Once, there were two friends. First they were friends, and then best friends, and then sisters. Their bond was like no other. They understood each other and loved each other.  They were inseparable and told each other absolutely everything. They were almost always together, and when they were not together they were texting or talking on the phone or video chatting. They complimented each other like peanut butter and jelly.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 One was named Glinda. She was blonde beautiful and  was kind to everyone. She was the kind of person everyone liked. She was skinny as most girls in high school wished to be. She could wear absolutely anything she wanted to and did not for a second feel insecure about her appearance. In fact, her appearance was what she valued most in herself.

All the boys were attracted to her because of how beautiful they thought she was. She was naive, fun to be around and didn’t have a mean bone in her body. It is true that Glinda held a lot of confidence on the outside, on the inside however she was weak. She  let people manipulate her, she was a follower. Even if it was not what she thought was the right thing to do or what she necessarily wanted to do. Glinda was very trusting of everyone. She let people in without having to break down any walls. She thought life was nothing but good, and was oblivious to life’s downsides. She often struggled to understand things, and did not take the time to learn things for herself. She hardly got involved with anything in her entire high school career. She got by on her grades, and her friends that she had in school without ever challenging herself in her coursework. She accepted that she took longer to understand certain things, and did nothing to change this. She was beautiful on the outside, but inside was as shallow as a kiddie pool.  

The other friend was Elphaba. Elphaba was also very beautiful, but in a different way. Her beauty was not prominent on the outside.  Elphaba did not have a petit build like Glinda, or blonde hair. Elphaba She was a healthy weight, not “fat”, but was not skinny either. She had darker hair, and green eyes, her physical appearance was not what helped her in life . Elphaba always thought there was something wrong with her though, none of the boys ever talked to her or wanted to ask her out. This was because Elphaba had walls, she did not trust many people upon meeting them. She got to know people before she could trust them, and unfortunately this came  across as standoffish and mean to a lot of people. Elphaba was also very intelligent and she strived to do her best in school. She took on a lot , and she enjoyed being involved in many activities and volunteering her time to help others. Not many people liked Elphaba, she was different. Boys thought she was not as beautiful as Glinda, but men saw her true beauty. She succeeded in her academics, extracurriculars and her leadership roles. She loved to challenge herself in all ways.

In any case, Elphaba wanted to make more friends. She understood that she was different and was proud of her differences. However, at times, she felt lonely and wanted to have someone in her life who she could care about, and who would care about her. Elphaba did not always see her true value, and this was because of the labels her peers would impose on her. “Freak”, “nerd”, “Crazy”, “weird”  were some names that invaded a lot of Elphaba’s thoughts and crumbled her confidence. However, she was a strong girl though and never let anyone see her inner pain.

She wanted a best friend more than anything, a second half of her to fill the emptiness she felt at school. School to Elphaba was a place she was required to go to, she hated every second of high school and longed to be in College. Elphaba knew in college she could start over, and find people who loved and accepted her for who she was. Elphaba needed a friend to help her get through the remainder of her high school years, and she thought Glinda was the answer.

Elphaba noticed Glinda through a classmate she knew and spoke to. Glinda was friends with everyone Elphaba knew. She seemed nice and warm and like someone who might accept Elphaba for who she was. Elphaba tried for a while to befriend Glinda. She ate lunch near Glinda’s group, and tried to be kind to Glinda and say hi to her when she saw her in the halls.  It took a while, but soon enough Elphaba and Glinda became friends.

It was at a school dance that Glinda and Elphaba began talking and connecting as friends. The two girls, to Elphaba’s shock, were both uncomfortable at the dance and remained in the back of the gymnasium. Elphaba did not even notice Glinda was talking to her at first.

“Hello?” Glinda pleaded, standing in front of Elphaba.

“Oh, hi there” Elphaba replied, confusion flooding her mind.

“What are you doing back here?” Glinda inquired.

“Oh, I was forced to go to this against my own will. Loud dances are not really my forte” Elphaba answered, still confused.

“Oh haha” Glinda laughed and continued, “Yea I am not really feeling this dance either. I thought there would be more going on. It’s kinda awkward though.”

“Yea” Elphaba quietly replied.

During that first interaction, Elphaba felt something was a little off about Glinda, she was kind and warm but in a way she also had a cold air about her and she seemed  to lack empathy. She was well known for being nice to everyone, yet it was clear not everyone saw anything beyond that as Elphaba did.

As time went on, Elphaba and Glinda grew closer and closer. They hung out a lot, almost every single day. They did an activity together, marching band, where the two girls personalities were best displayed. Glinda was on the color guard , she wore beautiful costumes, did her makeup beautifully and spun beautiful silk flags. Most of the other members of the color guard  were a lot like this, they were chosen for the team due to their outer beauty. Yet at the rehearsals the girls all struggled to perform their tasks successfully, and often complained or blamed authority for their mishaps. Elphaba was a member of the flute section of the band, and she worked hard during rehearsals and would often sweat through her clothes. She spent hours memorizing her music, and working hard to improve her skills as a musician. Elphaba did not get to be the star of the show, and had to wear a bulky, ugly uniform. Yet the music she was able to produce was so beautiful, it enchanted those who heard it. People did not usually notice Elphaba for her beautiful displays in the shows, her music was remembered and loved though. The two girls began hanging out after rehearsals, it always felt more fun for Glinda than for Elphaba though. Glinda liked to complain about her teammates and the advisors. She often told Elphaba tales or drama; falling outs with friends, other girls talking bad about each other, lies and deception. Elphaba noticed she did not ever have much room to speak, but never complained about it. Elphaba wanted to be a good friend to Glinda, that mattered to her more than anything she could have said about herself.

Elphaba got to know Glinda a lot better as a person,  and she noticed that Glinda really enjoyed talking about herself. It did not bother Elphaba much, she loved her best friend and wanted to support her through anything. Elphaba once opened up to Glinda about a heartbreak she went through previously, Glinda was more interested in talking about some guy she was crushing on though. This guy showed little interest in her, and was seeing someone else. Glinda did not care, she wanted to be with him. She wanted to believe with everything in her that this boy would feel the same way about her. He did not, and he never would. It hurt Elphaba to see her best friend this way, she encouraged Glinda to move on from this silly boy.

“If a man truly cares, he will make it known,” Elphaba often said.

“He does, I know deep down he does” was Glinda’s reply.

Elphaba argued and tried to help her best friend see how bad this boy was for her, but she never wanted to listen. It took Glinda meeting her first love to move on from the silly boy. Sadly this boy would be the downfall of their friendship.

Glinda went through years of crushing on boys, and boys asking her out. After years of searching,she found who she thought was the answer; Oz. Oz wanted to find a girlfriend just to make his ex jealous. He put on a great facade of being this sweet, caring, genuine boy. However, the man behind the curtain ended up being a selfish pig who took advantage of what was in front of him.

Elphaba had a unique way of reading people, she could usually sort the good seeds from the bad seeds just by reading them. She acknowledged that everyone had flaws, yet she knew there was a difference between having some flaws and being an atrocious person. Elphaba was able to see the “man behind the curtain” from the moment she first met Oz. Oz was very rude to Elphaba. He did not talk to her even when she tried to be nice and make conversation with him.

“I just think he will end up hurting you, and I would hate to see that happen to you” Elphaba calmly told her best friend.

“What do you know about love?” Glinda would always reply whenever Elphaba was just trying to be honest and helpful.

Glinda eventually spent more time with Oz than she did with Elphaba, only getting in contact with Elphaba when Oz upset her. Elphaba was always there when Glinda needed her to be, she never struggled to answer the phone or meet up. Elphaba loved her best friend unconditionally and wanted to be there for her no matter what. Sadly, Elphaba began to feel lonely again without her best friend. It was hard, Elphaba could never get any of the other girls she knew to hang out with her. Elphaba began to realize she wanted more than a best friend, seeing how happy Glinda was with Oz made Elphaba want a love of her own in her life. Elphaba luckily soon met  someone who loved her, and made her happy. She never felt lonely when she was with him, he listened to her and she listened to him. His name was Fiyero, and having him in her life made Elphaba feel happier than her friendship with Glinda ever did. Yet, she still loved Glinda as a sister and did everything she could to be there for her.

“Glinda, I met a boy. His name is Fiyero” Elphaba expressed on one of their famous “Oz meetings”.

“That’s nice! I am so happy , but can you believe Oz ignored me again?”

This stung a little that Glinda did not seem to care much for Elphaba´s new love.

“Glinda, I am sorry about your issues. I really am. I think you deserve a lot better. But I have been dying to tell you all about Fiyero.” Elphaba stood up for herself for the first time, and made an attempt to get her own words out. This shocked Glinda, to a point of speechlessness. Elphaba began talking about Fiyero more and more. Yet as much as Elphaba talked about Fiyero, Glinda still talked about her issues with Oz more, and made them see more important.

Eventually, Glinda could not take the issues anymore and she made the decision to break up with Oz. Before this however, she cut Elphaba off and did not speak to her for over a month. This broke Elphaba’s heart, but Fiyero stuck with her through it all. Fiyero soon became more than just Elphaba’s boyfriend. He became her best friend, the other half of her that was always missing and never felt complete. Elphaba missed Glinda a lot, but she knew that Glinda would not talk to her much unless she needed her.

Elphaba guided Glinda through the entire breakup with Oz. She was there for Glinda during the entire process, and helped her do it in a mature way. Elphaba often had to put off Fiyero in order to be there for Glinda. Yet she never complained and was always very happy to help her best friend who she loved so much.

As time passed, Glinda eventually cut Elphaba off again. She became concerned with being popular, and showing Oz how much better off she was without him. Her self-centered nature became more prominent, yet Elphaba did not think any less of Glinda because of this. There came a day at school where Elphaba needed Glinda’s help for a little bit. The two girls also ran the school store, though Glinda almost never did it. Elphaba was always at the store covering for Glinda and making sure everything was in order. One day, Elphaba was overwhelmed with work to do for her classes. She had a lot going on between classes and after school activities, and she just needed twenty minutes to get organized and then she would happily run the store.

Glinda today was sitting with some new boy she hoped to go to the prom with. She was leaning on him and looking at him with dreamy eyes. Elphaba felt bad asking Glinda to run the store, but she had no choice.

“Hey Glinda, can you do the store today?” Elphaba asked calmly.

“I’m sorry, it is not my day so no” Glinda replied going back to her boy.

“Come on Glinda, you know you have to cover sometimes. I just need you to open it.” Elphaba asked again, a little more stern.

“Fine.”Glinda snapped, storming off.

Glinda caused a huge scene about opening the store. “Elphaba is so immature and mean and stupid” she told everyone, even the few people who liked Elphaba.  Elphaba ended up going back to the store early, and did not get to finish her work. All because she felt bad for Glinda. Glinda however had no sympathy for Elphaba. She only cared that SHE had to open it and that HER lunch was interrupted. “Elphaba drove me out of the club, I do not want to do it anymore” Glinda told Elphaba’s favorite teacher. Elphaba was used to being cut off by Glinda, but nothing like this. Glinda at this point did nothing but stress Elphaba out, and leave her behind for other friends. Glinda at this point wanted to talk about nothing but herself. She hardly asked about Elphaba, or let Elphaba talk about herself or her life. Elphaba had enough of this, she knew Glinda was damaged beyond repair. In a way, Elphaba knew since Oz came into the picture their friendship was ending. This fight was the nail in the coffin.

Months passed, and Elphaba went off to her dream college, she was able to take all the courses she wanted to take and got good grades. At College, she met her best friend Abby, who made Elphaba happy and treated her like a sister. The two girls were inseparable, they got along so well and shared everything. Glinda never stopped asking around about Elphaba. She wanted to make sure Elphaba was not talking about her. To her surprise, Elphaba was not, and she found a new best friend named Abby. One day, over Elphaba’s winter break, she decided to have Abby visit her hometown. Glinda came across the two when they were out at dinner once, their looks of happiness were in no way like anything Glinda ever had with a friend. “Losers” Glinda would call them, even though deep down inside she knew nobody would ever care about her the way Elphaba did again.  Blood is thicker than water, but not in the case of those who do not share a mother.