Chapter Text
For many of the students at Shiz, that momentous night at the Ozdust Ballroom would linger forever in their minds in at least some capacity. After all, who wouldn’t want to brag that they had danced with a prince? And who would forget such a night of illicit revelry? The hopeful flutters in one’s chest when that special someone asks for their company, and the thrill of slipping away by night to the gondolas, praying to not be caught, but too exhilarated to properly muffle their giggles and whisper-shouts.
And who could possibly forget the biggest spectacle of the evening? The most verdant student there is or was, boldly assuming that she too was invited to join the fun. Boldly existing, for that’s all she’d ever known to do, and boldly dancing, as that’s what she was there for. Despite the stares; despite the ridicule; despite that truly hideoteous hat, she danced. And it moved the heart of the girl the crowd least expected.
It was certainly strange seeing Galinda (Arduenna) Upland doing such undignified motions. But surely, they reasoned, her good and kind heart moved her to take pity on the school’s outcast, and reward her audacious braverism with a show of good faith.
(The dance became something beautiful once there was a partner for its duet. Something no one, not even Elphaba herself, would’ve ever realized had a hat not been traded for a wand. Had Galinda not thought that perhaps the best way she could thank her roommate–and apologize–was to follow her lead and stop giving a twig what everyone thought, for at least a moment.)
So really, they had no choice but to follow along. To suggest Galinda Upland was doing something unseemly would be like proposing that the sky is red–silly, and a little concerning. They thought that that would be the end of it, that the dance’s conclusion would once again launch them back into the mindless twisting and drinking and laughing. That come the next morning, they may treat Elphaba a little kinder, but ultimately nothing would change.
They were proven wrong when Galinda launched herself at her roommate, clutching tightly as tears flowed down verdigrised cheeks. Then again, when they ran out of the ballroom hand-in-hand, leaving Galinda’s own date– a prince– behind.
(“They probably just went to freshen up,” they let themselves believe.)
But what was most astounding came afterwards, and nearly caused those with the worst hangovers to think they were out of their right minds. Seemingly overnight, the first-year princess had done a complete 180 in her opinion of her roommate. They were attached at the hip, enough so that people winced in sympathy as they saw Galinda dragging her new friend across the quad. And when they weren’t in each other’s sights, Galinda spoke like she would die if she couldn’t insert Elphaba (“Elphie”)’s name between every other breath.
The skeptical crowd were convinced she must’ve been hexed somehow in the hours they were sequestered in their room. But that crowd quickly dwindled as more and more of them saw how Galinda’s eyes would light up, soften, or startlingly tear up once the green girl walked into a room. That, and the first (and last) time someone had dared to suggest the idea, she had clearly (and loudly) declared that anyone who assumed her Elphie would do anything so heinous as that would be facing the end of her wand. (The wand she truly could do very little with, at the moment, but they didn’t need to know that.)
And so, there was really only one other conclusion they could come to.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Elphaba’s quite happy that since the prince’s showboating the other day, the library has seen very little excitement. She can study in peace and quiet once more, without fear that he’ll glide in and start dancing on tables again. Though she’s sure Nessa would probably appreciate that. She’s been oddly distracted during their study session anyways, glancing at Elphaba every few seconds like she’s started growing spots.
(Secretly, she could never be that annoyed by something that made Nessa smile, even if it was noisy and entitled and disturbed her concentration.)
Eventually she gets tired of it, sighing pointedly as she continues to write. “Is there something on my face, Nessie?”
Nessarose, mid-stare, yelps. “Uh, no. Not that I know of.”
“Then why do you keep looking at me like that?”
She bites her lip. Elphaba braces herself; there’s many answers one expects, when they’re green and unpopular and the laughing stock of the school. “It’s just…when we were talking about ways to thank Galinda, I didn’t think you would hop into bed with her.”
Elphaba’s pen clatters against the table. That was not one of them. She blinks, hard, and ignores the unsightly urge to clean her ears. “I’m sorry?”
A chuckle puffs through Nessa’s nose. “Don’t be a prude, Fabala, everyone knows that’s what happened.”
“When?”
Nessa looks at her like she’s grown two heads. “After the Ozdust?”
“And…everyone?” she implores. Nessa nods. “Thinks what happened after the Ozdust?”
Nessa looks tired of repeating herself. “You and Galinda hooked up.”
Maybe she’s having a stroke. That would explain why her baby sister just asked if she’s sleeping with her roommate. “Galinda’s straight,” she mutters, dazed. “And with Fiyero.”
Nessa just shrugs. “That’s not what I’m hearing,” she responds, which doesn’t make a single thing clearer for Elphaba.
“They went to the Ozdust together. It was their first date.”
“Yeah, but she left with you and has been attached to your hip ever since.” She has to admit that that’s true, and she did find it slightly odd (though not out of character) how quickly Galinda had switched her attentions. But that doesn’t mean…she thinks she would know if…
Elphaba’s not stupid. She’s read romance books before, has enviously watched her peers get gifted valentines and cuddle up with their sweethearts–she knows what dating looks like. Galinda surely knows what dating looks like, considering her scheme to get Fiyero under her spell in the first place. But this friendship they’ve forged, strong and sudden, that is much more nebulously understood. Both of them are new to such things–the euphoria, the vulnerability, the safety in each other, away from the rest of the world. Perhaps, in always walking with hands or arms linked, in the frequent whispers and giggles, in sharing secrets at night with their noses barely inches away, they’ve blurred the lines a little.
Elphaba’s not sure what to think about that. Only that it’s not as alarming a revelation as it seems.
At her sister’s blank look (not from the absence of thought, but contrarily in the way that so many are flitting around her mind that none of them seem to present outwardly), Nessa finally relents, brows knitting together. “Are you two really not together?”
“I’m not sure,” she finds herself saying, confirming nothing, but also not denying anything in a way she deems is safe, for now. She needs to talk to Galinda.
She finds that she can’t really focus after that. Not with her head swimming as it is, skimming through every moment with Galinda since the Ozdust for…evidence? The opposite? She’s not sure which one, if either, would soothe her.
Nessa had left a while ago, claiming she had a date with Boq (although the meaner side of her unfairly wonders if she’s going to gab about her reaction to her friends, the same ones participating in her public humiliation at the Ozdust.) Elphaba, conceding that she wasn’t going to get much more studying done that night, followed her shortly after.
The campus air is starting to chill with the sun’s slow descent. By this hour Galinda’s probably back in their room, waiting for her to return from the library; another thing that she's recently come to question. Is it normal for friends to eagerly await one’s return? To brighten and beam when one walks into the room? It’s possible that their status as roommates might also be throwing a wrench in things, in that regard. She doesn’t have very many friends that she doesn’t live with; and, well, she doesn’t spend merely as much time around them as she does with Galinda. Less chances for comparative observation.
This matter needs to be resolved as soon as possible, which is why she calls, “Galinda,” before she’s even fully opened the door to her room, so that her roommate will detect her tone before she can be distractified by the fact of her return.
Galinda turns at her vanity and smiles softly, as she so often seems to do under Elphaba’s attention. Elphaba is suddenly (and not for the first time) struck by the thought that she looks very pretty like that, with her hair pinned up for bed and her face lightly shining as she removes her makeup. Dear Oz.
“Yes, Elphie?” she says. Elphaba clears her throat.
“I heard the most confusifying rumor today–”
Galinda erupts in a gasp, fully whipping to face her roommate so fast that her little stool nearly topples over. “Elphaba Thropp, are you about to gossip with me? Whatever has gotten into you?” She waves the thought away and stands, ready to excitedly flounce around her roommate. “Oh, it doesn’t matter. This calls for a celebratiooon!”
“Did you know that everyone thinks we’re dating?”
Galinda freezes in her tracks. “Oh,” she says. “That one.”
Elphaba triumphantly harrumphs , practically throwing her books onto the desk. “So you do know it.”
“Well,” Galinda nervously twines a curl around her finger, “I may have started it.”
Elphaba blinks at her. “You what ?”
“It was an accident!” She pops up and begins to pace, avoiding Elphaba’s steady gaze. “I just–now that I know how absolutely spectacular you are, I wanted all the rest of them to see it too. So I’ve been talking you up a little. Nothing outrageous, just everything true. Like how you’re always so focused, and how gentle you can be with me, and how positively brilliant you are…”
If she were looking, Galinda would see the purplish flush blooming across her cheeks. Elphaba clears her throat, stumbling across her words in the face of such blatant praise. “Thank you, I guess. But how did that lead them to the conclusion that you and I are dating?”
“How should I know?”
“Galinda, the whole school hated me because you told them to. You have to know something.”
Elphaba immediately regrets her words when Galinda abruptly stops her pacing, looking rather glum as she sits on her bed. “I am sorry about that, you know,” she says. “Very, truly sorry.”
Elphaba sighs. She shouldn’t have brought that up. “I know. I’ve already forgiven you.” Galinda barely seems like she hears her, staring into the patterns of her skit. She moves to kneel at her feet, chin resting beside her knee. “And I’m not really mad about this, either. Just…surprised.”
Galinda looks up at that, chocolate pools meeting emerald green. “Really?”
“I don’t appreciate being gossiped about, even if I am used to it. But…I guess it could be worse. It has been worse.”
“That’s sort of why I’ve been doing it.” She begins fiddling with her hands, looking down at her lap again. Elphaba watches patiently. “I just felt so bad about…well, all of the Before. I figured the least I could do was change the conversation, and maybe that could make up for it.”
Elphaba softens. She rests a hand atop Galinda’s left, lacing their fingers together. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
Galinda’s lips curve up. She plays with her nails as the tension settles between them. Elphaba’s entranced by the divots they form in the plush, pale fingertips; by this girl who’s unafraid of her sharp edges.
“I could…clear things up. If you want,” says Galinda. Elphaba’s eyes snap to her face. “I didn’t realize it all would make you uncomfortable, Elphie.”
“You don’t need to.”
Galinda’s eyes widen as she meets her own. “Are you sure?”
“They’re talking about how much you care about me, and how much I care about you. There’s nothing untrue about that.” Her words are too earnest, though not unwelcome judging by the gleam in the blonde’s doe eyes. Still, Elphaba clears her throat uncomfortably. “And I don’t want to ruin your plan when it’s working. ”
Galinda leans back slightly to triumphantly toss her hair. “Yes, well, there was never a doubt that it would.”
Elphaba can’t help but chuckle at her friend’s pridefulness. Another thing nags at her (as many things often do.) She’s not sure Galinda has fully considered what this would mean for herself.
“I should be asking if you’re uncomfortable,” she says. “I thought you were straight, Galinda.”
“I am.”
Elphaba purses her lips. “...you do know that they think we slept together, right? After the Ozdust.”
“I do.”
“Which would make you not straight.”
“To them. ”
She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes at her. “Aren’t you the one that said, ‘It’s the way you’re viewed that matters?’”
Galinda pauses. “Did I?” she asks. It’s a little funny how Galinda can talk so much, but barely remember any of it.
“You did.”
Galinda hums, and she thinks. Really thinks, which Elphaba can tell by the way she goes silent for a good amount of seconds as she must be running through her stunningly sharp social calculus “Well, I guess I can see where you’re coming from,” she says, ultimately, and for a moment Elphaba thinks that this will be it, that the thought of presenting as someone she’s truly not would be the final, impassable hurdle. ( Galinda is only her Galinda magnified, after all. Still charming, still maintaining some awkward flutters, still good-intentioned.) Then comes, “But does it really matter?”
Huh?
She continues, “The world won’t end just because Shiz University thinks that I like girls. And I do like a girl.” She leans forward, gently poking Elphaba’s nose. “Boop!”
She must be really secure in her sexuality , Elphaba thinks, because entertaining any other conclusion might make her head explode.
Then she asks what’s been lingering in her mind since the Ozdust, quite honestly. “But what about Fiyero?”
Galinda blinks at her, acting clueless. “What about Fiyero?”
“Weren’t you–” she fumbles. “Didn’t you want him? Won’t this mess that up?”
Without hesitation, she declares, “I want you more.” And, well, Elphaba isn’t really sure what to say to that. Not when Galinda’s looking at her with those big brown eyes, seemingly nonplussed by the way her blunt admission had nearly knocked her over.
She wonders what she did to deserve it. Dulcibear loved her unconditionally, but was never preferential between her and Nessa. Madame Morrible will only support her as long as she can live up to her potential. But Galinda…what does she have to give to Galinda? What puts her above all others? Above the man she said she was going to marry?
“No one’s ever said that to me before,” she whispers. She regrets it immediately—it’s a weak, pitiful statement. But rather than soften with sympathy, Galinda seems to steel herself, straightening her already impeccable posture.
“Then I’ll keep saying it for all the times those fools did it,” she declares. “I’ll say it so much that you’ll hear it in your dreams!”
Oh, Elphaba thinks, I already will. And it’s that thought, fleeting as it was, that keeps her awake as Galinda’s sleep-softened breath tickles her neck, wondering what exactly it is that she’s gotten herself into.