I Believe

[Kevin Price]

(September 4th, evening. Open to all.)

WHY
WHY
WHY
WHY

This wasn't fair! Kevin was sprawled on the ground, tie untied, perfect hair glorious normally was frizzy and fluffy. Most girls would say he looked more handsome like this, scruffy, disheveled. But Kevin saw himself as pathetic this way. And disturbed. He was supposed to be perfect all the time! But this school, this school was showing him he couldn't be perfect always. A book was sprawled across his lap, eyes on the male shut as he blocked out the fading sunlight. 

"I've done everything you asked, Heavenly Father, WHY do you let bad things happen to me?" He whimpered, breaking his normally mature stance and tone. "This isn't FAIR."

[Elphaba]

It figured that the one time she chose to study outside of the confines of the air circle 'home base', someone would find some way of bothering her. It wasn't even that they were talking directly to her, either. Instead, as Elphaba sat and tried to read, she found herself subjected to listening to someone's whining nearby. The green girl stifled a groan and brought her hand to her bespectacled brow. Who in the world was whining, and why did they suppose that the world was making bad things happen to them? It wasn't as if this boy had things as bad as she did. The world hated her; what did he have to whine about?

"Well, maybe if you'd stop complaining the world wouldn't see fit to humiliate you," Elphaba said flatly. She rose to her feet and moved closer to Kevin, squinting a bit as she looked him over and inevitably frowning. Perfect skin, perfect hair... What in the world did he have to be complaining about? As far as Elphaba could tell, Kevin had no reason to complain. He looked as though he didn't have a care in the world.

"Now what in the name of Oz is wrong with you?"

[Kevin Price]

"Well, maybe if you'd stop complaining the world wouldn't see fit to humiliate you."

Kevin's eyes narrowed as he stared at the sun. The world? That's not how things worked! The world wasn't out to get him. He'd done everything he was supposed to, why would Heavenly Father have stuff like this happen to him? "Now what in the name of Oz is wrong with you?" He heard the footsteps shuffle closer so he chose to roll over on his stomach so he could speak to her.

"What is WRONG is-AHAHomigosh."

She was GREEN.

"Ah...wrong...oh golly gosh. Did I fall asleep? Is this the spooky mormon hell dream? I didn't fall asleep I don't think. WHO are you?" He didn't wish to be rude. He sat up. "Um, hello. My name is Elder Kevin Price. Ahem...sorry. I didn't mean to be so...so...you're green. SORRY! Ah, I see you're wearing a white tie. That's cool. Ah..." He wasn't sure quite what else to say. The Mormon teachings taught him to be nice. But. She was GREEN.

[Elphaba]

The reaction had long since lost its impact on Elphaba. After years of people reacting that way to her, she'd learned to take it and act as if she didn't care. The alternative would have been for Elphaba to snap that it was completely natural for her to be green and that she hadn't eaten grass when she was small. Behind her glasses lay the eyes of one who put on the facade of someone who didn't care, though. She allowed Kevin to go on as he was and shifted her weight to the side.

"Elphaba. I'm Elphaba Thropp," she answered. Then came the repeated statement of her greenification. Once again, Elphaba played it like she didn't care. What was a mormon, anyway? She'd never heard of such a thing... Maybe it was like an Ozian? No, that couldn't be right. No one in Oz had ever mentioned anything like... Mormonians. That probably wasn't a thing. Not that there was anyone else from Oz besides Nessa that she could ask. Thankfully, though, the topic seemed to have shifted to the fact that she was wearing an air circle tie. Her eyes shifted down to it, briefly straying to her long black braid that hung over her shoulder, and a shrug followed. It wasn't that remarkable, in her opinion. She'd seen loads of people wearing different colored ties. Still... She'd humor him.

"And I see you're wearing a red one. Any other brilliant observations you'd like to make?" Elphaba asked. Flat; that was all she really seemed to be when it came to her statements. It might as well have been a defense mechanism with how often she relied on it.

[Kevin Price]

Kevin dusted off his chest of grass and other such things. He needed to remain at least a little put together. He smoothed his hair as she spoke and tugged on his tie, trying to straighten it. An almost unnatural smile appeared on his face as he nodded towards her. He'd just have to look past the green to the soul within. That's what the center had taught him anyway. He lifted his head towards her and waved his hand. Strange name. But he'd learned about other cultures, perhaps she was from China or Africa or something of that nature. Maybe she was from mars, like those Science Fiction shows. But he doubted it.

He chuckled. "Right, sorry!" He would seem unnaturally cheery and upbeat for someone who was whining two seconds ago. "Nice to meet you...ah...El-pha-ba?" He nodded, hoping he'd pronounced it right.

"So," he rocked on his feet a bit, looking back behind himself, sort of hoping someone not green would come up. He patted the pocket of his jacket. No book. Gosh darnit. His lips parted.

[Elphaba]

Whatever you do, don't come up with any 'cute' nicknames.

That was the last thing Elphaba needed. Someone coming along to try and give her a perky nickname would be the end of her, no doubt. Still, she said nothing. Kevin's pronunciation of her name wasn't too far off as far as she could tell. Some people didn't even really bother and just referred to her as the green girl. Not that she wasn't used to that much, anyway. It was a natural reaction, and she'd grown used to it just like the repulsed first impressions. She had to wonder if her teachers had really done a good job of masking any potential reactions or not. Not that she could remember much of her classes from the first couple of days. Either that or she'd just pushed them out of her memory like she'd done with the others.

Deciding to at least try and help Kevin find a topic that wasn't her skin, Elphaba went on to speak once more.

"So, where is it that you're from exactly?" Elphaba asked. Her own answer would have been strange. After all, who in the world had ever heard of a place called Munchkinland? Not Kevin, that much she could assume without difficulty.

[Kevin Price]

Kevin placed his hands in his pockets, happy that she had changed the subject. Or at least the mental subject. He puffed his chest out proudly. "I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah!" He beamed. He loved it there. Sure it wasn't Orlando. But everyone was friendly and peppy and always had a nice thing to say about everyone. And that was where the ministry center was. That was where his family was from. So what was there to hate about it? Besides the fact it didn't have Sea World and Disney World. But he'd get there eventually. If he could handle the terrible conditions he'd been thrown into.

"It's a great place. On the west coast of the USA!" He wasn't sure if she was from America. Now that he noticed, she held no accent. Maybe the green skin was a condition. That would have been terribly unfortunate. But he wouldn't throw the word of Heavenly father at he JUST yet. Perhaps he would turn her skin a normal shade.

"And you?"

[Elphaba]

Utah? USA? Elphaba blinked a couple of times at the unfamiliar names and tilted her head to the side in a bird-like manner. Kevin definitely wasn't from anywhere in Oz, that was for sure. Places in Oz she was familiar with... Like the Uplands, the Upper Uplands, her own Munchkinland, and of course the Emerald City. Oh, the Emerald City... That would be a place she belonged for sure. Too bad she wasn't about to be invited to meet the wonderful Wizard any time soon. ...Oh, right, now it was time for Elphaba to answer the question. Whether or not Kevin believed her was another matter entirely. Based on what she had heard from him, it was unlikely he had actually heard of anywhere in the land of Oz.

"I'm from Munchkinland," Elphaba answered at length. "It's about as cheery as it sounds. Little people, lots of colors... It's not all that special, really, though it's also not too far from the Emerald City. ...This all probably sounds strange to you, doesn't it."

It wasn't a question, either. Elphaba knew it sounded strange. Anyone that hadn't come from the land she knew so well would think it the most peculiar thing ever. Yet, Elphaba was being completely serious. It wasn't as though Elphaba had any particular reason to lie about where she was from. Then of course there was the fact that she was the sole green lady in all existence. That much needed to be explained.

"In any case, I'm the only green person you're ever going to see in Munchkinland. Or anywhere else in Oz, for that matter. ...Yes, I was born like this. If you were wondering."

[Kevin Price]

"Ah, Munchkinland. Huh."

Yeah, and he was from the land of the marshmallow bunnies. He refused to say it however. He was supposed to be kind, wasn't he? Emerald City. That must have been beautiful. Maybe it was about as pretty as Disney World! The teen rocked back on his heels. "That sounds lovely!" He said. He left it vague which town he was talking about. Munchkinland, Emerald City, the land of the fluffy goblin gummy bears. He shrugged his shoulders as she spoke about her skin. He was TRYING hard not to notice her skin. It was starting to get strange everything she was saying.

"Green? Green? I didn't-OH RIGHT, the skin. I barely noticed it after the, ah, the first time. Wondering? No, no, I wasn't! I promise!"

Liar!

[Elphaba]

"Right. Because someone who doesn't notice that the person right in front of them is green would point it out as soon as they start talking."

Elphaba wasn't in the mood to buy anyone's bullshit, and Kevin was a lousy liar as far as she could tell. That was all she really was going to say on the matter, though. There wasn't a lot of reason to blow up at the guy, and she'd already called him out. That in and of itself was enough to sustain any arguments that might have come her way. Thankfully her last statement seemed to have gotten them on the right track... Away from the topic of where they were from, that is. She wasn't dumb; Kevin hadn't believed her and she wasn't going to try and get him to believe it. It wasn't as though she had any real proof behind the existence of her home or the Emerald City.

"You never answered my first question. Why were you just laying there acting like the world had done everything within its power to make your life miserable?" she asked. This ought to have been good. Her life was as miserable as they came, at least as far as she could tell, and Kevin had been acting like he had it just as bad as she did... If not worse. What in the world could have made him believe that nonsense? It wasn't as though his father hated him and the world was repulsed by his appearance.

[Kevin Price]

"I wasn't-um."

Kevin pushed his hair back again and took to straightening his blazing red tie. She did have a point as much as he hated to admit. Should he pull out the Book now? Oh wait, he didn't have it with him. He flushed slightly, peering over Elphaba's shoulder hoping that someone would come rescue him from this witch's grasp. His father always taught him to be polite, to be kind and everything else but his pitch perfect facade was starting to crumble in front of her. He returned his hands to his pockets as her voice came back into clarity.

"You never answered my first question. Why were you just laying there acting like the world had done everything within its power to make your life miserable?"

Cue training center approved dialogue. "Ah, that's the thing!" He beamed, "The world SHOULDN'T be doing that. Because that's not how it's supposed to work. You're supposed to be good and decent and kind and PATIENT." He raised his eyebrows towards the raven haired green girl. "And good things happen to you. That's the way they taught us back home. But here it seems everything is all upside down and twisted."

[Elphaba]

Good, decent, kind, and patient? Elphaba had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at Kevin's answer. That kind of shit hadn't helped her in the least when her peers had been mocking her for her green skin. Good hadn't come to her no matter how much she acted like she didn't care about what others said regarding her appearance. That may have had to do with the fact that she was a blunt bitch with no friends, but who cared? The point remained that Kevin apparently came from some kind of fantasy realm where the world didn't scorn people for being different. Time to give him a reality check. The world wasn't going to bow down and be nice to him for all eternity. It certainly hadn't shown such kindness to her.

"Well, I'm proof that the world doesn't work the way you want it to," Elphaba said. She finally seemed tired of standing and decided to sit down, crossing her legs ungracefully and letting her hands rest atop her knees. She was the epitome of everything a lady shouldn't be. Might as well keep going while she was thinking about it.

"I've been patient, I try to make good, and what does it get me? Nothing. All because people are so absurdly focused on my verdigris."

[Kevin Price]

"That's not true!" Kevin was panicking. He couldn't have Elphaba mess up his perfect little Mormon world. He didn't curse, he didn't drink coffee, he didn't do really much of anything that was against the church's teachings. Right down to his underwear. His hands were stuffed deep in his pockets as he nervously stared at her. "Oh, oh," he said lip quivering, "No! That's not how this works! You see, our teachings say that if you do well, you'll be rewarded! Even if you are different. So long as you follow the rules and strictures, y'know?"

He beamed, patting his chest before giving an annoyed look at the empty pocket. "Oh sugar," he said with the attitude of someone who'd never used the word shit or shoot ever in his life. "Well I don't have the book. BUT have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon? Perhaps you haven't gotten along because you haven't been following the right way, huh?"

He grinned wildly and sort of smugly. "C'mon Elphaba. Let me show you what we've got to offer!"

[Deleted]

Jack Frost had been wandering around the quad for sometime. Flying and freezing things, to clear his thoughts. It wasn't really something he was looking forward to. Tomorrow morning would be the day the list would be posted and that meant he would have to find out if he was going to fight someone this week or not. It was something he was not looking forward to.

The guardian was just glad that Jamie was not here, he couldn't imagine what was going to happen to that kid here. His blue eyes glanced down at the ground to see two different people, one a girl maybe his age, with...was that green skin? Surely not. And the other was a boy. Seeing as that at the moment he had nothing better to do, Jack landed not too far from them, carefully not to freeze the ground.

"Hey, nice night isn't it?"

[Elphaba]

There was that funny word again. ...Okay, there were a lot of funny words in Oz. Still, Elphaba had never heard that one word until Kevin had started saying it. In a surprisingly bird-like manner, Elphaba tilted her head to the side and listened as he spoke. Apparently this book of his was quite important to him. It must have been a guide of sorts, because she really didn't know what else it could be. In answer to his question, though, Elphaba had to shake her head. She'd never heard of it. In fact, the only important book she knew of was only something of a rumor. She didn't even know if she could really say its name.

"I'm afraid I haven't. It must be pretty important, though, the way you're going on about it," she said. She would have said more, but another voice had gotten her attention. Elphaba looked around and soon caught sight of Jack. ...Well, that was new. White hair. His uniform's accessories were a sky blue like hers, too! ...A fellow air member. She hadn't seen him around before, or perhaps she'd missed him. In any case, Elphaba wasn't familiar with Jack. Not yet. That was about to change.

"It is," Elphaba answered. The night was relatively nice, at least as nice as night could be, and she couldn't really complain. Just who was this, though?

"Who are you supposed to be?"