After getting out of the Sorcery room, the two girls found shade under a Maple tree near the Shiz entrance gates. Elphaba leaned back on the tree while Galinda sat across from her, legs tucked gracefully underneath her.
Sorcery classes for both of them were finished for the day, and heavens! It was only eleven in the morning! Elphaba's schedule for this day consisted of: Potions, Life Sciences, Literature, and Botany while Galinda's consisted of only two subjects: Political Science and Literature. The blonde was crestfallen when she learned that she and the green girl had the same class for the day, just not the same time. She sulked and pouted; typical Galinda, and having not been used to this sort of behavior, Elphaba did not know how to appease the blonde. Though she did think of a logical way of consoling the blonde, even though it would put her at risk of being called in by Morrible, she still offered to move her Literature class the same time as Galinda's. The blonde could feel her insides go warm at Elphaba's offer, but of course she had to be selfless.
"Oh no, no, I possibly couldn't. You'll miss your Life Sciences class, Elphie!" Galinda pouted.
Elphaba looked dumbfounded, "B-But I thought you wanted to be in the same class as me."
Galinda put her hands on her hips and let out a soft giggle, "I didn't mean it like 'Miss a class for me, Elphie.' It was like a rhetorical question, you say it but you actually do not expect an answer." She giggled again, this time a little louder.
As if contemplating this, Elphaba's irises stared at no exact place and her eyebrows were very much narrowed.
"I am supposed to not pay heed to your needs or wants?" Elphaba asked.
'Lost Elphie is just too cute for her own good.' Galinda thinks to herself.
"Not every time. Elphaba, remember this, I never want to take advantage of you and you should never let me do that or ask for anything selfish. Okay?"
"I cannot make any promises, I seem to spoil people a lot."
"Miss Wizard's daughter spoils people? Did I hear that correctly?" Galinda exaggerated her surprise.
"Ha Ha Ha Miss Upland, very funny. But yes, I do." At this, Galinda noticed that Elphaba's shoulders were straighter than they were a few seconds ago, but did not say anything.
"Name."
"What?" Elphaba arched her eyebrows.
"Give me a name of a person you have spoiled rotten."
"Easy. Nessa and Shell. Now that's two names."
The blonde looked as if she was urging Elphaba to elaborate and elaborate, Elphaba did.
"Nessarose Thropp, my sister and Shell Thropp, my brother. Originally named Killian Shell Thropp."
"Thropp?" Galinda asked as she put the pieces together and suddenly a light bulb went out somewhere. "You have a sister and a brother?"
Elphaba brushed off imaginary leaves from her slacks. "Of course I do." She said, not making eye contact with the smaller girl.
The blonde thought for a moment and then realization dawned on her. "….Your half-sister and half-brother from Frexspar the Godly, I assume."
"Family mechanics escape me. I never care for them, for myself there are no 'half's, only pure and unadulterated bonds."
Realizing her mistake, Galinda makes a 'tut' noise as she cast her eyes down, suddenly, the blades of grass under her heels looked a hundred times more interesting. 'Oz, that was insensitive of me'
"I'm-"
"And before you even think of acting contritely or saying anything similar to asking for forgiveness, remember our little pact. No apologies for logic and curiosity." By now, Elphaba had directed her eyes where Galinda was.
Galinda felt Elphaba's gaze on her, she felt every part of her body shudder from the sparks, and this time, the sparks felt a thousand times stronger than last time.
With a sly smile, Galinda replied, "I wasn't going to. I was going to say 'I'm going to be late for Political Science' Miss Elphaba."
"My, my! How punctual." Elphaba feigned shock and covered her face with a green hand, but peeked slightly between her index finger and her middle finger.
Her green eyes, both alluring and captivating like the most heavenly shade of green there ever was, were resulting in quite a frenzy for the blonde however.
She had come to terms with her feelings, albeit she could not muster the courage to actually show or tell the green girl she set her eyes and heart on, she still did somehow but from a distance.
Snapping out of her stupor, Galinda stood up and brushed dirt off of her skirt. "Pleasure spending the morning with you, Elphaba. I'll see you later." And without turning back around to look at Elphaba, she raised her hands and waved back at Elphaba.
Elphaba sighed and promptly stood up as well, her next class would not start until an hour and a half or so, and quite frankly, a sandwich sounded wonderful. And so, she made her way to the cafeteria.
Sitting inside the café, Elphaba decided she would order some caffeine, just to make sure she wouldn't doze off on her Potions class. About to take a sip, she felt a tap on her shoulder and gracefully, she turned her head in order to see who it was.
Then her green eyes found his blue ones, they did not bear the same shade of blue that Galinda had, Elphaba mused. But it was a nice shade of blue, a strange but beautiful mix of purple and blue: periwinkle, perhaps?
"Hello there milady," He slightly bowed down and then flashed her the best boyish grin he had "I don't believe we have formally met."
Oh dear, he was one of those popular boys, Elphaba knew.
"Hello"
She did a slight bow of her own, well as much as she could bow in her sitting position. The man went around and positioned himself as if he was ready to sit on the chair opposite Elphaba. But surprisingly, he did not.
She smiled at him, not really in the mood to take on her socialite facade.
The silence, however awkward it was, was comforting. Along with the gentle breeze from the window near their table, or should I say 'Elphaba's' table?
"Dear me, where are my manners? Avaric, Margreave of the Tenmeadows. I was told that my first class here at Shiz would be a potions class, and of course that I would be taking it with the wonderful daughter of the wonderful Wizard of Oz and quite frankly, I did not want to miss out on an opportunity to meet her before hand." He curtsied again, slightly lower this time.
She broadened her smile, and then nodded. "Elphaba—"
"The Heir Apparent of Oz" Avaric continued for her, unable to keep his excitement to himself.
"I was about to say something else, but I guess that suffices." She giggled not because of her polite socialite side, but rather her annoyance of another someone rubbing her title in her face.
Avaric, having recoiled slightly, stared at Elphaba and smiled back. Not a boyish grin, but a smile.
"Would you like to join me for some coffee? We still have a bit more time before class starts." Elphaba said, surprised that she invited him. Inwardly, she was hoping he'd decline.
And it seemed not only Elphaba was surprised, Avaric knew the Heir Apparent was not like any other high ranking individuals; He was aware of her reclusive nature and her charm (which was greatly understated by his sources). She was green, there was no doubt about that, but beneath the green, her eyes, her flawless skin, her smile, her little dimples that show up when she does smile, her pearly whites, and he could go on forever but he needed a reply to her invitation. "I would love to, if you don't mind that is."
'But no, he just had to say yes. I do mind.' Elphaba thought as she flashed him another smile.
"Sit." She insisted.
And sit he did, he ordered himself a black coffee and made small talk with Elphaba but other than that, the conversations never went as far as he would like but… it waaaaas progress.
Honestly, Avaric was slowly being dragged towards Elphaba, he couldn't quite place it but there was something very mystifying about her, something that almost seemed ethereal to him.
By now, Elphaba had finished her coffee and just brought her sandwich with her, having suddenly not been in the mood to eat a sandwich. She was positioning herself to stand up, and Avaric, seeing this movement ( he had consumed his coffee too), stood up faster than her and helped her up by holding her arms and moving her chair back with his other hand.
As he held her arm, he could feel how soft her skin was, it felt as if he were holding onto something other than skin. It felt as if he were holding on to Lurline's smooth and silky dress, but of course her skin was smoother than that, it was just not in his blood to be poetic in a sense.
As he was helping her, she made eye contact again, and those green orbs just seemed to be glowing and he couldn't tear his gaze away from her, and she smiled.
'Oz, that smile is intoxicating.' thought Avaric.
"I'd better get going, wouldn't want to be late." Elphaba said, quite nervously too.
Avaric nodded. "Would you mind if I accompanied you?" He asked shyly.
Somehow surprised that she did enjoy Avaric's company, she shook her head in response. "Not at all, Master Tenmeadows."
He held out his arm and silently urged Elphaba to link her arm with his. But being Elphaba, she just smiled and started walking. Avaric understood though, he followed her and started matching his pace with hers before he spoke: "You certainly walk fast, and please, just Avaric." He turned to face her.
Elphaba looked ahead and just laughed, "I do?"
Avaric laughed too, an octave or two lower than Elphaba's. "Yes you do."
After a few minutes of walking and chattering, they reached the Potions class with a few minutes to spare. The room was bigger than Avaric had expected, it was even bigger than the rooms in his previous college, The Three Queens College. Each row of seats was elevated, the first being the lowest and the last row being the highest in elevation. The seats were positioned in a semicircle, facing the front where the teacher's supplies and desk was.
Elphaba took a seat on the third row, Avaric sat next to her. "So this is Potions class, huh?"
The raven haired Heir Apparent was about to speak when someone sat on the chair to her left and promptly greeted both of them with an enthusiastic 'hello'. Elphaba turned her head and noticed the Munchkin next to her, he looked somewhat familiar, but she could not remember where she had seen him before.
"Hello"
"Hello, good day to you."
Elphaba and Avaric said in unison.
The Munchkin smiled and directed her attention towards Elphaba.
"My, have you grown."
Elphaba's smile faltered a little, "Do I know you?"
"Oh! My name is Boq Hanchester. I come from Munchkinland."
The name Boq did ring a bell, but where in her memories was it from? Seeing her confused and calculating expression, Boq continued.
"Remember? We used to play when we were younger. At Quadling Country."
Elphaba brought her hands under her chin and thought for a few clock ticks before answering: "Boq, the child who ran around in shirt three sizes bigger while screaming 'I am the lost prince of Oz' at the top of his lungs Boq?" She giggled.
The Munchkin visibly blushed at this and made a 'sshhhhh' sound.
He tried his best not to snicker at the Munchkin, after all, the incident happened when he was more or less in diapers (maybe). The Margreave of Tenmeadows chose that moment to make his presence known again, "So Master Boq, you knew Elphaba when she was younger? Pray tell."
He was genuinely curious, she seemed polite enough and seemed to be quite charming. At first it was about Elphaba's role in society but as the clock ticks ticked by, he was growing more and more fond of Elphaba the lady and not Elphaba the daughter of the Wizard.
Abruptly, Elphaba stopped giggling and glared at Boq, "Don't you dare!" She whispered, but it was still threatening all the same.
"Oh but Elphie!" It seemed that both of them had a sudden rush of memories come back.
And Boq was ready to narrate his and Elphaba's childhood when the professor came in, and the trio snapped their heads forward.
The professor started with an introduction, "Good morning class, my name is Homme Apothecaire." He laughed, "As you can see, my surname is quite fitting don't you think?"
Class went on after that, basic terms and procedures, the typical first day of class routine.
Galinda on the other hand, wasn't doing quite well with her class.
The blonde was seated at the front row, sketching. Apparently, the Political Science professor was caught in some kind of faculty problem, and was half an hour late. Students were spread out everywhere and chattering nonsensically.
Click
Each and everyone's heads snapped up and directed their gaze towards the door while innocently inching towards their seats(those who weren't in their proper seats that is); all but Galinda.
Brown boots were the first to make an appearance, before the whole class heard whistling of some sort of swankified tune.
"Greetings to you all." He said. He had brown skin, almost faded tan brown but brown all the same. His eyes were steely gray and his hair was jet black.
But no one was too sure who this mysterious person was, so they kept their mouths clamped.
The man walked towards the center of the class and bowed, (which Galinda had to admit, seemed like he was dancing) before speaking, "I come from the Vinkus, Fiyero Tigelaar, the Crown Prince."
Noises of cheer and recognition could be heard and Galinda stopped what she was doing and looked up, at the same time the Prince looked at her. He smiled, and naturally Galinda smiled back.
"Well hello there," he kneeled and took her hand and kissed it "What is your name?".
Galinda smiled, not wanting to be impolite and said: "Greetings to you too, my name is Galinda Upland. Of the Upper Uplands." She kept the smile on her face, she liked saying her title for what it was worth.
"May I take this seat next to you?"
"Of course, Master Fiyero." Galinda was no stranger to this whole socializing thing, she had after all attended Etiquette classes when she was a mere twelve year old. College would be the best time to put those lessons to use, she supposed.
Minutes passed by and the professor had not made an appearance, and the students just mingled and talked for the remainder of the time. By the time an hour and a half had passed, the students started to disperse and kept on chattering on the way out of the classroom.
"Would you want to come and get lunch with me?" Fiyero asked out of the blue.
"I'd love to, but I have to go to my room and get something." Galinda said, not really in the mood for spending time with this boy. She wanted to spend time with her Elphie, however little time that was.
Wait, what?
Her Elphie?
When had Elphaba become hers?
Fiyero did not pick up on her nonchalant tone, and decided to prod a bit. "Where is your room? I can come with you." He smiled.
"It's at Crage Hall, and I don't think that would be advisable, Master Fiyero. For you see, boys are not allowed there. Besides, my roommate might freak out if I had a stranger come with me, and we wouldn't want that, would we?"
Confused, Fiyero just nodded, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Miss Galinda. Hope to see you around." And walked off to the cafeteria to grab some brunch. Boy, was he hungry.
Galinda opened her purse in search of her room key, "Ahah! Here it is." She said as she grabbed hold of the key and pulled it out of her purse.
Nimbly inserting the key into the key hole and turning it, Galinda opened the door and peaked in. It was empty. "Elphie?"
No response.
Suddenly she felt the sparks, however faint they were. Galinda arched her eyebrows, maybe that meant Elphaba was near? Or was it some sort of reaction to Elphaba's essence that was present in the room?
Galinda shrugged it off, maybe she'll find Elphaba in the café inside the school or the cafeteria, whichever. If she hurried up, she might catch Elphaba eating lunch at the café or somewhere. With that thought in mind, the blonde closed the doors to their dorm and made big strides towards the café. Hopefully, Elphaba would be there and hopefully, she can spend a bit of time with her.
And maybe then could she figure out if the sparks could somehow act as some kind of tracking device or not. But it would be kind of convenient if it were, wouldn't it?
She could find wherever Elphaba was, as she was thinking about places where she could find Elphaba, her mind suddenly had a mind of its own and directed her thoughts to something else concerning the green woman, a blush crept onto her cheeks. Damn. She had it bad.
Okay, so, she had Political Science down, Literature class at three.
Galinda thought of Elphaba's schedule, right now her roommate would either be eating lunch or heading down her next class, Life Sciences, then Literature, then Botany. The life of smart people would never be not interesting, would it? Galinda mused.