Author's Note: I always thought that in the musical, Glinda mourning Nessa seemed a bit odd and false, given that she shows her true emotions in that scene. Here I attempt to flesh the relationship out. Could probably do with some editing! Comments very welcome.
Nessa stared at the piles of clothes strewn out on her bed and sighed distraughtly as the clock on her bedside table struck seven. She had roughly an hour until she was due to meet Boq at the front of the school gates. Boq, the handsome first year boy who had actually chosen to invite her to a party! She had imagined the scenario again and again since he had asked her earlier today. He would pick her up from the gates of the staff accommodation compartments, and from there they would walk to the Ozdust ballroom and dance and socialise all night, and maybe on the way back they would share a goodnights kiss, on the cheek of course…Nessa was letting her mind wander. She surveyed the piles of material before her once more – her collection of blouses and skirts was incredibly vast, and yet absolutely nothing stood out to her. She was just about ready to give up hope. Was it too late to let Boq know that she would have to stay in tonight? He'd understand. People always did. Perhaps she might invent a particularly nasty headache, to gain herself some sympathy. Not that Nessa normally had trouble getting people to feel sorry for her. They were always ready to pity the 'tragically beautiful' sister of the least popular, most terrifying girl in school, especially when that sister just so happened to be in a wheelchair. Nessa shook her head, 'stop wallowing and get changed' she said to herself, picking up a long navy blue gown and holding it up against herself. Yes, the blue really complemented her eye colour, although the shape was not the most flattering. It hung drably around the chest and hips, and fell straight down over her feet, without any ruching or bows, or anything else to make it look even remotely fashionable, but was the most glamourous thing she could find, and she was running out of time.
"For Oz sake" Galinda muttered to herself, working her way blindly down the narrow, unfamiliar corridors in the staff accommodation compartment building which adjoined the girl's dormitories, carrying about twelve large ball gowns in various designs and multiple shades of pink, piled up on her outstretched arms, along with hundreds of accessories and other miscellaneous pieces of fabric. As she stumbled up to the door to Madame Morrible's compartment, she dumped the frocks unceremoniously on the floor and without knocking she entered, screeching "Madame, I must ask you a few questions about the storage in my suite. I'm afraid it's not nearly big enough to store all of my clothes and shoes and…" her voice trailed off as she saw sitting before her in front of a roaring fire, not the imposing figure of Madame Morrible, but the slight, mousy frame of Nessarose Thropp. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was looking for Madame Morrible." Galinda's eyes passed frankly over the girl's tiny frame. The huge satin sack hanging off her body emphasised her sharp, pointy collar bones and elbows. Almost in the same breath, she added "And you're not going to wear THAT are you?"
In an instant, Galinda forgot the original purpose of her visit, "NO…no, no, no, no, no! Sure, that dress is nice, but it needs more pink!"
"More…pink?" Nessa asked, confused. She couldn't quite believe that Galinda Upland, the most popular, beautiful girl in school was actually talking to her, let alone offering her valuable fashion advice.
"Yes! Oh, Nessa, it is Nessa? Oh good, I can call you Nessa, can't I? Nessa, what do boys like?" Galinda posed her question bluntly, then thrust her hands on to her hips and tossed her hair, which glittered in the firelight.
"Um…" Nessa searched for an answer in her head. Honestly, she had no idea what boys liked, having rarely ever actually talked to a boy before. She looked to Galinda and allowed herself for a second to admire the way Galinda's eyes sparkled, the way her noise twitched in anticipation, the way her hair curled perfectly…
"ME!" Glinda burst out impatiently, "boys like me! Surely you've noticed…" she tossed her hair again, "and I like pink! So for tonight, Nessa, you like pink too! In fact, pink should be your new favourite colour. That's my secret! You're welcome!" Galinda looked pleased with herself, waiting for a response, for Nessa to thank her profusely. Bluntly, Galinda waited for her spell to take hold.
"But, I don't have any pink dresses. Father likes us, Elphaba and me, to dress practically, professionally; I don't have anything at all like your dress!" Nessa gestured to Galinda's bright pink ball gown then buried her face in her hands. How could Boq even think about her when Galinda was in the same room, twirling gracefully across the dance floor, radiating warmth like firelight.
"Thank you for encoragerizing Boq to ask me to the party tonight Galinda, but I'm afraid I'll have to waste your favour. How can I possibly be seen like this? I'll waste your time no longer; Madame has been out all evening preparing for the sorcery tutorial she is teaching tomorrow. You can find her in her classroom. Goodnight." She knew she was being melodramatic but for a second Nessa wondered whether she could muster a few silent tears. She was desperate for Galinda's help, and as Galinda seemed to have time to spare, all she needed was a bit of manipulation, no, encouragement, and Nessa would soon be under the guidance of the best dressed student at Shiz! "Look, Nessa, really I don't have the time to help you...I still have to decide whether to change my shoes or not, and if I do, I'm sure you can imagine it will take me a fair while to pick a suitable replacement pair. But, because I'm so terribly nice, I'm going to help you anyway…" And with that Galinda bounced to her pile of recently abandoned clothing and began rummaging through, tossing aside scarves and stoles and muffs. Nessa smiled ruefully, and then watched as Galinda tossed aside dress after dress, each more glittering, ruffled and intricate than the last, digging for her buried treasures. Finally, after several minutes of frantic searching, she held up the dress she had been looking for, took a deep breath, turned around and handed it to Nessa, who had been sitting reservedly, watching Galinda's search. "This is for you! Aaaannnddd…" Galinda bounded up to Nessa's wardrobe, selected the brown wooden box which she had seen earlier that day and flung it open to reveal a beautiful pair of jewelled heels, "…you'll wear it with these!"
Minutes later, Nessa had changed into the gown that Glinda had handed her, and was smoothing down the powder pink ruffles which adorned the skirt. Satisfied, she asked Galinda, who had been sitting on the edge of Nessa's bed, brushing her curls for the umpteenth time, to move aside the screen which had hidden her whilst changing, and reveal her new look. Galinda's eyes lit up. "You look beautiful Nessa. That dress is…well, it's something, isn't it? I had it made for me personally a few years ago by a seamstress who has recently worked with an apprentice tailor whose master had fitted suits for non-other than THE WIZARD himself! It was my favourite for a full 3 weeks Nessa! But you needn't thank me! I've always got time for others in need of beautification!" and with that Galinda began gathering up her frocks, humming a tune as she did so. "But do you think Boq will like it? The dress I mean, and the hair, and the shoes and everything else. Do you think he will like me?" Nessa asked, almost to herself. Galinda froze. She had genuinely enjoyed picking out Nessa's outfit, helping her to curl her hair and fix it with a pink ribbon and gossiping about the linguification students who had begun to communicate in only hoots and peeps. For a while she had forgotten that the only reason Boq had asked out Nessa was because he was certain that if he did, then he would be guaranteed a dance with Galinda herself. Galinda resolved in that moment to dance with Fiyero all night, so that Boq would have no choice but to dance with Nessa, and perhaps he would see how perfect he was for her. She smiled and looked Nessa up and down, surveying her work. "Yes. Nessa, I am certain he will!"