"I can't believe we finished the year with all A's! I'm willing to bet that we had the highest grades of the entire incoming class!"
Elphie chuckled, "Judging by some of the students who lived in our building, I'm willing to bet that we're among only a handful that even passed."
They had finished the train ride to Frottica and we're currently sitting in a carriage with Glinda's driver on their way to her house. It was already dark out and they had eaten dinner together on the train. Elphaba could tell when they were close to the house because Glinda was bouncing like crazy and the driver was laughing merrily.
They arrived at the colossal house and Glinda's driver helped them both down from the carriage and went to get their bags. Glinda's parents were waiting on the front steps, waving and yelling like crazy. Glinda rolled her eyes as she ran up to them, dragging Elphie behind her. They all went inside and the driver brought the girls' bags upstairs. Glinda introduced Elphaba to everyone and her parents sent them both upstairs to bed so they could get a good night's sleep.
Elphie's room was right next door to Glinda's, but since it was such an unfamiliar environment she had trouble sleeping. She spent most of the night sitting up in her bed reading, hoping that she would feel more comfortable soon.
Three days into their summer Glinda got caught up in painting something and didn't get ready to go to bed until almost midnight. She didn't want to get paint on her bathroom sink, so she tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen to wash her brushes and lay them on the countertop to dry. As she ascended the stairs she saw that Elphie's room had a light on, and she was afraid that her friend had fallen asleep while reading again. She gently pushed the door open, shocked to find the green girl still awake.
Glinda got Elphie's attention and leaned onto the other girl's bed, asking why she was still awake. She was devastated to hear the Elphie hadn't slept at all since they arrived. She announced that she had an idea and skipped down the hall to her own room. Elphaba expected her to come back with a sleeping aid, but instead she came back wearing a nightdress and carrying a pillow. She assured Elphie that her parents wouldn't mind if they had a sleepover and promised to stay on her own side of the queen sized bed. Elphie turned out the lights but grew increasingly frustrated when she still couldn't get comfortable and sleep. After a few minutes Glinda gave up on her promise and scooted up next to the green girl, both of them on their backs and holding hands. Glinda was starting to doze off but woke up when she felt Elphie shift positions so she was laying on her side facing away from the blonde. She turned onto her side as well, sliding one arm beneath Elphaba's pillow and bringing the other to rest on her stomach. Elphaba wanted to protest but she didn't want to wake Glinda, and the comfort of having her best friend slow close eventually allowed her to relax and fall asleep.
T
The girls spent their days doing everything Glinda promised they would. They went to the greenhouse to pick fresh strawberries for a snack almost every day. Glinda went swimming at least once a week, and Elphie was thankful she had a good reason to keep her distance from the pool. She always brought a book with her but rarely paid any attention to the words on the page. Glinda's favorite swimsuit was a pink bikini, and Elphaba was astonished that the girl was comfortable going outside in clothing that so closely resembled underwear.
As often as they could, they ended their night in the ballroom together. Glinda had taken piano lessons as a child but had retained nothing, so the girls found her old piano books and started learning how to play together. When they got tired they would dance around together, Glinda often encouraging Elphie to pretend that she was a princess in the grand finale of a fairytale.
One thing that happened every day without fail was that the girls had breakfast together. On rainy days they would sit on barstools in the kitchen and talk about their nights, but when the weather was nice they always ate on the terrace. It had become so expected that Glinda's parents would finish their breakfast in the kitchen and bring their placemats and a set of silverware outside so the girls had one less thing to carry.
They were only one month away from going back to school when a stack of mail arrived for the girls. The mail was always brought directly to Glinda's father's office, and by the time he sat down to look through it one night the girls had already gone to bed. He brought them to the kitchen so he wouldn't forget them, and he left them with the placemats that he brought out for the girls the next morning before he got ready for work.
When the girls carried their breakfast plates out they were surprised to see a set of four envelopes from Shiz waiting for them, two addressed to Miss Galinda Upland and two for Miss Elphaba Thropp. They each had an envelope from student housing, Elphie had one from the honors college, and Glinda had one from her advisor who helped her sign up for the proper courses. Glinda had gotten to the table first and bounced over to the terrace entrance with the letters, waving them in the green girl's face. Elphaba laughed and set down their breakfast and joined the blonde in her bouncing for a brief moment.
They both opened their housing envelopes first - Elphaba read hers out loud. "We are pleased to inform you that your housing request has been accepted and your roommate will be Miss Galinda Upland, sophomore student with a concentration in sorcery. You have been assigned to -" the girls held their letters out to compare them and then hugged, talking for a few minutes about the different ways that they could arrange their room when they arrived on campus.
"Oh Elphie, open yours from the honors college! I'm just positive that you have been accepted!" The green girl smiled and carefully opened the envelope. She had applied to join the honors college the day before the official deadline, with Glinda having to drag her across campus to make actually submit it.
"Miss Thropp, we have reviewed your application and are happy to accept you into the Honors College program on the campus of Shiz University." She could see Glinda clapping her hands and bouncing across from her. "While being an Honors Scholar comes with more expectations and responsibilities, it also gives you access to the newly constructed Honors Dormitory that is outfitted with its own exclusive library and large study spaces on each floor. There are both private and double rooms available for Honors students..." she trailed off slowly, continuing to read the letter.
"Don't worry Elphie, remember you already spoke with your advisor and you don't have to live there if you're afraid. They will give you a key to access the study rooms and the library." Elphie nodded and picked Glinda's letter up off of the table, pushing it into her hands. The blonde took it and tucked it underneath her arm, hugging her best friend. "Elphie, this is a big deal. I'm so proud of you!"
Elphie squeezed Glinda as tightly as she could, putting down her letter and gesturing to Glinda's. "Let's see what your advisor has to say!" Her voice was unusually cheerful.
Glinda opened her envelope to find a handwritten letter from her advisor in front of a printed sheet from the University.
"Miss Upland,
This came across my desk for final approval today, and I wanted to be the first to tell you. On behalf of the entire department, we are proud of you." Glinda looked up at Elphie. "I've got no clue what this means." Elphaba was about to burst with excitement, knowing what the next letter was because it was mentioned in her own. She gestured with her hands that Glinda should keep reading.
"Miss Upland, at the request of your advisors and after careful review of your academic progress over the last year, we are pleased to inform you that you have been formally invited to join the Honors College program on the campus of Shiz University!" Her words tumbled out faster and higher pitched as she finished the sentence. She looked at Elphie and threw her arms out to her sides, letting her letter fly out of her hand. "I'm an honors scholar! We're both honors scholars!" She was practically floating as Elphaba gathered her in a hug.
The green girl held her tightly in a hug and then bent slightly to wrap her arms around Glinda's waist. She lifted her off of the ground and spun them around in a circle, marveling at the sight of Glinda with her head and arms thrown back in celebration, the summer sun making her curls shimmer.
When Glinda felt unbalanced she straightened her back, wrapping her arms around Elphie's neck and squeezing her in another hug. The green girl took a few seconds to regulate her breathing and finally asked, "Can I kiss you?"
Glinda barely breathed out a desperate "yes please" before she brought their lips together. Neither of them had any experience kissing so when they parted Elphaba tried to apologize. Glinda shushed her and wrapped her legs around Elphaba's waist, moving her hands to hold Elphie's face.
Time seemed to slow as they kissed again, this time more intimate than tentative. Glinda moved a hand into Elphie's hair and pulled her even closer, sending tingles down her spine. They had both anticipated this for months, and it felt so gratifying to finally arrive at this tender moment. When they finally parted their faces mirrored adoration for each other and sweet smiles. Glinda wiggled her legs down from around Elphie's waist as she was lowered back to the ground. She folded herself into the green girl, finding comfort in the sound of her racing heart.
"There's something else pretty exciting in my letter that I think you might like to read." Glinda stayed in Elphie's arms as they shuffled to the table to pick up the letter. Elphaba unfolded it with dramatic flair. "There are both private and double rooms available for Honors students. We have reviewed your campus housing application and your currently requested roommate has also been accepted into the honors college. Since you both qualify to live in the Honors Dormitory, we have updated your housing request on your behalf. You should receive confirmation of this from student housing."
Glinda ducked out of Elphie's embrace and picked up one of the letters from housing. She threw her head back laughing, "If we would have paid more attention to these, that wouldn't have been such a surprise. This is the name of the Honors College dorms, not the upperclassman dorm we applied for."
The girls jumped when the terrace doors open and Glinda's parents came out. "We were just leaving for work and heard all the commotion. What's got you girls so tickled?" Her father was always nosy, and she got the impression by looking back and forth between him and her mother that they had seen everything that had transpired in the last few minutes.
"We're both honors scholars!" She thrust the letters from the honors college and her advisor into her mother's hands. "We're going to be living in the brand new honors Dormitory together!" She handed her father their letters from student housing. "Elphie just kissed me!" She pulled a shocked Elphaba down for another kiss, lingering longer than she intended. Elphie flushed a deeper shade of green as Glinda's parents took turns hugging both girls.
Glinda's mother promised to make dinner reservations for that night to celebrate the girls becoming honors scholars. On their way off the terrace her father joked that he expected the girls to behave themselves while they were home alone.
T
The girls enjoyed their day together, with Glinda trying to sneak kisses as often as she could. They had a scrumptious dinner with Glinda's parents and went upstairs to bathe and put on nightclothes before meeting in Glinda's bedroom.
They snuggled in their chair and held hands in comfortable silence. Glinda looked up at Elphie and asked softly. "Elphie do you really love me?"
Elphaba kissed Glinda's forehead tenderly. "I think I do. Were you worried that I don't?"
Glinda hid her face in Elphie's neck, "I'm not worried, I just wanted to hear you say it."
Elphie let go of Glinda's hands and tickled under her chin to make her laugh and wiggle away. A tickle fight followed, with the girls chasing each other around the room. Eventually Glinda stumbled backwards onto her bed, leaving her vulnerable to the green girl's tickles in her underarms and across her stomach. Glinda finally yelled that she surrendered and Elphie stopped. Glinda tried to be sneaky and sat up to get her revenge, but Elphaba caught her hands and pinned her back down on the bed.
She leaned over the blonde and kissed both cheeks, her forehead, and then her nose. "Galinda Upland. You are the strongest. Smartest. Most beautiful girl I have ever known." Each sentence was punctuated with a soft peck on her lips. Glinda felt her heart skip a beat as Elphie released one of her hands so she could caress Glinda's cheek. "I love you. I admire you. I absolutely adore you." Glinda reached up and pulled Elphie's face down to meet hers, any words the green girl was still saying lost