A/N: So mostly a setting things up chapter. Let me know what ya think!

Ten Years Ago

Eight year-old Galinda bounced into her elementary school, a dreamy smile garnishing her face. She waved to her fellow admirers and courteously bade her instructors a greeting as she made her way to class 3-B. Just before she could enter the door, she was blocked by a flock of girls.

"Galinda! We have a play date after school. We will be playing dress-up. I'm sure if you came, my older sister would let us borrow some of her make-up!" Galinda's classmate, Talia, offered.

"Oh yes, Galinda!" another girl added. "Please come!"

As appealing as playing dress up with other girls her age sounded, Galinda already had plans for later. "I'm sorry, girls. I have to attend cram school today. You girls should probably spend some time studying too."

Talia blinked, surprised at the polite refusal. She them smiled, "Galinda, you're so nice. Always thinking about others."

Galinda giggled, "It's nothing. Everybody should be nice to everybody!" With that, Galinda skipped away to her desk near the front of the class and began to unpack her pink pencil pouch from her pink school bag. Until she was approached, yet again, by more admirers.

"Good morning, Galinda! I saw your father on TV yesterday!" another girl exclaimed.

"Yeah!" a young boy agreed. "They called him the Hotel King! It was so cool. I hope I could stay in a hotel as beautiful as one of yours!"

Galinda beamed with pride. "That was the promotion for the newly opened branch near Lake Chorge."

Before Galinda could further boast, the teacher walked in and calmly ordered, "Class. Be Seated." As everybody began to settle into their seats and conversations came to a close, the teacher continued. "I'd like to begin class by handing back your latests test. When I call your name, please come and get your test."

As names were called, the occasional groan or a sighed relief could be heard. Once Galinda's name was called, she strolled to the front with the poise her mother had taught her to always carry.

"Here you are, Miss Upland. Nice job, again," The teacher smiled as she handed Galinda her perfect paper. Once in her seat, she lay her perfect test on top of her desk for all to see.

"Super!" the boy beside her congratulated. "Once again, you're the only one who got full marks." A blush made its way up the chubby boy's cheeks. Galinda smirked.

"Of course! Who do you think I am?" Galinda winked.

Even with such offending words, the children of 3-B could not help but love Galinda unconditionally. Everything about her was perfect, from her charming demeanor and her perfect looks, to her perfect family. Yes, primary school was the pinnacle of Galinda's young life. Galinda's father was the president of a large company of resort hotels, Galinda was always the top of her class, and the champion of all athletic competitions. Even a conglomerate of talent agencies had extended opportunities for Galinda to become a star, which she had kindly turned down stating she had no intentions of selling her body for a cheap price.

Galinda was the queen of her blossoming world.

Then that girl appeared.

"Class," the teacher addressed after guiding a young girl with skin as green as the city's namesake, "I would like to introduce you to the transfer student, Elphaba Thropp. Let's welcome our new classmate!"

The green atrocity intoned, "Nice to meet you all. I hope we can get along well."

While the entire class was enamored by the color of the girl's skin, Galinda silently looked the new girl's attire up and down. There's nothing special about her, Galinda thought. She's rather gloomy. And her clothes stink of lower-class.

Galinda was not impressed. So the next few weeks, the class adapted to having a girl as green as grass sitting in the middle of the classroom, and continued on with their regular routine. Galinda steered clear of the green girl, out of disgust of socializing with a girl of lower class. Yet, a small sense of curiosity always hung in the air when the class ran into the green girl. So many questions wanted to be asked, but all were to intimidated to approach such an outlandish child.

One day, the teacher began to hand out tests again, with a warning to the students that the test was a bit harder than usual and only one student received full marks. Upon hearing the announcement, Galinda grinned. She could hear her fellow classmates whispering 'It was Galinda' and she could not help but take an ego trip. However, as she approached the front desk to retrieve her test, the teacher smiled gently and patted her on the head saying, "You're almost there!"

Galinda's eyes widened in shock as the red '98' on the top of her test glared back at her. Then who? Galinda returned to her seat, bewildered at the news that somebody had beaten her. She never lost!

The culprit was soon discovered when a gush of praise around the classroom erupted. Galinda's ears perked up and could not believe her ears. Elphaba Thropp, the new girl who had absolutely not taste in fashion and was a walking abomination had defeated her in academics.

Elphaba, however, did not look nearly as impressed by her results as the rest of the class, and responded to the praise stoically. "It's no big deal. Everything was on the study guide."

A few days later, during gym class, class 3-B had a 50 meter sprint test. Galinda felt her knees wobble slightly as she tied up her pink laces on her pristine white running shoes. Galinda was still in distress over her first loss ever. She let her gaze flick around through the crowd until they landed on her newest competitor in green.

Elphaba wore faded gray shorts and what was originally a white t-shirt. Her black shoes were on the verge of giving way to her green toes. Despite her horrendous appearance, Galinda sourly noted that she didn't seem to mind being an eyesore to everyone. In fact, she lazily pushed her glasses up her nose as she focused more on the rather thick book in her hand.

Galinda's spirits climbed as she concluded that Elphaba could care less about the 50 meter sprint test. It was finally Galinda's time to prove that Elphaba shouldn't have beaten her on that test and it was just a fluke. It was time to be the best again.

Soon the students lined up, Galinda putting herself as far away from Elphaba on the line, and waited for the gym instructor to blow the whistle. Once the sound blew, Galinda was pushed off and pumped her legs as fast as they could go. Despite her frail appearance, Galinda found herself to be rather athletic. She had to stay in shape somehow after eating sweets at home and sports had always been an excellent way to burn of calories. She refused to disappoint her parents by being overweight. Not that she had anything against people being overweight, but she knew from her toddler pictures that she did not look nearly as flattering with chubby cheeks, despite what all the adults claimed.

"Upland 7.8 seconds!" The coach yelled as she passed the line. Good. She had beaten her record.

As the students began filing in behind her, she basked in the ovation at beating her record until she heard a distant cry.

"Wow, Thropp got 7.4 seconds!"

Galinda felt her eye twitch, as the students began to crowd Elphaba. They didn't even seem put off by her skin at this point, but were instead curious in someone who could beat their perfect Galinda.

"Cool! How did you do it?" one of the kids asked.

Another exclaimed, "Unbelievable! Somebody ran faster than Galinda!"

As if to irk Galinda more, Elphaba took no pride in her time. Instead she remained indifferent and replied, "No big deal."

She doesn't even care that she beat me? Galinda fumed. Am I not worthy enough for her?

For the rest of that day Galinda doodled angrily in class, deciding her brain was not in the mood for learning. Instead, she happily drew pictures of Elphaba falling into a lake or getting chased by dogs. On the side she drew a podium with herself at the top and Elphaba crying at the bottom.

As the students packed up for the day, Galinda unceremoniously stuffed her pink notebooks and pencil pouch into her backpack, not caring if some pages would get wrinkled in the process. She needed to pack quickly to catch up to Elphaba who was already walking out the door.

Once she followed Elphaba to the courtyard of the school, and was sure no teacher could hear her confrontation, she yelled, "Hey artichoke!"

Elphaba stopped suddenly and stiffly turned. Regardless of her stiffer appearance, Elphaba's face still remained calm. This made Galinda grow angrier.

"You're just a transfer student! Why are you acting so arrogant? You just got good grades and did well in gym class by accident. Don't let reality get away from you. You're just a green nobody," Galinda ranted, her fists by her side by the end of the taunt.

Elphaba stared back, an eyebrow raised. Then she slowly turned around and began walking, as though Galinda had never confronted her.

"What? You can't treat me that way!" Galinda shouted outraged, not caring that some of the other children had started to drift closer to see what the commotion was about. "I'm the successor of the Upland Resorts and I'm the daughter of its CEO."

Elphaba snapped her head to look back at Galinda, her face eerily calm. "I don't care if you're the daughter of a CEO of whatever. That only shows the successes of your father. It doesn't mean you are excellent too. Bye."

Defeated, Galinda could only stare in shock at Elphaba's retreating figure past the gates. The children around her stood silently as well, trying to understand what had just happened. Galinda knew what had happened though. For the first time since starting school, another child had not cherished her and bowed down at her feet. Instead, they had treated her as their equal. As if her family name meant nothing.

Once home, and seated at the dinner table with her parents, Galinda finally decided to state her new resolve to them. "Momsie, Popsicle. I want to have more tutoring sessions at cram school. I don't feel like I'm doing well enough in school."

Her father put his fork down, concerned. "Did something happen that we should know about sweetheart? The last I heard, you were doing excellent!"

One of the servants giggled and explained, "Little Galinda was beaten by the new transfer student at school, sir. She has been fuming about the incident for a while now, but I think something happened at school today that made her want to beat this transfer student."

Mrs. Upland blinked, surprised at her daughter's resolve. Galinda was always easy going about school, much more interested in fashion than academics. Mrs. Upland had never worried because Galinda always maintained almost perfect marks. "Galinda sweetie, we don't mind if you aren't the absolute best of the class. It's okay for..."

Mr. Upland abruptly cut off his wife with a hearty laugh and proclaimed, "If my daughter wants to make herself perfect, who am I to stop her? Galinda, if you think you should be beating this girl, then I will support you. I will call the cram school by the end of this week to make some more appointments."

"That's perfect popsicle!" Galinda cheered, as she climbed out of her chair and ran to envelope him in a hug. She could not wait to go an kick Elphaba's green hide on their next test. Then, Galinda would be the best again and everything would go back to normal. Elphaba needed to learn her place.

With that mindset, Galinda stayed up all night reviewing new material. She even began to read ahead so that when the teacher went over topics in class, she would be able to answer them faster than Elphaba's 50 meter sprint test.

After school the next day, Galinda's head felt dizzy. It was the first time she had ever pulled an all-nighter, but it was worth it. She had answered all the questions asked by teacher today faster than Elphaba had. Even Elphaba had been surprised. It was with those happy thoughts that Galinda blacked out on the side of the road walking back from school.

Galinda awoke from darkness to find herself staring at an outdated ceiling. She had no idea were she was. What she did know, however, was that she was missing cram school. Galinda's thoughts halted at the sound of pencil scratching paper nearby. Confused, she finally decided to sit up and examine her surroundings properly.

"Oh, you're awake," a familiar voice sounded from her right.

"What? Where am I? What time is it?" Galinda panicked, as Elphaba came into view. She was lounging in a chair, her hand still scribbling on the paper on the desk in front of her.

Elphaba looked at Galinda, adjusted her glasses, and flippantly recounted, "I saw you sleeping on the road. I didn't think it seemed quite right for the daughter of a CEO to be sleeping on concrete, so I brought you home with me. This is my bedroom. It is currently 6 PM."

Before Galinda could voice any of her befuddled thoughts, her stomach growled. Galinda inwardly groaned. Could this situation get any more embarrassing?

Elphaba seemed unfazed by the monstrous growl, and instead continued, "For supper, I can cook some chicken and rice." She got up and began walking to the door, putting on an apron as she turned the corner. Galinda sheepishly followed. "Also, you'd better call your family. I'm sure they are wondering where you are. There is a telephone on the cabinet." And with that, Elphaba disappeared into the small kitchen around the corner.

Galinda eyed the old telephone, before grumbling to herself, "Telephone...I have my own cellphone."

After phoning her mother about her unusual circumstances and where to pick her up, Galinda roamed the living room. She soon found herself looking for pictures of Elphaba's family. Were the rest of them green? Eventually, Galinda came to a bookshelf with some photographs littered between thick books. There was a normal colored looking father, a normal colored looking mother, Elphaba, a little sister, and a baby? Where were the rest of her family? And why was Elphaba the only green one in the picture?

Elphaba soon walked out of the kitchen, with two plates of chicken and rice and set them down on the small, unbalanced table near Galinda. Galinda scooted into one of the wooden chairs, and uncomfortably watched as Elphaba wordlessly began eating. Soon the background only provided the soft, rhythmic clicking of a clock hidden somewhere around the trifling room.

Unable to stand the silence any longer, Galinda tried her hand at conversing cordially with Elphaba. "So, you cook by yourself?"

Elphaba lifted her eyes, her head focused on consuming the food, and slowly nodded.

Maybe a more open-ended question would be a better approach, Galinda considered. "Where are you parents?"

Elphaba hastened her chewing and spoke,"Father has to work and often comes back home late. Sometimes he's gone for days at a time."

Galinda didn't know how to respond to that. However, Elphaba continued, "I live in a single parent family. My mom and siblings died in an accident two years ago."

Galinda's eyes widened in shock. Elphaba sure did know how to make conversations awkward. "Oh um...I'm sorry to hear that," Galinda offered, unsure about what Elphaba wanted to hear. Deciding to change the conversation to something more familiar, Galinda questioned, "Don't you...Don't you attend private tutoring at cram school?"

Elphaba swiftly replied, "No. I don't have any extra money."

"So you must really enjoy studying a lot?" Galinda pressed further. How could Elphaba beat her test score when she didn't even get private tutoring like Galinda? There had to be another explanation.

"Not really. I like reading, but none of the topics covered in school really interest me," Elphaba responded as she began to take her's and Galinda's plates to the kitchen. Galinda strided in right behind her.

"Then why do you work so hard?" Galinda asked. Galinda worked hard so that she could be the best. It made her feel good. Elphaba didn't seem like the type to work hard for herself though. Elphaba, Galinda decided, was much more selfless than she ever could be.

Elphaba placed some large gloves on her hands before beginning to wash the dishes. After she was done, she turned to face Galinda, who had taken a seat on a stool she saw in the corner. "Well, Father works late everyday to raise me. No matter how tired he his. No matter how sad he is that mom and Nessie and Shell are gone. Even when he never liked me that much. So, I want to grow up and be independent as soon as possible. That way, he can be free of me and do whatever he wants. I want him to live a better life and I think that is possible if I can grow up faster."

Now those times Elphaba had beaten Galinda in school didn't seem so significant. For the first time ever, Galinda truly felt defeated by someone.

The doorbell rang not soon after to with Ama Clutch waiting with a driver. Galinda had never felt more disgraceful in front of a stranger. Elphaba, even without opportunities that money could buy, still maintained more maturity than Galinda, who had certainly experienced more of the world than Elphaba.

But Elphaba had already gone through a more emotional journey, Galinda reminded herself.

So, when Galinda returned home, she immediately informed her parents that she no longer required any services from the cram school and that they could un-enroll her. Of course, her parents were confused, but Galinda was determined to beat Elphaba with the same tools. If Elphaba didn't have tutors, Galinda most certainly was not going to beat Elphaba by having tutors. Galinda was going to win with her own strength. Maybe then, she could be just as independent as Elphaba.

So days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and ultimately the day came when Galinda had to talk to her advisor about placing into a secondary school.

"Well," the counselor, Mr. Fellows, began, looking up from her transcript and activities list. "I think there should be no problem for you to go wherever you want to. All you need to do is apply."

"Ha, of course. I'm Galinda Upland," Galinda scoffed. With the narrowing eyes of Mr. Fellows, she quickly altered her tone to be more pleasant. "But that's not my point, sir. All of this is meaningless if I don't have higher marks than Elphaba. She is my main competitor in the application process after all."

Mr. Fellows looked surprised. "Is it?" he questioned. "However, if memory serves me right, Elphaba is not in that application pool. You will be the one with the highest scores."

Galinda furrowed her eyebrows. This couldn't be. After all she had been working for, Elphaba wasn't going to apply to any private schools. She was going through the public system, where the rest of the uneducated go? That wasn't right.

Once her counseling ended, Galinda glided through the hallways, barely waving acknowledgements to the students and only stopping to say hello to some teachers she had known over the years. She had to find Elphaba. Elphaba deserved better than a public education. She could do so much more.

Then Galinda saw her. On the other side of the hall, Elphaba meticulously organized the books into her small locker. Nobody spoke to Elphaba, as they had learned a couple of years ago that Elphaba was not really into meaningless conversations. Elphaba only spoke in conversations of substance, Galinda smugly thought, remembering the few times she had provoked Elphaba into a battle of wits. Yet, even those were few and far between.

Galinda did not wait until her glass shoes could click across the hallway before she started yelling at Elphaba. "You want to attend a public school?"

Elphaba closed her locker, and began to approach Galinda. Galinda wasn't sure if it was to quiet Galinda down or because Elphaba needed to head the direction that Galinda came from, but either way Galinda was grateful she did not have to draw the attention of so many students for too long. By now, many students had come to know of their, mostly one-sided, rivalry.

"You want to run away after you won? Are you afraid to lose to me?" Galinda shrieked, waving her hands in hopes of getting a reaction out of the stoic green girl. "I hope you know that only those that failed the entrance exams go to public schools!"

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, and nudged her glasses up her long nose. "Really?" she dryly noted, nodding her head up and down, pretending to think long and hard. "Then why is that half of our class will be going to a public school? You haven't changed a bit Galinda. Once again, you've only considered this matter from your point of view. Are you planning to attend the selective school established for the rich kids?"

Galinda wasn't thinking for herself this time. She just didn't want Elphaba to waste her talents away at some regular school without high standards. But Elphaba couldn't know that Galinda was actually thinking in a concerned matter to her rival. No. Maybe if she boasted about going to a better school, Elphaba would feel the need to go too.

Bringing herself to full height, Gainda proudly proclaimed, "Of course I am. Birds of a feather flock together after all."

Elphaba nodded. "I will be a bit lonely then. Bye." It turned Elphaba really just needed to go in the direction Galinda came from.

So Galinda grudgingly applied to a public school and made sure she attended the exact same one as Elphaba. There was no way she was going to let Elphaba run away from their competitions and challenges. Galinda refused to let Elphaba leave on a winning note. Galinda should be the one walking away with the medal of victory. When asked by Elphaba why she had come, Galinda had given the forced excuse that she wished to live like the common people and learn how their society functioned. Her parents had been proud of that reasoning.

Yes, everybody continued admiring Galinda. A lot of girls, while annoyed that she had come to a public school instead of a private school, could not help but want to be her friend. Everybody wanted to be near the rich and perfect Galinda, either for the personal gain or because she was just that perfect. Galinda, while she enjoyed the distraction, had only one goal. Yet, just as in elementary school, she continued to take second place.

Since Elphaba was placed in a different class from Galinda, Galinda did not see much of Elphaba. She was much too stubborn to allow herself to see Elphaba. After all, she was not here to be friends with her. Yet her green existence was not forgotten. Elphaba's indifferent attitude to those around her, whether they were curious about her green skin or wanted to laugh at it, remained consistent. It went as far as Elphaba's nickname graduating from the usual "artichoke" and "green bean" to "green steel." For some reason, Galinda was sure that Elphaba didn't seem to mind this nickname as much as the others.

In all three years, Elphaba held her own by keeping her first place position on every test. She even broke a sprinting record in town, although Galinda was sure the motivation was the prize money. With that victory, came invitations from countless sports teams willing to overlook her verdigris in favor of gaining a star player. But even, then Elphaba ignored the enthusiastic acceptance from coaches in favor of going to work after school.

Today was no different, as Galinda glared up at the score posting board. Elphaba's name was once again one spot above Galinda's. It wasn't fair! Galinda had slaved over studying for this last test. She had even skipped two balls to do more practice problems. Why couldn't she catch up!

"Wow, Galinda! Second place again!" one of her classmates exclaimed. At this point, Galinda just stopped learning names. They would always be strangers to her, wearing amiable masks because of who she was. They weren't real.

"Maybe you should teach me sometime, Galinda," a sleazy guy intoned next to her. Ew.

"Galinda, you're so smart! Always getting second place!" another guy gushed. Galinda felt an eye twitch. She didn't want second place. She wanted first! And all these artificial people could do was remind her of her situation.

Galinda forced a smile, after realizing they had all stopped talking, expecting her to respond to their acclaims. "Stop it you guys! You're making me blush!"

"Ah, Galinda! You're so modest. And nice!" one girl giggled.

"Galinda, it doesn't matter what place you come in. You're beautiful and rich. That's all that matters!" another consoled happily.

Galinda stopped mourning for herself and perked he head up. "Really?"

The crowd nodded in agreement. Galinda internally agreed too. Galinda was the winner in everything. Why did she have to concern herself with the likes of the green steel. As if on cue, Elphaba appeared at the other end of the corridor on her way to check her scores. Galinda shamelessly began judging her.

She's still gloomy. And friendless. She's still putting her hair in that unimpressive brain and wearing those pathetic glasses that make her look like a witch. Ha! That's what she is! She is a green witch. I, on the other hand, am a blossoming flower. Everybody loves me.

As Elphaba neared Galinda and her flock of mindless admirers, Galinda threw her most charming smile at Elphaba and haughtily said, "Hello, Thropp."

Elphaba stopped, and turned, a look of slight surprise on her face. Then she looked deep in thought before deadpanning, "Ah, Upland. Long time no see." And with that, Elphaba purposefully walked to check her score and continue to her next class.

Galinda was lead by her fans to their next class, all of them unaware of Galinda's inner turmoil over Elphaba forgetting her face. Did Elphaba really think Galinda that insignificant? Galinda took a seat near some guys. In an attempt to forget about her wretched encounter with that green witch, Galinda eavesdropped.

"Class D is having gym class. A lot of their girls are cute." a tall one said animatedly.

"Yeah, they sure are pretty. Although, we do have Galinda," an athletic one argued, turning to look at Galinda. "Galinda, why don't you have a boyfriend? You're so popular!"

Galinda restrained herself from sliding down in her chair. Truthfully, she had never paid the guys too much attention. Her mind was typically consumed of thoughts pertaining to beating Elphaba.

"I like boys, and I'm happy to be admired by them," Galinda cautiously spooke. "But everything I'm admired for, my looks and my wealth, were all given to me by my parents."

"You're so grounded, Galinda," a new guy who had recently pulled a chair gushed. "Don't you have a type though? Like me, perhaps?"

"Type...?" Galinda thought. She had never seriously considered who her ideal partner would be. She did, however, know what she didn't want. "I like a person who is not smarter than me. Or who is better at sports than me. The person I like should not be arrogant about their abilities. They should never forget my name or my face. Oh! And they shouldn't be wearing glasses."

"Wow, so detailed!" the tall guy exclaimed. "I'm not smarter than you! Would you like to be my girlfriend? I do fit the criteria."

Galinda smiled sweetly. "You do fit that part, but I'm afraid you are better at sports than me."

"You want a weak guy, Galinda?" the stronger boy asked, confused. Didn't all girls want to have a strong man to protect them by their side.

Galinda laughed. "Of course not, silly. I'm super strong, but I would like someone who is...um...sensitive."

"I guess that makes sense. A lot of us stronger men don't have time to think about stuff like that. So as long as it's not a guy version of our resident green steel!"

Galinda pursed her lips and hesitantly replied, "Yeah, pretty much."

The guys, however, had stopped paying attention to Galinda for once to rant about Elphaba.

"She's so displeasing. Always wearing those outdated braids and unfashionable clothes."

"She has no friends at all too. It's probably because she always leaves right after school. Maybe she thinks she's better than us!"

"That's gotta be the only explanation, man. She never eats lunch with us either. As if we're all uncivilized or something."

"I think all she does is judge us with contempt. Maybe that's why her skin is green. She's full of hate. Right Galinda?"

An angry demon must have possesed Galinda, because before she knew it she was angrily standing up to challenge every offense made about Elphaba. Elphaba might have been some of those things, but she did not hate. Elphaba was kind hearted, working hard because of she loved her family. She probably had some kind of survivor's guilt or something for surviving that car crash, Galinda reasoned.

She needed to escape the confused guys who had done nothing but loved her. She had returned that love with unwarranted anger instead. They didn't know anything about Elphaba. She quickly scurried away in search of an empty classroom to cool down. She was in no mood to interact with people. Elphaba's existence had seen to that.

Galinda let out a quite laugh at the irony of finally thinking she'd found an empty classroom until she saw Elphaba napping at one of the tables, her head nuzzled cozily in the crook of her arm. Galinda slowly closed the door and approached the sleeping girl as quietly as she could.

She looks so defenseless when she's sleeping. So peaceful. But this isn't home. This is a school were studying happens. Stop being so annoying by sleeping here. Galinda gently pulled out the chair opposite Elphaba and sat down so she was facing her. Why don't you care about me? Every person I've met so far, good or bad, all feel something towards me. You do nothing but look ahead. Why can't you just enjoy the present a little bit and look at what you already have. Maybe then you'll see me.

Galinda, in a spontaneously daring mood, carefully picked up the end of Elphaba's tight braid and paused, insepcting Elphaba for further movement. Galinda then began to caress Elphaba's hair, trying to commit to memory the smooth silkiness of it. Galinda smiled when she realized that Elphaba probably didn't even try to make sure her hair quality was nice. It was natural, just like the rest of Elphaba...except for her bizarre skin color.

I want you to see only me.

Before Galinda could continue her train of thoughts, Elphaba jolted up in her chair, a wild look of panic garnishing her face. She muttered something about a special market sale, as she hurridly packed her backpack and bustled out of the door, completely ignorant of the fact that Galinda was there. In front of her. Stroking her braid.

Galinda felt something deep inside her snap.

On her way out of the school gates, her mood had deteriorated to the verge of murderous. She was currently plotting how to make Elphaba cry, because that seemed like the easiest emotion to lure out of Elphaba's stupidly glacial poker face. Also, Galinda wondered what Elphaba looked like when she cried. Galinda ground her teeth in frustration. She was worse than a tree! At least trees moved when provoked by the wind. Elphaba only ignored!

Or maybe, she should try to get Elphaba to admit defeat willingly. That would certainly be satisfying after all the grief Elphaba had put her through. Galinda groaned again, when she realized that turning the Emerald City another color would be easier than getting Elphaba to admit defeat.

In an effort to calm herself, Galinda pulled a mirror out of her bag to inspect her reflection. The mirror showed her a perfect face that might get wrinkles if she continued to worry about this more. But Galinda couldn't help it. Elphaba had an infuriatingly attracting quality about her that couldn't get Galinda to stop thinking about her.

"Yeah, and then she said as compensation, I should bring her to the amusement park," returned a guy, Galinda recognized him from the class across the hall, to his friend. Galinda eagerly listened more, as this was sounded like a conversation that could get her mind off Elphaba. After all, how would her mind make a connection from an amusement park to Elphaba. No more thinking of Elphaba for the rest of the day.

His friend groaned. "Jak you're too obedient."

Jak grinned deviosly. "Well the thing is...isn't the one who falls in love first the loser?"

Galinda suddenly could not care less about what Jak or his irrelevant friend had to say. She had just found her solution to her Elphaba dilemma. All she had to do was make Elphaba fall in love with her, reject her, and that would lead to a crying Elphaba. Galinda would finally have her victory.

Be careful, Elphaba. You'll have a big crush on me and then your whole life will fall apart!