'Childish'
Chapter One: In which Galinda succeeds…in failing.
Sighing heavily, Galinda rested her chin in one hand while flipping idly through the pages of her heavy textbook with the other.
Spells for this, spells for that…what was the use when she was only allowed to study them from a theoretical point of view? Not that practical study; a supervised, classroom contained rarity, was a great deal more interesting. Each class usually culminated with Galinda red and flushed in the face, having achieved little more than making herself short of breath and increasingly frustrated while Elphaba received rapturous praise from Madam Morrible.
"There's no real 'trick' to it." Elphaba shrugged when a tired and cranky Galinda demanded to know just how the green girl was managing to achieve such success in their sorcery seminar. "I just study the theory, and once I understand exactly how a spell is constructed, I find it much easier to work it properly."
"I study too, you know…" Galinda fought to keep herself from whining. "But it still doesn't work for me."
Elphaba's lips quirked into a small smile.
"How odd."
"No, really, Elphie. Don't tease me." The blonde shook her head, causing her golden ringlets to bounce gently around her pale face. "I was so sure I had a talent for sorcery."
"Galinda, even people with talent need to study the basics."
"I thought that talented people didn't have to study. That's the point of being talented."
"Chin up, you sad little thing." Elphaba brushed her knuckles gently against Galinda's cheek, and her friend turned to her with a glum expression. "Make some time to study with me tomorrow morning, and before too long you'll be knocking Madam Morrible flat with your new and unexpected magical talent."
"Literally?" Galinda's wry smile was hopeful.
"Well, we can only wait and see. And just between you and me, that's something I wouldn't mind having a front row seat for."
Thus, the next morning Galinda had begrudgingly taken up a place at her cluttered desk, clearing a space amongst the trashy romance novels, sweet wrappers and colourful cosmetics to make room for her study materials.
"For the first hour- ("Hour!?" Galinda almost yelped) – I'll leave you to do a little self study. Write down all the questions you have to ask and anything else you don't understand. When you've done that, I'll sit with you and we'll go over it all together."
"Okay." Galinda tried very hard not to scowl.
And then, with a jerky satisfied nod, Elphaba had crossed the room to her own desk, sat down and begun scribbling annotations all over the tiny print of the textbook.
Seeing no other option, Galinda had done the same.
--
"It is through the action of absorbing the four harmonizing representations of the constructive balancing principles that causes the spontaneous materialization of the sub-spell."
Galinda rubbed her eyes and read the sentence two more times, yet it remained as elusive and incomprehensible as before.
How long had she been sitting here studying for?
She had skimmed through the textbook twice, trying to find a single comprehensible chapter to start with. However, each time a slightly normal phrase, such as 'The Basics of Spell Theory' caught her eye, it was more often than not followed by a page of scientific gibberish.
After gritting her teeth and dragging herself through Chapter 1, Galinda finally opened her exercise book and began to scrawl some half-hearted questions, such as:
"What is meant by deconstructive theory?"
"In the chapter about elemental manipulation, what are the four key catalysts?"
"Just what is a catalyst, anyway?"
"Is the 'Circle of the Alchemical Balance' in any way related to the 'Circle of Life'?
"How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?"
Galinda groaned and drummed her fingers silently against the page in front of her. Her concentration was slipping, as was her ability to sit quietly.
Sneaking a peek over her shoulder, she saw her roommate still hunched over her desk, writing notes rapidly. Galinda's eyes darted to the clock suspended above Elphaba's desk; an action which caused the blonde girl to slump backwards into the chair and face her desk with a heavy sigh.
Fifteen minutes!
It had only been fifteen minutes!
She had flicked through the textbook three times, written five questions, and still only fifteen minutes had elapsed. Toying with the corner of the textbook, Galinda let her mind wander, entertaining silly fantasies and idle daydreams.
Would she buy that lovely pink gown she saw last week at the boutique? It was a little out of fashion, but it suited her so exquisitely. However, if she were to purchase the garment, then she would have to get some new make up to match - the pink hue of the dress was more peachy than rose coloured, and she didn't have any appropriate peachy blush. Was it too outrageous to buy a whole new makeup set just to accompany one dress?
Galinda turned the page of her book absentmindedly as she drifted through her thoughts. Now, why couldn't there be some sort of spell to change makeup colours at will? In fact, she wondered, why couldn't there be some sort of 'beautification spell' that could give the enhancement and perfection that cosmetics provided, thus eliminating the need to apply even a single product?
Galinda turned to the index of the textbook hopefully, scanning the tiny print underneath the letter 'M'. Disappointment was soon to follow, however, as she discovered not a single reference to 'makeup', 'cosmetics' or even 'beautification'.
The blonde girl frowned and traced a finger down the columns of text slowly. She was sure Madam Morrible was using some kind of cosmetic spell – there was no way the old bag was able to apply such layers of makeup every morning and still be ready for an 8:30 lecture. Frustrated and ready to give up, Galinda was about to shut the book when a certain spell title grabbed her attention. There it was – she was sure of it – the spell that Madam Morrible was using to maintain her appearance! For, in-between the spells 'Yoghurt Fermentation Spell' and 'Yule Festival Spell' was the spell entitled 'Youthfulness Spell'.
--
Elphaba snuck another quick look over her shoulder to where Galinda had been working quietly for nearly half an hour. She was proud of the blonde girl; not one complaint or whine had come out of her mouth since they began studying. Elphaba had been consciously keeping an eye on her room mate, and every time she peeked over her shoulder, Galinda had her head down over the textbook, concentrating hard.
Stretching her hands above her head, the green girl cracked her neck from side to side and rolled her shoulders. Maybe she would make a pot of hot chocolate to share; Galinda deserved a reward for dedicating her Sunday morning to study without too many words of protest.
Elphaba had just risen out of her chair and was about to ask if Galinda felt like a drink when suddenly-
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!
The blasting sound nearly knocked Elphaba off her feet and she staggered against her desk in shock, coughing heavily as smoke billowed through the room, obscuring her vision.
"Galinda! Galinda! Sweet Oz, Galinda are you alright?!"
Elphaba stumbled as she tried to navigate her way across to Galinda's desk through the heavy smoke, pressing her sleeve against her mouth as she moved. What was that sound?
Paranoia crept into the green girls mind – had somebody booby-trapped their room? It had happened once before, when one of Galinda's lacy bras had fastened itself determinedly to Elphaba's shoe, and the blonde had been forced to remove it (albeit begrudgingly) with manicure scissors.
But this noise, this smoke – it was far more sinister than a suspiciously superglue covered undergarment! They couldn't be under attack, could they? No, that was unreasonable - Shiz was a university, not a military base! She coughed again, and as she inevitably inhaled some of the smoke, realization struck.
Elphaba could recognize that unmistakable tang of magic anywhere.
"GALINDA, what have you DONE!?" she howled in shock. "We were studying spell THEORY, not PRACTICAL! And if you wanted to do practical, why couldn't you just have LEVITATED A PENCIL, instead of BLOWING THE ROOM UP!?"
Or blowing yourself up, she added silently, suddenly fearful at the blondes uncharacteristic silence. This fear was only increased as she took a few shaky steps closer towards her roommate's desk and saw the dress that Galinda had been wearing was in a crumpled heap on the floor.
As the smoke began to clear, Elphaba found herself suddenly unable to move forward, her jaw clamped firmly together and her gaze transfixed by what appeared to be all that remained of her dear friend.
"Galinda?"
Elphaba extended her hand slowly, reaching for the mound of clothes, dreading and hoping at the same time of what she would find. However, before she could even touch the garment, a sudden movement caused her to retract her hand as quickly as if she'd been burned.
The clothes were quivering.
No, Elphaba realised, there was something quivering inside the clothes.
Something was caught underneath all the layers of lace and silk, and was clamoring to free itself.
Resisting the urge to scuttle backwards to a safer position, Elphaba watched on in shock as a small figure emerged from underneath the dress.
"Effie?"
She had a head of bright golden curls, a pair of enormous sparkling blue eyes, a petite button nose and a pair of lips as perfectly pouted and red as a cherry. Clad in nothing more than a silk slip about ten sizes too big, with a brassier hanging limply around her waist, the small child stared up nervously at the green girl in front of her.
"Effie?" her tiny voice repeated.
"Ga…linda?" Elphaba croaked, unable to believe her eyes. It couldn't be possible, and yet at the same time, there was no mistaking the familiar features of her friend in the face of the little girl sitting in front of her. Her mannerisms, her expression – everything was similar beyond coincidence.
Elphaba knew then, without a doubt that she was looking at a five year old version of Galinda Upland.
A/N: Reviews are always appreciated. Those who send feedback shall receive a gift-wrapped Elphaba of their own to give homework help as required!