Chapter Eight: Hypothetically Speaking

To say that Elphaba and Galinda were unlikely friends was an understatement, but unlikely things happened every day. Elphaba's guardedness didn't vanish overnight, but in the coming weeks she allowed herself to believe that Galinda's perhaps misplaced fondness for her was genuine. The student body underwent painful bouts of cognitive dissonance as they bore witness to the new friends. They couldn't decide whether to shun Galinda or accept Elphaba. In the end, neither option seemed to be something they were willing to do.

Between her secret confidant and Galinda, Elphaba began feeling less tense about the subject of friends. In fact, despite her ongoing estrangement from Nessarose, she was rather content with her tiny circle of allies. She expressed this sentiment in her letters to Yero.

To fill in the time between mail arriving, Elphaba busied herself by re-reading his correspondence. The details began to paint a rich picture of who Yero was…or at least who he was to her.

Sincerely, Yero…

Elphaba had noticed the change a few letters ago, his subtle shift between Signed to Sincerely. There was an intentionality to the word that warmed her. She would often find herself tracing a slender green finger over his name, committing the curvature of his signature to her memory. Elphaba wasn't nosy for the most part, but there were times where she'd catch her eyes slowly drifting towards her classmates' assignments. It wasn't the content that interested her, but rather the handwriting. She was confident that she'd not yet seen Yero's writing in the real world. After all, she would know it anywhere. To her, Yero's penmanship was…art.

"Psst!"

Elphaba's daydream was suddenly broken by Fiyero's harassing whisper. In a stroke of bad luck, Fiyero had recently been transferred to their history class, giving him and Galinda even more opportunities to make eyes at each other. That day their tables were arranged into different sections as they worked in small groups. Fiyero and Galinda had been placed into different pods, a fate you'd think was worse than death by the way they were acting.

"Pass this to Galinda," Fiyero whispered as he attempted to hand Elphaba a folded note.

Elphaba, who had been placed in the same group as Galinda, was seated just close enough to Fiyero's circle for him to make it her problem.

"Do I look like a carrier Pigeon?" Elphaba muttered. "Stop distracting me."

"Why are you always so difficult?"

"Why are you always so annoying!?"

"Just hand it to her!" Fiyero waved the note near her face. Elphaba forcefully swiped the note away from him.

"What's in here that is so important that she read it now?"

Elphaba began to unfold the page but before she could see its contents the missive was pulled from her hands.

"Why Miss Elphaba, I'm surprised at you. You're not usually the type to pass notes in class," Doctor Dillamond said.

Fiyero bit back a laugh as he turned back towards his study circle and Elphaba glared his way.

"Apologies, Professor. I agree that notes are distracting. In fact, I insist that you confiscate it."

Doctor Dillamond, deducing the situation, chuckled heartily.

"Very well, Miss Elphaba. I am feeling a bit peckish anyway."

Fiyero's jaw dropped as the Goat promptly chewed up his note to Galinda as a snack.

"Eyes on your assignment, Master Fiyero," Dillamond tapped his hoof on Fiyero's table. "And stop distracting Miss Elphaba."

Elphaba made a beeline for the post office after class and found, with disappointment, that there was no mail for her yet. The roundabout way their letters had to traverse was causing an irksome delay to her and Yero's conversations. She yearned for quicker responses. Thus, unconventional problems called for unconventional solutions.

Dear Yero,

I have an idea. There is a tree on the west side of campus near the canal. It is off the beaten track but not difficult to find. There's a hollow in the trunk that could act as a private drop off spot for our letters. This is not in any way a ploy to meet you. Nothing will change between us except for the expediency of our letters.

If you agree with the plan, drop your next letter off there. If it comes by mail, I'll take that as your answer.

Sincerely, Fae

It was a risky suggestion, Elphaba could own that. What if someone found their letters? Or worse, what if he saw her putting a letter in the tree? What if she saw him? What would she do?

On the other hand, the danger behind a clandestine mission excited her. She'd learned to be sneaky living at Thropp Manor. Tiptoeing around her father day and night, sneaking food, sneaking books, ghosting about as if she didn't exist. Besides all of that, she'd get to read Yero's words more frequently. That alone felt worth the risk.

When Elphaba returned to her dorm that evening, she was nearly ambushed by her roommate who held two pairs of earrings in front of her face.

"Oh Elphie, thank Oz you're here!" Galinda gushed. "Help me pick. Fiyero is taking me out and I must accessorize myself!"

"I don't know how you can even stand to be in the same room as that man let alone date him!" Elphaba griped.

"Well, he's got a great butt."

"I'm serious, Galinda. You are smart, charismatic, confident–"

"Popular," Galinda added.

"Yes, and–"

"Charitable. Charitable too."

"You're an all-around catch, Galinda!" Elphaba concluded tiredly. "You could have your pick of anyone. Why go after someone so spoiled?"

"Again…have you seen his butt?"

"No, Galinda!" Elphaba sighed. "All I'm saying is that I wouldn't want to spend my time with someone like him."

"Then who would you want to spend time with?" Galinda prodded.

"Oh…I don't know. I haven't really thought about it…" Elphaba dismissed as she sat on her bed. She contemplated the question for a moment and shrugged. "Just someone genuine, you know? Someone who cares about what I have to say. Someone clever—now not necessarily academic, but someone who is witty in their own way."

"What about looks?" Galinda prompted, taking a slow seat on her bed.

"It doesn't matter to me," Elphaba said at once. She considered her knee jerk reaction for a moment and realized that it was true. "It doesn't matter if they're tall or short…if their eyes are blue or brown. What does that matter so long as our minds meet?"

Elphaba rubbed the back of her neck and unconsciously shifted her gaze towards her desk, the place in her room that felt the warmest to her. The brightest.

"I'd want someone who complements me—but also challenges me. Someone who makes me look at things a different way," she exhaled softly and closed her eyes. "Someone who when I speak to them makes me feel heard, seen, makes me feel…known."

"Oh…sweet…Oz," Galinda said in a hushed tone.

Elphaba opened her eyes. "What?"

"You're in love."

Elphaba let out a short laugh before registering the earnest look on Galinda's face. Her throat went dry as the revelation sunk deep into her bones.

"No."

"Elphie, you are in love!" Galinda repeated, bouncing up from her bed.

"I'm not, though!" Elphaba contended, standing as well. "It–it was all hypothetical! Just hypothetically speaking that's the kind of person I–"

"Hypothetically!?" Galinda squeaked. "You were staring off into space like you were having some sort of prophecy! You just monologued, Elphie. You were picturing someone!"

"No–"

"You were! Admit it right now."

"It was hypothetical!"

"Elphie's in love!" Galinda proclaimed at the top of her lungs. "Elphaba Thropp is in L-O-V–mmph!"

Elphaba smothered a hand over Galinda's mouth. "You stop that right now."

"Admit it," Galinda demanded in a muffled voice through Elphaba's hand. Elphaba narrowed her eyes and removed her hand from Galinda's mouth. "Fine. If not love then you've a whopper of a crush! Who did you picture?"

"I wouldn't say I…pictured anyone–per say. I-I mean yes I did—but also no—because," Elphaba stammered. "Listen, it's complicated!"

"Sweet Oz, you're blushing!" Galinda gasped, pressing her palms into the sides of Elphaba's face and squishing at her cheeks. "Your face gets greener when you blush, did you know that?"

"I will kill you," Elphaba warned as she yanked her face away.

"Who is it? Who is it, who is it, who is it? Tell me everything!"

Panic rose in Elphaba's chest as she looked Galinda in the eye. It wasn't that she didn't trust Galinda, she did, but with a secret like this? Since the beginning Yero's letters were something that belonged to her and her alone. They were intensely personal, something private between the two of them. To let another person into that felt like a betrayal, not only to him, but to them. Yero was hers. It had to stay that way.

"I-I can't tell you…" Elphaba said, her voice teeming with remorse.

"What?! Elphieeeee."

"I know, I know, I know…" Elphaba rushed to placate her. "Please believe me that I have a very good reason for not telling you!"

Galinda groaned dramatically and flopped face down on Elphaba's bed. "Elphie, you cannot do this to me!"

"Galinda—"

"I'll perish, Elphaba! I'll perish!"

"Ask me anything else and I'll tell you," Elphaba bargained. "Any other secret."

"Okay why do you sleep with this little green bottle under your pillow?" Galinda asked suddenly, pulling the bottle out from under Elphaba's pillow.

"Careful—" Elphaba gasped, instinctively reaching to grab it. "It…belonged to my mother. That's all."

"That's not even that good of a secret! I thought it was going to be drugs or something."

"You thought I was on drugs?"

"Well, I don't know! ShenShen mentioned that the green could be drug related."

"Why do you still hang out with ShenShen?"

"We wear the same sized shoes."

"Ah."

The friends sat in silence for a few moments and Elphaba looked down and turned the bottle a few times in her hands.

"I don't know why I'm green. Nobody does. For all I know it'll always be a mystery, particularly because Nessarose is…"

She trailed off and Galinda put a hand on Elphaba's shoulder.

"Has she spoken to you yet?"

Elphaba cleared her throat and shook her head. "No, uh…not yet."

Galinda wrapped her arms around Elphaba and leaned her head against hers.

"Don't you worry, Elphie. I'll think of something!" she assured her. "Now tell me who you're in love with!"

"I am not in love!"

However, sometime later as Elphaba crossed campus towards the canal, she wasn't so sure. Love was a strong word, particularly to apply to someone you'd never even met, but if it wasn't that then what was this feeling? A whopper of a crush, as Galinda said? Her stomach flipped when she spotted the shady oak she'd described in her letter, but she reminded herself to act natural. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to herself in this location.

There was a posse of students enjoying a picnic by the lakeshore so, as much as the anticipation was killing her, she didn't check the hollow right away. She'd given the postal service enough time to reach Yero so a letter very well could be waiting for her today.

She had planned beforehand to stick around the area for a bit to provide a cover. For all people knew, this was simply a reading spot of hers. At first, she settled her back against the trunk but after a few minutes of reading she curiously shifted her gaze upwards. The branch above her wasn't too high up and appeared sturdy. With a jolt of spontaneity, she threw her bag over her shoulder and began climbing. With some effort, she settled atop the branch and took a satisfied breath.

She loved heights.

The breeze and the shade were actually quite nice. She leisurely turned the pages of the book, basking in autumn air and solitude, until her eyelids began to feel heavy. It couldn't hurt to rest them…just for a tick-tock…

"So, it's okay for you to fall asleep in public but when I do it it's some huge crime!"

Fiyero Tigelaar's voice tore through Elphaba's dreaming state and she awoke with a strong lurch. Her book plummeted face down on the ground and she had a split moment to react before she met the same fate.

"WHOA! Watch it!" Fiyero's voice shouted from below.

Having lost her balance from the shock, Elphaba wobbled over the side and she quickly lunged upwards to grasp the branch with both hands. The bark dug into her fingertips as she dangled in midair and looked down. A drop from this height wouldn't be devastating, but she was still too high up to comfortably free fall.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Elphaba panted. "First the cart and now this?!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Fiyero shouted. He threw his bag off of his shoulder and took a few steps towards her. "Just hold still—"

Elphaba kicked one of her dangling legs towards him with a frustrated growl. "No! Back off!"

"Wha–why are you kicking!?" he complained as she forcefully swung her legs towards him. "Stop kicking!"

"Stop kicking," Elphaba mimicked him in a childish tone, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Damn. You've got a lot of upper body strength…" Fiyero marveled.

"Would you just give me a tick-tock?!"

A few fingers lost their grip and Elphaba shrieked as she swung precariously from one hand.

"Just—let me—"

"I've got it!"

"Watch—"

In a chaotic flurry Elphaba's other hand finally slipped off the branch and she crash landed right into Fiyero. The prince grunted and tumbled backwards onto a pile of leaves as Elphaba fell on top of him. The pair groaned in pain as they regained their bearings. Elphaba's glasses were askew and strands of hair fell forward to brush against Fiyero's cheek. Their eyes met and the realization of their position simultaneously sunk in with horror.

"Move!"

"Get off of me!"

They frantically scrambled to gain distance from each other. Elphaba snatched her book from the ground and held it out at arm's length like a shield.

"Tell me, Tigelaar. Do you go out of your way to endanger me or do you simply take the opportunities as they come?!"

"Hey! You collided into me! Know something?" Fiyero crossed his arms conceitedly. "I think that you owe me an apology."

"What—you—ooooh…" Elphaba hummed angrily, too provoked to put together a proper sentence. "You're right, Fiyero. I collided into you. I would say you should check for a brain injury but it seems you haven't got one to begin with!"

Fiyero stiffened, his easy smirk gone now.

"You know, some people can be smart without feeling the need to make other people feel like total idiots!"

"Oh yeah? Well, some people can actually say what they mean instead of making a mockery of anything and everything!"

"You infuriate me!"

"Mutual, darling."

Fiyero made an aggravated sound and began to trod off. "You're welcome for breaking your fall by the way!"

"You owe me an—urgh!"

Elphaba kicked a pile of leaves. Forget it. Forget him! She leaned up against the trunk of the tree as she watched him go until he was completely out of sight before darting around the perimeter of the tree to check the hollow. Please Yero, she thought. She could use a win today.

She reached inside and began feeling around the edges. Her heart leapt as her fingers brushed against a paper envelope. Marked upon it was no address, but rather an unassuming 'F'.

"Smart boy," she whispered fondly.

Even from the single initial she could recognize his penmanship. She pulled the letter open and read it with bated breath.

Dear Fae,

I hope this letter reaches only your hands. Your idea is risky, but I like risky. I'm glad you came up with this plan. I was going crazy waiting for your letters. On that note, there is something I've been wanting to get off of my chest…and I'm not sure why I didn't tell you sooner.

Elphaba paused to hold the letter against her chest. The way it was worded set off a million alarm bells in her body. Had Yero come to a similar conclusion as she had? Did Yero feel the same way?

Elphaba took a hopeful breath, braced herself, and excitedly read on.

I've been seeing somebody.