Chapter Twenty-Six: The Way of Things

It was a typical Thursday morning. She woke beside Fiyero and looked over at him. But her smile only lasted a moment. He scared her. Well, it wasn't exactly that he scared her, but the way she felt did. It was like she almost needed him. She yearned for him. And she knew she couldn't have him forever. Still, she loved him. It wasn't like she could deny that any longer. Elphaba kissed him on the cheek gently. "I have to get back to my room and get ready for class," she said quietly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." He sat up and kissed her on the mouth.

"Make sure you get to class, Yero. You were up late and I know how you like to sleep in." Elphaba slid out the doorway carefully and hurried down the hall. No one had yet seen her exit Fiyero's apartment, at least not at a close enough distance where they could tell it was her. She wanted to keep it that way. Once or twice she thought someone had noticed her heading back to Crage, but not so that they could tell from where. She didn't care what people thought she was doing so long as they didn't know.

Galinda smiled sweetly at her when she entered. "Are you ready for sorcery class? Morrible was hinting at a pop quiz today."

"I'm ready. Are you?"

Galinda nodded.

Elphaba had wondered at first why her roommate had also been enrolled in sorcery. Galinda didn't exactly seem like the smartest girl, and maybe she wasn't, but she was clever. She could figure things out easily. It was more that she didn't want to try hard. That wasn't something Elphaba understood, but she gave Galinda credit for at least being smart. She picked up on sorcery just as easily as Elphaba had.

"How's Fiyero?" Galinda asked.

"He's fine. You ask me this every time I come back from visiting him."

"I'm just curious," Galinda blinked sweetly. Elphaba didn't buy it, but she didn't bother fighting her.

"Well, like I said, he's fine."

"Elphaba?"

"What, Galinda?" Elphaba stopped packing her bag and put her hands on her hips, giving Galinda a demanding look.

"I know you're not as okay with your and Fiyero's situation as you pretend to be. He knows it, too. And I know you've had your own thoughts, come up with your own ideas as to how to deal with it. What, exactly, do you plan to do?"

Elphaba bit her lip. She had thought about it. And after the conversations she'd had with Dr. Dillamond she had made a decision. "If we get caught and/or once he gets married, I'm leaving."

Maybe she'd come back here and work with Dr. Dillamond, assuming he was still able to work here. Or she'd go work on Animal rights somewhere else. Dr. Dillamond was certain that the Wizard was behind the Animal oppression. And after listening to his thoughts, Elphaba couldn't help but come to the same conclusion. Last week, Madame Morrible had held a poetry reading. A poem had been read containing the words "Animals should be seen and not heard." Elphaba had been enraged. So had Dr. Dillamond. And Madame Morrible was supposedly close to the Wizard.

There had been talk, and Elphaba knew Dr. Dillamond was now the only Animal left on campus. That put him in a very scary position. So, if things with Fiyero had to end – and knew they had to eventually – she'd devote herself to making life fair for Animals again. Maybe she could forget him. Okay, that was a hopeless cause. But maybe it would ease the pain if she could focus on something else. Right now the thought hurt, but in time she'd get used to it. She had no choice.

Galinda looked at her and cocked her head. "Why?"

"Because I can't stay there, Galinda. If we get caught, I'd be in a lot of trouble. And even if we don't, I can't… I can't…"

"You can't watch him get married. You can't think about it."

"Right." Elphaba didn't even want to think about the things he'd do with Sarima. Once upon a time she hadn't cared, but she did now, maybe she had before, too. Part of her wondered why she didn't end it here and now, but it was too far gone. Logically, she should run now. She should go before it got even worse. But she couldn't bring herself to. And she really didn't like to think about it much. "Now let's go to class, okay?"

Galinda invited her out one Friday to hang with a group of friends at a café just off campus. Elphaba decided not to tell Fiyero, as she thought maybe she needed some time and friends without him. Not that it mattered. Boq was there and Boq had invited him. Somehow, between Boq asking Elphaba out and Fiyero informing Boq that he had behaved like a jackass, Boq and Fiyero had become fast friends. Elphaba would never understand it.

There were other people at the table, too. Two feminine-looking boys, Galinda's friends Pfanee and Shen-Shen, a girl named Milla, who seemed to know Galinda as well, and another boy, blonde and blue-eyed. He was like Galinda's counterpart, except not nearly as friendly. The look he gave her when he saw her made that clear enough. Even Galinda hadn't given her that sort of look when she'd first seen her. Elphaba glared back at him and sat down beside Galinda. She thought she recognized him. In fact, she recognized all of them. They were all in the same life sciences class.

Fiyero was smiling at her from across the table. Could he be any more obvious? She raised her eyebrows at him to remind him to be more subtle. They had plenty of time to stare at each other when she visited him. And she knew he took advantage of it, sometimes to the point where he made her uncomfortable.

Someone had stolen two bottles of wine that were being not so carefully passed around the table. Elphaba had sipped wine with the maunts, just a little, but she was accustomed to the taste, so she drank some. She had underestimated exactly how much she could drink, and soon everyone at the table was a little tipsy. Elphaba found, to her surprise, that she was enjoying the conversation. She particularly enjoyed tearing apart everything the blonde boy said when he thought he knew he was talking about. His name was Avaric.

Crope and Tibbet, the two other boys, thought it would be fun to take the party somewhere else. Avaric suggested the Philosophy Club. The table got quiet.

The first one to speak was Galinda. "My Ama won't be happy if I stay out any later. It's a blessing I was able to avoid her this long." She excused herself from the table and left.

Boq was next. "I'm afraid I have to study."

Everyone else followed suit with similar lies. Galinda had left before Elphaba had been able to get to her and she was the one with the key to their room. Elphaba had been trying to find hers before they left, but Galinda had rushed her out the door, insisting that they couldn't afford to be late. Fiyero found her, though, and reminded her that she was supposed to spend the night with him, anyway. "Let me just grab my things."

But Galinda wouldn't answer the door. "She's probably out cold," Fiyero said. "Maybe you need to start leaving things at my apartment so that this doesn't happen."

"I'll think about it." Elphaba thought that the idea was a bit much. She'd never be really living with him or sharing a room with him. She shouldn't start now.

"You did leave a bottle of oil so at least you can clean up. We could try to wash that dress tonight… well, I could. You can't get wet. And leave it to dry and hope it dries before morning. It's not like you sleep with your clothes on most of the time anyways." He raised his eyebrows playfully and kissed her cheek.

"Fiyero, be quiet!" Elphaba looked around them as they exited Crage, worried someone could hear them. But she was giggling, too.

He drew her to him in the doorway and kissed her hard. "I would rather you not had a nightgown, anyway," he breathed against her ear.

"Stop this," she giggled breathlessly. "We need to get to your apartment."

It felt like hours before they stumbled haphazardly into Fiyero's apartment, though it didn't seem to take more than seconds after that for them to make it to the bed. For once, Elphaba was actually able to sleep afterwards.

She woke in the morning to find that her dress was torn up the leg. Walking across campus like this would be interesting. Staring at Fiyero beside her, who was uncharacteristically snoring, she vowed never to drink again.