15. Being My Friend
"Elphaba?"
The young witch looked up, sniffling and wiping furiously at her cheeks when she saw Chistery coming in. She managed a weak smile. "Hi."
He came into the empty classroom and closed the door behind him. Then he tentatively approached her, perching on the desk beside her and touching her arm. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," she said, but he just gave her a sceptical look at that.
She heaved a shaky sigh. "It's just… this whole competition again," she confessed. "I know I'm being overdramatic about it, but I just can't help it. I feel like I'm failing by not being able to find the threat and I feel like I'm failing even more spectacularly at being a lady."
"Elphaba," the Flying Monkey said, mildly shocked. "You've got a ridiculously high score on the intelligence test, you did a wonderful job dancing at the ball, everyone loved your talent, and you've looked extremely pretty whilst doing all that. Why would you be failing at being a lady?"
Her smile was wry this time. "Thanks, Chis, but you know as well as I do that I'm not pretty," she said. "I completely messed up the interview and almost all of the other girls think I'm a joke. The viewers probably do as well. I never wanted to let their opinion get to me, but…" She shrugged half-heartedly. "I guess I underestimated what it would feel like, you know? I was prepared to be ridiculed, laughed at, and excluded – mostly for Glinda and Nessa's sake, so I could protect them. Now, though, I haven't done anything to protect them yet. I've only embarrassed them. And no matter how tough I always pretend to be, I'm not sure if I could take an audience of ten thousand people booing and throwing rotten fruit at me during the semi-final."
Chistery wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "They won't do that," he promised her. "They'll love you, I'm sure of it. They probably already do. Didn't you see that poll in the newspaper this morning?"
Elphaba shook her head and he smiled. "You're in the top 6, Elphaba."
She blinked at him. "Really?" she asked in disbelief and he nodded.
"They love you," he assured her. "Don't worry about that. I think it's very brave, what you're doing for your sister and your best friend, and you'll find out what's going on. You're too smart not to. You did get a score of 89, after all."
The first hints of a grin appeared on Elphaba's face. "I did, didn't I?"
He grinned back at her. "You did. You'll be fine." He hugged her and she hugged him back.
"Thanks, Chistery," she sighed. "I guess I just needed a pep talk."
He smiled at her. "Anytime."
Just then, the door to the classroom opened and Dr Dillamond came in, looking a little surprised to see the two of them there. He noticed Elphaba's puffy eyes and his brow furrowed in concern. "Miss Elphaba? Are you all right?"
She waved him away. "Just a little Miss Emerald-related breakdown," she said brightly. "Chistery helped me through it. I'm fine now."
The Goat smiled. "Good. You should be proud of yourself, you know," he told her, placing his briefcase on the desk and opening it. He pulled out that morning's Ozian and held it out to Elphaba. "Page three, near the bottom."
She flipped over to the page he was referring to and quickly read the short background info on the poll results published there. As Chistery had said, it was right there, black on white.
"1, Saraphina," she read aloud. "2, Nathalinia. 3, Lunare. 4, Faye. 5, Elphaba. 6, Glinda." She looked up incredulously. "I came in higher than Glinda?!"
"Yes, you did!" Chistery sang.
Dr Dillamond chuckled. "I'm surprised your roommate hasn't confronted you about that yet."
"She did seem awfully gloomy when I saw her this morning before class," Elphaba recalled. "She hardly said three words to me. She's usually a morning person, but I just figured she'd slept badly or something."
She quickly took in the rest of the poll. 7, Caila. 8, Micaela. 9, Nessarose – she felt a little bad for her sister at that. 10, Macy. 11 and 12 were, quite unsurprisingly, Umbia (who had probably been deemed too shy and quiet by the audience) and Karise (the public could probably tell that she didn't really want to be in the competition at all).
"So you see," Dr Dillamond said with an encouraging smile, "you're not doing that badly at all. You're doing wonderfully, Miss Elphaba, don't worry."
She nodded, returning his smile.
"Now, I'm very sorry," he continued, "but I'm going to have to kick the two of you out of my classroom. Unless you want to follow the first year students' History class?"
Elphaba and Chistery quickly leapt to their feet and bade the Goat good-bye before leaving his room, hearing him chuckle as they did so.
With the first live show approaching, Elphaba found – much to her disbelief and frustration – that she could hardly focus on her schoolwork anymore. She kept thinking about the other girls, the potential threat, and all the lessons on beauty and etiquette she'd had. She was convinced she was going to mess it up completely. She'd probably trip over her heels, or say something stupid, or get caught by the cameras picking her nose or something. Not that she habitually picked her nose, but still.
When she voiced those thoughts out loud to Fiyero, he just laughed, pulled her closer, and kissed the top of her head. "Fae, I've never even seen you pick your nose and of all people, you would be the last person able to say something stupid, Miss 89 Points."
She made a face at him. "You know what I mean."
"I have faith in you," he said, which made Glinda say quietly, "Aww". Elphaba glared at her roommate, who quickly took another sip of her iced tea and turned her attention to Boq and Nessa instead.
"I'm nervous, too," Nessa admitted. "I'm afraid I'll get eliminated right at the beginning or that something embarrassing will happen with my chair."
Chistery reached out to pat her hand. "You'll be fine. All of you will be," he said to Glinda and Elphaba.
"What's the plan for the weekend, anyway?" Boq asked curiously.
Glinda replied almost absently – by now she knew the entire Miss Emerald schedule by heart. "We're excused from class on Friday, because we'll be travelling to the City on Friday morning. There'll be lunch and a chance for the girls to spend some time together before we go into preparations for that night. The live show begins with a presentation of all twelve girls and an elimination of six of them, based on the votes from the Ozians at home."
Boq whistled. "That's harsh. So half of the girls have to go to the City, only to be eliminated instantly?"
"Pretty much," Elphaba muttered. "Then again, that's not the most ridiculous thing about this competition."
Glinda ignored her. "The judge panel is introduced and the six remaining girls do a short interview with Reven and Cashel. The judges then send two more girls home."
Nessa took over. "The next day, on Saturday, we all get a day of sightseeing in the City – all expenses paid for by Miss Emerald – and on Sunday morning, we'll be returning home."
"So the finale will be with only four girls?" Fiyero asked and Nessa and Glinda both nodded.
"Yes, although the eliminated girls will all be coming to the City as well to be in the audience, along with all the girls' families," said Nessa.
"And a whole lot of impressive Ozians and press," Galinda added.
"Which is why Bomb Threat Guy or Woman is going to strike then." Elphaba grumbled. "I really hope I'll be able to catch the creep this Friday so at least I won't have to sit through the torture of that finale on stage."
Glinda flared up at that. "Excuse me, Elphaba, but some of us actually want to reach that finale!" she snapped. "Some of us actually think this contest is important and we would like to win! You'll make it to the finale without even having to put any effort into it and you're not even grateful!"
"No effort?!" Elphaba echoed incredulously, her dark eyes shooting fire. "How dare you even suggest that? Have you seen how hard I've had to work for this? Contrary to what you might believe, Glinda, not everyone was born to be in the spotlight and there are more important things in life than to be the prettiest girl in Oz!"
"Such as what?" the blonde snarled. "Being the smartest? How is that any different?"
"Ladies!" Fiyero cut in. "Please!"
"You're all under a lot of stress right now," Boq tried to soothe everyone. "Many things are happening and you're nervous about Friday, so you're all a little on edge. Calm down. Elphaba, you know how important this competition is to Glinda. Glin, you know how hard Elphaba worked to fit into the contest, so don't say such things to her."
Both girls crossed their arms. Glinda huffed and Elphaba scowled, leaning back in her seat. Fiyero wrapped his arm around the green girl and squeezed her closer; she gratefully leaned back against him, giving him a quick smile. He kissed her softly, effectively melting both her and Glinda, who clasped her hands together and went, "Aww," again.
Chistery chuckled at that. Nessa shook her head with a smile. Boq rolled his eyes.
The days passed slowly like that, with Glinda and Elphaba bickering a little more than usual, Nessa constantly acting anxious, and the boys and Chistery all trying to support the girls the best they could. Fiyero tried to ask Elphaba out on a date again, but she turned him down.
"I'm sorry, Yero," she said apologetically, "but I really can't afford to lag right now. I need to not embarrass myself on live TV this Friday and that means I need to practise more walking in heels, not to mention prepare for the possible questions they'll ask me during the short interview; and tomorrow afternoon, Glinda is taking Nessa and me shopping for cocktail dresses, since we'll have to wear those during the show."
Disappointed, Fiyero asked, "Have you changed your mind about not wanting to win?"
She gave him a look. "No," she said. "Of course not. But just because I'm not trying to win, doesn't mean I can act like my usual self in front of the whole country. I still need to make it believable that I'm in the semi-final – possibly even the finale – and make a good impression as the princess, and that means trying my hardest to keep fitting in with the other girls."
"I don't like you fitting in," he muttered, slipping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on the top of her head. "You're too special to fit in."
She almost made a wry remark about her skin, or her magic, or any of the other things she thought made her 'special' in a none too positive way; but she knew him and the tone he was using well enough to understand he meant it as a compliment, so she swallowed her words and instead hugged him back. "You're sweet, Yero."
As if he'd read her mind, he asked in surprise, "What? No 'yes, of course I'm special, I'm the only green person in Oz'?"
She chuckled. "Last time I did that, you complained I never let you compliment me without commenting on it. I was trying to keep that in mind."
"Aw, but where's the fun in that?" Fiyero playfully poked her in the side, making her squirm. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her again, planting a kiss on her lips. "Just kidding, hon. In fact, it means a lot to me that you're remembering such things and trying to change them. Don't get me wrong – I don't want you to change yourself for me. Not at all. But such little things as letting me compliment you without complaint, or allowing me to hold your hand in public… Well, I like that."
"I'm trying," she said and he smiled.
"Which is exactly why I like it," he said. "Knowing you, I know how scared you must be of this – uncharted territory you can't learn about in books – so it means even more to me that you're trying to make it work despite that. To be completely honest with you, I was convinced you weren't even going to give me a chance."
She looked shocked. "Why would you think that?"
He raised his eyebrows at her and she looked down sheepishly. "Yeah, okay, I can see why you would think that," she admitted. "But… well, I decided to just look at it as a challenge. And you know me – I can never turn down a challenge."
He grinned. "That's one way to look at it." He kissed her again and then pulled away. "Fine. I'll leave you alone to practise, then. But when we get back from the City, I'm taking you on a date, whether you like it or not," he warned her and she laughed.
"Deal."