Monday morning, Elphaba sat, looking over her class notes as Glinda prepped herself at her vanity. "Glinda, we've got to head over."
"Why do you have to wait for me?"
"We're heading the same way. And if I don't remind you to stop staring at the mirror, you'll never get out of here." Elphaba rolled her eyes.
There was a knock on the door. Glinda jumped. "One minute!" She called, fixing her face powder. "I'll answer it, Elphie."
"Duh. It's probably for you, anyway." Elphaba sighed.
Glinda opened the door. "Boq, Fiyero… um, hi. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, well that was tactful," Elphaba muttered.
"Well, we passed this way on our way to class and we thought we'd stop by, since we're all going to the Sciences building." Boq said quickly.
Elphaba stood up and examined Boq. "You're lying. First of all, the Sciences building is in the opposite direction than we are from Briscoe Hall and Three Queens. Second of all, why'd you bring him?" She pointed at Fiyero.
"He was with me."
"I'm sure if you were all walking, so were Avaric, Tibbett and Crope. Why aren't they with you?" Elphaba was ruthless.
Boq looked to Fiyero for help. "We, um, Tibbett and Crope were skipping and they got in front of us."
"Yeah!" Fiyero nodded. "And, and, well, we know you two don't like Avaric, so we kind of ditched him."
Elphaba raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. "Well, if Boq needs an excuse to walk Glinda to class that badly, fine. Let's go." She gathered her books.
"Miss Elphaba," Fiyero said shyly, "if you have too many books, I'd carry one for you."
"What do you think I am, weak?" Elphaba snapped. "And why would you want to carry anything of mine? So you could drop it in the mud accidentally as we walk? It's been done. I'm not so ignorant." She walked by both boys and headed down the stairs.
"Miss Elphaba, wait!" Fiyero started after her.
Boq and Glinda looked at one another. "He actually asked me to come along with him. I think he's got a thing for Elphaba, but he just can't quite admit it, yet," Boq confided.
"Oh, that's cute! But I don't she's going to go for some guy who tried to feel her up during truth or dare." Glinda frowned.
"I didn't expect that from him," Boq commented. "When he did that, I was really surprised. He's normally very respectful."
"Elphaba is the wrong person to be disrespectful to." Glinda said.
"He certainly didn't mean to, I don't think. She wasn't exactly giving him the message to keep his hands off of her."
"Very unlike her."
"I noticed."
When Fiyero caught up to Elphaba they were outside. "Elphaba, please."
"What happened to the 'Miss'?" She asked rudely.
"I… I'll call you whatever you like. Do you want the 'Miss'?"
"Not really."
"Look, I wasn't going to throw anything in the mud." He jogged to keep up with her, panting slightly.
"Then what were you going to do?"
"Carry your things, like I said."
"What in Oz?" She stopped and stared at him, the shook her head. "Just because you kissed me in a truth or dare game, you're suddenly deciding that we should act like a couple, is that it?"
"Not exactly."
"Oh, then explain."
"When I kissed you the other night, Elphaba, I just… I realized how badly I'd been longing to do that, to touch you – not like, crudely, I mean, but… yeah."
She stuck her nose in the air. "Attempting to fondle my breast wasn't crude?"
"I just meant that the way I'd wanted to touch you wasn't crude, really. The way I touched you during that kiss was, and I apologize. But you practically threw yourself at me, you know."
"I did not!"
"Why'd you throw your arms around me, scoot closer, then?" He challenged.
"I…" She faltered.
"See? You feel it, too. Elphaba, I'm not saying we're meant to be, but there is something between us and I think it's only right that we see what there is and where it takes us."
"The only reason anything is between us is because I'd never kissed anyone before and so it was different." She argued.
"I'd never kissed anyone, either," he admitted.
"You hadn't?" She was genuinely surprised.
"No. Elphaba, listen to me. I know you aren't the sort of girl who goes for romance and flowers and chocolate…"
"I happen to like chocolate." She interrupted, considering his dark skin for a moment and then turning away, embarrassed.
"I'll remember that. But if you were the type who liked all that stuff, I'd do all of those things one hundred times over. I don't know what to do in this case, though, and I'd like to be able to ask you if we could, you know, go together."
"Go together?"
"See each other? Be slightly more than friends."
"I know what you meant, Fiyero, I just thought the way you said it was… different." She smiled lightly.
"Huh?"
"Most people just say 'date', but 'go together' kind of sounds like people go places together and that they fit together. I think I like that. It makes more sense, in a way."
She was talking nonsense, at this point, since he was barely hearing what she was saying, only noting that her voice had gotten sweeter and she seemed to be agreeable with the idea. What he did know was that she hadn't said yes, yet. "Um, right. So, could we?"
"Well, if you're only asking because you want to touch me…"
"No, no, that came out wrong. I… oh, damn. I don't know what I want to say to you. Just, know that's not what I meant. I just want to be with you more, maybe touch you, one day, but that's not what it was all about, I swear. I…"
Elphaba looked at her feet shyly. "Sure. We can 'go together'." She'd had to stop his babbling. Endearing as it was, he was making a fool out of himself.
Fiyero grinned, pleased with himself. That had been much easier and less scary than he'd thought it would be.
Elphaba herself was a bit shocked. She'd let him practically seduce her on just the way he chose his words. Maybe she should take back what she'd said… but that wasn't right. It was rude to simply disregard what she'd promised she'd do. But if they went out once and it wasn't absolutely perfect, she decided, she'd tell him that she'd changed her mind.
"Now may I carry your things?" He reached for her books.
She stepped out of his reach. "No you may not. I am still my own person and I can still bring my own books to class, thank you. But it was nice of you to ask," she granted him the slight appreciative comment.
"Not even one book?"
"Why are you so insistent?"
"I just think that it's a man's duty to do what he can to make a woman more comfortable," he flushed.
She melted at that. He wasn't saying that a man should help because women were feeble; he was simply saying that men should respect women and make their lives easier. If most men had that mindset, well, life would be much different. "If you really want to, you can take it all. But only if you really want to."
"I do," he said earnestly.
She let him take her things and they strolled lazily towards class. Glinda and Boq caught up with them just as they began walking again. "Elphie!" The blonde was swinging her purse like a weapon, nearly smacking Boq straight in the nose by accident. "I thought you said that when boys offered to carry things it was disrespectful because it made women look frail."
Elphaba glanced at Fiyero. "Well, it depends on the motives, really. It can be insolent, but it can also be very kind."
Boq nudged Fiyero. "How the hell did you do that so quickly?"
"I don't know," Fiyero conceded. "She just randomly changed moods or something. I think she liked the way I said 'go together' and it helped. I'm really not sure. But I'm not complaining."
Glinda never thought she'd be jealous of Elphaba, but she started to feel a bit envious when Elphaba and Fiyero detached somewhat from the group on the way back, whispering and laughing. She wished she had someone to whisper and laugh with. Elphaba had never behaved that way, not even when Glinda had tried to get her girly side out. Boq tried to occupy her, but she folded her arms and stared angrily at the couple.
When the reached the girls' dorms, Fiyero let the rest of the boys walk ahead and brought Elphaba's books up to her door her, Glinda chattering loudly at them as they mounted the stairs. They ignored her.
Fiyero lingered in the doorway. "So, Saturday night?"
Elphaba nodded. "Yeah. Friday nights, even afternoons, I'm just so exhausted I go right to sleep."
"She does," Glinda piped in.
Elphaba and Fiyero looked at one another and laughed.
"What?" Glinda pouted.
"Nothing," Elphaba responded swiftly.
"See you at lunch tomorrow?" Fiyero asked.
"Yes, lunch. I'll see you then."
"Bye." Fiyero closed the door.
Elphaba sat down on her bed and stared out the window dreamily. "Glinda, no guy has ever been that nice to me."
"It's nice, isn't it?" She asked tensely.
"Is something wrong?"
"You're never that close with me, and I thought we were good friends."
"Oh, Glinda, I'm sorry. I'm not normally close with anyone."
"What happened?"
"I have no idea." Elphaba took a deep breath. "But I'm scared."
"Why?"
"Well," Elphaba said, "I think I really like him."