Author's Note: I do not own Wicked in any form or way.
What just happened?
Did I really just make my first friend?
I've never had a real friend before. I mean, I'm green for Oz's sake. It's not like people can look at me without being disgusted or frightened by my bizarre skin. All my life I've managed on my own, doing everything by myself because it was the only way I knew how to do things. And it pleased me to know I could do things on my own and I didn't have to depend on anyone. It still does. I want to be independent. I don't want to sit back and let someone else help me because I find it hard to trust most people. The closest I've gotten to a friend is the girl who sits behind me in Life Sciences when she asked if she could copy my test. I think I made my answer quite clear.
Who needs friends anyway? What can someone else do for you that you can't do for yourself? I work hard for my grades and I always keep my goals in sight. Friends just slow you down, always asking too much of you or butting into your personal life. Why would I, Elphaba Thropp, want a friend?
But then I think. And I realize something I hadn't wanted to consider. Maybe it wasn't so much that I didn't want a friend. Maybe it was that I know I can never have one. It's not just my greenness or sarcasm, it's because I don't know how to act around one or how to be supportive. I see girls rushing through the halls laughing and talking to their friends about all the clothes they wanted to buy and that cute boy they saw in class. I could never talk to anyone about those things. First of all, I have just about the worst fashion taste you could possibly imagine. I've given up on my wardrobe and I see nothing wrong with plain black dresses and rugged boots. When I go shopping, I instantly gravitate to anything black and simple. I avoid bright and sparkly like the plague. And second, no boy in their right mind would ever see anything to love about me. One look at me and all my chances of romance are pulverized in an instant. So even if I had a friend, it's not like I'd make a good one.
But just maybe, Galinda is different. Maybe she's not like all the other shallow, self-absorbed girls. I mean, she did try to give me a makeover, no matter how slim the chance of success was. She actually seemed concerned when I told her about my sister and the milk flowers. No one had ever told me not to blame myself for my sister's…condition. And even when she went on about her silly mission to make me "popular", she seemed earnest as if she really wanted to do something nice for me after I had asked Morrible to let her into the sorcery class. She was even willing to make a fool out of herself at the Ozdust just to support me. I've never known anyone who would do that for me.
And then I remember how we hated each other when we first met. Actually, I think "loathing" would be a better description than "hated". I thought she was one of those girls who just spent all day talking to friends, obsessing over boys and clothes, and giggling about pointless things. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe there's another side to her than just her shallow perkiness. Maybe we both know what it's like to hide our true selves from those around us. Maybe we are more alike than we are different. I don't know why, but I don't hate her anymore. I think I'm starting to see that under all that pink and blondeness, there's a girl who wants to be accepted. Just like me. I couldn't stay when she showed me my reflection in her mirror. Looking at myself has always been painful to me, but to see that silly pink flower in my hair and hear someone call me beautiful was too much. No one had ever called me anything even close to beautiful. Beautiful was for the girls who spent two hours a day fixing their hair and a whole hour just picking out their outfits.
So now as I sit out here alone under this tall weeping willow I just let myself imagine for once that me and Galinda can actually be friends. Maybe even best friends, considering she'd be my only friend. And we could just talk and laugh about things that didn't make sense. We would be there for each other whenever we felt we had no one else to turn to. And I would do all I could to be there for her when she needed me and I would try to be the best possible friend could be, even if I wasn't really sure how.
Together, we'd be unlimited.
AN: Review please? :3