Love and smarts
Elphaba sighed.
She was sitting on her bed, studying as usual. Her annoying roommate, Galinda, was sitting at her desk studying for once too.
And that was the problem.
Midterms were coming up. Galinda was flipping frantically through her books, searching for answers she should have learned ages ago, but didn't. She was working herself into a state. Even if she found an answer, she'd never remember it.
Usually the soft turning of pages was a comfort to Elphie, but these page turns were sharp enough to tear the paper. That kept freaking her out. Elphie didn't like books to be injured.
Elphaba stuck a bookmark in her current book, got off the bed, came up behind Galinda and put her hands on her shoulders to rub them lightly.
Galinda jumped at her touch. "Oh, it's you, artichoke."
"Yes, just me, bubbles." Elphie rolled her eyes. "You're working yourself into a state. It's not doing you any good." She began rubbing Galinda's shoulders.
"But I have to study, Midterms are starting and ...I don't know ...anything. I'm too stupid to be here at Shiz." Elphie could see Galinda's lip begin to quiver and her eye shine.
"No! No, you're not. You're plenty smart to be here, just look at the other girls and even most of the boys we've met. You are smart, smarter than just about everyone here." Elphie said emphatically.
"I'm not as smart as you." Galinda said quietly.
Elphie gave a snort. "Maybe not with the books, but you are far smarter at people than I will ever be."
"Like that's worth anything." Galinda dismissed the idea.
"It's worth a lot, actually. My father was a preacher, as you know. He had big dreams of changing people, making them better than they were, happier."
"You said he fought against the pleasure faith, it doesn't look like he had much success." Galinda's tone was compassionate, now.
"Maybe not in a big following sense, but he did change people's lives. I know most of his work was futile, so few people really seem to want to be happy, but he kept trying."
"What do you mean? Everyone wants to be happy. Even you."
Elphie smiled. "Yes, I want to be happy, though it never seems to last very long for me. What you mean is everyone wants to be happy right now. Father wanted everyone to be happy into the future and not just now."
"What do you mean?" Galinda asked, turning as Elphaba sat on the bed again.
"So many of the things people do to make themselves happy for a moment, doesn't last. It is the quick happiness of pleasure. He wanted people to have the deep, rich happiness of love."
"You're confusing me again. Worse than these stupid books. Everyone wants love." Galinda said as she flopped a book closed with a thud.
"True, but most people have confused love with other things like sex. You know those bad boys who always seem to have a new girl with them. As far as I can tell they use girls to keep score of some kind."
Galinda shivered and nodded, she had seen those boys, her own mother had warned her against them.
"You know I've travelled a lot, and you also have noticed I pay attention. I could see how families are over the long term. I would play with the children and some would treat me well and other didn't. So did their parents and grandparents. I could also see how they treated each other. If I saw parents and grandparents that treated each other well, I could know that their children would treat me well and other people. I am too 'unusual' for most people to really become friends with me." Elphaba ran her thumb across her green fingertips, and Galinda reached out and took hold of that hand. Elphie gave her a small, sad smile.
"Many families didn't treat each other, much less me, well at all. They would find pleasure in the tankards at the tavern or in the arms of another, but even I could tell it wasn't love or happiness. Here am I at Shiz and my life is supposed to be almost ready to begin, yet I am weary of it. I feel old and ancient."
Galinda sat on the bed and put her arms around her friend.
"I desire love, Galinda. Real, long-lasting love, like I've seen in others, but I have no idea how to find it in this world." Elphie said quietly.
"I would love you, Elphaba, forever and ever." Galinda said quietly too, putting her head on Elphie's shoulder.
"I believe you." Said Elphaba, turning and touching her forehead to Galinda's.
"Now what subject was giving you trouble..."
I read "Wicked" ages ago and made a little fic.
I feel that Elphie has a very big heart behind very thick walls. She was always going to be great, that was who she was, it just didn't work out as well as it should have.