Galinda sighed and rolled her eyes at the chair in front of her. Twisting her head, she checked to see if it was safe to relax her dramatic pose. No. Madame Morrible, although helping her roommate, had not turned her back to Galinda, and she had to keep up the act. Facing the chair again, Galinda screwed up her face and concentrated.
"Lift, you stupid chair," she hissed under her breath, "Go on, lift up. Float, do whatever it is you're supposed to do." Galinda would have tried chanting the spells again, but she had grown tired of the meaningless syllables ages ago. They hadn't helped her in the least. The chair stayed resolutely grounded and Galinda merely felt like a fool. Leave the chants to Miss Elphaba. Galinda had other ways of getting these things done. How would a floating chair ever her help her in life anyway?
Madame Morrible's heels suddenly began pounding the hard floor and Galinda furiously began spouting nonsense words. Never mind the actual chant, just enough to let Horrible Morrible believe she was working.
"Beware, Miss Upland," Madame Morrible droned from just over Galinda's shoulder. Galinda jumped and stopped her mutterings instantly, "Too much focus and the slightest mispronunciation could result in a magical backlash."
Galinda nodded fervently and quietly toned down her act just enough to be believable. She would look at her roomie's notes later (without Miss Elphaba's knowledge, of course. If the artichoke found out, well, Galinda would just die!)
For a minute, Galinda actually tried to concentrate on levitating her chair, but soon became frustrated again. 'Ah tay mea' and 'Con crecerna'; it was all nonsense! What difference did those ridiculous tongue movements make? And what was a "magical backlash" anyhow? Galinda didn't know. She had a slight feeling that it might be painful, but then again, Horrible Morrible could make the simplest thing sound like pure torture.
"Careful, Miss Thropp. Watch your power levels." Morrible boomed into Galinda's thoughts, blasting her from them. Galinda huffed and turned a new force of concentration on the old furniture. She pointed, she chanted, she huffed, she poured herself into this chair. Why should her hideous roomie be taken seriously, when she, the epitome of beauty was seen as a joke? Why should the odd lanky girl with no sense for social life have everything in the academic world? Why should Galinda, who wanted this more than anything, be tossed aside carelessly in light of the disgusting girl who would never stand a chance past the safe academics of Shiz? Why—
Galinda suddenly felt her breath hitch and her knees buckle. She swooned, thinking "What in Lurline's name?" Her eyes fluttered and her lungs clenched tight. Galinda felt a slight rush of panic and then it was gone.
"Miss Upland!" Galinda squinted and flinched at Madame Morrible's outraged explosion, "Do you ignore everything said to you? Get up and rest a moment, then try again, and for Oz's sake keep yourself in control!" Galinda huffed, and suddenly realizing that she had fallen to the ground, righted herself with as much dignity as she could muster. As soon as Morrible's back was turned she shot a glare at the artichoke, who smirked and snickered back at her. Galinda bristled and sat down in her chair, certain that it wouldn't move under any circumstances. Morrible sat to do some quick work of her own, obviously feeling that Miss Elphaba did not require her constant supervision. Miss Elphaba took the opportunity to silently feign a dramatic faint, pressing her palms to her head and heart and catching herself just before she hit the ground. Galinda glared as the string bean cackled softly and turned back to her own work.
"You may begin again whenever you feel ready, Miss Upland." Morrible called without raising her eyes from her paperwork.
"Of course, Madame. Just a moment more, I'm still feeling a bit weak." Morrible nodded absently. Galinda was in the process of contorting her features to show an air of superiority, to scream, "I don't have to work anymore and you do," when the chair beneath her wavered unsteadily and the ground seemed to drop out from beneath her. Galinda did her best to muffle a shriek, but could not entirely contain it as her chair suddenly rose into the air.
"Nicely done, Miss Thropp. You seem to have the gist of the spell." Galinda swerved around as well as she could without toppling out of her precarious seat to find her roommate grinning broadly at her, her smirk overpowering even her long nose in its evil glee. Gripping the sides of the chair, Galinda huffed and glowered back.
Galinda glowered and glared, she huffed and stamped her heels. This chair, it seemed, was just as stubborn as the last one. Not that Galinda expected this one to cooperate, as it was technically Miss Elphaba's. The asparagus was the only one who ever used the old piece of furniture and the desk that accompanied it anyway. Galinda had ransacked her roomie's bag and papers lay strewn across the floor of most of the dorm. The required notes, the ones on levitation, were now taped to Galinda's bedpost so she could read them while attempting the spell, as she had been for the past half hour.
"Stupid ugly chair," she muttered. She could feel her power levels draining with each new try to make the wretched piece of wood take wing. Or maybe she was just getting frustrated and tired. According to Miss Elphaba's unwritten but always followed schedule, Galinda only had another hour with the notes until tomorrow night. At that time, her roomie would return from the library, books in arms and reading glasses on head. It never failed to amaze her how one person could spend two hours in the same room, doing the same thing, for five days every the week willingly. Galinda was sure that she would not have been able to manage that.
Sighing, Galinda brought herself back into the work. She had to have this spell down by tomorrow. Morrible was already leering over her shoulder and she was beginning to fall behind. It just wasn't fair! Miss Elphaba had a gift, but Galinda, who was used to gifts and talent had to work for this! She simply wasn't cut out for this kind of work. But Galinda wanted this more than anything. Anything at all. More than dresses, more than jewelry. More than a prince for a boyfriend. After all, a sorceress could have all those things whenever she desired them, couldn't she? This thought lifting her spirits, Galinda began to try again.
And again.
And again.
With only fifteen minutes left, knowing she should start to clean up her mess if she didn't want Miss Elphaba to know what she had been doing, but still not having made the chair so much as budge, Galinda collapsed exhausted on the floor. Maybe she was simply going about this all wrong. Maybe she needed to channel her roomie – just for this spell. Galinda was sure that if she could get it once, she would in turn get a feel for the spell and be able to replicate it without so much trouble. Sighing, Galinda stood once more and tried something new. She scrunched up her face, grimacing with her lips and pulling her eyebrows together. She flared her nostrils and imagined her nose getting longer. Finally she glared at the chair and imagined it having a will of its own (not an entirely difficult feat as it had been stubbornly defying her for the last hour or so.) Then, Galinda resolved to bend that will to her own. From instinct more than anything, she reached out her wand to the chair and chanted with as much force as she could muster.
"Ah – te – na…. mi – sol –ne"
"What the hell are you--"
The chair flew. Well, not exactly, but Galinda wasn't quite sure what else to call the incredibly rapid way the chair skidded across the room and flung itself into her roommate's abdomen. Miss Elphaba was thrown across the back of her own chair from the force of the blow and she hit her forehead on the seat before tumbling down in front of the innocent looking piece of furniture. Galinda was torn between absolute horror and a serious case of the giggles.
"Miss Elph--"
"Unnamed GOD!" Miss Elphaba shrieked. She sat up slowly one are wrapped around her stomach and the other hand clutching her forehead. Galinda walked slowly over to help her to the seat of the chair, biting her tongue softly to keep the uncalled for chortles inside.
"Are you quite alright, Miss Elphaba?" Galinda didn't need a verbal response. The glare she received for her question answered her well enough.
"I see," Miss Elphaba heaved, "That you've nearly gotten the hang of that spell," Galinda grinned and began to answer, but was cut off quickly, "from my notes."
Galinda's face fell and she flushed gently. Well, from the mess she'd made of the dorm, it was rather obvious.
"I was going to clean it all up, but you came back early from the library."
"The check-out line was shorter than usual, and I won't ask why you've bothered to memorize my schedule." Galinda flushed again, deeper this time. Miss Elphaba grimaced and clutched her stomach tighter. "Unnamed God," she whispered again, more to herself than any deity. Galinda was silent for a moment, then went over to her own bed and plucked the notes from the post, laying them gently on the desk. Receiving no response from her roommate, Galinda knelt down on the floor and began picking up the other papers.
"You do know," Miss Elphaba said suddenly, "that I would help you with a spell if you asked," Glainda looked around at her roommate, making eye contact for only a moment before delicately rolling her eyes skywards and returning to the papers. "I wouldn't tell Morrible - I'm not that wicked." Galinda paused again. Maybe – just maybe.
"And just for future reference – the 'ne' is pronounced 'neh' not 'nee,'" Galinda's mouth formed a delicate 'oh' and she looked sheepishly at the green girl as she stood and brushed herself off. Regaining a bit of her smirk, Miss Elphaba put her chair back in it's rightful position and began organizing her notes.
"Although, that would be an interesting way to get Horrible Morrible out of commission for a few days."
Galinda couldn't hide a smirk.