Early the next morning Glinda woke up from a bad dream, confused that she was not in her bed. She struggled to sit up, still in a sleepy fog. Her movements woke Elphie up, and when the green girl rose from the chair Glinda latched onto her hand. "Don't leave." Her voice sounded small, almost like a child.
Elphie shook her hand to release it from its restraint, "I'll be back, I have to pee." Elphaba was typically happy in the morning, but it was too early and she had never before taken a sleep aid. When she returned Glinda was sitting on the ottoman she had created and gave Elphie specific instructions to sit back down. Elphie suggested that they sleep in their own beds but Glinda pleaded for them to stay where they were before.
Glinda stood up and let the green girl sit down and pushed the ottoman up so it touched the chair. Elphaba sat down on her side of the chair, stretching her legs across the ottoman and resting her arm on the chair's arm. Glinda piled her comforter in the empty space beside Elphie, making sure the pillow was resting close enough that they could grab it if needed. Elphie's head felt like it weighed a ton, and she closed her eyes and leaned her head back onto the back of the chair. She let out a small "oof" when Glinda sat across her lap. She had her back against Elphie's arm and the arm of the char, and she propped her feet up on the other arm of the chair. She sat up and yawned as she pulled the blankets over them. She snuggled her face into Elphaba's chest and pushed her arm between her roommate's back and the back of the chair. "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done today without you." Glinda waited for a response and realized that she wasn't getting any Elphaba had already fallen asleep again.
T
That configuration on the chair became the default snuggle position for the girls. They didn't do it often, but when one of the girls wasn't feeling well or simply needed extra comforting they would sit in the chair and reconnect.
The first time they had revisited that position was exactly a week later, when Fiyero was arrested for assault. The girls were happy to know that he was facing the consequences of his actions. Only three days later they found themselves cuddling again, this time devastated. Fiyero had quickly received money from his family to pay to be released, and now Glinda had to see him every other day in class.
Eventually their lives adjusted back to a new type of normal. Glinda didn't want anything to do with her group of friends because they welcomed Fiyero back with open arms, even after knowing that he had harmed her and kissed her against her will. Elphaba stuck by her side, always there when she needed something. They worked on homework together every night, and Elphaba was slowly helping Glinda figure out how to manage her time so that they could have most of their weekends free of school work. They had chosen to be in the same history class, so whenever there was work assigned for it they always did it last so they could work together.
Glinda was relieved that they still wrote notes to one another on the back of their door, even though they talked every day. She was particularly fond of leaving Elphie notes to find in her textbooks to surprise her, and she gave Elphie a pack of lime green sticky notes that had come with her own pink ones in hopes of receiving the same surprise notes.
They got through their midterm exams with very little stress, and at the end of the next week was Glinda's birthday. Elphie desperately wanted to surprise her roommate, so along with holding Glinda accountable for getting her homework done so they could have a fun birthday weekend she was also sneaking off campus to a few specialty shops to find the perfect gifts for her favorite girl.
When the weekend finally came, Elphaba had ordered food to be delivered but strategically forgot to order anything to drink. When the food arrived, she asked Glinda to please run to the dining hall and get some drinks to bring back to the room. She rarely sent Glinda out to do things on her own because Fiyero always seemed to be wherever Glinda was, so Elphaba had already enlisted the help of one of the girls in their history class to bump into the blonde and chat with her while they walked to the dining hall.
As soon as Glinda left the room, Elphaba got to work setting up her birthday surprise. She pulled out her basket of dirty clothes and reached underneath her bed for her birthday gifts for Glinda. First was an incredibly soft blanket, pink of course, that had Glinda's name embroidered across it with white thread and a heart dotting the letter 'I' in her name. She had it done because that was how the blonde signed her name on the notes that were often left adhered to the pages of her textbooks. She unfolded it and carefully spread it out on the floor for them to have a picnic on.
Next was a special lampshade that was made to cover the single bulb lamps that were provided in their dorm room. It appeared to be normal in the daylight, but when the lamp turned on it revealed a beautiful scattering of stars scattered across the walls and ceiling of the room. Glinda had talked about how one thing that she missed the most about her home was that she could see the stars from her window at night. Shiz was in a highly populated area, so the light pollution around them had disappointed her when she looked at the night sky. Elphie turned off the other lamps and spun the lampshade to get the stars aligned just right.
Finally, worried that she was running out of time, she pulled a small wooden desk that had been stained with a subtle glitter finish. Placing it on the floor it only came up about a foot high, and it was barely large enough to fit their dinner plates. Elphaba had purchased this as a Lurlinemas gift for Glinda, but forgot about it after the ordeal with Fiyero. Since she rarely saw Glinda study at her desk she had a lap desk custom made for the girl. It featured a tiny lip across the bottom so things wouldn't slide off if she put her knees up and lifted the legs off the floor. It also had a drawer that could pull out of one side that was designed to hold writing instruments. Elphie finished setting up their food and hurried to her desk to write a note for Glinda, hiding it in the little drawer.
T
Glinda stood in front of her dorm room door with her back to it, finishing up a conversation with a girl from class that she ran into while she was getting their drinks. She had left the door cracked when she left, so once she told the girl goodbye she kept her back to the door and used her foot to nudge it open. "Elphie, you won't believe who I – oh my…" Glinda had taken a few steps backwards to clear the doorway and had just pushed the door shut with her toe when she noticed the stars projected on the wall. She turned around and her jaw dropped at the beautiful picnic setup that Elphie had put together while she was gone. Elphie was standing beside her desk with open arms, waiting for a hug. Glinda put their drinks down on the desk and melted into her roommate's embrace. "That 'Oh no I forgot to order drinks' thing was a trick, wasn't it?" Elphaba squeezed her tight and bounced lightly on her toes, making Glinda giggle.
The girls sat on the floor and ate their dinner together, sharing stories about past birthday celebrations they had. Once they finished dinner they moved to the chair to share a giant chocolate chip cookie together. They started talking about finishing the spring term and Glinda interrupted Elphie talking about the final project she would do in her chemistry lab. "Elphie, what are you going to do over the summer?" The blonde shot up from her seat and went to look for a calendar. "We're supposed to move out of here in 2 months! Where are you going to live?"
Elphie outstretched her hand with a smirk, asking Glinda to hand her the calendar. She flipped to the month that they were supposed to move out and pointed to the writing on the date they were set to move out. "I wrote it right here. I'm moving out of this room and into a room in the upperclassman building in the summer. They are letting me occupy a private room over the summer but since I'm not taking any classes I won't have access to the dining hall, but I can just get food off campus and bring it back here like I did at the holidays."
Glinda frowned, plopping back down next to Elphie with a huff. "Would you consider staying at my house instead?" Elphie immediately started to say no but Glinda put a finger up to her green lips. Uncomfortable, Elphaba stood up and started to clean up their room. "Wait. Hear me out. You would have your own room, right next door to mine. My parents both work during the day and the household staff is limited to a cook, gardener, and driver so Cook is the only other person in the house. We have swimming pool, a greenhouse, and a grand ballroom with a piano. Elphie we have an entire library for you to browse! We can go swimming and eat fresh strawberries and nectarines and I can teach you to dance and you can read a new book every day. Oh Elphie please?!" Elphaba had just picked out a book to read and sat down on her bed. She had chuckled at something Glinda said, and by now was cackling. Glinda folded her arms across her chest and pouted. "What's so funny?"
Elphaba was laughing so hard she was crying, and she used the sleeve of her dress to dry her tears. "You know, you almost had me convinced before you threatened to kill me."
Glinda looked confused and went back through what she said. "Oh Elphie! Of course you won't go swimming, but you can sit outside with me at a safe distance and we can still talk! I just got so caught up in all of the great things about spending a summer with me." Elphie opened her book and got comfortable in her bed to read, infuriating the blonde. Glinda got on her knees beside the bed and Elphie held the book up in front of her face. Glinda snatched the book from Elphie's hands to reveal that she was still laughing.
Glinda put her elbows on her roommate's bed, making a 'V' with her hands and resting her chin in them. She sighed dramatically, waiting for Elphie's giggles to abate. Elphaba collected herself and scooted forward on her bed, leaning up on her elbows to be at eye level with Glinda and coming so close that their noses almost touched. Suddenly Glinda's cheeks flushed pink and she held her breath as she considered kissing her best friend. "I would love to stay with you over the summer. Now get off of my bed!" Elphie playfully put a finger on Glinda's forehead and pushed her backwards.
The blonde grinned and skipped into the bathroom to change clothes. When she came back out she announced to Elphaba that she would write a letter to her mother tonight informing her of their plans. Elphie quickly changed in the bathroom and got comfortable in her bed to read again. Glinda took a lined notebook off of her desk and bounced up onto her bed, lifting her new lap desk from the floor and finding a comfortable way to sit and write on it. She remembered that Elphie had mentioned that there were pens in the drawer, so she examined the side and found the latch for it. Inside the drawer there were a few glitter ink pens and a green sticky note.
Happy Birthday Glinda
I love you
The last line was punctuated with a tiny heart. Glinda inhaled sharply, glancing up at the green girl who was trying to hide her blush. Glinda smiled and chose a dark blue pen, reading the note at least 10 times in her head before finally shutting the drawer.
Momsie,
I need to confess some things to you that I have been too afraid to talk to anyone other than Elphaba about. Please don't discuss this with Popsicle; I am dreadfully afraid of what he will think or do. I promise I will find a way to tell him soon.
She recounted all of the events that had happened with Fiyero. She detailed the steps that she had gone through to report him both times, including how much of a help and support her roommate was through the process. She explained his arrest and subsequent release and how she felt about it.
That is the end of what I needed to tell you and not Daddy, the next page is one that you can both read together. I know how he hates to be left out of things.
Glinda smiled to herself and turned to a new page. She opened the drawer to switch to the pink pen and grinned when she saw Elphaba's note again. She carefully wrote the date in the corner of the page, as she always did when she wrote to her parents.
Dearest Darlingest Momsie and Popsicle,
I survived spring midterm exams, and I only have one B right now! Right now that class average is an 89.2, so that is close enough for celebration!
Tonight Elphie surprised me with the most magical birthday I have ever had. She ordered dinner in from a fancy restaurant off campus and we had our own little picnic under the stars in our dorm room. Earlier this week we filled out our housing application forms together so we can continue to share a room next school year. You will be pleased to know that we submitted them two whole weeks before they were due, so we hope to get a room intended for two occupants this time around.
I distinctly recall during our argument over winter break you wishing that I had brought Miss Elphaba home to meet you then, so I have invited her to stay for the summer.
I feel like you should know before we arrive that I'm afraid that I have started to develop romantic feelings for her.
And by that I mean I almost kissed her tonight.
She wrote me a note that says "I love you", and I'm sure you know how happy that made me.
Please don't do anything embarrassing when we arrive.
With all my love,
Galinda
She neatly folded the letter and got up to find an envelope to put it in. She didn't have one in her desk, so she asked Elphaba if she could steal one from her. When she didn't receive a response, she turned to look at her roommate and found her asleep with her hand holding her head and her glasses halfway down her nose. Glinda took a stray scrap of paper out of her desk and drew a heart on it then walked over and carefully marked the page her roommate was reading before closing the book. She placed it carefully on Elphie's nightstand and then gently removed the green girl's glasses. She folded the arms in and put them at the base of the lamp on Elphie's bedside table where she typically kept them and then draped Elphaba's blanket from their chair over her. Glinda smiled and let out a contented sigh before bending down to kiss her roommate's forehead. "I love you too Elphie."
T
Glinda's father stopped in his office on his way to bed and shuffled through the mail that had been placed on the desk. He smiled and called out to his wife that Glinda had written to them again. He started to open the letter but stopped when he realized that it was addressed to only his wife and not to both of them. He furrowed his brow and passed the envelope to his wife, "It is only addressed to you, she's leaving me out of the fun."
The blonde's mother thought that was strange and opened the envelope. She read the first few words of the first letter and folded them back up, suggesting that her husband go take a bath so she could read the correspondence. He put on a playful pout and sulked out of the room, leaving his wife to read the heartbreaking letter. She cried for a few minutes and folded the letter up, going to her parlor to put it away in her desk drawer.
She waited for her husband in their bedroom, making sure to collect herself before he emerged from the shower. They sat together in their bed and read the letter their daughter had written to both of them, smiling at the retelling of the birthday surprise and laughing at their daughter's blunt admission of her attraction to her roommate.
"I think that means I won the bet," her mother chuckled.
Her father sat up straight in bed, pulling the letter out of her hands. "Actually, I believe you have officially lost the bet. You said she would write us a letter before midterms, and it clearly states at the beginning of the letter that she has survived midterm exams." He folded the letter neatly and placed it on his bedside table. "I will be sure to collect my earnings tomorrow morning."