third chapter.
Disclaimer: not mine.
Elphaba waited impatiently for the traffic light to change. In the meantime, she tried to take in her surroundings while being as unnoticed as possible. She pulled her hooded cloak on, burying her face in it and looking at the ground. She was unsure of how people would react to her skin in this place. In Oz, it took four years for some people to get used to her. The cars in the street jerked to a stop as the light turned from green to red. This was Elphaba's cue to sprint across the street.
She went up to the club, eyeing it from various angles. The guards outside were drunk, so they let Elphaba in free of charge. They did not even notice her. On the inside, there were even more drunk men, and a lot of "exotic dancers" on a stage. Elphaba entered and took in the scent of alcohol mixed with cologne and perfume. She coughed quietly, walking around in search of Glinda. Eventually she found the blond, huddled in a corner.
"Glinda," Elphaba whispered loudly. Glinda looked up, relieved to see Elphaba there. "What happened to you? How could you get lost in here?"
"Oh, Elphaba, it was horrible!" Glinda croaked. "I stepped inside, thinking that there were kittens for sale, so I asked a man where to find one. He just pushed me, then other men started to push me, and I ended up in this corner! Thank Oz you're here!" Elphaba embraced her friend, and then pulled her up onto her feet.
"Let's just go," she said. She lead Glinda through the crowd, but the lead dancer caught sight of the two girls. Elphaba kept her eyes down, not noticing the glint in the dancer's eyes, or when Glinda was pulled onto the stage. Only when she heard the blond's shrieks did she know something was wrong.
"ELPHABA!" Glinda cried. Elphaba whipped her head up to see a very distressed Glinda. She was up on the stage, and the lead dancer had her handcuffed to a chair. She was slowly grinding their hips together, and Elphaba's eyes widened. She felt a deep lurch in the bottom of her stomach, and she knew what was going to happen next.
"Formah, toldeh, formah, toldeh, elekah nahmen, formah toldeh!" she shouted uncontrollably. Everyone but the dancer, Glinda and herself froze. The dancer onstage screamed and backed away from Glinda, looking down. Elphaba ran onto the stage, took the Glinda out of the chair and gave her a comforting hug. Like she used to do for Nessa, she stepped in front of Glinda to protect her.
"What was that for?" Elphaba asked the dancer in a deep, threatening voice. "Why did you do that?"
"I should be asking you the same question!" the dancer shrieked, backing away slowly. "You just...you just...look at what you did to all those guys! And the dancers! How did you do that? And why the hell do you have green makeup on? Halloween isn't for another couple of weeks!"
"I don't have makeup on," Elphaba mumbled. "And I froze those men because of what you did to my friend!"
"Goddamit, it's my job," the dancer mumbled. "Listen, I'm getting out of here. Just make sure to unfreeze all of these men when you leave, alright, Greenie?" Elphaba flinched at that comment, but nodded. She turned away from the dancer and pulled Glinda through the club, the green hand holding the peach one. Ephaba found herself a small corner and sat down in it, closing her eyes. She began chanting softly under her breath, trying to relax enough to undo the freezing spell.
"Oh, God, what's she doing now?" the dancer mumbled. She ran over to Elphaba to see what she was up to. When she was about to tap her on the shoulder, a hand cut her off. It was Glinda's.
"Don't touch her," Glinda said quietly, but sincerely. The dancer looked down at Glinda. She saw a small girl with a face set in stone. "You can't interrupt her when she's doing that. Do you understand?" The dancer nodded. She slipped a pear of sweatpants and a tank top on over her dancing outfit, then a cheetah-print coat. Elphaba opened her eyes and all of the men began cheering and drinking again.
"Come, Glinda, let's go," Elphaba said. She took the blond's hand again, pulling her cloak over her head. Glinda quickly followed, not looking back once. So neither of them saw the dancer following them out of the club.
"Elphaba, we don't have anywhere to go!" Glinda whimpered. She began to cry, and Elphaba gave her a hug. She murmured comforting things in Glinda's ear, such as "Everything will be fine," and "We can get through this! We're unlimited, remember?" After a few minutes, they both pulled away.
"Glinda, how about we go into that alley over there?" Elphaba said. "It can be a hiding spot for the time being, and we can try to contact Madame Menzel. Come." Elphaba began to lead her friend away, but stopped when she heard a voice call her name.
Shit.
"WAIT! ELPHABA!" someone called from behind them. It was the dancer. Elphaba sighed and stepped in front of Glinda again. She glared at the dancer with a look that could kill. The dancer was unaffected. She just placed her hands on her hips.
"Listen, Elphaba, I wouldn't go in there if I were you." This got Glinda's attention.
"How do you know her name?" she asked. The dancer blushed and mumbled something that was not understandable.
"Could you speak up, please?" Elphaba asked rudely. "How do you know my name, you whore?"
"Don't you call me that, Greenie," the dancer snapped. "And I know your name because, uh, Ifollowedyououtoftheclub."
"One more time, slut."
"I said, that I followed you out of the fucking club!" the dancer screamed. "You looked so stupid with that green makeup on. I was sure you were going to get raped, or something. So I decided to follow you. And the one thing that you don't do in the Alphabet City is walk into an alley at midnight!"
"That's the only reason you followed us?" Elphaba asked quietly. "Because you wanted to help us? Or you were curious about my skin?" The dancer blushed. "I thought so."
"For the love of God, why are you green?" The dancer asked after a long silence. "I mean, come on, it's like you're Margaret Hamilton, or something." Elphaba had never heard that name, and she shared a confused look with Glinda. But the dancer was not done. She pointed at Glinda and said, "And you, with that skimpy little dress? You'll totally get mugged. Seriously, find a hotel, or something. Although on any other occasion, that dress is so cute." Glinda's face brightened.
"Really? You think?" she asked the dancer. They began talking about some girly gossip thing, just as Glinda did with her other friends. Elphaba rolled her eyes, and managed to pick up the dancer's name: Mimi Marquez.
"Oh my God, Glinda, you have got to lend it to me!" Mimi squealed. This was after Glinda had told her about a shirt that she had bought at the Emerald City a few years back. Mimi seemed to like it, which Glinda thought was a very good thing. After a while, Elphaba felt like she was going to explode if she heard another word that had anything to do with fashion. She pulled Glinda aside.
"Are you becoming friends with her?" Glinda nodded.
"That's good! Ask her to give us a place to stay! You've only been talking for two fucking hours!"
"Has it been that long, really?" Glinda asked, looking at her watch. She gasped and hurried to Mimi. After some talking, Elphaba saw Mimi beckon her over. Elphaba walked as slowly as possible to the dancer.
"You have to explain some things to me first," Mimi demanded. "One: why you're green. Two: where you're from, and Three: where you got your bag. I like it."
"I got the bag at a small shop near my home, which is at a college called Shiz." Mimi gave her a quizzical look. "Shiz is in Oz." Mimi burst out laughing. When she saw that Elphaba wasn't laughing along with her, she stopped.
"You're from Oz?" she snickered. "Prove it." Elphaba rolled her eyes and took out her broom. She got on and flew onto a rooftop after looking to make sure that they were the only three on the street. Once she flew back down, Mimi had wide eyes.
"I'm not being Punk'd, am I?" Elphaba shook her head. For affect, she rode around Mimi on the broom, making the small dancer dizzy. "Alright, alright, I believe you! That, or the bartender put something in my drink. And now, why are you green?"
"I, uh, have a skin disorder," Elphaba said quickly. When Glinda was about to protest, Elphaba elbowed her in the ribs. That got her quiet.
"Well, okay, you can stay with us for a few days, I guess," Mimi said. "But only if Glinda lends me that top she was talking about earlier."