She could not help it, she still felt embarrassed by her. And what made it worse was the whole entourage that had accompanied her. Boq and Avaric, that horrible little tiktok thing.

They had rolled up to them, Galinda could hardly believe it at first. It was like a dream where one saw faces, because the brain had just decided to put them there, for whatever reason, yet here she could tell they were real, this was no hallucination. What were they doing here? They looked ridiculous, the three of them standing there like that, so suddenly, like they had come to speak to the council.

Boq was so tiny, and Elphaba, well she was always striking, but in this kind of setting, with all its surrounding green and old money ivy, that puzzled look on her face, feigning boredness (but really one could see, if they just looked hard enough, how perplexed she really was at this whole ordeal, of having come at all; Galinda could see it, and for some reason, it only seemed to aggravate her further—so you agree, Elphie! That this is ridiculous!), well it looked strange, comical. Like she were some creature come out of the woods. A human leaf, scared, unsure, though still prickly at the edges, a danger. Able to hold her own. Poison ivy.

Though Galinda was no dummy, she saw her roomie's discomfort underneath all that restraint, and I mean really, with all that surrounding water, it only made sense. The others, they had no idea.

So why ever were they here? Even Avaric looked bored.

Suddenly, a blurt of laughter, coming from their own sweet little Miss Pfannee. The girl could not stop herself from laughing—howling it was more like. Galinda felt herself growing furious. Her cheeks had gone red. Oh sure, a prank done on her roomie, who her friends had not liked, but now she'd be the one to deal with it. Elphaba had looked totally gobsmacked, and if things were different right now, she would have found it endearing. The girl was never caught off guard, or if she was (like that time they had both met Boq at Madame Morrible's poetry soiree, and he had said something about knowing her, from childhood) she'd always find a way to quickly recover. She'd give some quick retort, some smart, sly remark that used to always make Galinda's eyes roll—but now, having been so directly pranked, the green girl was flummoxed. They all saw it. It was brief, yet still, they all saw it. The way her eyes widened, how they went a little cross-eyed, like they were looking in on themselves, deciding if this were real. The way her mouth had gone agape, her hands twisted and untwisted in the slightest. Again, if things were different, Galinda would have found it amusing.

But things were not different. Something Miss Pfannee had failed to consider was how her little joke would go on to include and humiliate her. And worse, Elphaba, in her own stubborn little way, had made it her duty to stay.

"But I've been invited. Miss Pfannee, you wrote that letter instead of Miss Galinda?"

"You ate it up!"

"Well, this is your home and I accept your invitation, even if it was written under false pretenses. I'll go up and unpack my bags." Her voice had been very matter-of-fact, perhaps to keep from wavering. The three of them looked at her with some mild annoyance, for she was being a tad theatrical, although suddenly, with the power somehow shifted, there did come the guilt. It seemed to sort of wash over everyone.

Elphaba's face had become neutral; she left, as stiff as a plank of wood, had turned herself away from them, walking in solidly long steps.

Later, she knocked on Elphaba's door to bring her her dinner.

"May I come in?"

She heard a slight "hmm" from the other side that sounded dull. Galinda leaned her weight into the door and came in with the tray.

Elphaba was on the bed. Her back was squared up against the couple of pillows, her head rigid and tall, straight. She looked like a sphinx.

She was reading, Galinda noticed. She had her glasses on.

"I brought dinner."

Elphaba grunted and turned a page. She was playing with her hair, Galinda saw.

Galinda sighed.

"I, apologize for Miss Pfannee's... trick before." Elphaba looked up at her, with her eyes.

"Oh so that's what you call it?" she said. Still Elphaba had barely moved from her doll-like position.

Galinda felt herself tense, though slowly she nodded. She wasn't so sure what to say. Things were uncomfortable, for while she really was sorry, she also, truthfully, still did not want Elphaba here.

"I brought you dinner," she repeated once again. She found herself looking down at it, as if it had the answers. She placed it down.

"Thank you," Elphaba had said, with no real meaning to it. She could have been saying it to the wind.

Galinda turned and hurried and left.

Later, when they had all retired to their rooms, Galinda had gone to check on Elphaba.

"Elphaba?"

No answer. She knocked again, a little louder. Then she heard a muffled moan.

"Whaaat..."

"May I come in?" A few seconds had passed. "Well?"

"If you must."

Galinda huffed and rolled her eyes, then went in. Elphaba was sleeping on her stomach.

"Oh, did I wake you?" Galinda asked, suddenly embarrassed.

"Only physically my dear, for mentally, I am somewhere else," she said, muffled.

"You didn't have to stay, you know." She made her way over and sat on the edge of the bed. She noticed the tray of food from before. It had been emptied. That at least satisfied her. "I know how you are Elphie, but really. Why this? Why subject yourself to this?"

Elphaba shifted so her head lay to the side, so she could be heard better. She looked out into the center of the room, her gaze not set on anything in particular.

"To leave is to admit one's own defeat," she had said simply. "That is all."

"Well, I guess in a way you're right. But to be cooped up in here? I mean literally cooped up. It's not like you can come join us at the lake." Galinda then felt a twinge of gross guilt as she thought Thank Oz to herself. She shoveled it down.

"True, that would be murder, wouldn't it." Elphaba smirked, somewhat sleepily. "Not only that but I'd embarrass you to death, wouldn't I?" She shifted in the slightest to look towards Galinda.

Galinda's mouth and face worked. She wanted to disagree, to prove Elphaba wrong, but she just couldn't.

"I... suppose so..." was all she could say, lamely. "I don't mean for it, you know. You don't really embarrass me," she fumbled. "It's just, they're so high society, they'd make anyone look—"

She looked down and noticed Elphaba's eyes were closed, in concentration, assuming sleep, for she did not want to hear any more. Galinda smiled sadly. She could take a hint.

She got up, picked up the empty tray, and noticing the room's light for the first time, blew out the candle on the nightstand. She suddenly felt a slight pull towards Elphie, in the dark, like wanting to stroke her face, but she knew Elphie was awake and seething. And so she left.

She came back in the morning with breakfast. Elphaba was not there. She felt a jolt of alarm of where she might be, and then, the guilt. She was treating her like a secret. It felt wrong. Though the girls had known that she and Elphaba had become somewhat friendly by now, their judgement still kept on. They'd just become slyer with it. They'd say things like, "Oh, when are you going to dump the mean green thing?" in a sort of joking manner, though Galinda had not found it funny. Still, they had an odd, vice-like grip on her. She hated it, yet somehow, she still cared about what they had to say. It was insufferable.

Elphaba suddenly showed up behind her. It spooked Galinda, who jumped. Elphie smiled cheekily and did a little wave.

"Where were you?" Galinda nearly hissed.

"Oh, calm down, I was merely using the facilities. Am I not even allowed that?" She wormed her way past the blonde; agitated, she took the tray and set herself down on the bed with it.

Galinda blushed profusely.

"I'm sorry. I'm... really sorry." She was terribly ashamed. "Elphie, if things were different..."

Elphaba twisted herself around to look at Galinda, her face quirked curiously, daringly.

"If things were different, you'd, tell everyone?"

"What? No! I don't even know what this is, yet. I.. need time." She looked down and played with her fingers. She thought she might snap them she was so nervous. "But this certainly hasn't helped things. You being 'invited' out here. It's all a bit too overwhelming, I think." She looked back up towards her roommate.

Elphaba was nodding quietly, seriously, understandably. Galinda breathed. She closed the door behind her and leaned up against it, tiredly.

"You know I'm going back with you once breakfast is over. Ama Clutch will be taking us. Avaric and the girls are the only ones staying, I think."

"Fabulous," said Elphaba. "A trip without him is a trip worth celebrating over." Galinda found herself smiling at her.

"Surely he isn't that bad?"

"Oh surely he is," she said, sipping her orange juice. Some of the pulp had crusted on her lip, and she had licked it off, Galinda staring. Elphaba caught her, smiled amusedly, then greened.

On their way back to Shiz it had rained relentlessly. Though they were safe in the coach, the rain still beat down on its roof and against its small glass windows. It heavily unnerved Elphaba, who thought it would all soak through at any moment, and she found herself leaning in towards Galinda, who had taken her roomie's hand and had begun stroking it, to soothe her. Boq and Ama Clutch had both already fallen asleep.

Oh what a lucky break, Galinda thought.

So for that moment, and with the prank already behind them (quite literally, now), they were now somewhat alone and together; Galinda continued to calm Elphie, as best she could, sitting closely to her, an apology.