AN: Sorry for the rude chapter title. It seemed fitting - you'll see why :3.

Thank you for reviewing! Wicked4Life, thank you so much - that's really all us writers would ever want to hear :). My Mom was probably wondering why I had this goofy smile on my face when I was checking out my new reviews this morning. And yes, I have, in fact, written a script, too, along with a few of my friends, for a play performed at my former high school. That was really cool.

Silvine Fae Graycin: yes, I am at the moment working on both stories at the same time, for the simple reason that I had inspiration for both of them and I was too impatient to not post them immediately :P. If any of you notice me mixing up things or something, however, please tell me and I'll put one of them on hold.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller

What doesn't kill you makes a fighter

When Elphaba entered the classroom the following morning, Galinda linking arms with her and chattering on about how 'positively wondrous' she looked, she looked around a bit warily. Fiyero, who was sitting in the seat next to Elphaba's, looked at her in utter surprise and disbelief. She knew he was probably still deciding what he was more surprised about: the fact that Galinda was clinging to her as if they were best friends – which, according to Galinda, they actually were now – or the fact that Elphaba was… well… Galindafied.

'Not a word,' she warned him through clenched teeth as she seated herself next to him. Galinda quickly slid into the seat to Elphaba's other side and giggled hysterically. 'So, Fiyero? What do you think?'

She saw him looking her up and down and he opened his mouth to say something, but she shut him up with one dangerous look. 'I mean it. Don't you dare.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'Don't I dare what?'

'Laughing at me.'

Galinda squealed indignantly. 'Hey! There's nothing to laugh at - you look amazingly fabulously wonderful!'

Elphaba stared at her new friend. 'Galinda,' she said slowly, emphasising every word. 'There is a pink flower in my hair.'

'I think it looks pretty good on you,' Fiyero said, which made Galinda squeal again, only with delight this time. 'See? I told you! Pink goes good with green! Oh, Elphie, everyone is going to love you now!'

Fiyero was stifling his laughter. '"Elphie"?'

'Call me that once and you can forget about ever having children – with me or any other woman,' she hissed at him and he backed off a little. He wasn't completely sure if she was being serious or not; what he was sure about, though, was that this must be how she presented herself to the outside world. The sarcastic, sharp-tongued and slightly intimidating girl he had only caught a glimpse of before. He wondered how there could be two so different sides to one person, but he decided he liked both of them. He bent over towards her a little. 'You look beautiful. Especially with your hair down – you should do that more often,' he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck and giving her goose bumps. 'Although I must admit, you look even more beautiful when you are just yourself.'

She scowled at him. 'Don't lie to me, Fiyero. Everyone with eyes can see I am anything but beautiful.'

'Is that really what you believe?' he demanded incredulously. He could see that she had green skin, but surely she knew she was beautiful despite – or even because of – that? Hadn't her parents ever told her that? Or anyone else?

'It's what everyone has ever given me reason to believe,' she said simply. 'Especially my father.' She blurted it out before she could help herself and immediately clasped her hands over her mouth in horror, not believing she had actually said that, but the damage was already done. Galinda gasped and Fiyero stared at her. 'What…'

She shook her head violently. 'I don't want to talk about it.' She fixed her gaze on her notes, not looking up again and ignoring both Galinda's and Fiyero's pleads and questions. She only looked up when someone said in a concerned tone of voice, 'Fabala!'

'Hi, Nessa,' she responded warmly when she saw her sister wheeling up in front of her. Nessarose was looking at her with wide eyes. 'What happened to your head?'

Elphaba gingerly touched the stitches. 'It's nothing, Nessa, don't worry. I've had it checked out and stitched up – I'll be fine.'

Nessa merely lifted one eyebrow at her older sister until the green girl sighed. 'I wasn't paying attention, and I tripped. That's all.' She could almost feel Fiyero's gaze burning a hole in the side of her head and she knew he was wondering frantically why she would lie about this, but to his credit, he didn't say anything. Nessa merely nodded, satisfied with the answer. 'Well, be careful in the future, Fabala,' she warned her sister. 'Father will not like it when you get yourself injured.'

'I know,' Elphaba said softly, knowing her father would probably pull her out of Shiz if she proved herself, in his eyes, unable to care for Nessa. 'It won't happen again.'

Nessa nodded and wheeled herself to the back of the classroom, where her friends were sitting. Elphaba returned to her notes. She found herself incapable, however, to ignore the pointed stares directed at her from both her sides, and so after a few moments she demanded in an annoyed tone of voice, 'What?'

'What was that all about?' Galinda asked in an even higher-pitched voice than usual. 'You told me Avaric had done that!'

'He has,' Elphaba replied as patiently as she could muster. 'But Nessa is my little sister. I don't want her to worry about me. Besides, she'll probably think I provoked him, anyway,' she muttered under her breath, more to herself than to the others, but her friends heard her anyway. They looked about ready to say something, but Elphaba glared at them. 'Different subject, please.'

Galinda, who had seen the green girl when she got angry, quickly changed the subject. 'Oh Elphie, there's this party at the OzDust next Saturday. Will you come? And can I give you another makeover? Please?'

Elphaba sighed irritably. This subject was hardly any better than the last. 'I'm not really that much of a party animal, Galinda.'

'I know that! But I'd really like you to come!'

'I'll think about it.'

Thankfully, the professor started the lecture then and so Elphaba was spared more questions about her family as well as more conversation about makeovers, for which she was very grateful. Neither Galinda nor Fiyero brought up the subject of her father again the rest of the day and when they left to return to their dorms late that afternoon, it was with relaxed, comfortable conversation. The girls had told Fiyero how they had became friends so suddenly and he merely encouraged it – Galinda seemed nice enough and he figured Elphaba could use another friend, since she didn't really seem to have any besides him.

'And so I made her wear this blouse and skirt, don't you think they look good on her, Fiyero? And I made her wear her hair down, because, well, she's got such beautiful hair and it's a shame really that she always plaits it. And the flower – don't you think it looks…' Galinda suddenly froze in her tracks, right behind Elphaba, who had been smiling at her new friend only seconds ago but was now looking extremely murderous. Fiyero didn't know what was going on or what the girls were so tensed up about and he waved one hand in front of their faces. 'Hey. What's going on?'

'Look who's there,' a new voice said, and Fiyero looked up to find a quite good-looking young man standing in front of them – not by far as good-looking as the Prince himself was, of course, but he seemed handsome enough. That was only proven by the fact that there was a very pretty blonde clinging to his arm, giggling. Fiyero wondered who this guy was – a fellow classmate of them, perhaps? He hadn't had the chance to get to know every one of them today, so it was possible.

'Miss Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands,' the boy continued, and Galinda nodded stiffly. The boys eyes darted towards Fiyero. 'Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus.'

Fiyero smiled amicably at his fellow student. 'That's me. Nice to meet you.' He still had no clue at all what was going on with the girls, but found them quite rude and he decided at least he would be civil to this new guy.

The boy's smile broadened, but it wasn't a friendly smile. 'Nice to meet you, too, Fiyero. I was just wondering… what is a fellow like you doing with the Artichoke?'

Fiyero blanched at the nickname, but Elphaba didn't flinch a bit. 'And you, Miss Galinda,' the student continued, fixing his gaze on the blonde. 'I had expected you to associate with much more… sophisticated people.'

'She is more sophisticated than you will ever be, you creep,' Galinda sneered. 'Now get out of our way!'

The boy looked at Elphaba. 'Why don't you go and jump off a cliff?' he suggested and Fiyero started to get angry, but Elphaba seemed to be perfectly capable of handling this guy.

'And deny you the pleasure of my company?' the green girl asked sarcastically. 'I wouldn't dare.'

'Vegetables aren't supposed to be in university, and certainly not among the decent people.'

'Neither are slimy cockroaches, and yet here you are.'

He smirked slightly. 'Fiery, huh? I like that. I'd want to do you, but I don't do sex with Brussel sprouts. I bet you'd want me to, though, don't you?'

Elphaba snorted. 'I'd much rather have sex with a pig. Oh, wait,' she pretended to think about that for a moment, 'there wouldn't be much difference, now would there? Although I'm sure any pig is much more civilised than you could ever be.'

'He would never actually have sex with you,' the blonde girl on his arm declared. 'I'm the only one for him, right, love?'

Galinda rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, right, Ajelica. Just like he's the only one for you, I'm sure?'

The girl stuck her chin up in the air. 'Yes. He is the only one for me, and has been ever since we got together a month ago.'

'Aha,' Galinda said, smirking. 'So that's why you were French kissing Lorou Liresabe in the hallway yesterday?'

Ajelica's face flushed. 'You promised not to tell anyone!' she screeched. Galinda blinked at her innocently. 'Did I? Oh my, I'm so sorry!'

The girl burst into tears and the boy pushed her away in disgust. 'Ew. I don't want a slutty girlfriend. Go find yourself another victim, Ajelica.'

'If it's any help,' Galinda called after the other girl, 'your amazing boyfriend is a slut, too. Pfannee told me she's been sleeping with him for over a week now!'

Ajelica only cried harder as she ran away. Elphaba bent over towards Galinda and mumbled in her ear, 'I'm not sure men can be called sluts, Galinda.'

Galinda tossed her blonde curls over her shoulder. 'Who cares? It's what he is.'

The boy opposite them sighed. 'So you succeeded in breaking up me and Ajelica. Congratulations, Miss Galinda. For what purpose was that? Did you want to be my girlfriend yourself?'

Galinda flushed at the mere thought of it. 'Ew! Never!'

The boy smirked and looked at Fiyero, who had been watching the whole scene in awe. 'So, princey, tell me. What's it like to bang a green bean?'

Elphaba choked and Fiyero took an angry step forwards. 'Who are you, anyway?' he demanded. 'Why don't you just leave us alone?'

'I won't leave you alone until that,' he nodded towards Elphaba, 'disappears from campus forever. The mere sight of that artichoke makes me sick to my stomach.'

'That feeling is mutual,' Elphaba snorted. The boy looked at her contemptuously, nodding at the stitches in her forehead. 'See they closed you up. Bummer. Would have liked to see if you bled green, too. Or do you bleed vegetable juice?'

She bristled, just as it started to dawn on Fiyero just who this guy must be – why else would he talk about her injuries that way? Just then, Elphaba suggested sweetly, confirming his suspicion, 'Why don't you go blow your brains out, Avaric? It's not like you've got anything to lose.'

Avaric. Fiyero immediately flushed with anger and wanted to step forward, but Galinda's hand on his arm stopped him and she shook her head at him. 'She won't want you to interfere. It'll give her the idea you're protecting her and she hates that. His friends aren't around now – she can take him.'

'How would you know?' Fiyero demanded, still angry. 'You've been her friend for, what, a day?'

Galinda looked a bit offended. 'Yes, but I have eyes, Fiyero. And I've been around here longer than you. I've seen them fight before. Just watch – it's actually quite funny.'

He doubted that, but stepped back nonetheless.

Avaric looked at the green girl icily. 'I know you have to be someone, but why did you have to be you?' He seemed really proud of himself for coming up with that insult and Elphaba merely stared at him. 'Are you always this stupid, or are you making a special effort today?'

He turned red. 'Stupid Artichoke!'

'I'd return the insult, but you probably wouldn't understand it if I did.'

His face grew purple now as he visibly tried to come up with a good insult, but it took him quite some time. Elphaba smirked at him. 'Don't get lost in thought. You'd be a total stranger there.'

Avaric stamped his foot. 'Why don't you just go and join your mother in the grave!'

Both Fiyero and Galinda gasped at that and Elphaba fell silent. He had struck the one string he knew would affect her. She didn't know how he knew about her mother, but it didn't really surprise her that he did. She wanted to lash out, to use her magic and rip him to pieces, to attack him and send him to his grave. Instead, there was just silence. Utter, complete silence, for what seemed to be minutes, even though it couldn't have been longer than a few clock-ticks.

Even Avaric himself seemed to realise he had gone too far, but he didn't soften a bit. Elphaba drew a deep breath to compose herself. He had stooped extremely low, but she was determined to be the sensible one this time. Only she wasn't sure how, especially since her magic was already reacting to her emotions and green sparks were flying off her hands.

Thank goodness Galinda, being the amazing friend that she was, saved her by stepping forward and saying in her high-pitched voice, 'Why don't you just go and put a condom on your head? If you're going to act like a dick, you might as well dress like one.' It was an insult she had heard Elphaba use once and she had found it incredibly amusing, even though she would have never admitted that back then.

Avaric stared at her in disbelief and so did Fiyero; but Elphaba took one look at her friend before starting to snort with laughter. She couldn't believe the blonde had actually said such a thing – it seemed so un-Galinda-like, her being the lady that she was, but Elphaba was incredibly grateful to her.

Avaric, however, only seemed to be pissed off even more and he lashed out at the green girl, trying to hit her in the face with his fist. From the corners of her eyes, she noticed Fiyero leaping forward to protect her, but she herself was faster; she avoided him, causing him to stumble forwards, and she grasped his arm and twisted it to his back, making him whimper like a little kid. 'Now,' she said in a deceivingly amiable voice, 'I suggest you go back to your friends now and leave me be, all right? Unless you prefer a broken arm, of course.'

'You wouldn't!' he grunted. 'You'd be expelled!'

She pursed her lips. 'Well, accidents happen, don't they?' She looked at him. 'Or perhaps I should just push you off a train platform. And believe me when I say that I will make sure it will be right in front of a riding train.' The threat in her voice was clear and even Fiyero couldn't be sure if she actually meant it or not. He hadn't pictured Elphaba as the murdering type, but after what this bastard had done to her, he couldn't blame her.

Avaric was very pale now and she twisted his arm even further, causing him to cry out. A few fellow students had gathered around the small group and were giggling and pointing at them now. Avaric was a popular guy, but he was also a bully and a womanizer and very few students actually liked him and his big mouth. They enjoyed seeing him set back for once.

She released him and he ran off. Galinda and Fiyero stared after him for a moment before returning their attention to Elphaba, only to find the green girl had disappeared.

It took them some time to find her. She wasn't back in hers and Galinda's room and she wasn't in the library, either; eventually, Fiyero noticed a flash of green in an empty classroom. 'Galinda!' he called, and the blonde ran towards him. They pushed open the door, but froze when they saw their friend. Elphaba was taking out her anger on innocent chairs and tables, magically lifting them up and throwing them around the room, meanwhile yelling curses at the top of her voice. When a chair bounced to a wall dangerously close to Galinda's head, the blonde shrieked and hid behind Fiyero.

Elphaba looked up at the sound, bewildered. She hadn't expected anyone to come in and the chairs hung in the air for a moment before dropping to the floor with a clattering sound. She looked a bit sheepish. 'Sorry.'

'Sweet Oz, Elphie!' Galinda screeched. 'You scared the living daylights out of me!'

'I said I was sorry.'

'How did you do that, anyway?' the blonde demanded. Elphaba shrugged. 'I was angry. I needed to take it out on something. Furniture seemed the safest option – safer than people, anyway.'

'Well, I for one wouldn't have minded if you had taken your anger out on Avaric,' Fiyero grumbled. 'He is such a…'

Galinda clasped her hand over his mouth just in time. 'Don't say foul words. You'll regret it later.'

'I doubt that,' he snorted, but he didn't say anything after that. Instead, he looked at Elphaba, who was wearing a rather strange expression on her face. 'Elphaba? Are you all right?'

She snapped out of it and turned to face him. 'Of course,' she said a bit gruffly. 'I can take care of myself, you know.' She strolled past him, out of the classroom, and Galinda gave him a meaningful look. 'I'll talk to her,' she whispered to Fiyero, patting his shoulder. 'I think she needs some girl talk.'

That's how they left him by himself, slightly offended and utterly confused.

Women. Would he ever understand them?