It was a day like any other, or so Glinda thought as she awoke slowly, stifling a yawn. The morning sun lit the room, making it almost seem like it was glowing. The curtains had been drawn back, the young girl realized, so where was her usual wake up call from Nanny?
Limbs still heavy with sleep, Glinda sat up and let her eyes wander through the room until they caught her and Elphaba's chaperone sitting on the green girl's bed. Quiet whispers filled the room, but they weren't loud enough for Glinda to actually make out the words.
Slightly puzzled, Glinda watched the scene from her bed on the other side of the room. It took a while until she realized that there were presents and wrapping paper spread on the covers. There weren't many, but it was clear that Nanny had given them to Elphaba.
Glinda couldn't help letting out a soft squeal as it dawned on her what this meant and she quickly slid out from under her duvets to make her way over to Elphaba's bed.
Both Nanny and Elphaba looked up in surprise when they saw the blonde, dressed in a light pink nightgown, stumble through the room slightly disoriented. As Glinda reached her destination, Nanny wished her a good morning and got up, giving Elphaba a bright smile before leaving the two girls on their own.
„Elphie! Why didn't you tell me?" Glinda asked rather loudly after the door had closed behind the old woman.
„Why didn't I tell you what?" Elphaba responded, pretending not to know exactly what her roommate was talking about.
„Your birthday! It's your birthday today, isn't it?"
„My... oh... yeah." Elphaba answered, taking the plain unicolored wrapping paper and carefully folding it, before placing it on her nightstand.
„Why didn't you tell me, then?" Glinda asked again, this time a little more forceful, while she sat down next to Elphaba and curiously eying the presents her roomy had received. There was a dark coat that seemed too hot for this time of the year, but it still looked somewhat pretty, a book that had about 1.000 pages, Glinda guessed, and there was also a new fountain pen. Very Elphie, Glinda thought with a smile, before she turned back to her roommate.
Elphie let her hand rest on her new coat, watching the green of her skin contrast with the dark blue material. „It's not important, Glinda," she began with a sigh, smiling softly at her friend. „I'm used to it, so it's really no big deal. It's just always been like that and I guess Nanny is the only one in my family who even remembers."
Glinda's first impulse was to envelop the green girl in a hug, but sensing the tense and slightly defensive demeanor, she dropped that idea. Instead she just shifted a little to be closer to Elphaba.
„But it's your birthday... it should be special," she tried to object, but Elphaba just shook her head. „It's nothing special, my pretty. It should be a day like any other... it's not like my birth is something to celebrate." she told her roommate with a slightly bitter chuckle.
„But..." Glinda tried again, although this time she was cut short even before her argument could leave her mouth.
„I've told Nanny countless times that I don't want her to give me presents, but she just keeps insisting on it. She says that it's the only day she has a good excuse for giving me something and I've accepted that. I just don't want anybody else to make a fuss, ok?"
With that, Elphaba threw back the covers and let her green feet hit the cold floor. For a moment it seemed as if she wanted to apologize to Glinda for her harsh tone, but then she just got up and left for the bathroom.
Glinda stared at the closed door for a moment. Elphaba's behavior had yet again managed to surprise her, even though after having been her roommate for such a long time, Glinda had imagined knowing the green girl rather well.
Sighing, the blonde got up as well, deciding that she'd rather think about what she was going to wear today than about the reason behind Elphaba's strange behavior.
When the green girl finally exited the bathroom, Glinda kept quiet and when it was her turn to leave the bathroom, Elphaba wasn't in their room anymore.
Straightening her dress, Glinda sat down on her bed, eyes fixed on Elphaba's neatly made bed. It hadn't been her intention to make Elphie mad, but it seemed that she always found the one sore spot and stepped in it.
Elphaba had become a good friend to her over the past months and the wish to make her birthday special came from the bottom of Glinda's heart, even though she had no idea how to achieve this.
The green girl had made it clear that she didn't want anything material, but maybe there was another solution to the present-question...
During the rest of her school day, Glinda was deep in thought. There had to be something, she just had to find it, and so the blonde spent her time during classes trying to figure out what to do.
It was during the Ozian History lesson that finally an idea came to her mind and a satisfied smile spread on Glinda's lips. It just had to come from her heart, just like the wish to make her friend's birthday something special...
Hours later, when Elphaba returned to her room for the first time that day, she was a little surprised that she didn't find Glinda on her bed or on the windowsill. She had almost expected, or rather dreaded that her roommate had managed to pile dozens of presents in pink wrapping on her bed, but she was pleasantly surprised to find no such thing.
The silence in the two girls' bedroom was rather unusual, because since Elphaba and Glinda had become friends, the blonde had spent less and less time with her other giggly friends and Elphaba had even learned to enjoy her roommate's company.
As she crossed the room to her bed, Elphaba felt a slight feeling of guilt grow inside of her. She had reacted pretty harshly that morning, when she'd had no right to. Glinda only showed that she actually cared for Elphaba and instead of appreciating this, she had rejected her.
Elphaba's books fell onto her bed with a soft oof and she sat down on it to slip out of her heavy boots to get comfortable and finally start reading her new book, when something pink on her nightstand caught her eye.
Frowning she turned to look closer and found that there was a pink rose with a creme colored card leaning against it.
Crawling further up her bed, Elphaba reached for the card and opened it to read what was written on it.
Happy Birthday, Elphie.
I don't think you realize this, but you mean so much to me.
Thank you for being my friend,
xxx G
The letters were written in an unusually large and elegant hand for Glinda and the small hearts she liked to draw over the i's were missing, but to Elphaba it was as if the words had come truly from the Glinda she knew and not from the pink puffball she seemed like outside of their room.
With a smile, Elphaba sat the card back down on her nightstand and took the rose in one hand, realizing for the first time that the green leaves and the pink flower were in perfect harmony.
„Thank you, Glinda. This is the best birthday I've ever had," Elphaba whispered, the happy smile still playing on her lips and the rose still in her hands. She'd have to tell Glinda this in person later, she thought, leaning back onto her pillows, staring at the flower in the soft light of the setting sun.
What Elphaba didn't realize was that somewhere at the other end of the building, a smile suddenly appeared on a tiny blonde's face...
The End