie.
"I'm Claire!" She beamed, extending a hand. She couldn't beleive she was standing face to face with someone who had grown up under the care and protection of her Idol, Glinda the Good. It was almost too much to bear. And the talent this kid had! No wonder she was a scholarship student! "So...how was your...trip?"
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Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 20, 2008 9:52:06 GMT -5
"Exhausting!" Ellie replied. She pulled a sour green apple out of her bag, significantly deminishing the bag's size, and began eating it. "All the way from Winki country. No stops! So, what do I need to know about Shiz?" Ellie got right to the point. She smiled slightly, such a broad general question!
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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 20, 2008 10:00:08 GMT -5
"what to know...hmm..." Claire plopped down on the bed. "Well, there's a lot to learn here. The classes aren't a piece of cake. Stay as clear of Mombie as possible, but if you have to deal with her be sweet as sugar. She'll probably leave you alone, then. Nobody likes her, but we all have to kiss her tush. Meet as many people as you can, well, because the more people you know the better off you'll be. I'm sure you learned that lesson being partially raised by Glinda. You know I've read her book fifteen times now? She's my absolute idol! I..." Claire realized she had gone off into one of her tangents and reset herself back on the subject at hand.
"Sorry...yes, well. There aren't many of us right now here studying sorcery. So there is at least a lot of one on one time. And of couse, if you need help, I am a little," she cleared her throat, " experienced[/] here." Her smile just beamed. "So, tell me about you! You'll fnd out plenty about this old place!"
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Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 20, 2008 10:10:44 GMT -5
"Yes, Mombie and I have already met." Ellie and Mombie already had a slightly timoltuous relationship. Ellie had been insistant on doing a Lit. and History minor in Gale tower in addition to her Sorcery major. Mombie wanted her to do all sorcery, and nothing but. It basically boiled down to the fact that Ellie wouldn't, how did Claire put it? "kiss her tush." That plus the fact that Ellie was very talented meant that Mombie was keeping an eye on her. Ellie was nervous. She knew what happened with Madame Morrible, and she didn't want to be under the thumb of someone like that. Ellie had never been one for being sweet as sugar, despite Glinda's best efforts, and that might get her into trouble.
"Ah, Glinda. Yeah, she pratically raised me. You seem like the type that would really get on with her. Yeah, I'm afraid that I'm just not popular, despite Glinda's influence. You know, she's writing a new book, about the Witch of the West and the Witch of the East. You know they both went to Shiz when she was here..."
"Well, I'm afraid there's not much to tell about me. I was raised at Glinda's Orphanage, I'm very lucky to be here. Hey, are we able to go to Dillimond Library if we're not in that house?"
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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 20, 2008 10:19:17 GMT -5
"Sure. There's no rule against being in the library. I mean, I've studied there....once...or twice maybe." She giggled. "So she's writing a new book? Yeah, i've heard a lot of the legend surrounding those two. It all seems fascinating. I mean, anyone who Glinda the Good likes enough to write about, I'm definately up for reading it!" She noticed a sort of sadness in Ellie's eyes, as if, even though she had been raised by her idol which couldn't be any less than splendiforous, she were missing some part of herself. It broke Claire's heart a little and her smile half faded.
"You going to the ball at the end of the month? I was just trying to pick a dress before you came in..." She noticed Ellie's meager dress and small bag, "You know, you could pick something out of my closet if you wanted..."
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Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 20, 2008 10:39:12 GMT -5
Ellie looked sadly at the room. Could this really be it? Yes, Glinda had told her in detail - this was the same room she and her mother had shared when they had been at Shiz. Wow. Se started to tear up slightly, but didn't want Claire to see. There was one benifit to her being so into Glinda - she wasn't likely to make any strong anti Elphaba or Nessarose comments. Ellie wondered how her mother had known she could trust Glinda. If she had been as bubbly as Claire... who knew? Maybe there was something underneath all the blonde, just like Glinda. She wondered what her views on the "Wicked Witch" were.
Ellie looked at Claire's closet. The clothes were so beautiful, but so... well... pink.
"No, I don't think I'll go" Ellie said. "Thanks for the offer, but Pink always has a way of looking, well, odd on me. Even Glinda could never make it look quite right." Ellie was used to her old clothes. She wished she could be more sophisticated but... don't dream too far, right?
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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 20, 2008 10:47:13 GMT -5
"Oh! But you have to go! It's only the funnest thing the school does all year long! It's the big kickoff to say 'wecome new students' and 'goodbye to old' EVERYONE goes!" She began to fling dresses again, much in the same fashion she had done only minutes before Ellie walked in the door. "I have a few things that are NOT pink. Oh! I have the perfect thing for you!" She dug back into the very back of her closet and pulled out an emerald green dress.  "With that hair this should look magnificent." She thrust it toward Ellie "C'mon just try it on for me!" |
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Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 20, 2008 10:58:30 GMT -5
Ellie felt a little bombarded. Oh, gosh was she going to have to deal with this all year? Ellie wondered if Claire was just being nice because she knew Glinda... if only Claire knew...
But the dress was... pretty. Actually really pretty. And green had always been her favorite color. Acting a little more begrudging then she actually was Ellie raised her hand, then thought better of it. Better keep some things secret she thought. She went to her bag and pulled out her training wand - though she didn't need to use it. Waived it and said "ball gown". The dress was magically on her. It looked... it actually looked good!
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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 20, 2008 11:13:27 GMT -5
"Impressive. It took me nearly a year just to do that." Claire half smiled. Why was she being so honest with this girl? "You look very pretty." She felt something within herself that she'd never really felt, or perhaps she had felt something similar for Leila; but never for anyone else. She felt her eyes trying to well up with tears but swallowed them down. "I'm sorry. If you'll excuse me a moment." She disappeared into the bathroom and took a deep breath.
"What is wrong with you, Claire? Get yourself together!" She wiped underneath her eyes and blinked a few times to clear the redness. She tossled her hair and straightened her dress, then came out with a smile, composed once more. Why should she care about this girl? But she did. She already knew she did.
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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 20, 2008 11:42:07 GMT -5
When she emerged from the bathroom, now composed she smiled at the now pretty creature in the emerald green dres. Green really was her color. "You know, I've never worn that silly thing. It does look so nice on you. Even if you don't go to the ball, keep it. My parents gave me lots of dresses that I don't wear, and pink's my color. So, just keep it." She turned away feeling those tears rising back up in her throat and wondering over and over what had come over her today.
She began putting the dresses back in the closet, trying her best not to let Ellie see her desire to burst into tears.
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Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 20, 2008 19:02:10 GMT -5
Ellie saw Claire's display of emotion. Crying was actually exactly what she felt like doing. First the room, then the dress, maybe she and Claire would end up being friends after all.
"Thank... thank you" Ellie said. She took the green dress and tenderly hung it up in her closet. She then took out a plain black dress from her bag (which was now completely empty) and hung it next to the green dress. "Now my closet wont look quite so bare" Ellie said trying to make it into a joke.
Ellie plucked up her courage. "What's wrong?" she said...
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Post by Claire Heart on Jun 20, 2008 19:43:18 GMT -5
"No...nothing." She swallowed down the tears hopefully for good. "Just a little..." Something in her couldn't lie to this girl even though she'd done it to everyone in her life. "You remind me of my sister." It felt like a weight had lifted off her chest. It amazed her how good it felt to be truly honest and not hide behind happiness.
"I'm not usually this forward with people. No one knows much about me, really." She faced away from Ellie, not wanted to see her response. "I may be popular, but I don't have good friends, not anyone I can talk to, but you remind me so much of my sister, Leila. Well, she's much younger than you are, but she is a beautiful little redhead. She was the one thing I didn't want to leave at home..." Claire trailed.
"Sorry, I don't know why i'm talking so much" She glanced back at Ellie, waiting for some response.
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