A/N:This is really long for me, I am shocked I made it through this. Well, hopefully this all makes sense of Elphaba's quips, and I must say your reviews made my day! Hope you enjoy this, and when you review, tell me where you think Fiyero's point of view would be best told. As in, would you prefer it to be a retelling of Galinda's perspective, Elphaba's . . . I'm stumped on that, and still fairly surprised how long this turned out to be. Longest I've ever written, I say.
Elphaba woke up with the worst feeling in her throat. She glanced around. Nearby, Galinda was fast asleep on her bed. Subtle rays of sunlight were peeking through the shades keeping the room dark and inviting for sleep. She sighed.
Getting up, she opened the shades a bit to let in enough light for her to see. She walked sleepily over to her small desk and grabbed her cup of water from yesterday's late study session, gulping it down. It did absolutely nothing to help her voice. Behind her, Galinda yawned loudly.
"Good morning, Elphie!" her roommate said cheerfully, getting up. Elphaba still didn't get how Galinda could be so loud after waking up only one minute ago. Maybe there was a touch of sunlight in those blonde curls. Or maybe she was just a morning person.
Her mouth formed a 'good morning', but apparently her throat didn;t agree, and all that came out was, "Ahhhhhh ahhneeeeeee . . ."
Galinda tilted her head like a puppy. "What?"
"I lohhhhh meeehhh fooiieeeee . . ." Elphaba groaned and plopped back down on her bed angrily. She sounded like a zombie!
"You . . . lost your voice?" Galinda guessed weakly, and Elphaba nodded. "Oh, no! Do you need to stay here?" Elphaba shook her head angrily.
Just because I can't talk doesn't mean I can't learn!
"Okay . . . ." Galinda said, finally standing up, "I'm going to get ready. Will you need the bathroom?" Elphaba shook her head. "Great!"
Well, there goes my chance of brushing my teeth for the next half hour.
While Galinda was in the bathroom, an idea popped into Elphaba's head, and she scrambled through her desk, finding her spiral exactly where she had left it the night before when she had fallen asleep while working on the outline for a paper.
Soon after, Galinda emerged from the bathroom, fully made up and dressed in a pink and white sundress. Elphaba grabbed her normal blue frock and entered the bathroom. She scanned through the medicine cabinet for a cough syrup but came to no avail. She sighed and finished dressing before heading out early.
She walked towards her first class when she ran into Boq.
"Hey, Elphaba, what's up?" Elphaba sighed and grabbed her spiral out, writing something down.
To anyone: I lost my voice. That's it.
"Oh, okay," Boq said, opening the door for her as other students filed in. Elphaba walked to her normal seat when she found Avaric, the bane of her existence, sitting in her seat. She sighed and walked over and rested her arm on the chair, tapping her fingers pointedly, hoping he would just get up and go without requiring her to write down her command. He glanced up at her.
"May I help you, greenie?" he asked. Beside him, Boq sighed. Elphaba just smiled sweetly at Avaric, though her eyes glinted threateningly.
"She lost her voice," Boq informed him. Avaric grinned.
"Oh, that's so sad!" Elphaba narrowed her eyes and scrawled a few words onto her paper.
Avaric: Get out of my seat, or I will not hesitate to kick you as hard as I can.
Avaric stood up, knowing very well that Elphaba indeed would not hesitate to carry out her threat. She snapped her fingers to get his attention and he turned around.
Good boy.
She sat down victoriously in her seat, flashing a grin at Boq.
"So, you lost your voice, huh?" he asked.
Boq: Yeah, I did. How's Nessa?
"She's fine. We have a date tonight." Elphaba smiled and wrote her reply.
Good. Tell her I say hi when you next see her.
"I will," Boq said, smiling.
"Master Boq," called the professor quite irritably from his desk, "Can you tell me when Oz suffered its greatest famine in recorded history?"
"Um it's-um," Boq stammered. Elphaba sighed and wrote her answer down, subtly pushing it towards the poor munchkin. He glanced at it and then looked back at the professor. "It's the Great Drought, sir."
"Oh, that's right Master Boq. Now, onto the wonders of the Emerald City!"
Elphaba perked up as the class shared a communal groan.
"Thanks," Boq whispered to her. She smiled.
You're welcome.
The rest of the class passed quickly, with Elphaba's arm itching to rise, but she stopped herself so she could keep her weakness secret from the rest of the class.
"Thanks again. See you at lunch?" Boq asked, collecting his books.
Yeah, see you at lunch. Bye.
She was making her way out when the professor called her over.
"Miss Elphaba, it is very unlike you to not answer anything. Is something the matter?"
Elphaba pointed to her throat.
"Ah, I understand. Feel better soon. I miss having my best student shine." Elphaba smiled and ducked her head, walking over to her next class.
She was focusing on reviewing her notes in case Dr. Dillamond decided to review the latest chapter, so she didn't notice when a certain Vinkun prince stepped in front of her, so, of course she ran right into him.
"Hey, I heard you were sick," Fiyero said, ignoring her withering glare, "Want me to carry your books?"
Fiyero: Go away.
"Ah, come one. You know you want some help." Elphaba was extremely irritated. Why must he insist on pestering her? Ever since that cursed day, she had been trying with all her might to avoid him, and he kept popping up out of nowhere!
No, I don't care. Leave me alone.
She started walking again.
"You know, I heard that a good way to cure your throat is eating jade leaves." Elphaba rolled her eyes. Everyone in Oz knew that urban legend.
Can't you take a hint?
"No, not really. What're you hinting at?" Fiyero asked, his eyes twinkling teasingly. Elphaba sighed.
Of course. Why did I even ask?
"Look, I just want to help out the poor damsel in distress. Are you sure you don't need anything?"
No, I don't need any help.
She started to write down exactly what she thought about his hopeless attempt to act like a prince, but then he reached for her pile, knocking everything to the ground.
"Sorry!" Fiyero said, but Elphaba just whacked him as hard as she could manage, picking up her books and walking away as fast as she could so as to hide her blush. She ignored him calling after her, that drawing her memory back to when she had called after him . . . in the meadow . . .
She swallowed and continued walking as fast as she could when another figure got in her way, a far less threatening but more annoying figure.
Avaric, she thought dimly, sighing deeply, trying to ignore the burn the action brought to her sore throat. She thrust the paper with her ailment in his face, which he examined before grinning.
"So, my little green bean, how has your day been?" he asked, drawing a few chuckles from students passing by. Elphaba glared at him as she blindly wrote her reply.
Avaric: I don't need this right now. Go away.
"Why are you writing?" Avaric asked. Elphaba rolled her eyes.
Can't you read? I lost my voice, imbecile.
"Imbecile? What's that?" She suppressed the urge to smack him.
It means idiot.
"I'm not an idiot!" Avaric said haughtily. "I'm just the guy even you have an attraction to."
I don't care.
And it was true.
"Aw, so the pistachio is heartless too?" Avaric said, winking. She rolled her eyes again.
Any better names?
"Whatever," Avaric said, turning, but she tapped his shoulder to show him her final reply.
That's what I thought.
And to sweeten the deal, she took her books and hit him. He retreated quickly, spitting insults at her and proclaiming what a freak she was. She smirked and turned, entering her class.
Thanks to Avaric, for a portion of the day many students came up to her asking her if she really had lost her voice, and spitting insults at her with the comfort of her not being able to reply or giving her false wishes to get well.
She sat down in her seat for her Politics class. A student she wasn't too familiar with, Milla, who because of her deep faith in Unionism never insulted her or anyone, leaned over to her.
"Miss Elphaba, what page did the Professor tell us to turn to?" she asked quietly. Elphaba grabbed her pen.
Milla: Chapter 3, page 476
"Thank you," Milla said sweetly, turning the pages of her book. Elphaba merely nodded and sighed as Fiyero took a seat next to her, drawing a sigh from Milla.
"Can you talk?" Fiyero whispered, far too close for comfort in her opinion. Sh turned to him and pointedly grabbed her spiral and pen, writing down her reply all while looking him in the eye, which was becoming increasingly difficult for some reason.
Fiyero: I still can't talk, thanks for asking.
"Hey, Artichoke, what's up?" Avaric asked, taking a seat next to Fiyero. Fiyero sighed and turned to the board, to Elphaba's surprise.
Avaric: "Artichoke" is getting awfully old. Get some new material.
She made her way to her final class before she could go to lunch in a rush, not appreciating it when Galinda's bubbly friend ShenShen stopped her.
"Hey, Artich-Elphaba?" she called, catching herself for the sake of her friendship with Galinda. Elphaba looked up, raising her eyebrows. "Where is Galinda?"
ShenShen: Galinda's in Astronomy.
"What's that?" ShenShen asked, drawing an eye roll and sigh from Elphaba.
She's studying stars, hun.
"Oooh, now I remember! Can you tell her I need to talk to her when you next see her?"
Elphaba nodded.
Okay, I'll tell her.
She continued walking to her class when Fiyero fell in beside her.
"Hey, Elphaba! Feeling better?" Elphaba groaned.
Fiyero: What, are you stalking me now? Go away!
"Okay, I guess you aren't. I just wanted to know how you were feeling."
How chivalrous of you.
"Um . . . thanks?"
It's sarcasm.
"Oh . . . wait, what does chivalrous mean again?" Elphaba shook her head in frustration.
You're a prince, you should know what chivalrous means.
"Well, I don't!" No kidding, Elphaba thought wryly as she wrote her reply in a rush.
Then go look it up! Oz, you're such a pest!
"I may be a pest, but I am a very good-looking pest that cares." The grin was back. Oz, she hated that grin. Too cheerful and sweet, no, not sweet, just . . . ugh, she hated him right now!
Whatever . . . what do you want?
"I just wanted to talk," Fiyero said meekly, a tiny pout forming on his lips. Elphaba sighed.
Well, in case you haven't noticed, I can't talk right now, so you might as well go away.
"Nah, I'll just stay here with you." She groaned, which led her to a fit of coughing. Fiyero had to squint to make out her reply on the paper.
Can't you take a hint, Tiggular? I've said this already.
"Come on, I-" Elphaba placed her finger on his lips to silence him, and Oz, it did. They were frozen in place for a split second as she finished writing her reply.
Of course not. Why don't you go play with Galinda or something?
"Oh, yeah!" Fiyero's eyes become shallow again, and he smiled. "I have to go to class, now." He grinned at her. "Bye, Elphie."
Bye.
She watched him walk away as Boq came to sit next to her.
"Hey, Elphaba, how are you holding up?" he asked. Elphaba shrugged.
Boq: Fine, I suppose.
"You know, Fiyero's pretty worried about you." Elphaba's eyes widened.
Oz, what is he saying?
"He says he hopes you get better soon so you can properly argue with him." Boq grinned. "But you can tell he's concerned."
Well, I don't care. He can just dance through life and leave me alone.
"Aw, Elphie, give him a break. The poor guy obviously just wants to be friends."
Well, I don't! He can spend his time with Galinda!
Boq grinned. "You and I both know that's not how you see it," he said, getting up and holding out his hand to Elphaba, who simply stood up on her own.
She didn't see him again until Life Science, when she realized she was missing a few pages of notes.
Boq: Hey, do you have the notes from Life Sciences? I gave mine to Galinda to study, but I think she lost them and I need to copy them down.
Boq handed the notes to Elphaba, who grinned.
Thanks!
After class, she wasn't surprised when Fiyero approached her yet again. Why did he have to be so persistent?
"Can you speak now?"
Fiyero: No, I still can't speak. But my fists are perfectly fine.
Fiyero laughed, a huge grin appearing on his face. "Okay, I'll see you later then, Miss Elphaba." She heaved a huge sigh as Pfannee reached her right as she caught her breath.
"So, is it true?" the bubbly redhead asked in her nasally voice.
Pfannee: Yes, I lost my voice.
"Okay, well, I'm telling you about this party that we're having at the OzDust, soooo worth going to, even someone like you, as long as you don't wear that hideodeous hat!" Elphaba pursed her lips as she wrote her answer.
Do I seem like the kind of person who would be stupid enough to drown myself in alcohol at a party full of people who hate me?
"Omioz you're right!" Pfannee realized, her eyes seeming to become even more blank, if that was even possible, "Okay, you're un-invited!" Elphaba attempted to ignore the hurt that purged deep inside her stomach at Pfannee's apparent glee in her not going.
That's right.
Pfannee walked away and Elphaba looked after her for a moment before turning back to finish her day at her final class.
Just as she expected/dreaded, there was Galinda, waiting for her outside of Dr. Dillamond's classroom.
"HEY ELPHIE!" Galinda said cheerfully, giving her a quick hug. Elphaba returned it with an awkward pat on the back before pulling away with a smile. "Has your voice come back?"
Galinda: No, it hasn't come back. Thanks for asking.
"No problem, Elphie!"
Can I have my notes back?
"Notes? What notes?" Elphaba answered with a fond eye roll. "Oh, those notes I asked-well, um . . . I sort of lost them." Elphaba shook her head. "I'm sorry!"
Of course.
"I didn't mean to lose them! Oh, did you get a B or something?"
It's alright, I got them from Boq.
Class went by quickly, with the kind Dr. Dillamond having mercy on her and not asking her to read. When she exited she approached Madame Morrible. Without her voice, she couldn't say spells, so she had to miss class.
Madame: I'll have to skip Sorcery today. I'm sick.
"It's alright my dear, just get well soon so you won't fall behind in your studies!" Morrible replied with a dramatic wave of her arm.
Thank you for understanding, ma'am.
"You are welcome, my dear." With that, she sauntered off to Oz knows where.
Elphaba made her way towards her suite with Galinda as fast as she could, wanting to curl up on her bed with a good book and drain her mind of this entire day. But she wouldn't be so lucky.
"Elphaba!" She turned around to see Fiyero running to catch her, and when he finally reached her, he grinned. "Need any help or anything?" She sighed. Didn't he ever get tired? She certainly did.
Fiyero: No, I'm fine. If I made it through my last two classes without speaking and carrying my books on my own I can handle myself perfectly fine for the rest of the day.
"Okay, I'll let the book thing slide. But do you need me to fetch you any medicine or something?" Elphaba practically punched her reply into his face.
Go away!
Looking slightly dejected, Fiyero obeyed, and, walking backwards so as to smile at her as he left, left her alone.
"Were you talking to Fiyero?" came Galinda's voice. Elphaba started and turned around, smoothing her expression for her friend and nodding.
Galinda: Yeah. Oh, ShenShen had a message for you, I forgot!
"Really? Thanks, Elphie!" Galinda said, skipping off to fine her friend.
She made her way over to a small fountain, and took a penny out of her pocket. Normally she made fun of such childish things, but she was bored, and tired, so she decided there couldn't be any harm in playing the "game".
What should I wish for?
"Look, I know I said I'd drop the book thing, but are you sure you don't need any help? They look awfully heavy." Elphaba whirled around and threw the penny in with such might it might have bent.
I wish Fiyero would go away! I wish Fiyero would go away! I wish Fiyero would go away!
She turned back to him and set her books down on the edge of the fountain and then sitting beside them.
Fiyero: Why must you insist on carrying my books? I can take care of myself, you know.
"I don't doubt that, I just want to help," Fiyero said, sitting down next to her. "How can I?"
Just go away, okay?
"Why can't I help you?" Fiyero asked, "Is it something I did? Or . . . need to do?" Elphaba's stomach flipped at his last words, and she wrote furiously.
Look, I appreciate it, but please, just leave me alone!
"Why do I need to leave you alone? What's wrong?" Now she was getting extremely irritated.
Go and be deeply shallow, or whatever you call it. I don't need this right now.
"Don't need what?" Fiyero asked intently, leaning closer. Elphaba leaned back, knocking her pencil into the fountain. She reached for it, but he got it first, handing it out for her, but she wagged her pen in his face, and ignored his outstretched offering.
Oz, you are the most annoying male I know! Go away!
"Hey, look who it is!"
Oh Oz, not him!
Avaric sat on her other side, winking. She rolled her eyes and showed him her paper, pointing at it angrily.
Avaric: Oh great, another one. Go.
"Go where?" Avaric asked suggestively, wagging his eyebrows. Fiyero tensed on her other side.
When I said go, I meant go away.
"Look Artichoke, if you can't handle the fireworks, then-"
"For Oz's sake, Avaric, shut up and leave her alone!" Fiyero yelled, startling Elphaba. Avaric, eyes wide, did so and walked away, cursing. She turned and looked at Fiyero, a smile tugging at her lips.
Fiyero: Thank you.
He seemed to get much closer all of a sudden, and that scared her, so she ran off, back to her dorm, where Galinda sat, with a hot mug of herbal tea.
"For my bestest friend!" Galinda squealed. Elphaba took the tea gratefully, smiling as she sipped the soothing liquid.
She grew very relaxed, her voice was sort of returning to her, and as she sat in her bed to finally read her book later that night, Galinda spoke up.
"Elphie, what's this?"
Review! Part 3 will come sooner if you do so!