Okay, so I really hope I get some reviews for this chapter, because it's longer than the rest and interesting. But, to be serious, if I don't have some reviews, I won't write this anymore. I hate to drop the bomb like that, but I'm not going to be convinced this is worth it if I don't get reassurance that everyone's enjoying it like I want them to. Thanks a bunch. Read and review!
-Faba
Elphaba felt as though she'd been plunged into deep water. She'd dressed modestly, in a plain black frock, and had her dark hair tied back with a thin strip of black cloth. She felt miserably out of place amongst all of the bright clothing, and found that she knew absolutely no one.
Elphaba walked inside of the booming ballroom, alight with shimmering lights. The music was so loud that Elphaba's face was instantly frozen in a grimace that was most unlike the grins all around her.
She pushed past the crowd, looking for a familiar face.
"I heard that there's a new guy here," someone gushed near her ear, although it was obvious the girl wasn't talking to Elphaba, as a response soon followed.
"I know—he's supposed to be adorable—"
There was a pause as Elphaba shoved between them, and then an angry scowl.
"Someone should be more considerate."
"Oh, I know," the other girl griped.
Elphaba had developed a sickly feeling within her stomach by this point. The strobe-light effect was beginning to hurt her eyes, and she found the music nearly deafening. She felt as though she was walking in circles about the ballroom, and she probably had been.
In time, though, a hand found its way to her shoulder, and she was being dragged over to a small table. She didn't have to look over to know it was Avaric.
"Having fun, Princess?" he asked, sitting down. Elphaba stared standing and glared at him.
"No," she said, "I shouldn't have even come here—I should be at the library, studying up on bylaws for my case!—"
"But then you wouldn't be here to listen to my little story." He smiled weakly at her, and she was instantly suspicious.
"Story?" she asked.
"Yes, um, would you like some punch? And you may want to sit down for this. . . ."
Only when Elphaba was seated with a cup clutched between her skinny fingers would he explain.
"You see, I understand what you're going through . . . somewhat. . . ."
"Really," she said, "you've been accused of bludgeoning your sister by your father, have you?"
"No, but I did have a sister."
It took a moment longer than usual for Elphaba to catch was he was insinuating. Only then did her hand fly to her mouth in surprise. With startled eyes she watched him, and then sighed.
"Did have a sister?" she said softly.
"Correct."
There was long silence before Elphaba put her hand down.
"I'm sorry."
"She died a natural death, though; I didn't kill her."
Elphaba's sympathy faded. "My sister's not dead—and regardless of that, I didn't hurt her."
"Elphaba, you do realize how badly that is going to hold up in court, don't you?" Avaric looked serious for once in his life, which only infuriated Elphaba.
"I do realize that, but a judge's decision doesn't matter as much as the truth. As long I know it's true and as long as my friend's believe me. . . ."
"That won't matter much when you're behind bars," Avaric noted smugly.
"You know what? You can shove it up—"
"Miss Elphie!"
Shocked, Elphaba looked quickly over her shoulder. Galinda was there, and unexpected relief filtered through Elphaba. She was happy to see someone she knew besides Avaric, but was a bit baffled by the odd nickname nonetheless. Elphaba stood, but looked back over at Avaric one last time.
"So, do youthink I purposely hurt my sister Nessarose?"
"I have no reason to think so, Miss Elphaba," he said, still quite seriously, "but I understand what you're going through."
"Miss Elphaba!" Galinda said, drawing near.
With one last scowl, Elphaba left Avaric to see Galinda.
"You came!" Galinda sighed, looking miserable.
"Yes, I came. Avaric deeply wanted to entertain me and I could not decline." Frowning, she added, "And what did you call me a minute ago?"
"Oh," she said, blushing. "'Elphie'—it's sort of what everyone's calling you. . . . Sorry!" she put in, seeing Elphaba's face, "but it's rather catchy, and it does fit in with your name, if you spell it with a 'ph' instead of an 'f'. One way, it's implying you're part elf, the other way it's just shortening up your mouthful of a name."
"You're name has the same amount of syllables as mine," Elphaba snapped, but Galinda ignored her.
"I really do want you to meet someone, though. He's a new student and just trying to fit in." Galinda smiled. "He's from the Vinkus."
"Why are you doing this—?"
"This is Fiyero Tigelaar, Miss Elphaba."
From behind Galinda came a dark-skinned man patterned with diamond tattoos all over his face. Instantly, it struck Elphaba as fascinating. Who knew Vinkuns had such a different culture? What also struck her was that he must have been the boy that the other girls had been fawning over.
"Miss Elphaba," Fiyero said sweetly, extending a hand politely. Elphaba obliged, slightly awestruck, and let him kiss her hand. "Pleasure to meet you."
Elphaba barely knew what to say, so she settled with, "And you, too."
"Miss Elphie," Galinda said, sounding wistful, and Elphaba flinched at the name, "I was wondering if you'd like to join us for a nice chat. A chat that could, very well, last all night. . . ."
Galinda looked suspiciously hopeful, and sounded suspicious, too. The courtesy seemed unlikely, and while Elphaba wanted to spend time with someone she knew at the party, Elphaba would have rather roughed it out with Avaric then be played for a sucker by her roommate.
"I really am sorry, but I shouldn't—"
"Galinda," twittered another voice, instantly recognizable as Shenshen's, "I've been looking for you." Shenshen eyed Elphaba. "What's Greenie doing here?"
"Yeah," said Milla. "What's she doing?"
"Leaving," Galinda piped.
"No I'm not," snapped Elphaba.
"Well she can't sit with us," Shenshen said, frowning strangely. "She'll taint my wine."
"I'll sit wherever I want," Elphaba told her.
"Go sit with Avaric," Shenshen suggested.
For a moment, Elphaba seriously considered it, but causing Shenshen grief sounded oddly enjoyable. And, after all, could she honestly put up with more of Avaric's misplaced flirting?
"I'll be joining you after all," Elphaba said to Galinda. Instantly, Galinda gave Fiyero a rather distressed glance, and then shot her gaze back to Elphaba.
"Elphi-Elphaba, you should go study now," she faltered. The fact that she was making quick excuses was obvious.
"A minute ago you were asking me to sit with you; make up your mind," said Elphaba.
"Really, Galinda," Pfannee said, glaring at the blonde, "do stop changing your mind, please."
Galinda fell silent, but kept puffing out her breath in irritation.
They all got a table, and when the waiter came around, Shenshen ordered them all a tall glass of their strongest. When Elphaba protested, Shenshen rolled her eyes. "Really, Elphaba, haven't got the stomach, have you?" she'd said, and Elphaba shut up, then.
A few minutes later, Shenshen and Pfannee went to the bathroom to freshen up. When they returned, the rest of them had monster glasses before them. Shenshen said immediately, "Bottoms up, everyone."
"I don't drink," said Fiyero directly.
"Oh, shut up, you," Pfannee said, fairly playfully. She was eyeing his v-neck where it sloped down his chest. He was rather handsome after all and Elphaba found, almost embarrassingly, that she couldn't blame her.
When Elphaba made no move for her glass as well, Shenshen said, "What, chicken, are you?" Shenshen herself took a straw and dipped it in her cup, sipping.
"I'm not thirsty," Elphaba said icily.
"You should be," Pfannee said. "Isn't grief festering inside you? Aren't you depressed to find that doing that—whatever you did—to your innocent sister was not worth it? If I were you, I'd be chugging. But I'm not, so I won't."
"Aren't you quite the sly one, Pfannee?" Galinda said smugly.
"Shut up; you have no room to talk," said Shenshen.
"Everyonejust shut up," Elphaba herself insisted, and gripped her glass. After the first couple of gulps, Shenshen was positively beaming. When questioned about it, Shenshen's face turned innocent and she claimed to be having a great time.
Soon, everyone was drinking and having a great time beside Galinda, who wouldn't stop fidgeting and refused to drink anything that wasn't pure water. Normally, Elphaba would have questioned it, but was under the influence of alcohol, and couldn't quite catch her mind.
Avaric decided to join them in their merrymaking, and quickly hit it off with the shy Vinkun boy Fiyero, who seemed to become more outgoing with each drink. He also got into acquaintance with Elphaba, and they talked of their very different homelands and equally odd childhoods. They stopped this to laugh when Pfannee unexpectedly attacked Avaric and got embarrassingly intimate with him. The only one, it seemed, who was keeping their head (beside Galinda, who still hadn't been drinking) was Shenshen. Elphaba deduced with her limited logic at the time that Shenshen was simply used to the drinking, and it didn't surprise her in the least.
So when Shenshen asked Elphaba to join her for a small stroll outside, Elphaba wasn't unwilling, and followed her, ignoring Galinda's protests.
"Shenshen," Elphaba giggled once they were outside, "that was so funny! Who knew Pfannee was so—"
"Yes, yes, dear, I know, but—"
Elphaba was practically clinging to the other girl to stay upright, but Elphaba accidently fell, stumbling slightly, and they both went down.
"Let's find a bench," Shenshen grumbled.
When they were seated, Elphaba giggling ecstatically, Shenshen shook her. "Elphaba! I need to talk to you now! Can you please stop the forsaken sniggering?"
Elphaba looked up at Shenshen, a wide smile playing at her lips. "Why?"
"I need to ask you an important question," she said impatiently.
"About what?" said Elphaba merrily.
"Your sister," she gasped, exasperated.
Instantly, Elphaba's smile vanished, and she fought to sit upright. "I don't want to talk about that," she said groggily.
"Pleeease," the other girl said, "Elphaba, I'm just honestly curious."
It surprised Shenshen that a green face could turn so red so suddenly. So much, in fact, that Shenshen scooted from Elphaba a good few feet away.
"I said no," Elphaba whispered darkly.
"Oh please!" Shenshen shouted and stood up. "Even drunk you won't tell me what you did!"
Realization spread across Elphaba's face and she backtracked, fighting to shove her head back onto her shoulders and work things out further. "What?" And, to her great surprise, tears formed behind her eyes.
Shenshen looked furious and simply stared at Elphaba, who was now getting slowly to her feet.
"So this was what it was all about," Elphaba said, controlling her slurring voice, "the party, the drinking, everyone constantly bugging me about this shit!"
"Just figured it out, then?" Shenshen sneered.
Elphaba shook her head, obviously trying to clear it from the alcohol's affects. She stood there for a minute, rubbing her temples, and then lifted her head again. This time, the tears were running down her cheeks, leaving weak streaks that gleamed wetly against her skin.
"You bitch," she said, "you evil, conniving bastard." Elphaba took an uncertain step forward, Shenshen took one back.
"And you don't even care do you!" she shrieked. "All you care about is whether you get your story—whether you find out what you want to know! Then you'll use it against me for you own damn profit!" Elphaba's hands clenched at her sides, and as Shenshen gazed doubtfully Elphaba, some of her confidence disappeared.
"Look, this doesn't have to be a big deal—" she began.
"A big deal?" Elphaba said. "What are you talking about? It's already a big deal. When you use me for dirty work like this, it becomes a big deal. I don't take little schemes like this well—you'll pay."
Real fear flitted across Shenshen's face now. "Stop kidding yourself, Elphaba, you wouldn't hurt me."
"There are worse things than physical pain, Shenshen!" Elphaba yelled. "You need to learn a little thing about the real world!"
Fortunately for Shenshen, Galinda and the rest of their posse appeared just then. It suddenly became clear to Elphaba, however vaguely, why Galinda had decided to stay sober.
"Elphaba!" Galinda yelled, and then her arms were around Elphaba, holding her upright. Elphaba sagged, bringing Galinda with her. Suddenly, all the smiles that had been passed around the small group faded. Fiyero ran over, stumbling to them, and bent over the two girls, now on the ground.
"Galinda," Elphaba sobbed shakily, and then she was clutching the blonde closer, crying into her shoulder.
For Elphaba, the rest was a blur. At one point during the return to the dorm, Elphaba must have passed out, for one moment, she was being lugged by Galinda and Fiyero out of the party, and the next she was laying sprawled on her bed, Galinda peering anxiously over her.
Elphaba took in a hiccuped breath, tried to move, and her stomach twisted. She had to make a quick dash to the toilet, and emptied her stomach of all the alcohol. Galinda had followed her and held her hair up.
When she was done, Elphaba looked up to see that Fiyero had followed them into the dorm room, despite that it wasn't allowed. When she stumbled into the other room again, Boq was there, too, and he peered at her anxiously.
"Galinda, what happened exactly?" he asked, as Galinda led Elphaba over to her bed again. Elphaba curled up into a ball, sniveling, and Galinda sat beside her comfortingly, ignoring Boq.
"I should have stopped her before she did that, Elphaba," Galinda said, on the verge of tears herself. "I knew what she was planning—that's why I tried to stop you from going tonight!" Galinda touched Elphaba's arm that was now shaking. "I'm so sorry!" Galindalooked over to the boys, and they gave her equally exasperated looks.
"It wasn't your fault," Elphaba whispered finally. "Can someone please get me some water?"
While Boq hurried off, Fiyero sat tentatively on Galinda's bed. Galinda could tell that he now wished he hadn't drunk so much booze, and she didn't protest.
"It was my fault," said Galinda, scooting closer to her roommate. "I could have done something, but I didn't." Then Galinda squeaked in surprise. "She didn't get you to say anything, did she?"
"No," the green girl sniveled. "That bitch couldn't."
"Miss Elphaba, you don't need to swear," Galinda said gently. "Just relax—"
"I can't relax!" Elphaba shouted, sobbing again. "I'm sick of everything! All this gossip about me—God knows what people are saying! I heard someone claiming I'm getting married to Avaric. Everyone says that Nessarose is really dead, but she . . . isn't." Sitting up, Elphaba wiped her eyes. "I bet even Fiyero knows about all of the lousy rumors concerning the green girl, and hasn't even been here all that long!"
Galinda glanced at Fiyero, and, from the look on his face, Elphaba was right. "Elphie," she said determinedly, "no one is going to hurt you anymore. Don't worry."
Elphaba seemed grateful, for she hugged Galinda without hesitation and said quietly, "Thank you."
Boqsoon came back with a large glass of water and gave it to Elphaba. "You're going to have a Hell of a hang-over tomorrow, but this should help for now."
While Elphaba quickly gulped the fresh water, Boq exchanged a look with Galinda. It was clear what he wanted her to do.
"Okay, what happened was a complete disaster. . . ." She paused and looked at Elphaba for approval of the subject. When Elphaba didn't object, Galinda continued, "You see, Fiyero and I found Elphaba with Avaric—God knows why, but we did—"
"He was telling me a story," Elphaba croaked. "Some crap about how he understood what I was going through because he lost his sister, too, (though he had the gall to mention he didn't 'kill' her)."
Galindanodded quickly, but gave no more acknowledgment to the input. "So we got her away from Avaric, and I tried to engage her in an all-night conversation to keep her from Shenshen, but she, Milla and Pfannee found us before I could Elphaba her to a private area." Galinda sighed. "You see, they were planning on getting Miss Elphaba to tell them what really happened to her sister out of some sick curiosity. I tried to get Elphaba to skip the party, but I'm sure we're aware of how stubborn she is." Galinda smiled.
"So, what happened then?" Boq asked, and sat beside Fiyero on Galinda's pink bed.
"Elphie—and yes I'll call you Elphie if I want to—well, Shenshen used reverse psychology on her, so she wanted to sit with us, too, and there was nothing I could do at that point other than stay as sober as possible." Galinda rubbed Elphaba's arm before continuing. "I also happened to notice that Shenshen seemed clear-headed, too, so I assume that she changed her drink order in secret while she and Pfannee headed for the bathroom," she said, disgusted. "She could have been drinking apple juice for all we knew. But the point is that, when Shenshen asked Miss Elphie here to go take a little walk with her, I tried to stop them, but Pfannee and Milla, however drunk, managed to keep me at bay. When I finally got out there, Elphaba seemed ready to fight with Miss Shenshen. . . ."
"Well she deserves it," Elphaba said shakily. "I hope she hurts herself, the witch."
"You don't hope that," Galinda soothed, brushing sweaty hair from Elphaba's eyes.
"Yes, I do," Elphaba insisted, "You don't realize how much that hurt, what she tried to do. I've been trying s-so hard to forget what everyone thinks I've done, but I can't. When I saw my sister—" Elphaba seemed unable to talk for a moment, so Galinda took the opportunity to try to change the subject.
"Elphaba, you don't have to talk about this," she said quietly.
"But I want to," said Elphaba, "I want to get this off my chest."
"Elphaba," Boq said, "You're not yourself—maybe we should wait until you're not . . . like this."
"No," she said loudly, "Tomorrow, I won't do it. Tonight, I will." Sitting up further, Elphaba yawned. "Nessarose isn't dead. She's alive, but . . . but she's comatose. And I had nothing to do with it." Elphaba bit her lip.
"What happened?" asked Fiyero gently.
"On the day, I was reading in the house when I saw it raining outside. Nessarose is confined to a wheelchair, so when I remembered that shewas outside, I knew I had to fetch her because she can't navigate correctly in the rain; the wheels get too slippery." And then, with Galinda's support, Elphaba stood up, but had to lean against Galinda's shoulder. When she spoke again, her voice slurred even more than it had been. "So I went outside to get her, and I found her. . . ."
Fiyero glanced uneasily out the window, where it had started to rain, just like in Elphaba's retelling.
"But I d-d-didn't do," she said, her voice turning slightly hysterical, "I didn't do it! I just f-found her first—my father has n-no right to accuse me of—"
Galinda gripped Elphaba tightly and settled her back onto the bed. "Elphie, no one here wants to judge you. We know you didn't do it. You don't have to prove yourself anymore."
"When my father found me, it had s-s-stopped r-raining, and he immediately jumped to these absurd c-conclusions," said Elphaba, gasping. "S-s-sometimes I think he just wants to get r-rid of me."
"Go to sleep, Elphaba," said Galinda, and kissed her gently on the forehead. "You need your rest."
They all sat, talking quietly about how their day had been and whatnot, but when they were sure Elphaba was finally asleep, Boq said stiffly, "You guys, we have to help her."
