Chapter 10

Galinda invited him in. He stood for a moment, amazed by Elphaba's quick disappearance, and walked inside. She bustled about the room, doing one thing or another, and he observed. The right half of the dorm was pink and frilly. A large rack of shoes hung from the closet door, a large white dresser with a big round mirror next to it. On the dresser sat various make-up products, hairbrushes, and Galinda's training wand. Her desk was just as cluttered.

The left half, he observed, was very different. A plain, neatly made bed with muted colors sat not far from Galinda's side. Elphaba's dresser and desk had books on them, neatly stacked. Upon closer inspection, he noticed they were arranged in alphabetical order. Somehow, this made him smile.

Fiyero turned, looking back at Galinda. Now was not the time to think about the green girl.

"Have you seen Elphie?" she asked when she noticed he was looking at her again.

This caught him off guard. He was trying not to think about her, much less talk about her. "I… uh," he wasn't sure what to say. "No?"

Galinda smiled, "Oh good! That means she actually went where I told her to go. I was afraid she'd just sit in the hallway all night."

"Oh." He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. In fact, he wasn't sure how to respond to lots of things that Galinda said. "Where was she supposed to go?"

"That's between Elphie and me," she giggled.

Fiyero raised an eyebrow.

Galinda sighed a happy yet dramatic sigh, and continued, "All right, I'll tell you. But only because you insist. The other night I noticed Elphie was acting strangely and so I started guessing why. First I thought that maybe she was upset about Dr Nikidik, you know how she doesn't seem to like that man very much, or maybe something that Nessa said or maybe, Luraline forbid, I did something to make her upset… how could I ever do something to make her upset? I still can't see why she didn't like me very much when we first met. Everyone likes me, don't they dearest? Perhaps that's an understatement, we loathed each other. Actually, thinking about it I realize that I was sort of mean to her back then… but that's not the point!

"I was guessing why she was acting strangely and of course she denied everything I said – though she did through in that I was apparently annoying her and so therefore I did do something to make her upset, but not until I started to interrogate her. But I was only worried about her. And then, I suddenly had an apostrophe and realized that maybe she likes someone! So I said this, and she denied it, but not before hesitating. I'm sure of it now! Elphie likes a boy, and I'm going to make her do something about it."

Fiyero blinked, his mind racing to catch up to what Galinda had just said. Elphaba… Elphaba liked someone? He felt a sharp intake of breath and he scowled. "Ah…" he was speechless. "I, um. That's interesting," he tried to keep his cool. "So where is she now?"

"I made her leave and go talk to him. I told her I wouldn't let her back into the room until she did."

So that was why she looked so upset when he first found her in the hall. She wasn't just locked out. She was kicked out because Galinda thought she needed to talk to some… guy. Someone else.

Despite himself, Fiyero felt a surge of jealousy. He didn't want Elphaba to like someone else. He wanted her to disappear. He wanted her to look at him and only him. He wanted to forget he ever met her. He wanted to kiss her.

He wanted to punch something.

"Excuse me," he said as politely as he could for his mood, "I have somewhere I have to be." He turned quickly and left the room, Galinda protesting. Their dorm was not the place to be if he wanted to forget about her. He marched down the hallway, down the stairs, and all the way to the door. But as he approached the exit, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Elphaba was standing there, looking out the window and into the rain. Her back was turned to him and he swallowed. He couldn't forget about her. She was far too… he didn't have the word for it. She was Elphaba. Green, sarcastic, intelligent, strong, and beautiful.

Hearing him sigh, she turned her head and opened her eyes in alarm. "Down so soon? I thought you would be talking to my roommate longer."

He couldn't find his voice. Instead, he nodded his head and walked outside.

He hated loving her.

It made him think.