A/N: The saga of the little green bottle continues. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed; it makes working on this ten times better!
Enjoy!
"Oh, you should have been there!" Galinda squealed to her friends the next morning. "I've never seen her so upset!"
Pfannee grinned. "This was our best idea yet. Did she say what she had lost?"
"No, and I didn't dare bring it up."
"Try to," Shenshen said eagerly. "I want to know why it's so important to her."
But Galinda was hesitant. She didn't know how to ask about the bottle without letting her roommate know she was the one who took it. Of course, Galinda was sure she would figure it out eventually. Elphaba wasn't stupid. And her dark eyes seemed to be catching the blonde's far more often that day. Still, an opportunity arose the next morning.
Galinda grabbed her perfume bottle from the counter, smiling at her reflection. But when she dabbed the liquid on, she froze. Something wasn't right. This was her flowery perfume. But it was in the spot where her vanilla one usually was. She leaned forward, inspecting the counter more closely. All of her bottles and jars had been placed neatly, but they were slightly out of order. She grinned when she realized what had happened.
"Miss Elphaba?" Her voice was overly sweet as she stepped back into the room. The green girl had shouldered her bag and was about to leave, but she turned back to scowl at the blonde. "Would you care to explain why my things have been moved?"
"Have they?" Elphaba said lightly. "Strange. It would appear we have some sort of poltergeist on our hands."
"Very funny, Miss Elphaba. But I think we both know it wasn't a ghost who messed with my things."
"Well if you're so sure about it all, why don't you go catch the culprit?"
"I'm looking right at her, Miss Elphaba…" Galinda hesitated. "This wouldn't have anything to do with you tearing apart the room the other night, would it?"
Elphaba set her jaw and made to leave. "Miss Elphaba," Galinda called, stopping her. "If you've lost something, why don't you just tell me? Maybe I could help you find it."
"I'm sure you could, seeing as you took it," the green girl said through her teeth.
"If I took it, why didn't you find it among my things?"
"You gave it to one of your stupid friends, I'm sure."
"Don't insult my friends, green bean."
"Don't mess with my stuff."
"I could say the same thing. What did you lose, anyway?"
"The bottle!" Elphaba snapped. "That bottle you took from my pillows!"
Galinda fought back her grin. "A bottle? Whatever for?"
The green girl muttered a curse under her breath and stormed out of the room. Galinda clapped her hands together, delighted at having achieved yet another victory.
But Elphaba hadn't given up hope yet. She just had to wait for the right opportunity.
And the right opportunity just so happened to be that evening, just as the sun was dipping into the trees on the west side of campus. The final classes of the day had been let out. Normally, Elphaba would go to the library, but she was too distracted with the bottle. So she headed straight for Crage Hall.
Four girls were gathered outside the building in a loose circle, giggling to themselves. Elphaba raised an eyebrow. Perfect.
"Evening ladies," she said, striding over to them. All four froze, staring up at her in a strange mixture of amusement and fear. "How are we this fine night?"
"We'd be better if you weren't here," Pfannee spat.
One corner of the dark green lips twitched. "The feeling is mutual, Miss Pfannee. So let's just get this over with, shall we? I want it back."
"Want what back?" Shenshen's eyes were wide with forced innocence.
"The bottle you stole from me," Elphaba said impatiently. "The one Miss Galinda took and gave to one of you, probably Miss Pfannee. I'd like it back now, if you please."
"Why, we don't know what you're talking about," Milla said, but she couldn't keep a straight face. She let out a giggle, and the other three glared at her.
"Obviously," Elphaba said. She turned toward Pfannee. "I know you have it."
"Why does it mean so much to you?" The rich girl countered.
"That's none of your business."
"Well, then, I guess you won't be getting it back."
The green girl was fed up. She grit her teeth and lunged for Pfannee, but the girl jumped out of her reach. She pulled something out of her bag and held it up. The green bottle seemed to shimmer in the darkening night. "Oh, you mean this?"
"Give it back, you pathetic—no!" Elphaba cried out in sheer panic as Pfannee tossed the bottle around her. Shenshen caught it with a grin.
"What's the matter, green bean?" Milla asked. "We won't break it. Probably."
"I said, give it back!" Elphaba rounded on Shenshen, who promptly turned and fled into the building. The others followed her, trying to elbow the green girl away.
Galinda pushed past all of them, pulling out her key. She unlocked her room and dragged Shenshen into it. The others followed, leaving the door open wide behind them.
"Hand it over." Elphaba's dark eyes were flaring. Her entire body trembled and her chest heaved. Normally Galinda would have been scared, but at that moment, she felt invincible. It was four against one, and they had the upper hand. As the green girl stepped toward Shenshen, she ducked and rolled the bottle between her feet. Galinda snatched it up neatly.
"Go on, Elphaba. Tell us what it is," the blonde said, hugging the green glass to her chest.
"Give it here, blondie, before someone gets hurt."
"Hmm…no." Galinda darted into the bathroom, laughing with glee when her roommate charged after her. She leapt to the other side of the tub and turned on the faucet, flicking water up at her roommate. Elphaba flinched and backed away, growling. But there was a panic in her eyes, as if she was just realizing how outnumbered she was.
Being alone in the bathroom wasn't a good idea, so Galinda flicked more water at her before turning it off and darting out of the room. She slammed the door behind her and muttered a quick spell, locking the handle in place.
"Galinda!" The bathroom door shook, but the magic held. The rich girls gathered together, passing the bottle around. Their faces were flushed with victory. This was turning into quite the story to tell the next day.
"Galinda!" Elphaba yelled again. "Let me out now!"
"Tell us what this bottle is," Pfannee replied. Galinda took it again, pretending to inspect it.
"Hm. Ugly, ragged, and green, just like a certain monstrous roommate of mine," she said calmly. The pounding on the door had stopped. "If you don't tell us what this is, I won't let you out."
Elphaba was trembling on the other side of the door. She wouldn't tell them. She couldn't. It was too dear to her. She refused to give them that hold in her life.
"Fine," came Pfannee's voice. "Obviously we were wrong, girls, and it's not that important. I suppose we can just toss it out the window."
"No!" Elphaba screamed despite herself. She began to panic. She couldn't lose that bottle. It was all she had left of her mother. She felt a terribly familiar energy run through her, and suddenly the doorknob clicked.
Elphaba burst from the room, fury etched into her features. Pfannee, Milla, and Shenshen squeaked, darting towards the hallway, but the green girl only had eyes for one person. She grabbed Galinda by her jacket collar and shoved her against the wall. The blonde shoved the bottle behind her back.
"Let go of me, you brute!"
"Why should I? Your friends ran away, so it's just you and me. Now, give me that bottle!"
"No!"
Elphaba was forced back by a rush of magic. The blonde froze, the blood draining from her face. She had never physically hurt someone like that. And with magic! She gulped as she realized that was the first time her power had come so easily, so instinctively.
Elphaba stumbled to her feet, snarling and snapping Galinda back to attention. Thinking quickly, Galinda forced open the window and thrust her arm out. The bottle dangled from her fingers. Elphaba froze. She paled, the usually vibrant emerald fading to an awful gray-tinged green. "Don't," she whispered.
Galinda was stunned. Elphaba was staring at the bottle as if it were her lifeline. The blonde gripped it tightly.
"Tell me what it is."
"Why are you doing this to me?" The green girl's question was barely more than a breath, and Galinda was sure that she wasn't meant to hear it.
But she still wouldn't back down. She had been shoved against a wall and, even worse, her dress collar had ripped a little with the force. Besides, she couldn't take pity on the green freak now. What would her friends think? She loosened her grip slightly. "Well?"
Elphaba felt her throat tighten. She didn't want to tell her. She didn't want this to be used against her. But what choice did she have? "It was my mother's." Her voice came out in a rasp. "That's all."
"That doesn't seem that important," Galinda said, her eyes narrowing.
"It's all I have left of her," Elphaba snapped.
They stayed that way for a moment, Elphaba frozen in the middle of the room and Galinda reaching out the window. "Fine," the blonde said finally. She pulled the bottle back in and walked over to her roommate's bed. Grimacing, she lifted a pillow by its corner and replaced the bottle. "Good as new."
But Elphaba wasn't done yet. She grabbed Galinda by the arm and threw her to the floor. The blonde gaped up at her. The green girl had recovered from her lapse of control and was now glaring at her with all the force in the world. But Galinda refused to lose her victory so easily. She jumped up, slamming one sharp heel into her roommate's toe.
Elphaba jerked back, but then pushed her roommate into the wall again. "If you ever touch my stuff again…" Her voice was thick with unspoken threats. Next to them, the window shuttered, almost humming with energy. Galinda's eyes widened. All around the room, papers were fluttering. The bed sheets rippled. The door to the hall slammed shut.
Her roommate could do magic?
Elphaba turned away, her shoulders heaving, and the magic vanished. Without a word, she kicked off her boots and changed into a nightgown. Within seconds, she was slipping into her bed, reaching under her pillow to hold the green bottle.
Galinda went through her own nighttime routine and buried herself under her covers. But after all that had just happened, she was sure she would never sleep in the presence of her roommate again.