Elphaba gave Glinda the silent treatment for days, which Glinda could endure. After all, Elphie talked too much at times anyway. Impatiently, Glinda waited for a report from Boq about Fiyero's love interests. Boq couldn't find anything at first, but being as loyal as he was, came up with something after a few weeks.

"Avaric and I got his roomie to let us into his room while he was out. At first we were sure there was nothing there to find, but there were a bunch of scrunched up papers in the garbage bin that looked like the beginning of a note to someone. Here's one of them." Boq handed Glinda the note proudly.

Hey, look, I know what I said the other day must've bothered you, but I didn't mean to upset you. I just didn't want to hear you talk that way about yourself when it isn't true. Forget about Avaric and whoever else teases you, I think you're beautiful…

Oh damn it! This isn't going to get me anywhere. She'd hate me if I said this, especially the part about thinking she's beautiful. She got upset with me for telling her an insult she'd heard wasn't true, a compliment surely wouldn't get me anywhere.

Glinda looked at Boq. "Perfect!" She hugged him. "Now, tell me, do you have any idea who he's writing to?"

"No." Boq shook his head, feeling like a failure.

"Good."

Glinda could be confusing sometimes. Looking back at her, he said, "Why?"

"Oh," she smiled, "no reason."

So now she just had to get them together. She wondered if Fiyero really did find Elphaba beautiful. It's not that Elphaba was ugly, per se, but you had to look at her differently in order to see something pretty. Whether or not Fiyero thought Elphaba was beautiful, she'd get them together. Elphaba deserved a chance, too.

"Elphaba?" She asked one night as they were getting ready to go to sleep. Elphaba simply ignored her. "Oh, Elphie, come on."

"What do you want?" Elphaba said angrily.

"Why don't you tell Fiyero how you feel?"

"I didn't think you were this stupid, Glinda. Why? Because I'll make a fool out of myself. Why? Because he doesn't like me. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"But he likes you! He does!"

Elphaba went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. "And Pigs can fly." She brushed forcefully for two minutes before spitting.

"Maybe they can. But wouldn't you want to have a chance with him? Don't you want someone to love you? I mean, Elphaba, he thinks you're beautiful."

She spat into the sink and came back into the room. "He does not think I'm beautiful. He told me that I'm not ugly, which was more of an attempt to comfort me than to compliment me."

"How do you know?"

"I'm not answering that."

"What if he said he liked you?"

"I'd think he was insane and tell someone to take him to the doctor. Glinda, boys don't like me. They just don't." Elphaba shook her head and got into bed. "Now, let me go to sleep. I don't feeling like dreaming of things that will never happen, so if you'd please let the subject drop and we can talk about politics, that'd be nice."

Glinda sighed and stopped talking. It looked like Fiyero would have to be the one to make the first move. So Glinda had yet another conversation with Boq.

"If Fiyero liked someone, do you think he'd have the nerve to ask her out?"

Boq laughed. "He's too shy. I don't know if he'd ask even if the girl liked him."

"All right. I'm going to tell you something and you can't tell anyone else. Promise?"

"Of course."

"That note you found? Fiyero was writing it to Elphie."

"What?"

"Yup. And better yet, Elphie's got this monster crush on him, and she admitted it! It took her a long time to admit it, but she did. I really want to set them up. Do you think there's anything you can say to Fiyero that would get him to ask, or at least admit how he feels about her to her?"

Boq blinked, comprehending slowly. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you so much, Boq! I will not forget this." She smiled at him sweetly.

"She'd better not." He muttered as he walked away. Upstairs, he knocked on Fiyero's door. His roomie answered. "Hey, is Fiyero around?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Fiyero!"

The Vinkus prince came wandering into the hallway lazily. "Yeah?"

"What's up?" Boq asked casually.

He shrugged. "I just finished my life sciences homework. If you haven't started, you might want to get started; it took forever."

"I'm done, too. Anyway, I need some help."

"No problem. What is it?"

"Well, I need to find a good way to ask Miss Glinda out… Avaric is no gentleman and I don't want to ask him. Crope and Tibbett aren't exactly into women, I don't think, and so, yeah. Do you have a girlfriend back home or anything, by the way?"

"Not exactly." Fiyero muttered.

"You ever had a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Oh. Same. But Miss Glinda is so… wonderful. You know what I mean? Do you have any particular fancy of any girl at Shiz? Don't be afraid if it's Miss Glinda, I couldn't blame you."

"No, it's not Miss Glinda."

"But you do fancy a girl?"

"You could put it that way."

"Would you hate me if I asked who?"

"I don't mind. But you'd laugh if you knew."

"What makes you think that?"

"Not many people are very accepting of her."

So Glinda had been right. Elphie and Fiyero? Who'd have guessed? What an odd pairing. But that would only make sense, though, wouldn't it? "It's all right. I won't laugh. I promise. You can tell me."

"I don't know…"

"Please? Maybe we can help each other out. You can help me figure out what to say to Miss Glinda and I can help you find out if the girl you fancy fancies you, or anything."

Fiyero sighed. "Promise?"

"Yes."

"Well, I know this is odd, but she's just so… different, and I find that endearing in some way. And she's so intriguing. It's, well, um, it's Elphaba."

Boq feigned surprise. "Elphie? Really?" He smiled comfortingly at Fiyero. "That would be interesting. Especially because, well, oh, maybe I shouldn't say anything."

"What?"

"I don't know if anyone would want me saying this."

"Please tell me."

"Well, both Miss Glinda and I have suspected that Elphie has feelings for you. She's always looking at you."

"She ran out on me the other day."

"Why?"

Fiyero explained (as if Boq hadn't already known).

"It's probably because she's… not used to anyone complimenting her or anything. It might make her uncomfortable."

Fiyero nodded. "That's very possible."

"You should ask her to dinner or something! Or the winter formal… Well, maybe not. I can't see Elphaba going to a dance. But you should ask her out to a play or concert or dinner. I mean, what harm could it cause?"

"Ha! She could think I'm joking and get offended and she can be vicious, you know." He said, somewhat fondly.

"You just have to find the right way to ask her."

"Weren't we talking about Miss Glinda and you?"

"What? Oh yeah! Never mind that. I figured something out. Now the important thing is you and Elphie."

"I don't think I should ask her."

"But if you don't, you'll be all alone and so will she. Avaric is thinking of going with Pfanee and Crope and Tibbett are most definitely having some sort of secret love relationship. Do you want to be left out? I mean, if I manage to win over Miss Glinda, then the only people in our circle of friends who wouldn't have paired off would be you, Elphaba and Shen-Shen. And Shen-Shen would surely go after you if you were the only one left. I don't think you'd want that, either."

"Well, no, but…"

"So ask her!"

"I'll think about it. As you said, I'd have to find the right way to ask."

"Get her alone, first of all. She probably wouldn't like it in public." Boq thought for a few moments. "I could ask Miss Glinda for help, if you want."

"If you get the chance, go ahead."

"Oh, I will, believe me."

Several hours later, Boq met Glinda in the garden near her dormitory. She asked, "What did he say?"

"He's afraid she'll kill him if he asks her."

Glinda giggled. "He's right."

"So I told him he'd just have to ask her the proper way. Could you find out what that way is?"

"No. She already thinks I'm putting him up to things. With this, we're just going to have to use intuition."

"How?"

"Well," she smiled, "I do have an idea. He should probably just come right out and ask her. She won't like anything fancy or romantic."

"How should he word it, though?"

"That's up to him. We need to give them a chance to be alone, though. I guess next time we're at the café, I should upset her again."

"That's very nice of you."

"Well, do you have any brilliant ideas?"

"Let's have another game of ERS."

Glinda kissed Boq lightly on the cheek. "You're a genius."

At dinner later that week (after Boq had talked to Fiyero some more), Glinda waited until everyone had finished eating and suggested another couple of rounds of ERS. "Who votes same partners as last time?"

Elphaba pretended not to be listening. Not counting Elphaba, Shen-Shen was the only one who disagreed with having the same partners as the time before. Glinda understood, but this was not for Shen-Shen, this was about Elphie.

"All right, then. Same partners it is!" Glinda grinned at Boq, who she'd already discussed the code with, and waved her wand subtly, curious to hear what Fiyero and Elphaba were saying. She noted that Elphaba didn't move; Fiyero got up and walked over to her.

"Hey."

"Oh, hi!" She pretended to snap out of her non-existent stupor. "We're playing ERS again? I'm so tired of this game. And poor Shen-Shen. You know, I think I'll sit out this round. Why don't you partner up with her?"

"No. I like having you as my partner. We do really well together."

She turned greener in her cheeks. "Well, I… I guess."

"Good." He smiled at her. "Why don't we just use the same code as last time? No one figured it out."

"Sure."

Everyone else was still working things out. "So, Elphaba…"

"Yes?"

Glinda squealed on the other side of the table. She knew this was it. Elphaba threw her a look. But Glinda couldn't help but giggle. "He's going to ask," she whispered to Boq.

Fiyero took a deep breath and asked, "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to have dinner with me – just me – tomorrow night?"

Elphaba froze for a moment, staring at him. "What?"

"Well, I mean, if tomorrow doesn't work, that's fine. But I-I just wanted to know if you'd g-g-go out with me sometime? To dinner or something…" He was stuttering.

"What do you mean 'go out'?" She asked quietly.

"I mean, like, on a date." He almost choked on his own words.

A small smile crept into her face. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Then, well, I… sure." Her cheeks could've turned purple; there was so much blood rushing behind them.

"I'll meet you outside your building at six, then?"

"All right."

"All right." He paused, feeling awkward. "Let's go win a few more rounds of ERS, Elphie."

He hadn't called her Elphie before. She smiled and said, "Yeah. Let's do that."