Chapter Two

After asking Galinda where she lived, Fiyero set off to find his room. He searched for quite a while before he finally found it; a large private suite already filled with his luggage that Avaric had dropped off. He spent a few minutes arranging his possessions before relaxing in the tub. It had been a long day of traveling and he was tired. Watching the clock, he got out after an hour and began getting ready for the dance.

He prided himself on how little amount of time it took for him to get ready for anything. Fiyero was naturally good looking… and, of course, rich. With that combination of assets, life was generally easy. So when he finished combing his perfect hair an hour later, he smiled at himself in the mirror. Galinda, just like every other girl he had ever met, would not be able to resist him.

Crage Hall wasn't too far of a walk. He found Galinda's room and knocked. When she opened the door a moment later, he leaned against the doorframe in a relaxed sort of way and flashed a big smile. She was wearing a short pink dress that was considerably poofed out. Like some sort of pastry, he thought. "Why hello, Miss Galinda. Are you ready to go?"

"Almost, if you wait just a tick-tock I'll be out in a moment." She closed the door behind her and re-emerged a few minutes later. As they walked down the hall her blonde curls bounced happily and Fiyero felt the sudden urge to pull on one of them. He resisted, however, and instead chatted with her as they walked to the Ozdust Ballroom.

"So why did you come to Shiz?" he asked the blonde.

"I wanted to study sorcery with Madam Morrible…."

"Wanted?"

"Well, apparently she doesn't teach her seminar every semester. But then she accepted… some other girl to be in the class. I don't think she even read my entrance essay. If she had, I have no doubt that she would have let me in. I worked so hard on it. I was so confusified."

"Another reason to not bother trying, I say," he responded. "If we do, and we fail, we'll just be disappointed."

"But I wanted it so bad. And she had to go and let her in instead of me." She sounded angry.

"I'm sorry, Miss Galinda."

"Oh, it's not your fault, Fiyero. Don't concern yourself over it." She glued on a fake smile and nodded her head at him. He shrugged. A few minutes later they arrived at the ballroom and walked down the steps to join the dance. The music was fun, and he twirled Galinda gracefully. He liked the way her curls moved with every spin. Strange how little things like that could be so attractive. After some time he noticed the short kid – Boq, was it? with the wheelchair girl. They were nearby the punch, and he kept looking back towards Miss Galinda. Fiyero chuckled.

"What?" asked Galinda when she noticed Fiyero laughing.

"Oh nothing. I was just watching some people."

"Oh."

As Galinda and Fiyero danced, an older lady wearing far too much makeup entered the room and began walking towards Galinda.

"Madam Morrible? What are you doing here?" Galinda asked.

The makeup lady took Galinda off to the side and handed her a wand. Galinda looked delighted, though a moment later she looked confused. Madam Morrible walked away and Fiyero took her place. "What is it?" he asked her.

"I got what I wanted…" she replied quietly.

"Then what's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Good. Let's dance!"

The pair continued to dance, in the center of the ballroom so everyone could notice. Galinda was good, he noted. He vaguely wondered where she was from, and decided to ask.

"Miss Galinda?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering where–"

Fiyero cut himself short when the music suddenly stopped. All of the sudden everyone was whispering and staring blatantly at who had just entered the ballroom. He turned his head to see what all of the commotion was about.

Standing on the top of the staircase was a girl dressed in the most hideodeous outfit he had ever seen. She was wearing a ridiculous tall, black hat, navy blue frock, and tall brown boots. As if her eveningwear, if you could call it that with a straight face, wasn't bad enough, she was the girl his driver nearly ran over earlier today. The green one. "Who in Oz is this?" he asked in disbelief.

Galinda looked mortified. "My roommate... please, don't ... stare!"

"How can you help it?" His eyes had still not left the green girl. She looked shocked at the reaction she was getting, though Fiyero could not see why. The girl took off her pointy hat and searched the crowed, a look of disbelief and anger crossing her features. She walked down the steps, and ceremoniously placed that hat back on her head.

And then, she danced, moving her arms slowly around her. She had a confident look on her face even though she shouldn't have, and for a moment, Fiyero was impressed. "Well I'll say this, she doesn't give a twig about what anyone else thinks."

"Of course she does," Galinda moaned. "She just pretends not to... I feel awful..."

"Why?" he asked, turning his attention back to his date. "It's not like it's your fault."

Galinda sighed and excused herself. Then she did something Fiyero would never have expected. Galinda walked up to the green girl and began to dance with her… just as horribly as her roommate. The green girl didn't seem to accept it at first, but after Galinda stood in the middle of the dance floor with everyone watching, she finally accepted and began to dance again. A few minutes later, everyone else joined in.

"Wow," whispered Fiyero to himself, somehow proud of both his date and the rather hideous girl she was dancing with at the same time.