Mrs. Upland watches her daughter. She knows that the conversations are not easy for her daughter. Oz she knows that this life is not easy for her daughter. It was also not at all the intention that she would become pregnant with Glinda. Once the little girl was in her arms, she knew that she could not give her up. Although there have been times when she wished she had. Not because she does not love her daughter, but because she wants her daughter to have a safer and more normal life. She sees Glinda grow and be happy at the university. That is why she lets Glinda search among the students for so long. She has known for a long time that students are not the cause of Elphaba's wickedness. As long as her beloved daughter can feel normal for a few more days.
Mrs. Upland sees her gathering her sports gear. She knows what it means for her daughter. She is surprised to see Glinda taking her book bag too, but she doesn't think too much about it. She checks through some files to see if they've missed anything.
Mr. Upland is on another mission, so she also has to assist her husband. She hopes their contact person will get in touch with Glinda again soon, so Glinda isn't so focused on that Elphaba. Maybe she should ask their contact person for an update, since Glinda has mentioned his name before, so he's at Shiz.
Maybe her husband was right after all, and their daughter is still too young for this mission.
"Oh, Glinnie, please be wise," Mrs. Upland whispers to herself.
"Butler, Mr. Upland needs transportation," Ms. Upland shouts after watching the footage of her husband. "Get the fastest car, he's in the Emerald City, looks like he'll be done tonight."
The butler walks to the garage and does as he's asked.
Mrs. Upland watches her daughter's camera footage again. The room is empty. She keeps wondering if they're doing the right thing. Maybe they should come earlier, so they can talk things over face to face. After this mission, Glinda won't get another one, Mrs. Upland thinks worriedly. She has to protect her daughter.
XXXXX
Elphaba is surprised that she doesn't see Galinda at dinner. She anxiously walks over to Fiyero, who also doesn't know where she is. Worried, Elphaba walks back to Nessa with Fiyero following behind her. She hasn't seen Galinda since they broke up after their pillow fight. She hopes she hasn't done anything wrong. She's still so new to the whole friendship thing. She's getting those conflicting feelings again. Maybe Galinda is mad at her, or maybe she's playing a prank on you again, or maybe… all these thoughts are racing through her head. Elphaba is going crazy with worry and Galinda hasn't been seen in an hour and a half.
Elphaba can't bring herself to put her own values above a friendship. If she has hard evidence that Galinda is lying to her, their friendship is over. The old Elphaba would do that anyway, she would write off the friendship right away, but the new Elphaba, the Elphaba who is so much happier with people around her now, is determined to give Galinda another chance. That inner conflict keeps Elphaba awake sometimes, and sometimes her thoughts are so clear. Yet now she worries about Galinda. And she is not afraid to show those feelings to her friends.
"Don't worry so much, Elphaba. Maybe she's trying on a new outfit," Fiyero tries to reassure her.
Elphaba shakes her head. "I was just in our room, and she wasn't there."
Nessa starts giggling.
"What's so funny?" Elphaba asks sharply.
"A few weeks ago, you were paranoid about Galinda, and now you're worried because she's not coming to dinner."
"Don't you find it suspicious that Galinda isn't here to enthusiastically tell us what we're doing tonight? To convince us again how good it is for our social lives and popularity?" Elphaba tries to bring logic into her behaviour. She does not feel like going deeply into her feelings with her sister, who does not understand her anyway. She doesn't feel completely comfortable with Fiyero yet.
Nessa shrugs. "I agree it would be good for us. But I wonder why she keeps trying with you."
"Let's worry about Glinda," says Fiyero, noticing Elphaba's hurt expression.
The girls look shocked at Fiyero. "You're lucky she's not here."
Fiyero looks surprised and only then realizes his mistake. He rubs his neck. "It's easier said. Galinda is quite a mouthful."
Elphaba chuckles. "I called her Glin for a while. She didn't like that either."
Nessa nods. "Look who's coming. Worried for nothing. Your gut feeling is off again."
Elphaba rolls her eyes. "I'm telling you, Galinda is very nice, but something's not right."
Now it's Nessa's turn to roll her eyes. "That's why you're friends with her, because you don't trust her." She says sarcastically
Elphaba wants to say that it is not easy to just give up your only friendship. She knows it is difficult for her to explain why Galinda's behaviour bothers her so much. She also needs time for herself. She also asks critical questions because she does not trust certain people, and she also looks around a room twice to see if everything is safe. Elphaba sees this behaviour in Galinda, the only thing she doesn't understand is Galinda's reason for this behaviour. Galinda describes her life as carefree and perfect, yet she says and does things that indicate she is not as happy as she pretends. Elphaba cannot explain that to her younger sister. She knows that Nessa doesn't have much empathy, which is the biggest flaw in their father's upbringing of Nessa.
Fiyero starts laughing. "You two really are sisters. Always bickering over the smallest things "
He gets two angry looks. He raises his hands in surrender. "I won't say anything more."
The trio watches as Galinda picks up her food and greets everyone. Occasionally, she laughs at someone's joke or tosses her hair back.
"Well, there seems to be nothing strange about Galinda's behaviour," says Fiyero as he turns back and takes a bite. "The only odd thing is her obsession with her name," he mumbles with a mouthful.
"Don't you think it's strange that you two don't have a relationship?" Elphaba asks.
Fiyero blushes. "No, not at all. We're not a good match." He can't say he didn't try. But sometimes he can't. He doesn't want to confirm Elphaba's feelings. He also thinks she's right about Galinda, but he wants to keep Elphaba as a friend, maybe more.
"What happened to 'you're perfect, I'm perfect, so we belong together'?" Elphaba points out in a higher voice, which is supposed to represent Galinda.
"That was weeks ago," says Fiyero nonchalantly. "We've moved on and are acting like adults now."
Elphaba rolls her eyes. "Yeah, very mature of you, throwing pebbles at our window last week to force Galinda into going on a date with you. Or farting during class and then pointing at someone else."
Fiyero quickly takes a bite. He was drunk and actually wanted to take Elphaba, but he can't say that now. And in class, he really wasn't. Although he feels his face turning red.
"So, what are we talking about?" asks Glinda as she sets down her tray.
"Elphaba was worried because she couldn't find you, then we talked about Elphaba's paranoia, then your obsession with your name, and now we're discussing your non-existent relationship," says Nessa, pointing to each person.
Elphaba glares at Nessa but then gives an apologetic smile to Galinda. She wants to think of something to hurt Galinda's feelings less.
Glinda raises her eyebrows. "Sounds like a very productive conversation. Let's talk about the party. What's everyone wearing?" She has a moment of panic. She thinks that Elphaba is paying too much attention to her. She also knows how to get rid of that feeling, by acting even more like the Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, instead of Glinda Upland.
Elphaba had expected a response from Galinda, but this topic surprised her. On the other hand, not, because it is about the party and clothes, two most important topics according to Galinda.
"I have some dresses in my closet that Dad gave me. It's a shame not to wear them," says Nessa.
''I can't wait to see it,'' Galinda agreed as she looks expectantly at Fiyero.
"I, um, I'll wear my clothes, a nice suit," he says, shrugging.
Glinda rolls her eyes and looks at Elphaba. "The same dress," she replies.
Glinda sighs. "Okay, there's still work to be done. Nessa and Fiyero, I trust your fashion choices. Remember, everything needs to match, including your handbag."
"Uhm," Fiyero tries to say, but he knows he can't get through. Nessa nods in understanding.
"Elphaba, you and I will quickly finish eating and then go to our room."
Elphaba nods. "Sounds like a plan."
Everyone looks surprised at her.
"Aren't you going to argue?" Fiyero asks, surprised.
Elphaba shakes her head. "After dinner, we'll go to our rooms, where I can read for two more hours."
Glinda grumbles. "No, we're getting ready. Your hair needs to be done, your legs need to be shaved,''- Fiyero nearly chokes on his food.- ''I was thinking some lip gloss and mascara for you, and then I still need to do mine. I need your opinion. We need to look perfect. Maybe meet the perfect boy. So, there's no time for reading."
"But we've already tried on dresses," Elphaba protests, not understanding. "You were happy with the dark blue dress, and you said the white hat didn't go with it. We bought that dress ourselves.''
''Have you guys been shopping yet?'' Nessa asks, clearly upset. ''How long have you known we were going out tonight?''
''Oh no Nessie, I mean we went shopping a long time ago, during a break. We showed you all the clothes then, you were impressed with the choices Galinda made, remember.''
Nessa nods slowly. ''You promised then that you wouldn't go shopping without me again.''
Elphaba nods relieved. ''Exactly and thank goodness we didn't do that again, shopping with Galinda once is bad enough.''
'That's not true, at least you look presentable now, thanks to my fashion choices.''
Elphaba rolls her eyes. Although she cannot deny that she has already received compliments from several people and that felt good.
''Anyway.'' Galinda says, wanting to get back to the current topic. "I didn't say anything about trying on dresses. I was talking about other things that need to be done on a night out. So, remember this when you think about your appearance and how you will present yourself to others. Your hair, clothes, makeup, remember?''
Elphaba grumbles irritably. "There are times I preferred when we still hated each other."
Glinda sticks out her tongue. "It's for your own good, and a bit of mascara and lip gloss won't hurt."
"Shouldn't you add eyeshadow too?" Nessa asks, thinking her sister needs more.
Glinda looks thoughtful. "I'll have to see which colour suits her best, but she has beautiful eyes. I want the focus to be on her eyes, not the makeup."
Elphaba starts blushing.
"You're right," says Fiyero.
Elphaba blushes more.
"Really?" Nessa asks thoughtfully.
The other two nod.
"Oh, look, there's Boq. Maybe he can convince you," Glinda waves enthusiastically to Boq, who is walking towards them.
"Hello, Galinda, how nice of you to greet me like that," he says, blushing.
"Boq, we need your opinion," Glinda says seriously.
"You're still saying my name right," he says dreamily.
Nessa looks annoyed at her boyfriend's behaviour. She starts feeling jealous.
"What do you think of Elphie's eyes?"
"Galinda," Elphaba hisses, embarrassed and not liking being the centre of attention.
"Fiyero and I think her eyes are beautiful as they are. Nessa thinks she needs some eyeshadow. What do you think?"
"Anything you find beautiful, I find beautiful too," says Boq without looking at Elphaba's eyes.
Fiyero starts chuckling. "You're drooling when you look at Galinda's eyes," he jokes.
Nessa looks at him angrily. "Come on, Boq, you have to help me get ready for the party."
Boq looks irritated. "I just sat down, and I still need to eat."
"You can take the food with you and eat in my room."
Boq bravely remains seated and takes a few bites.
Nessa starts feeling even more irritated.
"Now, Boq," Nessa shouts sharply.
"Should I come along?" Elphaba asks cautiously. "When Boq is done, he can come to your room."
Nessa looks at her sister angrily. "No, I want Boq." She wants to say many other things, but she keeps her words to herself.
Boq sighs deeply. "I'll come along." Who appreciates Elphaba's proposal, but for the sake of peace between the sisters he must sacrifice himself again.
Nessa suddenly looks very friendly. "How nice, Boq. I knew you would choose me, because we're made for each other."
Everyone watches the couple. "When will Boq break up with her and confess his feelings for Galinda?" Fiyero wonders aloud.
Glinda almost chokes on her drink. "Excuse me?"
Elphaba rolls her eyes. "Even a blind person can see that Boq has feelings for you."
"I just hoped those feelings would fade over time and that he'd develop feelings for Nessa," Galinda says.
"That won't happen as long as he thinks he has a chance with you," says Fiyero as he tidies up his things. "I'm going to take a nap. Shall I pick you up at eight?"
"Your eight or our eight?" Elphaba asks with a smile.
"Your eight. Because for you, I'll do anything," says Fiyero with an exaggerated bow.
Glinda giggles. "Come on, Elphie, let's go too."
XXXX
Fiyero hangs up. He thinks the school rule that they are not allowed to have a phone is ridiculous, luckily he has enough resources to hide his phone in his room. That gives him more space to talk to his family. He lies on his bed and stares at the ceiling. He knows he has to keep his distance from his clients, but in this case that is very difficult. His feelings are also playing up more and more. His image of a bad, drunk, dancing through life prince is also becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Maybe he should just follow his feelings. It could be that the tension now has a great influence on his feelings, when that is gone, he no longer has feelings for her. Oz, her, she is so beautiful.
XXXX
Glinda admires her handiwork. "You look beautiful," Glinda says satisfied.
Elphaba looks shyly in the mirror. "Are you sure? Isn't it just because of all the makeup?"
Glinda smiles. "No, there's no makeup on your face yet. Elphaba, start believing that you're beautiful. Your skin makes you stand out, but not in a bad way."
Tears well up in Elphaba's eyes. "Tell that to my father," she whispers.
"What did you say?" Glinda heard it but knows Elphaba didn't intend for her to hear.
"Nothing, forget it," Elphaba wipes her tears. "Are you going to change?"
Glinda nods. She feels like she needs to talk to Frex. She hasn't just been working out at the gym, she's also brought the psychology books. She knows more about the influence parents can have on their children. For a moment, she thought that Elphaba was born wicked, but that idea quickly disappeared again, because she now has more information about Elphaba's upbringing. She wants to tell her this during the next conversation with her parents, then they might finally believe that she's making the right choices, based on something other than her feelings. Oh, how she would like to see her parents' faces. They trust her more again and let her go out on her own more often. Yes, the possibilities are endless again. What a waste of boredom, Glinda thinks happily, otherwise I would never have come up with the idea of looking in psychology books about human behavior.
''Galinda, are you going to do something or am I done?'' Elphaba asks confused when she sees Galinda standing behind her with a spray can for more than a minute through the mirror. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something," Glinda says quickly, shaking off her daydream. Elphaba grins. "Did it hurt?"
Galinda smacks Elphaba with her other hand, forgetting she was holding the brush too.
"Ouch."
"That's what you get for making fun of me."
Elphaba rubs her sore spot on her arm. "I thought it was funny," she mumbles.
Glinda only sticks out her tongue this time. "Try not to move your head too much, because I still need to spray hairspray."
Elphaba rolls her eyes but stays by the mirror. Glinda smiles and gathers all her clothes.
Elphaba continues to admire herself. She's wearing a beautiful long dark blue glittery dress that Glinda happened to have in her closet. Elphaba doubts it's a coincidence, considering they don't have the same size. She has her hair curled, and she's tied two strands of hair that often fall on her face into a small knot. Her hair falls beautifully over her shoulders.
Elphaba startles when she hears the bathroom door open. She quickly sits on her bed, so Glinda doesn't think she's been admiring herself the whole time.
Glinda looks surprised at Elphaba, who's fidgeting with her feet. "Elphaba, where's your book?"
"I, um, I, uh," stammers Elphaba, looking around for an answer. "I shouldn't move my head too much, and wwwithout a headboard, I..I..I find it hard to read, and I didn't want to ruin your hard work. You'd get mad again."
Glinda amuses herself with Elphaba's stammering. "You could have read at the desk, like you often do."
Elphaba stares at her with an open mouth. "I, um, I, um, yes, um, shall we continue?" Elphaba asks shyly.
Glinda laughs heartily. "Of course, and you're allowed to be overwhelmed and take your time to process the new feeling."
Elphaba looks at the ground and nods but says nothing.
Glinda takes Elphaba's hand and leads her to her desk cluttered with jars, brushes, and all sorts of makeup.
Glinda takes the mascara and holds Elphaba's chin. "Elphaba, look at me for a moment."
Elphaba nods.
Glinda starts applying the mascara and gives Elphaba instructions on how to look.
"There, Elphaba, take a look for yourself. You're still just as handsome," Glinda says satisfied.
Elphaba nods and sits back on her bed. Glinda starts applying her own makeup.
"Why do you call me Elphaba?" Elphaba suddenly asks. "I've been begging for weeks for you to use my real name, and now," Elphaba shrugs, "now that we're friends, you don't use my nickname anymore." Elphaba doesn't want to admit it, but she misses the warmth of her best friend. She's afraid she did something wrong and doesn't want to lose her best friend that way.
Glinda shrugs. "Sorry, Elphie. I didn't realize. But I'll start calling you Elphie again."
Elphaba nods. "So, I haven't done anything wrong?"
Glinda laughs. "No, you're the best best friend there is."
Elphaba smiles. "You are too. Thanks for everything you do."
Glinda waves off the compliment. "We help each other."
"No, really. You've risked your popularity, and you're helping me now too. Without you, I would have gone crazy a long time ago." Maybe Nessa was right, because other than the fact that she uses her full name, there is nothing strange about Galinda. Elphaba thinks. The facts remain that Galinda helped her. Yet the suspicious feeling does not go away.
Glinda sits down next to Elphaba on the bed and playfully nudges her. "Are you sure you're not going crazy because of me?"
Elphaba laughs heartily. "No, not quite."
There's a knock on the door. "I'll get it."
Glinda nods. "I'll put on my shoes, and then we can go."
Glinda looks into a camera, hoping her parents won't read too much into their conversation, because otherwise, she might be pulled from the mission.
XXXX
They all walk together to the Oz-dust. Everyone tries to be cheerful, but the feeling is not what everyone had hoped for.
Nessa is still wary of Galinda and Elphaba. She is afraid that Galinda is trying to seduce her boyfriend. She knows that she has almost lost Elphaba to Galinda and Elphaba is such a sinful girl, who will do anything for Galinda. If she does not act quickly, she will soon lose her sister forever, but her sister will also lose herself, only she can make sure that Elphaba stays on the right path and does not become wicked.
Glinda is afraid that her parents will question her friendship with Elphaba again. She tries to think of a way to gather information about Madame Morrible as soon as possible. She also hopes that she will have the chance to talk to Nessa tonight. Although she does feel confident because of the new theories she has discovered. Maybe she can try something herself, that will make Elphaba feel better. She will do almost anything to make Elphaba feel happy.
Elphaba notices that something is wrong with the girls and tries to figure out what it is.
Boq is somewhere in heaven because he is out with Galinda. It is almost like a real date. He is just annoyed that Nessa keeps tagging along. He knows he should break up with her, but he knows he can't yet. This is the only way to stay close to Galinda. If Nessa had been a lot nicer and given him a bit more freedom, he wouldn't have minded the relationship. But now it feels so forced. Even though he does think Nessa is a beautiful and nice girl. Those feelings frustrate him, but he hopes someone else will solve the problem for him. Waiting is the easiest solution at this point. On one hand, he regrets going to Shiz. On the other hand, his parents could really use the money. All he had to do was befriend the governor's daughters. As long as he is and gives an update on their well-being, his parents get the money. His school fees are also partly paid. So the sacrifice he is making now is a small thing compared to what he is getting.
Fiyero walks on with his hands in his pockets. He is glad that no one has discovered his secret yet and he hopes that he can make his move tonight.
Galinda quickens her pace and stands in front of the group. ''Okay, guys. I don't get the feeling that we're going out as friends. Come on, can't we just forget about school for a night. We're young and we can have a drink. Tomorrow is the weekend, we hardly have any schoolwork, everyone is doing well. Come on.'' she says almost desperately.
Fiyero looks at the group in surprise, everyone has a guilty face. claps his hands and stands next to Galinda. ''Glinda.'' he immediately gets a good poke in his side. ''Galinda is right.'' he looks at Galinda meaningfully, but she only looks back innocently. He rubs his side. ''Life is too serious to just think. Thinking gives us a headache, let's enjoy a free night. We're all friends, come let's dance.'' He immediately gives an example.
Nessa starts giggling.
Boq raises his eyebrow. ''I'm not going to dance here, I'm still too sober.''
Fiyero grabs Boq's hand and pulls him along. ''We need to do something about that, who's going to order a round first.''
The girls watch the boys run away. Galinda turns around ''Girls?''
Elphaba bites her lip. She's scared of going out like this, she doesn't want to be a burden to anyone and her experiences have taught her that she's always a burden, whether she wants to be or not.
Galinda knows she's almost convinced Elphaba. ''Come on Nessa, you need an evening without Madame Morrible. You can go socialize, see it as an exercise for the future.''
Nessa smiles cautiously. She knows she needs to keep Galinda friendly for a little while longer. She takes Elphaba's hand. ''Shall we have a nice evening?''
Elphaba nods cautiously.
''Do you promise?''
Elphaba knows that there is much more behind those words. ''I promise.''
The girls walk on calmly and this time Galinda tries to start a conversation, which goes a lot easier.
Finally an evening full of excitement, Galinda thinks with satisfaction. She really needs to work in a different environment, without her parents constantly checking on her.
XXXX