Chapter 3.

A/N I went on an on-the-run road trip through the USA (fun!) so I'm posting this from a roadside establishment in Missouri :)

So they're friends now. She considers him a friend and he knows it. He can tell from the way she accepts his constant presence, smiles when he enters the room and looks up from her work to talk to him. And he likes being her friend a lot more than he'd have thought he would.

And he likes her being his friend even more.

She's a perfect friend because she doesn't try to impress him in any way, and his status as Prince doesn't hold much meaning to her. His status as playboy doesn't either. He can't charm her into doing anything, she won't fall for any of his pretty lines and flashing his pearly white teeth only earns him a smack over the head. And he loves it. He loves spending time with her. And he does it so often that even Galinda raises her eyebrows now and then, when he comes to their dorm to pick up his girlfriend for a date, but then spends an hour talking to Elphaba, not once urging Galinda to hurry up and finish her beautification routine. They studied together, they walked to class together, they sat together at lunch, where she still sat uncomfortably, but less stiffly these days, with his bag next to hers and his arm slung around the back of her seat, his long legs touching hers. He'd taken to bringing her coffee in the morning, because it made her less grouchy whenever he talked through a lecture and he bought her a meal sometimes, after a particularly long day of studying. He was even seen in the library every now and then, if only to stay on her good side. And it worked.

And as he filled his days like this, seeing less of Galinda and more and more of her roommate, he figured it out: It wasn't that he couldn't see what the others saw. It was that they couldn't see what he saw. And he admits to himself that he likes that. Because she is starting to trust him a little. Only a little, only a step at a time, but it was there all the same. Because he doesn't treat her like those idiots do. He doesn't treat her the same as he does everyone else either though. Because she's not like everybody else. He teases her more than he does anyone else but he flirts with her less blatantly, because it makes her uncomfortable and he doesn't want her to be uncomfortable around him. He wants her to have some place, someone, that she doesn't have to feel uncomfortable with. So he tries to be nice but not too nice. He teases her and he aggravates her and he lets her make snide comments about his intelligence. And he smiles. Because he knows something no one else knows. He knows her.

Galinda Upland, of the Upper Uplands, isn't stupid. Bubbly, ditzy, superficial and vain maybe, but not stupid. She knew exactly which shoes to match with which dress, she made sure that those that mattered knew her name and she always kept her grades, due to minimal effort and maximum charm, slightly above average, because it just wouldn't do for an Upland of the Upper Uplands to be average at anything but it wouldn't do to be known mostly for brains, either. Galinda was the perfect combination of beauty and brains. Her mother had taught her well.

Lately, however, Galinda had used her brain a lot more than she'd have preferred. A lot more than she'd used her beauty. And it was all because her best friend was the smartest girl in the school and her boyfriend was...thinking.

And he was doing it with aforementioned best friend. They were always together these days. Everyone saw it. Galinda saw it. And she hadn't care'd, at first. But now...well. She still didn't care. But she did mind.

She'd surprised herself with the revelation. She'd been out shopping, because nothing clears a girls head the way shopping for the perfect shoes can, and she'd been fingering fabric and matching the tones of lilac and baby blue and pink to her mental Rolodex of strappy shoes. It had come to her out of nowhere, as she decided on a shade of soft shimmering pink. She didn't care, because she wasn't in love with him. She loved him, yes. She loved how they looked together. She adored the adoring looks people would throw them and the jealousy in the girls' eyes as she spun around in the dance floor in the best dress and with the most handsome boy in school. She loved what he represented but she didn't actually love him. The realization made her sad, made her forget about dresses and shoes and straps for a minute, made her leave the store and make her way to the sun lit piazzo and find the emptiest terrace at the back of it, where the shade enveloped most of the tables and chairs and sit down. She did all this without being too aware of what it meant but as she spotted the waiter approaching her, she squared her shoulders. This needed to be dealt with and Galinda was nothing if not good in crisis situations. She ordered a strong, black coffee because she needed it and then asked for vanilla syrup, because she deserved it and forced herself to think. Clearly and honestly, think about her relationship with Fiyero and what she wanted from it, gained from it, felt about it and wished for. And she did. She didn't want to. She wanted to run back to the shops filled with glitter and shiny pretty things.

But she didn't.

She ordered another coffee instead.

She distanced herself from the situation and observed. Fiyero was the perfect boyfriend. He did everything right. He bought her chocolate and flowers, jewelry for Lurlinemass, he dressed incredibly well, had nice manners and the most charming smile she'd ever seen on a boy. He was took her to the right restaurants and was always on time, but never complained about having to wait for her. But then, she knew that the reason he did everything right was because he'd done it before. Many times. She wasn't any different to him. It hurt a little to acknowledge that but she felt the better for it. After all, he was only different from all the other boys that had wooed her or tried to, because he was prince, wasn't he? She didn't know him. At all. He never shared who he was with her. They didn't bother with conversation or emotions. And she wouldn't have minded, would have preferred it that way, wouldn't have wanted him to bother with either, if it hadn't been for...for Elphaba.

Because she was forced to admit that Fiyero did do all those things, just not with her. He shared who he was with Elphaba. He was different with Elphaba. Happier. It was more painful than Galinda would ever have guessed to acknowledge these things but they were true and they could no longer be denied. If she denied them. She'd be stupid. And Galinda wasn't stupid.

Fiyero was happy around Elphaba. Fiyero was always happy, of course. It was his slogan, his answer to everything. Dance, smile, be happy. And she didn't think he was unhappy when he was with her. He smiled, laughed, danced. He enjoyed himself, she was sure. But it wasn't the same. When he was with Elphie...he was...calmer. More relaxed. He smiled, genuinely, he teased her and let her insult him. He kept his attention focused on the green girl and never strayed from her side. Galinda doubted if he even knew it himself, but he was always touching her, looking at her when she was in the room, looking for her when she wasn't. He dragged her out of libraries and demanded she'd join their group for lunch and dinner dates. Galinda never minded. She'd thought it was sweet. She loved her roommate and Elphie didn't have many people that accepted her for who she was, who cared about her and Fiyero obviously did. He was trying so hard to be her friend. Now, however, Galinda wasn't so sure that was all there was to it.

And it wasn't just that Fiyero was Elphaba's friend. It was that Elphaba was Fiyero's friend as well. That was part of why he was so different around her. Why they were so different around each other. They were true friends. Fiyero was, dare she think it, himself around Elphie. None of his flattery or tricks would ever work on her roommate, Galinda knew, so the only way to get through to Elphaba was by being who he was, without all the prince-type charms. By letting go of that, by simply being who he was, he'd won her over. That much was clear. They were friends. True friends. Galinda saw no way around that anymore and not even the pang of jealousy she felt at that, of anger even, could change that.

At that precise moment, as if Fate had looked down and taken pity on her, she saw Fiyero walk by, holding two huge ice-creams and, a minute later, saw Elphaba exit the bookstore. Galinda watched as her boyfriend stepped towards her with a grin and handed her roommate one of the ice-cream cones. She saw Elphaba grimace and roll her eyes but concede and the pair made their way towards a deserted table. They could see her, if they'd look up, yet Galinda stayed where she was, sure beyond a doubt that they wouldn't. She watched as they sat down in chairs opposite each other. Elphaba dropped her bag on the table and grabbed a book, while Fiyero put his feet on the edge of Elhaba's seat, at which she smacked him, but softly and with an indulgent smile. They talked a little and she watched in astonishment as her roommate closed her eyes and lifted her face towards the sun, and Fiyero watched her with a look on his face that, if Galinda had been ready for that, she could have described as love. And then Fiyero grabbed a book. And they sat there and ate their ice-cream and read. And it looked just like it did in school, but it wasn't. Because the prince kept glancing over the rim of the book, to the girl opposite him and said girl took much longer to finish a page than she normally needed.

Galinda sat there and watched. And she let the pain and the anger and the bitterness fight their battle inside of her until regret won out and was followed by acceptance.

Resignation.

It was the way it was.

She took a minute to reflect on her own maturity and was proud of herself for not breaking down in tears or working up to an angry frenzy. It was what it was. She wasn't in love with her boyfriend, so she simply could not get angry because he was not in love with her either. And she could not be angry at Elphie for falling for the charms of such a lovely boy, who accepted her for who she was and bought her ice-creams and who abandoned his popular friends and antics for dusty books in shadowy corners. She wanted Elphie to have all that. She deserved all the kindness she could get.

What she was angry about, was that Fiyero was still dating her. For now, she was willing to believe that the boy had no clue as to his true feelings yet. Boys were not perceptive and Galinda was nothing if not perceptive. She was ready to let go of her dreams of marrying him, but she wasn't ready to play matchmaker. She wasn't ready to be Galinda Upland, single. No longer half of the perfect IT couple. She wasn't fully ready to not be Gliyero. She wasn't ready for Fiyeraba.

So she'd give it time. Time to deal, to accept, to put it fully behind her. And she'd give him some time. Time to come to his own, but the same, conclusions. Time to man up and break it off with her.

Time.

But not too much of it.

She'd never liked wasting time. Her popsy had taught her well.

So she sat and watched her boyfriend be in love with her roommate and she tried to determine whether or not her roommate returned the feelings. It was difficult to tell, with a person so closed off as Elphaba. She was comfortable around him, or at least as comfortable as she'd ever been around any one. Who else would she have ever been out in the sun with, instead of in the library or the seclusion of her dorm, eating ice-cream and smiling?

Galinda got up and made her way out on to the street again. She made sure not to pass Elphaba and Fiyero. She didn't want to deal with them right then. She skipped past the shops, she wasn't in the mood anymore. She went back to her dorm, pulled the curtains, removed her make-up, took a shower and went to bed. Tomorrow, she knew, she'd be back. She'd be Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands again. Tomorrow, she would shine and sparkle and shop. Tomorrow.

I'd love a review :)

But I can see that quite a number of people are (or were) reading this, so that's good enough to keep me posting. The next chapter is three times as long, at least so should I cut that in half?

Next Stop: Tulsa, Oklahoma!