A little while later, Elphaba went back to her dorm after lunch to drop off her things only to find Galinda by her vanity table putting her big white faux fur coat on.
"Hi Elphie!"
The green girl replies back tiredly, "Hi Glin. Going somewhere?"
"I have to run errands including getting the surprise ready!"
She groans rubbing her temples as she strolled over to her side of the room. "Can you just tell me what it is?"
"No! Otherwise it will be ruined!"
The green girl stretches her arms outward before sitting down on her bed.
"What are you going to do Elphie?"
"Well, since finals are over and I have about…" She stops when she looks at the clock next to her seeing that it's only noon. "Five hours until my shift at the library, I'm just gonna take a nap."
Galinda gets her purse and checks if she has everything inside. "You should be shopping for your Secret Lurline gift Elphie! There's not much time left."
"I can't Glin," she says laying down. "Not until I get my paycheck tonight along with a bonus."
"But most of the shops will be closed by then and won't open until after the holidays are over," Galinda points out. "Besides there won't be many good gifts left."
Elphaba rolled away from her until she was facing the wall and pulled her piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it reading the name.
Galinda.
She quickly folded it back up and put it back in her pocket.
"I'm sure there is something Glin," the green girl says trying to pretend she never saw that name, "And whoever it is, is going to enjoy it."
"Alright I guess."
The blonde was about to walk out the door but stopped and turned back to Elphie as a question came up in her mind.
"Hey Elphie?"
"Hmmm?"
"How come you looked unhappy about the plans? I only did it just to make sure you are not alone like last year-"
The green girl interrupts, "It's not that Glin. It's just that… Lurlinemas isn't really my favorite holiday."
"Why not? Is it because of what happened last year when I put pink decorations all over our room?"
She shook her head sitting up on her bed. "Not really and I hope you don't ever do that again Glin. It was hurting my eyes."
"Oh I won't Elphie, though it was pretty tempting," she says strolling over to her vanity picking up her hairbrush and started brushing her hair.
"You didn't answer my question Elphie. Why do you hate the holiday?"
"I don't really hate it, more of like dislike it. But the reason is because I just didn't really celebrate it at home."
"Sure you have. Nessa said she does."
"But not the same way as me. She would get about ten to twenty presents every year and I get nothing."
Galinda's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
"Father said I don't deserve them. It happened every year since Nessa was born and eventually I gave up trying to find something that was left for me."
"Every year?! Oh Elphie!"
"Yes, every Lurlinemas was the same. I remember one year being the worst of my life. My father was very busy with meetings and conferences that year and forgot to have someone buy a Lurlinemas tree and it was too late. You know what he did?"
"What did he do?"
Elphaba just stared straight into Galinda's eyes as if she was giving an answer. When realization came, the blonde's eyes widened and gasped. "He didn't."
"Oh yes he did," the green girl said sounding mad. "He made me stand in the middle of the room dressed like a Lurlinemas tree with garland, ornaments and lights only to make my sister happy."
"Elphie-"
"And the worst part was that I had to stand all day without moving or anything."
"Not even to go to the bathroom?!"
"Nope. Had to hold it all day," she said.
The blonde asks trying to steer away from that part of the conversation, "Was there ever a time you had the best Lurlinemas ever?"
Elphaba looked down and tells her best friend, "There was one and it was the only best one that I can remember."
It was at that moment Galinda knew when it was.
"Was it when your mother was alive?"
Her friend nodded and explains her story.
"It was Lurlinemas Eve and my mother got me ready for bed and she gave me something special. It was definitely the best present I have ever gotten. I still remembered what it was."
She smiled at the memory before saying, "I don't want to go in too much detail, Bbt it was the happiest Lurlinemas I have ever had."
Tears started to form in her eyes which she held back and she frowned. "Anyways, months later when Nessa was born, I was forced to move out of my old room since it's given to her. My father had someone move all of my old things and my present from my mother was gone. I think father took it and did something to it."
She wiped the tear and the blonde wraps her arms around her for a hug.
Galinda emphasizes letting go of the hug, "Awwww Elphie, I'm so sorry this all had to happen to you! And don't worry! I'm going to make sure this Lurlinemas is the best ever!"
"I doubt it Glin, but thanks," the green girl says laying back down.
The blonde sighs, "You ARE going to have the best Lurlinemas ever no matter what you say!"
She gets up eaving the green girl and grabs her purse.
"Oooh! I forgot about my white beret!"
Panicking a little, she opened her huge wardrobe and started rummaging through it.
"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?"
She went through her hat drawer and went through it but couldn't find it.
Elphaba who was watching from her bed rolled her eyes and suggests, "Maybe you left it in your school bag?"
That made the blonde girl stop and points at the green girl squealing, "Elphie! You're a genius!"
She made a beeline over to her bag which was hung on the chair and opened it pulling her books and papers out having them scattered everywhere on her bed as she digs through it now finding nothing.
Still watching, Elphaba asks, "Can you just choose another color for your hat?"
"Absolutely not! White and white go wonderful together during the winter season! No other color can changify that!"
"Not even light pink?" Elphaba asked.
Galinda instantly stopped and gasped, "Why didn't I think of it before?!"
Elphaba rolls her eyes when her roommate left the mess on her bed before going through the wardrobe again looking for the light pink beret she usually wears.
"Elphie, can you help me put my things back in my bag pretty please with a cherry on top?"
The green girl groaned, "Fine."
She gets up and picks all of Galinda's things and put them back in her school bag when she came across paper that was stapled. It had Galinda's name on it and it was graded an A plus.
She stopped whatever she was doing and picks it up reading the title, "How to be popular."
"Found it!"
Elphaba's eyes looked up to Galinda who found the beret and back down to the paper. She skims over a couple words on the front page calling out to her roommate who got her attention, "Hey Galinda? What is this?"
"Oh!"
She dashed over to Elphaba and takes the paper out of the green girl's hands.
"Pretend you didn't see that," she said blushing a little with a smile.
"Come on Glin, you can tell me," the green girl pries, "I'm curious."
Galinda gives a simple answer, "It's just some paper…"
"Some paper? Glin! You got an A plus on it and you never told me! What is it?"
The blonde rolled her eyes and groaned, "Alright, alright I'll tell you! Remember when I took creative writing class over the semester?"
"Yes you did."
"Well our professor encouraged us to write something as a final paper and I wrote this. To be honest, ever since you came into my life Elphie, you inspired me to write this. It's got advice and tips like for example, showering, personal hygiene, redecorating, taking care of hair, you get the picture," she explains.
"May I?"
She nodded as Elphaba takes the paper out of Galinda's hands.
She skims over the papers while Galinda looked away feeling embarrassed.
Elphaba smiled after she finished. "Glin! This is very interesting!"
"Really?" She asked looking at her best friend's chocolate brown eyes.
"Yes, though this really isn't my thing but it really is well thought out! Have… Have you ever thought of publishing it into a book?"
Galinda's smile faded and looked down.
"Well, my professor said the same thing," she said looking a little uncomfortable.
"Well are you going to?"
Galinda finally answers, "I don't think so Elphie."
"But you want to right?"
She admits, "Yes… I do. I was about to but… I just don't feel confident into giving it to a publisher."
Elphaba says surprised, "Why not?! I'm sure they'll love it!"
"I was worried they wouldn't like it. I debated about it the other day and eventually decided not to do it because I don't want to get rejection over some paper that I wrote."
"It's not just some paper Glin, it's a masterpiece," the green girl said putting her hands on her best friend's shoulders. "Think about it. You said I inspired you right?"
"Of course."
"Then with this, you'll inspire hundreds and thousands in all of Oz! Believe me. Even with one rejection, it's definitely not the end of the world. There'll be many out there who will love it! I already did and I was never interested in those kinds of things."
Galinda looked up at the green girl's encouraging face. "Are you sure Elphie?"
"Very sure. I'll even help you if you want… Once after the holidays are over, we'll go together to find a publisher and show them your paper."
Beaming brightly, she hugs her best friend. "Thank you Elphie!"
"You're welcome Glin."
She lets go of the hug and puts her beret on and gets her purse. "I gotta go shopping! I'll see you… What time are you coming back from your shift?"
"Eleven when it's closing time. I'm already getting dinner on the way so don't worry about me," Elphaba said as she went back to her bed and sat down.
Galinda opens the door and calls walking out in a hurry, "Ok! See you later!"
Elphaba shook her head with a smile and laid down again still holding Galinda's paper.
She read it over again and sure enough, she was right. It should definitely be turned into a book.
After rereading it for the second time, an idea suddenly popped into her head. She pulled the folded piece of paper out of her pocket again and looked at both papers in her hands.
She smiled thinking this might be it.
Now deciding to abandon her plans, she gets off her bed, puts on her coat and leaves the room to go to the library early taking Galinda's paper with her.
HEY Y'ALL, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it took me some time. I will be posting at least once a week or once every few weeks or so because I have a lot goin on this holiday season and I ned to finish by New Years. So be sure to leave positive reviews so I can continue on with this story and PM to me WaitJustAClockTick for ideas to keep all my stories going! Till next time, GOODNIGHT! PEACE!