Chapter Text
Shiz was as beautiful as it had looked in the photographs and the colorful brochures that Galinda had spent days poring over. The round towers had been painted soft shades of gold and coral, their windows facing out to the endless miles of poppy fields. The late afternoon sunlight sparkled off the water of the canals, which were currently clogged with gondolas filled with arriving students and their families. Galinda watched as a man and woman pulled their daughter into a simultaneous embrace, like they couldn’t decide which one of them should hug her first. She turned away, looking down at the colorful fish swimming in the water of the canal, so close she could have reached out to touch them. She tried to ignore the pang in her chest.
Father hadn’t been able to come with her. He’d said goodbye to her at the Emerald Palace the day before, while the carriage waited outside to take her to the train station. “You’re sure you have everything?” he said, even though she’d checked and rechecked her list earlier that morning.
“Yes, Father. Everything’s been arranged.”
“Good, good.” He straightened the W pin that he’d fastened onto her lapel. “You’re going to have such a good time. So good a time that you’re probably going to forget all about me. You’ll be too busy hanging out with all of your new friends.”
Friends. Galinda didn’t know if she’d ever really had a friend--well, she had plenty of friends but they were all the daughters and sons of Father’s advisors, so they didn’t really count. The people she met while attending public functions in Oz didn't count either. They spent time with her because she was her father’s daughter. They couldn’t have cared less what she was like as a person. But maybe he was right. Maybe Shiz would be different. He'd already sent word to the Head Shizstress that she was supposed to be treated like every other student. No special treatment. “ You know I could never forget about you. I’ll write once a week, as long as you write back.”
“Of course I will. I know how much you hate being out of the loop,” he said, hugging her tightly. She breathed in his familiar scent of cologne and fabric softener and a hint of whiskey. “I’m going to miss you, kid.”
“I’ll miss you too.”
“But you’re going to have a great time.” He released her, giving her hands one last squeeze. “Let me know if you need anything, anything at all. You can always talk to Madame Morrible. And Galinda…” He glanced at the two snow Monkeys standing on duty outside the doors to the receiving room. “Let me know if you see anything…suspicious. Anyone who seems like they might be causing trouble.”
Galinda’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
His eyes flashed around the room--up at the crown molding around the ceiling, over to the landscape paintings on the walls, and beyond them to the view of the gardens outside the leaded windows. “I don’t want you to worry--”
She squeezed his hand. “Father, I’m nearly twenty years old now. You can tell me these things.”
He sighed. “There have just been some...mutterings of discontent, in certain corners of Oz. There are some who would prefer it if I wasn’t on the throne anymore.”
“But why?” Galinda couldn’t believe that anyone would hate Father. Not when everything he did was to make things better for Oz. He hadn’t even been born here, but he’d wanted to make it a better place anyway. When Galinda was younger, back when she didn’t quite understand what it meant to have dead parents, he’d told her that they were alike in that way. They were both strangers in the Emerald City, but they could create their own sense of belonging by making people love them.
“They're radicals. They want to cause chaos. Who knows what their reasons are." He shook his head. "Now, it’s nothing you need to worry about. You’re not in any danger. I just need you to let me or Madame Morrible know if you see or hear about any…seditious activity. Particularly among the Animals.”
“The Animals?” Galinda had only met a handful of Animals in her life, outside of the Monkeys who comprised the Emerald Guard. They were nice enough, she supposed, but they didn’t say much. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time one of them had spoken to her.
“Yes. We have reason to believe that some of the…seditious talk is originating in some of their more educated circles. You know that Shiz still has Animal professors? They may be very different from the kinds of Animals you’re used to. Less...respectful.”
A shiver crawled down her spine. “If I hear anything, I’ll tell you.”
“That’s my girl.” He hugged her one last time, holding on for a moment longer than usual. She let him; she hadn’t been away from the Emerald City for more than a couple of weeks at a time, and now she wouldn’t see him again until Lurlinemas. “Well, I suppose you’d better get going,” he said when he let go. “You’ll want to get to Shiz at a reasonable time."
She almost said she wished that he could come with her. But she was sure that he would have accompanied her, if he could. His duties as the Wizard kept him busy, and she didn’t want him to think that she was unhappy. He already gave her everything she could ever want. So instead she smiled at him, told him that she loved him, and followed the Monkeys out to the waiting carriage.
She shook her head, trying to clear it, and looked back at her luggage. All of her trunks were brand new and painted a soft pink, stamped with the Upland monogram on one side and her own golden G monogram on the other. There would be porters at the dock to take her luggage upstairs to her suite (a private one; Father had reserved it specifically). Right now, her job was to network. It shouldn’t be very hard, because everyone at Shiz would no doubt be curious to meet her: the last scion of the Upland family and the adopted daughter of the Wizard of Oz. But right now, the emphasis was on the Upland part of her name, bestowed by parents she didn’t remember. She was here to make connections with other powerful Gillikin families, connections that could turn into trade agreements in later years. Father always said that the best way to attract flies was with honey, not vinegar. For a long time Galinda hadn’t understood what that meant. Now, as her boat gently bumped against the side of the dock and a porter reached out a gloved hand to help her disembark, and as she felt the soft weight of dozens of pairs of eyes on her, she did. Father was far too busy to go to Gillikin himself. But Galinda could. She could make the connections-and the friends-that he couldn’t.
It didn’t matter that she didn’t have any family to see her off. She didn't need them. She could charm people all by herself. She held her back straight, her shoulders back, smiling a warm smile at the boy and girl disembarking from the next boat. She vaguely recognized the girl; her father might have been on the Gillikinese ruling council.
The boy gasped. He had wavy dark hair and pointed dark glasses. “That’s her,” he whispered, in a poor sotto voce, to his companion.
“I told you she was going to be here,” the girl replied in a loud whisper. “My father said she would be.”
Galinda pretended she didn’t hear them, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’m Galinda Upland.” For a moment they both just stared at her with wide eyes. “And you are…?” she pressed, gently.
“Pfannee, your Highness,” the boy stammered, pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose with a fingertip. “And this is--”
“ShenShen,” the girl said, holding out a hand for Galinda to shake. Yes, she definitely had a father on the Gillikinese ruling council. That was as good a place as any to start. “Your Highness, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I collect all of your covers of Ozmpolitan--”
“That’s so kind!” Galinda shot a look back towards the boat, to make sure the porters were unloading her luggage correctly. It wouldn’t do to have any of her trunks get broken, or soiled. "But please, there's no need for honorifics here. I'm a first year student, just like the rest of you."
"And she's so modest too!" Pfannee whispered, like he didn't know Galinda was listening.
“We really should take our seats for the opening remarks, shouldn’t we?” She pretended to check the clock hanging on the other side of the courtyard, turning away from another embracing family. Pfannee and ShenShen both nearly fell over each other in their rush to accompany her. She suspected that if she'd told them that she wanted to skip the opening remarks and go swimming naked in the canals they would have accompanied her.
Pfannee was talking a mile a minute, asking her questions about the Emerald City and then not bothering to wait for an answer before he started talking about his own (very large, apparently illustrious) family. “There’s a statue of my grandfather in the portrait gallery. He funded an entire floor of the library. Look, if you stand right here, you can see him--” He grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him, one arm pointing up towards the glazed windows of the school, and Galinda crashed right into another person. She squeaked as her heel trembled, knocked off balance--
But before she could fall, strong arms caught her. “Are you all right?”
The girl staring down at her was green. At first Galinda thought it was just the angle of the sunlight playing tricks on her, but then she realized it wasn’t the sun at all. The girl’s skin was actually green. It was a pretty shade of green--not quite forest green, but not frog green. Not grass green, either. Galinda knew there were different shades of green--she’d grown up surrounded by them, after all--but this girl seemed to defy all of them. She’d never seen anything like it.
She realized that she’d been silent for too long and the girl was waiting for an answer, her brow furrowed slightly. Her hands rested at Galinda’s waist, their soft warmth sinking through her light pink dress. Upland colors, not Emerald City colors. Galinda could feel the scratch of her fingernails against the fabric. She looked up into the girl’s soft green eyes. They looked almost mossy, like the covering the rocks in the palace ponds got when it rained. “You’re green,” she breathed in awe.
Galinda didn’t know what possessed her to say it. Of course the girl would know she was green. It was a stupid thing to say. But she still wasn’t expecting the girl’s eyes to narrow, turning hard and cold. “I am,” she said, almost sardonically. “It can be a bit of a shock at first. I hope it wasn’t too distressing, your Highness.” She set Galinda back down, only letting go of her once she was sure she could stand on her own. Galinda felt the sudden cold on her skin where the girl's hands had been.
The girl turned to the crowd that had begun to assemble around them. “Let’s get this over with. No, I am not seasick. No, I didn’t eat grass as a child. And yes, I have always been green.”
Oh, Oz. The girl was offended. “I didn’t mean--”
But it didn’t matter because Pfannee and Shenshen were already dragging her away. “We have to get you away from that lunatic, your Highness,” Pfannee said.
“Yeah. She was totally unhinged,” ShenShen replied. “But what can you really expect from someone who’s green?” They both shuddered.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with that. And please, there's no need to call me your Highness,” Galinda said as they pulled her down between them on the first bench facing the stage. Other students were starting to file in, huddling in small groups and clutching their orientation packets to their chests, book bags slung over their shoulders.
“That’s because you’re so good, Galinda,” Shenshen said in a voice that would undoubtedly carry across the quad. Galinda winced. “Really. I don’t know how you do it. Maybe you just don’t know, having been raised in the Emerald City. There must be green everywhere there. But green skin…it’s unnatural.”
Galinda resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I understand that green is not a usual skin tone. But it’s not like it’s her fault--” But then the Master of Ceremonies introduced the faculty and announced that Madame Morrible would be delivering the opening remarks, and Galinda stayed quiet.
Madame Morrible came to the front of the stage, looking regal as always in her red and gold robes. Before she began to speak she nodded at Galinda and gave her a soft almost smile. Galinda sat up a little straighter, almost instinctively. She could practically feel Madame Morrible’s hands on her back, pressing inwards. Proper young ladies don’t slouch, Miss Galinda. “Good afternoon, and congratulotions on your acceptance here at Shiz. We have nothing but the highest of hopes…for some of you.” The crowd tittered, but Galinda knew it wasn’t a joke. Madame Morrible expected great things, from a few of them. Only the best and the brightest. But especially from Galinda.
Everyone was expecting great things from her. Father, Madame Morrible, all of Father's advisors, everyone in the Emerald City. Everyone knew her story. Everyone knew how lucky she was. Everyone was expecting her to make good.
She glanced back and found the girl with green skin standing near the stone archway that served as the entrance to the quad. The girl caught her eye, her expression carefully neutral--although Galinda saw a muscle work in her jaw. Galinda gave her a small wave, but the girl didn’t wave back. Unfriendly. Galinda should have been offended, but her rudeness was almost refreshing. Normally everyone was too afraid to treat her with anything but sycophantic deference, because of who her father was. Was the girl with green skin even a student at the school? She wasn’t wearing the uniform, like everyone else. Had she traveled far to get to Shiz and just hadn’t had a chance to unpack yet?
By the time Galinda snapped herself out of her reverie, Madame Morrible had already finished speaking. That wasn’t surprising; Galinda had listened to enough of her speeches to know that the sorceress didn’t believe in using more words than she needed to. “Why would you use ten words when you could use three?” she’d asked Galinda one day, as they walked in the Palace gardens on an unseasonably warm day.
“Because using ten is more fun!” Galinda giggled. She’d only been seven then and she was happy to be out of the confines of the classroom, feeling the sun on her face and the crunch of the grass beneath her green velvet slippers.
Madame Morrible had patted the top of her head fondly. “Yes, I suppose your father would have told you that.”
Now, as Madame Morrible walked away from the podium, Galinda thought about going after her and begging her to let her into Sorcery Seminar one last time. Maybe the sorceress would take pity on her now that they were at Shiz. She knew better than anyone, even Father, just how badly Galinda wanted to be a sorceress. Galinda had wanted to be a sorceress as long as she’d been able to want anything. Father had bought her a training wand for her sixth birthday and then hired Madame Morrible to tutor her privately every summer since she was seven. So Madame Morrible also knew, better than anyone else, just how hopeless Galinda was at magic. For years and years and years she hadn’t been able to so much as levitate a coin--much less perform transformation spells or weather spells or even a simple invisibility charm. Her abilities simply weren’t up to the level that Madame Morrible required for admission into her Sorcery Seminar and she wouldn’t bend the rules for anyone, not even the Wizard of Oz’s daughter.
Adopted daughter, the small voice at the back of Galinda's head said, the voice that Galinda tried not to listen to.
Madame Morrible had sat her down on the first day of summer break in Galinda’s pink and green sitting room. She’d slipped Galinda’s admissions essay out of her briefcase and set it on the table in between them. Galinda’s looping handwriting stared up at them: Magic Wands--Need They Have A Point? Galinda had thought the idea was particularly clever, arguing that since magic wands were just a way to channel inherent magical abilities (backed up by every magical text that she had ever read) it didn’t really matter what they looked like. They could be straight or curved, long or short. Most of the training wands on the market were so long and bulky, more like spears than magical wands. They would be much cheapter to make, and easier to maneuver, if they were smaller.
Galinda had known that she wouldn’t be able to get into the Sorcery program on the strength of her talent alone, but she’d thought that perhaps she could persuade Madame Morrible with a well reasoned argument backed up by evidence. But she could tell, from the sympathetic look in the sorceress’s eyes, that it hadn’t been enough. “Dearie, I simply don’t think that the Sorcery program is a good fit for your…abilities,” she said, handing the essay back to Galinda. “Your father told me you’re also interested in architecture. Why don’t you study that instead?”
Galinda wanted to tell her that she wasn’t passionate about Architecture the way she was passionate about Sorcery. She liked being able to recognize different building styles and the history behind them, but she didn’t think about them as often as she thought about magic: every day of her life. She didn’t dream about being able to design buildings the way she dreamed about being a sorceress, able to give Ozians their heart’s desire with a mere wave of her hand, just like Father. But she knew it was no use arguing with Madame Morrible. She only took the best of the best--and after all of these years, even Galinda had been forced to acknowledge that she had no natural affinity for magic. So she’d forced herself to smile at Madame Morrible and say “Thank you for your consideration.”
That night she had crumpled the essay into the smallest ball she could make and thrown it into the fireplace, watching with satisfaction as it turned to ashes.
Father had taken her disappointment in stride. “Well, we really need architects more than we need sorcerers,” he’d told her over dinner. “Magic as a science is tricky and inexact. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But math never lies.” He’d reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “And I know you’re going to be the best architect working in this city, kid. If that’s what you want to do.” His words had helped, a little bit. But it had still served to remind Galinda of just how different they were, as if she hadn’t already known it. No matter what the adoption paperwork said, Oscar Diggs wasn’t related to her by blood so he couldn’t pass down his magic to her. Galinda knew the Upland family had a history of magic; perhaps he’d adopted her hoping that she would someday show an aptitude for it. If that was the case, he was probably sorely disappointed.
So Galinda didn’t try to plead her case with Madame Morrible one last time. She half listened to Pfannee and ShenShen prattle on about something meaningless while she surveyed the courtyard looking for other people to network with. There was a Munchkin sitting two rows behind her, trying to catch her eye; she gave him a polite smile and then looked away. There was the Governor of Munchkinland’s daughter, sitting in a beautiful wooden wheeled chair. Miss Nessarose Thropp, Galinda’s brain supplied. She would be a perfect person to talk to, since she would be Governor herself someday. The Governor had opted to skip over his firstborn child because of some defect that he claimed prevented her from ruling properly--
The green skinned girl was standing next to Nessarose, speaking to her quietly. They laughed, and from just the way they looked at each other Glinda could tell they were sisters.
Governor Thropp must have considered green skin a defect. Oh.
Galinda had always wanted a sister. But she was her birth parents’ only child, and they had died when she was less than a year old. They’d gone to see a play in Frottica and left her at home with her Ama. By the time the play finished the wind had picked up and the air was filled with driving snow. All of her parents’ friends had begged them to stay in Frottica until the storm passed, but they’d insisted they needed to return home. They’d faced snowstorms before, they’d said. They would be fine.
They never made it back. Ama Clutch sat awake into the night, long after Galinda had fallen asleep. Finally, just after three in the morning, she called the police. The carriage was found the following afternoon, at the bottom of a steep ravine. The horses had slipped on ice and hadn’t been able to catch themselves before they went over the edge of the cliff, taking the carriage down with them. There were no survivors. Galinda's grandmother had been inconsolable. She'd died from a broken heart a month later. And her only aunt had disappeared two weeks after that. At 10 months old, Galinda had been all alone in the world, until the Wizard adopted her. He said he knew what it was like to not have any family, and he hadn't wanted her to grow up alone like he did. "Your story reminded me of myself," he'd said, when Galinda had asked about it. But he didn't volunteer anything else. Father didn't talk much about the world that he came from.
Suddenly Nessarose Thropp flew into the air, screaming. Other things were flying into the air too: bookbags, pencils, room keys, even the benches that had been lined up in neat rows in front of the dais. ShenShen pushed Galinda out of the way as the bench nearest to them slammed against the wall with an almighty crack. “What in Oz?” Pfannee asked, holding his bookbag to his chest like a particularly ineffective shield.
As suddenly as everything had risen into the air, it all came crashing back down-except for Nessarose, who glided neatly to a stop at her sister’s feet. People scrambled to pick up their dropped bags and books and room keys, shooting disbelieving and frightened looks at the Thropp sisters. For a moment Galinda almost felt sorry for them until she realized what had actually happened. The eldest Thropp daughter had used real magic, magic that would certainly get her accepted into Madame Morrible’s Sorcery Seminar. Sure enough, Madame Morrible was already striding across the lawn towards them, with a smile on her face.
Something that might have been jealousy twisted in Galinda’s gut.
Madame Morrible tried to play the display of magic off as hers, but Galinda knew better. She had seen the look in the girl’s eyes when she’d realized what she’d done, the way that Nessarose had glared at her. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Then Madame Morrible walked over to the older sister and drew her aside, leaning towards her so they could talk in low voices. Galinda watched the girl’s eyes light up, a smile spreading across her face, Madame Morrible grabbing her hands and squeezing tightly.
And then they began to walk across the lawn towards her. “Miss Galinda,” Madame Morrible said, inclining her head slightly because she was just Galinda Upland here, not the Emerald Princess. “You’re settling in well, I trust?” She kept talking before Galinda could get a word in edgewise, tugging the other girl forward. “This is Miss Elphaba Thropp. She is a…rather new addition to the student body, and I’m afraid there’s been a bit of misunderstanding about accommodations. There are no free rooms for her, so I told her that she could room with you. You have a private suite, don’t you? I’m sure there’s room for another bed and desk.”
“I…” Galinda had never shared a room with anyone before, and she didn’t really want to start now. Especially if her new roommate--Miss Elphaba--despised her as much as she clearly did.
Elphaba looked down at the tall black boots she was wearing. They should have looked ridiculous on her, especially when paired with her long black dress, but instead she managed to look almost regal. It was just the tiniest bit infuriating, how she clearly didn't give a fig about what she wore and certainly didn't spend hours obsessing over her wardrobe, but looked pretty anyway. “Madame Morrible, I really don’t want to cause any trouble. I’m sure I can stay with Nessa until we can find something more permanent--”
“Nonsense,” Madame Morrible said. “I’m sure that Miss Galinda will be happy to help you.” She looked at Galinda, her gaze almost beseeching. We’ll talk about this later, it seemed to say.
“All right,” Galinda said, looking down at Elphaba’s shoes.
“That’s very good of you, dearie.” Madame Morrible squeezed her shoulder. “The extra furniture should be in the suite within the hour, Miss Elphaba. Miss Galinda, I hope your first week goes well. I’ll expect you for tea after your last class on Friday, so you can tell me about how you’re settling in.” She gave Galinda a small, almost private, smile and then strode back across the quad and through the stone entryway.
For a moment, the two reluctant roommates just stared at each other. Miss Elphaba seemed, if not quite apologetic, then not far from it either. “I’ll see you upstairs,” Galinda finally said, shouldering her bag and turning away.
Miss Elphaba didn’t call her back.
//
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“It’s quite all right, Miss Elphaba.” Galinda’s voice came out stiffly formal, like she was speaking to a member of Father’s ruling council. She didn’t look at her new roommate, focusing instead on arranging her Architecture books on the shelf above her desk.
“You don’t need to call me Miss,” Elphaba said, as she made her bed. Galinda noticed she didn’t hang anything in the wardrobe, or set any bottles of perfume or makeup out on her vanity. Then again, Madame Morrible had said that Elphaba hadn’t been an enrolled student so perhaps she hadn’t brought any of her own belongings because she had just come to drop off Nessarose. What was she planning to sleep in? “We’re going to be roommates. You can just call me Elphaba.”
“Oh.” Another uncomfortable silence stretched out between them. “Then you can call me Galinda.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Not Your Highness?”
“I…no. I’m not a princess here. You don’t need to follow formalities.”
“Good to know,” Elphaba said in a way that suggested she didn’t believe her. Silence fell again.
Galinda tried to stifle a sigh. This was going to be a long year.
She left the dorm as soon as she’d unpacked, to find Pfannee and ShenShen and meet some other students. Pfannee and ShenShen were suitably apologetic, exclaiming over and over again that they didn’t understand why Madame Morrible would make her share a suite with someone that had Elphaba’s verdigris.
ShenShen gasped so loudly that everyone sitting in the dining hall turned to look at her. “You could write to the Wizard. I’m sure he could have Miss Elphaba expelled!” Pfannee nodded in agreement.
“Well, I certainly don’t want to expel her!” If she wrote to Father and explained that she had a roommate that hated her, he probably would write to Miss Coddle and tell her to foist Elphaba upon some other unsuspecting private suite enjoyer. But Galinda knew that Madame Morrible wouldn’t ask her to room with Elphaba unless she had a good reason for it. She had to at least wait until her tea with the sorceress at the end of the week before she wrote to Father.
She just had to get through five nights with Elphaba.
“You’re so good, Galinda,” ShenShen said, patting her shoulder while Pfannee’s eyes glistened with surprising tears. “I could never be so patient with someone like that.”
“She’s an abomination,” Pfannee whispered. “I’m shocked the Governor even lets her out of the house--”
An almighty crash split the air. Galinda swiveled around to see Elphaba standing near a table behind them. She’d dropped her tray and her bowl had shattered, sending hot stew running everywhere. An apple bounced across the floor, knocking against someone’s foot. He picked his foot up quickly, like he thought he could catch green skin just by touching an apple that Elphaba had once touched. For just a moment, Galinda felt sorry for her. It must be entirely exhaustifying to spend so much time around people who hated her for something she couldn’t control and couldn’t change. She knew how it felt to be different. She couldn't imagine being hated for it too.
Then she realized Elphaba was looking right at them. Oz, had she heard Pfannee?
Judging by the way she was glaring at them, she must have. Hell and Oz.
One of the staff members bustled over to clean up the shattered porcelain. He tried to say something to her, but Elphaba was already moving, right out of the dining hall. “I think you hurt the artichoke’s feelings,” ShenShen said, and she and Pfannee both started to laugh. Galinda felt vaguely ill.
She knew it would look suspicious if she left right after Elphaba, so she forced herself to eat a few more bites before she said “I’m not feeling well. I think I need to lie down for a while.” Pfannee and ShenShen fought over who would get to walk her upstairs, but Galinda insisted she could get to her dormitory by herself. She barely had the presence of mind to grab a few things for Elphaba, since she hadn’t had anything to eat. As soon as she was alone in the hallway, the voices of the dining hall fading behind her, Glinda raced up the stairwell.
Elphaba was sitting at her desk, reading a book. She was still wearing her dress from earlier in the day. “I’m so sorry they said those horrendible things,” Galinda started to say, but Elphaba cut her off.
“I didn’t hear you stopping them,” she said, her voice flat.
Galinda bit her lip until she tasted blood. Oz, things were going from bad to worse. She was used to charming every person she met--why was it so impossible for her to charm Elphaba Thropp? “I brought some things for you.” She set them out on the desk: an apple, a couple pieces of bread, a cookie. “I know it isn’t much, but…”
“Thank you,” Elphaba said stiffly. She still didn’t look at Galinda, but her voice softened a little bit.
“And for what it’s worth…I think your skin is a very nice shade of green. I was just surprised, when I said that. I wasn’t expecting to see you. But I didn’t mean to imply--”
“It’s all right,” Elphaba said, setting aside her book and rolling the apple across the desk. “Nessa says I could have been less…prickly. When most people bring up the verdigris, they mean it as an insult.”
“I can imagine,” Galinda said, and then blushed. “I didn’t mean--”
“That’s all right.” Elphaba gave her the tiniest of smiles, but it seemed real--not like the plastered on smiles that Father’s courtiers wore at the Emerald Palace.
“I’m normally better at this. Father did teach me how to talk to people. It’s not like I’ve been locked up in that palace for the last twenty years--”
Elphaba let out a small laugh, tearing off a piece of bread. “Father would have locked me up if he could.”
At first Glinda thought it was just another joke, a piece of back and forth banter in the game they were playing. But Elphaba’s face didn’t relax into a smile and she realized it wasn’t. “Oh. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not,” Elphaba said, quickly. Maybe too quickly. “I’m here now, in any case.”
Another silence. Softer, this time.
Glinda cleared her throat. “What are you going to wear to bed tonight, since your clothes haven’t arrived yet?”
Elphaba shrugged, biting into the apple. She didn’t look at Galinda. “Just this, I guess. I’ll buy some things in town tomorrow. I’d ask Nessa to lend me something of hers, but I’m a little bit taller than she is-”
“You could wear something of mine, if you want.” She pointed to the chests stacked along the walls, to her dresses hanging in the wardrobe and her winter dresses hanging on a clothing rack that she’d just managed to tuck into a corner of the room. Father had always made sure that she had plenty of outfits. “First impressions are important, Galinda,” he’d tell her when the boxes arrived from the dressmakers’. “You can’t make another one.”
Elphaba’s skin seemed to turn a little greener. “I couldn’t impose.”
“You wouldn’t be imposing. As you can see, I have plenty. You can borrow something until your things arrive.” Galinda skipped to her wardrobe, rummaging among a row of identical white nightdresses. She pulled one out at random, the silk soft against her fingertips. “Here.” She set it on the edge of Elphaba’s desk.
Elphaba ran her fingers against the silk, her expression impossible to read. “Why are you being so kind?” she asked, her fingers trailing across the embroidery near the bodice: a green W.
“Why would I be cruel?” Galinda asked honestly. She had everything she could want. So many others in Oz weren’t as fortunate. What was the point in holding it against them?
Elphaba didn’t say anything for a moment. When she did say “Thank you,” her voice was low and soft.
“Of course,” Galinda replied. “What are roommates for?”
And for that night, at least, their silence felt a little less pointed. They weren’t friends yet-not quite. But maybe someday they could be.
Maybe surviving five nights with Elphaba Thropp wouldn't be quite so terrible.