As per usual, Monday morning couldn't pass by fast enough for Galinda. But for once, this was not caused by the monotony of classes, but by anticipation of the afternoon ahead. She fidgeted perpetually through History class, every so often shooting little glances towards Elphaba who, in contrast, appeared nothing but absorbed in her notes.
Admiring the green girl's composure, Galinda did her best to imitate her in taking notes; but soon grew bored with the task. It wasn't long before she had given up completely; and thus spent the remainder of the class staring vaguely out of the window, half of her keeping an eye on the weather, the other half daydreaming.
To Galinda's horror, the morning which had begun so beautifully progressed into a thoroughly unpleasant afternoon. The previously bright sun had disappeared behind a dismal collection of dark clouds by midday and a chilly breeze had begun to seep through the window; which Galinda noticed that Elphaba didn't hesitate to close once droplets of rain began to cascade down. The torrents of rain soon grew heaver, almost giving the illusion that the college was being plagued by an incredibly noisy rogue hosepipe.
"I suppose that puts an end to our little outing," Elphaba said once their classes had finally ended and the two girls had retreated dutifully back to their dorm room.
"Nonsense!" Galinda laughed, rummaging through her wardrobe until she came upon two umbrellas. She tucked one under her arm before tossing the other to Elphaba with a bright smile. "A little rain never hurt anyone!"
Curiously enough, Elphaba seemed to pale at this assertion; though she nodded bravely, catching the umbrella awkwardly as it was thrown to her. "Of course."
When, a little later, the two of them were prepared to leave; the rain has eased off considerably. Chancing a glance at her green accomplice, Galinda noticed that Elphaba seemed extremely relieved about this. But even so, the green girl remained huddled under her borrowed umbrella, cape pulled closely around her as she shrank back from any stray droplets of rain that dared come her way.
As they walked, the rainfall continued to lessen, until it had stopped completely. Pleased, Galinda put her own umbrella down and shook her blonde curls free from the hood she had been wearing to prevent her hair from becoming damp.
"I do wonder about your strong aversion to water," Galinda said conversationally, turning to face her room mate with an expression of mild bewilderment at the sight of her still hunched as though against an imaginary rainfall, "You can put that silly thing down now: it's stopped raining."
Rather than take the blonde's word for it, Elphaba stuck one gloved hand out in front of her experimentally. When it didn't seem to collect any water, she removed her glove and repeated the action.
"Satisfied now?" Galinda asked with a laugh as Elphaba finally ducked out from under the umbrella.
"Very much so," came the derisive response, and Galinda turned to see the green girl holding her still-wet umbrella at arm's length, as warily as one might hold a hand grenade.
"Here, let me," Galinda giggled, relieving Elphaba of the umbrella before turning to the side furthest from her and shaking it off.
Elphaba watched her for a moment, before managing a grunted "Thanks," as her focus moved grimly back to the dark clouds, still looming menacingly above them. Having finished with her makeshift drying of the umbrella, Galinda turned and followed her room mate's gaze.
"Relax, Elphie," she said soothingly, taking a step nearer to the green girl, "It won't rain again."
No sooner had the words left the blonde's mouth than the clouds above them gave way once more, excreting another burst of rain. In Galinda's opinion it was no more than a light drizzle, but Elphaba let out a gasp of panic, grabbing the umbrella which Galinda was still holding and hurriedly shielding herself from the water which seemed to unnerve her so.
Her sharp nails scratched Galinda's hand a little in the process, but the blonde appreciated that this wasn't the time to complain. "Quick Elphie, in here," she said, grabbing Elphaba's hand and pulling her into the closest available building, which conveniently happened to be a tea shop.
Needing no further persuasion, Elphaba followed; glancing behind as she ducked through the doorway and into safety. The rain was falling thick and fast again, but it was no longer a threat. She was indoors now.
"Remind me never to rely on you for a weather forecast," she said dryly, turning to face Galinda.
The blonde's attention, however, was otherwise occupied. She stood a few steps ahead of Elphaba and was staring around at their new surroundings with an expression of unmixed delight.
"Oh! Isn't it gorgeous?" Galinda said happily, turning to look at Elphaba with excited eyes.
An ominous feeling creeping over her, the green girl took a further step inside, and froze at the sight which met her eyes. Gorgeous would certainly not be the word she would use to describe their present location. If Galinda's poofiest pink dress had been a room, it would have been a replica of this café. Almost every single visible surface, from the tablecloths to the wallpaper, was veiled by a thick layer of bright pink frills.
When she had more or less recovered from the horrific impact of so much pink in so little space; Elphaba turned weakly towards Galinda. "It reminds me of you."
It wasn't until she saw Galinda's face glow with pleasure that Elphaba realised what she had said. She also recognized in that moment that her hand was still inside Galinda's, and tugged it free nervously. But even that action couldn't eradicate the double-meaning of what she had said.
Sure enough, "You think I'm gorgeous?" Galinda asked, her head tipping curiously to one side at the unexpected compliment, before she turned to scout the room without waiting for an answer to her obviously rhetorical question.
"No!" Elphaba replied, a little too quickly, before relenting, "I mean, I don't- I- that wasn't what I was trying to-"
But as she turned, Elphaba found that she was stuttering for the benefit of an empty space. She glanced around anxiously, wondering whether Galinda hadn't simply left in outrage; but her heartbeat soon softened to its regular pace as she located Galinda at the other side of the café, having simply left her side to choose them a table.
"Goodness, Elphie, you really stand out in here," Galinda observed cheerfully as Elphaba slid into the seat opposite her.
Elphaba raised her eyebrows. Of course she'd noticed how much of a contrast her own greenness was against the incessant pink, but didn't see why Galinda felt the need to identify this.
"Well, if you will insist on pulling me into a place where you'd have to be a Flamingo to camouflage-" she began heatedly.
"Or a Pig," Galinda added with a shrug, causing Elphaba to snort with laughter and several people to turn indignantly to face their table.
"Pigs aren't true shades of pink, the way flamingos are," Elphaba informed Galinda when she had finished glaring at everyone who had turned to stare at her, "Flamingos, in fact, are only pink because of the effect on their feathers caused by the vast amount of prawns in their diet."
"Is that so?" Galinda asked with a giggle, "Well if that's the case, why are prawns pink?"
Elphaba paused, her brow furrowed in thought, before shrugging. "You've got me there."
Galinda laughed, enjoying the sport. "And if I took a swan, for example, and fed it nothing but prawns; would its feathers become pink?"
Elphaba shook her head. "Well, no, because-"
"Tea, ladies?" an additional voice interrupted, and Elphaba looked up to see a pink-clad waitress leering down at her. The waitress had somehow enunciated the word 'ladies,' to imply she only considered one of the pair a 'lady.' Elphaba knew she could hazard an accurate guess as to which of them that might be.
The waitress continued to shoot the green girl disgusted glances while Galinda took control, stating that they did require tea, and that a small stand of cakes would be equally lovely; giving Elphaba the fleeting impression that she was only welcome here because she was accompanying Galinda.
As the waitress left to retrieve their tea and cakes, the girls' eyes met awkwardly. In the end it was Elphaba who broke eye contact first. Her eyes travelled quickly around the room to see if anybody was still staring; an action which caused her to make a further unpleasant observation.
"Galinda," she hissed, placing her hands on the table and leaning across to whisper to the blonde, "This place is full of couples."
Galinda's eyes widened slightly, but one glance around proved to her that Elphaba was right. Every single table, excluding their own, sported only a young man and a young woman.
"Why are none of them even talking? Do lovers communicate by some strange telepathy?" she wondered aloud.
"Probably so they can listen to the music," the green girl winced, suddenly hearing for the first time the classical music streaming softly from a gramophone in the corner, "But Galinda, didn't you hear me? Practically everyone else here is holding hands, look."
"Well, we can soon solve that problem," Galinda said brightly, turning to make sure she had an audience, before reaching across the table for Elphaba's hand and taking it in her own rather smaller one.
Alarmed, Elphaba stared down at their joined hands; an odd foreboding building within her. She tried to pull away, but Galinda's grip was too tight. Or perhaps it was her who wasn't pulling hard enough.
Eyes wary, Elphaba moved her gaze up to face Galinda, who was watching her intently although her face had suddenly become the same brilliant shade of pink as the wall behind her. It seemed as though the enormity of what Galinda had done had occurred to them both, and it was a moment before either of them could speak. Finally, Galinda cleared her throat daintily.
"Better?" she asked nervously, no more laughter in her tone, and Elphaba felt her own face flush.
"Better," she found herself confirming, searching Galinda's eyes before fixing her gaze down to their interlocked hands once more. Galinda was right, she thought: green did have a strong contrast against pink. Though she had to admit, it was a nice one.
"Are you thinking about how good pink and green look together?" Galinda asked quietly, jolting Elphaba out of her fervid colour analysis.
She stared at the blonde for a moment before nodding dubiously. "Actually, I was. Lucky guess, I presume?"
Grinning, Galinda shook her head, causing Elphaba to raise a sceptic eyebrow.
"Oh? Then what was it?"
"Telepathy," Galinda answered, before bursting into giggles. Several couples turned to stare once more, but this time neither girl noticed.
Solemnly, Elphaba waited for her to recover slightly, before allowing one of her rare genuine smiles to surface. As their eyes met, Galinda's giggled died away until she was simply smiling back. They didn't speak again until the snooty waitress returned with their tea. They didn't need to.
