Chapter 7
Galinda walked towards the café with a smug expression on her face. So many things had changed since yesterday. She actually considered Elphaba to be one of her friends now. If someone had time traveled back in time and told her this would happen, she would never have believed them. Not in a million years would she ever think about becoming friends with such an odd character. Elphaba was different though. She was the first person to ever truly challenge Galinda. When others fawned over the blonde for her good looks, Elphaba didn't seem to notice. When others only cared about popularity and who was going out with whom, Elphaba didn't seem to care. All she cared for was knowledge.
Galinda continued to think of how the green girl was so different than her when she stumbled into someone almost knocking them down.
"Woah there Galinda." A tall boy with sandy blonde hair said. "Where's the fire?"
"Oh I'm sorry Fiyero. I must have been daydreaming." Galinda blushed.
"It's alright." He shook himself off after the collision. "So what were you daydreaming about?"
Galinda wasn't really comfortable with the situation and so she replied, "Oh nothing really. Just spacing."
It was a lie however. Her thoughts had been on the green girl.
"Oh all right." Fiyero seemed unconvinced. "So are you headed to the café?"
Galinda didn't want to lie but she also didn't want his company which she knew he would offer if she said yes. She had little time to form a response and so she went with the truth.
"As a matter of fact I am." She saw the look of excitement on his face when she said this. So she quickly tried to brush him off as politely as she could. "But I will not be staying long. I just have to pick up some food for me and Miss Elphaba."
She hoped this would deter him from trying to accompany her.
"The artichoke?" he chuckled. "Why would you want to get food for her?"
Galinda was taken back at this statement. Sure she knew her friends did not like Elphaba but she didn't know Fiyero thought this way too.
"I don't appreciate that too much Fiyero." She replied. "I am just trying to help a friend out that's all. Not that it's any of your business."
With that said she turned away from him and continued to the café. Fiyero was left with a confused expression on his face. "Had she just called Elphaba her friend? Nah…she couldn't have." He thought. Before he could ask Galinda to clarify her response she had disappeared down another corridor towards the café.
"What nerve." Galinda steamed. "I mean I understand that not everyone likes Elphie…but him? I would have never thought in a million years."
Galinda continued towards the café and finally arrived just before they were closing.
Once she had picked up some soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and a pitcher of juice, she headed back in the direction of the room.
XXX
Elphaba had been left in the room while Galinda went down to get something for them to both eat. Truth be told Elphaba was not really all too hungry. The events from before had stirred up her stomach enough that the thought of food made her nauseous. She just needed time to think to herself and so she sent Galinda on a little errand.
"Okay Elphie get a hold of yourself." She verbally chastised herself.
Elphaba had been feeling a little off ever since she had seen Galinda waiting for her in the infirmary.
"She really is trying to help you." She tried to convince herself.
Elphaba couldn't help go over the events of the day in her mind. When she woke up it had seemed like such a normal day. The birds were chirping, it was a little cloudy outside, and her roommate had been hogging the bathroom like always.
She smiled a little bit as the thought of her roommate popped into her mind.
Galinda had always hogged the bathroom in the mornings. She would spend hours upon hours getting ready for the day. On this particular morning, she looked even more radiant.
Elphaba's concerns were put on hold for a little while as she envisioned how Galinda had looked earlier.
Galinda had put on a pink sundress: casual, but comfortable. The hem was right about her knees. When she leaned over the back of the dress rose ever so slightly revealing more of the blonde girls thighs. She continued to envision the way Galinda had done her hair. It was curled like it normally was, but this morning it seemed to have extra bounce to it.
Elphaba interrupted her thoughts of the blonde when confussion once again entered her mind. "Why am I thinking about these things?" she thought.
Elphaba was even more confused when she thought back to the predicament the two had found themselves in earlier.
"That hand holding really screwed with my brain." She thought.
Elphaba was tired of over analyzing everything. It seemed like that was all she had done for the past fifteen minutes while Galinda was away. She found herself wishing Galinda would hurry back to save her from her thoughts.
As if on command the door opened to reveal the blonde carrying in a large tray with an assortment of foods.
They both smiled upon seeing each other.
Galinda walked over to her desk and put down the tray.
"I hope you're hungry Elphie because I think after I got through with the café they had nothing left." Galinda poured Elphaba a glass of juice and handed it to her.
"Thanks a lot Glin, I really do owe you one." Elphaba gladly accepted the juice and downed it. She held the glass back out for Galinda to refill it.
"Don't mention it. What are friends for." She smiled back at Elphaba as she refilled the glass.
Elphaba hungrily accepted the food that was offered to her. She was still feeling a little sick, but didn't want to be rude to Galinda. She had gone through all of that trouble for her.
"So what took you so long?" Elphaba teased Galinda.
"I ran into Fiyero." Galinda replied with a look of disgust. This did not go unnoticed by Elphaba.
"Something the matter with Fiyero? I thought you two were hitting it off quite nicely." Elphaba tried to sound as if she cared about how Galinda and Fiyero's relationship really was.
"Nothing is the matter really. He was just being an ass. And we were hitting it off until tonight." Galinda took some of her soup and continued. "I don't know what's going on with us." She looked up and met the eyes of the girl in front of her.
Elphaba stared into Galinda's eyes trying to come up with some comforting words for the blonde. She had never been good at offering comfort to anyone. The only person she had ever cared for was Nessa and that was out of necessity.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you want to talk about it." Elphaba put down her spoon and signaled that she was finished with her meal.
Galinda took one last bite of her sandwich and followed suit. Neither one of them ate very much.
"Actually I would love to…but can we do it somewhere else?" Galinda asked. "I'm kind of getting stir crazy here."
Elphaba looked down at what she was wearing and realized she looked like a mess. Mud still covered her clothes and she smelled like a pigsty.
"Can I bath and change first? Then you can roll me around and talk my ear off." She smiled at Galinda.
Galinda had forgotten that Elphaba was still in her torn clothes. She suddenly felt a little embarrassed that she had forgotten.
"Certainly Elphie." She got up and started gathering the dirty plates to go take to the trash. "But don't be too long please."
"I won't." Elphaba rolled into the bathroom and shut the door.
Galinda was left staring at the door. She did not really know what she was going to talk about with Elphaba. She wasn't about to tell her friend that things were not good between her and Fiyero because of Elphaba. That would just make the green girl feel bad. The last thing she wanted was for Elphaba to feel bad.
"Guess I'll come up with something." She thought as she tried to straighten up their room.
XXX
It was nearly 45 minutes before Elphaba came out of the bathroom.
"It's about time Elphie." Galinda tapped her foot and pointed to the clock on the wall.
"Sorry. It takes longer to get mud off than you might think." She chuckled. "I'm ready and in your willing hands now so lead the way."
Galinda went over to get Elphaba's wheelchair and realized that Elphaba smelled like mangos.
"Mmm…you smell good Elphie." She leaned down closer to Elphaba to get a better wiff.
Elphaba turned a darker shade of green as Galinda hovered over her. The blonde was still about a foot away but the nearness still made Elphaba's breath hitch in her throat.
"What is this effect she is having on me?" she questioned herself.
"Thanks." She replied sheepishly. "It's my mango oil that I use."
Galinda looked into the eyes of the girl in front of her. Elphaba stared right back into the icy blue eyes that were Galinda's. A smile started to appear on Galinda's face. She reached out and touched the cheek of the woman in front of her. Elphaba tensed at this touch and quickly averted her eyes from the blonde.
Galinda pulled her hand back down and started to resume her position behind Elphaba so that she could push her.
"Well I like it. You should use it more often." She said to the green girl as she opened the door.
Elphaba blushed again but this time it went unnoticed since Galinda was behind her. She smiled and made a mental note to buy more mango oil the next time she was out.
Once they reached the lift Galinda pressed the button to go down. While they were waiting she came back in front of Elphaba.
"Still on the subject of mango oil…." Elphaba arched an eyebrow as Galinda continued. "It makes your skin really soft." She winked at Elphaba just as the door to the lift was opening. Elphaba's eyes widened and she was almost positive her jaw had hit the floor.
"Had she just said my skin was soft?" Elphaba couldn't contain her excitement. "Oh sweet Oz."
"Where to Misses?" The lift operator asked interrupting the private moment between the two girls.
Galinda turned towards the man, "First floor please."
She went back around Elphaba and pushed her wheelchair into the lift. She was glad that Elphaba was in front of her and couldn't see her blushing as she settled them both into the elevator.
"Did I really just say that out loud?" she thought in disbelief.
Before the two of them could over analyze anything the lift came to a stop and the man opened the doors for the two of them to get off.
