The knock on the bedroom door came much too early for Roger's taste. He groaned. "Who's there, what the fuck do you want, and what time is it?"

"It's Elphaba," a tentative voice replied. "It's eight-thirty."

Roger groaned again. "Go away. Come back later."

"But it's time to be up."

Roger sat up. "What is wrong with this chick?" he asked himself. Then, to Elphaba, he said bitterly, "I stay out until one or two in the morning. I don't generally fall asleep until two or three. Therefore, I typically do not like to be woken up before at least eleven. Now, I'm not saying it again. Go. Away."

"But-"

"Get the fuck away from my door." Roger rolled back over, pulling the pillow over his head. "Unless someone is dying or the loft is on fire, I don't talk to anyone before eleven am. Leave me alone."

Elphaba was undaunted. "Roger, who's the girl with the red hair? She looked sad. Why wasn't she introduced to us?"

Roger sat up slowly. "Come in," he muttered. Elphaba did. Roger had his back to her. "Where did you see this girl, Elphaba?"

"She was standing on the balcony. It was yesterday, before you got home. I went to say hi to her, and she just looked at me. There was pain in her eyes."

"What, exactly, did she look like?" Roger's voice was carefully guarded.

"She was about my height, with red hair, and blue eyes. Her wrists were scarred."

"April," Roger murmured.

"Pardon?"

Roger didn't answer, and Elphaba touched his shoulder. Roger jerked away. "Promise me you won't talk about her again."

"Who is she?"

"She's supposed to be dead. Her name was April. She was my girlfriend, before Mimi. She committed suicide."

"Oh." Elphaba's mouth dropped. "Roger, I'm so-"

"Don't. I'm so sick of people apologizing for it. Just don't talk about her again. I hate talking about her. It's not a pleasant feeling."

"Kind of like the feeling I get when I talk about Fiyero. Your heart aches for her."

"Exactly." Roger looked at her. There was no hostility in his voice, only sincerity. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to him?"

"He died. The Wizard killed him. I was fighting against him, and the Wizard's forces followed him, and they found out he was in cahoots with me, and they killed him." Her voice cracked.

Roger placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I asked."
"Don't be. You deserved to know."
Roger smiled. "Well, I guess I'm not going back to sleep. Hey, why don't I get Mimi, Mark and my sister and we can all go out for coffee or something?"

"That sounds fun." Elphaba smiled.

"Great. Just let me go take a quick shower, then I'll call the others."