Rain dripped down the windows of the taxi cab and car horns blared constantly. The cab slowed and the door flew open.
"Hey, Elphie!", Fiyero Tiggular grinned as he slid in next to her.
"Shut the door; I'm getting wet", she said without looking up from her book.
"Nah, I think I'll leave it open for a while", he replied casually.
He left the door open as he put his seatbelt on, taking his time clicking it into place. The heavy raindrops pounded against the leather seats, causing Elphaba to sigh. Fiyero then slowly reached for the metal door handle, curling each finger around it one at a time. He took a moment to pull the door shut, letting more rain fill the cab.
When Elphaba was drenched to his liking, he finally let the door click shut and propped his feet up on the passenger seat in front of him before telling the driver they were ready to go.
"You know, you're going to get the seat all muddy with your feet up there", Elphaba scolded him.
"My shoes are clean", he replied.
They sat there for a moment in silence, Elphaba with her nose in her book and Fiyero twiddling his thumbs and tapping his foot. When he could no longer contain himself, he blurted out, "Whacha reading?"
"Gone With The Wind".
He tilted his head and peered at the bold black letters on the book cover before asking, "So, what exactly did the wind take with it?".
"The southern lifestyle of the late 1800's", she replied simply.
"Wait…what?", Fiyero wrinkled his brow in confusion. "The southern lifestyle of the late 1800's", he murmured again to himself, trying to figure out what those words could possibly mean. After a few hopeless attempts to conjure up some meaning, he came up with, "So… if I were to blow on you… it would take away your lifestyle?".
Elphaba responded by turning another page in her book.
Fiyero slowly leaned closer into her, turning his lips toward her face, and began to breathe on her neck.
When she realized what was happening, she jumped in the air (Well, as high as you can jump when you have a seatbelt on) and whipped around to face him.
"What the heck was that?", she yelled in his face.
"I was trying to see if blowing on you would take away your lifestyle, like in the book".
She looked at him strangely, trying to understand what he was talking about, then gave up and said, "What?"
"Never mind".
Elphaba returned to her book and wondered which mental institution would be best for him. Again, she was interrupted by a humming noise entering her ears.
"Fiyero, what are you singing?", she sighed.
"I'm not singing, I'm humming".
"Okay, what are you humming?"
"Dancing Through Life."
This earned him an eye roll and he defended himself with, "What? It's a good song!".
"Can you just shut up and let me read?", she said with a hint of annoyance.
"I would… but I just get so bored", Fiyero stretched out the last two words and let out a long sigh. He then began drumming his fingers on his leg and slouched down in his seat. He stared out his window and watched the scenery pass in silence, letting Elphaba believe he had decided to let her read.
When he had given her enough time to finish a page and was dying of boredom, he broke the ice with, "So, are you going to Galinda's party tomorrow night?".
"No".
"Awww, why not?", he whined.
She rolled her eyes at the way he was even starting to sound like Galinda.
"And Why should I?", she inquired.
"Cause I'll be there", he grinned and wiggled both eyebrows up and down.
Elphaba looked up to reply with a snarky comment, but burst out laughing at him when she saw the expression he was making.
"What?", his expression quickly died away.
"The look on your face a minute ago was ridiculous".
Fiyero paused, then realizing what she had said could be an insulted, replied, "Did you just call my face 'ridiculous'?".
Elphaba shrugged and went back to her book for the fifth time that evening.
The cab driver slowed down and Fiyero glanced out the window to see that they were pulling up to the bar.
"Well, this is my stop", he undid his seatbelt.
Elphaba craned her neck to see out the window and saw that Fiyero was going to get off at a loud, noisy, bar.
"Don't get so drunk that Galinda has to come pick you up in the middle of the night again", she warned him.
"Don't worry, Galinda will be there, too".
"Oh great, I can't wait for my roommate to come home tipsy at 2 AM".
"Why would you want a tipsy roommate?", he asked.
"Have you ever heard of sarcasm?"
"Maybe, what is it?"
"Well, that was it".
"What was it?"
"Never mind", she said in frustration.
"Elphie, you're confusing me!"
The cab driver stopped and Fiyero opened the door.
"See you tomorrow in Life Science, Elphie".
"Close the door!", she called after him.
"I think the rain is quite refreshing, don't you?", he grinned.
"You're impossible!", she yelled, slamming the cab door herself.
Elphaba fumed and finally returned to her book.
She didn't know how Galinda could stand him.