AN. People who follow me on social media- do we like the review thing I'm doing? Because like, I enjoy making them, but I don't want to bore you all...
Also, I have to ask- what were you all picturing exactly when I said "football"? I quite liked that it covered a few different things, but I'm curious what you all pictured.
Chapter 6
One Wednesday night in early November, Galinda sat with Pfannee and Shen-Shen in The Wilted Rose, waiting for Milla to join them after her creative writing class let out.
"It's a quarter past seven already," Pfannee complained. "How much longer do we have to wait?"
"She'll be here," Galinda said patiently. "Give her time."
Pfannee sighed and continued to grumble under her breath. Galinda kind of understood. It was dark and cold, and growing colder every week. But the dining hall on campus was only open until seven, which wasn't convenient for Milla's schedule.
Milla arrived a few minutes later, taking the seat next to Galinda.
"It's so cold out there!" she exclaimed, taking off her coat.
"We'll get you some coffee," Galinda said, summoning the waiter with a mere glance.
"Oh, your face is all red," Shen-Shen said sympathetically. "Poor thing."
"Were you crying?!" demanded Pfannee, squinting at her face.
Milla nodded, digging into her purse for a compact to inspect her face. "Yeah."
The waiter approached the table and Milla didn't even glance at the menu. "I'll take a large hot chocolate with extra chocolate and cream, and a piece of pie," she ordered.
"I'm starving," she explained to the girls, almost apologetically.
"Why were you crying?" Galinda asked with a slight frown.
"Dr Farley read us a poem in class tonight, and it just made me cry. It made a lot of people cry, actually," Milla told them.
Shen-Shen's eyes were wide. "Wow."
Milla glanced around the café and lowered her voice. "You know Elphaba?"
"Who?" Galinda asked blankly.
"The green girl?"
The blonde sniffed, wrinkling her nose. "Oh. Her. What about her?"
"It was her poem. She wrote it."
"What was it about?" Shen-Shen asked.
"How it's not easy being green," Pfannee sniggered and Galinda and Shen-Shen giggled.
The waiter returned with Milla's order and she thanked him politely, taking a mouthful of pie before answering.
"Well, the assignment was to write about a moment of change and reflection. She wrote this poem about an old tree that had fallen in the middle of the forest, and new trees were growing in its place as time passes and eventually none of them remember the old tree. It was so sad."
"None of the trees remember? How do they know that?" Shen-Shen frowned.
"Well, the trees talk to one another," Milla explained. "There was this line… oh shoot, what was it? 'Leaves fall and with it, another picture of what once was fades to mulch beneath the forest floor…' It was better than that, I can't remember now. I was crying too much to memorise it. But anyway, the trees tell one another stories."
"But trees don't talk."
"They do in some parts of Munchkinland," Milla said. "I have an aunt there. My brothers and I used to visit them with our cousins when we stayed with her."
"So they were Munchkinland trees?" Pfannee wrinkled her nose.
"I don't think so," Milla frowned. "I think they were just normal trees."
"But then how did they talk?" Shen-Shen demanded.
Galinda rolled her eyes. "It's just poetry. Nothing makes sense. Can we let Milla eat so we can go back to campus, please?"
Pfannee immediately changed the subject to the upcoming dance at the OzDust, and Galinda and Shen-Shen chatted away excitedly.
It seemed all of campus was talking about the dance, and Galinda was trying to convince Rais to let her cover it for the Gazette.
"For some reason, he doesn't think it's news," she complained.
Pfannee still didn't understand why the blonde would even want to be on the paper's staff.
"I told you," Galinda repeated for the millionth time. "If I write all these articles and get on the staff, Rais might give me an advice column. I have so much good advice to help people, and I'm sure more people are reading the paper now that I'm on it," she said with a toss of her hair.
"Your articles are the only ones worth reading," Pfannee assured her loyally. "It's the only reason I read it."
Milla swallowed the mouthful of pie she was eating. "What kind of advice?"
"Fashion or dating, obviously. The two subjects I know the most about."
"But, you get all your dating advice from the Bible," Shen-Shen pointed out. "You said that book has all the answers. Why would people ask you for dating advice when they can just read the book?"
Galinda was prone to frequently quoting her favourite dating guide, Like a Moth to a Flame, known among her friends as 'The Bible'. And in her friends, she had a captive audience for all the gospel she was willing to spout.
She ignored Shen-Shen's valid question now and waved her hand dismissively.
"That rag deserves a little class, don't you think? I mean, Oz, it's so boring. Maybe if it does well, one day I can even have a fashion or advice column in OzBeat Magazine," she said dreamily. "Wouldn't that be thrillifying?"
Pfannee's eyes lit up. "Did you see that interview in this month's OzBeat with Jaron Beart? The tennis player? He's gorgeous. And single. He said so in the article."
She and Shen-Shen started debating the pros and cons of dating an athlete, while Milla finished her meal.
Galinda sat there in silence, staring out of the window and partly daydreaming about the dance, and partly hoping it wasn't going to snow before then. She had a new dress and new shoes for the occasion, and snow would completely ruin the look she was going for.
Elphaba seemed to be the only person on campus not going to the dance, and although she wanted Nessa to have a wonderful time and spent every spare moment she had between classes and the paper in Nessa's room working on her sister's dress; she was heartily sick of hearing about it everywhere she went.
The Thursday before the dance, at the weekly Gazette staff meeting, Galinda thrust her hand into the air the moment started to ask if there was any other business, as she had at every meeting since the dance was announced.
Elphaba internally groaned, knowing what was coming, but Rais merely smiled at her. "Yes, Galinda?"
"I want to write about the dance," Galinda said. "There's a story here, Rais. I know there is."
"Yes, I can see the headline now," Elphaba said sarcastically. "Students Festivate a Random Saturday in November. Front page news, I'm sure."
Some students sniggered, but Galinda glared at her.
"I do hope you're not going, Elphaba. You'll complete clash with the décor of the evening."
"I have a life," Elphaba muttered.
Galinda snorted sceptically. "As a tree frog, maybe."
"Alright," Rais cut in hastily, before Elphaba could respond. "Galinda, see me at my desk and we'll discuss the story. Any other business?"
No one else raised their hand, so he nodded.
"Alright. Dismissed."
Elphaba grabbed her things and left the Gazette office. She had an hour and a half before her History class, and she could use the time to do some more work on Nessa's dress.
Despite Nessa's attempts to convince her sister to come, Elphaba steadfastly refused. Nessarose even went so far as to write to Annalie and ask her to convince Elphaba to go, but Elphaba could be stubborn when she chose to be and Annalie knew when to let an issue drop.
'There'll be other dances,' Annalie wrote back to Nessarose. 'Let her skip this one, and maybe she'll consider the next one. You both went to a football game (which I'm very impressed with), and she's joined the paper. I never expected you both to conquer every aspect of university life in one semester. I just didn't want you to spend three years living in your dorm rooms.'
Elphaba did agree, however, to come by the room while Nessa got herself ready for the dance. Even if she wasn't going to the dance, Elphaba was still looking forward to the night ahead. Pinar was going to the dance, which meant Elphaba would have a blissful night to herself in her room.
"A whole night to write," she said happily, as Nessa applied her makeup. "And I can write in my nightgown, on my bed, with snacks. It's going to be amazing."
"I thought you were able to write at your desk at the Gazette?" Nessa asked.
"I can, but it's not quite the same," she sighed. "I wish I'd agreed to let Papa pay for a private room for me."
"I'm sure next year he'll arrange it for you if you ask."
"Yeah, but then it feels like giving up," Elphaba complained.
"But living with Pinar is making you miserable," Nessa argued, putting down her lipstick and examining her reflection critically.
Elphaba shrugged. "Yeah, well. Living with Papa for the first ten years of my life made me miserable."
"Elphaba!" Nessa gasped.
Her sister shrugged again. "It's true, isn't it?"
She got off the bed and bent down to kiss her sister's cheek. "You look beautiful. Have fun and I'll see you tomorrow."
Nessa sighed as her sister left. She brushed back a few stray hairs and nervously smoothed the satin skirt of the amethyst coloured dress Elphaba had made for her.
"Are you ready?" Xia asked her, and Nessa nodded eagerly.
They'd arranged it carefully. Xia would walk over to the OzDust Ballroom with her, where they would meet their respective friends, and Nessa would find Xia when she wanted to leave. Nessa felt a little bad at possibly pulling Xia away from the dance before the end of the night, but Xia didn't seem to mind.
"I attended more than a few dances at the OzDust when I did my first degree here," she reminded Nessa as they left the room.
"I won't be devastrated if we leave before the night is over."
They met Nessa's friends in the courtyard and walked into town together, all chattering excitedly. Nessa hadn't been to the OzDust yet, and when she and her friends entered the room, she couldn't help but gaze around in wonder, rendered momentarily speechless.
"Isn't it beautiful?" she breathed to her friend Salmythe, who was standing next to her.
Salmythe looked impressed, but not quite as awed. "It's nice. Shall we dance?"
Nessa cringed at that. "Um, I might get a drink first. You girls go ahead."
The girls headed for the dance floor, while Nessa wheeled herself towards the bar, where the tables were. There was a crowd around the bar and she hesitated, not wanting to get squashed. People either scattered away from her chair or refused her the extra space required to navigate herself around, there was no in between.
"Hi, Nessa."
Nessa jumped slightly, and it took her a moment to register Boq standing at her side.
"Oh, hi! I didn't know you were coming to this?"
Boq looked awkward. "Well, yeah… I thought I'd check it out. See who was here, you know…"
He trailed off as he stared at a spot somewhere over Nessa's head. Looking over her shoulder, Nessa spotted Galinda Upland dancing with a boy she didn't recognise.
"Sure," she said, not sure what else to say.
Boq awkwardly cleared his throat and tore his eyes back to Nessa. "Er, did you want a drink? It's kind of crowded over there."
Nessa smiled gratefully. "That would be great, thank you."
Boq headed off to brave the crowd at the bar, and Nessa turned back to watch everyone dance. Dancing was the thing she regretted missing most, because of her chair. Of course, she'd never known any different, but it always looked like such fun.
For her tenth birthday, Frex and Annalie had taken them to the Emerald City to see a ballet, and both Nessa and Elphaba had been captivated. Frex had even managed to pull some strings to let them meet the prima ballerina after the show.
"Dancing is the closest you can come to flying without wings," she had told Nessa, and she'd never forgotten it.
"You're not dancing?" she asked Boq when he'd returned with her drink.
"I don't really dance," he replied, flushing. "Is Elphaba not with you?"
Nessa smiled. "Elphaba doesn't really like crowds."
Boq nodded. "Right."
They lapsed into an awkward silence. The music changed to a slower song, and both Nessa and Boq watched the dancers for a moment, although Boq's gaze lingered on Galinda and her date much longer than Nessa's did.
Nessa's friends found her not long after, hot and thirsty after dancing for so long. They claimed a table with Nessa, and although she invited Boq to join them, he politely excused himself. The girls were mostly gossiping about who had come with who and commenting on the dresses the other girls were wearing.
"Oh, I love this song!" Salmythe cried suddenly as an upbeat song began playing. "Vic, come dance," she urged Vicnia.
"Ok," Vicnia agreed. "Norfina, are you coming?"
Norfina shook her head. "No, I'm going to sit with Nessa a while longer. My feet are killing me."
Salmythe and Vicnia left for the dance floor, while Norfina sighed and turned to Nessa with a smile.
"Serves me right for wearing new heels to this. Are you having fun, Nessa?"
"I am, but I wish I could dance with you all," Nessa admitted.
Norfina's smile was sympathetic. "I'm going to go freshen up. Come with me?"
Nessa agreed, and they headed to the bathroom.
The bathroom was crowded with girls doing the exact same thing, and Nessa parked her chair in a corner while Norfina pushed her way through to the mirror.
"Oh, hi Nora," said a girl next to her.
"Hi, Shen-Shen," Norfina replied. "Having fun?"
"Oh yeah. The music's great isn't it?"
Norfina nodded. "It is, but I wish I hadn't worn these shoes. I'm going to have enormous blisters tomorrow."
Shen-Shen giggled. "I wore my heels to all my classes for the past two days to break them in. Horrible Morrible wrote me up for it- something about the dress code or a stupid thing like that. Totally worth it though."
Norfina glanced down. "They are beautiful shoes. Don't you think, Nessa?"
Nessa barely got a chance to agree before Shen-Shen positively squealed.
"Oh my Oz, I love your dress! Where did you get it?" she demanded.
Nessa blushed. "Thank you. It was a birthday present from my sister."
"Where did she get it?"
Nessa smiled proudly. "She made it."
Shen-Shen's jaw dropped, but a group of girls entered the bathroom and space became even more limited, so Norfina wheeled Nessa's chair out of the bathroom before the Shen-Shen could say anything.
Nessa did get a small pleasure from the look of shock on Shen-Shen's face, even moreso when she saw the girl whispering to her friends a few minutes later, with all of them sneaking peeks at Nessa from the corner of their eyes. They all knew perfectly well who her sister was, and Nessa half-expected them to come and say something to her, but none of them did.
'Overall,' she wrote to Annalie when she finally got to bed later that night, too wired to actually sleep just yet. 'I think my first dance was very successful. I got many compliments on my dress, actually. I did feel a little left out at times, I can admit, watching everyone dance; but I still had a lot of fun with my friends.'
Elphaba was glad Nessarose had enjoyed herself, but she wasn't any more interested in news of the dance after the fact as she had been before it. She was much more concerned with the Munchkinland Governorship Election, which was the Tuesday following the dance, the first in November. Both girls could vote for the first time, which they had done by postal vote. And now all they could do was for the results.
"I wish Rais would have let me cover it for the paper," she complained to Nessa. "But I know it was a conflict of interest."
"Then why do you look so unhappy?"
"Because he gave it to Lilrith, who's this second year from the Quadlings who's majoring in Religious Studies and couldn't care less about Ozian politics. And the worst part is, I'm sure she's still going to write a better article than what Galinda Upland would write, so I guess I should be grateful that she didn't get the story."
Elphaba shook her head in dismay. "Galinda's last article was a review of the university band's recital, three hundred words of it were about why stripes aren't fashionable this year, and Rais printed it anyway!" she exclaimed. "And no one blinks an eye, like that's a perfectly valid observation to make about a musical performance."
Nessa couldn't help but giggle, although Elphaba was not amused.
"Why did Rais print it?" she asked.
"Because she submitted it right before the paper went to bed, as she does all her articles, and there's no time to edit if he wants the paper to get out on time."
Elphaba rubbed her forehead tiredly. "But she'll get on the paper next semester. I know she will. Because she's popular and she gets whatever she wants by batting her eyelashes at guys," she complained.
Nessa was sympathetic but couldn't actually offer much comfort. "You'll get on the paper too, Fabala. Because you're a good writer. I know you don't like Galinda, but you don't see her at the paper much, do you? And you only have one class together. It's not like Pinar, who you're stuck in a room with."
Elphaba sighed. "That's true," she conceded. "Galinda… her entitlement bugs me. And she's such a snob. Anyone with eyes can see Boq's crazy about her, and she must see it too, but she ignores him. Unless she wants him to help her with something for the paper. She calls him Bick, and he doesn't even correct her!"
Although Elphaba had to admit, at least Pinar just ignored her. Galinda made "witty" comments to her friends about Elphaba every time they were in the same room. None of which were actually witty or original. They usually involved comparing Elphaba's skin to other green items and pointing out her lack of friends. Elphaba rather expected higher quality insults from people supposedly earning a university education.
She shuddered. "Living with Pinar is a nightmare, but I can't imagine what it'd be like sharing a room with Galinda."
Nessa didn't like to say anything bad about anyone but had to agree that Elphaba hadn't come off well in the roommate department.
Elphaba was impatient and antsy all of Tuesday, wishing there was a way to get the news of the election faster. It got to the point where even Nessa- who was the most patient person in all of Oz- got annoyed, and readily ditched her sister to eat meals with her friends.
On Wednesday evening, Elphaba was trying to do some reading for one of her Law classes the next day, a task made more difficult than usual as Pinar got ready for a night at the OzDust with her friends, debating what outfit to wear as three of her friends stood in the doorway offering opinions. None of them liked to enter the room if Elphaba was there.
A messenger from the administration office squeezed past Pinar's friends, looking to Elphaba.
"An express for you," she said brusquely, holding out the envelope.
Elphaba leapt up quickly to grab it, ignoring the way Pinar's friends stepped back into the hallway as she approached. Her heart quickened as she recognised Annalie's handwriting on the envelope, and she paused only to grab her room key before she hurried downstairs to Nessa and Xia's room.
"Is it the election results?" Nessa asked eagerly, putting aside the paper she was working on.
They both knew the only thing that would cause their parents to send an express, was either good news or bad news. If it wasn't the election results, something bad had happened.
"Did Papa win?" she demanded, as Elphaba skimmed the letter inside.
Elphaba looked up with a bright smile. "Sixty-two percent of the vote."
Nessa gasped and clasped her hands together. "Oh, that's thrillifying! I'm so glad!"
Elphaba let out a breath. "Me too. Oz, I wish we were at home right now," she said, a lump rising in her throat.
Nessa laughed gently, rubbing her arm soothingly.
"Fabala, is this what makes you homesick? Really?"
Elphaba chuckled sheepishly, blinking back tears. "I know, I know. I just- it feels weird not being there to find out the result with Papa, doesn't it?"
Nessa nodded. "Yeah. But we've only got what, six weeks, until Lurlinemas break?"
"I know. I'm just so sick of dealing with Pinar," Elphaba said tiredly. "And I've had the worst headache all day."
"Six weeks," Nessa said comfortingly. "Focus on finals, right?"
Elphaba nodded. "Yeah. Finals."
Three days later, Elphaba came down with the flu. She ached all over and her head swam, rendering her incapable of leaving her bed. Pinar proved herself as sensitive as ever- the moment she got wind of Elphaba being ill, she brought Xia up to the room.
"You need to get her out of here," she said icily. "I am not getting sick before my vacation."
Xia stared at after her in dismay as Pinar brushed past her and headed out of the room.
"She's not planning on being a medical professional, I hope."
Elphaba snorted weakly. "I have no idea. That would require us to have a conversation."
Xia came over to the bed and felt her forehead. "You have a fever. Have you seen the nurse?"
"You are a nurse," Elphaba replied. "I'm fine, really."
Xia looked at her sceptically.
"Was Pinar serious about not wanting you to be here?"
Elphaba coughed miserably, rubbing her sore eyes. "She's been trying to get rid of me all semester. Why would she stop meaning it now?"
Elphaba refused to move just because Pinar insisted, but by the third day of being sick and bedridden, she wished she had. Pinar made no effort to keep quiet during the day so that Elphaba could rest, and was in an even more foul mood than usual, snapping that Elphaba kept her awake at night with coughing.
It was left to Xia to check on Elphaba, and bring her fluids and soup, as Nessa couldn't get up the stairs. Which Elphaba appreciated, even if it wasn't quite the same as being at home in her own bed while sick. She knew Nessa had written home that she was sick, however, when a large care package turned up at the end of the week.
Elphaba insisted on coming downstairs to Nessa's room to open it, tired of being stuck in bed. However, it had been clear by the time she'd made it down the first flight of stairs that this had been a dumb decision, and she curled up tiredly on Nessa's bed while Nessa and Xia opened the box.
"Ooh, Nikita's chocolate chip cookies!" Nessa said, pulling out the tin.
"Look, Fabala. Magazines, a blanket, a book of crossword puzzles… oh, there's a drawing from Hallam!"
Elphaba smiled softly as she took the drawing from Nessa, from Ottah and Melia's three-and-a-half-year-old son. It wasn't terribly clear what the subject was supposed to be, but she appreciated the sentiment.
"And there's a letter from Ima and Papa," Nessa continued, handing it to her.
Elphaba took it, but didn't open it, her eyes closing again.
"I know what it's going to say," she said, answering Nessa's unasked question. "Ima will tell me to keep my fluids up and get plenty of rest, and Papa will say I've been doing too much and overdoing it and that's why I got sick."
Nessa smiled softly. "Sounds about right," she agreed quietly.
She exchanged a glance with Xia as Elphaba's breathing evened out within a few minutes. Xia took the knitted blanket Annalie had sent and gently tossed it over Elphaba's sleeping form.
The worst thing about being sick, in Elphaba's mind, was that it put her behind in her work. It was a week before she felt well enough to get back to classes, and she felt mildly panicked as she looked at her planner for the next few weeks.
"I have so much to do," she fretted to Nessa as they had lunch in the dining hall one Thursday in the beginning of December.
She was trying to balance studying for finals, work for the paper, and working on her portfolio for writing class. On top of that, she'd spent the past three days writing and re-writing the same paragraph of her novel whenever she had a free moment, and she wasn't sure version twelve was any better than version one. It made her want to tear her hair out.
Usually in this case, she would give it to Annalie or Frex to get their opinion on it, depending on how critical she wanted the feedback to be. But her parents weren't here.
"Don't worry, Fabala. You'll get everything done," Nessa reassured her.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Nessa demanded, looking up from her lunch to see her sister frowning at her.
"Do I have something on my face?"
Elphaba's face cleared and she chuckled sheepishly. "No, sorry. I was just thinking. Can I ask you a favour?"
Nessa shrugged. "Sure."
"Would you read my book?" Elphaba blurted.
Nessa gaped. In all the time Elphaba had been working on her book, Nessa had never read a word. She'd heard mentions of things but lacked the context for any of the references.
"You want me to read your book?"
"Well, if you don't mind," Elphaba said quickly. "Don't feel obligated. I just... I'm stuck, and I could use a fresh opinion."
"No, I'll read it," Nessa agreed. "I'd love to. Is- is there anything specific I'm looking for?"
Elphaba hesitated. "I just need to know if it makes sense. If it makes you feel… something."
She sighed. "I'm sorry, that's not helpful. Can you just tell me what you think?"
"Of course," Nessa said immediately.
"It doesn't have to be immediately. It can wait until break," Elphaba offered. "I don't want to disrupt your study."
"It's fine. I can read it this weekend," Nessa suggested and Elphaba agreed.
That being said, it was with great trepidation that Elphaba handed over the notebook that contained her manuscript thus far on Friday night.
"Fabala, relax," Nessa said exasperatedly. "I won't hurt it. It won't leave my room, and I will wear white gloves to touch it if necessary."
Elphaba chuckled. "It's not that," she said. "I just always get a little anxious when I don't have it with me. It's like giving you a limb to hold."
"I'll take care of it," Nessa promised.
She was quite excited that night as she settled herself into bed with the notebook. Elphaba still hadn't officially decided on a title, so Nessa didn't have much to go on, besides a pencilled Lined with Luck?
There were other faint pencil marks Nessa couldn't make out, obviously rejected past titles. She smiled to herself, shook her head and began to read the first chapter.
Elphaba knocked on the door at eight-thirty the next morning, and Xia answered the door.
"Nessa's still sleeping," she explained.
Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "She is? Is she sick?"
"No, not that she said. She was just up late last night."
Elphaba's brow furrowed. "Ok. Well, when she wakes up, I'll either be in the dining hall or the library if she wants to find me."
Xia promised to pass on the message and Elphaba headed off.
She had a quick breakfast alone and then headed to the library to get some study done. She had an assignment for her Criminal Law class due the next week and she was only half done.
As she headed towards the library, regretting not having a second cup of coffee, she passed Galinda and Milla, who were flicking through a magazine.
"Are you feeling better now, Elphaba?" Milla called out as she passed, which made Elphaba's steps falter slightly.
Milla didn't usually speak to her, except the odd occasion in their writing class.
"Uh, yes. Thank you," she said carefully and then kept walking.
She didn't walk fast enough to avoid hearing Galinda asking Milla.
"How would anyone even know she was sick? She's already green."
Elphaba rolled her eyes, but it was still better than Pfannee and Shen-Shen opening speculating about whether she had really had the flu, or if she was developing an eating disorder. Elphaba had ranted to Nessa and Xia for a good fifteen minutes after that comment.
An hour later, Elphaba had her head buried in the components of criminal offences and was scribbling notes when a shadow fell over her and she jumped. Lifting her head, she saw Nessa on the other side of the table.
"Oz, Nessa you scared me," she said tiredly, a hand on her chest.
"I said your name," Nessa laughed quietly.
"You did? Sorry. I was… immersed, I guess."
Nessa wasn't surprised. "Can you take a break yet? I really want to talk about your book."
Elphaba froze for a moment. Her mouth suddenly went dry and her heart pounded in her chest. She couldn't read Nessa's facial expression, although she knew that was a ridiculous expectation. Someone reading her work always made her anxious.
"Oh. Um," she faltered and checked the time.
She had much more work to do, but she didn't think she'd be able to focus now until she knew what Nessa had thought.
"I can take a little break, I guess. Do you want to get a coffee from the coffee cart in the courtyard?" she asked.
"Can we go to The Wilted Rose instead? It'll be much warmer in there," Nessa said. "Or we could go sit in the student common room?"
Elphaba made a face. "The common room will be too crowded. The Wilted Rose is fine."
The Wilted Rose wasn't a whole less crowded, but they were still able to grab a table where they wouldn't be overheard.
Once they'd ordered, Nessa watched in amusement as Elphaba pulled out a notebook and pen.
"What are you doing?"
"I want to take notes about your thoughts," Elphaba explained. "Unless you took notes?"
"No… you didn't tell me to take notes."
Elphaba laughed slightly. "You don't have take notes. I mean, Papa usually takes notes, but Anna doesn't always."
Their coffee and food arrived and Elphaba spooned some sugar into her coffee. "Ok, so what did you think?"
She tried to say it nonchalantly, but the knowing look on Nessa's face suggested she hadn't quite achieved the desired tone.
"Fabala, I thought it was great. I was up until three am reading it," she said sincerely. "I cried twice."
"You did?" Elphaba asked, her face lighting up. "When?"
"When Tarina and Yoske were told they couldn't have children, because it was just so sad. It was heartbreaking. And then when Milosh got drafted in the war, right after he and Alamina were married."
"Well, with any luck you'll cry plenty more throughout the story," Elphaba said happily.
Nessa laughed. "I don't know if you should sound so happy about that prospect."
She took a sip of coffee. "So, is the legend true about the sewing machine? Is it lucky?"
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Items don't have luck."
Nessa giggled. "So, I guess that explains why Syeira doesn't believe the legend."
"Superstition and coincidence form the basis of a lot of legends," Elphaba said dismissively.
"I did have one question, though. I know the book isn't done yet, so maybe it's coming later, but I just wondered something."
Elphaba nodded and poised her pen over the paper. "Sure. What is it?"
"Well, if whatever you make with the sewing machine brings the wearer luck- according to legend or superstition or whatever- why not make everything with the sewing machine? Why only use it for special garments?"
Elphaba frowned thoughtfully and put her elbow up on the table, resting her chin in her hand.
"No, I get that," she agreed. "And I've noted that before," she admitted. "In my mind, I feel it's a case of… like, not wanting to run out of luck? Does that make sense?"
"It does," Nessa agreed. "But that hasn't come up yet."
"No… I think it has to come up with Syeira's story. I mean, she's already questioning the legend, right? And she's the fourth generation to get the sewing machine, so she has more room to question things… I think."
"And that's what I loved so much about it," Nessa said earnestly. "I love the message in it."
Elphaba cocked her head, her frown deepening. "Message? It's just about a sewing machine."
Nessa shook her head. "No, isn't it about how if you wait for the 'perfect' moment, you'll never do anything? That you have to make your own luck? Isn't that where you're going with Syeira's story?"
Elphaba's brow furrowed unconsciously. "That's what you got from Syeira's story? What about the others? Yoska, Fawnie and Alamina?"
"Well, none of them have reached the end yet. I mean, not that Syeira's has either, but I assumed there'd be something she has to learn from each ancestor."
Elphaba began scribbling in her notepad, leaving Nessa to drink more of her coffee in peace.
"What were some of the other titles you've considered? I could see eraser marks, but I couldn't make out what had been there," Nessa asked.
Elphaba made a face. "Oh, there's been a few," she sighed. "But none of them were right. I still don't know if this one will stick."
"I still like it," Nessa declared loyally. "Now that I've read it, I think it fits perfectly."
Elphaba smiled faintly. "Well, thanks. You know, it's funny. I was so worried about my creative writing class this semester, but it's actually proving to be easier to write for that than it is to write the book. Why do you think that is?"
"Maybe it's just that you're not as emotionally invested in your stories for class as you are for this?" Nessa suggested. "You're less of a perfectionist when it comes to your writing class maybe. And you've had so much trouble finding a space to write in this semester."
"True. Oz, I can't wait to go home."
Nessa smiled. "Yeah? Are you still feeling sick?"
"I'm tired," Elphaba readily admitted. "Looking forward to some comforts of home. And you know what they say," she smiled. "There's no place like home."
AN. We've all had that moment when recovering from illness where we think we're well enough to do something, and immediately realise it was a terrible decision, haven't we? Just me?
A little info on Elphaba's book here. You may get a little more later! But what do you think of Lined With Luck so far?
I think you guys are really going to like the next chapter :p Thanks for reviewing, as always! I appreciate it so much.