Galinda couldn't help noticing the speed at which Shenshen and Pfannee abruptly ended their conversation upon noticing her entering their room. Neither could she suppress the fleeting impression that she had previously been the subject of their conversation.

Or perhaps some of Elphaba's paranoia was simply rubbing off on her, due to the vast amount of time she and her room mate had been spending together lately. Since the day in which they had sheltered from the rain in that cosy little teashop, she had found herself spending increasing amounts of time in the green girl's company. In fact, it had been with reluctance today that Galinda had dragged herself out of their room in order to spend some time with her other friends, whilst Elphaba made up for lost time in the library.

But paranoia or not; Galinda couldn't help thinking that her two friends looked decidedly shifty.

"Oh, don't stop talking on my account," she insisted, though she was unable to prevent a hint of accusation from seeping into her tone. She did love being talked about; simply not as part of the type of conversation she believed her two friends had just been engaging in.

Galinda waited impatiently as the two girls exchanged glances, managing to pick up on the not-so-subtle nod Pfannee directed at Shenshen. This was evidently a cue of some sort, as Shenshen immediately followed the red-head's gesture by clearing her throat.

"Galinda, is there anything you'd like to talk to us about? Pfannee and I couldn't help noticing you've been a little… well, preoccupied lately," she admitted gently, shimmying up the bed she and Pfannee were sitting on as though to make room for Galinda.

The blonde eyed her assigned space in between the two girls for a second, before being overcome with a sudden, irresistible urge to tell the other two everything she was currently feeling: the situation between her and her room mate in its entirety. Whether it was friendship or something more that she felt for Elphaba, these two deserved to know. They were her friends, after all, and friends were supposed to tell each other things like this, weren't they?

"Well, now that you mention it," she began, starting for her place on the bed and preparing to confess all. It would be a relief to finally tell somebody, and maybe even receive some advice on the matter in turn. But before Galinda had chance to collect her thoughts, Pfannee had interrupted.

"We were just saying that we suspect romance!" she burst out, before erupting into a fit of giggles. Galinda froze mid-walk, watching Pfannee with wide-eyes as Shenshen shot her giggling room mate a disapproving glance.

"Really, Pfannee!" Shenshen scolded, shaking her head, "You were saying you suspect romance. I told you that you have no evidence for such a suspicion." She smiled at Galinda, who returned the smile gladly; grateful that at least one of her friends was attempting to be understanding.

Galinda then turned to look at Pfannee, who had somewhat managed to control her laughter. But there was still a triumphant air to the girl's posture; a smug look which implied she knew something that the other didn't.

"Oh please, Shenshen," Pfannee said, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow dismissively at her friend's last comment, "I have the evidence of my eyes."

She paused, probably for dramatic effect; shooting a smug look at Galinda who looked warily back at her as she wondered where in Oz this was going. The evidence of her eyes, indeed?

"Oh, come on, Galinda!" Pfannee said finally, laughing as she stood up and began to count the traits on her fingers as she listed them; "You are pale. You barely peck at your food at dinner. You are distracted-"

"That sounds more like liverishness," a distasteful voice put in, and all three girls turned in surprise towards the door, only to see Elphaba leaning calmly against the door-frame, looking as alien in the room as if she had just dropped from space. Or maybe heaven, Galinda thought, beaming at the sight of her room mate. Yes, it was less than an hour since she had last seen Elphaba, but Galinda couldn't help being glad to see her.

It appeared she was in the minority, however; Shenshen and Pfannee had almost simultaneously risen from the bed, outraged at the sight of the green girl in their room.

"What in Lurline's name are you doing here?" Pfannee demanded rudely, while at the same time as Shenshen said accusingly, "I don't believe we gave you permission to be in our room."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows at the predictable reaction to her presence, but didn't shift from her position.

"Believe me; I take no delight whatsoever in being in your room," she said curtly, shooting looks of loathing towards the two girls, "But Madame Morrible's just been knocking on our door in search of Miss Galinda. I'd advise her to go and see what the Headmistress wants, unless she'd prefer to anger her further."

Galinda gasped, her initial delight at the green girl's presence vanishing as she brought her hand to her mouth. "She sounded mad?" she asked fearfully, before hastily moving to check her reflection. She wanted to ensure she was neat and tidy before she went to meet Madame Morrible, particularly if the Headmistress was already displeased.

Elphaba nodded. "Very much so," she said, turning to leave and holding the door open behind her for Galinda, who rushed obediently to her side.

"We'll continue our conversation later, girls," she said anxiously over her shoulder, "I do apologise for leaving like this, but it all sounds rather urgent."

"It's fine, Galinda!" Shenshen assured her immediately, while Pfannee added, "Good luck with Morrible."

The two girls looked almost scared for her, and Galinda couldn't help feeling touched by the gesture. She quickly ran to hug her friends before pulling open the door which it seemed Elphaba had given up on holding; and rushing out into the hallway with a final wave to Shenshen and Pfannee.

Once out of the room, Galinda's eyes searched the hallway with a frown. It was a moment before she spotted Elphaba already at the other end of the hallway, almost having reached the stairs.

"Elphie, wait for me, dearest!" she called, picking up her skirts and chasing after her room mate. Elphaba stopped walking at the sound of her voice, but didn't turn around. Her head was bowed, and she was quick to resume her pace once she sensed Galinda a few feet behind her.

"Elphie?" Galinda repeated, trotting anxiously at the green girl's side; almost having to run to keep up, "Did Madame Morrible say why she needed me? Did I do something wrong?"

Elphaba didn't answer except to increase her strides, her long legs enabling her to pull further ahead of Galinda. Her head was still lowered, causing her hair- which she had recently, on Galinda's orders, taken to wearing loose- to fall across her face. This, in turn, made it near to impossible for Galinda to analyse the other girl's expression.

Rather than resorting to running in order to keep up with Elphaba's new pace and risk an injury, Galinda stopped walking altogether, her arms folding stubbornly across her chest. Why wasn't Elphaba talking to her? Didn't she realise that Galinda needed to know what was going on?

"Miss Elphaba, would you stop walking so fast, and please tell me what's going on!" she demanded of the other girl's retreating back, her tone a mix of hurt and frustration. Finally, the green girl came to a halt and turned slowly around, finally making it possible for Galinda to view her face. But what the blonde saw didn't comfort her in the slightest; Elphaba was chewing her lip, her eyes shifting from side to side as though she was fighting with herself over something.

"Elphie?" Galinda asked softly, not used to seeing her room mate display her emotions this openly. This in mind, the blonde abandoned her stubbornness and walked to the other girl's side, slipping a comforting hand around her waist. "Are you okay, dear? I'm sorry I yelled. I know it's urgent for us to get to Madame Morrible, but there wasn't any need to-"

"It isn't urgent," Elphaba interrupted, her voice quiet and blank. It took a moment for Galinda to register what she had said.

"I- what? But you said…" she began, confused; but Elphaba was already shaking her head and wriggling her waist out of Galinda's grip.

"Madame Morrible doesn't need to see you," she said in a low voice, turning her face away from Galinda once more, "I was in the library- I lied about her coming to our room."

Galinda's eyes widened in astonishment. "But… But why?" she spluttered, even less at ease with the situation than she had been before. She didn't understand what was going on here at all. Why in Oz would Elphaba have lied to her about Madame Morrible wanting to see her?

"Because," Elphaba answered, whirling round to face Galinda, her eyes flashing dangerously, "Because you needed to get away from those people. They're poisoning your mind, Galinda, can't you see that?"

Galinda watched her in shock for a moment before scoffing loudly, "Oh please, Miss Elphaba. Poisoning my mind? What absolute nonsense. I never had you down for exaggerating like that."

"It isn't an exaggeration! They're snakes, both of them! They way they sometimes talk about you, not knowing I care enough to listen-" Elphaba looked furious now, her eyes wild as she flung her arms in the air in frustration. Galinda had to admit, the effect was a little frightening, but she couldn't give in. She was mad too.

"Those snakes, as you call them, are my friends," she insisted, placing her hands on her hips as she glared back at Elphaba. After a moment, though, she couldn't take it any more. Turning her back to walk away, Galinda added snippily over her shoulder: "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to turn me against them!"

"Some friends they are," she heard Elphaba scoff as she walked away, but Galinda couldn't listen to her. She had thought her and her room mate had really bonded over the past few days, but now it felt as though they were back to square one. If Elphaba couldn't understand why her friends were the way they were, how could she possibly begin to understand her? Galinda kept walking without looking back, annoyance spreading through her. At that moment, she just wanted to get as far away from that wretched green girl as possible.


Elphaba watched Galinda's blonde head bob into the distance. Her eyes were still glaring after her room mate in rage, but she was slowly beginning to calm down; the anger which had consumed her turning into a great confusion over her own motives.

She herself didn't know why she'd lied to Galinda like that. Casting her mind back, all Elphaba could remember was sitting in the library studying, when she had felt a deep wave of loneliness overcome her. She remembered thinking how strange it was that she was suddenly longing for company when she had lived her entire life in solitude.

But even more curious was the fact that she hadn't just wanted anyone's company. She had wanted Galinda. So, as was her habit of acting first and thinking later, Elphaba had closed her books and set out to find the pretty blonde. And now she had ruined the first thing she had ever experienced which came close to friendship. Or, even… Well, what did it matter? It was ruined now, regardless.

Frowning in complete self-loathing, Elphaba took a deep breath and began to walk quickly in the same direction Galinda had set off in. She had little choice, the alternative being to head back to Pfannee and Shenshen's room, where she clearly wasn't welcome.

She only hoped she had given the other girl a reasonable head-start. She wanted to avoid another confrontation at all costs; how could she begin to explain to Galinda that she had done what she had done because she had missed her, when it had been less than an hour since they had seen each other? And why had she missed her anyway? Did she really care about her that much?

Impossible, Elphaba told herself defiantly. She'd never needed someone that much in her life, she couldn't let herself need anyone like that.

Taking a deep breath, Elphaba tried to slow her surging paces forward. She couldn't let herself catch up with Galinda and have to reface the burning gaze with which the blonde had glared at her moments before. The burning gaze which made her weak at the knees and suddenly willing to sacrifice everything for her perky room mate…