A/N: Ok, so, Thursday and Friday will probably be the most important days of chapter Five. If my labeling of these didn't make it clear, I'll let you know here. My sense of time sucks. I'm absolutely awful with time, but, I promise, both Thursday and Friday will be up this weekend. Mostly because I'm excited too. I didn't know I could anticipate my own thoughts so much. As usual, I really wanna thank all the readers and reviewers, Thank you so much RealityInMyDreams, MadDelight, and Nirky. I probably wouldn't have even lasted this long without you guys. The stories going to pick up real soon. I hope you guys continue to read and review.

Wednesday

Galinda hadn't come back to the room when Elphaba was awake, in a few days. She'd come when her roommate was asleep. The only way Elphaba knew was to wake up in the middle of the night, and hear the rhythmic breathing she'd gotten so used to, sped up as if the girl was having a nightmare. The green girl was worried that she'd completely scared her friend away, but she didn't know how. Was she too close? She had no ideas of what was really too close or even not close enough for friends. Had she been too obvious about how she felt? Elphaba tried as hard as she could to keep her feelings in check but could she have let something slip? She sighed and rolled over in her bed. As much as she'd rather just mope in bed, she decided it'd be best if she went to class, maybe she would see Galinda there.

She was wrong. Galinda hadn't come to class. In fact, Morrible even mentioned getting word that the girl was sick. She asked Elphaba how she was and Elphaba felt it necessary to lie. Why should she bother Morrible with her pathetic issues? "She's fine, Ma'am; Just a bit under the weather."

"Well then," Morrible seemed to be thinking for a moment "I don't particularly feel like repeating a lesson. Unless you have any questions, Miss Elphaba you may go."

Elphaba knew she could go look for Galinda, or apologize for anything she'd done wrong, but maybe that alone wouldn't solve her problems. But she had an idea of what might. "Actually Madame I do.

The woman raised a curious eyebrow before Elphaba proceeded "With my upcoming trip it seems that I might end up in the Emerald city sooner or later."

"It seems so." Morrible mumbled.

"And maybe, if the wizard himself should agree, I was toying with the idea of taking a more hands on approach to a job with the wizard."

Morrible hadn't seemed to have caught on so Elphaba continued "Should that happen I would most likely have to take up residence in the Emerald city. I have wondered would it be possible for me to request you as a tutor in the Emerald city. It seems you often spend a great deal of time travelling to and fro and I couldn't help but wonder if you'd be able to tutor me while there."

When Elphaba finished, she felt empty. For more than one reason. A dream of hers, for a good time in her life had been to study life sciences at the grand old school of Shiz. So far, she'd changed her major and now she was considering leaving the school, more or less permanently. But those goals paled in comparison to the thought of leaving Galinda. In her time at Shiz Galinda had become her first and best friend and as far as she could discern, her first love. Elphaba had to admit though; she was just getting in the way of her own success and Galinda's happiness. Elphaba knew she couldn't dream too far, and she couldn't lose sight of who she was. Of course she did remember the rush of joy, the one from having a friend. She almost clung to Galinda telling her she was beautiful. But she couldn't stay. Not when she was only hurting her friend. Soon enough she'd realize this was for the best.

Elphaba hadn't realized that the entire time she was thinking, so was Morrible. The old woman was deep in thought. Elphaba soon began to regret asking. It might be particularly embarrassing if the woman denied her. So, instead of letting her she stood and grabbed her bag.

"I'm sorry for asking. Please forget my request, but thank you for your time." She pulled the bag over her shoulder.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I'll tutor you in the Emerald city. Should the wizard request you to? And I can even find out about your other proffessors allowing you to continue on."

Elphaba wasn't sure what to say, she was hardly expecting to continue studying magic but to know she could actually earn her degree was amazing. "Thank you Madame. Thank you so much."

As Elphaba left, she noticed an odd look on Morrible's face, as if she'd accomplished far more than she'd hoped to as well.

Elphaba made her way to the tree she found so very comforting. She pulled a book from her book and laid it in her lap to read but for the first time she could ever remember, she couldn't read. She stared at the words but they lacked any meaning. The words formed sentences that formed paragraphs that she couldn't make sense because every time she began reading the same paragraph for the umpteenth time, she realized her mind was wandering too fast. Relief came in the form of the bane of her existence, as of late, and the best conversationalist she'd met in quite some time.

"Hello Miss Elphaba." The boy said cheerily as he dropped down next to the green girl and pulled a sandwich from his bag.

"Hello Fiyero. How have you been?" She pushed her book aside, looking for a more interesting subject.

"I've been very good, thank you. It's been quite amazing to have Miss Galinda staying with my roommate and me during the day. She's been quite entertaining, telling us of stories from before I arrived here. It's a wonder you'd allow her to stay away for so long." Fiyero grinned. The way he did it though, at least to Elphaba, seemed to suggest more happened than a bit of storytelling.

"Oh. That's interesting." She did particularly well at keeping the spite from her voice. She usually enjoyed Fiyero's presence when Galinda wasn't around. He wasn't helping much.

"Very. Has something happened between you two though? In the last couple of days she's seemed to want to avoid seeing you. She returns only to your room late at night and I believe she missed a class to stay with me today. I suppose it's the one you two share." He seemed genuinely concerned, that was at the very least a bit of an ease on the girl. But it did nothing to ease the hurt she felt. Her best friend was avoiding her.

"So, she's avoiding me? I don't know why. I suppose I must have done something wrong." Her voice was weak, and cracked at the end, as if she were going to cry. But it hurt more fighting it than it would to let the tears fall and sear her skin.

"That's what confuses me. She speaks so highly of you at all times that I have no clue why she would be avoiding you. I'd find it hard to believe she'd blame you for setting her wardrobe on fire." He laughed slightly, trying to ease the mood.

Elphaba chewed her lip when he said that. She felt warm at the thought of Galinda speaking so highly of her. Maybe she could clear this up. No, she would clear this up. Elphaba was rational and to the point. She was going to solve this before she left. She looked to Fiyero who was watching her. A look of realization crossed his face as he stared back at the girl. In a second he jumped up and grabbed his bag. "I'm sorry; Miss Elphaba, but I've just realized something. I believe Galinda went to your room to pick up something." He shouted over his shoulder, leaving nothing behind except for his uneaten sandwich.