Chapter Three:
A/N: Thank you for the reviews: )! They make my day!
I have been quick at updating because I had this much written before, so I am going to attempt to get some more done!
Elphaba had never been good at guessing games. This could be, she supposed, due to the fact she was never permitted to indulge herself in such frivolity as a young girl. Nessarose, had she been so inclined, surely played such typical games in between being doted on and attending Frex's lectures on religion, but not Elphaba. It was quite likely that that was how her blunt and straightforward manner of addressing problems, and people (though more often than not she considered them one in the same) manifested itself. However, at this particular moment faced with Glinda's confession and clue as to her mystery crush's identity her blunt nature was deciding, and probably for the best, not to surface.
"Well this narrows down the field then," Elphaba quipped with a smile after a moment's pause to consider an appropriate response. "There are few people I would certainly know."
"One would think differently considering the number of classes you attend!" Glinda laughed in attempts to disguise her sudden nervousness. She hadn't considered that implying Elphie knew the person well would narrow down the options.
"Unlike you, I do not attend class to socialize, my sweet." Elphaba smiled sweetly at Glinda who swooned both at the smile and the endearment. This led Glinda to wonder: could Elphie swoon? It was unlikely, highly unlikely. However, it was Glinda's belief that nothing was impossible or unattainable. It was at that time she made it her goal to, by the end of the week, make Elphaba swoon. Preferably because of her. "But you haven't yet told me, who is this mystery girl?"
"Well I can't just tell you!" Glinda sighed with a giggle.
"Why not?" Elphaba was confused at this. "You brought it up, you told me that you're well... that you like girls, and now you won't go so far as to tell me who it is that you like?"
"That's not how it works! You're lucky you have me to teach you these things Elphie!" Glinda gave her friend a half hug as she bounced happily at the prospect of teaching Elphaba the ways of girlish games.
"Because the opportunity arises for me to behave inappropriately in a secret telling situation so often." Elphaba rolled her eyes. Glinda gave her a playful shove. It was then that the girls heard a thump at their door. Not a knock like the one Fiyero had delivered earlier that morning, but a thump.
"Elphaba! Elphaba, open this door this instant!"
"Nessarose." Elphaba sighed under her breath. She pushed herself off the bed to go and open the door for her sister but didn't get far as Glinda had grabbed onto her hand effectively stopping her in her tracks.
"Elphie." Glinda whispered in a tone more serious than Elphaba thought Glinda capable of. "Elphie you can't tell Nessa what I told you. You simply can't!"
"I wasn't planning on divulging your secrets to my sister, Glinda. And though she is rather... well, devout and religious, she's not intolerant. She likes you, and I can't see her reacting badly..."
"Elphaba, promise me." Glinda demanded, the rare use of Elphaba's full name startled her slightly. Glinda's sudden change of demeanour made her wonder what other secrets the bubbly blonde was keeping from the world.
"I promise." Elphaba nodded.
"Elphaba Thropp! I know you are in there and if you don't open this door right now..." Nessa was bordering on shouting now as Elphaba hastily made her way across the room and threw open the door.
"Good morning Nessa." She smiled. "Would you like to come in?"
"Thank you, Elphaba. It took you long enough to answer the door! What are you two up to in here?" Nessa narrowed her eyes at Elphaba and then trailed them across to Glinda who was staring intently at her closet.
"We were just talking Nessa." Elphaba explained. "I haven't been seeing much of you lately, how have you been?"
"Oh, I'm managing." Nessa sighed dramatically. "Of course, Madame Morrible has been away quite regularly which makes things harder, and Boq, oh Boq. He's hardly ever around anymore, Elphaba. I don't know what to do with him."
"Nessa, we've talked about this before. Maybe he's not, you know, the one." Elphaba knew Boq didn't like her sister that way and as much as it hurt her to see Nessarose hurt, she pitied Boq knowing all too well the burden Nessa could place on one person.
"Elphaba! How could you say such a thing? Of course he is the one! And how would you know anyway? What do you know about relationships? Nothing, that's what." Nessa said dismissively. Glinda, at this, looked up.
"Nessa, how can you be certain he's the one when you've only just gone out with him? How do you know there's not someone else out there for you?" Glinda asked. She knew this all too well. At age thirteen she thought her first crush would be the man she would marry. Just weeks ago she had convinced herself that Fiyero would be the man she would marry. Now, after much internal debate, she realized she didn't even like men, so how wrong was she for most of her life? "You have to look around, meet more people and figure out how you feel. Sometimes it takes a frustratingly long amount of time, you know." Elphaba was startled at the passion behind Glinda's words. She wasn't aware that Glinda felt so strongly about finding true love where Nessarose was concerned. "Elphie, you can't tell Nessarose what I told you. You simply can't! Elphaba, promise me." "Oh yes, you do know her, I'm certain!" It all made sense now, of course! It was Nessa who Glinda liked. And in all honesty, if anyone was going to refute Glinda's advances it would be Elphaba's overly religious sister. If the fact that women liking other women was at best questionable under Nessa's beliefs weren't enough her obsession with Boq might be.
"I don't know if I should be taking relationship advice from you, Glinda." Nessa remarked coolly. "You seem to date an awful lot of boys."
"Glinda did set you up with Boq, Nessa." Elphaba reminded, feeling awkwardly out of place at her realization. Glinda probably wanted time alone with Nessa, something she never got due to Elphaba's constant presence where Nessa and Glinda were concerned. "On another note, I'm finding myself in need of sustenance. I didn't eat much at dinner yesterday evening and Glinda, you must be hungry. Nessa, have you eaten yet?"
"I'm really okay Elphie..." Glinda started, but Elphaba interrupted her.
"I'll go to the cafe and get us something to eat. I'll be back soon, okay?" And with that she was gone leaving Glinda and Nessarose sitting awkwardly together in the room. Elphaba, now on her way to the cafe, was slowly becoming overcome with emotion. It didn't surprise her, it shouldn't. Nessarose was beautiful, albeit tragically. And though overbearing and overwhelming, she did have her redeeming qualities. In fact, the more Elphaba thought about it, the better a pair her sister and best friend seemed to make. It wasn't as if Glinda would ever like her. Elphaba fleetingly allowed herself, briefly last night and briefly this morning, to consider this possibility and she thought, at the time, with merit. Sometimes in the way Glinda looked at her, or the things she said, the fleeting touches and almost too long glances made Elphaba think there was a chance, the tiniest of tiny chances, that Glinda felt the same way. But no, once again it was Nessa who won. Beautiful, charming, spoiled Nessarose who triumphed over green, socially awkward, blunt Elphaba time and time again. What killed Elphaba most was that it was likely Nessa would turn Glinda down. She could humiliate her; divulge her secret to the world whereas Elphaba wouldn't have told a soul. Glinda didn't deserve to have a broken heart and it was then that Elphaba decided she would do everything in her power to prevent that from happening. Now she just had to figure out how.
Back in the dorm room however, a scene Elphaba would never have imagined was playing out.
"Elphie." Nessa snorted in an unladylike manner. "Elphaba always hated nicknames, you know."
"She doesn't mind." Glinda shrugged, "I asked her, and she's never since protested."
"Does anyone ever protest you Glinda? I've never known them to. Even in the beginning when you were simply awful to Elphaba, she would have done anything you asked, you know. And Avaric and Fiyero, waiting at your beck and call. Even Boq, my Boq, would choose you over me any day."
"I don't want Boq, Nessa. I didn't ever mean to interfere in your relationship. Really, I didn't." Glinda, to Nessarose, almost seemed sincere.
"You're convincing, Glinda, you really are. If I were one easily swayed by beauty, I'd believe you too. But I'm not. And I know the truth. You wanted Boq all along!"
"What?! Nessa, I am perfectly well, I am perfectly... liking someone who isn't at all Boq at the moment." Glinda reasoned.
"That's not what he told me when he came to see me last night!" Nessa now seemed as if she were going to cry. "He told me that you left Fiyero."
"I... Fiyero and I... we are having well, problems. But I assure you that Boq has nothing to do with them."
"He said you broke up with Fiyero, Glinda, and then allowed him to escort you home when you had several other offers. You chose him, Glinda. You knew he was mine and you chose him. My sister is your best friend, I never see her anymore because she's always with you, you were dating a prince Glinda, and you had to go after my boyfriend. I wanted to confront you with this in front of Elphaba so maybe she'd see the kind of girl you really are, but she was concerned you might be hungry. You effectively ruined my plans once again." Glinda didn't know how to make Nessa stop and see that she meant her no harm, that she didn't want Boq and she didn't mean to hurt her.
"Nessa, I'm sorry. I will go and see Boq later today and clear up any confusion he may have towards the nature of the relationship between he and I which, I assure you, is strictly platonic. I'll remind him he is with you, a perfectly beautiful, intelligent young woman who cares for him very much. You're lucky to have him Nessa. Boq did offer to escort me home last night and I accepted because I was more than a little intoxicated and I knew that even if he weren't with you, he would have been a complete gentlemen because that's the kind of guy he is. You're lucky to have him too, you know." This seemed to placate Nessa a little.
"I may have been a little harsh on you earlier Glinda, I'm sorry." Nessa rarely apologized for anything, Glinda knew this much from Elphaba, and so she accepted the apology with a simple smile. "It's just hard. I know Boq liked you before, everyone seems to like you. I guess I was being petty and insecure and I shouldn't have been."
"It's fine, Nessa. Really. Now we had better move onto a more pleasant topic before Elphie gets back with breakfast. You are staying for breakfast, aren't you?" Glinda asked. Surely this newfound... understanding with Nessa would please Elphaba who seemed to appear uneasy at the thought of leaving the two alone together. Did she and Nessa really appear to get along that atrociously? Well, no longer! Elphaba will be pleased.
"Elphaba did go to get food, so I guess I might as well stay. Besides it will be nice to catch up with her." Nessa nodded. And so while awaiting Elphaba's return Glinda and Nessa fell into an easy banter now that jealousy and misunderstanding had been momentarily cast aside. This casting was, consequently, responsible for the jealous grimace Elphaba forced herself to hide upon entering her room to find her sister and her roommate giggling together at someone less savvy's fashion mishap earlier in the week. The misunderstanding and jealousy between Glinda and Nessarose, it seemed, had not disappeared, but simply changed gears.
SUPER awkward ending. Wow. I enjoyed writing that. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it, and it wasn't just me enjoying life through my medication :P. It's actually still really early. Ohwell. More soon, as I have actually formed some sort of a plan though up until now I wasn't aware I was going to involve Nessarose in the story aha. It's all good.