"Miss Elphaba-"

"No, no, and no. Fiyero, lay off. I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'm through tolerating it anymore. I don't see how you can't understand that I'm not interested in being some sort of prize for you. What is this game,'Swankified Prince Gets The
Artichoke's Heart To Melt'?"

Fiyero visibly sagged as he stood and listened to Elphaba's tangent. Things had been going pretty much the same for the past week. Both of them were getting fed up- Elphaba with Fiyero, Fiyero with being shot down time after time again.

Like a dog who had just been caught doing something naughty, Fiyero walked across the library where his most recent rejection had taken place. Galinda was sitting with a stack of books in front of her, trying to watch. She wasn't pleased either. He groaned as he pulled the chair out next to her and sat down. He let his head hit the table and said something, though Galinda couldn't make out the muffled sound.

"What is it?" She asked, boredly toying with the bit of ribbon holding her blonde hair into a pony-tail.

"I shmive umnp." Was all she could understand.

"What now?"

"I shmive umnp." He repeated, no more clear.

She reached over and grabbed the back of his coller, pulling him up. "Now what do you have to say?"

He looked at her, clearly upset. "I give up. I can't do this anymore. Even if she won't date me, I don't want Elphaba to hate me, and I think she might."

Her eyebrows went up. "You can't do that! You like her. And I know she likes you! This would be so good for the both of you. You can't just give that all up."

He shook his head. "Sorry, Galinda. I don't want to but I have to. I'll give her a few days and I'll see if she'll speak to me. I'll apologise then, tell her I was out of my head and hope she'll just forget about this." He left then, not even saying goodbye to her.

Galinda couldn't believe it. This had all been supposed to be perfect.

In a word, it wasn't. Not at all.

That night the two girls had laid down in bed, but neither slept. Elphaba's tossing in her bed was enough to make someone insane. "Elphie, really. Calm down and just sleep!"

Galinda could hear Elphaba groan. "Sorry. I just can't sleep."

"What's bothering you?" she asked, rolling over so she could see her roommie.

Elphaba let out a deep breath and turned to face Galinda. "This could be awkward considering your... ah, relationship with him, but it's Fiyero. He's been so odd lately."

Galinda froze. "Yes?" She prompted, her head already reeling.

"He's just been so different. I... well, I'll just tell you I had been fond of him." Elphaba looked down, and Galinda fought to remember that she was not in fact supposed to be aware of Elphaba's crush on Fiyero.

"That's alright. I'm not upset with you... I had a feeling anyway." She said.

Elphaba looked mortified that anyone seemed aware of her crush, but pushed on. "Well, he's been acting so oddly. Like he's almost making fun of me. Like he's waiting for me to really admit I like him, and then..." She trailed off.

"And then he'll break your heart?" Galinda supplied, shocked. "You know he wouldn't do that! Elphie, Fiyero really does care about you. He wouldn't hurt you. Why is it so hard to think that this is just his way of showing you he likes you?"

Elphaba turned away. "Then why won't he just act like himself?"

Why won't he just act like himself?

Why wouldn't she just act like herself? The question begged to be answered. She looked a bit unenthusiastically at the plain skirt and blouse she had already laid out for herself. She wasn't very enthused.

She had changed herself, to make unneccesary attention go away. That had been a good thing, right? And her advice had really been to help Fiyero and Elphaba... her advice really hadn't been so good though. She had good intentions, to be sure, but... she had gone about things the wrong way. Elphaba was not the one to want excessive amounts of flattery- even if Fiyero genuinely wanted to treat her like the heroine of a romance novel... it wasn't her. It wasnt' him either, really. Her advice hadn't done anyone any good. It was never good to change yourself or pretend to be something you're not in an effort to please someone else.

It was never good to change yourself... with a growing feeling of dread, Galinda realized Elphaba's advice hadn't been so wonderful either- she wasn't being herself either.

Galinda let out a deep breath, realizing Elphaba was still staring at her. "I think... I think he needs to start acting more like himself."

"I wish he would."