Unlimited Chapter 4

A/N: Two things: First, I lied. No Fiyero in this chapter. sob Second, it's "Glinda" from the outset, not "Galinda", and I'll explain why later!

We wandered back down the sidewalk towards the dining hall. Amy noticed me staring again as we passed Three Queens Library, and she said, "You should go see if you be wanting to. Is only quarter to six. You to have plenty of time. Come find us in dining hall afterward."

"Okay," I began, but I glanced at Nessa, uncertain. I didn't like leaving her alone.

"I'll be fine," she snapped, smiling wryly but waving me away like I was annoying fly. "Go bond with your books. I know you want to."

"Okay, Elphaba. See you later. When you be finished, I to introduce you to all the cool non-athletic people," Amy said with a laugh. "Idina, who you met, and Falyn, Olivia, Mirabelle, Crope, Tibbett, and everyone else. Find us at table near center of hall. Actually, I not to be seeing Crope or Tibbett today. Not here yet, maybe. Or hanging out in library already." She shrugged. "Anyway, maybe Idina to try to coerce you all into being in Fall Musical, if you are not careful." She looked pointedly at Leon, who flushed.

"I may try out anyway," Leon admitted, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "I did a lot of musical theater in high school."

"Good for you," Amy said, clapping him on the back. "I to be wanting to come to your audition." He winced. "Let's go, guys. See you in a bit, Elphaba!" And they left together.

***

The library, on the inside, was magnificent. It was a clear continuation of the university's Gothic theme, with stone arches, vaulted ceilings, and jewel-bright stained-glass windows. Stately mahogany tables and chairs stood here and there, and dozens of alcoves were tucked into the walls, each lit by its own window. The shelves were stuffed with books, but there were more modern accommodations on the second floor in the form of a hundred or so computers sitting on several tables. The many wings branching off the main hall gave the place a sprawling, labyrinth-like atmosphere.

I was wandering down one of the third-floor wings when I noticed two boys huddled together in an alcove, peering over the top of a laptop screen at me. One of them was gaping and the other was smirking. As I walked by, the second boy called out, "Enjoying the library, are we?

It was then that I realized that I'd been so caught up in the sheer beauty of it all that my mouth had been hanging open and my eyes had been huge. I nodded, feeling heat rising in my cheeks.

"Yeah, I can tell. You kind of looked like a fish." His friend and I laughed. He stood and held out his hand. "I'm Crope, by the way. Crope Redford." I shook his hand, looking him over. He was dark-haired and on the short side, and was wearing thick-framed glasses and a black fedora. "And that's Tibbett," he said, pointing at his friend, who was blonde and a bit shrimpy, and was wearing a t-shirt advertising a popular video game. "Tibbett Smithson. Crope and Tibbett, Tibbett and Crope, better known by the baseball team, the swim team, the cross country team, the dance team, and basically everyone else as the Shiz University Library Fags."

I wasn't sure if he was kidding or not, so I managed a half-smile.

"Yeah. We have Avaric Margreave to thank for that one," Crope said, rolling his eyes.

"Douche bag," Tibbett muttered.

Crope nodded. "Yeah. I don't know if I'm more offended by that guy's blatant homophobia or by his spectacular lack of creativity. I mean, 'Library Fags'? Honestly…" He shrugged. "Whatever. So what's your name?"

"Elphaba Thropp."

"Nice to meet you," Crope said, sitting back down.

"I think- wait, I know I saw you earlier with some girl in a wheelchair," Tibbett said. "She was calling you 'Fae'."

"Uh, yeah. That's my sister Nessarose. She's always called me Fae."
"Why?" Crope asked.

"Well, my name comes from that old Unionist legend Saint Aelphaba and the Waterfall, and Aelphaba is also called Fabala in different versions of the story, so our housekeeper used to call me Fabala when I was little. Nessa couldn't say Fabala when she was two, so she called me Fae. I guess the name stuck."

"Fae," Tibbett mused. "I like it. That's less of a mouthful than 'Elphaba'. I was just gonna call you 'Hey green girl!'"

I laughed, but Crope smacked Tibbett in the arm. "You are completely tactless, you know that?" he growled.

"Well, you said she looked like a fish," Tibbett said sulkily, rubbing his arm.

"Yeah, but at least I wasn't so rudely referring to her-uh-"

"It's okay," I assured them. I liked these two already. "It's not exactly easy to ignore."

Crope looked relieved that he hadn't offended me, but Tibbett looked curious. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, why…" he trailed off, quailing under a blistering look from Crope.

"I don't know why, actually. No one does. And I don't mind him asking, Crope, so you can stop glaring at him," I added. "I was just born this way."

"Oh. Wow," Tibbett said, now unashamedly staring at me. I shrugged. "That's kinda cool, actually. You look like something out of a graphic novel."

"The hero or the villain?" I asked, entertained. Tibbett laughed. Crope smiled, though he still looked as though he were trying to decide if I'd been offended or not.

"I don't know. But we should think up a cool name for you."

"Jade Princess of Doom," Crope suggested.

"Lovely," I said dryly. "Hey, do you guys know a girl named Amy? I don't know her last name…uh, Quadling, dirty blonde, lots of freckles?"

"Yeah. That's Amy Noonan. Why?"

"She said she was friends with you two. She gave me and Nessa a tour of the school. She's in the dining hall now, but she was wondering where you guys were."

"Oh, okay," Crope said. "Actually, we probably should go meet up with everyone. You should come with us. We'll introduce you to our entourage," he said with a flourish.

"Thanks. I was planning on it anyway. Nessa and our friend Leon are already over there with Amy."

"Maybe Boq will come," Tibbett said hopefully.

"Nah, he's probably going to be stuck eating with the League of All Evil," Crope said, looking disgusted.

"The what?"

"The League of All Evil, otherwise known as the baseball team," Tibbett explained. "Boq's on the team, but he's pretty cool. He works a desk job in here, and we work in the stacks, so we hang out with him a lot. But that also means that we have to put up with-"

"With them," Crope finished contemptuously. "Mainly Fiyero and Avaric, but a lot of times the others too. I really don't know why he tolerates them. He even does their homework and stuff. I keep telling him he's not their bitch, but he won't listen. However," he added with a mischievous smile, "On the plus side, there's perks to the arrangement, at least for us. I mean, have you seen Fiyero Tiggular?" He moved his eyes up and down, as if he were checking out an invisible person standing before him. "Daaaaaaamn."

Tibbett put his hand over his heart in a mock salute. "I pledge allegiance to the Vinkus."

Crope laughed and did the same. "Amen, brother."

***

They left a few minutes later for dinner. I told them I'd meet up with them in a few minutes, partially because I wasn't done poking around the library, and partially because I was kind of sick of having to be social for the time being, even if most of the people I'd interacted with today had been fairly friendly. I reveled in the peace and emptiness of this place, breathing in the scent of stone and old paper. Here, I was in my element.

When I finally decided that it would be rude of me to linger in here too much longer, I set off for the dining hall. It was in one of the biggest, oldest buildings on campus, and I had to walk down a long, broad hallway to get there. After a minute or so, I found myself walking behind none other than the blonde girl and her drones, along with another girl who was dressed fairly differently than the others. She wore her black hair in a short bob and was wearing a black blouse, very tight straight-legged jeans, and a pair of shiny red pumps.

"…And I walked in, and I swear they were all over each other!" the drone in the aqua-blue hoodie was telling the other two.

"That slut," the girl in purple, whom the blonde had called Pfannee earlier, whispered. She sounded delighted.

"This is just too perfect…" giggled the blonde. "So we see her in the coffee shop practically eating his face off, and then two hours later Mr. Swim Team Boy is feeling her up in the dorms…the year's not even begun and Fiyero's girlfriend's cheating on him!"

"Are you going to tell him, then?" the girl in black snapped.

"Um, yeah. Duh. C'mon, Milla. Why not?"

"He's so not worth it. I know he's hot, Glin, but I had classes with him last year. He's a total dumbass. And frankly, that's kinda bitchy of you to tattle on her, even if she is a slut."

"Oh, stop sucking the fun out of everything, Mil," Pfannee retorted. "Go for it, Glinda."

"Oh, I will," the blonde giggled evilly. "But I have to do it at exactly the right time. I mean, it's Fiyero we're talking about. Even if I do manage to break them up, he isn't gonna be single for very long. I have to have a plan. So what I need you to do, Shenshen, is keep an eye on Sarima for me. And let me know immediately if you see her with Domitan again."

"Will do," the girl in blue chirped. "Thank Lurline for camera phones!"

Milla groaned. "Have fun with that."

Glinda turned to look at Milla, and I saw her roll her eyes. "Aw, Mil, we all know you hate her too. We'll take care of this. Just sit back and enjoy the fireworks."

Milla laughed. "Alright, whatever. Go for it. But if anyone asks, I had nothing to do with it. I value my spot on the dance team, and I'd like to avoid being pissing off the girl whose sister is my Team Captain."

"Oh, right," Glinda muttered. "I forgot about that. Don't worry. We won't get you in trouble."

I was almost glad when we entered the giant double doors and their babble was immediately cut off by the dull roar of hundreds of voices coming from the inside of a massive stone hall packed with tables. Then again, the triviality of the girls' conversation had been admittedly entertaining, and I could just imagine how the one named Glinda would react if she found out that the green freak from the train station had overheard the whole thing.

I crossed the hall, looking for Nessa and the students I'd met earlier. Eventually, I caught sight of Crope and Amy, both of whom had hopped up from their seats and were waving at me. I put on my best polite smile and headed for their table.

THERE'S A LITTLE GREEN BUTTON DOWN HERRE THAT WANTS TO BE PRESSED! THIS MAGIC LITTLE BUTTON HAS THE EXTRAORDINARY POWER TO SPEED UP MY UPDATES!