A couple of hours later, the party at the Ozdust Ballroom was in full swing.
The large room was bursting with Shiz students, all dressed up to the nines, dancing, chatting, drinking punch and enjoying themselves.
Fiyero and Galinda arrived fashionably late, of course, and all eyes were on the pair when they entered the room.
Especially the girls gave Galinda envious glances which she enjoyed immensely.
A smug smile graced her face as she crossed the room on Fiyero's arm, her fuchsia coloured dress standing out in the crowd.
Yes, this dress had been the best decision for this occasion.
Another person was looking over longingly to the pair, a short boy standing next to a girl in a wheelchair.
Boq had done as Galinda had told him to and had invited Nessarose to the party.
Of course, the young girl had been beyond thrilled and Boq had felt a slight pang of guilt for not being entirely honest with her.
And so far, the two of them hadn't said much to each other yet.
"What's in the punch?", Nessa made another desperate try to spark up a conversation.
"Lemons and melons and pears", Boq replied absentmindedly, while still closely observing Galinda and Fiyero who were now dancing nearby, entangled in each other's arms.
"Oh my!", Nessa exclaimed unenthusiastically and looked down into her glass.
This date wasn't really going like she had imagined.
"Listen, Nessa, I have to tell you something", Boq started.
"Yes?", she eagerly shot back, thrilled that he tried to engage in conversation all of a sudden.
Boq seemed to struggle to get his words out and his guilty look started to raise Nessa's suspicion.
Would this evening end like so many in her life?
"Look, I, uh, have to confess something", the short boy stammered, really looking sorry now.
"The reason I asked you out..."
"I know", Nessarose interrupted him, bitterly acknowledging that her suspicion would prove to be justified.
"You only felt you had to ask me out. Because I'm in a wheelchair and you didn't want me to go alone. You felt sorry for me, am I right?"
Boq's gaze wandered to a spot near his feet, guilt creeping up inside of him.
He hadn't thought of the consequences enough. He hadn't thought that his little favour for Galinda might hurt someone else's feelings. And on top of it all, she was the daughter of the man who reigned over his home country, not to think of what would happen if he found out that it was a Munchkin who broke his little girl's heart!
He cleared his throat.
"No", he blurted out and made Nessa turn to him again, a hopeful shimmer in her eyes.
"No, uhm, it's, just, it was, because, uhm, you, well, you are, you know, very, uhm beautiful. Yes, that's the reason I asked you out."
Nessa, who of course mistook Boq's desperate stammering as shyness, lit up in excitement.
"Oh, Boq, is that really true? That is so lovely! I knew we were destined to be with each other! I doubted it for a minute right now but can't you see it too?"
"I, uhm", Boq broke off, looking around for Galinda and Fiyero, who were now standing in the far corner of the room, kissing.
Determined not to give up just yet, he grasped the handles of Nessa's wheelchair.
"You know what? Let's dance!"
Nessa seemed confused.
"You mean...what?"
"I said, let's dance!"
And with that he whirled the girl in the chair around, quickly pushed her to the center of the room and started to dance around her, then and now including the wheelchair in his little choreography, while Nessa enthusiastically moved her arms to the music.
Boq did make sure, though, that he caught Galinda's attention and whenever her gaze wandered over to the couple, he gave her a broad smile.
She should see that he was her hero, the boy who asked out the tragically beautiful girl.
But Galinda returned his smiles only halfheartedly, before turning back to Fiyero.
Suddenly, Galinda was disturbed by a tap on the shoulder.
Immediately, she let go of Fiyero and turned to face Madame Morrible.
"Good evening, Miss Upland."
"Hello, Madame Morrible, what are you doing here?", Galinda replied, confused as to what she might have done that the headmistress went through the troubles of maneuvering through a hoard of partying students in a crowded ballroom.
With a somewhat sour expression, the headmistress pulled a long thin object out of the depths of her garments and held it out to Galinda.
"I have something for you", she said through gritted teeth, not hiding the fact that all about this moment was very displeasant to her.
Galinda couldn't believe her eyes.
"But, this is a training wand! I thought you didn't include more than one student in your tutorial! How can I express my gratitution for this?!"
"Oh, this was certainly not my idea! It was your roomate's request to include you into sorcery class, much to my disapproval, of course, but she threatened to leave class if I didn't include you in it instantly. She also insisted on telling you this very night, which is why I had to come here."
She gestured at the crowd of dancing students and scrunched her nose in a disgusted manner.
"This...was Elphaba's idea?"
"Yes, Miss Upland, I thought I had made that quite clear. Sorcery class will take place every day at the sixth hour, be on time!"
Madame Morrible started to walk away, but Galinda quickly followed her.
"But, why did she do this?"
"I have absolutely no idea, Miss Upland. My personal opinion is that you do not have what it takes, maybe you'll prove me wrong..."
She looked Galinda up and down, struggling to bite back a laugh.
"...but I doubt you will."
With that, she left Galinda standing alone and exited the room.
A strange feeling started spreading in Galinda's chest, she couldn't really name it, as she had never actually felt it before.
Fiyero was by her side again as soon as the headmistress had left and worriedly observed the miserable expression on her face.
"Is everything alright?"
Galinda looked up and gave him a faint smile.
"Yes, I, I got what I wanted, but..."
"Then what's the matter?"
Now Galinda's smile was a bit more convincing.
"Nothing, really."
"Alright, then let's dance again!", Fiyero commanded and swirled Galinda back into his arms.
Meanwhile, a few yards away from the Ozdust Ballroom, Elphaba was contemplating if going to the party had been the right decision.
She didn't really know how to dress for occasions like this and she wasn't entirely sure if what she considered dancing was, in fact, considered dancing by other people, as she had only ever done it by herself - if she had done it at all.
She had spent the whole time after her short visit to Madame Morrible's office with trying to decide what she could wear, an activity so unlike her usual habits that she felt almost overwhelmed.
Ultimately she had decided to just wear one of her simple dark green everyday dresses due to the lack of any more suitable attire.
She wasn't too sure about her choice in shoes, as her brown boots had seemed to be a bit too clunky to wear under a dress but it wasn't really warm outside and she didn't want to get a cold on the rather long way downtown to the Ballroom.
She had spent a long time to decide on a hairstyle and had then ended up plaiting her sleek black hair into a long thick braid that fell down her back.
She had topped it with the hat that Galinda had given to her.
For the first time she had looked at herself in the mirror and hadn't been instantly repelled by her own appearance.
She had adjusted her glasses, grabbed a jacket and gone out of the room before she could have changed her mind about going.
Now she wasn't so sure anymore.
A few steps away from the Ballroom, she nearly bumped into Madame Morrible who was hastily stomping in the other direction, back towards Shiz.
"Miss Elphaba", the teacher huffed, obviously still angered about having to come all the way downtown to deliver such a pointless message to this atrociously annoying student.
"I have done what you asked me, although I still can't seem to get behind your reasons for wanting to include Galinda Upland of all people into this class! I cannot see any point..."
"Madame Morrible", Elphaba calmly interrupted the headmistress, "I am simply returning a favour."
Madame Morrible wasn't used to a student contradicting her so much and every other student would have had their fair share of being turned in to a toad for several hours, but this particular girl had to be kept happy at any price.
She had a talent that could prove itself to be even bigger than estimated at the beginning.
The headmistress pinched her lips together and looked directly into Elphaba's eyes.
"Know however, Miss Thropp, that if Miss Upland ceases to obey my instructions or fails to follow the rules it is your responsibiliation!"
"Yes, Madame", Elphaba replied just as calmly as she spoke before although she was now slightly nervous.
She didn't know if she could guarantee for anything when it came to the quirky blonde.
"Well then, Miss Elphaba, have fun at the - /party/."
She spat the last word as if it was
something disgusting and then continued her walk back to the University.
Elphaba completed the last bit of the way and made halt in front of the big entrance doors of the Ozdust Ballroom.
This would be it.
Her first real party.
She took a deep breath and opened the door.
When the green girl stepped on the dancefloor, the Shiz students stared at her in a kind of naked spite, openly pointing and laughing at her, whispering to each other as she passed through their rows.
The music had stopped as the first round of gasps had carried through the room and Elphaba had ripped the black pointed hat from her head.
With a start, Galinda had let go of Fiyero and was now observing her roommate walking towards the centre of the dancefloor, defying all the hateful looks and laughter with her head held high.
In the middle of the dancefloor she demonstratively put the hat back on her head and glared at Galinda, realising she had become the victim of the blonde's nasty scheme.
Galinda discovered the hurt in the other girl's nagging stare and the strange feeling started to occupy her heart again.
She reckognised it now.
It was guilt.
Plain, gnawing guilt.