Elphaba stared at the fifty pairs of shoes in Galinda's wardrobe with distaste. How in all of Oz had she gotten herself into this mess? She just wanted a place to stay, but not with the little blonde brat she hated so much! She leaned back on her bed and felt the green bottle underneath. She pulled it out and looked at it, turning it about in her hands and taking the stopper out to sniff the inside.

Suddenly Galinda flounced in. Elphaba purpously avoided her gaze, stashing her green bottle underneath her pillow as quickly as possible. Galinda avoided looking at her as well, brushing make-up onto her cheek with greater interest than usual. They sat there for a few minutes in the thick atmosphere, feeling as though they could hardly breathe, and wondering why the other wasn't burning up with her hate. Suddenly Galinda stood and whirled on her. "Stop looking at me!" she shrieked.

Elphaba glared at her poofy head. "I wasn't looking at you. Why would I want to anyway? That tangle of yellow you call hair gives me a headache."

Galinda flushed and raced out of the room, taking her blush with her. Elphaba stood and followed her out, burying her head in a book. Before she quite knew what was happening she was in a large corridor, alone with Galinda. The pretty girl glared at her. The green witch stared back. Hatred rose in both of their throats, and before either of them quite knew what was happening, they were voicing their feelings. Elphaba was amazed at how her rage spewed out, but Galinda was somewhat used to this (having been planning this moment for quite a while).

"Loathing, unadulterated loathing!"

Galinda smirked. "For your face."

"Your voice," Elphaba retaliated.

Galinda looked shocked. "Your clothing!"

"Let's just say, I loathe it all!"

Elphaba held herself low, ready to pounce on Galinda her hatred was so strong. The prim little girl just played with the make-up she had brought with her, almost ignoring Elphaba, which infuriated the green girl even more. She made a dash at the stupid blonde, only to reel back and shy away as Galinda showed her the reflection of her own face in the tiny mirror. Elphaba hated her for that. Then a group of Galinda's admirers suddenly came from nowhere and surrounded their idol, showering her with praise and bashing Elphaba at the same time.

Elphaba was more enraged than ever now, purpously towering above the shorter girl and making hand movements to try and obliterate her with magic. She wondered briefly why her magic wasn't acting up like it usually did when she was angry. Her logical head came to a lightning quick conclusion. When she usualy got mad, it had a reason. This was just foolish banter with someone she disliked, so there was no reason to do anything rash. Suddenly everyone was quietish, making Elphaba leap forward with sudden vehemence and shout, "BOO!"

Galinda squealed and leapt back, letting Elphaba enjoy a smirk of satisfaction. Then Doctor Dillamond walked in.

Elphaba enjoyed the class greatly, other than having to endure a few typically stupid questions from Galinda. She found great pleasure in the way her non-human teacher aggrivated Galinda by pronouncing her name wrong. She found it simply wonderful. Then he turned that dreadful chalkboard around, revealing the horrible message on the other side. "Animals should be seen, and not heard." Elphaba was shocked and disturbed.

She stayed after class with him and shared her lunch, feeling incredibly bad for him since he was one of the few who accepted her there. She went back to her room and stayed there after visiting Nessa, and making sure she was alright. She stared at the ceiling, fingering the emerald bottle under her pillow. "Mother," she sighed, pulling the angular object out and gazing at it. She allowed a single tear to well in her eye, but wouldn't let it fall. She knew how much tears burned and stung as they rolled down her face. She banished the feelings of self pity and sorrow from her throat, detesting herself for it. She snatched up a book on inner control and decided to go for a walk.

She was just outside of Shiz, walking and reading at the same time when a cart zoomed past her, making her teeter unsteadily and fall to the ground. The thing she hated most though, was not being knocked over or having her dress dirtied, but losing her place in the intruiging book. She leapt up, eyes blazing with fury as she beheld the passenger of the cart. "You!" She stalked up to him, her long fingers curling into claws.

He turned and grinned at her, a boyish, uncaring and slippery grin that Elphaba hated. "Hey there."

"Is this what you usually do? Just ride around in that thing not caring if you knock people over and hurt them?" Elphaba was mad, but his grin faltering had eased her temper a bit. Good, he was afraid of her.

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"You should be more careful! Next time you could really hurt someone!" The green witch gave him one last detesting glare, then swept up her book and stalked away, trying to re-locate her place.

"Curse that boy," she muttered, skimming through an area of the book she had already read. "If ever I learn how I'm going to put a slowing spell on him. That'll keep him from knocking people over and making them lose their places in important books." She stormed over to a tree and sat down beneath it, it's shadow protecting her from the harsh sun. She gazed at the book, but her eyes glazed over, and somehow she found herself thinking about the boy. She hadn't taken the time to notice, but he hadn't been that bad looking, with his diamond tatoos and long brown hair. She shook her head, making her single braid whip the tree behind her. No! That wasn't her point in

existence, to lust after men she could never have. It was to show Oz she wasn't a freak, that she could do good. To be with the wizard. The wizard.

Elphaba leaned her head back and stared at the leaves above her, imagining what life with the wizard would be like. She would always be by his side, helping him with the smallest of problems. Like today! She would hear about something like the chalkboard happening, and would rush to the rescue. Everyone would adore her, rushing to her side and supporting her as she revealed the culprit and executed a harsh, but just punishment on him or her. Young men would swoon over her, if men did swoon, young girls would paint their faces green, just to be like her! The wizard himself might actually make himself green, just to honor her! Or better, he could make her skin normal colored! Elphaba squirmed with delight at the thought. It would be interesting to see Oz paint itself green for her, but she would love to just be normal.

Suddenly Nessa came rolling up, her face radiant. "Elphaba!" She got as close as her haste would allow and seized her sister's hand as she leapt up. "Elphaba! You'll never believe what just happened! This lovely little munchkin boy, Boq, just asked me to a party! The whole school will be there and-"

"Why?" Elphaba frowned. Everyone knew Boq was hopelessly falling for Galinda.

Nessa acted as though she hadn't heard. "Oh Elphaba, isn't it wonderful? Finally for this one night, I'm about to have a fun night! With this munchkin boy, Galinda found for me."

"Galinda?!" Elphaba's face turned pale with anger at the mere mention of her rival's name. Now she knew something was wrong. This wasn't just a coincidence.

Nessa just shook her head. "I know the two of you aren't the best of friends, but really! She can't be all that bad, and I only wish there were, something I could do for her. To

repay her. Elphaba, see? We deserve each other, and Galinda helped it come true. We deserve each other, me and Boq. Please Elphaba. Try to understand."

Her sister smiled as warmly as she could. She still didn't trust Galinda, but her sister was so happy. "I do." She gave her sister a hug and watched her roll away, happier than she had been in a long time. She decided to talk to Galinda, as much as it might make her skin crawl and her head reel, she had to do it. For her sister's safety.

When she walked into her room, she couldn't figure out why Galinda's friend was in there, looking through her clothes. Oh well. She stalked up to her room mate and said,

"Galinda, listen. Nessa and I were just talking about you just now-"

The obnoxious blonde cut her short with an exclamation of delight. "Oh! And I was just talking about you!" She turned to giggle at her friend, then presented a lovely pointy black hat with a round rim. "I though you might wanna wear this hat to the party tonight! It's really, uh, sharp don't you think? You know black is this year's pink! You deserve each other, this hat and you. You're both so, smart! You deserve each other, so here!" she thrust the thing into Elphaba's arms, "out of the goodness of my heart!"

Elphaba clutched the beautiful hat and backed away, fleeing her room and going into the bathroom. "Maybe," she mused, placing the wonderful hat on her head, "Just maybe, Galinda isn't so bad." She uttered every word grudgingly, but looked on in hidden delight when the hat fit her perfectly. "It's wonderful," she whispered. She seized the rim and traced it with her slender fingers, loving the way it tilted upward at one side. She twisted it so that the tilt was above her braid, framing her face prettily. She glared at herself from behind the wire-rimmed glasses. She certainly wasn't pretty, she knew that, but it made her look better. The shock of the hat took away from the shock of her skin. A slow, rather unsteady smile crept over her face as she rushed back into her room, the rapturous hat still perched perfectly on her head. She flung her wardrobe open and pulled out the simple black frock she had stolen from her mother's closet. She knew her father hated it, which is why she knew he wouldn't miss it. A party. She was going to a party!