Glinda raked her hair out of her eyes with her fingers, letting the warm water soak through the layers of sleep she could still feel in her face. There was no better way to wake up after a long sleep than a hot shower. She loved lie-ins, and today was extra special as she had no morning lessons due to her Boar of a history tutor being ill.
This morning, she was going to pamper herself. Hell- she deserved it! It's not like she hated Elphaba being around, in fact- she had come to rather like her, but studying day and night was rather tiring. And boring. And repetitive. And...well, there were lots of words to describe her life at Shiz, but the words she wanted most never happened; excitement, spontaneity... fun.
She poured a copious amount of shampoo into the palm of her hand and slapped it into her hair, which was still gorgeous despite being wet. Lathering up, a line of suds ran down her face, hitting her right in the eyes.
"Ouch, ow!", shrieked Glinda. "Towel...Towel... Where is my towel?!?".
Realising she had left it outside of the bathroom, she quickly splashed water around her face, which just happened to make the problem worse. She blindly made her way out of the shower, eyes shut tight to prevent any more soap entering her precious blue eyes. It looked like she was a zombie, feeling out in from with arms stretched straight, attempting to find the door knob.
Clattering greeted Elphaba as she walked in through her dorm room door. Glinda had finally gotten out of bed it seemed, and was making an awful ruckus in the bathroom; typical. Elphaba doubted she would clean up after herself, which meant more time out of her carefully planned study schedule. She had only come back for a book- seeing as people still vandalised her locker. Across the room was her bookshelf, packed to bursting on oak boards. Just to the left lead to her window, and through it she could see the forest that bordered the campus; she loved that forest, and had since she first came to Shiz. Her eyes caught on that view, and just for a moment her thoughts drifted.
A large thump brought her back to her senses quickly however, and she decided just to get her book and leave, before whatever horror of a mess in the bathroom was revealed. But she only made a few steps over the room when the bathroom door flew open, with Glinda shown in all of her naked glory. Her eyes were shut tight, and she lunged towards her bed where a pink robe was readied.
Elphaba was just about to grab a book when the door opened, and suddenly, surprise and shock burst through her chest like a bullet to the heart, and an extreme beat throbbed through her throat. Gangly green limbs twitched the wrong way, her legs moved in opposite directions, and she tripped, cracking her head on the wall in the process. Bright lights popped in her eyes, and a numbness crept over her. It stunned her for a few seconds, and when Glinda wiped her face, all thoughts of a shower were tossed out of her head.
As Elphaba opened her eyes, she was brought to her senses with a full view of Glinda's well endowed chest, and also with that strange feeling again, which now had turned into an odd flutter around her chest.
"Oh my.... Glinda, I'm sorry...." Elphaba stammered, her face a deep green. She got to her feet a little shakily, and promptly toppled over onto her bony green behind again. Glinda grabbed her robe as soon as she realised Elphaba had woken up, but it was too late, and she realised Elphaba had already seen her breasts, and covered herself up, mortified.
"Elphie-", Glinda started, trying to get some normality into the situation by using the nickname she had invented for her best friend, "you need to see the nurse - mumsie had to go the the infirmary once, after she fell down the stairs, so I think you should too". She tried to shake off the feeling of embarrassment by being friendly with Elphaba , as if nothing had gone amiss, but she had revealed herself to a girl, and a green one at that. All for a bit of shampoo in her eyes!
"No, I'm fine – really", said Elphaba, echoing Glinda's reply earlier, and as always refusing the offer of help.
"No is not an option with me Elphie – you need to", Glinda firmly stating what she wanted to happen. Pouting and being stubborn always worked in these situations, even if she was wet and horrified.
"Fine" wheezed Elphaba, giving up the fight, the shock also knocking some of her breath away. Glinda took Elphaba by the arm, making her shirt damp, and helped her down the hall to the dorms infirmary. She knocked quickly on the thick gnarled door, and as it creaked open, she was met with all the sights, sounds and smells of a hospital, including an old, wrinkled face poking out of a nurses outfit like a turtles head out of it's shell.
"Hello Nurse, Elphaba here had a fall, could you check her over for us please". The Nurse beckoned them in with a hand so wrinkled it was remarkable that the skin was still attached. As the Nurse looked at the pair of them a curiosity bit into her old eyes- after all, it wasn't often you got a soaking wet girl in a robe!
Glinda lead Elphaba into the long, window lit room and through a door to the left, into a small, private room. The walls were painted a soft yellow, with usual hospital furnishings adorning the window, where a thick blind was closed. A soft light seemed to seep from the walls themselves, and a friendly, slightly powdery aroma floated in the air.
"All-righty dear, lets have a look at you. And Miss Glinda, could you please wait outside." the Nurse said. Glinda went out and closed the door softly. Nurse looked at Elphaba's head, limbs and back, then sat her down on a chair. "So, tell me what's happening", she asked.
"My roomate...", Elphaba started, then stopped.
"Go on dear", Nurse replied, inviting confidence.
"I came in for a book, but my... my roomate- Miss Glinda, was in the bathroom.. In the shower I guess. She came out undressed, It shocked me, and I tripped and fell", Elphaba finished.
But the Nurse wasn't finished, "Is there anything else? Any other feelings you have had?"
Elphaba thought there might have been, but she wasn't going to say. Yet she had a funny feeling that Nurse already knew. Should she tell her? Could she?
"Well, I'm not good at this – talking about my feelings. But I will try. Lately, I have been having this odd.... fluttering, in my chest and in my stomach. I don't know what it is. But it's so strong, it makes me woozy sometimes" replied Elphaba, uncomfortably shifting in her seat. Talking to a near stranger about private matters was not something Elphaba was used to.
Nurse checked out Elphaba's head, looking for any sign of a wound. Satified that her head was undamaged, she went on to check out Elphaba's lungs and stomach, which Elphaba became interested in, as she was currently studying the respiratory system in her class.
"Can't find anything wrong with you my duckie – when do these occurrences usually happen?", again, inviting Elphaba to talk.
"I... usually... I mean, when I....", the words getting caught in Elphaba's throat. This was harder than she thought it would be.
"It's okay, duckie, you can tell me".
Elphaba took a deep breath, "When I see my room-mate."
Nurse suddenly understood, although Elphaba was still nonplussed.
"Oh, well then, that's a different matter altogether.' Nurse clucked, 'Elphaba, have you ever had a relationship before?"
"No" replied Elphaba, wondering where this was going – it was a bit of a leap of subject from her fall.
"You've never been attracted to anyone before?"
Elphaba's eyes widened, and all of a sudden, rushed out of the room. Glinda, waiting outside, saw her pass and got a jolt of fear she had never experienced before. It wasn't fear for herself - it was fear for Elphaba.
As she raced back to her room holding her robe tightly, she hoped Elphaba was racing to the same place and wondered why this morning was turning out like it was.
When Glinda had reached room twenty two, she called out tentatively, "Elphie – are you okay?'. Not expecting to get an answer, she opened the door, and as she did so Elphaba rushed out. "Elphie, wait!" but Elphaba was already pounding down the stairs.