Title: Consequences and Decisions

Rating: K

Summary: Galinda and Elphaba have formed a sort of friendship, but Galinda chooses to keep it a secret for fear of loosing her popularity. However, when something happens that may sever their friendship beyond repair, Galinda must make a decision about what is really important to her.

Hey all. I got a bit writer's blocked while writing my other fanfic, and this little oneshot idea has been bothering me for a very long time, so I decided to take a break and write it. It's just a little piece about Galinda and Elphaba's friendship at Shiz, and it takes place a day or two before 'One Short Day'. I was wondering whether or not to put Fiyero in, but I decided against it because I wanted this fic to be simply about the friendship between Elphaba and Galinda. Let's just say Fiyero was sick that day or something. Also, this is not a slash. I'm sure if you're looking for it you'll probably find some slash implications anyway, but know that it was not my intention while writing this fic. Well anyways, hope you like it.

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Elphaba awoke and blinked her eyes open. She was met with the sight of sunlight streaming in through the window on Galinda's side of the room, but she did not sit up. She lay there for a moment, not wanting to push the warmth and security of the blankets away and begin another day. She let out a sigh, which transformed into a yawn, and stretched before finally yanking the covers away quickly and sitting straight up. She was still a bit drowsy, and it was tempting to just lie back down and return to sleep, but she did not. Instead she swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up.

Elphaba glanced around with a sort of half interest. Her roommate Galinda was still fast asleep on the other side of the room. Galinda snored slightly, a habit Elphaba was sure the blonde would not have been proud of had she known about it. Elphaba watched the girl for a few moments. It was funny really. A week ago she had despised this girl with every fiber of her being. Galinda had been ditzy, popular, obnoxious, and basically the type of person that Elphaba did not want to get within three feet of.

But Galinda was different from the rest of the people like her, the popular, upper class princesses. Galinda really did have a conscience, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, and it was thanks to that conscience that she and Elphaba had become friends of a sort. After Galinda had rescued Elphaba from an extremely awkward situation at the Ozdust, she had taken it upon herself to become a sort of popularity mentor to Elphaba. However, when this plan had failed, Galinda had found that she'd begun to consider Elphaba a friend along the way. It had been about two weeks since then, and the girls had actually found themselves growing quite close, against their expectations.

Elphaba turned to walk toward the bathroom just as Galinda began to stir in her large, rather fluffy bed. Elphaba watched as the other girl sat up for a moment, and then decidedly changed her mind and buried herself under the covers once more.

"Hey princess," she started sarcastically. She'd started calling Galinda that as a sort of friendly jibe, but she could never quite tell whether Galinda knew she wasn't using it as a serious nickname, "you'll be late to your first class if you don't get your face out of your pillow in the next five minutes."

"Lemme 'lone Elphie," came the muffled reply. Elphaba rolled her eyes and proceeded into the bathroom. Trying to wake Galinda up was a near impossible task. Elphaba would deal with it after she had brushed her teeth.

However, Elphaba was spared the energy, because Galinda finally crawled out of bed about ten minutes later, while Elphaba was still in the bathroom. She traipsed over to the door and banged on it twice with the side of her fist.

"Elphie, I need to use the bathroom," she whined. Galinda always became testy when asked to wait for something, as she was so accustomed to the joys of instant gratification.

However, Elphaba was probably the one person, aside from maybe Madame Morrible, who would not bend to Galinda's every whim, "Well, you'll just have to wait until I'm finished then won't you?"

"But I have to pee!" she continued. She would never act this way around her other friends, but for some reason she felt strangely comfortable around Elphaba in a way she never did with the other girls she hung out with.

Elphaba rolled her eyes, but smiled a bit nonetheless, as she said, "Galinda, you're such a child sometimes."

"Does that mean you'll let me in?"

"No"

Galinda pouted as Elphaba's unflinching stubbornness won out again. Mumbling, crossed the room to sit on the corner of her bed until her friend was finished in the bathroom. She wondered absentmindedly why all dorm rooms shared by girls didn't have more than one bathroom. Certainly all female roommates had this problem. She wondered whether or not Morrible would take a request to have another bathroom put in seriously.

However, Galinda's musings were cut short as the door to the bathroom opened and Elphaba stepped out. Not wasting any time, Galinda shot forward like a spring uncoiling and the bathroom door was closed before Elphaba had even stepped out of the doorframe. Elphaba shook her head; maybe it was a blonde thing.

Twenty minutes later both girls were ready to go, Elphaba dressed in her simple black frock (Galinda had long ago given up on trying to dress her friend up) and Galinda in one of her characteristic gowns. They bid each other farewell before they left the room, and both went in separate directions. It was probably the last time they'd speak before later that night.

Although Galinda did consider Elphaba a friend now and no longer embarrassed the green girl in public, she really did not like to be seen with Elphaba outside the confines of their dorm room. Galinda was glad for Elphaba's friendship, but she also couldn't bear to take any blows to her spotless reputation or lose the popularity she'd come to adore.

Elphaba didn't quite agree with or understand Galinda's way of thinking, but she did respect her friend's wishes and avoided her in public. After all, she'd have to take whatever friendship she could get, because Galinda was the first person who had been so kind to her. Elphaba reasoned that her life had become easier even if Galinda wouldn't speak to her in public. Now at least Galinda avoided her entirely instead of tracking her down so she could openly mock her and cause the rest of their classmates to laugh cruelly. At least now Elphaba was free to go about her day in peace, as long as she did not run into ShenShen or Pfannee, who were still adamant about embarrassing Elphaba publicly. It was their favorite form of entertainment.

So with that, the girls went their separate ways to their separate classes. Really the only two times they saw each other were in their history class and at lunch. They had no other classes in common, and so avoidance was made easier.

They day went by smoothly for the most part; basically the same as any other day before it. Elphaba raised her hands several times a minute in her classes, while Galinda glanced at the clock as many times in her own. History class came, and Elphaba and Galinda did not even so much as glance at each other the entire class. ShenShen and Pfanee giggled from next to Galinda about how Elphaba raised her hand so obnoxiously often but Galinda, who had once acted as jealous as the two girls next to her, now felt a sort of admiration for Elphaba. Galinda wished she could be half as smart as her friend was, but she was simply not as interested in the classes as her green friend. Maybe she could get Elphaba to tutor her; that would certainly improve her grades. Oh, if only ShenShen and Pfanee could hear what she was thinking right now. Maybe hanging around Elphaba had changed her more than she had initially realized.

History class came and went, and soon after the girls went off to eat lunch. Once again they paid no attention to each other. Elphaba sat down at an empty table to eat and Galinda sat at her usual table filled with giggling girls and empty headed boys. Galinda did feel slightly bad about leaving Elphaba on her own, but she reasoned that there was nothing she could do about it. She'd already broken all rules of social status by becoming friends with Elphaba in the first place. She couldn't let people know, or she'd end up sitting right next to Elphaba in that corner, shunned by society as her friend was. And so lunch passed by in the same way it always had, and soon Elphaba and Galinda were off to their separate afternoon classes.

Finally the school day ended and Elphaba gathered her many textbooks in her arms and went over to speak briefly with her professor. She left the room about ten minutes later. She was always the first one to enter the classroom and the last one to leave. That was just the way she was.

By the time she got outside the hallways were deserted. All of the other students were no doubt in a hurry to get on with other nightly activities that did not involve schoolwork. Elphaba, on the other hand, had no where to go, and so she walked slowly back to her dorm room, taking her time. Galinda would not be in for a couple of hours after her. The blonde girl always had somewhere to be or a group of friends to meet up with.

Elphaba had almost made it all the way back to her dorm, and for a few brief moments she'd thought she was in the clear. But of course, as luck would have it, it was not to be. When she was only two hallways away from the solitude of an empty bedroom, Galinda appeared around the corner, ShenShen and Pfanee on either side. Galinda looked startled, and it appeared for a moment that she would turn and run, but she knew she couldn't. There was nothing that could be done to prevent this now, ShenShen and Pfannee had spotted their prey.

As if on cue, Pfannee's high pitched voice broke the silence, "Oh look! The artichoke's just getting back from class now! What's the matter couldn't bear to leave your desk behind until tomorrow?"

ShenShen laughed at her friend's rather unintelligent insults and added, "It's probably the closest thing to a friend she's got!"

Both girls looked to Galinda to hear what she would say. Galinda was torn. She really didn't want to insult Elphaba, but she also couldn't disappoint ShenShen and Pfannee. For a moment she froze, but then her response came, "Umm…yeah. Why don't you go read your little textbooks and leave the rest of us alone?"

Galinda regretted the words the second they'd come out of her mouth, but she knew there was nothing she could do to take them back. If ShenShen and Pfannee had noticed Galinda's hesitation or lack of enthusiasm they obviously didn't care, and both hooted with laughter at Galinda's rather unoriginal insult. For a moment she met Elphaba's eyes, and saw the briefest flash of hurt shine through her usual mask, before Elphaba pushed past them and strode quickly away towards the dorm room. Galinda wanted to call after her, but she did not. Her mouth would not move as she quietly accepted the praise from ShenShen and Pfannee.

Galinda wondered why she felt so horrible about this. Why did Elphaba's feelings matter more to her than the feelings of everyone else she hung out with combined? She was sure she would not feel this terrible guilt if it had been Pfannee they'd just insulted. She felt a pang as she realized that Pfannee had other friends. Pfannee had no problem trusting people, and really cared nothing for their opinions because she would just trash their reputations later if she did not agree with them. Elphaba was different. Elphaba trusted no one easily and masked her emotions so that no one would see her hurt. Elphaba had placed her trust in Galinda, and Galinda had betrayed her without a second thought. That was why she felt so horrible. She'd managed to wound Elphaba in a way that no one else could. It always hurt more when betrayed by a friend than when betrayed by an enemy.

Galinda suddenly felt sick, "I'm going to go you guys. I'm feeling a bit sleepy and I think I might turn in a bit early tonight."

ShenShen stopped laughing to fawn over Galinda, "Oh dear are you sure? We'll have no fun without you!"

Galinda shook her head, "You two go on. I need to get my beauty rest."

"Alright then Galinda we'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well," said ShenShen.

"And good luck dealing with your frog of a roommate," added Pfannee, and the two went away laughing once more.

As soon as they were out of sight, Galinda turned and walked back to her dorm room. The door was locked, but she placed her key in the lock and the door swung open. She shut it softly behind her and stepped into the room.

The lights were out and she could tell from the lump under Elphaba's covers that her friend had already crawled into bed. However, there was no way she was already asleep, as their encounter had taken place not even three minutes ago.

"Elphaba, I know you're awake. I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't know what else to do!" she said, but she received no response and Elphaba did not move.

"Elphie, say something," Galinda pleaded, but still the air in the room remained silent. Galinda sighed sadly, seeing that Elphaba was clearly not going to speak to her tonight, and went into the bathroom to change for bed. She would try again in the morning.

While Galinda busied herself in the bathroom, Elphaba still lay unmoving under her blankets. She had been foolish in believing her friendship with Galinda could have possibly worked. Galinda had been her only friend, and so Elphaba had placed an importance on their friendship. But Galinda had so many friends and a reputation to uphold. Why should one green social reject matter to her? No, it would be better for all involved if this friendship ended now before things got out of hand. She would go back to a formal relationship with Galinda, greeting her in the morning and evening, but nothing more. She knew deep down that she also needed to do this to protect herself. She kept herself from being deeply affected by scathing remarks by keeping an emotional distance from her attackers; she could not afford to let Galinda in. She heard Galinda leave the bathroom and climb into the bed next to her, and a little later she herd the blonde girl'ss soft snores, but Elphaba did not fall asleep until much later in the night.

When Galinda awoke the next morning she looked around for Elphaba, but the green girl was no where to be found. Elphaba must have risen earlier and left the room some time before. Galinda sighed. Elphaba was obviously avoiding her, and she knew she deserved it, but how was she to apologize if she couldn't get her friend to listen?

Galinda did not see Elphaba again until she entered the history classroom later in the day. However, considering Galinda was with ShenShen and Pfannee she could not approach Elphaba, and Elphaba paid her no mind. Galinda tried waiting a bit longer after class to catch Elphaba alone, but the green girl uncharacteristically darted out the door as soon as class was dismissed.

By lunch time, Galinda thought she would go mad with guilt. She hadn't realized it before, but Elphaba's friendship really did mean more to her than anyone else's, and she had a good sized amount of friends. All of the other people she hung out with simply agreed with everything she said and catered to her every whim. Elphaba was different. Elphaba challenged her ideas and disagreed with her. Elphaba had her own mind and ideas, and she treated Galinda more like a person than a social icon. Elphaba actually had a personality that stood out more than her unusual skin color, and Galinda respected her for it.

ShenShen was droning on about an outfit one of their classmates had been wearing and, though Galinda once would have avidly participated in the conversation, she barely registered a word that came out of the obnoxious girl's mouth. Her mind was with Elphaba, who was sitting alone in the corner as she always did.

That was when Galinda made a very un-Galinda like decision.

Picking up her lunch, she stood and turned away from the table. The conversation ceased suddenly as the others called after her, but Galinda paid them no mind, keeping her eyes fixed on the lonely table in the corner. Elphaba did not see Galinda come up behind her, and so she jumped when the girl suddenly dropped her lunch into the space next to her.

"Hey," said Galinda, smiling uncertainly as she stood next to the table.

Elphaba looked shocked and confused for a moment as she glanced back to the table Galinda usually sat at, where people were now pointing toward Galinda and whispering to each other in confusion. She looked back up at Galinda again and realized what had happened. Perhaps she had been wrong about Galinda after all. Maybe she really could give this friendship another chance. Slowly, she gave Galinda a small smile and scooted over on the bench. Galinda took the initiative and sat down. The girls talked and laughed as they ate their lunch, oblivious to the fact that nearly every person in the cafeteria was staring at them in shock. For the time being, no one else mattered. Galinda had made her choice, and she felt no regret whatsoever.

After lunch she and Elphaba stood together and went to throw out the remnants of their food. They walked straight past Galinda's old lunch table, but did not spare a glance. Let them think what they wanted; Galinda had better uses of her time than explaining herself to those she had once called her friends.

When they had exited the cafeteria, Elphaba turned to Galinda and said, "You really don't have to do this."

Galinda simply smiled and said jokingly, "I know, that's what makes me so nice."

Elphaba shook her head at her friend and smiled. She took a deep breath, now feeling a bit awkward. She still didn't really know how to act around a friend in these sorts of situations, "Well, I do appreciate it you know."

Galinda nodded, "Oh, that reminds me! I think I need a tutor. Would you be up for the job?"

"My pleasure Miss Galinda," she said, her usual personality returning to her.

And so the two went off, talking and laughing. Elphaba would be grateful for Galinda's unselfish decision forever, but Galinda would never know just how close she had come to losing Elphaba's friendship for good.

Well there you have it, just a pointless little friendshippy thing to help me unwind. I always imagined something like this would have had to happen between the two of them, because I'm pretty sure the rest of Galinda's friends wouldn't have taken to the idea of Galinda hanging out with Elphaba. I also figured this would be a plausible reason why Galinda went with Elphaba to the Emerald City without even saying goodbye to anyone else.

Anyways, please review and tell me what you thought of it.

Thanks for reading S.P.