The Space Between: Beginnings

8. Class Is In Session

Rain and Carlos walked into Biology. Evie waved at the two, and Rain returned it as she and Carlos occupied a desk near the front. She sat down quietly and began to turn through the pages of her book. She heard a sound and immediately looked up. Their teacher had come. But, contrary to expectations, the teacher wasn't human. He had horns. Was he a Goat?

The old Goat smiled as he began to call out the names on the attendance roster, and Rain zoned out briefly until he reached her name. She raised her hand in the air, but noticed the Goat do the briefest of double-takes at her name. She smiled slightly. The Goat cleared his throat and continued with the attendance.

Once he was done, he introduced himself, "Hello, class, I am Doctor Dillamond, and I shall be teaching you Biology this year. I hope we all will get along well. Now, for today, you will all form groups of four and go through your first chapter. Take this as a pre-class assignment. In case any of you have questions, note them down, and we shall discuss them next time. You may begin now."

Rain nodded as she opened her book and started taking notes. Their teacher's name sounded familiar to her, somehow. As if she had heard of him. She raised her eyebrows when she saw Audrey join the table with a dark-haired male she didn't know. Audrey greeted them in a chipper voice, "Hi! Rain, you okay? Oh, and this is Tip. He's an old friend of Ben's."

Rain grunted in reply. She felt Tip's eyes on her and snapped, "What are you staring at?"

"I...I was looking at you. Kind of," Tip replied.

"Kind of? You were either looking at me or you weren't," Rain pointed out.

"Okay, I was. It's nice watching you work. You're actually pretty for an Isle kid," Tip remarked.

"Ugh, why does everyone say that?" Rain groaned. Carlos gently clasped her hand under the desk. She sighed, and Carlos gave her a reassuring look. Audrey squealed, "Oh, aren't you two adorable!"

"Um, Audrey, we're kind of like siblings you know," Rain smiled. "Oh, this is Carlos, by the way. We've been friends since we were, like, two."

Carlos smiled and said, "Pleasure to meet you." He shook their hands, and they went back to work. Rain kept looking at where Mal and Evie were. The two of them seemed to be working so perfectly well, together with Liir and his roomie. But then, that was only natural, as they all knew each other after all. Rain hummed softly to herself as she went on with the work, occasionally talking to Carlos or Audrey. She didn't yet know what to make of Tip.

Once class got done, Rain let out a sigh of relief. She headed to Chemistry with Evie. When they were there, Rain stayed with Carlos as she watched Evie partner with a boy in glasses. She noticed Evie's eyes on the ruggedly handsome boy opposite her. She glared at Evie as if to tell her not to say anything.

But it wasn't any use. Evie twirled a strand of hair flirtatiously around her fingers as she smiled. She caught the bespectacled boy whispering, "That's Chad. Prince Charming junior. Cinderella's son. He's got all the charm, but none of the, you know-"

"That doesn't matter," Evie said, looking dreamily at Chad.

"Evie," Rain heard their teacher, Mr. Deley, say sharply. "I'm sure this is all a review for you, so tell me. What is the average atomic weight of silver?"

"Silver?" Evie asked, smirking. Rain noticed her pick up her magic mirror from the desk before she headed to the blackboard. She flinched internally. But then, after a complicated series of calculations, Evie arrived at the right answer. She flashed Mr. Deley a smile, effectively shushing him. Rain rolled her eyes as she sighed in annoyance, making Carlos slap her on the arm.

Later, during lunch, Rain whispered to Evie," You shouldn't be doing that."

"Doing what?" Evie asked.

"Using it in class. It's cheating in a way," Rain explained.

"Rain, you really act like such a goody-two-shoes at times, it's hard to believe you're one of us," Mal sighed exasperatedly.

"I'm not trying to be a goody-two-shoes, as you so eloquently put it. I'm just saying what my mom would have said under the same situation," Rain remarked.

"Which is the farthest thing from what any average villain would say," Liir observed, clapping his sister in the shoulder.

"Well, what do you know? Maybe she does have morals. Maybe she sincerely regrets what she did. Maybe...just maybe...she isn't your average villain," Rain hissed, her eyes blazing with barely-concealed anger. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but our mom is just about the only villain on the Isle who treats her children like people and not like tools. And it's about time you realised that!"

Rain breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down. She sincerely missed their mother. Maybe her brother had cut off all his ties to their past already. But she couldn't do that, no matter how much she tried. She gathered up her things and was just about to leave when she saw Doctor Dillamond sitting alone at a table near the door, engrossed in some work. She quietly settled into the seat opposite him. He looked up, and she smiled at him. He cleared his throat and said, "No wonder you remind me of her. Miss Oziandra, right?"

Rain narrowed her eyes and asked, "Who do I remind you of, Doctor Dillamond? If you don't mind me asking, that is. Oh, and I'd rather you called me Rain, if you don't mind. I'm not exactly used to people using my full name unless I'm in trouble. But then, I don't cause trouble. I am trouble. "

Doctor Dillamond chuckled," You're a lot like one of my old students, from my time at Crage Hall in Shiz. She was sincere, passionate, hardworking, determined, and about the most unbiased and intelligent girls I had seen. I was overjoyed when she chose to major in Life Sciences- back then, it was rare to see a woman in the Sciences. But then, Life took her on a different path. You might know her. Her name was Elphaba Thropp."

"Also otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the West. I do know her. She is my mother, after all," Rain answered.

"The resemblance is stunning. And I don't just mean your features. Or the fact that you have her eyes and smile. Your character is just like hers. When I first heard she was on the Isle, I wondered what could have gone wrong with her. The Elphaba I knew was the farthest thing from evil. She was just as warm as she was cold, as passionate as she was stoic-" Doctor Dillamond began.

"And the most sincere, sarcastic and amazing person I know. My mom is my role model, no matter what people say about her. I know she isn't evil, and yet...I doubt anyone else will accept that. Oz, even my own brother treats her like she doesn't matter, and it really hurts," Rain sighed.

Doctor Dillamond smiled at her and said, "See you in class, then. And I promise, if I know your mother right, her real goodness will show through eventually. She doesn't need anyone to clear her name, for if she wishes to, she will redeem herself in everyone's eyes. In my mind, she already has. By raising you so well and with so much love in circumstances that don't allow for it."

Rain shook Doctor Dillamond's hoof before turning away and leaving in a hurry, with tears in her eyes. Finally,she had found someone who knew her mother for who she really was. And she was determined to live up to that version of her mother. Come what may.