AN:
Hello, Lovelies!
I've got good news for you and bad news.
The good news: Chapter Six just dropped! Yaaaay! (Duh? Isn't that a bit obvious?)
Anyway...
The bad news: This might very well be the last chapter for this month, although I'll TRY to get one more done. Also next month (August) might be slightly less productive than the recent weeks. After that, I expect everything to go back to normal. Fingers crossed. Thanks for everyone's support so far and hang in there, okay?
Okay. But for now:
Take care & happy reading!
xoxo
MLE (=^_^=)
Chapter Six
On Tuesday it was back to class—for Galinda that was, but not before after lunch. She felt strangely disappointed when she woke up in the late morning, only to realise that Elphaba had long left the house to go to work.
'Working from 9 to 3,' was all her single, stumpy text said.
Perhaps she could have thrown in a little 'Good morning!' or 'See you later!' or… or something. Galinda surely would have. In fact, she decided to lead by example and replied with
'Morning, Elphie! Hope you slept well. Got an ARCH tutorial at 1 a.m. I'll be straight back home after that. Take care!'
Ah well. Galinda supposed she should actually be thankful that Elphaba had even bothered informing her about her shift. After all, her communication skills in that regard remained very much a work in progress. The form of such notifications was certainly of lesser importance in the grand scheme of things and could be amended later. To show her appreciation, the blonde quickly followed up her earlier message with a titbit of praise.
'Thanks for letting me know, btw. I'll bring back some crullers 3'
The following day Galinda's alarm rang exactly five minutes past six thirty—the latest she dared to sleep in without fearing the repercussions of not having enough time to adequately dress and style herself. She lured herself out of bed with the thought of a nice cup of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. She'd promised Elphaba to take care of lab duty for at least one more week, in order to grant her some additional respite. She stood by her word, of course, yet still hoped that this would be it for a reasonably long while. Staying up late to study was easy for her, but in the morning she needed her sleep. Even her odd fondness for the green girl could only carry her so far.
Rubbing her eyes und mumbling a number of curses under her breath, she crossed the short distance between her bedroom and the big bathroom. Just before she closed the door, however, she noticed the sound of clattering and clanging carrying from below. Instead of proceeding with her usual morning routine, she snatched her bathrobe from the heated towel rail and threw it on before making her way to the stairs. Running her fingers through her messy curls, she tried to tame them just enough so as not to give her early rising housemate a heart attack.
"Morning!" she yawned, halfway down the stairs. "I thought you were resting?"
Elphaba stopped whatever she was doing in the kitchen and looked up, not immediately able to locate the person belonging to the voice. By the time she spotted Galinda, she had already set foot into the living room.
"I—I rested well enough last night," she responded sheepishly after staring at her for a clock-tick, then scratched her neck and turned away. The clicking of the ignitor told Galinda that she was preparing to put whatever she'd been chopping and mixing onto the stove.
Having learnt her lesson by now, Galinda stayed on the non-kitchen side of the counter, despite her mild annoyance over not being able to see what Elphaba was doing.
"So if you're up already," she wondered out loud, "does that mean that you're coming for lab prep?"
Turning around briefly, Elphaba gave her a guilty look.
"Yeah, I could go in early today. I'm….feeling pretty okay, I suppose. You can stay home and enjoy a quiet breakfast."
"Screw breakfast!" laughed Galinda. "I mean, whatever you're making smells delicious, but I won't sit down for an hour eating it. I'm up early already, you took over preparing the food; I'm totally coming with you."
They left the house less than an hour later. When Galinda turned around after locking the door, she saw Elphaba watching her intently, and the hint of a blush rose to her cheeks. It suddenly struck her that this leaving and arriving together would be a fairly common occurrence from now on. In her head, the mere idea was somehow… wonderful.
"What's up? Did you forget something?" asked Elphaba, tilting her head.
She must have been standing there, daydreaming, for longer than she'd realised. Distractedly, Galinda shook her head and let her key slip into the smaller zip pocket of her tote bag.
"No. I was just thinking about something."
They walked side by side without talking much, and it all felt so familiar and comfortable that, at more than one point, Galinda could hardly resist the urge to reach out and lock hands with Elphaba, or maybe link their arms. Yet the fear that Elphaba would probably find her behaviour strange or even alarming dissuaded her and made her hands tighten around the straps of her bag. Only on second thought did she realise the danger of being seen like this, acting so cosy with the notorious green freak.
She pushed the notion aside. She didn't want to be such an unreliable friend. So petty. She asked Elphaba to take a detour with her, and they made stop at her favourite coffee shop where she bought a large latte for each of them. The cups were nice and warm in their hands, and the steady sipping calmed and distracter her a notch—until they were no more than one major road away from the campus boundary.
"Hey, Elphie?" began Galinda, glancing up at her apprehensively. "You go ahead, okay? I don't want Doctor Dillamond to think that we're late. I just have this book that I need to return to the library first. If I don't do it now, I might forget altogether and get fined. Again."
She rolled her eyes at herself and chuckled like it was all so goofy and fun; on the inside, she was anxious and tense.
Lies tended to come easily to her whenever she needed them. Whether they were always believable was another question. That was mostly up to her delivery and how seriously she took it. Occasionally, lies were designed to be blatant, yet elegant ways to avoid contact or doing something. At other times, Galinda lied so smoothly the other party even felt flattered by her apparent genuineness. Lying to Elphaba, on the other hand, for some reason was a completely different story. It was harder and felt almost like a crime. She couldn't force herself to put in a real effort if she wanted to. It was kind of like she wanted to be caught in her dishonesty, to make sure that Elphaba was not misled and knew what she was really all about. The lie, in that case, solely served to make Galinda feel the slightest bit less awful than she would have speaking the naked truth. Basically, it wasn't a lie at all, only code for 'I don't want to hurt you, but…'
Without betraying any signs of judgement or misgiving, Elphaba accepted her excuse and set off in the direction of the biology building on her own. Galinda, already on her way to the library, glanced back briefly, clenching her teeth, her chest tight.
There was indeed a book in her bag that was ready to be returned, though she hadn't really considered doing so up until the moment she'd told Elphaba about it. Making her excuse at least a tad more credible, however, in turn made her feel marginally less terrible, so she made sure to deliver the volume as quickly as she could before hurrying to the lab to join her.
By the time she reached the biology building, she'd almost forgotten all about her earlier worries. Her first course of action was to pop into her professor's office, then she went to the lab itself.
"Hey, Elph—" she started to shout, then stopped short and ended her name with a much quieter "—aba." Not using her nickname in public was something she realised she needed to be a lot more mindful of in the future.
Her housemate glanced up from the box of samples she was going through and quirked one of her eyebrows.
"Hello, Miss Galinda," she retorted and huffed softly. "Didn't expect to see you here again so early in the morning."
"Yeah…" replied the blonde.
Feeling a strange unease surging through her, she remained standing in the doorway and waited for it to pass before finally walking over to her seat to put down her tote. She was still sorting through her belongings when a tall shadow fell across her desk. Hesitantly, she looked up.
"Here," said Elphaba, the corners of her lips turning ever so slightly upwards, "I made you a list of the materials I need you to get. They are in the chemistry lab around the corner and Doctor Nikidik should be in by now. He will give you everything you need."
"Thanks," replied Galinda and let her eyes roam up and down the piece of paper with Elphaba's unusual handwriting on it.
A sigh of relief escaped her. She knew that she wasn't always doing or saying the right thing, but this time at least, she'd apparently been forgiven.
Friday came with its own set of unique challenges. It was the first instance that they finished uni at the same time, were leaving from the same classroom and, presumably, headed in the same direction. They hadn't discussed the looming dilemma beforehand, as Galinda was too ashamed to broach the subject formally. Part of her counted on Elphaba drawing her own conclusions, based on the previous Wednesday, but it was a potentially dangerous gamble, and didn't make her feel all that much better about herself either.
Perhaps it was a good job then, that Shenshen and Avaric stuck with her after class, too busy discussing the upcoming group assignment to let her go home unaccompanied. Elphaba was sure to keep her distance from them at least.
"So, who's going to be responsible for the visuals?" Avaric asked once they had settled on the distribution of subtopics.
"Galinda!" declared Shenshen with a measure of certainty that left no room for objection.
Galinda tried anyway, if only out of principle, and questioned the basis for her friend's decision.
"It's obvious," the girl replied pointedly, making an exaggerated gesture with her open arms. "You're the one with the eye for design and all that stuff. You're also the one who lives by herself, so it's far more convenient if we can do at least some of the work at your place, undisturbed."
The idea startled Galinda, and she did a double take.
"Wha—what does that have to do with anything?" she nearly sputtered.
"I live on my own as well," interjected Avaric. He loved inviting girls to his anything but humble abode.
"Yes, but thirty minutes away on the other end of town," said Shenshen dismissively. "That's anything but convenient."
The longer they argued and discussed, the clearer it became to Galinda that neither of the two was going to leave any time soon. In the end, just as she'd come to expect, they walked her all the way to her house and were still giving no indication of an imminent departure.
"So, uh," the blonde began, "I guess if you guys are already in the mood, we might as well start working on the project straight away."
"Yeah, sure," Avaric agreed with a casual jerk of his head; Shenshen immediately made for the door.
"Uh, Shen, please wait just a tick-tock," Galinda said as she caught up with her, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"I had an old friend from Frottica over last night and we had too much to drink. You won't believe what a mess the place was after that! Let me just quickly check whether the cleaner has been around yet to tidy it all up, okay?"
With an apologetic smile, she slipped inside. The first place she checked was the study—well, Elphaba's room—but the green girl wasn't there, neither was her satchel. She closed the door and turned the key in the lock. To be entirely sure that the coast was clear though, Galinda dashed all the way to the living room and softly called her name. No reply. She exhaled in relief, then realised that Elphaba could also be arriving right this moment, with Shenshen and Avaric standing in her front yard. Now, that would be disastrous indeed!
So she scampered back to the door, took a small breath and put her smile firmly back in place.
"All, good," she proclaimed happily as she flung the door wide open and bade her friends to come inside. "What about drinks? We got all sorts of juices, soft drinks…"
"Just water," both of her friends said simultaneously, then looked at each other and started laughing.
"Water it is," Galinda chuckled along. "Still or carbonated?"
Once again, they replied at the exact same time; however, while Avaric ordered his drink straight from the tap, Shenshen asked for sparkling.
"No problem," replied their hostess, amused, and told them to set up around the coffee table while she took care of the refreshments.
With the pair's eyes finally otherwise occupied, Galinda initially started preparing a bowl of crisps and crackers, but soon turned around and pulled out her phone.
'Hey Elphie, coming home any time soon?'
Not knowing how long the reply would take—whether she'd ever receive one to begin with—she left her phone screen down on the counter and began to pour the drinks. A few seconds later, it vibrated.
'Still at the library. Why you asking?'
Galinda stared at the message for a short while, worrying her lip while she contemplated her answer. 'This is your place as well now', she remembered herself saying and felt a by now familiar pang of guilt in her chest. Oz, she wished she didn't feel pressured to do this.
'Avaric and Shenshen are here for the group assignment,' she replied at last, leaving her unfair plea unspoken.
She served the glasses of water and returned to the kitchen to finish off the snacks. As the conversation was already going, she expected another message to arrive soon, but strangely, nothing came, making her wonder whether she'd really affronted Elphaba one time too often now. Disappointed in the unresolved state of their curt exchange and somewhat in herself, she slumped her shoulders and picked up her mobile and the bowl.
It didn't take them long to get down to the nitty-gritty of their group work. It also didn't take them long to go completely off topic, suddenly shifting to a debate over the most annoying couples in Avaric and Shenshen's shared accounting class. Galinda followed their back and forth with lukewarm interest and a fair share of agitation. She couldn't argue against the necessity of group meetings for the purpose of this assignment which would make up a whopping twenty percent of their grade, but the current idle gossiping seemed like nothing more than noise to her, and all she wanted was for it to end.
"Did you know that Tibbett and Crope hooked up last weekend?" Shenshen asked her out of the blue, startling Galinda out of her reveries.
"Oh?" she stalled as a means to allow herself a second to recover. "No, I guess I didn't."
She actually hardly even knew either of them, and only her friends' animated resulting tirades reminded her of the apparently major detail that both of them were, in fact, boys.
"But come on, seriously!" barked out Avaric, roaring with laughter. "You can't tell me that you didn't see this coming? They were both very obviously not vying for any girls' attentions. And when your market for potential partners is so limited, you've gotta make do with who's available."
Shenshen watched him with increasing horror, then, in a rather melodramatic move, shuffled away from him and as close to Galinda as possible.
"You can't earnestly be saying that you are totally unfazed by this sort of behaviour!"
Her shoulder touched Galinda's as she widened the distance between herself and the boy even further at Avaric's nonchalant shrug. Galinda's heart fell out of rhythm at the contact, and a hint of dizziness overcame her. Her so-called friend didn't even have the slightest inkling…
Next to her, her phone chimed. The vibrations transferred from the phone to the leather of the couch, to her hand, and distracted her just enough from the present argument to steady and ground her. With a sigh, she looked away from the others and picked up her mobile.
'Heading to work now. Picked up a night shift. No one wants to do those anyway.'
Galinda's eyes widened, and she swiftly typed out a reply.
'NO! That's not what I meant at all!'
'It's fine. I need the money.'
'For what? Cancel your rundown hovel. You're living here now!'
'Well… see you later.'
'Let me know when you finish! I'll pick you up.'
'Elphie?'
'ELPHIE!'
"Who the heck are you texting so obsessively?" wondered Shenshen and leaned over to catch a sneaky glimpse.
"Hey!" exclaimed Galinda and frantically kept her phone out of reach.
"Oh! Is it Fiyero?" asked Shenshen, having heard from Milla about Galinda's apparent partiality for the Vinkun. Turning to Avaric as if their earlier tiff was all but forgotten, she put her hand up to her mouth and stage-whispered, "I bet it's Fiyero!"
To Galinda's great relief, her classmates left not too long after that. The moment they were gone, she cleaned up any evidence of their visit and pulled out one of her architecture textbooks in order to start her assigned readings for Monday. Before she opened the appropriate page, she checked her phone for a possible message from Elphaba. Unfortunately, there were none.
It had been mid-afternoon when Avaric and Shenshen had said their goodbyes. By the time eight o'clock rolled around, Galinda felt wholly and utterly lonely—which was ridiculous, she thought, seeing as, until quite recently, she'd more than happily lived entirely on her own. She missed Elphaba; if not her occasionally contrary attitude, then at least her physical presence. And perhaps it had something to do with her bad conscience about the whole business of inadvertently sending her away. She was still unsure whether she should properly apologise for that later, whether she'd have to guts to admit to any wrongdoing. She supposed it would have to be a decision born out of the moment.
Her phone rang a little after half past nine. It actually rang, and Galinda didn't know who she expected to call, but the last person on her mental list was—
"Elphaba? What's up? Are—are you alright?"
The first reply to her question was a soft laugh, and Galinda's heart gave a small flutter.
"Yeah. Sure. Why? I'm…I'm on my last break now. Just figured I should let you know that I finish at eleven. It's a bit late, so I'll simply walk home."
"Walk?" cried Galinda, perplexed. "It's way too late for that, I'll come and pick you up!"
There was a short break during which the blonde could practically hear her own heart beating. What she didn't dare to say was that she felt that it was her fault that Elphaba was out so late, and that she'd never forgive herself if anything were to happen to her on the way home.
"Fine," the other girl finally relented, "I'll meet you at the parking lot, close to the delivery bay. Would that be okay?"
"Yes. Perfect," agreed Galinda eagerly and smiled into the phone. "See you at eleven then."
"Don't fall asleep," Elphaba teased, and Galinda responded with a light giggle before hanging up the phone.
After that call, it was sheer impossible for her to concentrate on anything she tried to accomplish. While she couldn't explain how, she felt Elphaba's absence even keener now, and awaited their later meeting with an impatience that only befitted young children on Lurlinemas Day. It was silly, really, but even knowing so did not help the matter. If anything, it made her think and overthink possible reasons for this erratic state of her mind, one more dissatisfactory and unwelcome than the other.
She left the house half past ten, then waited for over twenty minutes in her car until Elphaba appeared at last.
"Hey," the tall, lanky girl said as she climbed into the tiny car.
"Hey," echoed Galinda shyly and cleared her throat before starting the engine.
It took them less than ten minutes to return home, but once Galinda had parked the car, she locked the doors. Elphaba stayed calm and didn't say a word, but raised a curious eyebrow as she turned to look at her.
Galinda blushed.
"I… well…" she groaned and exhaled forcefully, then let herself slump against the steering wheel. Closing her eyes, she counted to three in her mind, then shifted her head so she could look at Elphaba. "You know," she said, completely dropping her initial train of thought, "you really should ditch that rat hole you're still paying rent for and safe some serious money. You can live at my place for as long as you like, and all I would ever dream of asking in return are a couple of warm meals a week. If you wanted, you could even take some well-deserved time off work, but at the very least you wouldn't have to take on crazy shifts."
She swallowed hard, and her heart sank. Judging by Elphaba's expression, she fully realised that Galinda was avoiding saying something else. Almost surprisingly, she humoured her nonetheless and responded to her suggestion.
"Galinda. I'm… not ready."
The blonde nodded as best she could, her temple still resting against the wheel.
"You're kind for trying so hard to make me feel welcome, but I can't give up on my own, personal retreat that easily. I'm aware that it's absolutely crap, but it's mine, and I need to know that there will be a place for me when everything else falls apart."
The last part struck Galinda like lightning and made her sit up and lunge for Elphaba's hands.
"I'm sorry about today!" she blurted out before she could even think about what exactly she was going to say. "I'm so sorry and I feel so awful! It was never my intention to make you feel like you didn't belong. Yes, I admit it, I was kind of hoping you'd stay away for just a little bit, but…I could never actually ask for it. And I certainly never wanted you to run away for the whole night!"
"I didn't run away," retorted Elphaba, clearly rejecting the idea that Galinda could truly make her do anything. "And it's still well before midnight. You needed me out of the way, and I chose to go to work in the meantime. It's okay. I get it."
"No… no, you don't," sniffled Galinda, starting to play with Elphaba's long fingers. "I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be the hollow-hearted friend who sends you away whenever your presence might be inconvenient. I guess the truth is… that I'm not quite ready either. I know that most of my friends and peers are bloody idiots, but I'm not ready yet to kiss them goodbye and do my own thing."
Nodding, Elphaba averted her eyes and retracted her hand.
"It's fine. It's not your fault. And you know, I can simply move back into my place. It would make things a whole lot easier for you."
Galinda's eyes went wide in panic.
"No, don't! Please don't! I really, really don't want that."
"Why?" demanded Elphaba and let herself fall back in her seat with a thud that made the whole car shake. "Look, if you need to satisfy your philanthropic urges; rest assured that you already helped plenty. My time is running out. In a week or so latest I'll have to earnestly begin sorting out this stupid mess I'm in, and after that, I'll be back to as good as normal. Life goes on, right?" she added, ver, very quietly.
As the words gradually sunk in, Galinda began to cry. Whimpering softly at first, she was soon overcome with a torrent of tears, streaming down her cheeks and dripping down her nose.
"Oh dear Oz, don't cry, Galinda!" said Elphaba, making sure to keep her distance and helplessly looking on as the shorter girl completely dissolved into sobs.
"Dammit Elphie," she managed to press out between the hiccups and sniffles, "I realise I'm an ass sometimes, but don't you see? I do actually care about you. More and more with every day. You can't leave me for no good reason."
"So it's me doing you a favour now?" laughed Elphaba incredulously, pressed as close to the door as possible.
Galinda fought against the tears blurring her vision and gulped back a few more oncoming sobs.
"Yes. Yes, of course. If putting it like that makes you stay, then yes, in Oz's name!"
Her eyes found Elphaba's and pleaded with her, in case her words had not been sufficient.
"If I promise to stay for the time being…" ventured Elphaba, looking away sheepishly, can we get out of the car now?"
Chuckling amidst residual tears, Galinda nodded and unlocked the doors.
"There's some takeaway in the fridge for you," she informed Elphaba and gathered the fabric of her sleeve in her hand to dry her face with it. "I actually considered cooking, but then I decided that I didn't want to chase you away a second time on the same day."
The green girl cackled.
"Thank you. I appreciate that."
Galinda sat with her while she ate, then cleared the table and opened a bottle of red wine. Just this one time and only a few drops, she told herself as she filled their glasses to no more than one fourth. She handed Elphaba the marginally emptier one—though it probably made no true difference—and chinked her glass against Elphaba's.
It was past midnight when she wished Elphaba goodnight and retired upstairs. She had every intention to go to sleep after finishing her evening routine, but once she lay in bed, any tiredness had inexplicably vanished, and she lay wide awake in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Elphaba's face appeared before her mind's eye, and she once again berated herself for her recent behaviour. But it was of no use. She'd already apologised for most of it and there was not much else to be done. She also couldn't promise that it wouldn't happen again. Just as she'd told Elphaba, she quite wasn't there yet. She was not yet the person she hoped to eventually become.
Consequently branding this entire line of thought pointless, she reached for whatever book was lying on her bedside table and opened it at the bookmark. She hardly remembered the story she was reading, the names of the characters confused her and the plot didn't seem to make much sense to her either. It was fine though, since she wasn't really reading for pleasure. At the beginning of her impromptu reading session, she'd firmly expected to drift off this way in twenty minutes, thirty tops. Unfortunately, more than an hour later, she still hadn't found sleep.
Rather than pleasant dreams, her bladder beckoned, and with an exasperated moan, she flung back her warm blanket and stumbled out of bed. She tiptoed to the bathroom to mitigate her discomfort and hoped that, thus relieved, she might finally be able to relax. On her way back to her room, however, she suddenly realised that there was still a soft glow of light radiating from where the stairs opened up to the upper floor.
The most obvious explanation seemed to be that Elphaba had forgotten to switch it off before going to bed, and to correct this minor mistake, Galinda would have to go downstairs herself. Yet as she started her descent, she could clearly hear the sound of restless feet moving across the polished hardwood floor. Curious, she continued on her path, making as little noise as possible. As soon as the living room came into proper view, she paused again and lowered herself down to a squat, silently observing the scene before her.
"Penny for your thoughts?" she commented when she could no longer stay quiet.
Below, Elphaba immediately stopped pacing and looked up to her with the shocked, brown eyes of a startled doe. Galinda could see the pronounced column of her throat rise and fall as she swallowed hard, just before sharply turning away and flying towards the tall window where the small terrace was located, her arms tightly wrapped around her midsection.
Cautious not to upset her further, the blonde cleared the last few steps and approached her. From a good four metres distance, she gingerly asked whether she was alright.
"I can't sleep," was her simple reply, and nodding, Galinda sat down on the nearby couch.
"You don't say" she said softly after carefully considering her words several times.
Elphaba drew a deep breath, embracing herself even tighter as she did so. Galinda willed her to turn around and look at her, but she did not.
"I keep having nightmares about… it," she admitted after a long moment of inner struggle.
Galinda's heart ached so hard for her she almost thought she could share into her pain. Though on a second thought, she doubted that this was even remotely possible and chastised herself for being so insolent, if only in her mind.
"Are… you talking about the baby?" she probed as gently as possible.
Noticing how Elphaba flinched at the mention of the word, she immediately felt bad for ever saying it.
"Not—not that," she replied with a great measure of reluctance, but vaguely peering over her shoulder in Galinda's general direction. "But its… creation, so to speak."
"Oh," breathed Galinda, feeling the full weight of the topic piling up on her shoulders. "Was it… was it that bad?"
"Maybe not?" said Elphaba in the most uncertain tone she she'd ever heard from her. "But it was all wrong."
Now it was Galinda who had to swallow the huge lump in her throat.
"But I thought he didn't—"
"It wasn't his fault," Elphaba briskly cut her off and finally wheeled around, fully facing her.
Her expression was one of hurt and confusion, but also determination, as if this confession was an act long overdue, something she needed to do in order to heal. Galinda waited patiently, and after a clock-tick or two, Elphaba continued.
"Well, he—he was quite inebriated, I think. And I… I don't know, I usually don't get drunk. Tipsy perhaps, but not so drunk that I wouldn't know what I was doing. But I could swear there was something in the air. I didn't feel myself, if that makes sense?"
"Do you think he, or someone else, could have spiked your drink?" Galinda asked, concerned, but Elphaba shook her head.
"No, I don't think that was it. I wasn't completely knocked out, neither did I experience a total blackout afterwards. Sometimes I wish I did, but…" She scoffed a mirthless laugh. "And I really don't want to make excuses for my own mistakes. I—I was basically asking for it."
"That's a harsh thing to say," Galinda told her firmly. "And it doesn't sound like you at all. You"—a faint smile played at her lips as she thought of this—"seem to me like someone who makes her own decisions."
Elphaba's mouth twitched. She appeared to appreciate the comment. To Galinda's surprise, she came closer and even sat down on the couch, though she made sure to perch on the armrest, as far away as she could manage.
"I… you know, we all have our weaknesses," she sighed and let her eyes fall onto her fidgeting fingers in her lap. "Mine seems to be a latent desire for acceptance, no matter how much it contradicts my judgement and reason. I can do just fine without it, but if someone dangles the promise of it right within my grasp…" She chuckled miserably and ran her hands over her face. "At any rate. So there he was: a kind, not too shabby looking guy who was nice to me and treated me like a normal girl. A boy who looked past the green and my snarky words. Do you—do you have the slightest idea how rare that is? It never happens."
"So… you wanted to prove yourself to him?" Galinda guessed.
"Maybe a little," shrugged Elphaba. "But I had something else to prove to myself."
"To yourself?" repeated the shorter girl, puzzled.
"You see… for a long time, I—I'd been wondering. Not only because I lacked opportunity, but also… interest." She self-consciously cleared her throat and blushed prettily—though Galinda hated herself for even thinking about the prettiness of her blush when they were discussing an issue so intense and agonising. "Which is a blessing, when you think about it," added Elphaba, laughing awkwardly. "But at the same time, it worried me a little. Or maybe more than just a little. It just seemed wrong that I would lack something so fundamental. I was used to people thinking of me as a monster—because the green and all—but I'd always considered them idiots, and myself every bit as human as them. But what if I am incapable of love or even desire? Maybe I am… different.
"So I thought maybe I should simply do it, force it, and see if it might come to me if only I really tried. That night, with a charming man at my disposal and some strange substance supposedly rushing through my veins, I stupidly decided to rip off the band aid and see if it would trigger within me the feelings I was afraid I might lack. I hoped it would change how I felt, hoped it would change me."
"It didn't, did it?" concluded Galinda who'd spent the last couple of minutes listening intently. By now extremely tired, disheartened, and close to crying again, she inched closer and closer, until she was able to reach Elphaba's hands with her own.
The raven-haired girl made no reply at all, and so they sat in gloomy silence until Galinda gave Elphaba's hands a squeeze and forced herself to brighten up.
"Hey, Elphie?" she began, her voice still thick, "Have you looked through those readings for bio on Monday yet? They are crazy long, wouldn't you say?
Elphaba shook her head—not in disagreement, but rather to clear it—then furrowed her brow.
"Yes… I suppose?" she answered slowly.
Galinda let her smile widen and leaned in eagerly as if to impart a top secret plan to her.
"So, I was thinking: how about we start with two of them right now. We each read one article, and then we explain them to each other! This way we save time and we also deepen our understanding of what we just read. Sounds like a good plan, no?"
Albeit reluctant, Elphaba eventually nodded, and Galinda squeezed her hands one more time before jumping up and procuring her own printouts from her room upstairs. She passed one of the stapled bundles to her housemate.
"There. You take the article written by Doctor Dillamond himself. I know how you adore our dear professor, and besides, it's ten pages longer. Since you also read a whole lot faster than me, it's only fair."
Without complaint, Elphaba followed her lead and completed the task the blonde had assigned her. When they finished roughly an hour later, neither of the girls had any energy reserves left to let self-doubt or nightmares stand in the way of some much-needed shut-eye. Galinda fell asleep on the couch; Elphaba covered her with the woollen throw as she'd done on her first night in this house, nearly one week ago. Only this time she had the luxury of being able to drag herself to her own bed instead of the uncomfortable armchair. Both wouldn't wake again until late in the morning.
With Elphaba once again at work, Galinda had the place mostly to herself on Saturday—which once again was not a good thing. While she wasn't entirely unproductive, she spent a ridiculous amount of time thinking back to the previous night, their conversation in the car, and especially, Elphaba's emotional confession later on.
The circumstances of Elphaba's first ever intimate encounter had shocked Galinda, even though she'd known for a while now that it couldn't have come about the way most girls would hope and dream. On the flip side, worse things could have happened where alcohol, drugs and that Oz-damned Philosophy Club were involved, and she was retrospectively grateful that Elphaba had emerged from her already fairly traumatising experience relatively unharmed.
The Philosophy Club. The name wouldn't leave her mind and whenever she thought of it, a shiver ran down her spine. She still wasn't all that much closer to learning what exactly was really transpiring in that disreputable basement area, but Elphaba's allusions to its involvement in her dreadful escapade were already more than enough to confirm the general notion she'd always had of the place. And to confirm her presence there in the first place. Oh poor, naïve Elphaba! She couldn't possibly have known, could she?
Galinda suddenly stumbled at that thought. Only now did she realise that Elphaba had never so much as mentioned going to the notorious Philosophy Club, or any other club for that matter. But Galinda had picked up and mentally inserted those kinds of omissions, based on the stories she'd been told about the establishment and the originally entirely outrageous-seeming sighting Avaric's friend had reported. While there was a slight chance that she was entirely wrong, she was relatively sure that she wasn't. But perhaps, she didn't need to tell Elphaba about that.
Just then, Shenshen called to ask her something about their biology assignment. Or so she said, for barely five minutes into their conversation, she abruptly suggested they should go dancing later that night.
Galinda sighed. It would be far easier for her to stay home and chip away on that mountain of assignments that had started to pile up over the last couple of days. With Elphaba keeping her quiet company, she was more motivated than ever and couldn't even argue that she was lacking human contact, for all the human contact she required was right here in her own home. Social connections, on the other hand, were more fickle than her basic needs. If she continued to neglect her friends, she was sure to soon find herself in the crosshairs of rumours.
So she agreed, hung up her phone and began making herself presentable. She had barely finished perfecting her makeup, when she heard the door downstairs heavily fall into the lock, and a wad of keys noisily drop onto her wooden shoe cabinet. Rolling her eyes, she sashayed over to the bathroom door and poked her head outside.
"How many times do I have to tell you this, Elphaba Thropp? They keys go on the keyboard on the wall!"
"Sorry," came the grumpy reply, accompanied by the sound of metal dragging and chinking.
Expelling a frustrated breath, the blonde returned to her earlier position in front of the mirror and began coiffing her hair. When she was ready to go, she picked up her purse from her room and made her way downstairs.
Alerted by the clicking of heels on polished concrete, Elphaba looked up from her laptop and did a double take.
"Oh, wow. I, uh, didn't realise you were going anywhere tonight."
Galinda bit her lip, thinking that she looked a bit disappointed. Truth be told, so was she. She would have much preferred to spend the evening quietly with her roomie.
"I didn't know either until like an hour ago," she chuckled shyly as she arrived at the bottom of the stairs. She raised her hand to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. "How was work?"
"Okay," Elphaba shrugged. "I'll read the rest of the bio articles tonight. Would—would you like me to copy my notes for you?"
Galinda's small smile disappeared when her mouth fell slightly open at the generous offer. Her cheeks felt hot.
"Thank you, Elphie. You're a darling. But it would be good enough if you could let me copy them myself? I suppose I'll retain more of the information this way, too. But yes, that would be so helpful."
Seemingly flustered by Galinda's exalted gratitude, Elphaba nodded slightly and then simply stared, unable to further contribute to the conversation. Galinda was the first to break their eye contact and walked over to the kitchen to drink a few cups of water and nibble on a handful of crackers in preparation of her outing.
"Would you like me to write down the name of the place you're going, just in case?" Elphaba piped up again, and Galinda grinned to herself before straightening her expression and turning around.
"That's so thoughtful of you," she smiled much more softly. "I don't actually know yet, but I'll text you once I do." She'd barely finished her sentence when her phone chimed. "Ah, Avaric is here. Well, you take care, Elphie. And thanks in advance for the notes. I owe you one."
With that and a graceful, little wave, she hurried out of the living room and down the hallway. Avaric's black sports car was waiting right outside her garden gate, and she quickly climbed in to keep warm. Despite wearing a thick, faux fur trimmed coat, she'd opted to protect her legs with nothing more than thin, sheer stockings.
"Did you forget to turn off the lights?" asked the boy in the driver's seat, his mouth quirking in amusement.
Galinda casually cast a glance back at her house.
"Oh, no. I'm looking after the neighbours' dog at the moment. The poor thing doesn't like to be left alone in the dark. I left the TV on for him as well."
Avaric snorted.
"Hope you didn't forget to walk him, or he'll leave you a nice present on the rug while you're out."
"Hopefully not," giggled Galinda and put on her seatbelt.
Arriving at their destination, she realised that tonight's group was a lot larger than usual. Pfannee and Shenshen were there, of course, as were a whole band of Avaric's pals. Milla was more of a surprise, as were Fiyero and the short Munchkin guy he'd apparently dragged along—Bick or whatever his name was.
The club Avaric had chosen was one of her least favourite, yet it was miles better than the Philosophy Club in terms of safety. Seeing as networking was her most important agenda for this evening, she decided that it didn't really matter that she hated the music. A few drinks later, she hardly cared at all.
At least the dancing was a welcome opportunity to let off some steam. Shenshen, Pfannee, and Galinda looked out for each other as per usual, and silently agreed to collectively keep an eye on Milla who was too unfamiliar with their dynamic to truly become another cog in this well-oiled machinery. When she was all danced out, she made sure that the remaining three would be okay on their own and excused herself, returning to the upper floor VIP area that Avaric had booked for them. No one was there but for Fiyero and his curious chum.
"So, how do you two know each other?" she asked the Munchkin in an effort to be friendly.
"Foreign Students Association," supplied Fiyero in his stead. "He's been here for longer, so they paired us as mentor and mentee."
Galinda blinked.
"But there are a fair number of Munchkins and Munchkinlanders at this university, and you all speak a dialect of common Ozian at home, right? Why in Lurline's name would you have to join an association for foreign students?"
"So we don't get overlooked," Bick finally answered for himself. "Literally and figuratively speaking that is."
Pursing her lips, Galinda considered this and supposed that there could be some merit to his point. She didn't expect Pfannee to be a member of any such club, but perhaps she would know at least something about this.
Soon after, Milla came to their table, asking Galinda for another dance, but the blonde more or less regretfully declined. After a brief moment of hesitation, she asked Fiyero, who also refused her offer with a wide grin.
"I'm sure Boq would be thrilled though," he said and gave his neighbour a small nudge, nearly pushing him all the way off his seat. "Oh, sorry, friend. Are you okay?"
Boq bobbed his deeply red head and made no attempt to get to his feet.
"Fine, I'll take him for a spin," Milla sighed, almost as if it were a chore.
Astonished, Galinda watched them disappear into the crowd.
"He's head over heels for your friend," explained Fiyero and laughed, then took a swig from his beer.
"Is he?" Galinda quirked an eyebrow. "Well, naturally I can't predict such things with perfect accuracy, but he might find it difficult to woo her. Maybe you shouldn't encourage him too much."
The Vinkun waved his hand.
"No harm in trying. He's a great little dude. He deserves some fun at least."
She couldn't argue with that.
Eventually, even Pfannee and Shenshen were exhausted and complaining about painful feet.
"And you left Milla all on her own?" asked Galinda, an uncomfortable feeling settling in her abdomen.
"She insisted," retorted Pfannee, shaking her head.
Shenshen nodded.
"Yeah. We tried to convince her to come with us, but she declared that she would be save with the midget"
"Bick," Galinda corrected her sharply.
"Boq," chimed in Fiyero, laughing out loud.
Pfannee kept quiet and drank. Shenshen hid none of her annoyance.
Fiyero left soon after in pursuit of another drink. Shenshen watched him intently as he walked away. Finally, her mouth twisted in displeasure.
"What a shame," she moaned. "He is quite handsome, I must admit. But such a bother to be around sometimes, such a killjoy." Her eyes darted back to her friends and focused on Galinda in particular. "Even you make sure to be all correct and accommodating when around him. Isn't it terribly tiresome?"
Her lips a thin line, Galinda resolved to say nothing for now and hope that neither of the girls would pursue the topic further. At least at this occasion, she was in luck. Pfannee, for her part, was already sufficiently distracted, hungrily sizing up a group of topless men who'd just arrived and were setting up camp in the opposite corner of the VIP zone.
"Hey, Glin, Shen! Look at those bods," she tittered, the alcohol in her bloodstream only partially to blame for her blatant staring.
Shenshen followed her gaze and smirked widely.
"Yeah, they look good enough to eat," she purred and gave a ridiculous half-growl that might have been intended to sound like a sultry roar, but only caused Galinda to choke on her drink.
"Looks like they are here for a stag party," she half-heartedly assessed after she'd finished coughing.
"Ooh," cooed both of the others, and Pfannee pointed out one of the men wearing a golden cape and a plastic crown, suggesting him as the most likely groom-to-be.
"Do you think his friends are all bachelors?" asked Shenshen eagerly. She was properly put out when Galinda told her very matter-of-factly that there simply was no way of knowing. "What's wrong with you today?" she groaned. "I don't know how this can leave you so entirely unaffected, but if you can't enjoy yourself, at least leave us to savour the view!"
"Sure, savour away," scoffed Galinda, now in a similarly dour mood, and stood.
"Hey!" Pfannee exclaimed and grabbed her arm with both hands. "You're leaving?"
Galinda exhaled a long, weary breath.
"No. I'm just grabbing another drink. Shall I bring anything back for you, ladies?"
Shenshen waved her off dismissively while Pfannee mumbled something that Galinda couldn't understand and turned away, releasing her as she did so.
She didn't head straight for the bar. Instead, she walked over to a sort of balcony from where she could observe the dance floor below. She spotted Milla and her Munchkin admirer. Not too far away from them, Fiyero seemed to be having a decent time all on his own. Out of the corners of her eyes, she noticed three of the half-naked bachelor party attendees pass her and hurry down the stairs. One of them noticed her in return, stopped for a clock-tick, winked at her and made a whistling noise. Her only response was an involuntary wrinkling of her nose. She clearly couldn't see the same appeal her friends did.
She was tremendously glad when Avaric at long last delivered her back to her place. To his request to be invited inside and have a cup of coffee, she said that her neighbours' dog wasn't friendly with unfamiliar men, and so he contented himself with placing a fleeting peck on her cheek and wishing her a good night. She smiled pleasantly at him, but smelling his breath wondered whether he'd really only had the one drink he had willingly acknowledged.
It was a wonderful feeling, thought Galinda, to come home after a long, strenuous night of drinking, dancing and socialising and having someone waiting for her. The lights were all still on, and in hindsight, Galinda was grateful for that. How would she have explained to Avaric that this dog she was supposedly sitting was able to turn off the lights and would do so just when it was time for its bedtime?
"Elphie!" she called out as she shambled towards the living room, divesting herself of her shoes on the way. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she found her roomie exactly in the same position where she'd left her. "Oh, there you are, you wicked, green thing."
Elphaba took her sweet time to look up from her laptop screen. She appeared incredibly tired, but managed a little smirk.
"'Wicked?'" she asked and cackled. "Pray tell, what have I done to deserve this name?"
Galinda momentarily gawked at her, finding herself at a loss.
"Well, now you have earned it for sure," she huffed indignantly. "Instead of making fun of me, you could have opted to say nothing."
With mild amusement, Elphaba watched her as she took off her coat and dramatically flung it in the direction of a dining chair but missed spectacularly.
"Exactly how drunk are you?" she asked, chuckling quietly.
"Hardly at all," insisted Galinda and inelegantly plopped down on the sofa next to her.
Almost as soon as the blonde had touched down, Elphaba jumped to her feet and set aside her laptop. Feeling initially offended by the other girl's flight, Galinda scowled at her all the way to the kitchen. When she saw her filling a glass with ice and water and grabbing a snack bag of crisps from the pantry, however, her expression gradually softened and even turned into a grateful smile by the time she made it back to the couch.
"Thanks, Elphie," she sighed after a refreshing gulp from her cold drink.
"You better go bed soon," advised Elphaba, opening the package of crisps for her.
Galinda clumsily took the bag from her and their fingers touched. All the while, she looked directly into Elphaba's expressive eyes, which she realised, she'd never properly appreciated before. And what an oversight that had been! They were of a particularly beautiful, rich, earthen-brown and specked with flecks of mica, and she vowed to henceforth make it a point to seek them out more often.
Finally realising that she'd been staring rather too intently, Galinda gave a little start. She thought to be recognising the hint of a blush on Elphaba's cheeks, but that sort of thing was hard to tell with her unusual complexion and all.
"Elphie?" she half-mumbled, and Elphaba's lips quirked fleetingly before she turned her head way.
"Yes, my sweet," she said, perhaps jokingly, and grabbed her laptop from the coffee table.
"A thought occurred to me today while I was staring at all the naked men in the club."
"Naked men?" repeated Elphaba, unabashedly entertained by Galinda's state of mind. "Did you guys visit a strip club?"
"What?" Galinda blinked and shook her head. "No, they weren't properly naked. Just somewhat naked, you see?"
"Oh, yes. I see," declared Elphaba, grinning. She opened the lid of her computer and began typing again.
Galinda pouted.
"You see? You are wicked! You're not even listening to me. This… is important."
"Ah. Okay." Schooling her face, Elphaba halted her work temporarily and expectantly looked at her housemate. "I'm all ears."
"Thank you," nodded Galinda and took a deep breath. "So, as I was saying, I was beholding those rather fetching, shirtless fellas, and then I remembered something that I should have already told you yesterday."
The look on Elphaba's face changed slightly, as if she'd just realised that Galinda was in fact trying to convey something serious. Cocking her head and folding her hands, she signalled for her to go on.
"You know… most girls get excited at the sight of a well-built man, or even the mere idea of one. They swoon over his muscles, his face, his charm… and then they want it all. That's most girls, but not all."
There, Galinda paused, and Elphaba stared at her in confused concentration.
"I—I don't think I'm gay," she slowly said a few moments later, thinking that she'd finally riddled out her puzzling words.
But Galinda gently shook her head.
"No, maybe not," she agreed. "But there are some people who… well, who don't feel that pull that others feel when they meet attractive specimens of any sex or gender. People who never feel any pulling in any direction. Who just… aren't wired that way."
This time around, Elphaba was a tad quicker to pick up on her meaning, although she might still not have understood completely.
"You… think I might be like some people," she stated to clarify.
The corners of Galinda's mouth twitched upwards as she bobbed her head yes.
"Some is a whole lot better than no one at all, right?" she said softly. "If that's how you feel, rest assured that you're not the only one."
Elphaba nodded in agreement or mere acknowledgement—Galinda couldn't really tell.
"And here's a little secret for you…"
She beckoned Elphaba to lean closer, which she hesitantly did. Once her face was close enough, Galinda cupped both of her cheeks with her hands and moved to touch her forehead against Elphaba's.
"I, too, am 'some people'. So don't be afraid. It's okay. It's just a different kind of normal. You are normal and most definitely, totally not a monster."
Her sombre declaration left no room for further discussion, only a very long and faintly awkward silence. Elphaba herself seemingly didn't dare to move until Galinda eventually released her and sat back with a drawn-out sigh.
She regarded Elphaba wistfully for a moment, then wordlessly staggered to her feet.
"Are you alright?" asked Elphaba, but the petite blonde was already on her way towards the stairs.
The moment her hand grasped the railing, she paused, and uncertainly, she turned back around.
"Uh, Elphie?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "What I just told you…"
Elphaba looked back at her with a serious expression.
"I won't say a word," she promised. "To anyone." But then she laughed lightly. "Besides, who would I tell anyway?
"Very true," replied Galinda, more sad than relived. "Ah well," she breathed. "Good night, Elphie. Fresh dreams."
"Fresh dreams," echoed Elphaba.
Galinda had no recollection of actually getting up those stairs or getting ready for bed. Yet when she randomly woke later that night, she still remembered the slightly incoherent conversation she'd had with Elphaba. She gasped in worry, then smiled happily. Maybe she'd done something stupid, maybe she'd done something good. Maybe her words would later turn out entirely irrelevant to her friend's situation. But for now, she sincerely hoped that they would help Elphaba at least a teeny, tiny bit.