Chapter 11
When Elphaba arrived back in the room she found it to be empty. There were no signs that Galinda had been back since they left together earlier.
Elphaba sighed and went over to her desk to work on some homework. There was nothing she could do until Galinda got back.
Elphaba settled herself into her comfy chair in the corner and began to copy down formulas. It didn't take long for her mind to drift off into other subjects. She began to wonder if she had been right in what she was saying before to Galinda. Maybe Galinda was right after all. Maybe she had to learn to compromise.
"No Elphaba, don't let her trick you into thinking she was right." She said aloud. Elphaba would still not allow herself to believe that she had been wrong. Everything she told Galinda had been correct. The blonde just took everything the wrong way and twisted her words.
Elphaba settled back into study mode and blocked out any other emotions. She would not allow herself to feel sorry for herself. She would also not allow herself to worry about where Galinda may be at the moment.
Three hours passed and Galinda had still not come home. Elphaba was beginning to let the emotion of worry take over. What if Galinda had been kidnapped or harmed on the way back to the dorm? What if she was so angry with Elphaba that she could not bring herself to face her? That was the thing that worried Elphaba the most. She knew that she had her reasons not to follow her but now she was beginning to rethink her decision.
Another hour passed with still no sign of Galinda. Elphaba was pacing around in her little study area muttering incoherent words. She was about to grab her jacket and go search for the blonde when the door opened.
Galinda walked in and avoided Elphaba's gaze. Elphaba tried to say something to the blonde but as soon as she began to speak another figure walked into the room following closely behind Galinda.
"Good evening Miss Elphaba." The figure announced and gave the green girl a friendly smile. Elphaba's stomach was in knots.
"Good evening Miss Milla." Elphaba managed a courteous response. "What brings you here tonight?" Elphaba tried to act as if everything was normal. She had still not taken her eyes off the blonde. Galinda began to look in her closet and gather a few clothes.
"I'm just helping Galinda pick up a couple of things." Elphaba felt hurt. Why was Galinda leaving with clothes? Was she going somewhere? The look of confusion on the green girls face prompted Milla to continue.
"She is going to stay over in my dorm room tonight." Elphaba finally turned her head away from the blonde and looked towards Milla.
Milla could tell that everything was not exactly right between the two. Galinda had arrived at her dorm room five hours earlier crying. She had tried to calm the blonde down but had little success for nearly an hour or two. It wasn't until she had started asking Galinda questions that she had sobered.
Four hours earlier…
"Galinda you need to calm down. Crying like this is not going to help anything." Milla tried to comfort the blonde who just hung to her friend tightly.
"What is it? Is it something someone said to you? Is it Fiyero? I know that he has been a little hateful towards you lately but that's nothing to get teared up about." Milla soothed Galinda as she stroked her back up and down.
Galinda was comforted by this motion but would not allow herself to speak just yet. She simply shook her head against Milla's shoulder. Milla felt this and guessed that the head shook meant no. She tried another question.
"Is it Elphaba? Has she done something to hurt you Galinda?" At this Galinda suddenly stopped crying and looked up towards Milla. Milla took this as a sign of yes and continued to interrogate the blonde.
"Okay so it does have to deal with Elphaba then. Did she hurt you Galinda?" Galinda didn't know what to say at this. Sure Elphaba hurt her. Not physically but mentally and emotionally she had. When Galinda was silent for a long time Milla didn't know what to do so she just continued to look at the blonde waiting for an answer.
"Yes." Galinda finally managed to say.
Milla was caught a little off guard. She thought Galinda would say no. Milla knew that Elphaba was not the nicest character but she always tended to be more sensitive to the blonde.
"Did you two get in a fight? Did she hit you?" Milla continued to try and soothe the blonde's emotions.
Galinda was a little shocked at what Milla had said. Of course Elphie wouldn't harm her.
"We did get in a fight but she never laid a finger on me." Galinda shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She knew she was not ready for everyone to know her deepest and darkest secrets yet but she needed someone to confine in. The only girl she had ever trusted to do that had been Elphaba. The girl she was mad at.
Milla saw Galinda's attitude change almost instantly. She went from being vulnerable to a little stubborn. Whatever she was hiding was going to take a lot out of Milla to guess. Milla decided that now was not the best time to press Galinda any further for an explanation and so she just left it as it was.
"Maybe it's best if you stay with me tonight Galinda. My roommate has gone home for the weekend and so there's an empty bed. I don't want you staying in the same room as Elphaba if she really hurt you that badly." Milla offered Galinda a way out. Galinda took it with no second-guessing.
Maybe if she ignored Elphaba then she would get her way and Elphaba would realize that she needed Galinda. Then the two of them could be together publicly.
Galinda liked the plan that Milla had suggested and she offered a suggestion of her own.
"Will you come with me when I go get my stuff Milla? I don't want to be left alone with Elphie just yet." Galinda pleaded. Milla could not deny such a request and so she agreed.
Back to the present…
Galinda had finished gathering all her clothes and had gone in the bathroom to get her shampoos and soaps for later. It was already really late and she was not quite sure she would take a bath at Milla's. She had ulterior motives for stalling like this. Maybe if she lingered long enough Elphaba would realize what she was missing and apologize in front of Milla and soon all of Shiz would know of their love. Galinda was unaware that Elphaba was still unwilling to budge.
Back in the room Milla waited for Galinda to finish gathering her bathroom stuff. She had taken a seat of Galinda's bed and stared over at Elphaba who was sitting on her bed with knees bent up and arms encircling her legs. She had been staring at the bathroom door the whole time Galinda had been in there.
"What exactly happened Elphaba?" Milla dropped the formalities. Her voice breaking the silence caught Elphaba a little off guard and she whirled around to see Milla staring at her. She suddenly felt her face flush, as she was aware she had been caught staring at the door.
"What do you mean?" Elphaba innocently asked. She wasn't sure what all the blonde had told Milla and was not about to tell her something that would be new news.
"I mean," Milla was annoyed, "why did Galinda come up to my dorm room a couple hours ago crying?" She then shot Elphaba a look that did not go unnoticed by the green girl.
Elphaba felt Milla's gaze upon her and tensed up. Galinda had been crying when she went up to see Milla? What all could she have said to her? I know Galinda likes to ramble when she is upset but what could she possibly have rambled to Milla about? A look of terror suddenly arose on Elphaba's face. What if she had told Milla about their kiss? What if Milla was here to steal Galinda from her?
Before Elphaba could form a response Milla shot another comment towards the green girl.
"Look I know you and Galinda didn't used to get along but I have seen her this past week and she is happier than she has ever been. Her social standing may be falling into the toilet but she doesn't seem to notice." Elphaba gave a meek smile at this comment. This went unnoticed by Milla as she continued.
"I don't know what went down earlier today and frankly I don't really care. What is between you two is your business, not mine. But when one of my best friends comes crying to me in the middle of the day then I start to worry. Your business becomes my business." Milla finished and just looked at Elphaba to see what her reaction would be.
Elphaba was having a hard time coming up with a response. She just stared back at Milla as her face fell to a frown once again.
"Galinda overreacted that's all." Elphaba tried to validate her side of the argument. Milla was not sure whether to believe this or not. She was not sure how trustworthy Elphaba was but she also knew Galinda. Galinda did seem to over exaggerate a lot of things.
Before Milla could ask Elphaba to expand on this Galinda came out of the bathroom.
"Ready?" Galinda asked Milla and still avoided Elphaba's gaze.
That was the first time Elphaba had heard Galinda speak since she had walked into the room with Milla. She watched as Galinda and Milla left the dorm room shutting the door lightly behind them. Elphaba was left alone. She looked over to Galinda's bed and longed for her to be there. If she would just allow Elphaba to explain then everything would be all right.
Elphaba went to bed that night and for the first time in years allowed herself to cry herself to sleep.