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Roommate needed for cozy 2 bedroom in the heart of Emerald City - ASAP
I’m looking for a new roommate to sign onto the lease of the 2br I’m renting. My friend told me to say it's ‘cozy’ but it's just cramped. There are 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and a kitchen/living area. Landlord is never here (Morriblerenting.com) so that's a pro/con depending on what you’re looking for. I’m looking for a respectful, clean, quiet, and polite roommate to fill the second bedroom ASAP. Rent is $1000/month due on the 1st of every month plus electric and heat. Email [email protected] if interested. Serious inquiries only.
Elphaba (she/her/hers)
Fyi, I am green.
Galinda stopped scrolling and clicked on the listing. This could work. The rent wasn’t terrible for Emerald City, and it was really an excellent location–right next to the coffee shop she had just gotten a job at.
Her parents had been nagging her since her graduation from Shiz six months ago. She’d gotten her way; she had a degree (in architecture!), and now it was time for her to find a husband. They wanted her to marry a man–preferably her highschool boyfriend, Avaric–and have about three or four blonde haired, perfect children. They wanted grandbabies, they said. Except, Galinda wanted to not do that at all, so she decided she was going to move out. It was for the best really. She just couldn't stand being the topic of her local church’s gossip any longer, especially when half the church wanted her to marry Avaric.
Galinda must have been the only girl her age (a decrepit spinstress at 24) who wasn’t engaged or courting. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in the boys at her church, they were all just boys from her church. She’d known them all her entire life. How was she meant to find a husband when they all acted like children? She’d watched them grow from neon adorned middle schoolers to denim adorned, preachy assholes while she blossomed from an adorable child into a beautiful and accomplished young woman. And she had tried!
Her parents had loved Avaric–a nice catholic boy who captained the football team their senior year of highschool. She was on the cheerleading team; it was fate that they’d end up together, people had said. But Galinda’s heart wasn’t in it. He was just another man from her hometown. He wanted a housewife, a cook, a cleaner, a mother to his children, but Galinda wanted more. She just needed to move to a place with a bigger population; she would find someone there. A nice, catholic boy who she hadn’t witnessed experiencing puberty, who wanted a partner rather than a subservient wife. Hence, the Emerald City.
Galinda copied the email in the listing–a UShiz address, she noted–and started to compose a message.
Heyy! My name is Galinda Upland! You may have heard of the Upper Uplands? Anywho, this apartment sounds like a perfect fit for me! :))) I’m starting at a job nearby, so you shouldn’t see much of me! Let me know if you're interested, and I am super interested in seeing the space! Just lmk!
***Galinda Upland***
**Upper Uplands**
*(girl pronouns)*
<3<3<3
P.S. I’m also a bit green to the Emerald City. I’ve only been once several years ago. You’ll have to show me around!!! :D
Perfect. Galinda hit send.
***
Galinda looked up from her phone towards the shabby building she had just navigated to. It was a small brick building painted a pale, almost sickly, green, making it stand out from the surrounding emerald buildings. While it looked structurally sound, it had seen better days. Galinda assumed it had been built in the early days of the Emerald City, before the city had become the bustling metropolis of wealth it was known as now. Judging from its dated architectural style (a plain, rectangular building), she was right.
Galinda double checked the phone number Elphaba had sent her before shooting her a text notifying her of her arrival. Galinda smoothed her skirt, fixed her hair, and checked her makeup with a compact mirror from her purse. She wanted to look her best for her new roommate, but mostly she needed something to do with her hands.
While she waited, Galinda took the chance to further survey her surroundings. It really was a great location, despite the less than aesthetic building. Her new job at a small, independent coffee shop–likely filled with annoying coffee enthusiasts and aspiring writers–was literally right around the corner. She could see the tented chalkboard displaying the specials (Lavender Honey Latte and Herbal Mint Tea) they’d left outside from where she was standing.
“Galinda?” A low, gravely voice cut through Galinda’s exploration. She jumped, not realizing her potential roommate had already come to fetch her. She turned her gaze from Dillamond’s Delightful Brews –a poor attempt at alliteration in Galinda’s opinion–to her host.
Galinda’s jaw dropped. The girl who stood in front of her was. was. She was green. No, she was emerald ! Galinda couldn’t help but take a moment to look this green stranger over.
Galinda couldn’t quite decide if the girl in front of her was strikingly beautiful or strikingly hideous. Her emerald skin was smattered with dark green freckles, and her features pulled together in a mossy harmony. She was tall, all gangly limbs and the awkwardness that came with them. Her wardrobe left something to be desired, Galinda noted. She wore an almost absurdly oversized beige sweater paired with ripped black leggings. The sweater was clearly well made and well loved–as Galinda’s Ama would put it (Galinda preferred old ). The ribbed cuffs had been nearly shredded, exposing the girl’s thin wrists. Galinda’s eyes felt drawn to the small amount of exposed skin at her wrists and through the holes of her worn leggings. She reasoned to herself that this was to confirm this stranger was green all over. After a moment, Galinda’s eyes made their way back to the green girl’s face. Her full lips twisted into a scowl, and she had raised an almost amused eyebrow at Galinda’s unsubtle gawking.
Galinda jumped, unaware at how long she had been looking at this mystery girl, “Oh yes! Galinda, that’s me!” Galinda chirped. She decided she’d better explain her staring “It’s just…you’re green?”
Elphaba looked down at herself in feigned shock, “I am!” When Galinda had nothing to say she started again, “Well, I guess we’ll get this over with. I am Elphaba. Yes. I am Green. Yes, I have always been green. No, I am not sea sick. No, I did not eat grass as a child.” She finished her clearly well rehearsed speech with an annoyed huff, and with that, Elphaba turned sharply around and started walking into the shabby green building.
“Wait! Where are you going!” Galinda was finally able to say.
Elphaba turned around and quirked her eyebrow again–an annoying habit Galinda was not at all fond of–“You did want to see the apartment before you sign, yes?” She turned back, not waiting for an answer, and continued walking.
Galinda stood for a moment, still processing meeting this green stranger, Elphaba, before she realized she would be left behind. She jumped forward and did an awkward half jog to catch up.
Elphaba looked back again when she realized Galinda was following after her. She smirked. Galinda’s face heated in annoyance. She decided then that she did not like this green girl one bit, but she was desperate. She needed a place to live, and so, she needed Elphaba.