Elphaba, however, stayed awake for a long time, partially mulling over the nights events- trying to make sense of them- but partially just enjoying the undeniably pleasant feeling of Galinda's body so close to her own.

10.

"Elphie?" was the first word sleepy word uttered from Galinda's lips, before her eyes had even opened.

Elphaba smiled in relief at this, having spent the ten minutes or so she herself had been awake worrying over what Galinda's reaction might be to waking up beside her. Although the blonde had been the one to suggest they share a bed, Elphaba was all too conscious of how daylight could alter a person's feelings. Though the curtains were still tightly closed, they were translucent enough to allow a significant amount of daylight to spread into the room, highlighting the green of her skin all too clearly.

"I'm here," Elphaba replied, her smile fading tentatively as she waited with bated breath for Galinda to become fully conscious. Finally, the blonde's eyelids flickered open, displaying two blue orbs which possessed a deep, warm quality which had, to Elphaba, never seemed so complete. Likewise, the smile Galinda broke into at the sight of Elphaba's face was so blissful, so contented, that Elphaba found herself filled by a sudden peace with the world.

"Hi," Galinda murmured drowsily, her hand finding Elphaba's under the blankets and stroking it.

"Hi," Elphaba echoed warmly, her worries rapidly lessening. She allowed Galinda to stroke her hand for a few further beats, before entwining it in the spaces between the other girl's fingers, fitting their hands together like the final two pieces of a jigsaw. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mmm," Galinda nodded absent-mindedly, her voice honey toned, almost reminiscent, "I dreamed about you."

"Oh yes?" Elphaba asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, "And what happened in the dream?"

Clearly, in her sleepy state, Galinda hadn't pre-empted the conversation this far ahead, for in favour of answering the question, she flushed; before turning hurriedly on her side and fumbling on her dresser as though searching for something. Elphaba watched her, torn between amusement and anxiety. She sincerely hoped that Galinda hadn't been having one of those sorts of dreams about her. It would be a long time before she would be ready, in dreamless reality, to take their relationship to that sort of level- and that was not even to mention the fact that Elphaba doubted very much that she would be able to live up to the expectations created by any dream-fashioned counterpart of hers.

Suddenly rather uncomfortable at being beside Galinda between pink satin bed sheets, Elphaba pulled herself quickly into a sitting position, before clumsily trying to free herself from the great number of sheets and bedspreads in which she'd somehow become heavily entangled over the course of the night.

"Uhm. Elphie?"

Caught off-guard by the cautious tone, Elphaba stopped struggling and glanced over at Galinda, who was holding a little gold wristwatch in both hands and watching her apprehensively.

"What is it?" she prompted impatiently when Galinda continued to hesitate.

"I'm not entirely sure how to tell you this," Galinda began, her eyes wide and innocent- her typical 'don't-hate-me' expression; "But it's almost ten o'clock."

"Ten o'clock?" Elphaba repeated, a sudden rush of panic and urgency at these words causing her to forget her previous concerns, "No. No, I can't have slept for that long. Let me see that."

"I'm glad you have so much faith in my time-telling abilities," Galinda huffed as Elphaba snatched the wristwatch from her, but the green girl barely heard, her attention on the tiny, gold, heart-shaped hands. Just as Galinda had said, the larger hand was settled just a minute or two short of the twelve, while the smaller hand pointed firmly and tauntingly at the ten.

"Oh, Oz," she moaned, thrusting the watch at Galinda before scrambling again to exit the bed. Exactly how much had she been moving last night for the sheets to become this twisted, for Oz's sake?

Galinda giggled as her room mate tugged at the pink sheets in frustration, trying in vain to disentangle her limbs from them. "Need some help there?" she asked innocently, moving over to assist the green girl who was visibly becoming increasingly aggravated.

"I'm glad you're finding this funny," Elphaba told her crossly as she finally, with Galinda's aid, managed to free herself from the bed, "I've already missed Natural Science and we're going to be late for History at this rate. I wonder if I'll be able to catch up on the notes or if I'll simply have to do without…"

She continued to mutter to herself as she grabbed various articles of clothing and headed swiftly for the bathroom, presumably to change into them. Galinda watched from her bed, feeling none of Elphaba's sense of urgency. What did it matter, after all, if they were late for class? Class was boring. She was happy to simply lie in bed and daydream about her kiss with Elphaba, perhaps share some further kisses with her, talk with her a little, take a walk together later perhaps…

Sighing contentedly, Galinda allowed herself to sink back down onto her pillows and further imagine the things they could have done that day had Elphaba been willing to cut class. But still, Galinda supposed, if Elphaba was not so study-happy, then she would not have been Elphaba at all. And that would have been the most dreadful pity. Galinda's eyes closed drowsily as she listed in her head the other qualities that made Elphaba who she was… intelligent, kind-hearted, thought-provoking, brave, extremely stubborn…

"Oh, no. No, you don't."

"Mmmphf?" Rudely awoken from the light doze she had fallen into, Galinda found her wrists being painfully tugged at as her room mate attempted to extract her from her bed. "Elphaba, stop that," she whined, trying to push the other girl away with her feet, "You're hurting."

She felt Elphaba loosen her grip slightly at these words, though she did not let go altogether. "Then get up, Galinda. I'm not having you skip class twice this week. Stop kicking at me like a child and get out of bed."

Realising how she must look, Galinda allowed her feet to drop onto the bed and looked apologetically up at her room mate. "Sorry," she said, then after a pause added, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Hardly," Elphaba smirked, causing Galinda to pout as she recognised that she was being teased, "I doubt you're capable of hurting a fly, Galinda." But then her smirk faded and she looked straight into Galinda's eyes, her expression stern. "But really, come on. If you don't get up in the next two minutes, I'm going to class without you. I don't have time for waiting around this morning when I'm already so late."

Galinda stared into her deep, brown eyes for a few seconds before sighing lightly. "Ok, ok, I'll come," she mumbled in defeat, holding her arms out expectantly. Quickly cottoning on, Elphaba took her hands and gently helped ease her out of bed and on to her feet. Galinda glanced blearily around her room, trying to remember in her still-sleepy state what came first in her ritual of getting ready, before spotting her wardrobe. Ah yes, clothes would be a good start.

"This one?" Elphaba asked, having already strode to Galinda's closet and pulled out the first frock she had come across in the time it had taken the other girl to register her surroundings. Galinda shook her head immediately, wrinkling her nose.

"I wore that one last week," she reminded Elphaba patiently, before joining her at the closet and scanning through her vast variety of outfits, "Now let me see…"

It took only a further ten minutes for Galinda to settle on an outfit: a time she was rather proud of, judging by her usual standards. Elphaba clearly did not share this sentiment, however, for she had quickly taken to pacing up and down the room, anxiously checking her wristwatch every thirty seconds or so.

"Elphie, calm down," Galinda laughed as she changed into her chosen dress- buttercup yellow with embroidered daisies at the hem: a sunny dress to match her mood this morning and to counteract the ever more prominent signs of the approaching Winter, "It's only class; nothing bad will happen if we're a few minutes late!"

"A few minutes?" Elphaba snorted, glancing again at her watch, "Galinda, come on. Let me do that." She strode behind her room mate and briskly finished fastening the zip at the back of the dress with which Galinda had been having trouble, before taking her hand and pulling her insistently towards the door.

"Now just wait a clock tick!" Galinda protested immediately, digging her heels into the floor as she attempted to pull back but quickly finding that she wasn't strong enough, "What about my makeup? And have you seen my hair?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes at her room mate's protests. Only Galinda could be worried about her hair when they were almost two hours late for class. "Yes, it's still safely on your head, where it belongs," she replied, locking the door behind them once she'd dragged Galinda safely out of it. Galinda made a lunge for the key, but Elphaba was too fast for her, and it was out of the blonde girl's reach before she had even come close to grabbing it. Galinda continued to swat at her as Elphaba made to put it in her pocket and so, thinking better of her initial idea, the green girl hesitated, before reaching inside the high neckline of her navy dress and nestling the key inside her bra.

Galinda quickly ceased in making swipes for the key, her blue eyes growing wide and aghast. "Did you just do what I think you did?" she asked, her naturally rosy lips parted incredulously.

"I do believe I did," Elphaba replied, as surprised at herself as Galinda looked. Still, she couldn't help suppressing a smirk which she swiftly hid, turning away from Galinda and beginning to stride down the staircase in the direction of Doctor Dillamond's classroom. "And if you even attempt to take it out, you know there'll be hell to pay," she added over her shoulder, half teasing and half deadly serious.

Elphaba grinned behind her hair as she heard Galinda begin to follow reluctantly after her. She could picture her room mate's expression and body language without even a glance behind: without a doubt Galinda's arms were folded sulkily, her trademark pout prominent.

The cold metal of the key pressed against her breast as she walked, reminding Elphaba about her spontaneous, teasing action. Though she was not entirely sure what had come over herself, Elphaba had to admit that she didn't dislike this new mischievous, almost wicked side which had, out of the blue, seemed to inflict itself on her. In fact, she found that she liked it rather more than the terse, defensive attitude for which most people knew her. Surprising as it might be, it seemed to Elphaba that Galinda really did bring out some good in her.

Boq wondered, as he listened impassively to Doctor Dillamond's lecture, if some higher force- be it the Unnamed God or something more pagan- was out to punish him at present. Why else would the only empty two seats in the lecture hall have happened to have been directly in front of him when Galinda and Elphaba had entered? He had deliberately averted his eyes when Galinda had slipped into the classroom almost twenty minutes late, Elphaba just ahead of her apologising profusely to Doctor Dillamond for their tardiness; but there was only a certain degree to which he could avoid looking straight ahead.

Of course, because it was Elphaba, the Goat had let the matter go with just one or two stern words; but it wasn't the lateness alone that was bothering Boq.

Not only was it highly unlike Elphaba to be late for class, but Boq barely had to glance at the green girl to know that there was something distinctly different about her. She seemed noticeably happier, and strangely more confident in herself: her posture straight instead of hunched and her step lighter, her tone when she spoke less ridden with sarcasm. Galinda too, though she had seemed sulky when the two had first entered, had quickly returned to her bonny and bubbly self after Boq had witnessed Elphaba whispering something in her ear. It was the way she looked also; her hair slightly tousled in an appealing way, her face less made up than usual. She looked beautiful in the most natural sense of the word. Both girls seemed to radiate a genuine sort of happiness, which Boq couldn't help feeling indignant about. Wasn't Galinda feeling even the slightest bit of remorse about the way in which she had hurt him the previous day? Did she not feel even a little guilty about kissing him, before confessing outright that she thought she loved somebody else? Did she have no shame about those secretive little glances she kept sending Elphaba?

There were no doubts in Boq's mind now as to exactly which 'she' Galinda had been referring to the night before when she had admitted her feelings for another, and the Munchkin could not help wondering, with the tiniest amount of spite, what Elphaba could possibly have that he didn't. A curious part of him was burning to know what had happened the previous night between Galinda and Elphaba which had caused this sudden relaxation of barriers between the two of them, but a further, more rational part of him argued that this was the last thing in Oz he wanted to know.

As he looked up in order to note down what Doctor Dillamond was writing on the chalkboard, a small movement between the two girls in front of him caught Boq's eye. He looked more closely, and realised with a resentful jolt that they were holding hands under the table. The close proximity at which the two girls were sitting rendered the action discreet, and Boq knew that he had only noticed because he was seated directly behind and between them. It still came as a shock to him, however, that the two girls were confident enough about their feelings for one another to hold hands in a place as public as History class. Although same-sex relationships were not unheard of within Shiz, they were uncommon enough to prompt whispers and speculations, should word of them spread around campus.

Just as this thought passed through Boq's mind, however, Galinda spontaneously glanced around and spotted him staring. Almost instantaneously, her cheeks flushed pink and she hastily detached her hand from Elphaba's. Then, biting her lip nervously, she shot Boq a pleading look as though begging him not to tell anyone either what he had just witnessed or what she had confessed to him the previous night. Boq looked steadily back at her- he was not yet sure of his course of action and was thus careful not to let his expression imply that his intentions were directed one way or the other. Finally, with a last, desperate look at him, Galinda turned back to the front of the class once more, and Boq looked instead at Elphaba.

The green girl had not looked around or displayed any break in her note-taking as her hand had become separate from Galinda's, simply returning it calmly to its place on her desk. It was only because Boq was watching now that he caught her glance at Galinda. It was brief, barely half a second long, but Boq noticed it all the same, and was aware too of the unsure, self-conscious look which then flashed across Elphaba's face before vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

Boq frowned thoughtfully. This sequence of events, however small, had given him a lot of food for thought, as well as providing some clue as to where the potential weaknesses in Galinda and Elphaba's relationship- if one could call it that at this early stage- might lie. He glanced from the striking blonde who was so worried about what her peers thought of her, to the self-doubting green girl beside her, and the seed of an idea began to take root in his mind.

For a few moments Boq wondered if he was really capable of attempting to dim the new spark of happiness which these two girls had seemed to have found in one another, but then it re-entered his mind how he had tried to give Galinda his heart the night before and how she had shredded it into pieces, all for the sake- Boq couldn't help thinking with a hint of venom- of this anti-social green woman. An ominous, dark cloud seemed to rise behind Boq's eyes as he surveyed again the two startlingly different girls in front of him, and the idea in his mind grew steadily and portentously into the makings of a plan.