Galinda sighed deeply; already the first day, and rumors were flying wildly. She was already annoyed at having been told the same thing five times. What was the point of the silly rumor, anyway, if she didn't even know the girl?
Galinda flipped her hair over her other shoulder and scowled at Shenshen. "I've already heard the story; some stupid girl's gone mad. Enough!" Picking up her suitcase, she started to walk importantly toward the gates. "Relina told Marshlu, who told Kega, who told Pfannee, who told Arly, who told me, that the maniac's also coming to this school, right?" Shenshen nodded swiftly, and Galinda added, "Well, she had better come in handcuffs. . . ."
"She hasn't been tried yet, but the evidence is ghastly huge, Galinda; she must be guilty. Frankly, in my own opinion, there's no other option than to immediately throw her to Southstairs, don't you think, Galinda?"
"Shenshen, as much as I like gossip, it's no fun unless I'm currently acquainted with the person the gossip's about." Galinda frowned at her. "In any other situation, I classify it as none of my business."
Shenshen opened her mouth to add more, but Galinda snapped, "Now, I don't want to talk about it anymore, please."
Galinda made her way gracefully up to the woman in charge; Madame Morrible, Headmistress, and curtsied. When she came up again, her curls bouncing, Galinda smiled sweetly and said, "Hello, ma'am? I do believe that you are Madame Morrible, Headmistress here at the great Shiz, am I correct?" Then, to slather on the flattery, she curtsied again.
Madame Morrible scrutinized Galinda carefully, before giving her own generous smile in return. "Yes, I am, Miss. . . ."
"Galinda Upland," Galinda said quickly, "Miss Galinda Upland, of the Upper Uplands." Galinda was absolutely glowing with happiness. Then she turned to Shenshen, who had obediently followed her toward the large woman. "And this is my lovely friend—"
"Miss Shenshen—"
"Lovely to meet you both," Morrible interrupted Shenshen, looking over the many heads quickly. Madame Morrible pushed past them, obviously in a hurry, and went pressed her way past all of the freshman college students, just arriving to the campus.
Galinda cocked her head to the side, a bit hurt at the rudeness. But what she heard the Headmistresses murmur next made her gasp and yank Shenshen's arm away, into a corner where they wouldn't be noticed.
Galinda peeked around a large potted plant and gasped again. "Oh, Oz, she's coming . . ."
"Who?" Shenshen asked, peeking herself over Galinda's shoulder.
"That girl," Galinda said, ignoring Shenshen. "Ugh, look at her, would you? She even looks like the criminal type—utterly hideous, with an ugly little scowl on her face . . ." Galinda frowned, her lip pursing. "I just want to smack it off, don't you?"
Shenshen stood on her tiptoes and gasped as well. "Oh my," she said, and seemed to be incapable of saying anything else.
"She'd better not come anywhere near me—" Galinda started to say, but was interrupted by the odd girl when she suddenly slammed her revolting suitcase to the ground and stomped her foot upon it.
"What are you looking at?" she demanded loudly, breaking the silence that had ensued. "What?" For a moment, her gaze met Galinda's and Galinda quickly looked away. A cold feeling had crept up her spine, and she paused to shiver.
"Well, what?" the girl asked again, throwing her arms apart. Then her face fell. "Oh, is something in my teeth? Is my underskirt showing? Or, hey, here's a thought, maybe it's not the skin this time? You think I hurt my sister?" She turned around, looking at everyone, picked up her suitcase again and gave a dignified nod, as if clarifying her unanswered question. Then she strode off, Madame Morrible following suit, trying to keep up with her.
When she had left, the whole room burst into urgent whispers, and they all looked terrified, Galinda in particular. The blonde girl had her hand over her heart and was facing the wall. When Shenshen patted her shoulder, Galinda simply wheezed, "I've never been so terrified in my life. I thought she was going to kill me."
Shenshen patted Galinda's shoulder again, looking horribly frightened herself. "Best stay clear, Galinda," she whispered, "Best not fight to be next on her list. I mean, see what she did to her own sister—of all people!"
Galinda had heard sure, and the thought disturbed her. Would this girl hurt someone else if she didn't have the ethics that told her harming her own sister was wrong? It didn't seem as though she would—and the look Galinda had been given. . . .
"And, not to mention, she's the Governor of Munchkinland's daughter." Shenshen's face wrinkled up in disgust, and she swished her hair. "I mean, imagine how he must be taking it—it's bad publicity, it is."
Galinda looked over, animated. "What's her name?"
"Miss Elphaba Thropp," Shenshen scoffed. "I mean, Frexspar Thropp, sure he's a good Governor, but couldn't he have named his kid better? She sounds as though she's part elf or something. But it's not really as if the name matters much, with that skin color. . . ."
But Galinda was hardly listening; she'd heard about this girl before, and now, she was even sure that she'd met her before. Somewhere. But exactly where? Galinda clicked her tongue, thinking.
Shenshen shook Galinda's shoulder a bit later, looking distressed. "Galinda, everyone's getting room assignments! Look at that line—we'd be lucky to get much of anything at this point!"
Galinda looked up, and indeed, the line did look long. They hurried to the end of the line to wait. Shenshen continued babbling once they come to a standstill.
"Did you hear what she actually did to her sister, though?" Shenshen asked, looking pointedly at Galinda.
"No," Galinda said tonelessly, looking back at Shenshen. "What did she do?"
Shenshen sighed sadly. "That's the problem; nobody knows. I've asked everyone, but no one's heard anything about that detail in particular."
"I wonder why that is?" Galinda mused quietly.
"I think that the Governor's trying to keep it on the hush-hush," Shenshen babbled loudly. "I mean, I would if it were me. Who exactly would want the whole of Oz to think that the future Governor wasn't up to her best?" Shenshen was looking at her nails. "Besides, the last thing he needs is a lot of visitors when she's trying to get better. But still, one does wonder what the matter with her is. . . ."
Galinda nodded absently as they stepped forward and greeted Madame Morrible once more. Later, Galinda would wring more information out of her, but for now the matter of rooms and roommates needed to be sorted out.
"I am terribly sorry, Madame," Galinda said, "We didn't realize you were registering rooms, but I will assure you that mum and daddy requested my own private suite—I do believe you should have it written down on your notes. . . ?"
"Yes, yes," the Madame said, glancing at her parchment, "They did send me such a letter, but, since you were late to request a room when you very well could have been in the front of the line, I am afraid that all private suites have been called for." She flipped through several more pages, and shook her head at Galinda. "I am sorry—if you would like, you may find a roommate of the same gender who doesn't already have one."
"Does that apply to me, too?" Shenshen asked timidly.
Morrible nodded curtly, and Shenshen bounced around immediately, looking for someone to room with. Everyone looked as though they were roomed together, except. . . .
"Pfannee!" Shenshen yelled. "Be my roommate!"
Pfannee smiled back and nodded, and Shenshen looked back at Morrible, obviously please with herself. "Sign me up to partner with Miss Pfannee, please."
Galinda stared at her friends; where did that leave her?
"Uh, Madame Morrible," Galinda said pompously, becoming annoyed, "Now where am I supposed to stay? Can't I stay with them, too? Everywhere else is full. . . ."
Morrible flipped through her notes again. "No. Sorry, dear."
"Well, why not?"
"Only two beds," said the Headmistress.
"I'll sleep on the couch," Galinda snapped.
Morrible fixed her gaze with Galinda's and muttered darkly, "There is no couch supplied in the dorms, Miss Galinda. So, I'd suggest that, unless you want to sleep on the floor, you should find yourself another roommate."
Galinda let out a small breath and scanned the room again. "Isn't everyone paired up, though? It looks so."
Morrible bit her lip, and stopped at a particular roll of parchment. "Well, my dear, there is one girl who does not have a roommate."
At this, Galinda's heart warmed. She'd been so full of dread that she wouldn't have a place to stay. The blonde smiled with relief and said, "All right then, who is it?" She was quite confident she already knew the person. After all, she was quite popular in this crowd—
"Miss Elphaba Thropp," Madame Morrible stated sharply, flipping the pages into a neat pile in her hand once more. "I pray that won't be a problem; after all of the hardships dear Elphaba is going through at present."
Galinda's mouth was hanging open; she fought to shut it as she scurried after Morrible, who was slowly walking away. Stopping in front of the older woman, Galinda tried to look confident when she squeaked, "Miss Elphaba Thropp, Madame? Do you really think that's entirely safe with-with. . . ?"
"Surely you're not questioning this poor girl's mental stability," Morrible asked slowly, as though she figured Galinda herself was mental. "I'm sure the whole rumor is nothing merely than a large misunderstanding."
"That dreadful girl's murdered her only sister!" Galinda shrieked shrilly. Instantly, Galinda's cheeks went bright pink, and the whole hall lit up with whispers and noisy yells that echoed loudly.
"Miss Upland," Morrible whispered horribly, her eyes alight with fire, "do not tell such lies."
And then she stormed off, leaving Galinda embarrassed and amazed with herself. Had she ever had such an outburst? Quite never.
"And you will be rooming with Elphaba Thropp," Morrible said loudly as she walked away. "And I will hear nothing more of it."
A moment later, Shenshen poked Galinda's side and griped, "Why didn't you tell me that you knew? I mean, you knew about what she did—and you didn't tell me!" Shenshen rolled her eyes, and Pfannee, beside her, copied the movement. "What a horrorfical lie!"
Galinda scrunched up her face angrily and pointed a finger at Shenshen. "I didn't know," she snapped. "I still don't—that just sort of . . . slipped out. . . ."
Pfannee looked despaired while Shenshen shook her head angrily. "Galinda, the school's already talking about it."
"I didn't mean it," Galinda squeaked, watching someone across the room whisper excitedly. "It wasn't intended!"
"Well," Shenshen remarked, shuddering to herself. "You'd better be prepared, unless she decides to kill you, too."
* * * * *
Galinda walked into her room that she shared with Elphaba Thropp hesitantly that afternoon, and dropped her bag beside the bed closest to the door. On the other bed sat a girl with long, dark hair. It shadowed her face as she unpacked, and, for a moment, the girl looked normal. But when Galinda noisily shut the room's door, Elphaba Thropp looked up.
She had a thin and narrow face twisted up into the same nasty scowl that Galinda had seen earlier in the day. She had a small, sharp nose, slightly upturned at the end, and as she pushed back her hair, Galinda saw that she had a perfectly defined widow's peak, something that Galinda had always so dearly wished that she had.
Elphaba gave Galinda an up-and-down look quickly and snapped her shabby suitcase closed. Then, in that long, graceful stride of hers, she stashed it away in the empty closet near the bathroom. Then she walked back over to her own bed and threw a dark blanket over the sheets. Then her eyes met Galinda's aggressively.
"Listen, I know that you think I've done something horrible to my sister, and you probably know that I'm convinced you're not a virgin—so," she clapped her hands together, "let's just get along with our lives, shall we?"
And so began Galinda's days with the green girl.
