I feel it deep down in my bones, there's a part of me no one else has known, when you look, not afraid of what you see, but you say show me
Idina Menzel, "Show Me"
"So, we never finished our game."
Glinda set her bag at their lab table and looked over at Elphaba. "True. We only got to ask a couple of questions."
"So…" Elphaba hopped onto a stool and grinned at her. "I believe it was your turn."
Glinda had the feeling that she should be wary. After what happened last time…
But instead she found herself smiling back. "Okay. Um. Tell me about the Thropp family."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You ruled Munchkinland, right?"
"Yep. I was there. It was a good time."
Glinda tapped Elphaba against the arm with her pencil. "You know what I mean."
"Alright. Yeah, historically, the Thropp family ruled Munchkinland in a matriarchal line. Then there was the secession with the Wizard, and other rulers were appointed throughout Munchkinland, and when we eventually reunited with the rest of Oz, the power was divided enough that the Thropp rule eventually faded."
"I could get all that from a history book," Glinda said. "So what is your family like now?"
"Dysfunctional," said Elphaba. Glinda gave her a look. "Oh, you mean in regards to being semi-royalty?"
"Elphie."
"We're not really anything special. The house I live in is a historical landmark—it's where the Eminent Thropp would stay when they traveled to Gillikin—so it's way too big and has been preserved and restored I don't know how many times. But really, other than that, nothing much has changed. We have money. We have some influence in Munchkin politics, but mostly it's just acknowledgement that we once existed."
"Munchkin politics? But you live in Gillikin."
"We do now. We lived in Munchkinland when I was younger."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Me and my siblings were all born around Rush Margins." Elphaba pointed over her shoulder. "That's where I met Boq, actually."
"Do you still visit?"
Elphaba thought about it. "Not really. We left not long after Shell was born. My father was a missionary then, and we travelled around Quadling Country with him."
"How'd you end up at Shiz?"
"My father's a minister at the Unionist church downtown."
"And you've been here ever since? Why don't you ever visit Munchkinland?"
Elphaba hesitated, but then she just winked at her. "You've asked a lot more than one question, Glinda."
"Okay, fine." Glinda crossed her arms over her chest. "Your turn."
"Hm." Elphaba tilted her head from side to side. "Tell me about your job."
"That's not a question," Glinda pointed out. She giggled at the look on Elphaba's face.
"Fine. Tell me about your job?"
"That barely counts."
"Why did you get one?" Elphaba asked. "I mean, you've said yourself that your family's rich."
Glinda smiled. "I'm spoiled and don't need the money, so why bother working?"
"Hey, I didn't phrase it like that." Elphaba's cheeks were a darker green. "That's not what I…"
"I know," said Glinda, taking pity on her. "It's okay. Besides, I am spoiled. You should've seen me when I started my job. I didn't even know how to use the vacuum."
"You plug it in and press on."
"I know. Sad, right?" Glinda giggled. "But my parents don't do these things. We have a maid who comes in once a week, though the house is basically spotless anyway. When I was little, I had an ama, but now that I'm old enough to be by myself she's gone."
Elphaba watched her for a moment. "So…the job?"
"I wanted my own money. And it was a way to feel more independent." She shrugged. "And something to do, I guess."
"You didn't want to just run around with your friends all summer?"
More than one question, Glinda thought, but she found herself answering anyway. "I just got…tired."
Elphaba was studying her, she could feel it. She was probably going to say something more, ask something else, and this time Glinda wasn't sure she could handle an answer. She busied herself with the worksheet in front of her.
"Okay," Elphaba said finally. "Your turn again."
Glinda looked up at her. "Okay." She searched Elphaba's face. When she found nothing, she returned her attention to their lab sheet, rereading the answer she had just written. "Is this right? That's not my question, by the way."
Elphaba snickered. "Yeah, that's right. So?"
"Your sister's in high school, right? Why isn't she here?"
"Why are you so interested in my family?"
Glinda looked up to meet her eyes. "I get the feeling you'd be less honest if I just asked about you."
Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Clever. You're probably not wrong."
"So your sister?" Glinda prompted.
"She's a freshman, yeah, but she's going to the Emerald Academy up in—"
"Seriously?" Glinda stared. "I almost went there."
"I figured." Elphaba blushed. "I mean—Nessa heard something about it the other day, how your parents met there."
"Oh, yeah." Glinda couldn't help but wrinkle her nose. "Yeah, they wanted me to go."
"No offense, but I think you'd fit in." Elphaba waved her hand. "Well, the old you."
"Probably. But even back then I hated the idea of it."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Glinda shook her head. "I mean, I know I'm spoiled and self-centered and pretentious. But the idea of being surrounded by that was…stressful."
"Stressful?"
Glinda hesitated. She had never been able to explain it, not even to her parents all those years ago. She remembered telling them, over and over again, that she was afraid. The entire idea of it—moving away, living on her own, going to a prestigious school with even more expectations—terrified her. She remembered one day, when it seemed like her parents would never let up and she'd be going to the academy no matter what, when she had gotten so upset she'd made herself sick. She was nauseous and crying, and for hours it had felt like she couldn't breathe.
But it had passed, and her parents had told her that she was just overreacting. It was silly. That's what they always said when she acted like this. She was being silly.
Anyway, she couldn't repeat something like that to Elphaba.
"I don't know. It just didn't seem like the right place for me." She smiled again, brushing her hair back. "Obviously, I was right. I mean, look at me."
Elphaba snorted. "Clearly."
"Anyway, it's your turn again."
Elphaba pulled their worksheet closer and wrote something down. "Um…okay, here's one: do you know what you want to do for college?"
"Oh god, seriously?" Glinda shook her head. "I barely know what I'm doing now. Any plans for the future are just…no."
"Not even what you would major in?" Elphaba looked at her curiously, and Glinda had to look down before she gave something away.
"I guess I haven't thought about it that much," she said. At least, not since she started taking art. Not since her own choices became a consideration. She shrugged.
"What about you?"
"Is that your question?"
"No." Glinda smiled shyly. "Will you still answer, though?"
Elphaba shrugged. "I also don't know. I want to leave Shiz. Maybe the Emerald City? And I think I'd major in something science, though I don't know what. And maybe a degree in general studies, too, just to get some multidisciplinary knowledge."
Glinda blinked. "You sound like a brochure."
"I'm talented like that. So what's your actual question?"
She thought about it. "Have you really never been to a party?"
Elphaba looked amused. "No. Why?"
"Well, Crope and Tibbett are at a lot of them."
"Yeah. And they've been trying to get me to tag along for three years now."
"Why do you always say no?"
"I prefer smaller settings." Elphaba shrugged. "It would probably be alright—at least, the theater or band ones they go to. No offense, but your football parties sound awful."
"No, not offensive at all." But she was smiling. She nudged Elphaba. "So, why not go to the other ones?"
"Anxiety. Why go through all that stress, especially when I'm just going to stick to the people I usually hang out with anyway?"
Glinda searched her face. "Anxiety?"
"Yeah." Elphaba looked back at her. "What? Never heard of it before?"
"No, I just…I've never heard anyone just talk about it openly."
"I don't see a problem. If I broke my arm, would I try to hide it from everyone?"
"Well, no…" This conversation felt weird. Glinda decided to avoid it. "So, what's your next question?"
Elphaba watched her for a moment. Finally, she said, "Who was that kid you were talking to this morning?"
"Fiyero? He's a new student."
"Ah. Right. Your ambassador job."
"Yep."
"Where's he from?"
"The Vinkus." Glinda tilted her head, looking down at their paper. "He's sweet. I'm kind of worried about him."
"Why?"
"He wants to join football. He's going to be eaten alive by Shenshen and Pfannee and Avaric, and probably a lot of other people."
"Ew, Avaric." Elphaba made a face. "Wait, didn't you used to date? Am I insulting you by insulting him?"
Glinda rolled her eyes. "Believe me. I'm the last person to get mad about insulting Avaric."
"Okay, good, because he's disgusting."
"Tell me about it." She buried her face in her hands. "Ugh. I still cringe about it sometimes."
"How long were you dating?" asked Elphaba. "And why?"
"Almost all of last year." Glinda made a face. "I don't know. It seemed like the right thing to do, you know? He was the rising football star, I was the pretty cheerleader. We were popular, people loved us together."
"That's the most disgustingly stereotypical thing I've ever heard."
"Thanks," Glinda mumbled. Elphaba nudged her.
"So…why did you break up?"
"He's an asshole." Glinda blinked, realizing she had never actually said that out loud before. "He's a jerk to anyone who isn't popular enough for him. He would stare at other girls' boobs all the time. Hell, he would stare at my boobs half the time. He was never dating me for me, and I got sick of it." She pressed her lips together, feeling her entire face heat up.
"Hey, that's valid." Elphaba's voice grew soft. "You deserve better than that."
Their eyes met. Lingered. Glinda was starting to feel as if hiding from Elphaba was a hopeless case. Elphaba could ask for her deepest secrets and, in that moment, Glinda might just have told her everything.
She shook herself off. "Um, anyway. Class is almost over. We should…" She gestured to the worksheet between them.
"Right." Elphaba picked up her pencil again. "Yeah, of course."
She found Fiyero lingering outside the cafeteria before lunch, his fingers tugging restlessly on the straps of his bag.
"Hey," she said, walking up. "How was your morning?"
He looked ridiculously relieved. "It was good. I was just…waiting for you."
Glinda glanced inside the cafeteria. "It can be intimidating, can't it?"
"Kind of."
"Well, shall we? We don't really get a lot of time."
"Ah, public school. Always valuing our well-being."
Glinda giggled and led him inside. A lot of eyes were on them as they walked through to Glinda's table. She saw Elphaba look up as she passed, but she quickly turned her head to look over at Fiyero instead.
They got their food and sat across from Shenshen and Pfannee. Glinda stayed on the edge of her seat, her shoulders back a little.
"Fiyero, this is Shenshen and Pfannee. They're on the cheer team with me. Guys, this is Fiyero."
"How's your first day?" Shenshen asked as Pfannee smiled, looking him over.
"It's pretty good." He shifted in his seat. "People keep staring at me, though."
Pfannee grinned wider. "It's a small school. You stand out."
"It'll pass," Glinda told him.
"So what's your schedule like?" asked Shenshen. "We might have something together."
Subtle. Really. Glinda almost rolled her eyes. Fiyero thought about it.
"Well, I have gym after this—"
Both girls gasped. "We're in there!"
"Really?"
Pfannee nodded. "Yep. You made a good choice. Glinda says you want to play football? Half the team is in there."
"Including Avaric, the captain," Shenshen said.
"And a lot of the cheerleaders," Pfannee added. "Someone else could be in that class, too, but she just had to take art as an elective."
Glinda just smiled. "Guilty as charged. Fiyero's a linebacker. He gets to play in two weeks, right?"
"That's right. I start practice tonight, though."
"I think you'll work well with Avaric," said Shenshen. She turned to Pfannee. "Don't you?"
"We'll have to see," she said. "I do think he'll be a favorite with the cheerleaders, though."
Fiyero blushed.
Glinda kicked Pfannee under the table. "Knock it off," she told both of them.
"It's okay, we're just teasing." Shenshen smiled at Fiyero. "So, you're from the Vinkus? What's it like?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. It's not that much different than here. This place is colder. And has a lot more trees."
"What's your school like?" Pfannee asked.
"Also a lot of the same. Well, it's bigger. And stuff like history and literature are different. Oh, and my friends and I speak Arjiki a lot of the time."
Shenshen lit up. "Ooh, say something in Arjiki for us!"
"Um, like what?"
"I don't know. Anything."
Fiyero shifted in his seat. "Uh…" He looked across the room, then looked back at Pfannee and Shenshen and said a few words. They were fast and smooth, all blending together. The girls practically swooned.
"What did you say?" Glinda asked. Fiyero grinned, looking slightly embarrassed.
"The kitchen in here is small."
Glinda giggled. "Utter poetry. Did you come up with that yourself?"
"Now who's teasing?" Shenshen asked, scowling at Glinda.
Pfannee smiled at Fiyero again. "You speak Gillikinese very well for a Vinkan."
"Most of the Vinkus speaks Gillikinese, too," Fiyero said. "It's the most common language in Oz."
Shenshen pulled her phone out of her pocket. A minute later, Glinda saw her own phone light up with a message.
Pretty AND smart, Shenshen had written. Glinda tucked her phone away and looked back up. Across the table, Pfannee was typing something back.
"So is this the first time you've been to other parts of Oz?" Glinda asked.
"No. I've been to parts of Quadling Country, and sometimes I used to go with my father on business trips to the Emerald City. But this is the first time I've gone alone."
"Where did you go in Quadling Country?"
"Seriously? That's what you ask about?" Pfannee gave her a look, then turned to Fiyero. "Tell us about the Emerald City."
Fiyero looked at Glinda uncertainly. "I don't know. It's huge. There's a ton to do, and it's always busy."
"Is it really as gorgeous as it looks?" Shenshen asked.
"I mean, in all the super touristy parts, yeah. But it also has its rundown places." He looked at Glinda again. She shrugged. She'd been to the city, she knew all this. She'd also told Shenshen and Pfannee all of this. Fiyero shifted a little. "In Quadling Country we went to a lot of the forests and swamps. Hunting trips, mostly."
"You hunt?" Pfannee asked. He nodded.
"Bow hunting. It's kind of a big tradition. Everyone learns as a kid, though a lot of them don't actually stick with it. And my family tends to take these things more seriously than most."
Shenshen and Pfannee kept asking questions, but Glinda's mind was wandering. Old royalty, culture, travel—she was beginning to think that Fiyero would get along really well with Elphaba. She should introduce them at study hall.
She paid attention again as Fiyero brushed against her. "Sorry," he mumbled. He was shrugging off his jacket. He reached up and pulled at his sleeve, revealing the ring of diamonds around his arm that she had seen earlier.
"That's awesome," said Shenshen. "Do you have any other tattoos?"
"No. Just this."
The warning bell rang. Glinda looked between Fiyero and the others, suddenly worried what the next hour could bring.
"The gym's right down that hall," said Pfannee, pointing toward the doors. "You can walk with me and Shenshen."
"Sounds good," Fiyero said with a smile.
They got up to dump their trays, and Shenshen said in an undertone to Glinda, "Don't worry. We'll take good care of him."
Glinda put on a smile. "Of course you will."
"So, Fiyero, you'll be at the game on Friday, right? Even if you're just on the bench?" Pfannee looked back at Glinda and Shenshen. "You should come to the party afterward."
"Party?"
"Yeah!" Shenshen stepped past Glinda to walk next to Fiyero. "It'll be at one of the football guy's houses. The entire team goes."
He looked over his shoulder at Glinda, who shrugged. "Sounds cool," he said. "I'll think about it."
"Good," said Pfannee. "Come on. We should hurry before the next bell rings."
"Oh, I can't wait for you to meet Avaric and the others." Shenshen touched Fiyero's arm, gently leading him away. "See you later, Glinda!"
Glinda dumped her tray and went back to grab her bag, watching them leave the entire time.
"Oz help him," she muttered. She turned and saw Elphaba at her own table, shouldering her bag. Their eyes met. Elphaba smiled lopsidedly before turning and leaving with Boq. Glinda just stood there, watching them for a minute. Then she shook herself and headed down the same hallway to her art class.
She saw Fiyero again between classes. He was walking down the hall with Avaric. Glinda noticed with amusement that he had finally taken his jacket off. Avaric was talking about something, pointing to a few of the girls they passed, but Fiyero only seemed to be half-paying attention. He caught Glinda's eye and smiled as they passed each other.
"So, how was gym?" she asked when they were at their lockers an hour later.
"We didn't really do much." Fiyero looked up at her. "It honestly felt like more of a gossip hour."
"With those people? Yeah, definitely."
"Mr. Mikko gave me the schedule for the year, though. Apparently we're doing archery next semester."
"You're going to show off?"
"I'm so going to show off." Fiyero smiled sheepishly. "Is that bad?"
She waved her hand. "Just don't be a jerk about it—which you won't be, I'm sure."
He shrugged. "Everyone seems nice. Though that might just be because I'm all new and shiny."
"Better than them being mean because you're new and shiny." Glinda shut her locker. "You ready?"
He zipped his bag shut and slung it over his shoulder. "Yes ma'am."
Glinda rolled her eyes and started walking toward the library. "What'd you think of the other football guys?"
"They seem cool. I'm guessing as long as I stay on Avaric's good side, we'll get along great."
Glinda raised her eyebrows. "That was…honest."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Am I wrong?"
"Well, no."
They reached the library, and Glinda opened the door to let Fiyero in. He paused a few steps into the room.
"Who is that?" he whispered to Glinda. She followed his gaze over to the table with Elphaba and Boq. Glinda smiled.
"Come on." She touched his arm, encouraging him to follow as she went over to the table. "Hey guys. Fiyero, this is Elphaba and Boq."
"Hi." Fiyero looked nervously at Glinda, then took the chair beside her. Elphaba also looked nervous as he sat down. She shifted in her chair, her fingers fiddling with the bookmark in front of her.
"You're in my lit class, first hour, aren't you?" said Boq. "How's your first day been?"
"Interesting. Pretty good, I think. Though that lit class was probably the low point." He blinked, then looked wide-eyed at Boq. "No offense, I mean. It's just that her reading list is…"
"Boring?" Elphaba supplied.
Fiyero nodded. "So boring."
"I knew you two would get along," Glinda said under her breath. Elphaba raised an eyebrow at her.
"Uh, Elphaba…may I ask—?"
"The skin?" Elphaba asked, cutting Fiyero off. "I was born with it."
"Oh." Fiyero's cheeks grew darker. "Actually, I was going to ask if your last name was Thropp."
Apparently Elphaba was speechless, because all she did was nod, looking stunned.
"Sorry," said Fiyero. "That—I promise I'm not a creep. It's just, I knew Munchkinland had an heir with green skin."
"Hardly an heir," said Elphaba, recovering. "The Thropp line is barely a part of Munchkinland politics anymore."
"Why'd you learn about Munchkin politics?" Boq asked curiously. "Because if it was in school, then I'm jealous. We never cover it here at Shiz."
Fiyero brought his hands to his lap and stared at them. "I, uh…my parents are in politics."
Glinda looked between him and the others, but no one seemed to think this was suspicious. Elphaba looked like she wanted to ask him something, but she pressed her lips together instead, apparently thinking better of it.
The door opened on the other side of the library, and Crope and Tibbett walked in, looking absolutely delighted.
"Crope and Tibbett," Glinda said to Fiyero. "Guys, this is Fiyero."
"Very pleased to meet you, Fiyero," said Crope. "You're in our history class."
"We were hoping we'd get to say hi," Tibbett said with a wink. "How are you liking Shiz so far?"
"It's good." He was definitely blushing again, Glinda noticed.
"Shouldn't you two be in rehearsal?" Elphaba asked.
"Probably." Crope shrugged. "Shouldn't you be doing homework?"
"I would, but all these people keep coming in and talking around me."
Fiyero shifted uncomfortably again, but Boq shook his head. "Don't worry. Elphie's just being a jerk."
"She does that sometimes," said Tibbett. "And by sometimes we mean a lot of the time."
"Very funny. Now what do you two want?"
"Want?" Tibbett asked. "Surely you don't think we have some hidden agenda here."
Crope nudged him. "But we do, remember?"
"Oh, yeah." Tibbett smiled. "So we just found out that our stage manager has the house to herself for the weekend."
"Which means party Friday night," said Crope. "And since lovely Miss Glinda here was asking about parties earlier, we figured we'd invite you all."
Glinda tilted her head. Then she looked at Elphaba, who was avoiding her gaze. Had Elphie talked about her to the others? Maybe she should have been nervous, but the thought just made her smile.
"I'm in," said Glinda, looking back at Crope and Tibbett.
"Wait, so this is different from what Shenshen and Pfannee invited me to?" Fiyero asked.
Glinda nodded. "Oz, yes. Very different."
"It's not that different," argued Tibbett. "There's still booze, music, cool people hanging out."
"Arguably more cool people at this one," Crope added.
"True. So you should come, Fiyero."
He glanced at Glinda. Crope and Tibbett stood up.
"We really would be delighted to have you," Crope said, bowing dramatically. "And now, we must be off, because Elphie's right, we really need to be in rehearsal."
"So you're coming, Glinda?" Tibbett asked.
She smiled up at him. "Sure."
"Sweet." Crope pulled out his phone. "Want to swap numbers? I can text you the address."
She took his phone and punched in her number, then texted herself. She pulled out her own phone to make sure it worked, then looked up at Tibbett. "You want to…?"
"I'll just get it from him," said Tibbett. "See you guys later."
They waved and left. Glinda was about to put her phone up again, but she paused and looked across at Elphaba. "Um. Since I have this out, do you want to…?" She held her phone out. Elphaba smirked and took it, putting her number in.
"Well, don't we feel left out," Boq said, looking at Fiyero.
Fiyero laughed. "Actually, I have her number."
"Wow. Okay."
Glinda smiled and slid her phone over to Boq. "Your number, please."
"Oh, well, if you insist."
At the end of the hour they all split up for their separate things. Boq and Elphaba walked together toward the band room, but Glinda lingered behind with Fiyero.
"So these are your friends?" He watched Elphaba and Boq disappear down the hall. "They're…different than Pfannee and Shenshen."
"I know," was all she said. She was so not ready to get into it.
He looked curiously at her, but apparently decided not to ask. Instead, he shifted his weight. "So, um, about that party…" he started. Glinda looked at him.
"It's completely up to you," she said. "Don't do anything you don't want to." She paused. "And, you know, if you don't want to go to one alone, I'll go with you."
"I thought you wanted to go to Crope and Tibbett's thing."
She did, but she just shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me."
"I just don't know which one. I mean, the football team…"
"It's up to you," she said again. "It is your first weekend. No one's gonna blame you for not going to the football party."
His brow furrowed. "To be honest, I just don't want the team to hate me. I mean, I really want to play. And if I don't fit in…"
"That's fair," Glinda said gently. "But they have parties every weekend. I mean, so does Crope and Tibbett's crowd, so there's that. Either way, you're not missing any lifetime chances here."
He smiled a little. "So if I miss my first football party…?"
"It's not going to kill your reputation," she said.
"Okay, cool. Because Crope and Tibbett seemed pretty cool, so I didn't want to turn them down."
Glinda peered at him. "You do know they were flirting with you, right?"
"Oh, definitely." Fiyero shrugged. "I don't know why, since they're clearly together, but hey. As long as it's not upsetting anyone, what's the harm?"
"Fair enough." They started down the hall toward the gym. "You know where you're going for practice?"
"Yep." Fiyero smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"See you tomorrow."
