AN:
Hello, my dears! Thank you all for being so supportive up until now!
I'm glad so many of you are not discouraged by the most recent turn of events.
Without further ado I present: Chapter Five!
Happy reading and take care!
xoxo MLE
(=^_^=)
Chapter Five
"Remind me again why in Oz I agreed to this?" asked Elphaba as she stepped out of Galinda's small, baby blue city car.
Next to her, Galinda broke into a wide grin, looking far too pleased with herself for the green girl's liking.
"Admit it, Elphie: it was an excessively generous offer that you simply couldn't refuse."
Elphaba scoffed at that and buried her hands even deeper in her coat's pockets, her shoulders hunching over. With an askance expression on her face, she glowered at the double storey terrace houses before them.
"That is what you call a flat?" she asked dourly.
Galinda tittered sheepishly.
"Well, it's not exactly a house either."
"To most students? It's a frigging palace."
Tsking, the shorter girl adjusted the strap of Elphaba's satchel on her shoulder and made to search her purse for her keys.
"Apologies for exceeding your standards of acceptable living spaces. You can sleep in the wardrobe under the stairs if that makes you feel more at home."
Elphaba nearly snorted a laugh at that. Reluctantly following her through the modest front yard and up the steps to the door, she genuinely considered being a hint more grateful for her classmate's help, no matter how unnecessary her efforts seemed to her.
"Galinda?" she said, just as the blonde was about to push the key into the lock. Galinda turned her head. "I…Thanks, I guess. It's just…I don't want to become some rich kid's charity case."
Dropping her hand and straightening herself, Galinda offered her a strangely soft, almost wistful smile.
"That's fair enough, I guess. And don't worry, I'm only partially doing this out of charity." Her eyes darted back towards the lock, and she began to fiddle with the keys again. "I do find you quite intriguing, you know?" she said distractedly. "I haven't exactly figured out the logistics of it yet, but I wouldn't mind being your friend."
"The logistics of it," repeated Elphaba slowly and huffed.
She had a good idea of what Galinda meant by that. She'd be her friend of sorts, as long as she could hide any connection between them from her real, proper, acceptable friends. Well, it didn't really matter. She didn't need her friendship, and she wouldn't stay very long at her place either. Maybe just for a few weeks, until the weather would warm up a notch. Or until Galinda became bored of her—whichever event happened to occur first.
The door swung open.
"Tada!" singsonged Galinda somewhat awkwardly. "Welcome to your new home."
Elphaba cast a cautious peek inside prior to actually setting foot into the building. There were two closed doors left and right from the entrance. A long corridor issued into what, at first glance, appeared to be a living room. The walls, as well as any doors and window frames, were painted brilliant white. The long, crystal and chrome light fixture in the middle of the passage made them glow far too brightly for Elphaba's taste.
"This is the small bathroom," explained Galinda, knocking at the door to her left, and Elphaba's attention immediately re-focused on her hostess. "It has a toilet, washbasin, and a tiny shower. If you feel like a bubble bath, you'll have to use the bigger bathroom upstairs."
She nodded dutifully, even though, unbeknownst to her new housemate, she had no use for showers or bathtubs of any sort.
"And this"—Galinda grinned excitedly as she opened the door to the opposite room—"is my study. Which I really don't need, because I do most of my work on the couch, in the kitchen, or upstairs in my room—basically anywhere else but here. So. This will be your space from now on."
She divested herself off Elphaba's satchel by placing it on the nearby swivel chair, then proceeded to gather a couple of things from the desk to clear it.
"There. I reckon you won't mind if the books remain on the shelf? There's still more than enough room for your own." She dumped the things from her desk in a clear plastic box in the corner and put on the lid that had been leaning against it up until then. "And this…" she said, gliding over to the full-wall wardrobe, sliding back one of the doors and revealing an assortment of shelves, rails and drawers, "is where I keep my off-season clothes. But I—uh—I'll put them away somewhere. In a suitcase or something. Don't worry. There will be plenty of storage for your stuff."
"I could do with like less than a quarter of the space you have there," pointed out Elphaba, one corner of her mouth quirked in a semblance of amusement. "All we need to do is push these outfits slightly closer together and find another couple of hangers. Besides, I could just live out of my bag."
"Definitely not!" protested Galinda, vehemently shaking her head. "I won't have you act like you're on the run or something." Taking a step back and tilting her head, she considered the wardrobe, her forefinger tapping against her lips. "You shall have the left side. I'm sure I can squeeze most of my clothes into the right half, and the rest will have to come upstairs to my room. No sweat.
"The bigger problem," she said as she turned around to survey the empty area in front of her, "is that we have no bed for you yet. I'll fix that in a jiffy, but for now, I'm afraid you'll have to make do with the couch."
Elphaba shrugged indifferently.
They continued on with their house tour. The living room made up most of the floor space of the ground level and was attached to an open plan kitchen. A previously hidden winding staircase led up to the bigger bathroom and Galinda's bedroom.
"There's no wardrobe under the stairs," remarked Elphaba drily. "I feel deceived."
Galinda giggled and tossed one of the sofa cushions her way. It struck her upper arm and fell to the ground like a piece of lead while Elphaba stared back at her, stumped.
"Gosh, you're so stoic," laughed Galinda and sent another cushion hurling her way. Elphaba caught it, hardly moving at all while doing so and redirected it back the way it had come, hitting her chest. "Better," nodded the blonde and put the cushion aside with a lopsided grin.
In the resulting quiet, both girls noticed how dark it had turned outside. It was half past five o'clock.
"I suppose we should start contemplating our dinner options," decided Galinda, pursing her lips. "Just so you know, I'm not a very good cook. If I want to eat a real meal, I generally order takeout."
"I can cook," supplied Elphaba, hiking her shoulders half-heartedly. "Back home I used to prepare food for the whole family. What do you have that I could use?"
"Not much." Galinda got off the sofa and padded over to the kitchen to check the cabinets and shelves. Elphaba followed suit and inspected the fridge.
"That's okay. I'm used to working with a budget. More often than not, that results in a similarly vacant pantry. I…could make a tomato sauce and…you've got flour and eggs, right? I could whip up something akin to pasta. It's pretty much the Munchkin equivalent, made from a simple dough, scraped into boiling water from a board. Does that sound acceptable, Your Highness?"
"It doeth," replied Galinda with a playfully haughty nod. "Make it so."
Even though Galinda did offer her services when it came to the cutting and peeling of vegetables, Elphaba insisted that she didn't want her anywhere near the kitchen.
"First of all, I doubt that it would be of much actual help, and secondly, this kitchen is crammed enough as it is," she snapped when Galinda tried to talk her into giving her at least a simple, tiny job to do.
Shocked by her aggressive tone, the blonde was rendered speechless for once and stubbornly crossed her arms before walking away and settling on the couch, scrolling through her phone.
"And thirdly," Elphaba added a minute or so later, her voice a fair deal softer, "there has to be at least something that I can do to earn my keep, so to speak."
Galinda looked at her for a long moment, but the green girl never acknowledged her, keeping her eyes firmly trained on the knife in her hand instead. Soon, she turned around and began to fry the chopped ingredients, embracing the resulting din and clatter as the perfect excuse to ignore her for the time being.
"Am I wrong for guessing that you probably have some kind of wine in the house?" were the first words she directed at Galinda in quite a while. "It would give the sauce a bit of a kick."
"I sure do," replied the girl on the couch, her good mood restored, and jumped up.
A cabinet left to the fridge revealed a whole collection of colourful bottles. She grabbed one from the front row and handed it to Elphaba.
"Thanks. Corkscrew?"
Galinda procured that one as well. Elphaba deftly removed the cover from the top, but stopped short after picking up the opener from the kitchen counter.
"Wait. This isn't something like crazy expensive, is it?" she cast Galinda a wary look.
The shorter girl seemed to find her question rather entertaining and smirked cheekily.
"So what if it is? You're not gonna dump the whole bottle in, are you?"
Elphaba eyes darted from the wine to the sauce pan, and then to the corkscrew in her hand.
"Oh, screw it," she exclaimed, rolling her eyes, and proceeded to remove the cork.
"This was delicious," Galinda praised her after they had finished their meal. "If you can do something like this with nothing but a couple of scraps, I can only imagine all the delicious dinners awaiting us after we stocked up on groceries! Inviting you to live here was the best idea of the century."
"Are you always given to such hyperbole?" wondered Elphaba as she gathered the plates and cutlery from the table to transfer them to the dishwasher.
"You give both of us too little credit," insisted Galinda, picking up their tumblers.
Once the dishwasher was closed, so was this chapter of the evening. Elphaba couldn't help but feel a bit lost. What was she meant to do next? Galinda wasn't exactly helpful either as she stood almost unnervingly close to her, leaning against the kitchen counter, looking up at her and saying nothing.
"I, uh, should probably work on my history assignment," Elphaba told her, her voice strangely hoarse.
"Yeah," agreed Galinda, bobbing her head thoughtfully. "Yeah, you're right. I also still have a lot of work to do this weekend. You know what? I think I'll go upstairs and shower. Would—would it be okay if I came back downstairs to read?"
"This is your house," laughed Elphaba incredulously.
"Sure, but tonight this is your bedroom. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or keep you up."
"Okay," said Elphaba, then let her mouth widen into a grin. "Let's turn this into a competition and see who can stay up and study the longest."
"Deal!" cried Galinda immediately and pushed herself off from the counter. "See you in twenty!"
Later that night, Elphaba realised that she hadn't quite thought this through. With Galinda blissfully napping on the couch, and her scrupling to wake her up, the only other place to sleep was the matching armchair in the corner. Heck, they hadn't even considered finding the extra bedding before burrowing their noses into their books and laptops and article print-outs. Stylish and well-decorated as the apartment was, there was of course a thick, knitted throw draped over the backrest of the armchair, yet it felt wrong for Elphaba to claim it for herself. She hung it over her shoulder instead, walked over to where Galinda was lying and, after gently pulling the laptop out from under her arm, covered her sleeping form with the blanket.
She bit her lip as she glanced down at her classmate and her chest gave a little flutter. What a crazy day this had been. Not in a million years would she have guessed when getting up this morning that she'd spend this, and most likely the next couple of nights, here out of all places. She sighed, then turned around and folded herself up on the armchair, her head resting against the double-cushioned backrest. The upright position wasn't particularly comfortable, but she'd survived worse sleeping arrangements. The lack of a comforting blanket was noticeable, too, but at least it was warm enough in the room so it wasn't strictly needed. All in all, she really couldn't complain. Hanging on to that thought, she wrapped her arms around her drawn-up legs and closed her eyes, hoping it wouldn't take too long for her to doze off.
Falling asleep, as it turned out, was not the problem. Yet, a few hours in, Elphaba woke with a start, her heart racing and her breaths coming heavy and fast. She shook her head to rid herself of the drowsiness and surveyed the darkness around her. At first, nothing seemed amiss, but the more she blinked to clear her vision, the stranger and weirder the unfamiliar room became. The furniture and walls surrounding her began to blur and warp as a sense of panic began to overpower her. Bizarre, muffled noises suddenly filled her ears, and the smell of incense assaulted her nose. When the scent became too overpowering, she almost felt like she was about to choke. Frantically darting from one corner to the next, her eyes continued to search the room for anything vaguely comforting and finally found it in the form of the petite blonde, sleeping on the seemingly shifting couch.
Galinda. Memories of the previous evening washed over Elphaba like a tidal wave, and everything came back into focus. She was safe. She was at Galinda's house, and it was the middle of the night. She should be sleeping. She would be sleeping again in just another couple of seconds' time. Drawing a few deep, calming breaths, she closed her eyes. This was easy. Maybe if she counted backwards from twenty…or fifty? One hundred?
She opened her eyes with a groan. This was going nowhere. Her body was still weary, but her brain was wide awake. The house was too quiet without her neighbours' shouting, their dishware throwing, trampling and howling. Just as the temperature was too warm and too cosy with all the heaters running and without that awful draft coming from her broken window. The only homey touch was the uncomfortable armchair, which bore at least some semblance to her lumpy, dysfunctional mattress.
Hesitantly, she stretched out her legs, then her arms. She rolled her stiff neck and winced at the pain she was all too accustomed to. Once she'd ascertained that all of her limbs were still in working order, she slowly rose to her feet. But what was she to try next?
There was a pile of her books, still stacked exactly where she'd left them on the coffee table. But with Galinda slumbering so peacefully, she didn't dare to switch on any of the lights, not even the floor lamp by the armchair. Unfortunately, even she could not read in such darkness.
She spotted her coat, still hanging where she'd carelessly discarded it at the end of their house tour. It was almost like the old piece of cloth spoke to her, and within the blink of an eye, she'd crossed the room and snatched it up.
Even as she slipped her thin, gangly arms through the long sleeves—all while dashing down the hallway—she had no clue where she was headed or to what end. She stopped by the entrance to Galinda's study, cast brief glances at the satchel on the swivel chair and the backpack in the corner. No, she wasn't actually leaving. Not yet, not tonight. She only needed…needed what? A whiff of fresh air? She mulled over it for a clock-tick, then shrugged to herself and covered the last two steps to the main door.
There were only three keys hanging from the artsy rack next to the hall stand. One of them was the car key, and one looked far too small to fit a standard lock. Consequently, the remaining key simply had to be the one she was looking for. The door unlocked smoothly, without any of the jiggling and lifting and prodding that was required each and every time Elphaba tried to access her own apartment. She stuffed the key into her pocket so as not to accidentally lock herself out and stepped outside into the front yard.
It was bloody cold. Her breath materialised as big, white clouds. And yet, she welcomed the chill that rapidly embraced her and refused to button up her coat. Instinctively, she dipped her quivering hand into her pocket as she walked over to the ornate fence that separated Galinda's idyllic, little retreat of a house from the rest of the world. What she retrieved from the depths of that large pocket was a crumpled, mostly empty pack of cigarettes that someone had left behind at one bar or another.
Elphaba wasn't a smoker by a long shot. Her educated, rational self knew how detrimental it was to her health. Besides, it was too expensive a habit to pick up in her kind of situation. She didn't even enjoy the flavour and hated the stink that stuck to her clothes for hours afterwards. Yet occasionally, when she didn't know what else to do with herself, she did indulge in the soothing properties of a small nicotine boost, focusing on her body's and mind's reactions, studying herself. Perhaps, those diligent observations were more calming than the drug itself, but such a hypothesis was difficult to prove.
Leaning forward, with her elbows resting on the fence, she pulled a tiny lighter from the same box that held her cigarettes and lit one of them. She briefly watched it burn before putting it back between her lips and pulling a deep drag.
She coughed hard and struggled to breathe. The taste was bitterer than she remembered, the burning sensation at the back of her throat more intense. Nausea overcame her, and suddenly she felt the urge to vomit. She leaned a bit further across the cold metal fence, ready to divest herself of whatever stomach contents she needed to, but ultimately, nothing came forth.
With stinging tears in her eyes from the dry retching, she blinked until she could see clearly once again. With distinct distaste, she peered at the cigarette, burning away largely unused, then swiftly extinguished it and flicked it away.
"Fuck," she murmured and buried her face in her left hand.
The other soon after found its way down to her midsection and slipped underneath the t-shirt to rest on her inconspicuously flat abdomen. What had happened just now? Was this a manifestation of some sort of side effect, like the famous, misnamed morning sickness, or maybe a hypersensitivity to smell? Surely it must a bit too early for any of that. Was it psychological then? Was her subconscious mind stupidly trying to protect the wee creature she never intended to carry to term anyway?
Oz, it was too much, too much to wrap her head around. The only evidence she had so far were two tiny lines on a plastic stick. It was all still too surreal to truly comprehend, too vague to believe. Nevertheless, she'd somehow already managed to drag Galinda into it. What else would happen before this was finally over, what other changes would this mishap bring about? She needed to fix this and contain the damage. As soon as possible.
Galinda was furious when she woke up the following morning. Having her guest sleep on the armchair was not her idea of decent hospitality. Elphaba did her best to comfort her, letting her know that she hadn't had too much of a chance to rest anyway, but the blonde only attributed that to the unsuitable arrangements.
For Elphaba, it was stressful, really, after a difficult night to stay patient and collected while Galinda seemed incapable of shutting up. All the while, the only thing the green girl wanted was peace and quiet and an opportunity to work on her assignments.
She finally got her chance when Galinda left the house to meet up with her ditzy uni friends for lunch. Before she did so, she got out her spare key for Elphaba to keep, and an envelope of money so she could go and buy whatever foodstuffs she fancied for their meals or snacks. Spending someone else's money seemed a little awkward at first, but the thought of all the dishes she could introduce Galinda to eventually helped her to overcome her worries.
Not too long after her return from the supermarket, the doorbell rang. She was unsure how to react. She could vividly imagine how horrified Galinda would be if she opened the door, only to find one of the blonde's friends on the other side. Not answering appeared to be her safest bet; the normally sole occupant of this residence wasn't at home after all. Her presence was nothing but an anomaly and should not carry any weight in the grander schemes of things.
"Hello?" she heard a man call from outside. "Anybody there?"
Whoever this was, was annoyingly persistent.
Grunting her displeasure, she got up from her seat at Galinda's desk and sprinted to the living room, then up the stairs. She found a front-facing window and risked a glance outside. A huge truck was parked out front. A guy in an overall stood by the door. Elphaba's eyebrows shot to her hairline. Galinda could have at least forewarned her that she was expecting a delivery to arrive that day.
She opened the window with a sigh and stuck her head out.
"Hey there! Could you just leave it in front of the door? I'll be down in a moment."
"Sorry, mate," replied the delivery man, "but I need your signature."
"Yeah, great," groused Elphaba before letting him know that she was on her way.
The three packages turned out to be a bed and a mattress. Once she'd figured that out, she really couldn't fathom why Galinda wouldn't have as much as mentioned even ordering this stuff. Her first approach was to leave the flat packs untouched in the hallway and go back to her work. In the end, however, the knowledge of their existence vexed and distracted her, until she saw herself forced to get up, release the compressed mattress from its confinement and start assembling the other bits and bobs.
"You don't mess around, huh?" she greeted Galinda when she returned later in the afternoon.
The blonde was startled at first, but also extremely delighted when she turned around to see Elphaba perched on the finished bed, book in hand.
"Oh, so it already arrived! Good. I hoped it would. Can't have you sleeping on that couch for too long… let alone that terrible armchair." She shuddered dramatically.
Elphaba snapped her book shut and got off the bed, sheepishly glancing somewhere to the side.
"Galinda..."
"Ah-ah!" the shorter girl cut her off. "Shush! It's a cheap, shitty thing from the discount furniture store. Most of my dresses cost more than that!"
"If you say so," murmured Elphaba, chewing her lip. "I can pay you back though. Bit by bit."
"Oh, Elphie!" squealed Galinda, dropping her shopping bags on the ground and haphazardly throwing her jacket at the hall stand. "You mustn't think that way anymore! This is your place as well now, and of course you need a bed! And if it literally doesn't make any difference to me, I might as well pay for it. There. And now come, I'll help you get out the spare blanket and pillows."
With that, she sashayed off and upstairs. A little overwhelmed, Elphaba stared after her for a few clock-ticks, then made to follow her. She wasn't at all sure whether she'd ever get used to this.
Elphaba's second night at Galinda's house was better than the first, even though she did wake up a number of times. At least she now enjoyed the luxury of a makeshift nightstand, topped with one of the two lamps that used to frame Galinda's king-sized bed upstairs. So, every time she was torn from her sleep—whether it was a bad dream, the unfamiliar sensation of a proper, soft bed underneath her, or a sudden, uninvited awareness of the goings-on in her belly—she picked up one of her books that she'd stacked up next to her bed and began to read until exhaustion bade her to once again go back to rest. She stopped trying to fall asleep when the display of her phone told her that it was past six o'clock. She got ready, grabbed her spare key and her backpack, then left the house, library bound.
As it was a public holiday, the library wasn't staffed, but naturally, Elphaba had long applied for a swipe card that allowed her to enter and use the building regardless. For about two hours, she strolled between the shelves, picked books, surveyed them, then either put them in her trolley or replaced them in their rightful spot. Five heavy tomes were her loot of the day. She scanned them at the checkout and carefully placed them into her bag. The weight of them on her back made her cringe, but she gave her backpack a little jerk and got over it. Free knowledge was always worth the trouble.
After that, she took the bus back to her rundown apartment. She'd only grabbed a limited selection of her own books on Saturday when Galinda had practically prodded and ushered her out. Last night, she'd realised that two of her most useful texts had been left behind.
A sigh of relieve escaped her lips the moment she set foot into her own personal realm, her sanctuary, her bubble. It wasn't much, but it was hers, with all its flaws and inconveniences. Sluggishly, she dragged her feet in the direction of the rickety desk and picked up one of the books—the other she found under the coffee table.
Her mission was complete. She retrieved an old shopping bag form one of the kitchen drawers and put the books inside. She could have walked out of the door right then, but for some reason, she hesitated. She rubbed her sore shoulders and decided to set down her backpack for just a minute or two. Next thing she knew, she was lying on her couch, feet propped up on a patched-up cushion, immersed in yet another volume. Not long after that, she'd drifted off.
She had no idea what time it was when she pushed open the gate to Galinda's front yard, but it was late enough for night to have set. In fact, the moon had already begun to rise by the time she had left her own place, which meant that she should probably get dinner going before Galinda became too hungry. If she'd learnt one thing over the past few days, it was that the blonde's mood could shift from bubbly to grouchy at the earliest growling of her tummy. It was a problem rather prevented than mended.
Unsuspecting, she inserted the key into the lock. Before she could even turn it, however, the door was ripped open, and a she was confronted by her petite and, apparently, deeply concerned housemate.
"Elphie!" Galinda cried.
She took one step forward and wrapped her arms around the taller girl's waist. After giving her a tight squeeze, she released her and beckoned her to come in quickly in order to warm up.
"Seriously, what in goodness' name were you doing all day? I was so worried that something had happened, or that you wouldn't come back, or that—" She stopped to peer at her intently, biting her lip. "You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"
Elphaba shook her head, and she exhaled audibly.
"I went to the library, then back to my place to pick something up. I fell asleep."
Nodding, Galinda helped her with her backpack.
"Okay, just…don't scare me like this again, okay?"
"I'm not a child, and you're not my guardian," responded Elphaba gruffly.
"Of course not."
Folding her arms and practically glowering at her, Galinda looked more offended than agreeing.
"I'm just so used to being all by myself," Elphaba said in an effort to placate her, despite being unsure why she bothered to begin with. In her opinion she hadn't done anything wrong.
Galinda's lips twitched, and she shook her head.
"Then at least try and get used to people actually giving a shit. That's how this whole cohabitation thing usually works."
"Yeah, I guess?"
Hoping that this almost-concession was good enough for the present, Elphaba opened the door to the study so she could disappear for a bit and get changed. Galinda evidently felt otherwise, when she followed Elphaba into what was now, supposedly, her room.
"What do you want?" groaned the green girl tiredly, letting herself slump onto the bed.
"Your phone," answered Galinda curtly, reaching out her hand and wiggling her fingers demandingly.
"What?"
"You do have a phone, don't you?" she chuckled.
"Yes, but—" dumbfounded, Elphaba pulled it out of her pocket and did nothing when Galinda grabbed it right out of her hand.
Her fingers immediately started to nimbly dance across the display while Elphaba watched her sceptically. Barely a few seconds later, the sky outside began to rumble, and both girls looked up to stare at each other. Then, the sound of a thundering deluge of rain cut through the tense silence.
"Gosh," muttered Galinda, taking a deep breath before resuming her typing. "You see, Elphie? You could have gotten caught in that thunderstorm. If only you would have called, I could have given you a lift."
An involuntary shiver ran down Elphaba's spine. Galinda didn't have the faintest idea how bad that would have been. She'd even neglected to bring an umbrella with her, which was a gross oversight. She wasn't usually that careless.
"I didn't have your number," she mumbled in her own defence, unwilling to admit how unhappy she herself was with her blunder.
Galinda handed back her phone.
"Well, I fixed that for you.
"Listen, Elphie." The blonde's expression softened, and she shifted from one leg to the other. For a clock-tick, Elphaba thought that she was going to sit down next to her, but she stayed put in the end. "I have no desire to make windows into your soul," she continued, smiling sweetly, "but if you could at least let me know when you're going somewhere out of the ordinary, or for longer than usual, or—or if you're in need of a pick-up or drop-off. I'm happy to help, and it would make me feel more at ease. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah, I suppose," relented Elphaba, and Galinda lit up immediately
"Excellent. So, regarding dinner plans: do you rather feel like Munchkin food or Gillikinese cuisine?"
Elphaba blinked, which made Galinda laugh.
"It's past eight! I'm not gonna make you cook tonight. Now spit it out already—which one would you prefer?"
"Whatever you want," replied the taller girl dismissively, then shooed her away so she could switch into a fresh set of clothes.
Once they had devoured their dinner, it was time for both of them to get back to their respective homework. Elphaba got a head start, making herself comfortable on the couch while Galinda chose to shower and beautify herself first. When the blonde joint her half an hour later, plopping down right beside her, she cast a curious glance at the screen of her computer.
"Is that for bio?" she asked after skimming through the text on display.
Elphaba merely side-glanced at her, unwilling to disrupt her typing rhythm.
"Yup," she replied curtly.
"So what's your topic?"
"Genetic testing of unborn children."
Galinda stiffened momentarily, then awkwardly retreated to her side of the couch and opened the lid of her laptop. She read through the paragraph she'd last worked on, scanned the notes below, but couldn't muster the willpower required to convert them into coherent sentences. Ultimately giving up on doggedly staring at her screen, she turned around and snuggled into her corner so that she could properly observe Elphaba while she kept hammering away on her keyboard as if there was nothing to it.
"Your topic," she ventured after a long while, "does it have anything to do with…"
"No."
The decisiveness of the answer rendered Galinda speechless. She nodded slowly, then forced herself to return her attention back to her own assignment. Meanwhile, Elphaba's resolve gradually fizzled out, and her fingers slowed.
"I—I started working on this essay before I actually knew," she supplied at length, working her jaw in mild agitation.
Surprised, Galinda lifted her head to look at her.
"Do you know how far along you are?" she queried reluctantly, probably expecting a rebuke.
"January twenty-second," muttered Elphaba, screwing her eyes shut. A fleeting glimpse of a memory flashed through her mind, and she opened her eyes with a soft gasp.
"That's oddly specific," a quiet voice next to her said.
She almost jumped when she felt Galinda leaning into her. She hadn't noticed her approach at all. Still slightly confused, she opened her mouth, but decided to say nothing.
"Why…why didn't you test earlier?" wondered her classmate, who'd apparently done the maths in her head by now.
Elphaba licked her lips.
"I don't know," she confessed. "My periods have never been particularly reliable, so being late didn't really raise any red flags."
She swallowed hard, suddenly aware of how fast her heart had begun to beat. Why was she discussing such details with Galinda anyway? Her shame was hers alone, and no one else needed to know—least of all her nosy classmate. Oz knew what stories she might tell her friends later.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Galinda's hand on hers. Startled, she looked up, only to find the blonde slowly moving to rest her head against her shoulder. Somehow, this proximity comforted her and encouraged her to continue and relieve herself of some of her burden.
"In the same vein," she began, then cleared her throat, "I never expected it for me to be so easy to…" There, she had to stop again, but after heaving a shuddering breath, she ploughed on, regardless of the queasy uneasiness in her stomach. "Add to that the fact that it only happened once. How could this one and only time, this one mistake have such a lasting effect? I mean, the rational side of me probably knew, but it's crazy when you think about it, isn't it? I—I thought I was taking that test out of an abundance of caution, but then…"
With her self-consciousness resurging, she let her voice trail off again. She suddenly noticed how Galinda had become awfully silent. Her inquisitive questions had all but seized. Perhaps, her curiosity had been over-abundantly sated.
"Sorry, that was weird," declared Elphaba in retrospect, but Galinda shook her head.
"No. Not really. I guess I just got a bit hung up on this one detail." Elphaba tilted her head questioningly. "Was—I mean—What did you mean, 'this one and only time?' Was…was this your first—"
"That's none of your business," Elphaba cut her off briskly, more mauve than green in her face by now. "I don't want to talk about that."
Galinda bowed her head, appropriately subdued.
"Okay. I respect that. But…Elphie? Just one last thing?"
Despite rolling her eyes at first, Elphaba did give a tired nod for her to go ahead.
"Thank you," whispered Galinda, then shifted in her seat, turning around to face her and taking one of her hands in between her own. "This guy. He didn't coerce or—or force you into anything? Did he?"
Elphaba's jaw tensed again. She ground her teeth so tightly it was almost painful. She didn't know what kind of question she'd expected, but certainly not this. She couldn't help but wonder what answer Galinda was expecting, which option was generally more acceptable and would paint her in the most favourable light. Reminding herself that none of that mattered anyway, she decided to stick to the truth.
"He didn't," was her simple reply.
She briefly glanced away, but soon her eyes found Galinda's. She saw some of the tension leave the blonde and supposed it had been the response she'd hoped for. The thought similarly made her feel marginally better. Coughing slightly, she retracted her hand and inched away from her housemate, readying herself to go back to work.
"Just to be clear though," she said, still agitated, but flexing her fingers so she could resume her typing, "that's the end of this discussion. If I hear one more word about this, I'll move out right this instant."
"Elphie!" exclaimed Galinda. "It's the middle of the night!"
The taller girl only scoffed.
"So?"
"It's pouring down by the bucket load!"
"Then stop asking questions!" she shot back.
"I will! If you stop making such ridiculous threats!"
Elphaba slammed her laptop shut.
"I'm whacked," she half-lied. "I think I'll go to bed now. Fresh—fresh dreams, Galinda."
With that, she got up from the couch and stormed back to her room, leaving the other girl to gawp after her. The door banged shut.
"I'll hide the keys!" Elphaba heard Galinda's muffled call through the closed door and grinned despite herself.
Her amusement dissipated in a flash when the severity of her situation came back into focus. She had yet to do anything to remedy her predicament, had yet to seriously consider the solutions available to her. Admittedly, there was a slim chance that it would all dissipate on its own, but was it wise to rely on destiny to play its part as desired? She brought up her hand to rub her eyes. Maybe it was time to retire for today after all. These kinds of questions were better pondered by a rested, revitalised mind.
She carefully placed her computer on the desk and plugged it in, then retrieved her toiletry bag and took out her cloths and oils. As she got ready for bed, she wondered whether she should be thankful to have someone by her side throughout all of this, even if this someone was precious, little miss perfect. Who maybe wasn't quite as precious, but even more perfect than she'd previously imagined, if perhaps not quite in the conventional way.
Oz, she thought, how had she gotten stuck with someone who seemed to be so stuck on helping her?