Summary: Elphaba is under pressure as she has to find a way to pay for Shiz after her father disowns her. However, Madame Morrible may have a solution…
Disclaimer: Anyone in their right mind would know that I do not own this musical, nor did I write the book. I just write the fanfiction.
Italics: Will mean that someone is speaking in a foreign language. This will be prominent throughout the story, so take notice now.
"Bye Momsie! Bye Popsicle! See you next holiday!" called Galinda, waving furiously as the carriage containing her parents drove away. She swallowed the small lump that was forming at the back of her throat, feeling a sudden wave of sadness hit her as she watched them leave. It felt weird being back at Shiz after summer vacation; she really wasn't looking forward to all the studying that would be forced upon her. She sighed in resignation, turning away and proceeded to scan the crowd of students for familiar faces. She soon spotted Pfannee and Shenshen by their usual meeting spot under a large oak tree near the pond, and they, upon seeing her, beckoned her to join them.
"So, how was your vacation?" asked Pfannee as Galinda skipped over and plopped down next to her. "Mine was dull as usual, nothing exciting happened, and I broke two nails while helping my mother dust the furniture the other day. It was awful! See?!" Pfannee lifted up her left hand to reveal two nails that were indeed shorter than the others, but other than that, there was no other visible damage.
"Oh, Pfannee, you're so silly!" Galinda giggled, taking her hand and examining the colour of nail polish Pfannee had chosen. "It doesn't look bad at all! Though I probably wouldn't have chosen this specific colour-" Pfannee narrowed her eyes at her comment. "It's not funny!" she hissed. "It really hurt and I –"
She was interrupted by a squeal from Galinda, who had just glanced over towards the carriage drop-off area. "OH! There's Elphaba and Nessa! SorryGottagoloveyoutalktoyoulaterbye!" Pfannee glared after Galinda as she raced off towards the odd-coloured girl, who was currently helping an older woman get a wheelchair out of a carriage in front of their dorm. "Honestly, interrupting me in the middle of my story just to say hello to that horrendous green bean. It's like she doesn't care," she huffed. "What are we, chopped liver?"
"Well….to be perfectly honest with you, Pfannee…your story…it does seem rather…silly," Shenshen said hesitantly, hiding a smile.
"Fine, take her side. See what I care." Pfannee slumped down against the tree, embarrassed. Shenshen merely giggled at her friend. "Galinda's right, though," she added. "I wouldn't have worn orange nail polish with-OUCH!" Shenshen was interrupted by Pfannee bonking her on the head. "Enough with the nail polish already!" Pfannee exclaimed in exasperation.
Shenshen, rubbing her head, just giggled.
"ELPHIE! ELPHIEEEE!" Elphaba, who had just settled her sister into her wheelchair, turned towards the familiar yell of her roommate just as a pink blur crashed into her, missing Nessarose by an inch, and sent the two of them flying into the bushes. "A simple hello would have done just fine," Elphaba's voice was a bit muffled due to Galinda having landed on top of her. "…Okay, so that was a bad idea," muttered said blonde as she sat up, holding her head.
"My sweet, you never have been good at thinking things through," Elphaba deadpanned. "But, it is good to see you again." She got up, pulling the blonde up with her and engulfing her in a fierce hug, picking out a few stray leaves and twigs that had found their way into Galinda's hair.
"Summer vacation was horrendously boring without you!" cried Galinda, throwing her hands up in an exaggerated manner, as Elphaba continued dusting the two of them off. "I had to sleep in my big room all by myself, and there were more thunderstorms than usual this year and I really missed you being there with me to help chase the monsters away and reading to me and…" Galinda said all of this really fast without taking a breath and with no signs of stopping until Elphaba seized her by the shoulders and gave them a shake. "Galinda, my sweet, please. Breathe. I don't want to have to explain to the school nurse as to why my roommate suddenly passed out while talking to me. People might think I cursed you," she said in what she hoped was a joking tone of voice, but it had the opposite effect of what she wanted. Galinda's eyes widened in horror and she opened her mouth to apologize when she was cut off by Nessarose, who'd been watching them with a jealous glare.
"Elphaba, help Nanny get my bags, will you? I'm getting tired and wish to take a nap before dinner," the younger girl said, yawning widely to get her point across. Her sister sighed, reluctantly pulling away from her friend.
"All right, Nessie. Let's go." She looked over at the woman standing next to her sister's chair, "I'll get the bags, Mamá. I'll see you at her room."
"Are you sure? You only have the one bag, mi hija. Your sister has three. I told her to pack lightly, too. You would think that she would have left a lot of her things in her dorm room over the summer holidays…"
The two continued their conversation, unaware that Galinda was staring at them in awe. "What are they saying?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from them to focus on Nessarose, who just sighed. Judging by her bored expression, she was clearly used to this.
"How am I supposed to know?" she asked stiffly. "I don't speak it...Whatever it is. Elphaba's been speaking it since forever; I think Nanny taught her or something." She added, stifling another yawn. "I do wish they'd hurry up. I'm tired. I don't do well with carriage rides, and this one took longer than it usually does."
Galinda turned back towards her roommate and Nanny, who had finished talking. Elphaba had begun gathering her and her sister's bags, signaling that they were about to leave. Nanny walked over towards her and Nessa, wearing a friendly smile. "You must be infamous Galinda!" the woman said, leaning against Nessa's chair. "It's so nice to finally meet you! Elphaba told me so much about you," she added, with a worried glance over at said girl, who had started walking towards the dorm, struggling a little with the weight of the baggage.
Galinda blushed. "I'm not that important, really," she said modestly. "Elphie's the best roommate ever!"
Nanny smiled down at her. "Well, you are important to my Elphaba and that's all that matters. I hope to see you later, yes? Oh yes, I forgot. You can call me Maria if you want." Galinda nodded, deducing that the silver-haired woman was not from around here, judging by her accent. She found it to be rather endearing. "I'll see you in your room later!" Maria grinned, turning to address Nessa, who appeared to be dozing off.
"Ready to go Nessie?" she asked. Nessa jumped a little at the sound of her caretaker's voice. "Can we go now, Nanny?" she asked the older woman sleepily. Maria nodded and began pushing the brunette's chair into the dormitory. "See you at dinner, Galinda" Nessa called over her shoulder. Galinda watched them leave, with dozens of questions swarming about in her head. Just when she thought she had her Elphie all figured out, she had to go and surprise her. Again. She walked over to a bench near the entrance, and sat down, completely lost in thought. She didn't know how long she sat there, but the next thing she knew the sky had turned from blue to the colour of orange soda, and the majority of the students had disappeared into their respective dorms, presumably getting their rooms in order before dinner. She stood up and stretched, thinking she'd better head inside as well, and resolving to interrogate her roommate later that evening.
After settling Nessarose in her room and helping her into bed, both Maria and Elphaba headed down the hall to Elphaba's room. Elphaba set her lone suitcase down in front of the door and sighed, pulling her key out of her frock pocket. "Mi hija, you know it's not too late to apply for scholarships, or perhaps an on-campus job," Maria said as Elphaba unlocked the door and pushed it open, making a beeline towards her bed. "You've been doing so well in your studies; it'd be a damn shame if you were to leave now!"
Elphaba looked over her shoulder as she dropped her suitcase on the floor next to her bed. "Mamá, you heard what father said. He'd never allow it-"
"I don't give a damn what that man says," the woman interjected. "You need an education, especially if you are to rule Munchkinland. Why don't you write to your grandfather? You know he'd do anything to help you!"
"I don't want to bother him, Mamá," Elphaba said quietly. "He's been rather busy as of late…I don't want him to be worried about me on top of everything else…Besides, I saw him two days before coming back here and he thinks everything is fine at home. If I were to write to him now..."
"Elphaba, it's almost like you think you don't deserve to be happy. You, more than anyone, deserve to be here! You need to fight for it!" Maria said exasperated. "There are so many options you haven't tried yet. At least give one of them a shot!"
"It doesn't matter anymore, Mamá" Elphaba grabbed a black pillow and hugged it to her chest, unable to look Maria in the eyes. "It's over. Done. By this time next week, I'll have found an apartment or something, and I'll not bother anyone again."
Maria tried again. "But, what about your friends here? They'd miss you, won't they?"
"I only have one friend, and honestly Mamá, she'd be better off without me. She's lost a lot of her friends because she associates with me…" The lump that had been forming in the back of her throat for the last three months was threatening to burst. Hot tears were already starting to drip down her cheeks and she wiped them hurriedly away, not wanting Maria to see them. She had never loathed herself as much as she did right at that moment, and if she were to be honest with herself, it scared her a little.
"That's because they're silly, shallow girls, mi hija," Maria walked over and sat down next to Elphaba, taking her green hands into her own. "Those girls, they try so hard to be something they're not, and in the end, that's their own downfall. But you, you don't hide who you are, nor do you hide your feelings. You may be blunt, but at least you speak the truth. Sometimes, Elphaba, the truth hurts, but it's better hearing the truth and being hurt for a moment than to be lied to and hurt for a lifetime."
"So what you're saying is that father was right and I did kill-"
Maria glared at her. "NO. You know that's not what I meant. It wasn't your fault, and you damn well know it. Do not bring that up again, do you hear me?"
Elphaba winced. "I'm sorry."
Maria's face softened. "No, don't be sorry. I'm just upset that you're always so down on yourself. You're a wonderful person, Elphaba. I pity anyone who hasn't been able to see the real you."
"Believe me, everyone has seen the real me. Galinda's the only one who's been kind enough to stay." Elphaba looked up at her, a defeated look in her eyes. "No one wants to associate with….this" she gestured to herself with a sweeping motion of her arm.
"Do not refer to yourself as an object in my presence," Maria said with narrowed eyes. "If Galinda is, as you say, the only one "kind" enough to stay with you, then you need to keep her in your life, mi hija. If not for yourself, fight to stay with her. Judging by her exuberant greeting this afternoon, her reaction to you leaving would probably be as, if not more, violent. Which reminds me, just how are you planning on telling her that you're leaving?"
Elphaba's mouth suddenly went dry. "I-"
Maria raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess, you had absolutely no intentions of doing so, am I correct?"
Hesitantly, Elphaba nodded.
Maria sighed. "How do you think she'd feel, knowing that her roommate and best friend just up and left without an explanation? It's not very considerate of you, mi hija," Maria shook her head. "I raised you better than that!"
"I don't want to have to tell her that my own bloody father disowned me!" Elphaba snapped back, turning a watery glare to Maria. "I don't want pity, and that's exactly what she'd do. She'd pity me. I can't stand to see that…that look on her face! I refuse to have anyone take pity on me when I'm fully capable of handling this myself!"
"You should still tell her," Maria insisted. "Remember what I told you; being hurt for a moment is a lot better than being hurt for a lifetime. If you don't tell her, and you leave without a damn good excuse, well…she may never forgive you. She'd be hurting for the rest of her life, Elphaba, and so would you. You know I'm right."
Elphaba just stared at the ground, unable to think of a comeback. "I…I just….I don't want to lose her…but at the same time…all I am to her is a burden…"
"Is that what she thinks, or is that what you think?" Maria asked quietly.
Elphaba didn't have an answer to that.
Maria opened her mouth to say something, when she stopped and turned towards the door, an odd expression on her face. "I think," she began, slowly turning towards Elphaba with a raised eyebrow, "We have a visitor coming."
Elphaba's ears perked up at the familiar sound of her roommate's footsteps, which stopped just at the door. "I think she's spying on us," she said, rolling her eyes.
Maria just smiled.
As she approached their dorm room, Galinda heard, once again, Elphaba talking to Maria in that odd language she'd heard earlier. She leaned up against the wall next to their door, completely content with listening to her roommate and Nessa's caretaker. 'She could talk to me like that all day,' she thought to herself. 'I absolutely love her voice. Wait, how in Oz did she make her 'r's go like that?!'
"Galinda?" Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the door opening, and Elphaba's verdant face peeked out from behind it.
"Galinda, my sweet, aren't you going to come in?" Elphaba asked her with a knowing look.
Galinda jumped a little. "AH! Elphie! How'd you know I was here?"
Elphaba smirked. "I distinctly heard one pair of footsteps coming down the hallway and they stopped in front of our room. I knew it couldn't have been any of your little posse because they'd never come near this hallway without you to protect them from 'the green monstrosity'. Also, you may not notice this, but you have a very distinct walking pattern; you tend to do a little skip every fourth step. It's kind of adorable." Elphaba suppressed a laugh as she watched her roommate's eyes grow rounder and rounder with every word.
"Oh…" was all Galinda could say, amazed at how observant her quiet roommate was
As if reading her thoughts, Elphaba laughed. "You think I don't notice these things? I'm not unobservant, you know." Elphaba gently took her by the hand and pulled her inside.
"I'm sorry, I was just listening to your conversation and I swear I couldn't understand you so I wasn't technically eavesdropping and it sounded so uberliciously pretty and wow I absolutely love your accent and how'd you do that thing with your 'r's-" For the second time that day, Elphaba grabbed her by the shoulders, and stared into her eyes. "Galinda, my sweet. For the love of Oz. Shut up and BREATHE."
A snort of laughter behind them made both girls jump and Elphaba let go of Galinda's shoulders, turning to face her sister's caretaker, who was obviously trying not to laugh and failing miserably.
"Sorry, but you two are funny!" the older woman said, a grin plastered on her face.
"Is been long time since I see Elphaba so happy," Maria continued. "Thanks for that," she nodded over at Galinda. "You need to make her laugh more, okay?" The blonde responded with an enthusiastic nod and salute.
Elphaba sighed. "You two do realize that I do smile. Sometimes."
"But not enough!" Maria declared with a smile of her own, walking over and placing a hand on Elphaba's thin shoulder. "You have very beautiful smile," she continued, lifting up Elphaba's chin slightly with a delicate finger, "And believe me, I should know."
Elphaba just lowered her gaze, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "Thanks, Mamá," she said quietly.
"Is all right, mi hija," Maria grinned. "I'll go to Nessa's room. She's sleeping like dead, so maybe I can finally finish knitting you that sweater. See you at dinner?" She received a nod in response. "Good. See you!" She winked at Galinda, nodded at Elphaba, and disappeared out into the hall, shutting the door with a soft 'click' behind her.
Galinda turned to Elphaba, who had flopped down onto her bed, burying her head in her pillow. "You called Maria that before," she said slowly. "Back at the drop off area. You called her 'Mama'. Why'd you…?" her voice trailed off in a question.
Elphaba lifted her head. "I've…been calling her that since I was little," she replied, looking a little embarrassed. "After my mother passed, she became the closest thing to a mother I had. It seemed fitting at the time. In fact, she actually encouraged it. I don't think she had any children of her own..." She sat up and began fiddling with her braid. Galinda looked eager to hear more.
"So, how did you learn...whatever that was? It's absolutely beautificious! Did Maria teach you or something?" she asked curiously, going over and plopping down on Elphaba's bed, her eyes shining with anticipation.
Elphaba shook her head, her dark braid slapping her cheek slightly. "No. My…mother was fluent in it. I have faint memories of her singing and reading stories to me, and just talking to me. Those are some of my fondest memories. I have to keep playing them over and over because I never want to forget her voice," she said in barely more than a whisper. "It's been fifteen years. You'd think I'd be over it by now…" she muttered under her breath, clearly annoyed with herself.
Galinda watched her silently, unsure how to respond. After a few moments of silence, Elphaba continued her story. "After she died, Father hired Mamá, who came from a tropical island pretty far away from here, to help care for Nessa, as I was too young to be of any use. He told her upon learning of her native language that his wife had been teaching it to me as well, so perhaps we'd get along. We did, perhaps better than he expected. Mamá was somewhat poor with English at the time, so she often relied on me for translations and such. It didn't take her long to discover that my father had an… immense dislike of me, and so she took it upon herself to raise me, along with Nessa. She became the mother I no longer had, and…I felt wanted and accepted again. Hiring Mamá was probably the only decent thing my father ever did for me. "
As she spoke, Elphaba's eyes seemed to glaze over as she relived a part of her past to Galinda. She found herself becoming lighter as she shared parts of herself she'd never in a million years considered revealing to anyone. The fact that Galinda was listening with rapt attention and not interrupting her at all encouraged her to keep talking.
Elphaba had no idea when exactly she became so comfortable around her roommate. She felt as though she could tell the young woman anything and not be judged. At the same time, she hated talking to people about her problems, especially since others probably had it so much worse than she did. She was still terrified of losing the only person she could legitimately call a friend; she worried that if she complained too much Galinda would one day tell her to shut up, that she didn't want to deal with her melodramatics anymore, and ditch her for the other prissy girls again. She knew that their friendship had strained her status on campus, but Galinda had assured her again and again that she didn't give a damn, that she, Elphaba, hardly ever complained and therefore had a right to do so, and that she was the only friend that had made a difference in her life.
That still didn't stop Elphaba from worrying obsessively.
"I'm sorry, I must be boring you with my history," she said softly.
Galinda stared at her roommate. "NO! You're not! I'm just amazed that there's so much I still don't know about you, Elphie! I learn something new about you every day!" She leaned over and laid her head on her roommate's shoulder. "Never think that you're boring me," she said quietly, taking one of Elphaba's hands and giving it a squeeze. "Believe me, you are anything but boring."
The two stayed like that for a while, completely content with the silence and each other's company. A sudden knock at the door a few minutes later startled both girls out of their reverie. Elphaba jerked her head up, much to Galinda's disappointment. "Yes? Who is it?"
"It's me," Nessarose's voice sounded from the other side. "Come on. Let's go. We're going to dinner. Galinda, you must come too."
Elphaba sighed heavily. She had had no intentions of going anywhere for the rest of the evening. "I'm not hungry," she called back. "You go on without me," she added, turning to Galinda. "I'll be fine. I brought some snacks with me."
Galinda looked at her hesitantly. "But..."
Just then, the door opened and Maria walked in. "Mi hija, I insist that you come with us," Maria said, looking at her expectantly. "You haven't eaten a thing since you came back. You're thin enough as it is. You WILL eat something, or so help me..."
"Mamá, I honestly don't feel like going anywhere right now. Seriously, just go without-" Maria strode over, grabbed Elphaba's arm, yanked her off the bed, and started dragging her towards the door. "You coming, Galinda? I hear there's good food tonight!" she called over her shoulder.
Galinda grinned. "Of course I am! Be there in a sec!"
As Elphaba was dragged out of their room amidst protests, Galinda ran to her bed stand and grabbed their room key and her ID card. Her eyes flickered briefly over to Elphaba's side of the room once more, noting that it seemed to be cleaner than usual, if that were possible. Not thinking anything of it, she ran after them, taking care to lock the door behind her.
It wasn't until she was halfway to the dining hall that she realized what had been amiss.
Elphaba hadn't unpacked yet.
Author's note: And with that, chapter one is finished. Considering how long it took me to write this one, don't be surprised if the next one takes a week or something to appear. The joys of perfectionism.
Did you enjoy it? Should I continue? Should I stop altogether? Are the characters in character? Leave a review!