"Galinda hurry up!" Elphaba shouted, pounding in the bathroom door. "It's been four hours!"
"I'm almost done," the blonde insisted. Her roommate sighed. How in Oz could it take someone four hours to prepare for the day? This was a stretch even for Galinda; it usually only took her two hours. "Close your eyes," the blonde commanded from the bathroom. "I've got a surprise for you." The green girl sighed. A surprise from Galinda usually meant she had a new hairdo or outfit to show off. "Are they closed?"
"Yes," Elphaba told her, reluctantly shutting her eyes. "Come on out." She heard the door open and shut. There were soft footsteps on the floor.
"Ok, open them," Galinda chirped. The green witch opened her eyes and gasped. Her petite roommate was clad in a rather shapeless black dress similar to the ones she herself favored. But that wasn't the biggest shock. From head to toe Galinda Upland was green.
"What did you do?" Elphaba wondered, eyes wide.
"Do you like it?" the blonde wondered, spinning around. "I used a special kind of body paint. It should stay on for the whole day." The surprised witch examined her roommate. Somehow she'd managed to make the emerald hue look completely natural. Elphaba reached out her hand to stroke Galinda's arm. It even felt real.
"Why did you do this?"
"It's item number two on my bucket list," the blonde explained delightedly. Then her face fell. "You aren't offended are you?"
"No," Elphaba assured her. "It's a cool idea. But are you sure you want to spend the whole day like that?"
"Yes," Galinda replied immediately. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Well my item for today was to let you take me shopping, so we'll be out in public all day," Elphaba hinted.
"So?"
"It's not easy being green," the witch sighed. "People will stare and point and laugh. Are you sure you want to deal with that?"
"Yes," the blonde said with certainty. "You deal with it every day."
"Ok," Elphaba shrugged. "You've been warned."
***
"You're sure you want to do this?" the green witch verified again as the two girls prepared to walk into town.
"Yes Elphie I really want to do this," Galinda insisted. Her eyes were bright with determination. Before she could change her mind the blonde marched down the road. As Elphaba had predicted people stared and pointed.
"Look it's contagious," one man whispered loud enough for them to hear. Galinda held her head high and tried to pretend that the snickers and taunts didn't bother her though it was clear that they did. Her eyes quavered with tears. Usually Elphaba would have ignored all the people gawking at them but for her friend's sake she stared down every single spectator until they looked away. Soon people stopped watching them.
However the process began all over again when Galinda walked into a fancy dress shop. An oppressive silence settled over the establishment as they entered. Shen Shen looked up and screamed bloody murder. Pfannee fainted but no one cared enough to catch her. "Well what are you all staring at?" the blonde snapped loudly. Eyes widened as people recognized the famously fashionable Galinda Upland under all that green. "Haven't you heard? Green is in." Several patrons began twittering among themselves as Galinda led her baffled friend deeper into the forest of clothing racks.
"Nothing colorful," Elphaba warned. She took in her friend's dress. "I didn't even know you owned any black clothing."
"This is the only black dress I have," the blonde admitted. "It's for funerals." There was a moment of silence between them. "Try this," Galinda suggested, holding up a dress.
"Isn't this closer to your size?' Elphaba wondered.
"No it's just short," the blonde explained. "So it shows more of your legs." The green girl blanched slightly.
"I actually try to show as little skin as possible," Elphaba informed her. "Some people are shocked to realize that the green continues past my neck and arms."
"Well those people can deal,'" Galinda sniffed, thrusting the dress towards her friend. When the green girl emerged from the dressing room clad in the small dress she looked acutely uncomfortable. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she shuffled forward insecurely.
"I do not like this outfit," she growled from between clenched teeth. The blonde giggled a little. "See I told you I'd look horrible!"
"It's not that," Galinda chuckled. "It's your facial expression. You look mortified. The dress would look better on you if you weren't all curled in on yourself." With a great deal of effort Elphaba pressed her arms to her sides. An embarrassed blush spread through her stiff body. "You're still hunched over," the blonde told her. "Come on be confident. Head high. Boobs out."
"Galinda!" the green girl hissed, stumbling back into the dressing room. When she emerged with the dress slung unceremoniously over her arm Galinda looked disappointed. "Sorry," Elphaba apologized. "This just isn't my kind of dress."
"Well what is your kind of dress?" the blonde questioned. Her friend shrugged. "No seriously," Galinda pressed. "Show me where you shop."
"I don't really shop a lot," Elphaba pointed out. "But there is this one store that I love to hang out in."
"Show me."
***
The green girl's favorite store turned out to be a little second hand shop that most people would pass right by. A kind looking old lady smiled at them from behind the counter. She didn't bat an eye at Galinda's odd appearance. "Colorblind," Elphaba told her quietly.
"I see you brought a friend," the elderly woman observed.
"This is Galinda," the green girl introduced. There was a spark of recondition in the lady's eyes and Galinda guessed that she'd been a topic of conversation before. Elphaba led her friend deep into the crowded establishment. The shelves were packed with all sorts of odd artifacts. Handmade wool scarves were coiled beside flamboyant feathered hats. Everything begged to be tried on.
"How can you find anything specific in here?" the blonde demanded, totally at a loss.
"You don't," Elphaba replied simply. "I always come in here with an open mind. In stores like this stuff seems to choose you instead of the other way around." She smiled sheepishly. "I know that really doesn't make any sense."
"No it does," Galinda assured her, grabbing a pair of spiraling multicolored earrings. "These have been calling to me since we got in here." The green witch laughed slightly before wandering deeper into the store.
"Galinda get over here!" she called suddenly. "You've got to see this." Elphaba held before her two dresses. Both had drawn in waists and a thick ruffled skirt. The larger of the two was ebony colored with elegantly long sleeves and the smaller one was bubblegum pink with girlishly short sleeves. "Aren't these perfect?"
"What are they?" the blonde wondered, stroking the fabric reverently.
"They're dance gowns," Elphaba explained, pulling up the long skirt to reveal leggings that were part of the dress. "When the wearer spins the skirt lifts up to form a circle around their waist. These two must be really old, they look handmade."
"How would you know a thing about dancing?" Galinda wondered, remembering that night at the OzDust ballroom.
"My dad used to have an unhealthy obsession with ballroom dancing," the green girl explained. "He took us to every ballroom competition in town. Nessa hated it but I loved watching the dancers. Not that I ever learned a thing from watching." For a moment she was thoughtful. "We've got to try these on."
Miraculously both dresses fit their respective wearers as if they'd been custom made. "If you weren't green that gown would look amazing on you," Elphaba told her friend.
"I think pink goes good with green," Galinda muttered indignantly.
"I think you're color blind," the green girl retorted.
***
As the two of them were heading back to Shiz Elphaba pulled her blonde friend towards the dress shop they'd entered earlier. "What is it Elphie?" Galinda chirped, sounding confused. "I thought you didn't like this store."
"I don't," the green witch assured her. "But I want to see something." She slyly peeked in the window and cackled hysterically.
"What?" Still laughing too hard to answer Elphaba gestured to the glass. Galinda stretched up on her toes and looked. About half of the women inside were covered in various shades of green.
"It appears you've started a trend," the green witch snickered. "I'll never be ridiculed again."
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