A/N: Hope everyone is having a great week. Enjoy!
Galinda sank into her chair with a groan. "Talk about freak. She couldn't just be green. She couldn't just be mean. She had to be an arrogant genius as well."
The friends were sitting at one of the outdoor tables at the café, enjoying a pitcher of iced tea and a plate of sandwiches before their afternoon classes began.
Pfannee let out a short laugh. "Well, if her only friends in grade school were her teachers…"
"That's probably exactly what happened," Shenshen agreed. "Her and that old Goat really seemed to hit it off." All four girls wrinkled their noses at the thought of their history teacher.
Milla lifted her glass suddenly. "A toast, ladies, to the freaks' friendship!"
"Cheers!" They clinked their glasses together before dissolving into giggles.
"Excuse me, Miss Galinda?"
The blonde turned to see a rather short boy approaching the table. Instinctively, she sat up a little taller and smoothed her dress. She was used to the attention of boys, even though she would never even think about this boy. He was much too short—Munchkin height, in fact! Still, she plastered on a smile and turned toward him. "Yes? Do I know you?"
The Munchkin offered his hand. "We've had a couple of classes together. My name's Boq."
Galinda wasn't paying attention to a word he said. She was too busy staring at his hand, wondering if she really had to shake the hand of a Munchkin boy. And one who seemed to have affections for her, no less!
"Oh!" she said, suddenly realizing that he had stopped talking. She shook his hand, still forcing a smile. "Yes, of course. It's nice to meet you."
"Well, I'll, uh, see you around!" He smiled at her before leaving. As soon as he was out of sight, the others started giggling madly.
"He likes you, Galinda!" Pfannee snickered. "A Munchkin!"
"Don't be like that, Pfan," Shenshen protested, grinning. "He was sweet enough."
"Sweet or not, he's much too short." Galinda tilted her chin up. Height had always been a sensitive subject for her, since she was shorter than nearly everyone she knew. If she ended up with a man even shorter than her…well, Oz help whatever children they had! No, she needed someone of at least average height. Preferably with locks of dark, silky hair. And eyes that shone when they looked at her…
"Galinda? Galinda, are you still with us?"
"Oh, I know that look! She's daydreaming!"
Galinda blinked. "Sorry, girls. I suppose I was."
"About a boy?" Milla squealed.
Galinda smiled shyly. "Well, don't you ever think about what kind of man you'd want?"
"Rich," Milla said, nodding.
"Handsome, of course." Pfannee smiled at the mental image of her perfect date.
"Sweet," Shenshen said, a little timidly.
"Oh, and they have to dress well!"
"And own a huge mansion, with ballrooms and servants and…"
The girls dissolved into detailing the perfect husband, and Galinda couldn't help but think that everything at Shiz was falling together nicely.
Their first week passed without further incident. Elphaba settled quickly into her classes, and it soon became clear that she was the favorite of nearly every teacher. The fact that she was a nerd swept through campus, and thus became the cause behind the newest of rumors. She was often bumped into on the sidewalks as her classmates tried to knock her books out of her arms. The results, however, were somewhat pitiful. The green girl had learned long ago how to read, walk, and avoid trouble all at the same time.
Galinda and her friends took a few days off, enjoying the sight of their peers tormenting the vegetable instead. All the while, though, they were planning. Galinda did her best to find a weak spot on her roommate. Surely there was something that would get to the green girl. But for all her trying, she couldn't find much.
She liked to read. Perhaps damaging her books would be a harsh blow, but Galinda wasn't willing to risk her own possessions in retaliation.
She spent most of her time at the library. Well, that information was potentially helpful. The library was usually mostly empty. It was the perfect spot for an ambush, if only they knew how to ambush her.
She sleeps with a funny green bottle beneath her pillow.
The blonde had stumbled upon that fact. It had been just a regular evening, and she had taken advantage of her empty room by practicing her sorcery. She hadn't meant to make her roommate's bed explode. But somewhere she must have messed up the pronunciation of something, and all of a sudden dark ratty sheets and pillows were thrown across the room. The blonde scowled, but at least Elphaba wasn't here to yell at her. Sighing heavily, she remade the bed. She was about to replace the last pillow when something caught her eye. It was a bottle, made of a strange green glass that seemed to almost glow. Despite her disgust at touching Elphaba's things, she reached forward and picked up the bottle. An old, worn label wrapped around the base, but she couldn't make out the words.
Galinda had replaced the bottle and the pillow, and had never spoken a word of it to her roommate or anyone else until now.
"What do you think it is?" Milla asked excitedly.
Shenshen leaned forward, lowering her voice. "Maybe it's magic. Or something dangerous."
"Who would sleep with something dangerous beneath their pillow?" Pfannee scoffed.
"I don't know," Shenshen mused. "If it's a weapon…I mean, I've heard the Gale Force always sleep with their daggers near their bedrolls."
"Doesn't it bother you that she's keeping a weapon in her bed? What if she decides to use it on you one night?"
The blonde shook her head. "She would have done that already. Besides, I don't think it's a weapon. If it was, she wouldn't leave it lying there all day."
"So what could it be?" Milla asked again.
"I still think it seems magical," Shenshen said. "You said the bottle was glowing?"
"It seemed like it," Galinda responded. "But what kind of magic is it, if not a weapon?"
"Something to help her sleep?" Pfannee offered, but the blonde waved her hand.
"No, no. She barely sleeps anyway. She's always awake later than me at night and gone before I'm up in the mornings."
"How disturbing," Shenshen said sympathetically. Galinda nodded sadly, inwardly marveling at the attention, as usual.
"What about a keepsake?" Pfannee asked suddenly. Milla brightened, sitting up straight.
"My grandfather always kept my grandmother's necklace beneath his pillow after she passed on!" she said. "Could it be something like that?"
"I guess there's only one way to find out." Pfannee's face split into a grin. "We see what her reaction is when it's gone."
Galinda liked the idea, but then she realized something. "Wait, you mean I'll have to steal it?"
"Well, who else is going to?"
"Oh, no. What if she catches me?"
"We could stand guard outside the room," Shenshen said, grabbing her hand to reassure her. "Besides, you said she's never there, right? You just need to snatch it sometime. There's no way she could prove it was you."
Galinda swallowed. "O-okay. But who's going to keep it? Obviously I can't, or else she'd find it."
"Don't worry about it," Pfannee said with a wave of her hand. "I'll take care of it."
They planned the robbery for Sunday morning. Elphaba was usually out of the room early in the mornings and gone until evening, so she wouldn't be in the way. Galinda spent weekends with her friends, so everyone would think the room was empty for most of the day. With that fact, it would be hard to deny that anyone on campus could have gotten in and taken the bottle.
Galinda woke up, excitement and adrenaline immediately pouring through her. She smiled to herself, but a noise cut through her thoughts. She sat up to see her roommate walking out of the bathroom. The blonde shuddered at her outfit: a loose pair of trousers and a baggy blouse, both of them an awful blue-gray color. But then she thought of something much worse.
"What are you doing here?" Galinda hissed. Elphaba looked up, a single eyebrow raised.
"I live here."
"But you're never here in the mornings!"
"Quite the contrary, Miss Galinda. I'm here every morning. See, I sleep just over there."
"Oh, you know what I mean! Why aren't you gone yet?"
"Are you trying to get rid of me?"
"Obviously!" The blonde clenched her fists around her blanket, trying to regain some control. Her friends would be here soon, and this would never work if Elphaba was still hanging around.
"I'm hurt, Miss Galinda." The green girl put a hand to her chest, looking nowhere near hurt enough.
Galinda swung her legs out of bed and stood, reaching for her hairbrush. She grumbled under her breath as she worked through her hair. "Just wonderful. I have to put up with you in class, and around campus, and every single night, and the one time I can count on you being out of my sight, you're still plaguing me."
"A plague, now, am I?" Elphaba said, smirking. "Well, you know me. My entire existence revolves around making yours miserable."
"Apparently!" Galinda sniffed. She had to get the freak out of the room somehow. Maybe… Yes, that might work. The blonde fought to hide her smile. Elphaba pretended not to hear anyone who talked bad about her, but Galinda wondered just how immune to the rumors the green girl actually was. "But I suppose, as long as you're here, we could try to act civil."
"Oh wow, you're too kind." Elphaba rolled her eyes. She grabbed a book from her desk and settled into the corner of her bed, folding herself up so tight it seemed like she was trying to sink into the wall.
"I know I am." Galinda beamed. "Now, do tell me. Someone was talking about you the other day, and I must know if it was true."
"If it didn't come from me, probably not."
"All rumors are based in some sort of truth, Miss Elphaba."
"Indeed, Miss Galinda. The truth that most of the people here are pathetic and ignorant."
Galinda chose to ignore that. "This boy said something about you having a sister. Is that true?"
Elphaba gave no reaction. No tensing of the shoulders, no tightening of her fingers around her book. She didn't even respond. Galinda bit back a huff. "Well? Is it?"
"Is that any of your business?" The green girl said finally.
"He also said her skin wasn't green, but there was something else wrong with her."
There it was. One hand left the book, curling into a fist before pressing flat against her thigh. Galinda smiled slightly. "Well, is it true?"
"Again, I don't see how this concerns you, Miss Galinda." Her voice was smooth, but it had dropped in pitch.
"Oh, Miss Elphaba, I'm sorry," Galinda cried suddenly. "I see talking about your family upsets you. Do you miss them? I miss my parents dearly. But of course, they send me letters and packages from home. Does your family write to you, Miss Elphaba?" Her smile twisted into a smirk as she finished. She knew very well that her roommate hadn't received any mail from home.
The green girl bristled. "What does it matter to you?"
"You're avoiding the question. I suppose that means no."
"I'd appreciate it, Miss Galinda, if you could leave me to my reading in peace."
"What is it you read all the time, anyway?"
"Words."
"How amusing," Galinda said, her voice lifting with scorn. But then she saw the title on the spine. "Animals? You're reading a book about animals?"
"Not animals, Miss Galinda, Animals."
Galinda let out a short laugh. "I see the old Goat of a professor has drawn you into his senseless prattle. You know, I heard a rumor that—"
"You hear lots of rumors," Elphaba said shortly. "And I don't care to listen to any of them."
"What's wrong? Afraid to hear something bad about the delusional beast?"
"Animals aren't beasts!" Elphaba spat. "They have minds and hearts just like we do, and to treat them any differently is an injustice!"
Galinda's smirk widened. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to contain her glee at the outburst, and kept up her light, airy tone. "Sure, Miss Elphaba. I suppose next you'll be telling us that green people can fit in to society."
Elphaba bit back a noise of disgust and leapt from the bed. Galinda quailed, backing away from her, but the green girl didn't care. She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room. It was bad enough that she had to put up with such ignorance during the week. She was sure she had lost multiple brain cells listening to Galinda and her friends.
Galinda winced as the door slammed, but then she jumped up and down with delight. She had gotten rid of the green bean! Giggling to herself, she darted over to her roommate's bed and reached under the pillows. Her fingers closed around the bottle just as there was a knock on her door.
She opened it wide and, seeing it was her friends, dangled the bottle in front of her. "Can I help you girls?"
They burst into giggles. "You did it!" Shenshen exclaimed.
"We saw her storming down the hall," Milla said. "What happened?"
"Oh, we were just chatting. Apparently talking about her family puts her in a foul mood."
More giggles. "Brilliant, Galinda!" Pfannee hugged her friend and took the bottle. "I'll keep this safe. Now all there's left to do is sit back and watch."
Galinda looked at her. "Once she figures out I don't have it, she'll probably suspect you. Are you sure you can take care of it?"
"Oh, don't you worry," Pfannee grinned. "She'll never get it from me."
Elphaba settled down only a few minutes after she had left the room. Still, she didn't go back until after dark. Why in Oz's name was she stuck with the most popular girl at Shiz for a roommate? Anyone else might have been content with ignoring her, but no, Galinda Upland was too worried about her social standing to leave her alone. She had to kick Elphaba down so she could rise even higher. The green girl could take whatever they threw at her in public. But when it was in the privacy of their room, where anything she did or said would be twisted against her…
She took a deep breath. It didn't matter. Galinda had had her bit of fun. It was only words, after all. She had heard them all before.
The curtains were drawn over the window when she returned to the room. The only light was the dim lamp that hung between the beds. Galinda strolled in and out of the bathroom, humming quietly. The roommates made no move to acknowledge each other.
Elphaba sat her bag down and collapsed onto her bed with a sigh. No doubt Galinda had spent the day with her friends. Elphaba had never had a friend to spend any days with. She didn't know why it was hitting her all of a sudden, but it was. Her first week at Shiz had proven to be no better than the rest of her life. She would deal with it, naturally. She always had. But still, she had worked hard to get to Shiz, and she was going to continue to work hard, so why couldn't she catch a break once in a while?
Almost absentmindedly, her hand reached back, fumbling beneath the pillows. She froze. After glancing at the bathroom to make sure Galinda was out of sight, she spun around and moved the pillows. It wasn't there. No, that was impossible. No one knew about the bottle. It couldn't be gone. It must have fallen off the bed.
She slid silently off the mattress and looked on the floor, but there was no sign of it. A quiet groan escaped her lips. She rushed over to her desk, digging through the drawer, through her bag, through anything.
"Oh no. No no no," she whispered to herself. Galinda heard her and moved to the bathroom doorway. She struggled to keep her face blank as she watched her roommate. The green girl was darting across the room, searching everything she could. It was the most emotion she had ever seen from her roommate. Indeed, the freak seemed to be nearly panicking.
"Is everything all right, Miss Elphaba?" Galinda finally asked. She couldn't help it. The sight was just too good.
Elphaba kept her back turned. "Fine."
"Well, then, I must ask you to stop tearing apart our room."
"I'm only tearing apart myhalf of the room," the green girl said, her voice surprisingly light.
"Yes, but you're getting your filthy belongings all over my half." Galinda picked up a black frock with her toe and kicked it back towards the green girl. Elphaba clenched her fists, fighting the urge to growl.