Chapter 4
A/N Thank you James birdsong, bookWorm001 and Silvine Graycin for the reviews.
bookWorm001, yes, you are right, Galinda was happy with what she saw.
Silvine, went to google and read your Changing Fate (just a few chapters) on . Looking forward to your rewrite!
To all readers, Silvine Graycin actually had a wicked fanfic with the same title! Should I change mine? The original title for this fanfic was actually A Twist of Fate because it was how Elphaba's life change because Fiyero came into her life before all the Animal Banns affected her (musicalverse). What do you think?
And please review this chapter! Noticed that reviews for most fanfics seemed to have dwindled. Is it examinations time in some part of the world?
Last but not least, thank you for 3 new followers for the past week! :)
The next day, Galinda and Elphaba were having breakfast in the school's main cafeteria when they saw Fiyero walking towards the building.
"Oh Elphie, here comes your dream guy," Galinda teased her mercilessly.
"Walking, living nightmare." Elphaba mumbled as she looked down and continued to eat her breakfast, pretending that she had not seen him.
"Oh wait, there is a girl approaching him," Galinda poked at her roommate. Elphaba looked up. Sure enough, a pretty girl with red hair and micro-mini skirt had joined the queue that Fiyero was in and they had started talking.
"She's no competition, Elphie," Galinda said confidently.
Elphaba felt like digging a hole there and then and hid inside.
"Galinda, I told you, there is nothing between the two of us. He can talk to or date any girl he wants." She told her friend as she continued with her breakfast.
"Oh wait wait, Elphie. He is looking for you!" Galinda hit Elphaba on her arm excitedly. Elphaba looked at the prince again. He had placed his breakfast on a tray and did look as if he was scanning the crowd for someone.
Galinda stood up and waved frantically with both hands. Fiyero saw the bubbly blonde, smiled at her, said something to the redhead next to him and then walked towards them.
"He's coming, he's coming!" Galinda keep hitting Elphaba's arm. At that moment, Elphaba wished that her sorcery class had taught her how to become invisible. She made a mental note to talk to Madame Morrible about this as soon as she could.
"Good morning, ladies. Is the seat taken?" Fiyero asked when he reached the table.
"Yes, Fiyero. By you," Galinda told him, batting her eyelids. That was simply too much saccharine between the two and Elphaba lost her appetite.
She was about to stand up and remove her tray when Galinda suddenly grabbed her hand and pointed at one of her friends in the distance.
"OhlookthereisShenShenIgottot alktoheraboutsomethingactual lynothinginparticularbutIgot todoitnowWhydon'thetwoofyoujustsitdownandhav eagoodchatI'llseeyouaroundByeeeeee!" With that, Galinda ran off in search of ShenShen with her breakfast tray still on the table and left the two alone.
Fiyero smiled at her. "Now it's just the two of us."
Elphaba looked at him. "I was about to leave."
He looked hurt by her remark, and for a moment she wished that she had not said it.
"I'm sorry," she said. "It's just that Galinda had been bugging me about something."
"About what?" He asked.
"Nothing," Elphaba said, as she started poking at her food with her fork. She did not leave.
"So have you decided?" He asked her when her food had been poked into tiny pieces that could not be any smaller.
"What?" she asked, not knowing what he was talking about.
"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"
"Oh." It was all she could say. She thought he had forgotten all about it.
"I really enjoyed our dinner last night, Elphaba."He told her, his voice filled with sincerity. "So can we meet again tonight? Grommie's? Seven? Can I pick you up?" He looked at her with his pair of blue eyes and Elphaba was reminded of the summer sky.
"I'll meet you there," she found herself agreeing. Damn, she thought, with that puppy dog eyes, she would not be surprised if she would jump into suicide canal without a second thought just because he told her to do so.
With that, she fled, not trusting herself to stay a single second longer.
Elphaba went to the library. The library was always her sanctuary, the place for her to study and the place that she would go when she wanted to be alone or wanted to sort out her thoughts. But the library offered no such refuge that day. She wandered from shelf to shelf, took out a few books but nothing could capture her attention. And then she realized with a shock that all the books that she had picked out had blue covers. The same shade of blue like the summer sky. She put the books back onto the correct shelves and left the library.
She thought that she could keep the upcoming dinner appointment from Galinda, but she knew she was busted the moment she entered their bedroom. Galinda had like twenty of her dresses with matching shoes lay out on both their beds.
"So where's the venue?" She said as her way of greeting, her eyes not leaving the clothes as she scrutinized them one by one.
"Galinda, how did you know?" Elphaba was surprised. Was the blonde eavesdropping after she had left the table?
"Elphie, I may not be as good as you in sorcery, but 'reading men's thoughts' is my speciality," she replied with a flourish.
"It's Grommie's," Elphaba confessed.
Galinda thought for a while (sometimes, Elphaba thought that Galinda only used her brains when she had to decide on what to wear), and then pointed at a dress that was on Elphaba's bed.
It was a simple short sleeve cotton dress. The top was white in colour while the skirt was dark blue and ended at the knee level. It was something that Galinda had bought at the spur of the moment but would never wear because it was 'too boring'.
"Don't say I didn't take your taste in colour into consideration," the fashion consultant wannabe told her victim (strikeout) friend.
And so it was, at seven, that the green girl, dressed in Galinda's white and blue dress (the dress was abit wide at the sides and ended above her knees since she was thinner and taller than Galinda) found herself outside Grommie's. Instead of plaiting her hair, Galinda had tied it into a ponytail which Galinda said will make her look less severe and yet will to be messed up by the wind.
She placed her hand on the handle of the door, and hesitated, and was about turn around and went back to her room when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Thinking of running away?"
She turned and looked up. It was Fiyero, with an amused look on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. He wore a light green shirt with a bootlace tie and pants. The sleeves were rolled up. He had worn a pair of dark colour casual pants which matched the shirt nicely.
"I – I think I forgot to bring something." She smattered.
"What did you forget to bring? A book? You won't be needing a book tonight, Elphaba," he told her with a smile, as he gently guide her to turn around so that she was facing the door again. He then opened the door and waved her to go in.
Grommie's was a place for intimate, quiet conversations, rather than loud group gatherings. There was a staff behind the door who immediately guided them to a table for two. Elphaba noticed that a few heads were turned in their direction. She hoped that they were looking at the good looking prince rather than at her.
They looked at the menu and ordered their food. It was a no brainer for Elphaba, as there were only a few dishes that did not contain meat. The food came quickly, and as the two were having their dinner, Elphaba could feel a few pairs of eyes staring at her back and some whispers. She turned around just in time to see a few customers in a table a few tables away suddenly turning away and pretending to be engrossed in their dinner. She turned back to her food again and heard the whispering again.
"Is something wrong?" Fiyero asked as he noticed her silence.
She shook her head, and continued with her food, but could not help turning back again when she heard the sensitive 'green' word. Again, the group suddenly turned back and pretended to be engrossed in their food.
This time round, however, Fiyero noticed them. He put down his utensils, excused himself and walked over to the table of guys.
"Excuse me, gentlemen. I cannot help but notice that you have been noticing, and making comments about my beautiful companion. Is there something that you would like to say in front of us rather than behind her back?" His voice was non-provocative, yet firm enough to show the group that he was serious.
As with most people who were caught red handed with gossiping, their faces turned red. Fiyero stood there, each of his hands on the back of two of the chairs that were occupied, his eyes boring into the face of whom he correctly gauged to be the leader of the group.
The guy balked, and said "there's nothing" with a nervous laughter, and was joined by the rest of his mates.
Fiyero continued to stare at him for a few silent moments before replying. "Enjoy your meals. Have a good evening." He said with a nod, and then back to his table.
Elphaba noticed that almost everyone in the restaurant was holding their breath throughout the whole encounter, and started to breathe again only after Fiyero had sat down. She also noticed that the group quickly called for their bill and left the restaurant.
"How's the food?" He asked.
"Fine," she replied, but she was picking at it. It was supposed to be a simple dinner appointment, but the presence of that group reminded Elphaba on how people usually passed snide remarks when she was with Fiyero or Galinda. It was as if someone like her, green like her, should not have friends that were good looking or popular.
Fiyero surprised her by leaning across the table and speared a carrot with his fork and popped it into his mouth. He then passed some of his lettuce to her plate.
"Exchange program," he told her.
Elphaba would usually roll her eyes at his actions, but she kept quiet instead. She also left his lettuce untouched.
The two finished their dinner in silence.
Fiyero settled the bill, and they left the restaurant. Instead of walking her back to her dorm, he brought her to one of the many small parks littered around the campus and they sat down on a cold stone bench.
"You're very quiet tonight," he told her.
She didn't reply.
He shifted closer to her. He then wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulled her to him and kissed her forehead before resting his chin on top of her head. She did not protest, and instead sought comfort from his warmth.
"You know that you don't have to bother with what other people say," he told her.
She disengaged herself from him and looked into the distance.
She spoke after a while.
"That's easy for you to say. You are the handsome and popular prince. I bet no one had ever passed any snide remark about you."
"That's not true. I had people saying that I am stupid. That I party too much… you can't please everybody."
"I am – they called me the artichoke going after the prince." She said, referring back to the incident at the restaurant. Somehow, that incident reminded her of the vast difference between her and other girls. Other girls could have friends that they could confide in. They had sleepovers. They could dream of going on dates and falling in love and having it happened. Before Galinda, she never had a friend whom she could talk to, and never imagined that one day she would have such a friend. But dating? Would that happen?
Fiyero smiled. "They got the direction wrong. It's the prince going after the green girl, because he knows greens are good for him."
Elphaba could not help herself but smiled.
Fiyero held her hand, and looked at her while she continued to look ahead.
"Do you know that you are actually a very special girl? You're one in a million. A gem. And I want to hold this gem in my hand. I want us to be more than friends. I want to be the person that you want to talk to. I want to the first person you think of in the morning and last thing on your mind before you fall asleep at night. I want to be the one that you want to share your happiness with, the one that you want to confide in when you are troubled. Do you think that is possible?" He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
Elphaba looked up at him, her jaw dropped at the confession.
"I suppose silence means consent," he said teasingly when she kept silent.
Elphaba shook her head in disbelief and removed her hand from his.
"You don't know you are getting yourself into," she told him.
Fiyero smiled. "I know what I am getting into. I am trying to get into a wonderful relationship with an amazing girl."
She looked in the distance again, just to stop herself from looking at him.
"What is it?" He asked. "Is there somebody else?" He reached for her hand again.
She shook her head. "I'm not the kind of girl that anyone should date. I'm green. I'm unfriendly. Can we go back now? I'm tired."
Beside her, she heard Fiyero sighed. And she felt her heart sinking. That she had caused him to be disappointed. But she was just being truthful. And the truth hurt in this case.
"I'll walk you back." He asked after a while.
They walked back to her room in silence, their hands not touching. At the door, Elphaba was half afraid (and half wanting) that he would kiss her again. She knew that she would just give in and showed him how she really felt if he were to kiss her the way he did before. He gave her a peck on the cheek instead.
"I'll behave for the time being," he told her. "But promise me that you will think about giving me a chance."
"I don't make promises that I cannot keep, Fiyero," she said sadly before she entered her room.