Moment of Weakness - Chapter 11

A/N: To those who wanted Galinda to confront Pfannee, here you go! No Fiyero yet, though, I'm holding out on that one. :D

13/09/2013: Chapter updated to resolve consistency problem.

ELPHABA

'If Nessarose needs you so badly, your father will have to let you stay at Shiz for her sake.'

The statement came from Galinda on Saturday afternoon. I had been in the middle of studying some of the new material when she sneaked up behind me and stole my book. I would have once been irritated, but in fact, I hadn't been able to concentrate. The words had blurred before me into images of hopelessness and futility. I was, after all, only doing this to placate Galinda, and not because I believed her plan could actually work.

So when the book disappeared from in front of me, my exasperation came out of habit, rather than genuity.

We now walked around outside. It was freezing, but Galinda had insisted that I come, claiming that she didn't want to walk around by herself.

'What's so wrong with being by yourself?' I'd asked.

'You don't understand,' she'd whined. 'If I get seen alone...'

'Better than being seen with me, since it matters to you that much.'

But she had insisted anyway, and her annoying pout and whiny complaints had driven me to agree. I had no idea why she was so concerned about being seen as anything at all with her reputation already so broken. But, I reminded myself, people can't be expected to change overnight.

We wandered around in the harsh, biting wind. She, lucky thing, had a thick, fur coat to wear – I wondered, with a twist in my stomach, if the fur had been procured from an Animal, but said nothing. My thinly covered arms shivered. I could have afforded a better coat than the old, papery thing. I could have asked for the money, and would have been granted it. But I never did. Coats and such things seemed silly and indulgent when I had higher priorities.

'It doesn't matter,' I responded to her statement about my father. 'He'll find some excuse or other for Nessarose to suddenly not need me anymore. Probably something along the lines of 'She's rooming with Madame Morribe who can take adequate care of her anyway'.'

'Right.'

The silences were becoming more frequent and less comfortable. It had been a few days since our last spat – it's not that I didn't still find her incredibly irritating, but we seemed to have fallen into an acceptance of each other's differences. But without the previous tiffs, our ability to converse was somewhat lost. What did two girls who were not really friends say to each other?

Over the last few days she had continued to make suggestions about my father. It was sad to watch her unending optimism when I knew full well that ultimately it was no use. I had blown my chance at Shiz with my actions. I was lucky to have still been here after the first time, when I tried to take Nessa back from Morrible. Morrible had saved me then by speaking favourably of my talent, but no one was speaking favourably now: I was a freak in everyone's eyes, including the professors.

I shivered from the cold. How long had we been out here for? I was desperate to go back inside but knew that Galinda would have a fit if I did anything like that. But thankfully, she seemed to have a similar idea.

'Let's go to a cafe,' she eventually said, and I concealed a sigh of massive relief. 'Oh, OH, I know! Let's go to the Wilted Rose! I haven't been there for ages! Please Elphie?' She batted her eyelids towards me.

'Alright, my sweet,' I responded, trying not to sound too eager.

The Wilted Rose was just down the road. I was relieved when we passed from the icy chill of outdoors to the warm, coffee scented cafe. She made a great show of shimmying her shoulders out of the coat and handing it to the waiter to hang up somewhere. Then she gracefully pulled out her chair and sat down in the most stylish manner she could muster. The whole display seemed incredibly silly: who could possibly be watching her, other than me?

She ordered a hot chocolate, and I was resigned to ordering nothing in case it was made with water. I stared enviously at hers – it looked so warm and comforting, and I still felt a bit cold from outside.

The opening of the door again ten minutes later blasted a cold draught of air in our direction. I turned around to glare at the culprit, only to end up staring in fury at the very people who had hurt Galinda so badly. Galinda emitted a small whimper at their arrival.

'Oh no,' she whispered. 'Elphie, let's go! Let's go, please?'

But I was not privy to giving up the tiny allowance of warmth I received in here. The harsh weather was extremely unappealing.

'Don't be ridiculous,' I hissed.

'But Elphie...'

'No. It's been over a week now. You should face your demons.'

She shrank into her chair and turned her face away. Her eyes were, yet again, glistening with the threat of tears. Lurline, I was really going to have to do something about this! All this crying!

I guessed that if she had been with her parents, they would have given into her wish immediately. They would not have been able to withstand the pleading puppy expression she bore when she wanted something. Thus, she had spent her whole life being all too used to walking away from a situation without dealing with it properly.

No wonder she was so weak.

'Galinda, you do realise that if you burst into tears now, Pfannee and Fiyero will only have more reason to taunt you.'

She winced and bit her lip. At least, I thought, she was trying, though admittedly it looked like she was failing. She gripped the edge of the table hard as Pfannee, Fiyero and a bunch of cronies took a table near the back of the café and ordered their drinks.

I prayed they would stay there.

Apparently the Unnamed God did not listen to the prayers of those who didn't believe in souls. It wasn't long before Pfannee rose from her seat and flounced up to our table in a frivolous manner, and I rolled my eyes, concerned with what this might do to Galinda.

'So I heard a rumour,' Pfannee said.

Galinda jumped and stared fearfully at her.

'And what piece of baseless information might that be?' I responded.

Pfannee leaned over the table with that stupid, smug smile on her face.

'Well, you see, we couldn't help but notice…'

'Who's we? You and your bunch of cronies? Why should Galinda and I care for the opinion of a bunch of shallow twits?'

She took a deep breath. Galinda was trembling, I could feel it through the shaking table.

'I am going to ignore that, as I am above such things. Anyway, there has been much talk that Fiyero was not the only victim of the raucous Galinda Upland. Rumour has it, there are loads of others as well.'

Galinda spluttered, then daintily wiped her mouth with a napkin. I watched as she tried to retain her composure and not break under the pressure, but the little signs, such as the reddening of her cheeks and her still trembling limbs, gave away that she was panicking.

'I am insulted by such talk,' she quietly remarked.

'I beg to differ. Was it not I who was insulted last week?'

Suddenly, I caught sight of something I has not noticed. Pfannee looked affronted, and Galinda, guilty. I was staring at the remains of a tattered friendship, where both parties were unsure how to deal with it. I had to remind myself that I was not Galinda. I'd had no previous attachment to Pfannee, so it was easy for me to hate her behaviour. But all behaviour was born of something, and hers came from defending herself against Galinda's rejection of her friendship.

Suddenly I was at a loss of how to act. The usual tirade would not help here.

'I made my decision with great difficulty,' Galinda said. Her eyes still would not meet.

'Clearly. So what did the green bean do, spell you? Or maybe you spelled her, just like all those other boys of yours.'

'Please leave.'

'You probably didn't even need to spell her. She's so desperate for friends that she came to you willingly…'

'Stop it!' Galinda cried. 'Elphie is not like that! Certainly she would never set out to hurt people! Certainly her heart is not encased in jealousy, unlike yours!'

A silence rang throughout the room. I was stunned and confused by Galinda's words. I was encased with a strange, warm feeling that she was defending me. She gripped the edge of the table so hard that I was sure she could break it. She almost looked fierce, if not for her pretty, golden curls rendering her rather like a child having a tantrum. No matter what, anger just didn't suit her and I hated seeing her worked into such a state.

'Pfannee, please leave,' I said. Pfannee stared at Galinda, shocked, then turned around and flounced back to her table. Galinda visibly relaxed and finally released her grip on the table.

'She's hurting,' she said, 'and it's my fault.'

'It's her own fault.'

She shook her head.

'No. No matter what, the fact is, I hurt her.' She downed the rest of her drink. 'Please Elphie. Please let's just go.'

And this time I let her, feeling a secret sense of pride that she had held her ground. I walked towards the door, dreading being hit by the freezing air, and was surprised by something being thrown around my shoulders. I grasped hold of the thick, furry material and turned to where Galinda was standing behind me.

'Galinda?' I questioned.

'It's okay. I have many layers.'