Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your response to chapter 1! Enjoy chapter 2. :)
"Hold still!" Galinda said while Elphaba squirmed in her chair. "Otherwise I'll have to start over!"
"Well, excuse me for not wanting my eye poked out," Elphaba muttered sarcastically. Why had she let Galinda talk her into a makeover?
"Hey, you might be better than me with a magic wand, but I consider myself to be quite the expert with a mascara wand," Galinda said.
"What's the point of this, anyway? What color goes well with green?" Elphaba said in a last effort to get out of the 'Galindafying' she was being subjected to.
"Pink, Elphie! We've been over this!" Galinda said exasperatedly.
"Let me rephrase that. What color goes well with green that I actually like?" Elphaba said.
"Just look at this as repayment for all the times you made me go to the library to study," Galinda said.
"Yes, because spending time furthering your education and working toward your future is definitely equal to spending time putting on some frivolous make-up."
"Elphaba Thropp, you cannot tell me anymore that you don't care about your appearance," Galinda said, tugging on a lock of Elphaba's curled hair. Elphaba took it and tucked it behind her ear.
"I told you, this is never happening again. Nessa just left her curling iron out, and I was curious, so…"
"Mmhmm," Galinda said, clearly not buying Elphaba's argument. She put away the mascara and reached for a small box. "Now, what color lipstick do you want?"
Elphaba blinked at the rows of neatly arranged tubes of lipstick, thinking that if Galinda's schoolwork was even half as organized as her make-up, her studying would be ten times faster. "I didn't even know there were so many shades of lipstick," she said. She pulled a color from the box at random and handed it to Galinda.
"Nice choice. See, you are good at this," Galinda said approvingly. "I can't wait until the other students catch a glimpse of you."
"I'm sorry, what? You want me to go out like this?" Elphaba spluttered.
"Well, of course! What's the point of putting on make-up if no one gets to see it?" Galinda said as if it should be obvious. She finished applying the lipstick and then handed Elphaba a mirror. "Don't you want to show that off?" she said proudly.
Elphaba eyed Galinda's handiwork critically. "It's… bold," she said at last. "But I guess it's not as bad as I thought it would be."
Apparently Galinda took that as a yes, because she yanked Elphaba to her feet and began to pull her out of the room. "Great! Let's go."
The two girls walked around the school campus, breathing in the crisp autumn air. It was so peaceful that even Galinda didn't talk – for a while. Eventually, however, she couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer.
"Elphie? Can I tell you something important?" she asked.
"You've finally figured out that pink doesn't match every color," Elphaba guessed with a smirk.
"Excuse me, I'm trying to be serious here!" Galinda said. The grin quickly faded from Elphaba's face as she realized her friend might actually have a legitimate concern.
"What is it, Glin?" she said.
"It's Fiyero," Galinda sighed.
Elphaba immediately started firing off questions. "What about him? What happened? Did he hurt you? What did he do?"
"He didn't do anything bad. I'm more worried about what he didn't do," Galinda replied.
"I'm not quite sure I understand," Elphaba said, furrowing her brow.
Galinda took a deep breath. "He – he's never kissed me."
That only made Elphaba more confused. "What are you talking about? He kissed you earlier today."
"Not like that!" Galinda said impatiently. "A proper kiss. On the lips."
"Oh," Elphaba said. She wasn't really sure how to respond, considering the conversation she'd had with Fiyero and the promise she'd made him. "Well, he might just want to take things slow."
"We've been dating for a few months now!" Galinda exclaimed. "You'd think he would've kissed me at least once by now, wouldn't you?"
"I'm sure it's nothing against you, Glin. You never know what his reasons could be. Maybe he has really overprotective parents. Or maybe he's so shocked to be dating such a beautiful girl that he still can't believe it's real," Elphaba said, trying to lighten the mood.
Galinda still looked skeptical, but she giggled at Elphaba's words. "Thanks, Elphie. You're right, as usual. There's probably a perfectly good explanation for this."
Elphaba was relieved as Galinda hugged her, though she couldn't help feeling guilty. Making up excuses was almost like lying to her friend, yet there was nothing she could do. Promise or no promise, the future of Galinda and Fiyero's relationship was something the two of them had to discuss. And until then, she'd just have to hold her tongue.
The next day, Elphaba was working on her homework when there was a knock on the door. She got up to answer it and found Fiyero standing there.
"This is like déjà vu," she said by way of greeting. "Galinda's in class, if you're looking for her."
"I know. That's why I came now. I was actually hoping to talk to you," Fiyero said. "Can I come in?"
Elphaba blinked in surprise. "Sure," she agreed, opening the door wider to let Fiyero in. "Have a seat."
Fiyero did so, sitting on the edge of Galinda's bed, while Elphaba plopped down on her own bed. "Fiyero, is this about what we discussed yesterday?" she asked.
"Yes," Fiyero said. "I can't stop thinking about it." What he wanted to say, however, was I can't stop thinking about you. Ever since he'd laid eyes on the green girl, he'd known there was something special about her, besides her unusual skin color.
"Well, you'd better think faster," Elphaba said, oblivious to Fiyero's feelings. "Galinda confessed to me last night that the two of you have never kissed."
Fiyero winced. "And what did you tell her?"
"Nothing. Or at least, I made something up about you not wanting to rush the relationship," Elphaba said. "But if you don't figure this out and talk to her soon, she's going to start getting suspicious. I can't cover for you forever."
"I really appreciate what you're doing, Elphaba," Fiyero said. "It's just that I've heard so much about what it feels like to be in love, but I've never felt any of it with anyone before. And part of me thinks that all those people are lying, but part of me still believes that the right girl could be out there somewhere."
Lost in thought, Elphaba was suddenly conscious of the fact that Fiyero had moved to sit beside her on her bed and was staring intently at her. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "You know, that's a great thing to talk about with Galinda. She should be back any moment, so if you want me to leave, I can certainly do that," she said.
She got up hurriedly and started for the door, but Fiyero stopped her by wrapping his fingers around her wrist. And before she knew what was happening, he swiftly pulled her back down and pressed his lips to hers.
Galinda hummed to herself as she skipped through the dormitory hallways. She was starving after her morning classes, and she was hoping to find Elphaba in their room so the two of them could go get lunch together. Maybe Nessa would like to come as well, she mused.
She flung open the door to their dorm, ready to greet her roommate enthusiastically. But nothing could have prepared her for the sight that she found before her.
For there was Elphaba, sitting hand in hand with Fiyero. And to Galinda's utter disbelief, she was kissing him.