Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Thanks to EmZ711, Incapability and Jamie Jazz for reviewing 6.

She awoke the next morning to find Glinda setting a cup of coffee and a cinnamon scone on her desk.

"Glinda?" She choked, still half-asleep as she sat up. The blonde looked up.

"Morning Elphie. Do you feel better?" The girl managed a small nod. "Good." She grabbed her purse and headed towards the door before turning back. "Oh, I let our professors know about your accident, and they said that you can make up classes next week. Since it's Friday, they said you could have the day off to recoup."

"Thank you, Glinda, but you didn't need to do that-" Elphaba started, moving to the side of the bed.

"It's okay, Elphie. You nearly drowned yesterday. They understood. I'll see you later." Then, she disappeared, closing the door behind her. Once she was gone, Elphaba got up and went to her desk, picking up the cup and taking a sip. She sat at her desk for several minutes, listening to the silence and tearing off pieces of her scone. Eventually, she got up and made her way into the bathroom. Sighing, she forced herself to look in the mirror and take in her image.

Long, lush raven hair that fell in pin-straight lines down her back to just above her waist. Almond-shaped dark eyes that, in her opinion, were too close together. A long, slender nose that wrinkled when she was displeased. Lips that were neither too thick nor too thin. A chin that could cut through butter and flesh. She had a beauty mark on the right side of her nose, and another cluster of them beneath her left eye. After they first became friends, Glinda took an eyeliner pencil and connected the marks. They created "a heart" or so Glinda said. Elphaba didn't see it. She despised her looks- especially her harlequin green skin. She dreamed of having skin like Glinda's, if only for a day. She was too tall, too thin. She was ugly.

Too ugly.

Suddenly, all the taunting from the kids in grade school came rushing back, and she shut her eyes, covering her ears in an effor to block them out. When that didn't work, she turned on the shower and undressed. Completely nude, she looked back at her reflection.

"I'm not sick, I'm ugly." She told herself, remembering Glinda's words from earlier. Sighing, she stepped into the shower-

And instantly doubled over as pain wracked her body. She let out a cry, looked up, searching for something to grab onto. Out of instinct, she grabbed the curtain... and brought it and the rod crashing down on top of her.

Finally able to push it off of her, she looked around, searching for something else to grab onto, when her eyes landed on the inside of the tub.

"No. No..." She choked out a sob, seeing the black-scaled fin in place of where her legs had been. She attempted to stand, and only succeeded in falling back, hitting her head on the floor, despite the bathmat that seperated her and the cold tile. "Ow." She lay there for several minutes, letting the room settle and her body to relax, before she pushed herself onto her elbows and looked up. There was no way she could stand- not without legs. And she couldn't get help, even if she wanted to. The only option was to pull her tail out of the tub and crawl into the dorm.

Groaning, she backed up, pulling her tail along with her slowly. It hit the floor with a thud, and she cringed, pain shooting up her body. She took a deep breath, and backed up, moving out of the bathroom. The tail lagged behind, immoble for the most part, and flopped back onto the ground when she flipped over to take the pressure off her elbows. Suddenly exhausted, she let out a breath, blowing her bangs away from her face momentarily.

Eventually, she heard footsteps, followed by Glinda's voice. "Elphie? Are you hungry? I brought you lunch."

She looked back at the door, heard her put the key into the lock, and then looked back at her tail, panicking. She couldn't let Glinda see her with this... this...

... tail.

"Just a minute!"

Frantic, she pulled herself onto her bed. With some major difficulty, she hoisted her tail up after her, and threw the covers over her, just as the door opened and Glinda strode in. She looked up just as Glinda kicked the door closed behind her and moved to set her things down.

"I grabbed you a sandwich and a peach. I hope that's all right, Elphie."

"... That's fine, Glinda. Thank you." She choked out, taking the food. A look of confusion crossed her roommate's face, and Elphaba bit her lip, hoping against hope that the blonde didn't ask about the tail she was now sporting. Instead, Glinda turned towards the bathroom.

"Di... did... is the shower going?" She turned and made her way into the bathroom, turning the shower off. "And what happened to the curtain?"

"I... I'm sorry, Glinda. I... I didn't want to have to tell you but..." Elphaba started.

"But what?" Glinda asked, coming back into the room.

"But I went to take a shower, and after I started it, I undressed and stepped into the tub, and..." She swallowed, putting the food on her nightstand.

"And?" Glinda asked, waiting.

"And I got dizzy. When I reached out to steady myself, I grabbed the curtain by mistake and collapsed, pulling it and the rod down with me. And then I... I crawled out of the bathroom and got into bed. I'm sorry." She finished, biting her lip.

"Don't apologize, Elphie! Are you sure you're okay? You aren't hurt? You didn't break anything?" Glinda asked, jumping to check for broken bones, concern over her roommate's well being starting to overflow.

"No!" Elphaba cried, pulling away when Glinda reached for the blanket. "I'm fine! I don't want you to worry about me. Thank you for lunch, Glinda, I appreciate it." The girl nodded, glancing at the blanket.

"Welcome, Elphie. Now, you stay in bed and rest for the rest of the day. You probably collapsed because you haven't been getting enough sleep lately. Take it easy. Okay?" Elphaba nodded. Then, Glinda leaned over and pressed a kiss to her roommate's forehead, before leaving. Once the door closed behind her, Elphaba tore the blanket away.

Her fin was gone.