A/N: I think it's time to introduce a new character. Sound good?
Reviews are lovely, and so are you! Enjoy!
Elphaba woke up early the next morning, like usual, and glared over at the sleeping form of her roommate. She should cut off the girl's precious golden hair right then and there, but something held her back. She couldn't just torment Galinda this time—although she would definitely be tormenting her. No, this time her revenge had to include all four of those brats.
Part of her was afraid of leaving her bottle beneath her pillow, but she was sure that it would be safe there. The girls had had their fun, and now they knew what the bottle was for. They wouldn't try the same trick again.
It was after her first class when she heard the whispers.
She had known they were coming. As soon as her pathetic blonde roommate met up with her friends that morning, her secret would be spilled. But that didn't stop her blood from running cold when she stumbled across a group of her classmates huddled in an alley between buildings.
"I heard she has no mother."
Elphaba froze. She leaned against the brick and strained her ears to listen. Normally she wouldn't care, but what they said this time was dangerous. She needed to know how bad the damage was.
"Yeah, she died a long time ago," a girl's voice said.
"I heard it was some freak accident."
"You mean the green bean caused it?"
Elphaba's long fingers curled into fists. Those stupid girls. Those pathetic, ignorant brats. They would pay for this.
"I don't believe it," a boy scoffed. "She's a freak, sure, but a murderer?"
"I'd believe it," someone else piped up.
"It could have been on accident, I suppose. Besides, didn't you hear Miss Galinda this morning?"
"No, I haven't seen her."
The voices hushed, as if leaning forward. "She was telling Misses Pfannee and Shenshen that her roommate has…magic."
A gasp ran through them. "Surely not! She's not in any sorcery classes, is she?"
"No, but it's there. Miss Galinda said so herself."
"Oh, poor Miss Galinda," someone sighed. The others made sounds of agreement.
"It's bad enough being stuck with that vegetable. But now we know she's dangerous…"
Elphaba had heard enough. She gripped her bag and walked in the opposite direction. Of course. Of course this would happen. It wasn't enough for the girls to spread rumors about her mother. Saying she'd killed her! They had no idea what they were talking about! Still, Elphaba winced at the thought, feeling that familiar weight settle in her stomach.
But no, that wasn't enough. On top of it all, she had lost control in front of Galinda. Stupid! She mentally screamed at herself. She could have made up some excuse and gotten away with unlocking the door, but there was no explanation for when she pinned Galinda to the wall and caused the entire room to practically vibrate. It was plain and simple lack of control, and now it was costing her dearly. She didn't want anyone to know she had magic. What if they found out it was tied to her emotions, and she didn't always have a handle on it? It had happened when she was young, playing with the other children. They had found out, and they had tried constantly to provoke her, to make her do something stupid.
Or worse, what if Morrible found out? No. Elphaba was here to study history and life sciences and things like that. Nothing was going to stop her, especially not something as unreliable as sorcery.
She was so busy fuming that she didn't see the person in front of her until they had slammed into each other. She yelped in surprise as her bag slid off her shoulder and spilled onto the ground. The person who ran into her fell backward, but she managed to stay upright. Elphaba, having gotten used to her classmates knocking her over in the past week, avoided the person's eyes and started grabbing her books, shoving them into her bag in silence.
"I'm so sorry," a male voice said, kneeling next to her and helping gather her things. She jerked away from him.
"Sure you are."
"Really," the boy said. He grabbed the last journal and stood, handing it to her. "I apologize, Miss Elphaba. I wasn't paying attention."
She looked at him for the first time, raising an eyebrow. The boy was obviously a Munchkinlander. His height gave that much away. But besides that, she had no idea who he was. Not that this surprised her. She barely knew anyone at Shiz, and she preferred to keep it that way.
Still, he looked sincere enough. She brushed her hands against her skirt. "Yes, well, I wasn't looking either. No apologies needed. Good day."
"W-wait!" He ran to catch up to her as she strode away. "I know you."
"You mean you know of me," Elphaba countered without looking back. "You've heard the rumors about the awful green bean, so you think you know my life. But the truth, my dear sir, is that you know nothing."
"Th-that's not what I meant," the Munchkin boy said. "I think we played together as children, back in Rush Margins."
"You think?" Elphaba raised an eyebrow at him. "As in, you're not certain if you played with a green girl as a child? I know memories tend to fade, but one would think that, as there aren't many green children, you would remember this one pretty clearly."
"I don't like to make assumptions, Miss Elphaba."
Elphaba stopped. "Yet you assume you know me, despite the fact that I don't even know your name. And I can assume that the only reason you remember mine is from hearing others talk about me here at Shiz."
The boy shifted uncomfortably, but chose to ignore her second point. "Boq is my name."
"Well then, Master Boq, it's been a pleasure knocking you to the ground and listening to you pretend to know me. However, the fact of the matter is that you don't know me, and you probably don't even want to. I'd bet anything that you are only talking to me so you can learn some embarrassing information to pass onto Miss Galinda or her friends, probably to win the affections of one of them."
"I'm not trying to set you up," Boq protested, but his ears had grown quite red. Elphaba cackled.
"Perhaps not, but you are trying to win someone's favor. Which one is it? Oh, why do I bother asking? The obvious answer is Miss Galinda, of course."
Boq looked quite flustered at that. Elphaba laughed and strode away once more. "Perhaps you knew me as a child, Master Boq," she called, turning around to walk backwards. "But from what I've heard, you wouldn't want to know me at all."
The Munchkin just stared at her retreating back, wondering why in Oz he even bothered.
"So…you're not mad at us, Miss Galinda?"
Milla stared up at her with wide eyes. Next to her, Pfannee was watching her carefully, and across from them, Shenshen was waiting expectantly. The truth was, she was furious with the girls. They had left her alone with an enraged green freak. Who knows what could have happened? But Galinda was smarter than to spite them. She had a lot to lose if she didn't accept their apology, two of the most important things being her social standing and help with tormenting her roommate. So she put on the gentlest smile she could and shook her head.
"Of course I'm not, Miss Milla. Anyone would have run from the freak if they had the chance."
The tension at the table disappeared, and she sat down next to Shenshen.
"It did work out alright in the end, though," Pfannee mused. Galinda fought the urge to clench her fists. "You're not hurt, and we've got plenty of new information against her."
"Exactly," Galinda said, smiling slightly. "But maybe…maybe we should lay low for a few days. Let the rumors go around for a bit."
"Don't tell us you're feeling guilty," Milla whined.
"Of course not," Galinda said shortly. I'm not the one who should feel guilty here, she added mentally. "But…you didn't see her last night."
"Oh yeah," Shenshen said. "The magic."
"Surely you can handle her?" Pfannee asked. Her face was serious, but Galinda could see the smirk in her eyes.
Well, fine. If she wanted to turn to mockery... "Well, of course I can. I've got magic of my own, remember? I'm just worried about you three. She'd obviously take things out on those of us she knows can't fight back."
Pfannee's eyes grew cold, but the other two exchanged frightened looks.
"How powerful do you think she is?" Milla whispered.
"I'm sure I don't know," Galinda said. "But it doesn't take that much skill to pull harmful pranks, especially on those who don't know magic."
"You're sweet to think of us, Galinda," Shenshen said. Galinda took her hand with a smile.
"Well, I wouldn't want you girls getting hurt by that awful green thing, now would I?"
"Even though we left you?" Milla looked on the verge of tears.
Galinda shook her head, enjoying the look on Pfannee's face very much. "That's in the past. I already said I wasn't mad, didn't I?"
It was later that afternoon when the rumors at Shiz shifted slightly. Now, Galinda was more than just the poor girl with an evil roommate. She was a downright saint, always looking out for her friends and everyone else and not afraid one bit of the green bean's magic. The blonde walked back into her room, feeling very pleased with herself.
But the green girl would have none of that.
Elphaba sat up noticeably straighter as Galinda got ready for bed. When the blonde started to slide under her covers, the green girl mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for her roommate to hear.
Galinda ignored her and settled down. Elphaba just grinned behind her book. Something brushed against the blonde's leg. She screamed, jumping up from the bed.
"Something wrong, Miss Galinda?"
Galinda pointed mutely at her bed. Elphaba raised an eyebrow and walked over. She pulled back the covers. A handful of caterpillars were crawling over the sheets, but she moved the blanket so her roommate wouldn't see. Murmuring nonsense under her breath once again, she scooped up the bugs and slid them into a pocket of her clothes, moving swiftly and deftly so that Galinda couldn't see any of it.
"Why, Miss Galinda, there's nothing here."
Galinda crept forward, eyeing her roommate warily. Her bed was empty. "But…but I felt…"
Elphaba smirked and walked off toward the bathroom.
"I heard you mumbling!" Galinda cried. "I know it was you!"
Her roommate just cackled, the sound echoing off the walls of the bathroom. Galinda nearly jumped back into her bed, throwing the covers around herself. The green girl emerged, having changed into her nightgown and re-braided her hair. "And they say you're not afraid of my magic," she said, her lips curled.
Galinda glared at her. Not another word was said that night.