"Alright class," Dr. Nikidik announced, "I hope you're all ready for your final assignment of the year!" Why did teachers always sound so excited when they were single-handedly killing students' social lives?
Avaric crossed his fingers under the desk. "Partners, partners, partners," he wished fervently.
"I will be dividing you up into groups of two based on the class list."
"YES!" Avaric shouted, springing up from his chair. "I mean...excellent." He clasped his hands together solemnly and sunk back into his chair.
Fiyero held up his hand and Avaric met it with their secret handshake, breaking out of his silence within seconds. "Partners! Oz, I love being a 'T!'"
Dr. Nikidik walked past Avaric and Fiyero handing out outlines. "Pardon my eavesdropping, but I believe there are two other 'T's' between you two dimwits."
Elphaba raised her hand. "Doctor! It's perfectly fine! Nessa and I can be partnered and then Avaric and Fiyero can be together."
"I'm perfectly okay with that plan!" Nessa added hysterically.
"While I'd like to arrange it for you that way," Dr. Nikidik drawled, "I'm afraid that Master Tigelaar has the absolute worst mark in the class." No one seemed surprised by the statement.
"But that isn't fair to Nessarose," Elphaba argued. "Her grade shouldn't be lowered because of him. No offence to her, but she's a little too focused on others to have as high a grade as she should."
"That's why I'm pairing him with you."
"I'm sorry for sounding slightly redundant, but in the case of two of the same last name you resort to the first name. 'E' comes before 'N' and therefore Nessarose should be partnered with Fiyero," Elphaba pointed out frantically. It wasn't that she didn't want to be partnered with Fiyero, but something was telling her to deny it.
"I'm quite familiar with the workings of alphabetical order, however, I'd prefer Miss Nessarose being with the better of the two, so as her grade won't be lowered too dramatically."
Nessa sighed. "I really, really, really don't want to work with Avaric. His sense of humour disgusts me! Elphaba, you know innuendos give me a soulache!"
"Alright class, you can have this period to begin planning." Dr. Nikidik sat himself at his desk and was content to stay there for the rest of the period.
Elphaba groaned and pushed herself up from the desk. She had gotten in trouble for questioning the professor before.
"Tell Tenmeadows to come here," Nessa ordered, forced to accept defeat by her sister's reluctance. "I'm not going through the effort of walking over there."
Elphaba nodded and went to locate her other half.
Fiyero smiled at her right away. "Howdy, partner."
Sinking into the seat beside him, Elphaba read and reread the assignment sheet and underlined some parts.
"What are you doing that for?" Fiyero asked, leaning over to look at what she was doing.
Their faces were almost touching and Elphaba pretended not to notice. "I'm underlining the parts you have to do."
His face fell instantly. "What do you mean by that?"
Elphaba tilted her head, so she was full on facing him. "You didn't think you were getting out of this so easily, did you?"
"No, but I assumed you wanted a good grade."
"Then you can write your parts and I'll edit them," she suggested.
"On one condition then," Fiyero added. "We have to beat Nessa and Avaric."
Elphaba glanced in their direction. Avaric was uselessly tapping a pencil against the desk and Nessa was rolling her eyes. "I think we've got that covered."
"Look at you two working so hard," Galinda commented, meeting Elphaba and Fiyero in the library. She had one arm slung around Nessa's waist and the other carrying her bright pink purse.
"That's not even the project," Nessa said bewilderedly. "It was due a week ago."
"Elphie's tutoring me," Fiyero explained. "I fired Boq."
"What did Boq do to you?" Galinda asked.
"It wasn't Fiyero who fired Boq," Nessa chuckled. "It was Boq who quit on Fiyero."
Elphaba observed Galinda, her smile was too wide. "I know that face. You came to ask me for something," she noted suspiciously.
"Well, actually, it wasn't just me!" Galinda defended. "Nessa needs help too."
"Help with what?"
"Sorcery," Galinda said sheepishly.
"And science," Nessa added.
Elphaba leaned back in her chair and then gestured to the opposite side of the table. "Alright, take a seat."
That had been one week before finals and with one week of diligent work and a lot of pent up frustration on Elphaba's part; she managed to help Galinda master her spells and Nessa learn the entire science textbook by heart. Unfortunately, this dramatically increased Elphaba's time for personal studies and on the night before her last exam, she was stuck cramming.
"I think you should cheat," Fiyero offered, while sitting in the library across from the frantic green girl on the verge of a breakdown.
"I don't cheat!" Elphaba cried.
"But it's not fair to you. I saw you helping Galinda with sorcery and Nessa with science and Boq with agriculture...you even helped Av with history. So technically, you passed four exams that didn't mean anything to you."
Elphaba ignored him and continued writing down formulas that she would need to remember for the looming exam.
Fiyero grabbed her hand and held it in his. He ran his fingertip across her smooth palm; across the lines etched into the pearly skin. Then he grabbed her pen and started writing equations onto her hand.
Wrenching her hand away and smoothing off the ink, Elphaba glared at Fiyero. "I don't cheat."
"Come on, we all cheat sometimes."
"What have you cheated on?" Elphaba asked knowingly.
"I didn't need to cheat because you helped me."
"So now I'm helping myself and learning the material." Elphaba's pen ran out of ink and she threw it down angrily.
"Let me help you help yourself," Fiyero pleaded. "I don't want you to sacrifice your grade." He reached for her hand again. This time he just held it.
Elphaba shook her head incredulously. "You go from hot to cold so quickly."
Fiyero grinned at her. "That's why you love me, baby."
Sharing the smile, Elphaba continued to hold her ground. "I'm not going to cheat."
"Suit yourself," Fiyero relented and gathered his possessions as the librarian shot them glares from her desk. "I'll be by your dorm to pick you up tomorrow."
"Does Prince Charming feel compelled to walk me to my big, bad exam?"
Fiyero waited outside the dorm for someone to answer, but he had already been waiting for a good five minutes and he was shifting back and forth impatiently. He had seen Galinda hide a key in the plant beside the room...he made a grab for the key and pushed into the room, only to find Elphaba asleep on her bed with her head buried in a textbook. "Elphaba," he said softly, as he shook her shoulder slightly, but she didn't stir. A glance at the clock told him that there was still a substantial amount of time before the exam and he knew Elphaba had the ability to rouse herself quickly, so he set Galinda's alarm clock for fifteen minutes later and then went to work writing a list of equations on Elphaba's limp hand.
He knew that there could be major penalties, but he also knew that their math teacher was clueless and Elphaba was a master of secrecy. Once he had made a comprehensive list, Fiyero left the room and went to wait outside of the exam room.
"So how was the exam?" Fiyero asked Elphaba knowingly a few hours later. He had seen her looking at her hand quite often.
"I can't believe you," she said it seriously, but he could tell she was joking. "But thank you for saving my grade."
Avaric came up behind them and slung an arm around each of their shoulders, which they both shrugged off. "How about we go celebrate our crappy grades?"
"Speak for yourself," Nessa called. She still hadn't forgiven Avaric for the 'C' they received on their science project.
"I agree with Av," Galinda said cheerfully.
"We'll go to the nearest bar."
"We're not allowed off campus," Nessa pointed out immediately.
"That's why we're sneaking off," Avaric retorted obviously, sharing a sneer with Nessa in a similarly opposite way to Fiyero and Elphaba's smiles.
"Meet at the gates in an hour, but keep it a secret," Galinda whispered. "I'll go tell everyone."
Avaric raised his glass. "To us and our uncanny ability to be awesome."
Boq, Pfannee, Shenshen, Milla, Elphaba, Galinda and Fiyero raised their glasses simultaneously. "TO US!"
"May we continue through our awesomeness next semester and in years to come," Avaric pledged.
"Av's already tipsy," Galinda giggled. "He had a top off before we came."
"That's classy," Nessa muttered, taking a sip from her wine glass.
"Avaric Tenmeadows is the perfect picture of classy," Boq joked.
"DAMN STRAIGHT!" Avaric shouted to no one in particular.
"So what's everyone doing over the summer?" Pfannee asked.
"Avaric and I are going to stay in Gillikin," Fiyero answered. "His parents always preferred me."
"Really? I would have come too!" Galinda whined. "But I already told my mumsie I'm staying here with Elphie and Nessa."
"That sounds like so much fun," Avaric said flatly, which of course started a whole other argument. They continued until late in the night when Avaric made the executive decision that they would have an enjoyable time at the Philosophy Club.
"Elphaba, help me up!" Nessa ordered angrily.
"Nessa, you're not going to that place," Elphaba replied authoritatively and then grabbed Galinda's sleeve. "And neither are you!"
"You can't tell me what to do!" Galinda said angrily. She had never been able to handle alcohol well.
"We have to get back to campus! Morrible's going to devour us!"
Galinda's face contorted in anger, but she didn't say a word.
"It's the last day for Oz's sakes!" Nessa argued. "Leave me alone, I don't want you to come anyway!" Although, she had no choice as Elphaba signalled a carriage and helped her in. She pulled Galinda in too.
Before they closed the door Fiyero appeared. "Why don't you stay Elphaba? We want you here. I want you here."
Elphaba hesitated and looked into his sapphire eyes for a moment, but then made a quick decision. "We have more productive things to do," she snapped and closed the door.
Fiyero felt that there was something hidden contained in that statement, but little did he know that it would be his last glimpse of Elphaba for years.
"I'm very disappointed in you three," Morrible droned; pacing back and forth from her desk to the wall. "My three most promising students. Whatever possessed you to break regulations after two full years of excellence?"
Galinda wanted to say something, but she was frightened of Morrible. She had lost the courage she had possessed when she first started university. It had been worn down as she had had to face Morrible more often. Tonight, in the low lamplight of the office, with the peculiar sorcery items sitting around on tables, there was something profoundly menacing about the headshiztress.
"And to think I even notified the Wizard that I was grooming three wonderful new...what's the word...ah...adepts coming his way."
Elphaba scoffed. She wasn't nearly as concerned as Galinda was. "None of us has shown interest in working with the Wizard."
"Well, you're with the Wizard or against the Wizard," Morrible advised.
The wheels were turning in Elphaba's brain.
"We, that is the Wizard and I, were hoping that we'd have you wonderful ladies working with us, so that we might have greater control."
"Control?" Nessa asked quietly.
"You know things are getting quite out of hand," Morrible replied absently. "The Animals are rampant."
"The Animals haven't done anything!" Elphaba cried. Her mind went back to Doctor Dillamond.
Galinda put her hand over Elphaba's to silence her.
"The Animals are the enemy, Miss Thropp."
Elphaba laughed hollowly. "Just because Doctor Dillamond was cleverer than y-"
Nessa cut her off before Elphaba said something she'd grow to regret. Why was she always the one covering for her sister? "But why do you need the adepts?" she asked. "I don't understand!"
"Miss Galinda and Miss Nessarose, don't pretend to me that what you crave is not power and adoration."
Elphaba clenched her teeth. "Maybe they don't want that."
"What about the Vinkus?" Galinda asked. "You haven't got any footholds there."
"That's been taken care of."
"Oh, no," Elphaba groaned. "Fiyero..."
"Yes, yes, yes. Your friend handed over the monarchy. He knows exactly what he's doing. The Wizard holds him and his family in very high esteem now."
"The Wizard already should!" Elphaba countered. "They're royalty!"
"Not anymore," Morrible said deviously. "Now it's up to you to make the decision."
Elphaba furiously threw garments and books into her trunk, slammed it closed and sat on it as she zipped the mess closed. She sure as hell had made her decision.
"What in Oz are you doing?" Galinda asked, still shaken by what Morrible had said. Of course she wanted everlasting adoration by all of Oz.
"We're off to see the Wizard, Galinda."
"And me?" Nessa demanded.
"We'll be back in a few days," Elphaba reassured.
"You mean we're going to the city?" Galinda asked incredulously. "How the hell-"
Elphaba reached into her handbag and pulled out a wad of cash. "It's all I've got, but if you lend me some of yours..."
"I don't think this is a good idea," Nessa advised. "What if you upset the Wizard? Then you're in trouble."
"Didn't you hear what Morrible said?" Elphaba shot back.
"Shh!" Galinda pressed a finger to her lips. "We aren't supposed to talk of it."
"I don't care! I just don't care anymore! Something has to be done about this! The Wizard's not going to stop until we draw attention to what's going on!"
Nessa looked around nervously. "Elphaba, that's blasphemy!"
"Hold on!" Galinda grabbed Elphaba's wrist. "We can't just leave! What about Avaric and Boq and Pfannee...and Fiyero?"
Elphaba hauled her trunk to the door, ignoring that last name with the most intensity. "You have ten minutes Galinda."