As Elphaba tried again to think of what to write in her letter, she glanced over at the sleeping pink mound. She looked so frail and defenseless, almost like a porcelain doll. Elphaba looked down at her paper and crossed out what she had written, frustrated. Running slightly late, she wrote a quick note and left it on her bed. She hadn't had time, nor words, to write what she had wanted to. She hoped the blonde would find comfort in the little she'd managed to put on paper, but doubted it. She would probably wind up with multiple tear-burns on her by the end of the day. She pushed the thought out of her head and strode more quickly to Doctor Dillamond's classroom, hoping he would be there early.
She knocked on the door and waited for him to call that it was unlocked. She knew it was unlocked, but she wanted to give the Goat time to put down his opposing lenses. She opened the door, and grinned to see the Goat with notes and samples and lenses on many tables.
"Doctor Dillamond, how much sleep did you get last night?"
"I'm not really sure, Miss Elphaba." He replied, smiling right back at her.
"Sir, could I talk to you for a moment?" She asked seriously.
"Of course, my dear. What's the matter?"
"I'm having a small personal problem and I was hoping you could give me some advice."
"All that I can."
"Well, I have feelings for someone, and they've told me they like me."
"I don't see a problem."
"That someone is Miss Galinda."
"I see. This is a problem. Does anyone else know?"
"Only whoever Galinda has told." Replied Elphaba, grimacing at how talkative her roomie could be. They could only hope that she'd managed to keep her mouth shut about this one topic.
"All I can say is that love is love, and you'll be facing some opposition in this relationship. You may want to speak with Madame Daae in the nurse's office, she's a close friend of mine and very supportive of things out of the mainstream."
"Thank you, Doctor Dillamond. I knew you were a trustworthy adult." She grinned and hugged the old Goat, then went to tell her other teachers she wasn't feeling well, and she might not make it to class.
When she entered the nurse's office, she asked for Madame Daae and was surprised when the Chimp guessed why she was here.
"It's Miss Galinda, isn't it?" Elphaba gaped, then hurried into the private office.
"How did you know? Is it that easy to tell?" She began to worry their secret wouldn't be secret for long.
"No, nothing like that. Miss Galinda came in here the other day asking about love and the green girl. I merely assumed you were here for the same reason, because I doubt she's ill again." The Chimp chuckled at Elphaba's reaction, and they chatted for a while. "Miss Elphaba, don't you have classes to go to?" Nurse Daae asked suddenly.
"No, ma'am. I already informed my teachers I wouldn't be in today. In fact, Doctor Dillamond recommended you to me." She confided. "I think I'm about full of knowledge for now, I'm going to go back to my dorm room. Thank you and goodbye, Madame Daae."
"Goodbye, Miss Elphaba. Goodbye and good luck."
When Elphaba made it back to the dorms, she lay down slowly on her stomach. Her back ached even more than last night! She rolled up a blanket so it was quite heavy, then placed it on her back. She slowly let out a breath, and tried to catch up on the sleep she lost.
Galinda unlocked her door sadly. She hadn't seen Elphie all day. She flumped onto her bed and lay there, wishing she could see the green girl now, instead of whenever she decided to appear. She lay there for a few minutes, thinking of nothing, and turned her head to look across the small space to her roomie's bed. She grinned in surprise and delight, Elphie was laying there asleep! She quickly got up and leaned over the girl, getting closer than she ever usually would. She brushed some long silky hair off the green face, and had to suppress a giggle when the girl mumbled in response. She sat down on the floor and leaned against her own bed, simply watching the girl sleep. They stayed that way for a while, Galinda watching Elphaba for who-knows-how-long. Suddenly the clock-tower rang out six long bells. Galinda jumped in surprise, then woke Elphie up. Well, she tried. She called to her, shook the girl's shoulder, and finally had to set the alarm clock for a minute later and put it beside the girl's head.
Elphaba awoke with a start. Her alarm was going off! Had she slept through the night? She quickly got up, but had to sit to balance herself. The blonde was standing there, giggling.
"What, pray tell, is so funny?" She snapped irritably. Galinda only giggled harder. "What, what is it?" Laughter. "Galinda, what in Oz is so funny?!"
"You!" Elphaba humphed and waited for the girl to calm down. She couldn't. Elphaba got so annoyed of waiting she pinched the pink sleeve, only catching the tiniest bit of skin. "OW! What was that for?" The previously giggling girl demanded.
"You wouldn't shut up. Now would you mind telling me what time it is?"
"It's dinnertime, I woke you up so you wouldn't be hungry. I think I'm beginning to regret it." The green girl nodded and strode out of the room. "Well you are welcome!" Galinda huffed, after running to catch up with the girl's long legs and head start. When they made it to the cafeteria, she was out of breath from keeping up. "Could you walk a little slower?"
"Why would I do that, pretty? Go sit with your friends." She then quickly became invisible in the crowd of hungry students. Galinda couldn't figure out what was wrong. Why had Elphie suddenly become so cold? As if last night hadn't even happened! She was so stung, Shenshen had to wave a hand in front of her face to get her attention.
"Oooohhhhhh, someone's daydreaming! Is it about Fiyero?" Galinda quickly smiled and went along with her friends to eat. She got food and sat down, pretending to listen to her friends gush about the boy. As she ate her food, she wasn't really tasting it. She wasn't really doing much of anything, nodding every now and again so they thought she was listening. A flash of green caught her eye, and she watched Elphie sit at a table with Nessarose and Nanny. Grommetik appeared to be looking for something, it was wheeling all around the cafeteria. She watched it fetch her roomie, then wheel over to her. She did what the machine wanted and followed it to Horrible Morrible's waiting room. She glanced at her companion, but all she saw was a green mask of calm. It did nothing for her nerves, she didn't know why they were here, and couldn't even tell what Elphaba was feeling.
"Elphie, why are we here?" She asked, hoping her roomie wasn't still mad about the alarm clock.
"Don't fret, pretty. I'll-" Madame Morrible entered, cutting Elphaba off.
"Hello girls, do come in." She said sweetly. Too sweetly for Galinda's nerves.