|
|
Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 20, 2008 20:00:06 GMT -5
Ellie smiled. "No, I know what it's like to...not be with your family. I think it's wonderful you miss her so much. Maybe she could come and stay with us sometime" Ellie said.
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Heart on Jun 20, 2008 20:58:12 GMT -5
"I would like that...thank you." And she smiled sweetly at Ellie.
There is a silence between them for a moment, and then Claire musters up the courage to ask, "So did you know your family...?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 21, 2008 8:01:18 GMT -5
Ellie wasn't sure what to say. She had the same odd urge to tell Claire the truth. But she couldn't. Not if she wanted to be safe. To some extent it was true. She could count the days she'd spent with them on one hand. She'd never known her father before he was turned into the Scarecrow. She hadn't even met him until she was about eleven as everyone had been worried that he might scare her. The whole time he was ruling Oz, and she never knew.
She remembered, though how she could have Ellie didn't know, she had been so young, that when she had gone to the orphanage she had been confused by people's skin color. She had thought that everyone would be a different shade, some green, some tan, some even blue, or yellow, or red - because of her mother's green skin. She loved her mother, but she was angry that she had sent her away. Ellie didn't want a "normal" life. Didn't Elphaba understand that she would never be able to have one, regardless of her skin color.
"I..." Ellie started, desperetly wanting to tell someone, for the first time. "Not really" she finished.
Ellie could feel the sadness and anger welling up inside of her. Suddenly all the light bulbs burst with a loud shattering sound, and the walls started to vibrate a brilliant shade of blue. Suddenly all went back to normal.
"I'm...I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Something, something just happens to me sometimes. I'll try to control it, that's why I came here, to learn how to control it."
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Heart on Jun 21, 2008 14:01:10 GMT -5
Cliare didn't know what to say. She was in shock. This girl, this power, it sounded so much like the stories she'd been told of the "wicked witches." Not that she had ever really thought of them as wicked, but it was their official titles in Oz. She truly must be gifted with all that power, but...man did she need some training! "It's...alright.." Through her fear Claire braved a smile and extended a hand to Ellie. "I'm here to help you." And for the first time in her life, she really did want to help her, wholeheartedly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 22, 2008 10:37:10 GMT -5
"Did you... did you ever do things like this... before you learned to control your power?" Ellie asked. "Except for Glinda, I'm the only person I've ever known who had... sorcery power and it's just a little overwhelming sometimes."
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Heart on Jun 22, 2008 11:31:33 GMT -5
"I didn't..." She gathered her thoughts for a moment. "I didn't ever do anything quite like that. I mean, I had a little natural ability that looked promising. They said if it were 'developed' I might be 'something,' but...." She sat down on Ellie's bed next to her, and gently took her hand. "I've learned a lot here. In one short year's time, I'll be graduating even...and I will do whatever I can to help you learn control." She couldn't help playing the story she'd heard since coming here of Elphaba's begginnings and how she done something similar upon arriving. Could this power have any connection? Or were there other people who were as powerful as the great 'wicked' witch? And if anyone besides Claire found out, would other people think Ellie 'wicked' just because of this coincidence? Claire certainly hoped not.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 22, 2008 11:39:50 GMT -5
Ellie didn't have to hear Claire's thoughts to know what she was thinking. There most certainly WAS a connection between her and the Wicked... well, Elphaba. But she couldn't let anyone know not ever. Ellie did something she had been instructed to do, but hoped she'd never had to. She out right lied.
"Well, I know Glinda had similar things happen to her before she came to Shiz" Ellie said. It wasn't true. Glinda had basically no sorcery power at all.
"Thank you" Ellie said. Humiliated.
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Heart on Jun 22, 2008 12:09:25 GMT -5
"Hmm...I don't....I've read a lot, talked a lot, heard a lot, about her. I've NEVER heard anything like that before. The only person I've heard anything like that was Elphaba Thropp." She knew Ellie was lying. SHe knew everything one could know about Glinda. She'd made it her life's purpose. Now she was sure Ellie had something to hide.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 22, 2008 20:16:06 GMT -5
"Hmm... that's just what I heard. You can never be quite sure what's fact at the... um... where I'm from. Did...the Wicked Witch do things like that too? I really don't know much about her. Do you?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Heart on Jun 22, 2008 20:41:51 GMT -5
"Just rumors. I mean, nothing concrete. I've never seen her or anything." She could feel the wall closing back up. Her trust was retreating behind that snotty popularity once more. She hated when she did it, but it was her safety net. Her insecurities were best kept hidden, and her trust best left unearnable (at least that's waht she had always thought). "You know...you even actually look a little like her sister...." She raised her eyebrow. "You're related to them, aren't you?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 22, 2008 20:50:54 GMT -5
"What?" Daggers shot out of Ellie's eyes. "I'm an orphan. I don't know who my parents are. And for you to insinuate something so... neither of them had any children. Both of them were killed when they were still very young. And besides, you've never seen them! You've certainly never seen the Wicked Witch of the East, so how dare you presume to tell me I look like her!"
Maybe Claire had gotten the wrong message. Ellie wasn't cuddly. Hurt, yes, lonely, of course, but safe, no. Ellie could be dangerous. Whether or not she wanted to be.
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Heart on Jun 22, 2008 21:01:39 GMT -5
Claire's eyes narrowed. Something wasn't adding up. She'd seen pictures. She'd heard rumors. She'd even heard the rumor that secretly the wicked witches were still alive. She wasn't sure what she thought, but she knew Ellie was hiding something. "I'm going to find out..." she mumbled under her breath
|
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 22, 2008 21:20:35 GMT -5
Without knowing what she was doing, Ellie waived her hand. Claire was stuck - standing stock still. She couldn't move. Ellie walked right over to her.
"Look, I don't know what you're trying to do. Maybe this is your idea of how to be mean to new freshmen, but insinuating to an orphan that her parent is the Wicked Witch of the West is one of the cruelest things I could ever think of to say. I would never say something so mean to you. Lets just get some things straight. I don't know who my parents are. I don't know, and if you can find out well, I'll be truly impressed as even Glinda the Good hasn't been able to. You may think you're the center of the universe with your pretty dresses, and bouncy blonde hair but you don't know anything about what life is really like. I'm not wicked."
Tears started streaming down Ellie's cheeks as she repeated "I'm not wicked" over and over again. What did Claire think? That she hadn't been teased enough for her powers? If she couldn't get anybody to be her friend at least she could get them to be scared of her. THen maybe they'd leave her alone.
|
|
|
|
Post by Claire Heart on Jun 23, 2008 11:07:49 GMT -5
Her heart broke, and as Ellie crupled to the floor repeated her phrase over and over again Claire became ufrozen. "I didn't...I didn't mean it like..." Claire tried to put her arms around her, a little afraid, but compassion took over her. "That's why I didn't call her, them, I DON''T THINK THEY'RE WICKED!" She nearly screamed, but stopped short, realizing what she'd said. She took a deep breath, and a tear streaked her cheek. "And I don't think you're wicked either. I think you're talented, but I've never known talent like that. I wasn't talented, I just had money. The only reason I'm here is because my parents paid for me to be here. You, you're here because you actually have something. And if people make fun of that, they're idiots. I promise they didn't have talent to get here either..."
|
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Baum on Jun 23, 2008 11:13:56 GMT -5
Ellie looked up. It was the kindest thing anyone had ever said to her. She couldn't believe it. "I... I thought everyone thought that they were wicked" Ellie said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion. I'm just so used to... people thinking things like that."
|
|
