Credit to Lady Tiggular's "A Perfectly Normal Day", which, in turn gave credit to Riti the Wicked Troll...
It wasn't that Elphaba believed herself incapable of inspiring affection. It was just that Elphaba believed herself incapable of inspiring affection not borne out of obligation.
Her sister, Miss Nessarose, had a dutiful sort of affection for her verdigran sibling. Elphaba knew this.
So it wasn't that she thought it was impossible.
But when Avaric approached her after class and shrewdly traced the line of her arm, purringly inquiring about her plans for after class, Elphaba had to admit she was shocked.
She stammered something appropriately snarky (though her delivery was less-than-biting) and hurried away, just in time to miss Avaric's shoulders dropping.
A young man whose name she didn't know was next. He tried to introduce himself, holding out a hand to shake hers, and knocking her books out of her arms.
Soon, five other young men had crowded around to collect up her books for her, causing her to clamp her mouth shut and bite back a shriek of hostility.
The library, her usual sanctuary, was nearby, and she ran to it, grateful for the musty smell of old volumes and the sight of many stacks amongst which to disappear.
Was the entire male campus in on some sort of elaborate joke?
"Oh, Boq," she sighed, relieved to see someone whom she knew couldn't pretend to care for her, as his limitless love for her room mate was bound to get in the way. "It's so good to see you, everyone -"
"Really?" Boq looked far too excited for Elphaba's liking. "It's g-good to see you, too, Miss Elphaba. I was just th-thinking about you."
Why was he blushing? "Why are you blushing?"
His blush increased. "I'm not." He paused. "Say, Miss Elphaba, I was wondering... Well, that is to say I - Er, oh, Oz. Um, well -"
"You know what? I just remembered that I have to gobutI'llseeyoulater," Elphaba forced out, backing away from the practically-purple-faced Munchkin.
Just outside her building, she ran straight into Fiyero, who was exiting. "Aghh!" she cried, stumbling back. Were it not for the mob of boys who she knew were close on her heels, she'd have run in the opposite direction.
His face broke into a joyous grin to see her, and he reached to squeeze her upper arm. "Elphie, I was just looking for you!"
"I'm sure you were," she sighed.
"I wanted to talk to you. Do you have a minute? Elphie, you look so flustered." He reached out to brush her cheek with his hand, but she dodged him.
"I - I can't," she stammered. "Please, leave me alone! What do all of you want from me?"
"Elphaba," he cried. "What are you talking about? Listen, this is really hard for me -"
"No, Fiyero! Not you! Please, I - I have to go."
She shoved him out of her way and disappeared into the building. "Fae!"
She could hear his footsteps behind her, and they were gaining.
She made it to her dorm room just in time, and shut and locked the door behind her. "Fie on it," she cried, tossing her books onto her bed.
"What?"
"Oh, Galinda," Elphaba sighed. "The entire campus has gone mad! Or, well, I suspect it's all an elaborate prank -"
"Elphie, what are you talking about? You look positively frightified!"
"The men - The men are after me!"
Galinda froze, looking completely shocked. Elphaba just stared at her as she stared openmouthed at something in the distance, and Elphaba continued to stare as Galinda cried out in joy and began to hop around, kicking and wildly waving her arms. "It woooorked," she trilled. "Oh, Elphie, it worked!!"
Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "What worked?"
Galinda stopped prancing, and forced herself to look apologetic. "Well, firstly, a spell. That I did! I did a spell that worked!"
"You did a spell? Without my supervision?"
"Well, I - All right, I thought it might be fun if everyone realized how wonderful you are, so I went up to as many boys as I could find, and got them to write their names down for me. And then I did this spell for them to see your true beauty, and I read out all their names, and it worked!"
"You put a love spell on the entire campus?"
"Well, not the entire campus, clearly! I couldn't find everyone, and, of course, I didn't say Fiyero's name..."
Elphaba felt her heart leap. "You didn't put the spell on Fiyero?"
"Of course not, Elphie! Why would I put a love spell for you on my boyfriend!"
"Well, you wouldn't," Elphaba said, shaking her head. "I don't know why... Um, I don't know why I said that. I should, um - We should find a way to undo it. I can't do anything without being mobbed." She paused. "But thank you," she added, "for trying."
Galinda beamed, and they went to work undoing her spell, while Elphaba silently wondered what Fiyero had been about to say - of his own free will.