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“Let go! I said no!”
“But, Miss Galinda,” Elphaba persisted, even crowding the other girl against a wall without releasing her hand, “I’ve done everything I could to make you happy! The least you could do is-”
Her friend raised her chin. “The least you could do is respect me as a fellow human being! I’m not an object to be desired or acquired.”
The brunette chuckled. In an undertone, she said, “Nice. ‘Acquired,’ I like it. But I don’t think idiots will understand what that means.”
A delicate hand freed itself to smack the strong arm propped overhead. “Stay in character, Elphie,” Galinda muttered. The intensity in her eyes did not falter.
Elphaba nodded. “Right. Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “But Munchkins have feelings too! And I’ve tried to express mine to you! I really, really like you!”
“That doesn’t mean I have to like you back, Boq.” The blonde softened her stance slightly. “I appreciate your-”
“No, don’t do that either. Don’t-”
“Empathize? But-”
“He’ll only take it as there still being a chance he can get to you. Hasn’t he used your sympathy all this time to try and press his advantage? Not a good idea.”
Galinda pouted. “If you won’t let me apologize-”
“Of course not!”
“I can do things my own way, and it still be right, you know. I don’t have to do things exactly the same way you would!”
Elphaba wiggled her eyebrows. “Ooh. What an interesting concept. Tell it to the costume I’m wearing and the bows in my hair.”
“Hmph!” Galinda shoved past her roommate to stride several steps away before spinning on her heel and crying, “You’re nothing but a freak! Why should I listen to you?”
Her friend went wide-eyed for half a second before falling back onto her bed laughing.
“Elphie! Be serious, won’t you?”
“I’m sorry; I can’t. You’re just so- you.” The mirthful girl wiped actual tears from her eyes.
Despite the taunt, Galinda began to smile as well. She recrossed the room to sit on Elphaba’s nightstand. “I’m glad you find it ridiculous that I could think lowly of you now, at least.”
Elphaba sobered a bit. “Mm.”
“And you’ve been getting a lot better at reining in your temper.”
She sighed. “Do we have to do this every time we have practice sessions?”
“Feedback is very important!”
“Yes, yes, particularly praise and encouragement. I remember. …Come here.”
Galinda grinningly accepted the invitation of an outstretched hand.
Her heart felt as if it were glowing when Elphaba kissed her bangs after pulling her into a horizontal embrace and said, “All things together, I’m proud of you. You didn’t get scared or back down …even when I…”
“I kinda liked that part. We should do it more often.”
“Lindy!” Another smack resounded through the air.
The younger girl merely giggled, not sharing that she wouldn’t have minded a kiss either.
#
“Madame Morrible-”
“Hush now, dearie,” the headmistress dismissed the intercession with a wave of hand. “I am never wrong about these things. The girl cannot even Move a simple handbag an inch.”
Glaring at the old woman’s back, Elphaba skulked closer to Galinda and surreptitiously placed a hand on her friend’s lower back.
The blonde closed her eyes, took a cleansing breath, and raised her wand anew. “Come to me!” she exhaled with a flourish of the sparkling stick in her hand that brought not only her bag, but Elphaba’s and Madame Morrible’s too, zooming toward her. After a second, even their hooks loosed themselves from the back of the classroom door, which nearly flew off its hinges in an attempt to get to Galinda.
Madame Morrible turned to appraise her two students with a bitter expression. “You helped her,” she accused at last.
Elphaba shook her head. “I didn’t,” she said simply, almost hearing Galinda’s common refrain to keep calm in her head. Then, because she still couldn’t help herself, she added, “I wasn’t there when Galinda stopped everyone from dancing the day y- …Dr. Dillamond was taken away, was I? As I heard it, she’s the one who had to reverse my magic.”
“Oh, I thought you- And did you hear that from her?” the headmistress retorted. The lines in her forehead and around her mouth only deepened.
“No, actually. Nessarose told me that night. Luckily, her checkup ran a little long that morning, as you know, or else she might have-” Elphaba shivered again at the thought of unintentionally forcing her wheelchair-bound sister to dance, what that might have done to the girl, how it might have hurt her. She told me she stumbled upon the scene and went to find you, how you tried to break my enchantment but were unsuccessful and so went to write to the Wizard; Lindy showed up a clock-tick later. The green witch just barely prevented herself lobbing her own accusations and instead said, “Or you-”
“Yes!” Madame Morrible jumped on the out at once. “I had already left the room before you-” Her eyes glazed over. “Such power! If only I could have seen it!”
Shrugging and putting even greater effort into keeping her voice light, Elphaba concluded, “Well, luckily, we both got to witness this power, eh? That was amazing, Lindy!” She turned to the girl who had been oddly silent throughout her and the headmistress’s exchange to hug her. Pulling away quickly, she added, “And you see what she’s done for my eyes! Galinda’s a veritable miracle worker!”
“She’s certainly something!” the Madame answered with a smile that looked painful. Nevertheless, she had remembered her priority of keeping her brightest pupil happy. “That was wonderful, dearie.” Her wizened hand patted the blonde on the head.
Elphaba almost said something about the woman’s condescension but held back at the delight on her oblivious friend’s face.
#
Jeers of laughter rung around the silent eye of a storm, a doorway. An overturned bucket lay in a puddle on the floor where it had fallen. Four girls stared at it, one shivering in another’s arms.
“I’m ashamed of you! And you ought to be ashamed of yourselves! What did Elph- aba ever do to you?”
Pfannee reeled in her hanging jaw to smirk. “It’s more that she exists that’s the problem.”
Shenshen joined in. “As you yourself agreed not so long ago!”
“Yes, well… I’m a different person now,” Galinda concluded softly before ramping back up to say, “I outgrew such childish behavior! What a shame that you have not done the same.” She did not let her ex-friends respond before using her sheltering grasp on her soaked roommate to drag her away from the scene. “Come, Elphie! We’re leaving!”
But Elphaba hissed at the added pressure and squirmed.
“Don’t be all shy or noble or whatever now,” the blonde grumbled under her breath. “It’s not the time.”
The older girl pressed her lips together and followed her friend’s physical urging without further struggle. But she could not maintain her stoic act once they reached their room.
“Elphie, what is it? What- How dare they?” she cried upon noticing the smell and wear along the inner lining of the coat she had wrapped around her friend. “Oh, Elphie! Hop in the shower, quick!”
Elphaba was already halfway there.
#
She exited the bathroom to find Galinda in a tizzy.
“I can’t believe this! I can’t believe them!” Her chin quivered harder than did the rest of her body as she hugged herself tight to prevent herself from jumping on her poor roommate.
The brunette tried to smile. “It was just a stupid prank. Funny, even-”
“It was a dangerous prank, propping a bucket above a classroom door like that, even if it had held only water! And not remotely funny! You could have really- Are you really hurt? Let me see!” the younger girl demanded, ripping off Elphaba’s towel without waiting for a response. “Oh, Elphie,” she whimpered at the marks she found. Her already glowing hands immediately went to the naked girl’s injured forearms as she closed her own eyes. She needed only to tighten her grip to spread the healing out to every injury.
Elphaba sighed in relief a moment later. Then she chuckled awkwardly. “Can I have my towel back? And can you-”
“Oh! Oh, right! Sorry!” Galinda blushed brilliantly, bent over to grab the towel from where she’d tossed it, thrust it back at her roommate, and then flung herself facedown on her own bed. “I’m really sorry, Elphie,” the girl whimpered sometime later. “I didn’t mean to strip you like that, and I wasn’t looking at- I just- I just-”
The ever-conservative brunette tried again to laugh the situation off. “Why not? Didn’t like what you saw?” She jumped at Galinda shooting to her feet.
“Of course I didn’t like what I saw! Those- wicked girls scalded you!”
“They probably didn’t know that bucket-”
“The- heck they didn’t, Elphaba! Ooh, when I get my hands on them!”
Elphaba gaped at her pacing roommate as she stood to tie the drawstring of her pajama bottoms. “Lin. Lin, calm down. Remember what you always tell me? Hold your composure. Those dummies probably thought it was just water. Be reasonable.”
“My response is reasonable!”
Newly pink-free shoulders shrugged. “Now you know how I felt when you wouldn’t let me kill Roquat.”
“This isn’t the same thing!”
Dark eyes locked on tear-bright ones. “You’re right. What happened to you was much worse.”
“No, it wasn’t! No one dropped a bucket full of sodium hydroxide on me! Ah! Don’t ask how I know what that is! I’m a scientist too, lest you forget!”
Elphaba went to hug her friend. “I know. I know. But I truly don’t think they did. Nor was it full of lye. They probably just meant to make a fool of me and, luckily for me, topped-”
“Or wanted to see through your top, which they did. …You believe too much in the good in people!” Galinda sulked even as she caved to the warm embrace and relief at Elphaba coming out of her ordeal unscathed.
A shout of laughter made her jolt. “I can’t believe you just said that! You, of all people! To me, of all people!”
“Very funny, Elphie,” Galinda mumbled as she pulled her friend closer. A few moments passed before she asked, “Are you sure I can’t kill them?”
“Now, Miss Galinda. That’s no way to be popular.” Elphaba shook a finger in her friend’s face.
The blonde growled and nearly bit the digit before smirking and licking it.
The older girl squealed in a way she would never admit as she leapt away from Galinda, who just about fell over laughing.
#
“I bet you’re just glad they somehow missed all of my, ahem, pretty hair,” Elphaba muttered sardonically.
“Mm, yeah.” Galinda nuzzled deeper into it as she and her roommate cuddled on the brunette’s bed for once. “Though I could have fixed it if need be.”
“With oil?”
“No, with magic!”
Elphaba chuckled. “Oh, okay.”
“Don’t laugh! I’m an accomplished sorceress, you know!”
A proud smile eased Galinda’s pique. “I know.”
“Good!” she said with a sharp nod and mild flush.
#
“Aw, I see my favor didn’t pay off!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Elphaba spat as she once more death-glared Roquat on the campus grounds. “Stay away from her,” she added, once more positioning herself to block his access to Galinda.
“I was trying to help you get rid of the green. At least I got some hilarious pictures outta the whole thing, eh? And, you’re welcome!”
“So, you did burn my Elphie on purpose!” The blonde forwent saying that she’d told Elphaba so to dive around her, tackle the boy, and punch him herself. “There’s more where that came from! Don’t ever mess with either one of us ever again, you cad!” she tossed after him as he fled, struck dumb and bleeding.
Numbly, Elphaba noted, “You say it scares you when I fly off the handle, but-”
“Oh, he deserved it! And worse!” Galinda crossed her arms harder to try and draw the pink from her cheeks.
As if the younger girl had not spoken, Elphaba dazedly told her, “You’re magnificent when you’re angry.”
Then they were both blushing.