Rifiuto: Non Miriena
Thanks to mselphabathropp109 for reviewing 9.
Later that night, Elphaba slipped into her apartment and locked the door. She dropped her bag on the kitchen table, and made a cup of tea, before collapsing on the sofa. She rubbed her temples, and thought back on Glinda's questions. Where the hell had that girl gotten those wild ideas?
Over the next few days, Elphaba found the usual cup of coffee and bagel waiting for her on her desk, always with a small note. She continued to eat lunch with Fiyero, and the two even walked to class together in the morning. She found herself laughing at his jokes, and he found that he couldn't start his day without seeing her smile. They walked to their cars together- on the rare days when Elphaba didn't have drama club.
So it was one morning, when she came in and found the cup of coffee, the bagel, and a beautiful bouquet of roses- one white, one red, pink, violet, and salmon- along with a note.
The rose is what makes the thorns beautiful.
She couldn't help the smile that came to her lips, and didn't realiz that she'd been standing there motionless, until a voice interrupted her.
"Ms. Thropp?"
She turned, to see Glinda, Avaric, Milla and Boq gathered just inside the doorway. Silent, she waited for them to speak up.
"What are you... doing?" Milla asked, stepping forward. After a moment, Elphaba showed them the bouquet of roses, and they hurried to her, gathering around to look.
"Oh they're beautiful!"
"All different colors? Why?"
"Who gave them to you?" Glinda asked, silently picking up the note. "'The rose is what makes the thorns beautiful.' Oh Miss Thropp! You've got a secret admirer!" Elphaba blushed.
"I don't think- How does he even know that I like roses?" She asked finally, taking a seat behind her desk. The students gathered around, perching on the tops of desks, or pulling up stools.
"Maybe he checked your file?" Boq suggested. Elphaba wrinkled her nose.
"Or he followed you home." Avaric suggested.
"That's scary." Elphaba told him.
"Not to mention stalkerish." Milla agreed.
"Maybe he just knows you." Glinda said. Elphaba raised an eyebrow.
"How could he just know me?"
"Well, maybe he's an old friend." The blonde told her, putting emphasis on old friend. Her teacher seemed to consider this a moment, before shaking her head.
"No. Not possible. Even if he was, who would it- No. Not Yero. Yero and I weren't like that. We were more like brother and sister than boyfriend and girlfriend. It's probably one of the other teachers."
"Whatever you say, Ms. Thropp, whatever you say." Glinda said, as bell rang and they rushed to their seats. However, Glinda did manage to share a look with her friends.
She missed the mark.
When lunch rolled around, the four gathered together and discussed what they knew so far about their teachers.
"She miss the mark, completely missed the mark!" Glinda cried, setting her tray on the table and then taking a seat next to Boq.
"Well she's not exactly bright." Avaric said.
"Is she really that blind to the fact that Mr. Tiggular left her the flowers, and the coffee and bagel for the last few weeks?"
"Maybe she doesn't want to admit that she's in love." Milla suggested. However, her attention was diverted, to the back of the cafeteria, where Ms. Thropp and Mr. Tiggular stood, conversing softly. As they passed by her students, they were able to catch some of the conversation.
"Someone left me this bouquet of flowers."
"Roses?" Mr. Tiggular asked, as she nodded.
"Yeah, how did you-"
"I saw them as I passed by your room earlier this morning between classes. They're very beautiful."
"Yeah, they are. But..."
The two disappeared from the cafeteria, and the four quickly left the table, following their teachers. They hid when they neared the teachers' lounge.
"...would leave me roses, a cup of coffee, and a bagel? And he left this with the roses." She handed him the note.
"'The rose is what makes the thorns beautiful.' Hmm, sounds like someone had a secret admirer."
"That's what my students thought." The voices faded as they entered the teachers' lounge, and the students returned to lunch.
When the final bell let out, the drama club met in Ms. Thropp's classroom for play practice.
"All right, should we head over there?" She gathered her things, and grabbed the keys to her room. "Come on." They left for the theater, and once there, began rehearsal.
"Let's pick it up where we left off. Page 56, start at Lombard's line, 'What's the sense of making yourself defensive?'"
She spent the next four hours going through the whole show non-stop, and finally, finishing with notes at the end before dismissing the club.
"Boq, a bit more adventurous- Lombard has been an adventurer, he's always exploring. Milla, when you're talking to Miss Brent, your afraid of her, yet you're also standing up to her- do you understand?..."
Once they finished, and locked up everything, they went their separate ways, and Elphaba found Fiyero waiting at her car.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, shoulders slumping. He chuckled softly.
"Nice to see you too." He replied, moving away from her car. "I was... wondering if you wanted to go for coffee."
"I'd love to, but I can't. Maybe some other time. Thanks though."