"How about this one?" Glinda asked as she pulled a pale green midi dress out from her cupboard.
"Trying to blend in with the locals, are we?" Elphie replied with a hint of sarcasm. "That's what – your fifth dress? We're only going for two days you know."
"I know," she bubbled. "But this is the Emerald City we're talking about. So, what have you packed?" she asked, bouncing over her bed to Elphie's side of the room.
"This," Elphaba held up a long-sleeved, high-necked, three-quarter-length black dress.
"And...?" Glinda pressed.
"That's all. The only other clothes I have are my school uniform."
"Oh," Glinda was lost for words. "At least it will go nicely with the hat. You were planning on taking the hat, weren't you?"
"Of course," Elphie giggled. "I love that hat."
The following morning, Elphaba and Glinda boarded a train bound for the City of Emeralds. Boq and Nessa came to the station to wish them bon voyage. Even Fiyero was there. Elphie's heart skipped a beat when she saw him standing there, and she couldn't help remembering that day they had rescued the lion cub.
Glinda attempted to get Fiyero's attention, but he appeared to have eyes only for her roommate. Walking up to her, he handed her a bunch of flowers. "I'm happy for you," he said. "After all, this is your dream, isn't it?"
Elphaba nodded, but couldn't manage to say anything. She accepted the flowers before jumping onto the train behind Glinda.
By the time the train pulled into the Emerald City four hours later, Glinda had already re-applied her make-up at least fifty times. It seemed that way to Elphaba, anyway. But then again, she had spent the entire journey reading and re-reading the letter Madame Morrible had given her, so she couldn't really blame her roommate.
After stepping onto the platform, the two girls caught a carriage to their hotel. Before she could even utter a word, Glinda had already claimed the bed by the window and had begun to hang up her dresses in the wardrobe on the far wall.
Elphaba watched her friend extract two other dresses besides the peach frock she was currently wearing, from her suitcase ("For Oz's sake I don't even know why you brought a suitcase," Elphaba thought) and hang them up. One was strapless, made out of purple satin and the other was yellow with flowers and piping on the layered skirt. In the end she hadn't packed the green dress.
"And there's still room for you to hang up your black dress," Glinda beamed.
Elphaba beamed back. Her roommate was so clueless sometimes, but she could always make Elphie laugh.
"Let's just get some sleep Glinda," Elphie said. "We've got a big day tomorrow."