Galinda bit her lip softly, in concentration, as she slowly brushed the pink polish along a perfectly-shaped nail. The old clock in her dormitory told her it was 15 minutes past the 14th hour. She should be at history, but she had more important things to think about.
She smiled as she recalled the dance the night previous, she and Fiyero had danced the night away, and even Elphie had joined in the fun - after a very awkward entrance. But Galinda had pushed that to the back of her mind. Shen Shen and Pfannee had made it very clear that they no longer wanted to speak to Galinda, but she didn't mind, she had a new best friend in Elphie.
Her newly-pink nails almost dry, Galinda crossed the small dorm room to her roommate's bed. Gently, she sat at the edge of Elphaba's bed and eased her hand underneath the pillow. Her hand came in contact with a cold, long object and she pulled it out. That funny little green bottle. Galinda had bravely asked Elphaba why she kept it underneath her pillow, and the green girl reluctantly told Galinda the story behind it.
Galinda twisted the bottle back and forth in her hands, reading the faded label.
"Greening Liquid Elixir" she muttered under her breath, scanning the hard-to-read writing. This must be from the Emerald City, she thought, where else could you find such a peculiar bottle? Galinda turned the bottle upside down, to read the label on the bottom; "W.W. OZ CO. INC. EMERALD CITY"
So the bottle was from the Emerald City, but Galinda had never heard of W.W. OZ.
Suddenly, the sound of the afternoon bell announcing lunch filled the room. Galinda gasped as the noise pulled her from her thoughts. Quickly, she stuffed the bottle back under Elphaba's pillow, grabbed her history books and set off for the lunch hall.
Galinda headed towards the large circular table in the centre of the lunch hall and stopped suddenly when she realised the table was already full. Shen Shen looked up from her magazine and frowned when she saw Galinda standing nearby. She turned to Pfannee and whispered in her ear. Both girls burst out into laughter and Galinda blushed, knowing they were talking about her. Girls sitting at the other tables all turned towards the large table as the crowd occupying it began roaring with laughter, all hoping that they too, one day, would sit there.
Galinda took a deep breath and turned to face the busy hall, looking for Elphaba, but the green girl was not to be seen. Galinda realised that Fiyero, too, was not in the hall and hoped he had not been held back by that dreadful Goat, Doctor Dillamond.
Galinda realised that her only option was Nessa and Boq. They were sitting together at the end of a long table, Nessa chatting away animatedly, whilst Boq stared off into space. In fact, he didn't even notice Galinda's arrival until she was standing directly in front of him. When he saw her, his face beamed up at her.
"Miss Galinda! Sit!" he exclaimed, patting the table in front of her.
Galinda accepted the offer and threw her books down onto the table.
"Nessa! Biq! I am so sorry I wasn't at history today, but I had so much to do! Where's Elphie? I've been looking everywhere, and-" Galinda broke off as she turned to Nessarose and saw the worried expression on her face. "What's wrong, Nessa?"
"Doctor Dillamond's been fired." Nessa sniffed, looking down at the table.
"Oh. Is that all?" Galinda shrugged and opened her history notebook. "I was hoping I could copy your notes from today's class?"
"Miss Galinda, don't you understand?" Boq looked very concerned, "Animals are no longer permitted to teach."
"I don't see why you all cared so much about that old Goat. He was just another teacher, and an extremely boring one at that." Suddenly, Elphaba's absence made sense. She had been very fond of Doctor Dillamond, Galinda knew that. They bonded, over their differences.
"We have an awful new teacher, Doctor Nikidik."
"He had a lion cub."
"In a cage!"
Nessa and Boq's voices began to fade as Galinda pretended to listen, nodding every now and again, as she doodled a picture of what Fiyero might look like on their wedding day in the margin of her page. And when would that day be? She wondered, Ten years? Two years? A year? 6 months?
"And then Elphaba cast a spell on the whole class!"
That had her attention.
"Elphie did what?"
"Cast a spell on the class," Nessa explained calmly, "So we couldn't get to the lion cub, so she could take it. Fiyero helped her and they took the lion cub."
"They stole the lion cub" Boq corrected.
"And where are they now?" Galinda wondered, looking blankly at Nessa.
"I… I don't know," She confessed, "Probably setting the cub free somewhere nearby."
"Madame Morrible will be so disgustified when she hears what they've done." Boq said, shaking his head.
Galinda frowned at the munchkin and looked up to find Shen Shen and Pfannee standing above her, smiling sweetly.
"Look at you, Galinda," Shen Shen tilted her head to the side and grinned, "You've gone from the popular table," Here, she threw a hand out to indicate the general direction of the table Galinda used to sit at, "to the freaks table, in less than twenty-four hours of the time dragon clock. Well done."
Shen Shen and Pfannee flounced off, only hesitating long enough for Pfannee to throw the remains of her lunch at Boq. Nessa leaned forward in her chair, trying to brush the crumbs out of Boq's hair, fuss over his dirty table and fix his blazer all at the same time. Galinda closed her history books and stood up.
"Don't worry about them, Biq!" She said brightly, "I have a plan that'll put them in their place!"
"It's Boq," he muttered, "and thanks, Galinda."
As Galinda walked away from the busy lunch hall, she smiled to herself. She did have a plan for Shen Shen and Pfannee, but first she had to work her magic on a certain Miss Elphaba.
Galinda threw open the heavy wardrobe doors and stared miserably at the long row of black clothing. Black jackets, black jumpers, black tops, black skirts. She turned to her own wardrobe, which in comparison was bursting open with ruffles, netting and silk in every pretty colour over the rainbow. She had a lot of work to do.
She browsed through Elphaba's wardrobe, looking for something, anything, with colour, personality or life in it. Eventually, she came across the pink flower she had given Elphaba the night before, stuffed into the pocket of one of her many blazers. Galinda took the flower and tossed it into her own wardrobe. She had a feeling Elphaba would never dare to be seen in public with something as feminine as a flower in her hair.
Galinda folded her arms and stood in the centre of her room, puzzled. There had to be some way that she could make the green girl more… well, Galinda-like.
The bell to indicate the end of lunch rang throughout the halls and Galinda left her dormitory, disappointed that her creative skills had been of no use.
She arrived at Madame Morrible's office, training wand in hand, and was surprised to see that Elphaba's seat was empty.
Madame Morrible looked up from her desk as Galinda entered the room and smiled. Not too pleasantly, Galinda noted, taking her seat in front of the headmistress' messy desk and setting her training wand on her lap.
"And where is your roommate?" The headmistress asked after a moment had passed.
"I'm afraid I don't know, Madame."
Madame Morrible frowned at this and scribbled a note on one of the many pieces of paper scattered across her desk. "That's not good," she murmured, to the table, more than to Galinda, "She should be here. Nevertheless, we must go on. Miss Elphaba will have to catch up in her spare time." Madame Morrible narrowed her eyes at Galinda and this time the smile that spread across her face was a genuinely happy one. "Why, Miss Upland. This may be your chance to prove me wrong."
On her way back to her dormitory, Galinda spotted Fiyero from across the courtyard.
"Fiyero! Where have you been all day?" she asked, clutching his hands and swinging them like an excited infant.
"I'm sorry, Galinda." Fiyero looked into Galinda's eyes and her heart leaped, the way it always did whenever she saw Fiyero.
"Where have you been?" Galinda whispered, but before Fiyero could answer, she reached up to his lips and kissed him lightly. The simple brush of his lips against hers sent tingles up and down her entire body and she leaned in for another, her hands tugging through his wavy hair. Fiyero's hands wandered from Galinda's small waist to her hips, feeling like a million fireworks exploding against her skin. She wrapped her arms around Fiyero's neck feeling the happiest she had ever been.
Suddenly, Fiyero tensed and pulled away from Galinda, her arms falling to her side.
"What is it?" she smiled.
"Nothing. I need to go. I'll have to explain to Madame Morrible why I'm so late." and with a peck on the cheek, he was gone, disappearing in the crowd of students.
"Good luck!" Galinda called after him, before wandering upstairs to her dormitory.
Two hours later, Galinda was lying on her bed, putting the finishing touches to a sketch of an evening dress in her art book. She sat up and held the book out in front of her, smiling at her finished art work. Her teacher would be impressed.
She flopped back down onto her bed and pulled out a magazine from her bag.
The door burst open and in came Elphaba. A rather wet looking Elphaba.
"Elphie! Where have you been?"
"The forest"
"What were you doing in the forest? And why are you so wet?" Galinda sat up and indicated the puddle forming at Elphaba's feet.
"I had to set the lion cub free in a safe place… and its called rain." she said, pulling back the curtain to reveal a beautifully dry and sunny day. She turned in surprise and looked at the sun, beginning to set in the sky, "Well, I…it was…"
"It's been lovely all day, Elphaba."
"It's been raining all day!"
It had been a lovely sunny day. Galinda and Nessa had spent a little time outdoors in the sun between classes. Galinda had the hint of sunburn to prove it. But Elphaba also was wet enough to prove that it had been raining on her all day.
Galinda shrugged and went back to her magazine. "Maybe it's a rainforest."