Chapter Text
Mondays were Galinda Upland’s favorite day, as it meant that she got to go back to class and continue wooing all of her admirers.
She had started her day on a good note by gloating to Pffanne over breakfast about how ozmazing her weekend had been, explaining in detail how she had snuck away to go on an extravagant shopping spree. In truth, she hadn’t done anything.
And yet Pffanne would have been none the wiser had the evil asparagus, otherwise known as Elphaba Thropp, not butt into the conversation and asked the blonde how she was able to make such a grand escape when Elphaba had seen her doing face masks all weekend.
Pffanne, coming to Galinda’s aid, made a derogatory comment about broccoli not having the right to speak to them, which shut Elphaba up; though Galinda did notice the smirk on Pffanne’s face.
Caught in a lie. How embarrassing.
It was after classes, while her roommate was undoubtedly being a loser in the library, that Galinda made her way back to their room with the intent of throwing all of Elphaba’s belongings off the balcony. However, she stopped short of that plan when she took notice of a glass bottle filled with pink liquid on Elphaba’s dresser.
Written on the bottle in some sort of ink were the words:
Elphaba Thropp
DO NOT DRINK!
And Galinda knew exactly what she would do to get revenge.
The drink had been delicious, honestly. Galinda assumed it must be some sort of high quality imported tea from Munchkinland, sent to Elphaba from her father for a special occasion perhaps. Galinda enjoyed every last drop. She then put the bottle back onto Elphaba’s dresser and made her way over to her side of the room.
By the time Elphaba returned, Galinda was perusing the pages of Emerald City Fashion . She rolled her eyes as Elphaba walked past her, undoubtedly coming from her undeserved sorcery lessons with Madame Morrible.
Galinda continued to wait patiently as Elphaba made her way over to her side of the room. She wanted to bask in her reaction. And as she expected, it eventually came.
“Miss Galinda?” Elphaba’s voice called out.
Galinda kept her eyes on the magazine, and didn’t say a word. She simply flipped the page.
“Did you touch this bottle on my dresser?”
Galinda could see Elphaba now standing at the edge of her bed. The blonde felt utterly delighted to hear the concern in the girl’s voice.
Galinda prayed the tea was expensive and not easy to replace.
“Why, the glass bottle with the delicious tea inside?” Galinda flicked her eyes up from the page and gave Elphaba an award winning smile.
The brunette looked very very upset, which only made Galinda feel more giddy.
“Miss Galinda,” her roommate’s voice was filled with anguish, “please tell me you didn’t drink what was in that bottle.”
“I’ll answer your question but first, I have a far more important question of my own.” Galinda turned the magazine toward her roommate slowly. “Do you think this dress would look good on me?”
Her teasing had the desired effect. Elphaba's chest heaved, and her fists balled. From across the room, Galinda could see her lampshade shaking slightly.
The blonde let out a haughty laugh. “Oh Miss Elphaba, surely you aren’t this frazzled over some juice?” Galinda brought the magazine down to the bed. “You know, the sugar in some of these things can be quite bad for you. Why, you wouldn’t want all your teeth to fall out, would you—”
“DID YOU DRINK IT?!”
Galinda kept her smile wide. “I really don’t see what the big deal is—”
And that is when Elphaba said something that indeed affirmed to Galinda how big of a deal it was.
“It was a love potion, you idiot!”
Galinda’s whole world slowed. “Come again?” her eyelashes fluttered.
She then watched as her roommate buried her head in her hands. When Elphaba did not respond, the blonde shook her head, realization slowly dawning.
“Well, even if that is the truth, who in Oz’s name will be the target of my affections, Miss Elphaba? I certainly don’t feel any different about anyone since drinking it—"
When Elphaba couldn’t meet her eye, it settled on Galinda that yes, her heart may give out and she might just drop dead; but remaining as poised and graceful as possible, she kept a smile on her face.
“Oh that is quite hilarious!” She laughed loudly before shaking her head. “Miss Elphaba, you are a comedian! However, I really must reversify any possible effects before its too late.” She stood up now, “Can you share with me how I can?”
But Elphaba remained quiet, and didn’t move.
It took approximately 30 long and silent seconds for Galinda to drop the act, and run to Elphaba’s side of the room.
Once there, she picked up the empty bottle and examined it intently for instructions that were not there. She then ran over to Elphaba’s books and began hurriedly looking at each cover for anything related to potions, throwing them to the floor after each glance. “Surely its reversifying treatment is listed in one of your horrendible books!”
Elphaba raised her head then; her voice seething with frustration. “This is why i wrote for no one to touch it!”
Galinda, then overcome with a wave of nausea so strong that sweat began to bead on her forehead, lurched away from her roommate's things.
Elphaba could only trail behind the blonde as her heels clacked their way to the bathroom. Only coming to a stop, once Galinda was leaning over the porcelain bowl and attempted to gag herself—but to no avail.
“You’ve poisoned me!” Galinda whined, eventually curling up on the bathroom floor. “I think I am dying.”
“Miss Galinda, please—” Elphaba’s voice was laced with concern.
Dramatically, Galinda wailed while throwing her arms around her stomach.
Elphaba, looking as anxious as ever, muttered that she would retrieve Madame Morrible.
By the time Elphaba arrived with Madame Morrible, Galinda was in tears and had convinced herself she was actually going to die on that cold tiled floor.
Thoughts of her last moments at Shiz, dying at the hand of her stupid roommate's stupid potion, were so incredibly embarrassing. She reckoned she wanted to live, soley so she wouldn't tarnish her reputation in this manner.
She was still thinking about her reputation as Madame Morrible towered over her, looking extremely unimpressed.
"You mean to tell me, Miss Thropp, that you were crafting a love potion for practice, and that your roommate, Miss Upland, drank it..." She narrowed her eyes at the blonde, " Accidentally ?" she added, sounding unconvinced.
Elphaba nodded sheepishly. Galinda just groaned from the tile floor where she remained motionless.
"Show me where you found the recipe."
Elphaba handed the older woman a leather-bound book, which Morrible flipped through. Neither girl could read her expression. Eventually, she slammed it shut.
"Well, I am afraid I do not know the cure right now," Morrible admitted. "I would punish both of you for your arrogance toward the rituals of potion making and consumption; however, what both of you are about to endure may be equivalent to reasonable punishment."
Galinda let out another groan.
"Miss Elphaba, since you are so keen on learning things above your assigned grade level, I assign you to watch over Miss Upland and take note of her effects. After all, she will be experiencing a myriad of them the next few days." Morrible gazed down at Galinda, a sardonic smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "Let this be a lesson to us all about the dangers of meddling in things that do not belong to us."
With that, Madame Morrible turned on her heel and left the room, leaving the two girls alone.
Elphaba stood there for a moment, her fists clenched at her sides, visibly seething with anger. Her dark eyes bore into Galinda, who remained sprawled dramatically on the bathroom floor. "This is entirely your fault," Elphaba hissed, her voice low and dangerous. "I hope you're pleased with yourself."
Before Galinda could muster a response, Elphaba spun around and stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her with such force that it rattled the mirror on the wall. Galinda was left alone, still on the cold tile floor
Between sulking about the room and cursing her own stupidity, Galinda spent the rest of the day building the largest barricade she could between her and Elphaba’s side of the room. She would take no chances when this so-called love potion kicked in.
How rude, she thought as she stared at the finished towering pink barricade. How dare that wretched green girl leave her love potion lying around where someone as respected and beautiful as Galinda could drink it by accident? Of course, it hadn’t been an accident—but there was no need for her new Oz friends to know that.
A horrendous thought flashed through Galinda’s mind. She couldn’t possibly let it slip that she, Galinda Upland, was in love with her green freak roommate—albeit artificially! It would be absurd! She would become a laughing stock, just like—
Elphaba entered the room in haste, not even bothering to look toward Galinda or pay any mind to the newly developed barricade. The girl whizzed by with unrelenting force.
It only made the blonde more irritated! Ideally, the asparagus should be begging her for forgiveness and apologizing for being so reckless. How dare Elphaba ignore her!
Wasting no time, Galinda crossed over enemy lines. Her roommate was sitting on her bed, unbuckling her boots. She looked exhausted.
“Finally, you decide to return! I’ll have you know I wasted the rest of the day waiting for you to get back!” Galinda put her hands on her hips. When Elphaba said nothing, she let out a humph and stomped her heel sharply on the floor. “Well?!”
“Do you want a kiss or something?” Elphaba replied boredly.
Galinda felt her face flush with disgusting warmth. “Do you have the cure or not?!”
Elphaba got up then, carrying her shoes to a corner of the room. “There is no cure. You heard Madame Morrible, it would be a waste of her efforts when the effects may clear up in a few days.”
“A few days!?” Glinda couldn’t hide the rising panic in her voice. A few days would not suffice! What if the potion had her confessing her desires for her roommate to her new Oz friends?
She explained this to Elphaba, who once again did not meet her gaze. The girl was searching the room for something. Eventually, a cold laugh escaped her lips. “Maybe you could talk less these next few days then?”
Galinda wanted to smack the green off of her.
“I can’t believe you’re laughing! How absolutely horrendible you are! First, you take away my ability to fall in love with someone else; now you take away my right to speak!”
And what did the asparagus respond to this grand injustice?
“Both of those things are overrated anyway.”
Realizing there was no point in continuing her efforts, Galinda stormed off to bed and threw herself onto it. Had she not cried it all out earlier, she’d be wailing and flailing about now. Instead, she lay face down, praying her comforter would swallow her whole and suffocate her in softness before dawn arrived.
Oz, how Galinda loathed Elphaba Thropp! Her insufferable attitude, her complete lack of empathy, and of course, that wretched green skin!
The whole night, Galinda stared at the ceiling, thinking long and hard about how to deal with her new predicament: being in love with Elphaba Thropp.
Yuck.
The blonde pressed her eyes shut and tried to push the thought far from her mind.
She was thanking Oz that she didn’t feel overcome with sudden attraction to her green-skinned roommate. She was especially grateful that she didn’t suddenly think Elphaba was handsome like a prince, nor feel any sudden desire to run her hands over smooth green skin, or stare deeply into those annoying eyes.
She didn’t even want to talk to Elphaba! Especially after tonight and that disgusting comment:
“Do you want a kiss or something?”
Galinda rolled onto her side, focusing on the giant barricade between them. She wondered, briefly, if her roommate was awake, up late reading as she usually was. For a moment, Galinda considered peeking over to confirm her suspicions. But then suddenly, her mind entered that woozy calm space it did before she drifted off to sleep every night.
Her final thought before drifting into a deep slumber was resolute: over her dead body would she ever allow herself to fall in love with someone so horrendible.