Chapter 21
Elphaba barely got five steps into school before she was ambushed.
"Okay, you’ve been weird," Crope announced, falling into step beside her.
"She’s always weird," Tibbett added, slinging an arm over Crope’s shoulder. "But this? This is a newlevel of weird."
Elphaba sighed. "It’s seven in the morning. I don’t have the energy for this."
"You don’t have the energy?" Boq piped up, adjusting the strap of his bag. "You look like you haven’t slept."
Elphaba rolled her eyes, tugging at the collar of her pressed white button-up—part of the mandatory school uniformshe had always loathed. "That’s just my face."
"Liar," Crope sing-songed. "Something happened last night. Spill."
Elphaba kept her expression neutral, pushing open her locker and ignoring their curious stares.
"If you must know, I spent the evening in deep contemplation about our flawed academic system and the overall bleak nature of society."
Tibbett snorted. "Oh, so you did hook up with someone."
Elphaba slammed her locker shut, sending them all a flat look. "You’re all unbearable."
Boq smirked. "You like us."
Elphaba did not dignify that with a response. "Don’t you all have rehearsal or practice or whatever it is you do after school?"
"We do," Crope grinned, "but that’s not happening until later, sooooo—"
"Leave me alone," Elphaba finished for him, already turning on her heel.
"Not a chance."
Tibbett grinned. "Come on, let’s talk about something less emotionally revealing."
"Like?"
"Like our actual activities?" Boq suggested. "Since you never listen."
"I listen," Elphaba argued, shoving her hands in her blazer pockets. "It’s just rarely worth remembering."
Crope threw a hand over his heart dramatically. "You wound me."
"Alright, you gremlins, get on with it," Elphaba sighed, exasperated but… fond.
"Fine," Tibbett said. "Boq’s still perfecting his monologue for the winter production, Crope and I have a duet to rehearse, and we’re still trying to convince our lovely green friend here to actuallycome watch us perform."
Elphaba groaned. "Fine. I’ll go. But if it’s terrible, I reserve the right to complain the entire time."
"You love musicals," Crope said, pointing a finger at her.
"I love mocking musicals."
"Uh-huh."
Boq grinned, nudging her. "What about you? Track still running your life?"
Elphaba shrugged. "Won state. Coach is already talking about regionals."
"And you’re still in the habit of sneaking out to brood on your own?" Crope asked.
Elphaba scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I don’t brood."
"Right, right," Tibbett teased. "Just let us know if you ever need to sneak out for… reasons."
Elphaba shoved his shoulder. "Shut up."
Crope and Tibbett giggled.
Boq sighed dramatically. "I can’t believe we still don’t know your secrets."
Elphaba smirked as they approached their first period classroom. "Then I must be doing something right."
But the teasing didn’t stop there.
And neither did the glances from the boys.
The semester was finally winding down, but that didn’t mean things were getting easier. Midterms loomed over them like a dark cloud, stress levels running high as students filled the library and study halls with last-minute cramming.
Glinda was barely holding it together.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t smart—she had great grades, always had—but balancing cheer, social life, family pressure, and now whatever was happening with Elphaba was proving to be a lot.
And speaking of Elphaba—
She wasn’t faring much better.
"You look like you haven’t slept in a week," Boq noted as Elphaba dropped into her usual seat at their study table, tossing her bag down with a sigh.
"Midterms. Regionals. The general suffering of existence," Elphaba deadpanned, rubbing her temple. "Take your pick."
"All of the above?" Crope suggested with a grin, flipping through his notes. "I personally love midterms. It’s like a fun little game to see how much I can procrastinate before it actually kills me."
Tibbett snorted. "Sounds about right."
Elphaba just groaned, flipping open her textbook as if sheer force of will could absorb the information into her brain.
Across the library, Glinda sat with Pfannee, Shenshen, and Milla, but she wasn’t paying attention.
Her gaze kept flickering toward Elphaba’s table, watching the way she chewed on the end of her pen, scowled at her notes, or occasionally bickered with Boq.
She was ridiculous. And stupidly attractive. And it was distracting.
"You’re staring again," Pfannee muttered under her breath, not even looking up from her textbook.
Glinda’s face heated. "I’m not."
"You are," Shenshen sing-songed. "What’s so fascinating about the loner table, anyway?"
Glinda huffed, flipping a page aggressively. "Nothing."
Pfannee gave her a knowing look but let it drop. For now.
As the week dragged on, the exhaustion hit everyone harder.
By the time Friday rolled around, the last of the midterms were turned in, students dragging themselves out of classrooms like war survivors.
"I think I forgot how to read," Crope mumbled, dramatically slumping against a locker.
"I think I forgot how to live," Boq corrected.
Elphaba just exhaled, closing her locker with a dull thunk. "At least it’s over."
"Not just over—winter break is finally here," Fiyero announced, sliding into the conversation with his usual lazy grin. "No school. No midterms. Just two glorious weeks of freedom."
"Thank the Ozians," Tibbett muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I need sleep."
"I need food," Crope corrected.
Boq smirked. "I need all of you to stop complaining."
Elphaba was barely listening. Across the hall, Glinda caught her eye briefly before quickly looking away.
Elphaba didn’t know what to make of that.
She also didn’t know what to make of the fact that she had agreed to go to the musical.
"So, tomorrow night," Crope said, stretching. "Big outing. You’re still coming, right?"
Elphaba sighed. "Unfortunately."
"Oh, you’ll love it," Tibbett said, waving a hand. "Even if you don’t, we’ll love watching you suffer."
"Charming."
Fiyero arched a brow. "You’re actually going to a school event? I didn’t think you did fun."
Elphaba shot him a dry look. "It’s not by choice."
Crope nudged her. "And maybe, just maybe, a certain someone will be there, and you’ll—"
"Don’t finish that sentence if you value your life."
Crope just grinned.
"Anyway," Boq said, before the teasing could escalate, "what’s everyone’s plan for winter break? Besides our legendary movie night sleepover, of course."
Tibbett sighed dramatically. "Sleeping. Eating. Avoiding my extended family. The usual."
"I’m being dragged to some fancy ski resort," Crope groaned. "I don’t even like skiing."
"I’ll be here," Boq added. "Just hanging out, hopefully doing nothing."
Fiyero grinned. “I was thinking we could do a movie night, at my place? Sleepover included?”
"The movie night," Crope emphasized. "A long-standing tradition of the finest films, the best snacks, and absolutely no sleep."
Tibbett smirked. "And the occasional fight about what we’re actually watching."
Boq turned to Elphaba. "And you? You’ll come to the movie night, right?"
Elphaba hesitated. "I—"
"You are coming to the movie night," Fiyero said, giving her a pointed look. "No arguing."
Elphaba sighed, already regretting it. "Fine."
Crope cheered. "Oh, this is going to be amazing."
Elphaba rolled her eyes, but there was something lighter in the way she exhaled, something almost relieved as they all fell into step together, heading toward the front doors—
Toward break. Toward something new.