The Calpern Café on the Shiz University campus was the best place to spend wintry weekend afternoons according to Nessa. She loved it not only for the crackling fires, the pre-dinner emptiness, and the delicious food and drink, but because it was flat, meaning she could go unaccompanied by her sister or Boq.
On this particular day, Nessa had spent a very long time studying in front of the fire. Another plus of the café was that the couches were a perfect height for her to sit in, and when she did so, with her shoes and braces off and her feet up on the ottoman, she felt normal.
Nessa closed her book and looked at the clock: 5 pm. Dinner time. Nessa knew she had to leave before the hungry crowd or else she'd be pushed around and unable to move.
She made her way to the door, her books stowed away in the bag on the back of her chair. As she pulled on her hat and scarf, the bell on the door tinkled. A group of chattering students had entered, turning their backs to the dining area as they ordered drinks from the bar.
"Nessa?" A familiar voice said, just as Nessa pushed the door open. Her neck snapped around so fast she heard it crack.
It was Elphaba. And just as Elphaba had announced it, one by one, each other member of the party turned around.
The group was none other than her friends; Elphaba, Avaric, Boq, Fiyero, and Galinda all bundled up for a day outside in the snow. Their cheeks and noses were fiery red. Even Elphaba's face had gone a deeper green. They smiled at Nessa.
"Oh, hello. How are you?" Nessa spoke in a low voice that was almost a whisper.
"We're fantabuloscious!" announced Galinda happily, beaming at Nessa. "We all spent the day ice skating! It was so much fun!"
Galinda continued to chatter away, but no one but Elphaba saw the sadness in Nessa's eyes, despite her forced smile.
"And then Fiyero and Avaric played one man hockey and..."
"Excuse me. Sorry Galinda, I'd love to hear the rest, but I have a very big headache. I need to go lie down," Nessa said, quickly, forcing her words to stay calm despite the tears welling in her eyes.
The rest of the group murmured goodbyes, and began to talk merrily again. Everyone except Elphaba.
Galinda led the group the sitting area just vacated by Nessa.
"What's wrong, Elphie?" Galinda asked as they sipped their steaming drinks.
"I feel bad. We all went out together without Nessa. And she didn't even know. Not unless..." She glanced at Boq, who shook his head.
"But, it's not like she could have gone with us anyways," Galinda said.
"She knows that, but she would've at least wanted to know we were doing it. Nessa hates the winter. The cold makes her stiff, the snow is hard for her to get around in, and anything done outside makes her feel left out. "
"And she doesn't feel that way in summer?" Avaric asked. Had his tone not conveyed true, honest curiosity, Fiyero would have whacked him upside the head.
"No. She can spend time outside in the summer. She can't do anything in the winter."
The group was quiet. No one looked at each other.
No one felt more horrible than Boq. Not even Elphaba. He had purposely neglected to tell Nessa about the plans so she wouldn't come and mess up his shot with Galinda. The notion that she couldn't have come anyways had never even passed his mind. And he knew that, had he told her, she would have told him to go have fun.
Because that's how Nessa was.
Nessa didn't whine about not being able to participate in the activities. She just sat on the side, watching everyone else, and smiling the whole time.
He looked at Galinda, feeling a pang of guilt, accompanied by a rush of anger. Why did Nessa always make him feel this way?
As much as he wanted to hate her, he could never bring himself to. Part of him wanted to leave her out, to show her that she was not welcome. Numerous times, he had wanted her to be distant, so he could try and win over Galinda. But time and time again, he realized that her chair did that already.
Nessa pondered her feelings of anger and sadness. She hated her legs. She hated her chair. This was not the first time she had been left out, but it had been the first time that she had been left out of her friends.
Do friends do this? she wondered as she rolled herself back to her dorm.
Nessa didn't know. She had never had friends before.