AN. First official day at school today :/

Chapter Four

Elphaba was sitting on her bed, crutches by her side, looking at the time. It was five past eleven, her discharge papers were in her hand and she was dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing the day of the accident, because her "bestest and dearest friend" hadn't thought to bring clean clothes when she'd visited the day before.

Her ribs still ached slightly, especially having to use the crutches, but Elphaba didn't want to stay in hospital a moment longer than she had to. And now she was irritated that Fiyero had said he'd be there at eleven, and he was now five- no, six minutes late. Of course, it didn't surprise her. He didn't seem like punctuality was a major concern for him.

Elphaba sighed heavily to the empty room, and stared at her left leg with a scowl. The area around her knee was swollen and bandaged and secured in a knee brace. It would have to remain so for the next two weeks, and she had to come back to the hospital three times a week for physical therapy sessions. It was immensely sore, and she'd been given mild painkillers for it too. Elphaba hated the pills, they made her drowsy, but not taking them wasn't an option, according to the doctor.

"Your chariot, my lady," Fiyero announced himself, entering the room at twelve past eleven, pushing a wheelchair before him.

"You're late," Elphaba retorted.

Fiyero stopped abruptly, and he glanced at the time. "Only a little," he shrugged carelessly.

Elphaba opened her mouth to argue that, but then Galinda bounced into the room.

"Oh, goody, and Galinda's here too."

Galinda smiled tightly. "Of course I am, silly! Fiyero and I," she proclaimed, slipping her arm around Fiyero's innocently. "We thought we'd take you to lunch before going back to school!"

Elphaba stared at the blonde for a moment before realising she wasn't joking.

"Why?"

Fiyero laughed. "Why? Maybe I just want to spend some quality time with two beautiful ladies? Would you refuse me that?"

Galinda giggled and blushed, her arm still clutching his. He winked at Elphaba, who stared back at him steadily, unimpressed. She couldn't believe he was actually trying to call her beautiful in an attempt to flatter her. Who did he think he was kidding?

"Can we just leave already?" she asked and manoeuvred herself into the wheelchair.

Fiyero's face fell slightly. Really? Nothing? He sighed inwardly and saw Galinda's arm still wrapped around his. He discreetly disentangled himself and turned the chair around. Elphaba held her book bag on her lap, and Galinda made a big show of taking Elphaba's crutches in hand.

Fiyero had left the picking of the restaurant to Galinda, not knowing the area, but he had made sure she knew there was to be no expense served. With that in mind, Galinda picked the fanciest restaurant in town, Cinstrella and got them a table outside. It was October, but still just warm enough to sit outdoors comfortably.

Fiyero, still determined to win Elphaba over, hurried ahead to the table to pull out Elphaba's chair for her.

"Miss Elphaba, may I help you to your seat?"

Elphaba looked at him coolly. "No, thank you. I'm perfectly capable of seating myself."

Elphaba nimbly hopped over to the other side of the table and seated herself, laying her crutches on the floor beside the table. Fiyero didn't bat an eyelid this time and immediately turned to Galinda.

"Miss Galinda?"

Galinda beamed. "Thank you."

She took the seat opposite Elphaba, and Fiyero gently pushed her chair in.

"If you'll excuse me for just a moment, ladies."

"Of course," Galinda gushed, flashing him a dazzling smile.

Elphaba merely made a murmur in her throat as she picked up her menu reluctantly. When Fiyero was out of earshot however, she looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"I know exactly what you're doing, you know."

Galinda tossed her hair. "What do you mean?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "You can drop the act, Galinda. Prince boy can't hear you. I know what you're doing, and I have no idea why you think pretending to be nice to me is going to get you anywhere with him."

Galinda narrowed her blue eyes. "He has a name," she retorted hotly. "And I still have no idea what you're talking about."

Her green-skinned roommate snorted. "Seriously? We've been roommates for a month, remember? I think you've spoken more to me in the last day than you have in that month. So, what's the plan? You think that if he sees how good you are by making friends with the green girl, he'll fall desperately in love with you?"

Galinda struggled, not wanting to give Elphaba the satisfaction of being right. Well, of knowing she was right.

"I'm just trying to be nice to a new classmate," she said finally. "Which is more than I can say for you. You're being very rude and ungrateful."

Elphaba gaped at her. "He ran me over!"

"No, his driver ran you over," Galinda corrected her. "It was an accident… I'm assume. And now he's taking you to lunch, he's going to help you while you're on crutches he told me. And you'll barely talk to him!"

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "If he could talk to me, without acting like I should be swooning at his feet or praising the heavens that he's deemed to socialise with me, it might be possible to talk to him. But then again, I've known you for a month and it doesn't look like that's possible either. The two of you deserve each other," she said in disgust, which Galinda completely missed.

"I know," she said simply.

Then she saw Fiyero making his way back towards them and leaned over to speak to Elphaba in a low voice.

"Here he comes. Now, if you can manage it, try not to be yourself and act like a human being for a while. And whatever you do, don't screw up my chance with Fiyero."

Elphaba sighed and rolled her eyes. She wasn't quite sure why she was even going along with this and not simply ratting Galinda out. Maybe it was because as much as she loathed the blonde, the alternative was dealing solely with Fiyero and his ill-attempts at flattery for the next two weeks.

"Whatever. But lay off the "Elphie", will you?"

Fiyero smiled at them as he sat down next to Galinda. "So, have you decided what you want yet? Whatever you want, it's on me." He was addressing mainly Elphaba at this point, sure she'd argue with him.

"I know how bad hospital food is. And considering the events that put you there… this is my treat."

Elphaba hesitated for a moment. "Thank you," she replied stiffly, trying to be polite.

As much as she hated to admit it, Galinda had made a point. The thing was, she could tell that Fiyero's smiles, compliments and moves at flattery were fake- well practised yes, but completely fake. He was shallow and self-absorbed, and Elphaba hadn't seen a single sign that he was any different from Galinda- and his reputation supported that.

But he was helping her, whether it be an act to appear contrite over her accident or not, and she should at least show a little gratitude. And she really had hated the hospital food.

The waitress came over and took their orders, and Fiyero urged Elphaba to order something more expensive than the simple salad she was going to. Eventually, she gave in and changed her order.

Galinda smiled at Elphaba, as the waitress left. "Isn't that nice of him, Elphie?"

She stressed the "Elphie" and Elphaba winced involuntarily, which Fiyero caught.

"So, why do you hate being called 'Elphie'?"

Elphaba looked between Galinda and Fiyero for a moment.

"It's… a little perky," she replied slowly.

Fiyero was thrilled, this was the closest thing to a conversation they'd had since they'd met. Grinning broadly and feeling much more confident, he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, I agree with Galinda. 'Elphaba' is a bit of a mouthful."

"Elphaba is three syllables. And my name," Elphaba replied through gritted teeth. "What else would you call me?"

Fiyero was thoughtful. "Well, let's see…"

"Nessa calls you Fabala!" Galinda offered and Elphaba glared at her. "I've heard her!" Galinda defended herself.

Fiyero looked delighted at this, but Elphaba spoke before he could.

"Don't even think about calling me that. It's a childhood nickname between my sister and I, because she couldn't pronounce my name right as a child. I won't hesitate to hex you if you call me that, prince or not," she warned him. "And if you don't believe me, ask Galinda. I study sorcery."

Galinda scowled momentarily, still furious that Elphaba was being privately tutored in sorcery by Madame Morrible when she was not.

"She does," she admitted to Fiyero who grinned.

"Ok, then. No Fabala. Well, 'Elphie' is just the first part of your name…"

"The first two syllables," Elphaba sighed, correcting him.

He nodded. "Yes. So… El? We could call you Elle? Ella? Ellie?"

Elphaba glared at him. "If you're fond of your nose in its current shape, I suggest you don't call me Ellie. That's almost as bad as Elphie," she shuddered.

Fiyero was rather fond of his nose, as it turned out, so he hastily moved on to the next syllable.

"Pha? You can't really do much with that, can you? But the next one is Ba, which is worse, it would sound like I'm calling you a sheep or a goat…"

Galinda giggled, finding that image a little funny. "I like Pha," she offered, thoroughly enjoying this conversation, just because it was making Elphaba so uncomfortable.

"Pha," Fiyero repeated thoughtfully. "Fa… Fae. Fae!" he proclaimed, his face brightening. "We can call you Fae!"

Elphaba was tempted to just bang her head down on the table, but she reconsidered- she was just recovering from one concussion at the moment, thank you very much.

"Fae? Fae… sounds nothing like Elphaba! How did you get Fae from that?" she demanded. "Why can't you just call me by my name? Or better yet, don't refer to me at all. 'Green girl' seems to work for the rest of campus."

Fiyero ignored her. "Hey, you don't like Elphie, so I'm going with Fae. Get used to it."

"For the month you'll be here before you can add Shiz to the list of schools you've been expelled from? Sure," Elphaba agreed, her tone biting as her temper got the better of her.

Galinda gasped in horror. "Elphaba! That's a wicked thing to say!"

Elphaba felt a touch of remorse, maybe that had been a little harsh. But Fiyero only shrugged.

"You're probably right," he agreed.

They fell silent for a few moments as the waitress brought over their meals and they began to eat.

Finally, Elphaba could bear it no longer.

"That's it?" she demanded. "You say that like it's no big deal that you could be expelled. Aren't you worried about your education?"

Fiyero shrugged again, that same care-free air about him. "That doesn't really fit in with my life philosophy."

"Oh, Oz," Elphaba murmured tiredly, but Galinda gaped at Fiyero like he was the Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself.

"What philosophy is that?" she asked breathlessly, her eyes wide.

"To just… dance through life," Fiyero replied as though it explained everything.

Elphaba stared at him blankly, and Galinda looked in awe.

"What does that mean?" she asked, leaning towards Fiyero and placing one perfectly manicured hand on his arm.

Fiyero swallowed the bite of his meal and cleared his throat. "Well, the thing I've always disagreed with about school, is that they're all about 'preparing you for the real world.' They want you to be less callow, less shallow. They give you exams and readings to supposedly get you ready to be an adult, right?"

Galinda nodded.

"But that's so stressful!" Fiyero exclaimed. "There's no exams or readings in the real world, or assignments. We're young! We have our whole lives ahead of us, this is when we should be having fun! So, why bother worrying with all this school stuff? We should be preparing ourselves for the unexamined life."

Elphaba was so horrified she couldn't speak. Galinda, on the other hand, looked like she was about to run off and construct a temple to praise Fiyero's way of life and worship him as her Lord and Saviour.

"My motto is work smarter, not harder," Fiyero explained. "If you don't try, you can't fail. I've found there's much less trouble in life if you just take the time to smell the roses… enjoy life… have some fun. Life is hard, so why bother thinking about it and worrying about everything?"

Elphaba chuckled mirthlessly. "Less trouble? You've been enrolled in how many schools? And that's less trouble?"

Fiyero laughed and grinned at her. "Well, the trouble is that the other schools don't really agree with my views. But I've never been happier than when I'm living my life this way," he assured her.

"You are so smart," Galinda told him solemnly and Elphaba had an urge to throw something at their stupidity.

She had been right. Galinda could accuse her of being ungrateful all she wanted, but Elphaba was now sure she was right. If Fiyero found his life's contentment in not even trying to apply himself and making moves on every pretty girl, he wasn't worth her time. Because Elphaba wanted to make something of her life. She was going to make something of herself, to make good.

And people like Fiyero Tiggular just weren't worth it.