Elphaba chose to spend the remainder of the day in the library, which caused Galinda to adopt the sneaking suspicion that the green girl was avoiding her for some unknown reason. After all, she was hardly going to follow her to the library, was she? The very idea of that was simply ludicrous; Galinda didn't even know how one was supposed to behave in a library, having never ventured into one before.
So, for lack of a better plan, she stayed in the room and waited for the green girl's return. And waited. And waited. Soon, she'd meandered over to her wardrobe with the intention of planning her outfit for the following day. She ended up planning her outfits for the following two months, but still Elphaba hadn't returned.
Now impatient, anxious and bored- and hungry since she had missed dinner by sleeping in so late- Galinda put on her outdoor clothing, deciding she would, after all, brave the library in search of her missing room mate. She was halfway there, when Galinda thought better of it. It was teatime now; Elphaba would most likely soon be heading down to the Buttery for something to eat. She'd go and wait there instead for a while and buy some food for herself at the same time.
A couple of hours later, Galinda was back at her room- well, outside it, to be more precise. She'd waited as patiently as she could in the Buttery, before deciding she'd have better luck returning to her room. At least there she wouldn't receive smug glances from other girls who were obviously under the erroneous impression that she had been stood up, of all things. Wasn't she at least entitled to sit alone once in a while? Elphaba did it all the time, after all.
When she reached the dorm however, Galinda found it to be locked, which confused her immensely. She distinctly remembered leaving it open when she had left, reasoning that she'd be back soon. (And she hadn't been able to find her key, but that was beside the point.)
She hammered on the door for a while, before drawing the conclusion that Elphaba was not inside; which obviously meant she'd slipped in when Galinda had been away, perhaps to pick something up, slipping out again before the blonde had returned, and locking the door behind her. Even at such times of stress as finding herself locked out of her room, Galinda couldn't help admiring Elphaba's cunning.
But there was no reason to be cunning, she thought in annoyance. Nor was there any reason for Elphaba to be avoiding her like this. And now she couldn't get inside her own room. Perturbed, Galinda turned her back on the door to lean against it, before folding her arms and sitting abruptly on the floor. Well she had nothing to do while she waited, so she may as well make herself comfortable.
In over an hour's time- and it felt like a lifetime to the blonde- Galinda finally heard the sound of footsteps approaching. She looked up from the almost-sleeping position she had fallen into to glare through the darkness at her room mate. Galinda didn't remember it having become dark, but apparently it had.
"Well, it's about time," she commented sulkily, when Elphaba was close enough to hear.
Elphaba started slightly at the sound of her voice, but for once Galinda couldn't bring herself to find this funny. It was cold out in the hallway, for Oz's sake. Miserably, she waited as Elphaba glanced around wildly before looking down and noticing her sitting forlornly outside the door.
"Galinda, you startled me. What in Oz's name are you doing down there?" she whispered, staring down at the blonde girl in confusion.
"You locked me out," Galinda whispered accusingly back towards Elphaba's dark shape, pouting.
Elphaba rolled her eyes, unhooking her bag from her shoulder as she searched for her own key. "I really do despair about you sometimes, Galinda," came the return whisper moments later.
Galinda continued to pout as she climbed primly to her feet.
"Well, if you hadn't left me all day, and then returned when I least expected it-" she began to whisper back furiously, but then cut herself off frowning slightly, "Wait a clock tick; why are we whispering?"
Elphaba paused. Then, "I have no idea," she whispered back.
"Well, you started it!" Galinda replied, still sullen. She didn't expect Elphaba to join in with her silly argument; that wasn't the green girl's style. So when Elphaba replied, "No, you did," in a grave tone, Galinda assumed she was being serious.
"I certainly di-" she began to protest, before noticing the tiniest of smiles of Elphaba's face. Suddenly, just like that, all Galinda's anger seemed to disintegrate.
"No, you did!" she giggled, expectation in her tone, but it appeared Elphaba didn't care to continue the sport any longer.
"There," the green girl said, finally locating her key and opening up the dorm, "And mind you don't make a habit of this."
"Me? Oh, do be quiet, Elphie. You sound just like Madame Morrible," Galinda pouted, bouncing into the room and throwing herself onto her bed where she shoved her pillow over her head; feigning the blocking out of the other girl's voice. Elphaba wavered in amusement as she closed the door, before checking herself and moving away. Galinda hibernated under her pillow for a little longer, before deciding to resurface.
"What are you doing tomorrow, Elphie?" she asked innocently after a further pause, her blonde head poking out from under her pillow as she looked toward the other girl inquiringly. Elphaba looked back, raising an eyebrow again.
"What am I doing? Galinda, tomorrow's Monday. We have class," she reminded the blonde as she took off her glasses and laid them on her bedside table.
"I know that," Galinda insisted with a giggle, "I meant after. Have you got any plans?"
Elphaba shrugged. "I thought I might go to the library and-"
"The library? Again?"
"Galinda, I have work to do."
"But Elphie," Galinda protested, her pout returning, "You've already spent all of today there; how much more work can you possibly have? I don't know why you don't simply take your bed things and set up camp there!"
"Look, I didn't need to spend all day there today," Elphaba argued, fishing her grey nightdress out from under her pillow, "But I felt that I wanted to. Is that really so hard for you to comprehend?"
"Oh, please! You were hiding from me, weren't you? You only came back when you knew I wouldn't be here!" Galinda insisted, a triumphant smile appearing on her face.
"Hiding from you? You never fail to flatter yourself, Galinda," Elphaba countered with an eye-roll, causing Galinda's face to fall dramatically. Noticing this, Elphaba paused- nightdress in hand- before tossing it carelessly onto her bed and moving to perch at the opposite end of Galinda's bed to where the blonde was lying.
"Look Galinda," she said, frowning slightly, "You've seen as well as I have how the other students treat me. The library's sort of my... well, sanctuary."
Galinda frowned, trying to fathom that thought. Wasn't a 'sanctuary' a place where one went to relax? She failed to see how the library fitted in with that description. Did Elphaba have to speak in metaphors? "So you don't really go there to study?" she asked, trying to simplify things.
"Oh, I go there to study alright," Elphaba answered with a hollow laugh, "I care about my grades and I like to learn. But while I'm studying, I don't have to focus on anything else. Sometimes… sometimes I suppose I go there to take my mind off other things."
That said, she stood up, quickly retrieving her nightdress from where she had tossed it, before moving back towards the bathroom to change. Galinda stayed where she was sitting, still trying to get her head around what Elphaba had just told her. She didn't move until the sound of Elphaba's voice filtered through her thoughts.
"Why do you ask, anyway?"
"Huh?" Galinda replied blankly, shaking her head to try and get her thoughts back on track.
"You asked what I was doing tomorrow. Why so interested?"
"Oh!" Galinda flushed slightly, suddenly nervous. Though there was no reason why she should be, of course. It wasn't as though she was about to ask Elphaba out, for Oz's sake- well, not in that context, at least. "Well, I was simply wondering if you'd like to do something tomorrow. With me, I mean. A change of scenery from books and…" What else was there to look at in libraries beside books? ".. Uhm, books…"
Elphaba turned to stare at her. Realising she wasn't going to receive a response anytime in the near future, Galinda heaved a sigh. "It was just a thought," she said, dropping her head onto her pillow, unable to hide her disappointment, "If you'd sooner study again, that's-"
"A change of scenery sounds good."
"It- I beg your pardon?" Galinda said, raising her blonde head from the pillow in surprise.
Elphaba looked uncertain now. "I mean, if the offer's there… I suppose I have been spending a lot of time studying lately…"
Galinda was flabbergasted now. Not only had Elphaba agreed to spend an afternoon with her- outside of the comfort of their room, she felt she should add- but she'd also admitted to spending too much time in the library.
Galinda fought to conceal her smile as Elphaba fidgeted awkwardly with her hands. Really, the green girl was too adorable when she got fidgety. Galinda propped herself up on one elbow to admire the other girl's body language more closely… No, to observe, she corrected herself severely. Just out of interest. Of course there was no admiring involved.
"So where shall we go tomorrow? How about shopping?" Galinda suggested brightly. It had suddenly occurred to her that Elphaba hadn't snapped at her for staring, the way she usually did.
The word 'shopping,' however, brought Elphaba out of her apparent mind-coma. "Shopping?" she repeated, not even striving to hide the repulsion in her tone, "Galinda, I'm trying to be open-minded about this get-together you're planning, but there is a line to be drawn and sadly shopping is-"
"Okay, point taken," Galinda giggled, too many alternative ideas racing through her mind for her to be put out that her first suggestion had been rejected. "Oh, but we could still go into the town!" she exclaimed finally, sitting up with excitement in her eyes, "Not to shop, but simply for the purpose of getting off campus for a little while. That's not over this 'line' of yours, is it?"
She watched Elphaba's eyes dart around for a moment, before the green girl seemed to give in, undoubtedly unable to produce a good excuse in time. "No; a walk in the town seems acceptable enough," she said, before grimacing at the way her statement caused Galinda to clap her hands in delight.
"Perfect! Then it's a date," Galinda beamed, before dropping her head over the side of her bed to search for her own nightdress amongst the pile of clothes she had accumulated next to her bed. She supposed she should have tidied up after her early-afternoon-wardrobe-raid, but Galinda was still getting used to the idea of having no maids here to tidy up after her.
Elphaba lapsed momentarily into her old ways by answering with a grunt, before slinking swiftly into the bathroom. Luckily Galinda had missed her briefly flushed cheeks by disappearing over the side of her bed, but Elphaba had still felt it a good idea to take her leave as soon as possible. After locking the door, she groaned- quietly enough that Galinda wouldn't hear- and placed a hand on either side of the sink, staring gloomily into the basin.
It wasn't that she was opposed to spending time with Galinda; far from it in fact. Now that she and the blonde girl weren't at each other's throats twenty-four hours a day, she had found herself beginning to enjoy Galinda's company. But it had been Galinda's final, off-hand statement that had triggered the reddening of her cheeks.
'It's a date,' rung through Elphaba's mind like a thousand warning bells, making her want to march back into the room and call off the whole thing. Yes, it was only a figure of speech, and Elphaba knew that. But- and she could barely even bring herself to think it- did she want it to be more than just an expression? Had the blonde girl grown on her more than she dared to admit, even to herself?
Frowning, Elphaba pushed herself from her position and opened the bathroom cabinet to take out her oils for washing. A moment later she had closed it again forcefully, despising herself for even thinking such a thought. She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror on the front of the cabinet and quickly looked away, her self-loathing doubling in that second. Mirrors; she just couldn't avoid them. That, she thought, glaring at her image- along with a thousand other reasons, of course- was why she couldn't allow herself to think things like that.
