She glanced over, staring at the girl who sat opposite her. Her emerald green hand tore across the page, madly scribbling notes. It was something Galinda simply could not comprehend- they were only fifteen minutes into their fifth hour Ozian History lesson, yet Elphaba had already managed to scrawl an entire page of notes in spiky, rigid cursive. Throughout the entire term, the only things Galinda had put in her notebook were absentminded scribbles. In addition to the studious activity of the green girl in classes, the only things she did outside of her lessons were sleep, eat and read large, thick, heavy books. How could one possibly spend all day absorbing all that information, and never having any fun? Galinda supposed that, if it wasn't so bizarre, it could almost be called admirable. On the few occasions that she had spoken with her roommate, Elphaba had mumbled about nothing but Animal rights. The girl knew what she was after, that's for sure, but Galinda still found the notion curious. She watched Elphaba's hawklike chocolate eyes flicker from her notes to the textbook, to the blackboard, back to her notes, then finally to Galinda, who averted her absentminded gaze quickly- she had, after all, been staring at Elphaba for a lot longer than what would be considered normal. It wasn't as though she had spaced out- Galinda had been watching intently every single one of Elphaba's swift, deliberate moves. It was entrancing in the most abnormal way- her left hand danced across the pages of her textbook, while her right hand followed suit with a pen and a notepad. Galinda looked out of the wrought-iron latticed window to her right, observing the bright sunlight cast over the flourishing gardens outside- a place she would much rather have been, compared to this stuffy old classroom. She allowed her mind to wander, back to her first day at Shiz.
The day she had met Elphaba and, along with practically every other student, immediately judged her as a detestable social outcast. Though Galinda avoided conversation with Elphaba- Oz, she avoided her at all costs- she figured something out. Elphaba was not by any means detestable- different, maybe, from her emerald green skin to her bookish ways, but most certainly not detestable. It was not proper to hate someone, just because their skin looks a little different. Well, okay, a lot different. But Elphaba was humbler, smarter, and, on occasion, even funnier than the popular crowd at Shiz. Elphaba possessed wit- something Galinda was mildly jealous of. None of the boys she ever went out with possessed an ounce of wit; perhaps it was because they were purely too dumbfounded by Galinda's presence. As much as Galinda knew this was a proud approach, it was true- the munchkin boy Boq fainted in front of Galinda, as her tried to summon the courage to ask her to dinner. Avaric and Fiyero had to carry him all the way to the nurse's on the third floor. Galinda smiled, reminiscing on the moment after that. She had returned to her room to find Elphaba, unsurprisingly sitting cross-legged on her dingy brown bed, eyes flickering rapidly over a book containing pages upon pages of miniscule black text. More out of boredom and the mildest form of curiosity than anything else, Galinda asked Elphaba what she was reading.
"13th Century copy of Animal jurisdiction law." She replied flatly, still completely absorbed in whatever she was reading. At this, Galinda bounced over to the mirror, picked up a brush off the adjacent shelf and began gently guiding its bristles through her golden hair. Not long after beginning, she heard a soft thud. Galinda turned around. The thick law book was closed, sitting on the scratchy brown sheets, and Elphaba was standing next to her, hands buried in her coat pockets, slightly slouched over. She still managed to tower over the petite Galinda. Elphaba opened her mouth to speak, revealing the stark-white, razor-sharp canines that rested within.
"How was your day, Miss Galinda?" The emerald-skinned girl asked politely. And so began the first proper conversation that Galinda and Elphaba ever had.
"Oh, Miss Elphaba, it was simply awful..." Galinda remembered ranting about the day's events to the tall green girl, who just sat and listened intently.
A loud ring snapped Galinda out of her reverie. Everyone else was already leaving the classroom, including Elphaba. Galinda grabbed her books and hurriedly skipped after her, not caring anymore for what her friends thought of this peculiar, yet intriguing girl with whom she shared a dormitory.