Elphaba missed the warmth of another hand in hers, but understood her (girl?)friend's need for status. As they neared the cafeteria, the children noticed and started chattering excitedly. Elphaba rolled her eyes and listened for key words in the multiple conversations. There was some talk of the two girls walking together, but most of the talk wasn't about the green student. It was about the popular, pink-swathed girl in dirty clothes. She glanced down at the sensitive blonde, and saw tears welling up. She put a protective arm around the girl's shoulders and hurried her through the crowd and into the cafeteria.

Elphaba tried to distract Galinda from the other students, but her mind was stuck on her dropping popularity. She sat with Nanny and Nessa without complaint, figuring she'd be sitting here a lot more often now that she was quickly becoming a disgrace. After putting their bags and coats at the table, the group went to get their meals and Elphaba easily helped everyone all at the same time. Galinda picked out multiple sweets to lift her spirits, but they were mostly replaced with fruit. Elphaba then went over to help Nessa walk and give Nanny a hand with the 2 trays. Soon, they were all eating and Nanny asked Galinda about classes.
"They're ok."
"Are you having trouble with anything?" The old lady asked, but Nessarose quickly saved her from further humiliation.
"Of course Miss Galinda is doing splendiferously, Nanny! She's Miss Galinda!" Galinda smiled at the younger girl in thanks, and speared a strawberry on her fork. Galinda zoned out for a while, but when she came back the topic had moved to teachers.
"… yes, he gives out so much homework!" Nessa groaned. "Poor Nanny will break her wrist, writing so much!"
"What about you, Fabala? Keeping up with all your classes?"
"Yes, Nanny."
"Even Early Ozian History? You had trouble with that back at home."
"It takes more studying than the others, but I'm maintaining a passing grade in the class."
"I know, dear." Nanny said sympathetically. "It's so hard to remember which Ozma did what and when."
"Passing? Papa might get mad." Nessa worried, but no-one could think of anything to say to comfort her. Elphaba quickly finished eating and helped throw out garbage and help Nessa. Galinda drifted off again, and when she 'woke up', she found herself in Life Sciences, sitting next to her roomie. Doctor Dillamond was lecturing about something to do with plants breathing. Elphaba was furiously taking 2 copies of notes, and Galinda quickly took a sheet to do her own work. After class, her hand was hurting from writing so much, so fast. She was feeling better about the day, when a boy stepped on her skirt on purpose! He got it dirtier, and a loud tearing of fabric was heard. Galinda was about to run off when her roomie lent the blonde her long coat, and walked the boy away a ways.
Galinda put the coat on, covering up most of the dirt, and all of the rip. Galinda looked up in time to see the boy spit at Elphaba. She couldn't see if it hit or not, but the green girl flinched, wiped her face on her sleeve, and kicked the boy right in his family jewels! Galinda covered her giggles, but just barely.
"Feel better now?" Her roomie asked.
"A little, but hurting him didn't fix my dress."
"Well, if you really want a new dress I suppose we can take a carriage to town this weekend."
"We?" Galinda asked, shocked.
"Sweet, I'm not letting you spend all your pocket money in one day." Elphaba replied, grinning. Galinda grinned, then put on an act of being hurt.
"Well, I never! If you don't think I, Miss Galinda of the Arduennas, can look after myself while shopping, I guess you'll just have to come with me!"
"I guess I will." The girls grinned at each other, then clasped hands for the walk to their dormitory.

That Saturday, Galinda was ecstatically happy. Elphaba, on the other hand, just wanted to sleep. When they had gotten dressed for the brisk fall day outside, Elphaba had gotten past her morning grumpiness and was trying to be patient. By the time their carriage had dropped them off in the shopping district, she was just getting ready for the day. Galinda was preparing their plan for the day. Elphaba had brought some pocket money, and a bag with 2 pair of clean dry socks inside. Galinda had brought nothing with her, saying her Momsie and Popsicle would pay for anything she wanted.
When they reached a dress shop, Elphaba tried to wait outside. Unfortunately, her petite roomie was quite strong, and took Elphaba by surprise, pulling her in. Elphaba relented and wandered around, looking at all the styles and colors of dresses. Galinda was standing on a small pedestal, in front of a multitude of mirrors. Three shop workers hustled around, getting dresses, checking styles, and measuring sizes. Elphaba hung back, in awe of the controlled chaos of the store. She spun around at a soft hand on her shoulder, and it was another shop worker.
"Your friend over there told me to take care of you. Do you know what you'd like?" The woman asked kindly. Elphaba shook her head mutely, astounded that this woman would touch her green skin. Galinda's parents must pay very well, she thought.
"I-I'm Elphaba." She said, politely curtseying.
"I'm Myusa." The woman said, and extended a hand for the girl to shake. Elphaba was dumbstruck. Almost no-one in her life initiated contact, and especially not strangers! She cautiously followed behind Myusa to the fabrics section, and picked out a few colors besides black she wouldn't mind wearing. Mostly dark blues and purples, but Myusa had found a deep dark red that went splendidly with her verdant skin. She draped it around herself, and was so enamored by the color, she decided to splurge and order a dress in the color. Myusa showed her some styles, but Elphaba frowned at all the pomp and circumstance in the padded shoulders, large skirts, and veritable miles of lace. When Elphaba asked to see their simplest styles, it was still too much. Not wanting to offend Myusa, or let this fabric go, she ordered a bit of it, then put it in her bag to sew into a dress later. She was looking in her bag for her change-purse, when Galinda appeared.
"See anything you like?"
"Yes. I'm getting some of this red fabric."
"More dark colors? Jeez, Elphie!" And the smaller girl marched her over to the changing area.
"No, Galinda, really. I don't look good in pastels-"
"Here, try this!" And a hideously light blue dress was thrust around the dividing screen. Elphaba sighed, and managed to figure out how to get the convoluted thing on.
"Um, I think it's a bit too small…" She called nervously.
"Can we see?"
"I suppose…" She shyly stepped around the partition, her head ducked and her blushing face facing the floor. "See?" She muttered, "Light colors don't look good on me." She tried to tug the scandalously short skirt lower on her thighs, but that caused the low-cut neckline to drop even lower. She tugged the neck up, feeling as though her chest was exposed, but the skirt crept higher up on her gangly legs.
"I feel like I should be standing on a street corner!" She burst suddenly, and dashed behind the screen to yank off the revealing dress. "I don't like dresses like that, ok? I feel like people are looking at me even more! Could you please just pass me that dark red fabric?" She pulled it around her shoulders and held it closed with her hand. "See?" She said, "Dark colors look better on me! What are you both looking at, does it have a stain?"
"Why, Miss Elphaba! That exact shade seems to affect the color of your skin!" Galinda cried, overjoyed.
"What?" She looked at her hand, and it was true. The darkness of the dress seemed to bleach away her verdigris!
"Young misses, if I may." Myusa interjected. "Our store would love to custom design a dress for you, at no extra charge." Elphaba forgot how to close her jaw, and it hung open a small bit as her roomie skipped around merrily.
"Of- Of course! I'd be delighted!" She quickly ducked back behind the screen to change into her normal clothes.
"Seeing how none of our current styles seems to fit you, shall we go to the drafting table?" As Myusa led them to the back of the store, Elphaba tried to calm her girlfriend.
"Galinda, stop it, I need your help. I don't speak clothes!"
"Don't worry! If you say you don't like it, they can change it. That's why it starts on paper!" As Myusa affixed a small square of fabric to the page, then sketched an outline of a body, the girls played trying styles on Elphaba. Draping it this way, possibly pinning it here, did she like this? They then huddled around the table as the dress began to take shape.

Galinda squeezed Elphaba's hand as Myusa sketched Elphaba's figure, then lightly shaded the face green to personalize it. After a few simple questions, the sleeves were loose, ending halfway between the wrist and elbow. The skirt flowed to a stop a dozen centimetres above her ankles.

"Now, what sort of embellishments do you want?"

"None, please." Elphaba demurred.

"Oh, Elphie!" Galinda whined, "You HAVE to get something to beautificate your new dress!" Elphaba bit her lip, glancing at all the overdone dresses around.

"Here, why don't you girls look through these pattern books and tell me what you like?" Myusa showed them a pile of books and Elphaba brightened. For the next hour or so, the students sat next to each other, occasionally pointing to a picture. In the end, it was between simple vertical hemming along the bodice front, and a flower at the collar. After some debate, the hemming was chosen. Galinda gleefully dragged her girlfriend into dozens more shops. Myusa had assured the girls that the shop would mail the dress to their dorm room, and not Madame Morrible. When they hailed a carriage to take them back to Crage Hall, Galinda had nearly decreased her closet space by half. They took their belongings and put them away, then went to get dinner from the cafeteria. Walking back to their room, Elphaba noticed the lights still on in 's study. She grinned. They slept soundly, and the morning was uneventful. As they neared Life Sciences, however, they saw a commotion around the door. Elphaba pushed through the crowd, Galinda following. Two nurses carried something on a stretcher covered by a sheet. Horrified, Elphaba gasped. Galinda clapped her hands over her mouth in disbelief as an autumn wind blew back a corner of the sheet. What they saw could not be forgotten, although they would try. It could barely be talked about, but talk about it people did. Stories spread like wildfire around campus, as Elphaba, Nurse Daae, and Galinda (who had shortened her name to Glinda) took a few days off to mourn. The service was a week later, and not many students arrived. Elphaba dove into her studies, feverously reading the late Doctor's notes late into the night. Glinda offered any support she could, and her grades rose as she studied beside her girlfriend on the long cold nights. They got a new Life Sciences teacher and Elphaba did not like him.

"Sir?" She was trying to talk to him after class had been dismissed. "Sir, I have a question."

"You should have asked it during class."

"It doesn't pertain to our current studies."

"Then you have no business asking it." He walked off. Elphaba seemed shell-shocked, the idea of a teacher who didn't want to teach had apparently never occurred to her. A few weeks later, he brought in a small lion cub and asked the class if it was a cub or a Cub. Elphaba stood up to volunteer an answer, but Glinda was thinking. All during and after the uproar with the poor cub being carried out in an apron, Glinda remained in thought.

"Sweet? What in Oz is puzzling you?" The green face was grinning, but it looked a bit forced.

"Elphie, if there are Animals and animals, and there are People, could there be people? Humans with life, but no Life?"

"I've never seen someone with no Life, but I suppose it might be possible. Logically, if you have one you have to have the other. We'll check Dr. Dillamond's notes tonight…" The question confounded the girls, and terrified Glinda. What would a person with no Life look like? The animals acted like animals, but the Animals acted like People. Would people act like animals? Uncivilized, ruled by instinct, unable to speak… She shuddered. Elphaba now spent so much time studying even Nessa was getting worried. Glinda felt sick to her stomach for even asking in the first place. She asked Madame Daae if Elphaba could become ill from overwork. When she voiced her concerns to her girlfriend, they were brushed away.

"Elphie, you're going to make yourself sick. You're hardly sleeping, barely eating…"

"I can take care of myself." She watched the thin green hand dart across the page, back and forth, back and forth. She nearly got motion sickness.

"You can, but you're not. Come lay down."

"I need to study."

"You can study lying down." After much persuasion, the taller girl lay on her own bed, reading furiously. A few minutes later, she was blinking more often. A scant ten minutes after laying down, she was asleep. Glinda paced, worrying. Should she tell Madame Daae? Should she tell Horrible Morrible? Nanny?

In the end, she decided to seek help from Miss Daae and Nanny. Morrible might separate the girls, or write to Elphaba and Nessarose's father.