quarter 3
Elphaba is both relieved and dismayed to find that after break, the kiss stays as unspoken as the one shared at her game. Glinda clambers into her truck on Monday, flashing her a friendly smile, before pulling out her makeup and getting to work without another word. It’s not cold like before, rather a comfortable silence, but nevertheless it sends a message: that’s not something they’re going to unpack today (or really any time in the near future). Elphaba puts the truck into drive and tries not to let it disappoint her. She doesn’t quite succeed.
The day passes uneventfully, the two exchanging only the occasional word in class, and walking silently through the halls (hand in hand, of course. Glinda, it turns out, sticks like velcro). By the time practice has rolled around, Elphaba wants nothing more than to go home and get her mind off of blonde hair and warm hands and soft lips and- nope. Not helping.
She gives her all in practice, limbs burning with exhaustion by the time she finally retires to the locker room. Glinda takes one look at her and wisely saves any playful snark she might have been about to say. Instead, she loops her arm through Elphaba and walks with her to the truck, comfortable silence surrounding them in the cool air.
Their days pass like this, now that the edges of loathing have faded into tentative friendship. They alternate picking music on the drive to school, or after particularly juicy cheer practices Glinda will fill her driver in on all the drama that’s occurring. It’s never really particularly meaningful, though Elphaba does get a kick out of hearing about Fiyero and Sarima’s new fling.
“That idiot! My friends are off limits,” she grumbles, but she’s smiling at the triumphant tone Glinda had recounted her story in. Glinda nods sagely, before gasping abruptly. Reaching for the radio, which had been softly playing in the background, she turns the dial up and starts singing along.
“Elphie, this is our song! Remember, when we had our dance party at Fiyero’s house?” Her eyes gleam, and she smiles like they’re in on some little joke.
Which they are, if they’re being honest. This is the first time either of them have mentioned that night in any way, and Elphaba finds herself scrambling for words before settling on the safe option of a nod of agreement.
“Well don’t just nod, you mean green thing, sing with me!” And singing louder now, purposefully obnoxious, she pokes Elphaba in the arm until the other girl is quietly singing with her.
“Ouch Glinda! No poking, I’m driving. Fine, fine I’ll sing.”
When they pull into the Shiz parking lot, for the first time in a while Elphaba finds herself almost regretful to leave their little bubble in the truck.
. . . . . .
As playoffs loom on the horizon, only a mere 2 months away, practice only gets more grueling. Elphaba prides herself on having a good balance between academics and sports, but even she feels as though she’s starting to lose her footing between juggling the two. She finds herself going through the motions, physically and mentally drained. Glinda takes to bringing her a cup of coffee every morning, wordlessly handing it to her as she clambers into the truck. Neither have the energy to keep up any pretense of hatred anymore, and Elphaba revels in the softer side of the cheerleader that is starting to show.
Winter is slowly fading into spring, and the two trudge through the slushy parking lot one February morning deep in conversation. Glinda’s pink winter jacket is zipped to the top, her tiny frame swallowed by the puffy material. Elphaba had bravely opted for only a hoodie, and wincing against a sudden gust of wind is beginning to regret her choices. As they put their stuff away in the locker room, Elphaba is recounting a drill she’s planning on running at practice later that day. She’s pleasantly surprised to find Glinda listening attentively, not as lost as the green girl had thought she would be.
“So then what, does Milla drive to the basket and score a layup?” Glinda asks, eyebrows furrowed. She drags Elphaba to their usual seats in the second row as she speaks, Dillamond eyeing them amusedly as they just barely make it before the bell. Elphaba squints at the blonde.
“Since when do you know anything about basketball? The Glinda of two days ago asked me what the point of a freethrow was.” The blonde scoffs at this, but her companion is confused yet somewhat endeared to see a faint blush spread on her face.
Looking anywhere but at Elphaba, she examines her nails with faux haughtiness as she replies, “My goodness, can’t a girl educate herself on her girlfriend’s sport? I just watched a couple college games last night, looked up the occasional term.. Oz forbid!”
Elphaba feels that funny warm feeling again, and fights the urge to smile in a way so silly Glinda would surely make fun of her. Instead, she opts for a smirk and pokes the blonde in her arm. “Aww, what a caring girlfriend.”
Before she can dwell further on the implications of Glinda trying to learn more about her sport, Dillamond claps loudly for their attention and she’s forced to turn her attention away from the blonde beside her. Still, the thought lingers in her mind for the rest of the day.
By the end of practice, any residual happiness she might have had is long gone. Elphaba trudges to the locker room, only mumbling a quick hello to Glinda, who takes in her defeated slump with an odd expression on her face. Too tired to change out of her uniform, she throws on her hoodie and decides to brave the no doubt frigid parking lot in her shorts. As she fumbles around her bag for her keys, a soft hand reaches for hers and stops her. She looks up to see Glinda watching her with an odd mix of concern and some soft touch that Elphaba is unused to seeing in her eyes.
“Elphie, darling, with all due respect you look like you’re about to drop dead. How about I drive home today?” She brushes a stray braid that’s falling in the green girl’s face behind her ear and takes the key Elphaba procures from the depths of her bag.
“Well then I’ll still have to drive myself home after I drop you off. No point switching seats and all that, I can do it Glinda.” She tries her best to seem more energetic, but judging from the wince it elicits from Glinda she probably only appears borderline manic. She lets her shoulders slump back down, and drags a hand over her face.
“Well then just stay over. At my house, I mean. I can lend you anything you’re missing, it’s a Friday, and tomorrow morning when you’re better rested you can drive your truck home. Really, it would be irresponsible of me to let a walking hazard like you behind the wheel! I think I saw you almost fall asleep three times during Dillamond’s lecture today. Usually I’m the one falling asleep in that class!”
Elphaba weighs her options. All the points Glinda raises are fair ones, but on the other hand something about staying the night at the Upland’s has a strange tinge of intimacy that Elphaba is not particularly looking to share with Glinda. Or rather, she corrects herself, she is willing to share it with Glinda, but perhaps too much. Considering they’ve kissed twice now and talked about neither instance, they don’t seem to have a great track record when it comes to closeness. And Elphaba, resilient and independent as she is, finds that facing another quiet rejection from the blonde would only make her life decidedly worse.
Still, Glinda watches her with those soft eyes, and Elphaba is oh so tired. So she wordlessly hands Glinda the keys, watching the dimple form on the blonde’s cheek from her triumphant grin. She lets herself be guided by the elbow out into the darkened parking lot, and for the first time in– well, maybe ever, if she thinks about it –climbs into the passenger side of her truck, feeling disconcerted to look over and see Glinda in the driver's seat.
The drive to the Upland’s is quiet, Shiz’s surrounding parks blending into suburbia, which in turn slowly fades into the grander houses of the neighborhood of Pertha Hills. Glinda pulls into the Upland driveway, and nudges Elphaba to get out. As they enter the Upland house, for the first time the thought of what the Uplands will think crosses her mind. Her father would surely lose his mind if she brought home her girlfriend to stay the night unannounced. Curious, she asks Glinda.
A wry smile pulls across the blonde’s face, and as she bustles around setting her stuff down, she scoffs dismissively. “Oh, they really won’t care. Momsie and Momsicle will honestly just be happy I’m dating someone at all. Well, fake dating, but they don’t know that part. I think they were getting worried I was a lost cause for a while. And besides, they’ve definitely retired to their room by now. They won’t care a smidge.”
Elphaba shrugs, too tired to press, and follows Glinda upstairs. The blonde leads her to a bedroom that is so, well, Glinda, that the green girl cracks a smile. Glinda, noticing her amusement, flushes.
“Listen, I know the pink is a bit.. overdone, but really I decorated a while ago and just haven’t had the time to redo it. And I like it! So no teasing.”
And it really is rather pink. It’s a reasonably sized room, a large bed pushed along the wall under a big window. The walls are painted light pink, and one is covered with papers, various sizes and arrangements nearly covering that side of the room. As Elphaba looks closer, she spots magazine cutouts, posters, and.. drawings? Faintly she recalls the constant doodling Glinda takes down in her history notebook instead of.. well, notes. She’ll have to inquire further about that later.
Turning back to the blonde, Elphaba shakes her head, hands up in front of her in defense. “I wasn’t teasing, my sweet. It’s just so very you.” Glinda cocks her head at that, and Elphaba takes a moment to process what the blonde is surprised about.
“I mean- Glinda. Sorry, Oz, that just slipped out. I wasn’t teasing, Glinda.”
“No, I didn’t mind it, don’t apologize. It’s only fair you give me a cute nickname, I’ve been rattling on about Elphie this, Elphie that, all the time. Now we’re even!” Glinda sports a small smile that makes the dimple in her cheek stand out. Elphaba has the odd urge to reach out and poke it, and quickly signs that thought off as a side effect of the exhaustion. Nothing more.
As she settles her things, Glinda begins to rummage through her dressers. Over her shoulder, the blonde lobs a faded t-shirt and pyjama pants at Elphaba. Upon further inspection, the dark-haired girl is charmed to find the shirt is the Emerald City Wizards merch, Oz’s most popular hockey team. Glinda sniffs when Elphaba shoots her an amused look, replying haughtily, “I did tell you I was an avid hockey fan. Momsicle and I like to go to their games when they’re playing home games.”
Elphaba doesn’t reply, but files this information into the ever growing list of oddly charming facts about Glinda. She’s finding that the list is growing unexpectedly long. She isn’t quite sure what to do with that, and faintly wonders how long she can toe the line between pretending to like and actually liking the blonde. She might have already crossed it, in all honesty, but she files that thought away as one to deal with when there is less on her plate.
They get ready for bed side by side, Elphaba too tired to care much about formality. She brushes her teeth and watches Glinda in the bathroom mirror next to her, foamy toothpaste and pink toothbrush sticking out of her mouth. The blonde’s makeup is wiped off, her classy outfits traded for faded pyjamas, and her usually perfect hair slightly mussed. Elphaba marvels at how different she seems from Shiz’s princess. Or rather, how much realer she seems. Some small part of her finds a sense of pride in being the one to peek behind the curtain and see the true Glinda, without all of the glitz and glamor she sports in front of the masses.
They pad quietly back to Glinda’s bedroom, and Glinda begins to roll out a fluffy sleeping bag on the floor. It looks far too comfortable and plush to ever be used for actual camping, but Elphaba stifles a smile at the thought of Glinda camping and reasons that the bag will probably never be used farther than the occasional sleepover anyways. Glinda had offered her bed to the dark-haired girl, insisting “no guest of hers would sleep on the floor”, and true to her word settles into her sleeping bag without complaint. Elphaba, feeling somewhat out of place, clambers into the bed, nearly drowning in the thick blankets and pillows.
She clicks the bedside lamp off, washing the room in darkness, and not feeling not a small amount of awkwardness whispers, “Good night Glinda,” into the darkness.
“Good night Elphie,” is the response she hears, and then the room falls into a still quiet punctured only by their steady breaths and the occasional rustle of trees outside.
Despite her exhaustion all week, Elphaba finds herself with a mind far too awake to drift off into much needed sleep. What does it mean when the girl who you’re pretending to date kisses you twice, and then drives you home and lets you sleep in her bed? Does it mean anything at all? Or is she analyzing a friendship far too much, mistaking common kindness for something that isn’t there at all? She tosses and turns for some immeasurable stretch of time, and then a small whisper pierces the silence.
“Elphie? Are you awake?” Elphaba turns to glance down at the floor, and finds a pair of eyes already on her. With only faint moonlight filtering through the window, and her glasses on the bedside table, she can barely make out Glinda’s face in the gloom.
“Yes, Glinda. Can you not sleep?”
“Well clearly not. But why can’t you? I thought you were tired.” Glinda sits up, and drags a hand down her face absentmindedly. Her hair is sticking up in all directions from lying down, and Elphaba finds it equal parts amusing and endearing.
“I was. Or rather, am. I suppose there’s just a lot on my mind.”
“Such as?” Elphaba wonders how to answer that truthfully without disrupting this balance they’ve found in dancing around their situation. She mulls over her answer in silence for a long moment, and then turns to look back at Glinda. She opts for an easier route.
“Aren’t you uncomfortable on the floor?”
Glinda huffs, waving a hand dismissively. “Don’t deflect, Elphie. And no, I’m perfectly fine. Just not used to it, is all.”
Elphaba waits another moment, and then musters up the courage to reply, “Just join me up here then. If you’d like. There’s plenty of space.”
She turns back to the wall to avoid the weight of Glinda’s gaze, but finds some small thrill when she hears the rustle of the sleeping bag and then the covers being lifted. The mattress dips, and then there’s another body huddled near her. The blonde keeps a small distance, but she’s close enough that Elphaba can feel the warmth radiating off her. The green girl finds there’s a strange sense of comfort in Glinda’s presence.
“Good night Elphie,” Glinda whispers once more. Elphaba falls asleep within minutes.
. . . . . .
Elphaba wakes up to the disconcerting feeling of a weight on her chest. As her eyes blink open, she’s briefly alarmed to find herself in entirely unfamiliar surroundings, until she remembers the events of last night. That would certainly explain the weight on her chest being Glinda, curled around Elphaba like she’s a giant green teddy bear. She’s still asleep, but begins to stir as Elphaba carefully sits up.
Eventually she does wake, and sitting up slowly blinks in an endearingly cat-like manner. Patting down her hair, she smiles sweetly at her companion as thought waking up together is a perfectly normal event.
“Good morning Elphaba. Sleep alright?” The green girl can only nod mutely, still slightly disconcerted, but Glinda immediately sets off for the day, climbing out of bed to start her morning routine. Elphaba sits and watches her, baffled, before following suit.
It is a Saturday, so neither are particularly pressed for time. The Uplands are surprisingly normal about a random girl descending the stairs to breakfast with their daughter, especially considering she is introduced as Glinda’s girlfriend a moment later. Elphaba tries not to laugh at the thought of the face her father would make if she ever pulled a move like this. Glinda’s Momsicle, a tall brunette with a kind smile, cooks them pancakes, and the four sit at the breakfast table in a scene so domestic Elphaba wonders if she’s fallen into a different universe overnight. She’s charmed nearly immediately by the blonde Momsie’s quick wit, so reminiscent of her daughter’s, and the thoughtful conversation of Momsicle, that she nearly forgets she only met them an hour or two prior. She thanks the two profusely for the lovely time at the end, which they seem to find charming and Glinda seems to find amusing. Elphaba isn’t too bad at the whole girlfriend bit, it seems.
Glinda walks her to her truck in the afternoon, smiling sweetly at her as she climbs up into the driver’s seat. As she reaches to close the door, Glinda yelps and stops her.
“Wait, wait, I need to say goodbye!” Elphaba laughs, and scrunches her nose.
“Glinda, you don’t need to say goodbye. I'll see you in literally two days when I pick you up on Monday morning.” The frown she receives from the blonde is practically a pout, to which she laughs again.
“Oh but Elphie, how long that is! However will I do without you,” she gasps theatrically, laying a hand across her forehead. Elphaba rolls her eyes at her antics, but is surprised when Glinda climbs onto the truck to reach over and kiss her on the cheek before hopping back down.
“Drive safe, you mean green thing. See you soon.” And she smiles once more before shutting the truck door, to which Elphaba, stunned, can only turn on the ignition and back out of the driveway. She waves to the cheerleader still standing in the driveway, and then drives home with a mind full of thoughts and even more confusion about what in Oz Glinda Upland is doing to her.