Faolen Srithentic grumbled to himself as he put his violin in its case. The rehearsals had not gone well; he had been too distracted by thoughts of the blonde girl, and consequently lost what he thought was his first chair, first violin seat. He let out an annoyed grunt and was just about to leave when he felt someone come up behind him.

"Hey, you're Faolen right? The new guy?"

Faolen narrowed his eyes, he instantly recognized him as the one who took his spot as concert master.

"Yes, that's me." He said as politely as he could.

"Well hi, I'm Boq. Boq Tinstein of Munchkinland."

"Hello, Boq."

"I just wanted to say, no hard feelings right? I mean, you played pretty well, I guess." Said the Munchkin rather smugly.

"None taken." Growled Faolen.

"You should be proud, second chair, first violin is pretty prestigious."

It took the taller man all his willpower not to punch the other in the face. He was rather arrogant when it came to his music abilities, and having someone patronize him wasn't doing his pride any good.

"You know, I think I left the stove on, I better go." Said Faolen through gritted teeth.

He was about to push past the Munchkin when he saw a familiar figure in the distance, Galinda was skipping towards him, dragging three other people, one male, one female, and another in a wheelchair behind her.

"Hi Faoly! Hello Biq." Greeted the Blonde.

Boq's smug smile was wiped off his face as he realized that Galinda still didn't remember his name, and already had a pet name for the new student.

"Hey there, uh, Lin."

That's a good nickname right? He thought to himself.

"Hello, Miss Galinda." Sighed Boq dreamily.

"Ooo! Faoly, I want you to meet my friends Elphaba, Fiyero and Nessa!"

"Which one's which?"

"I'm Fiyero." Said the tall dark haired man as he stuck out his hand.

He shook it.

"Faolen."

"I'm Elphaba." Said the green one.

Faolen blinked.

"What? Do I have something stuck in my teeth?"

He blinked again.

"Yes, I know I'm green, are you going to run away screaming now?"

Faolen laughed good naturedly.

"Course not, Miss Elphaba." He said as he offered his hand.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow as she shook it.

"Well, that's a first."

"Oh, stop being so cynical all the time, Elphaba." Chided the girl in the wheelchair.

"And who might you be?"

"Nessarose Thropp. Nice to meet you, Master Faolen…urm…"

"Srithentic."

"Srithentic! I knew you looked familiar!" Yelled Nessa suddenly.

"What?"

Nessa took out a roll of newspaper, and showed everyone what was on the front page.

"There! Faolen Srithentic, son of the Prime Minster of the Gillikin!" Announced Nessa proudly.

Elphaba quickly snatched the paper and began reading aloud.

"Faolen Srithentic, only son of Prime Minster Ranier Srithentic of the Gillikin, was spotted by Shiz Univeristy student, Avaric Tenmedows, with Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands.'Oh, yeah Faolen and Galinda are definitely together.' Stated the college aged boy. After much rumor and speculation... innuendo and outuendo, all rumors of Mr. Faolen being gay, have been dispelled."

Fiyero raised an eyebrow, "They thought you were gay?"

Galinda opened her mouth to say something, but Faolen quickly clamped her mouth shut with his hand.

"No idea why." He chuckled nervously, "I'll be right back, Galinda, why don't you your friends go get a coffee? I'll be right back…after…I'll be right back…right…back."

"See you later, Faol." Fiyero called after the Blond as he sprinted off, "Well, Galinda, I'll be the first to say it, he's crazy, like you! You're perfect for each other!"

That bastard, where is that bastard? I'll find you Avaric, you…you bastard! Damn it, why aren't I as creative with swear words as I am at accessorizing my outfits?

Faolen quickly spotted Avaric with two girls; he was clearly flirting with them, but without much luck. He was promptly slapped and the two walked off.

"Avaric!" Growled Faolen as he body tackled him to the ground.

"Dude! What the hell man?" Yelled Avaric.

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone about me and Galinda! You swore you wouldn't tell anyone!"

"Correction dude, you said 'No teacher, no student, not a single soul at Shiz can possibly know.' And I didn't break that promise, because the reporter I told wasn't a student, or teacher, and we weren't on Shiz grounds." Said Avaric with smirk.

"Asshole." Mumbled Faolen, "How'd it even get published so soon? That was barely six hours ago!"

"I dunno, magic? 'Sides, the reporter was desperate for a good story."

"You have no idea what you've done."

"C'mon man, it's not that bad. Are you even going out with Galinda, or was it a one time thing?"

Faolen chose his next words carefully.

If I say it was a one night stand, the press will think I'm promiscuous or something…they'll be waiting for my next move, girlfriend, whatever, all the time. But if I say that Galinda and I are dating…

"No." He said slowly, "We're a couple."

"Alright, no problem then! See you later bro, I'm off to get me some grub."

Faolen jogged back to the group, who were at a nearby café drinking coffee and socializing.

"Galinda, can I talk to you for a moment?" Said the Blond, and without breaking stride, pulled the confused girl around a corner.

"What's up?"

"Galinda, we have to pretend to be a couple."

Galinda raised an eyebrow.

"Just…pretend?" She said with a smirk.

"Yes, pretend. You read the article didn't you? They think we're going out! If I was to suddenly 'break up' with you, and deny the whole thing, I'm hundred percent sure that'd confirm all the rumors going around about me not being straight!"

"But, Faolen, you're not straight! Why can't you just tell them?"

"Because my father's the Prime Minster of the Gillikin! Reporters would have a field day with that piece of info; find some way to warp it into…something bad that they could use to remove him from his position of power! He's one of the few politicians who believe that the Wizard has too much power and that the Emerald city should be a democracy! Do you know how many people hate him?"

He was panting and out of breath after his rant.

"Ok, ok I understand." Galinda gave a small smile, "We won't tell anyone otherwise."

Faolen relaxed, "Thanks, Lin, you're the best."