So, this chapter could be considered a fill-in again. I might be posting the next chapter today already because I feel like there's close to no plot in this chapter. And also… IT'S CHAPTER 20, guys! Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!

Addition: Thanks to the guest (whoever you are) for correcting my mistakes. Lol. Such stupid mistakes so far (though, thinking about it; is there such a thing as a 'smart' mistake?) Anyway... thank you very much.

Started writing: 20.01.2020

Finished writing: 21.01.2020

Chapter 20
Books

"So," Elphaba said, her hand first on her hip and then wringing her other hand -she didn't really know what to do with it. "You broke up with Galinda."

Fiyero's eyebrows rose high, and he turned around. "How do you know that?"

Elphaba shrugged. "She told me."

The Winkie boy looked at her in disbelief. "She-? She told you? Oz, then the whole school knows."

"I'm going to ignore that last comment," said Elphaba with a snort.

Fiyero tilted his head to one side. "But I guess by now everyone knows. You should've seen how she looked at me in class. I swear, she tried to kill me with her glares."

Elphaba shrugged slightly.

"She's angry, of course. I'd be angry as well," said Elphaba and turned to help Alivia with her jacket.

It was already late afternoon. The time had passed by so quickly, and Elphaba and Fiyero had to help the children dress before their parents came to take them home.

"Have you got everything?" Elphaba asked Alivia as she buttoned up the girl's coat and Alivia nodded, pressing her book and the small stuffed giraffe close to her chest.

Elphaba smiled.

"There you go," she said and patted her shoulder. "See you tomorrow?"

Alivia nodded with a grin, turned around and ran off. When Elphaba straightened up, she saw Fiyero watching her and knit her brows.

"What is it?" she asked in confusion, but the young man waved a hand dismissively.

"You smiled," he said after a second.

Elphaba's frown increased. "Great."

But Fiyero shook his head.

"No, no," he said. "I mean, you don't smile very often. I don't think I've ever seen you smile in my presence."

Elphaba tilted her head to one side. "Maybe you should ask yourself just why that is."

Fiyero gave her a cheeky look. "Oh, I know. You secretly find me so very charming, but you don't want me to know, thus you don't smile."

The green girl snorted. "For sure."

She turned around to take the coat the next child held and knelt down before him.

"I know it's none of my business," she said over her shoulder and watched Fiyero's brows knit. "but I'd really like to know why."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?"

Elphaba handed the child his bag and sent him out of the building where he quickly ran to an elderly woman and fell into her arms.

"Why did you break up with Galinda?" she clarified.

For a second, Fiyero just stared at her, something like shock flaring up in his eyes for just a split second.

He cleared his throat. "Well... I guess it just didn't work out. I mean, I do like her, of course, but not in the way she wants me to."

Elphaba rubbed her hands together and slowly stood up from the ground.

"And you figured that out yesterday?" she asked, opening the door that led to the staff room where they kept their bags.

"No," Fiyero said with a shake of his head. "You could say I had some kind of... enlightenment, I guess."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow at him. "Enlightenment?"

Fiyero nodded silently.

"And what kind of enlightenment?" Elphaba asked in suspicion.

Fiyero turned around. "Isn't this your coat? I could swear it was."

The green-skinned woman frowned at the dark blue coat he was holding and slowly took it from him.

"Fiyero?" she asked. "I asked you something."

His brows rose high as he said in fake surprise, "Oh, really? Didn't quite get that."

He slipped into his jacket and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"Anyway, I best be going. I asked this one guy to help me with my studies, and we agreed to meet on Wednesday after the project."

Elphaba's eyes widened. "You get private tutoring?"

Fiyero shrugged and grinned. He was already halfway out the door, but Elphaba couldn't help but shout after him.

"What about your bet with your driver?"

She could hear Fiyero laugh.

"The Library of the City of Shiz announced a big sale this very morning," said Aurelion and munched his waffle.

They'd met right after the end of their shifts at the library and day-care respectively and now strode through the City of Shiz, enjoying the quiet hustle and bustle around them.

Elphaba turned away from the stall she'd been looking at and lifted her head, "A book sale?"

Her eyes shone with excitement, and she grabbed Aurelion's arm and dragged him with her.

"They are surely planning to exchange some of last year's books with new ones," she said as she wound her way through the crowd. "I hope 'Living Fear' is in the sale. I've been trying to get that one since last month, but it's always the first to be sold out."

The market place was absolutely crowded, and Elphaba needed a few seconds to find her way. Then she hurried forward again, past the stalls and carts and across the Fountain Place, never letting go of Aurelion's arm. The boy stumbled after her and shuddered to a halt next to her, panting when they'd reached the steps to the library.

"Oh, you see this?" Elphaba said and pointed at a sign next to the large French door.

No food read it, and she gave Aurelion an accusing look.

"Eat up. Quickly," she said and watched with narrowed eyes how the boy hurried to gulp his waffle down.

She shifted from foot to foot and quickly threw the entrance a look.

"Hurry."

Aurelion raised his eyebrows at her. "I am. You don't happen to have some water for me?"

Elphaba rolled with her eyes and quietly took his arm to pull him with her into the library.

The city's library was very large compared to the libraries Elphaba had known before. With two floors of almost three and a half metres ceiling height each, large oaken shelves that reached up to the ceiling and more than 40,000 books (No, Elphaba hadn't counted them all but simply asked one of the employees).

Right on the first floor, they had put up long tables with stacks of different books and Elphaba could almost feel the excitement bubble inside her.

"This is amazing," she said happily and finally let go of Aurelion's arm so she could step close to the tables and take her time to look at every single book.

They had every single genre represented in the sale; from books on the best conditions to grow maize to the classic poetry books and newest novels, and for at least half an hour Elphaba lost herself in the blurbs of a thousand books and the fine drawings on tons of pages, the simple yet beautiful covers she could imagine so very well on her own shelf.

"How much are these?" she asked a not-so-frightened-looking assistant and the woman pointed at a small sign on the table.

Elphaba nodded. "Thank you."

"Seven," she told Aurelion with a huge smile. "Seven per book. That's nothing."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "So, I'm guessing you're going to buy every single book?"

Elphaba cocked her head.

"No, I'm going to buy the library," she dead-panned and turned around to reread a few blurbs.

A good hour later, they stepped out of the library again, Elphaba's bag now filled up with at least five books.

"They should do that more often," she told her friend and hooked her arm with his.

"No, they shouldn't," said Aurelion. "Otherwise they're going to find their shelves empty in a few months."

Elphaba rolled with her eyes. "You're exaggerating. I wouldn't buy those on agriculture and religion. They'd still have a few full shelves."

Aurelion laughed lightly and nudged her side. "You're-"

"Oh look," Elphaba interrupted him and pointed at something in the crowd.

Right in front of the fountain sat a small woman with red curls and a freckled face.

"Isn't that Emry?" asked Aurelion and Elphaba raised an eyebrow.

"No," she said drily. "it's some random stranger."

She quickly made her way through the crowd and reached the woman before the fountain.

"Emry?"

The Munchkin woman turned around and smiled in surprise.

"Elphaba," she exclaimed happily and stood up to hug the green girl.

She turned to Aurelion and pulled him into an embrace.

"I haven't seen you in so long," she said and pulled them both down to sit next to her on the bench. "Why is that?"

Aurelion's cheeks flushed in a faint red, and he sent a helpless look to Elphaba.

"Well, we had midterm-exams, and then there were the holidays... there wasn't much time to visit you," the green girl said, and Emry waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh, that's alright," she said with a laugh. "I'm not mad."

She patted Elphaba's hand. "So, how are things back in Munchkinland? Somehow the 'My-ze News' doesn't send the papers to me anymore."

Elphaba rolled her eyes at the strange name of the Munchkin newspapers. Of course, they couldn't have named it normally -it had to be a pun.

"Well, it's snowing in Munchkinland."

Emry's eyes widened. "Really? That's strange."

"It is, isn't it?" said Elphaba. "I was so surprised."

She tilted her head to one side. "Other than that, I'm afraid, I'm not of great use when it comes to news of Munchkinland. I could only tell you some local news of Rush Margins, and I'm sure that would be rather boring for you."

Emry shrugged and turned towards the fountain again.

"Where are you from, exactly?" asked Elphaba watching how the short woman stared at the water for a second before turning around and smiling at her.

"Old Pastoria, near the Yellow Brick Road," Emry said. "It's a small town, famous for its farming factories."

Elphaba frowned slightly. "Isn't it right at the edge of the large farmlands?"

The Munchkin woman nodded, wrapping a strand of red hair around her fingers. "It's rather deserted. People are small-minded."

Aurelion tilted his head to one side. "I think I know Old Pastoria. Is it near the mines?"

"Well, not exactly near the mines, but they're not that far away," Emry said.

Slowly, she stood up. "Would you like to maybe sit down in a cafe? It's freezing cold out here."

Elphaba nodded. "We have the whole afternoon free. It's alright."

So, the three of them made their way back to the market place where the shops and cafes stood wall to wall and tried to lure the people in with their signs.

"See over there?" said a waiter when they entered a cafe in a small side street, and he didn't even try to subtle his disgust about the green-skinned woman before him. "That's the only spot we can offer you at the moment."

'The only spot' was a small table in the very back of the cafe where the light that shone through the windows was only dim.

"An empty table surrounded by empty tables," said Elphaba with a furrowed brow. "I can see why it's the only spot left."

The waiter lifted his head a little bit higher so that his chin was now far above Elphaba's head.

"I couldn't afford someone like you scaring away my customers," he said, and Elphaba snorted.

"What customers, may I ask?" said the green girl.

She crossed her arms. "This place is absolutely deserted on a market day. You might want to treat your only customers with a little bit more kindness."

The waiter's face flushed red, and Elphaba felt a hand on the small of her back.

"Don't mind him," Emry said quietly, gently pushed her past the waiter and added -much louder-, "The Governor's daughter cannot be bothered by such behaviour."

Elphaba snorted as she saw the waiter's blush increase.

"You're mean," she said to Emry as they sat down (at a table near the windows) and the red-haired woman began to laugh.

"You aren't exactly what they'd call a saint either," she grinned. "You're just much more subtle than I."

"I?" said Elphaba. "Subtle? Oh, that's a new one."

She tilted her head to one side. "The only one who might be considered a saint in here is Aurelion. He couldn't even harm someone for his dear life."

The young women watched Aurelion blush, and Elphaba grinned bluntly.

Another waiter approached their table and pulled out his notebook.

"Would you like to order something already?" he asked in boredom, and the end of his pen tapped furiously against the small book in his hands.

The three of them exchanged a quick look.

"Sure," said Emry. "Three cups of tea?"

Elphaba and Aurelion nodded.

The waiter scribbled something into his notes and nodded. "Will be ready in a few minutes."

He hurried away.

Elphaba turned to Aurelion. "Have you heard the latest news?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you the one with the latest news?"

Elphaba grinned. "Since today."

She shifted on her seat for a second and then said, "Fiyero takes private tutoring."

Aurelion's eyes widened. "Fiyero? Fiyero Tiggular?"

Elphaba nodded.

"Yes, him," she said. "I couldn't believe it, either. A day before he was all into getting expelled and all that and now..."

Aurelion tilted his head to the side. "You think it has something to do with the break-up?"

The green girl shrugged. "How should I know?"

Emry leant forward. "Is this the latest campus-gossip? I'm all ears for that."

Elphaba grimaced. "Oz, I hate this word. Gossip. It's almost as bad as swankified."

She took a deep breath. "But I guess you could call it just that."

The Munchkin woman clapped her hands. "Uh, tell me, tell me."

Aurelion and Elphaba exchanged a grin.

"You go," said Aurelion and the green girl nodded.

"Well, you know," she said slowly. "There's this perfect couple at Shiz. Galinda Upland, the blondest person you could ever meet; pretty and pretty distracted, and Fiyero Tiggular, the Vinkun prince that has been expelled from almost as many universities as Oz has to offer. And these two are perfect together. But then suddenly Fiyero decided it wouldn't be working out and he broke up."

"And," Aurelion interrupted with a raised finger. "he's trying to give up his getting-expelled-as-fast-as-possible-attitude, it seems."

Emry rested her chin on her hand and tilted her head. "And now she hates him, and he's getting angry letters and poisonous looks from her best friends, I assume."

Elphaba laughed, her head going far back as she said breathlessly, "I don't even think Pfanee and Shenshen could spell his name."

Aurelion grinned. "Shockingly, that might even be true."

"Here you go," the waiter interrupted their conversation and placed a tablet with three grand cups of tea before them.

"Thank you," Elphaba murmured and pulled her cup close.

"And there's something else you need to hear," said Aurelion and Elphaba gave him a questioning look.

"You know," he said, and both Emry and Elphaba leant closer. "There was this poetry gathering-"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "No, Aurelion, don't. It was nothing."

But the boy shook his head and said, "It's not nothing."

He turned to Emry again. "Well, we had this poetry gathering, all second-semester students. It was all about politics and law and Madame Morrible, the Headshiztress, recited a few poems about the political situations in Oz. And she said some terrible things about the Animals."

"Animals should be seen and not heard," Elphaba interrupted hotly, and Emry's eyes widened.

"That's what she said?" the Munchkin woman exclaimed.

Aurelion nodded. "Yes, she did. And everyone was totally confused, and suddenly Elphaba got up and marched up there and recited something about the bad sides of the story. You should've seen it; it was so powerful."

Elphaba lowered her head, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"And then she apologised and left."

"Apologised?" Emry said, and her eyes found Elphaba's. "Why would you apologise for that?"

The green girl shrugged.

"And what happened then?" Emry said to Aurelion. "What did the old hag do?"

Elphaba snorted. "'Fish' would be much more fitting."

But in truth, she herself was very interested in the proceedings of that afternoon. She had never bothered asking, but now that Emry asked, she found herself wondering as well.

"Well, Madame Morrible, of course, tried to calm us down but the students were so shocked by not only her own poem but by Elphaba's appearance as well, and then Doctor Dillamond, the only Animal in the factory, left and... well, I guess one thing let to the other..."

"So you're saying everyone just left?" Elphaba asked in shock, and she clutched the handle of her cup hard when Aurelion nodded.

"Oh, Oz," she said quietly. "Now I can understand Madame Morrible's anger; I am responsible for all that mess."

But Emry fiercely shook her head. "No, she herself is. I mean, what did she expect? That the students would just sit there and listen to her saying such terrible things?"

But Elphaba still felt horrible. And she didn't know if she could ever face Madame Morrible again, knowing how much trouble she'd caused.