Here's another chapter…YAY! Read and review!

"I've come up with several steps for Operation Fiyerba," Galinda announced as she flopped onto the guest room couch beside Elphaba.

"Steps?" the green girl asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes," the blonde chirped. "Step one; teach Elphaba how to flirt. Step two; teach Elphaba how to walk in high heels. Step three; teach Elphaba how to dance…"

"Why in Oz do I need to know how to dance?" interrupted the green witch.

"Because the day after tomorrow is the girl's choice dance," Galinda explained. "And you are going with Fiyero."

"What?" stammered Elphaba. "Why would Fiyero go with me?"

"You're going to ask him," the blonde explained. "Remember it's girl's choice."

"No!" the green girl insisted adamantly. "No, no, no, no, no. I am not asking Fiyero out."

"I'll argue with you about that later," Galinda insisted, waving off her friend's concern. "Right now we need to focus on steps one and two."

"Fine," Elphaba sighed. "Teach me how to flirt."

"As we established that night after the OzDust hair tossing is a must," the blonde began, illustrating her point by flipping her own golden locks. "Fluttering your eyelashes is also important."

"That sounds really cheesy and stupid," the green girl observed. "Won't it be totally obvious that I'm trying to flirt?"

"Not if you time it right," Galinda informed her. "Always pretend to be totally interested in whatever he's saying and try to make eye contact whenever possible. You've also got to learn how to giggle."

"Giggle?"

"Uh huh," the blonde confirmed, looking expectantly at her green friend. Elphaba's attempt at perky feminine laughter fell flat.

"That sounded like a dying chipmunk," Galinda told her. "Make it more natural." The green girl's next attempt was closer to a witch's cackle than a giggle. "Never mind," the blonde sighed. "I guess some people just weren't meant to laugh properly."

"Thanks," Elphaba muttered, frowning.

"No scowling," Galinda snapped. "You've got to smile." The green girl plastered a fake grin onto her features. "Now on to high heels."

"I don't think those will be necessary," Elphaba decided. "I'm pretty tall already."

"Are you making implications about my height?" the blonde wondered.

"No," the green girl insisted. "I'm making implications about my height."

"Well then it's dancing time," Galinda chirped. "To Edward's room."

"Why are we going to Edward's room?"

"He's got a wall of CDs and a sound system," the blonde explained. "Didn't you read the book?" Neither CDs nor sound systems existed in Oz, but Galinda had quickly adapted to Earth's exciting technology. She inserted a disk and in moments fast paced music throbbed through the room. It hurt Elphaba's ears.

"Is this necessary?" she shouted over the loud music.

"Yes," Galinda replied, already beginning to bounce. "Just follow my lead." Elphaba quickly learned that dancing required a lot of jumping around and hip movements. After awhile she began to get the hang of it.

It is a well known fact that best friends plus loud music equals a high possibility that goofing off will occur. Galinda bumped Elphaba with her hip and the green girl was quick to shove her back. When Edward walked into his room to see what all the fuss was about he found the two of them belting out lyrics and laughing hysterically.

"Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone…" Elphaba sang

"I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run…" Galinda trilled.

"You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess," the green girl crooned.

"It's a love story baby just say yes!" the two girls belted together before collapsing into a fit of giggles. Edward shut the door and moved away; he honestly didn't want to know.

***

The next day Galinda pulled Bella from her near constant position beside Edward. "What?" the pale girl asked softly as her vampire boyfriend continued walking.

"I need you to do something for me," the blonde pleaded. "It's for Elphaba."

"What do you need?" Bella wondered.

"I need you to flirt with Fiyero," Galinda told her.

"What?" Bella demanded.

"You can tell Edward that's it's just for show," the blonde assured her. "But Elphie really likes Fiyero but she's too afraid to ask him out."

"How will my flirting with him help anything?" the pale girl wanted to know.

"She'll get jealous," Galinda explained craftily. "Please? I know you're Elphie's friend, don't you want to help her?"

"Fine I'll do it," Bella decided. "But I'm not very good at flirting."

"That's fine," the blonde shrugged. "The more obvious the better."

***

Lunch was terribly awkward for poor Bella. She explained Galinda's plan to Edward, who found it rather amusing, and sat with her friends. Seated beside Fiyero the pale girl made awful attempts at flirting with him. Lucky for her the Winkie prince was totally oblivious; Elphaba was not.

***

"How much did Galinda pay you to flirt with Fiyero?" the green girl asked Bella in Biology.

"How did you know?" she demanded.

"You'd never choose Fiyero over Edward," Elphaba explained. "Honestly how stupid does Galinda think I am?"

"She was just trying to help you," Bella pointed out.

"She was trying to make me jealous," the green girl corrected. "It was a feeble attempt to force me into something I didn't want to do."

"I think you want to do it," the pale girl argued. "You're just too scared."

"That's debatable," Elphaba shrugged before changing the subject. "So what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"I'm sure you already know," Bella chuckled. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I'm hoping that if I don't ask Fiyero out Galinda will let me skip the dance," the green girl admitted. "But I doubt she will."

"It's weird that you two are best friends," the pale girl observed. "You're polar opposites. You love totally different things."

"We both loved Fiyero," Elphaba reminded her. "And you and Alice are pretty different too." It was only when she saw the confusion in her partner's eyes that the green girl realized her mistake. "I mean…er…um…"

"So Alice and I are going to be best friends?" Bella guessed. Elphaba nodded sheepishly.

"I guess I shouldn't have told you that."

"It's nice to know," the pale girl shrugged. "At least now I know I'll survive tomorrow."

"You're a brave person," the green witch said suddenly.

"No," Bella insisted. "I'm just insanely stupid. Love does that to you."

"Well it's not going to do that to me," Elphaba stated.

"Just ask Fiyero out," the pale girl suggested rather abruptly, as though she'd been considering those words for awhile. "Do it for Galinda. She's trying so hard to ensure your happiness with a guy that broke up with her a few days ago." The green witch's eyes softened. She hadn't really thought of it that way. A moment of tense silence spanned between the two girls.

"Thanks," Elphaba told Bella as they left class.

"No problem."

***

"Um Fiyero?" the green witch began awkwardly, having cornered a certain Winkie after class.

"Yeah?" the prince replied, clearly confused. Elphaba's palms began to sweat furiously and her throat clenched.

Come on concentrate, don't let him have this kind of effect on you, she chastised herself. Remember what Galinda taught you; flirt.

"I was wondering if maybe…" Trying desperately to hold onto her usual confidence Elphaba bit her lip and looked down. Her eyelashes fluttered timidly.

"What?" Fiyero wondered, giving her his full attention. The green girl's cheeks flushed as she looked up through her raven lashes.

"I was wondering if you might want to go to the dance with me tomorrow." There she'd said it. The Winkie prince was taken aback. This had come out of nowhere and he had no clue how to react. Fiyero's words caught in his throat as his stunned brain sluggishly considered why Elphaba would ask him, the brainless goofball, to a dance. After all this was Elphaba. What motive could she possibly have?

"Um…err…um," he stuttered before answering. "No." That one word cut like a knife. The green girl's face burned and she wanted to melt away into nothingness. Before tears could form she turned on heel and marched away, chin jutting out in defiance. This foolish boy would not make her cry; no one could make her cry. Yet as she curled up against the side of the school, out of sight, sobs tore through her torso. Rejection, betrayal, embarrassment and self hatred ripped into her heart. It started to rain and the soft water mixed with her bitterly acidic tears to make dark rivers of makeup.

Why did Galinda even make me wear this stupid stuff? the green witch hissed to herself, wiping away the smoky blackness. Above all Elphaba valued her dignity, so she grieved alone where no one could witness the messy process. It's stupid to cry over a boy, she thought. There are much worse things going on in the world. I live a happy privileged life. What about Dr. Dillamond, locked away somewhere forbidden to teach? What about poor starving people? What about the Animals being mistreated and driven from their homes? However, as much as Elphaba rationalized, it didn't make the sorrow any less real. She had allowed herself to hope; and that hope made this disappointment so much more devastating.

When Galinda found her friend after school the green girl had composed herself. All the makeup had been washed away and her face looked blank and raw. Her hair was messy and bedraggled; her clothes soaked and wrinkly. However the most profound change wasn't visible on the surface. Elphaba had carefully iced over her heart.

I know that was a dark and depressing chapter but I kinda love ending with a mystery. Why did Fiyero say no? Yay suspense. Anyway sorry to temporarily kill off the romance but don't worry it will make a comeback. Remember this is Elphaba and Fiyero we're talking about. They have an awfully complicated relationship; especially with Galinda thrown into the mix. Honestly I don't think Glinda ever got over Fiyero in the musical version. I mean she accepted that he and Elphaba were meant to be together but at the end I'm sure she still loved him (hint hint…maybe Galinda still likes Fiyero in this story too). Maybe eventually she got over him and moved on to someone else. I like to believe it was Boq but that's just wistful thinking. Anyway sorry for my rant…

Read and Review! (seriously I need to know if this unexpected pitfall hit the mark or flopped)