The Umbrella
Elphaba Thropp hated Galinda Upland. There were handfuls of certainties that she collected as she had grown - for one, her skin was unchangeably, irrevocably green, of that she was sure. Two, she was equally as certain that she would never truly be able to escape the repulsion created by her unfortunate hue. And thirdly, amidst many other facts, Elphaba Thropp was sure and certain that she hated Galinda Upland.
It wasn’t just the name calling; there were only so many times one could be hurt by the phrases “artichoke” and “green bean” before they began to tire of them. No, in fact, it was Galinda herself that Elphaba despised so. Whilst disgust of her green skin and subsequent mortification were more than common, Elphaba had never quite experienced a reaction such as Galinda’s. The girl was so fixedly self-absorbed in her own proclaimed goodness that she seemed truly not to recognise her rudeness, at least not at first, so assured was she in the notion that she, Galinda Upland, could do no wrong. As time had passed, along with insults from both their tongues, Elphaba had noted the change in Galinda’s eyes. With every harrumph and stomp of her foot at Elphaba’s backlash, her eyes had glinted a little more sharply with the next cruelty she partook in. Yes, Elphaba was sure, if not at first, then Galinda certainly well and truly loathed her by now.
The girl’s latest prank had involved her, flocked with her usual giggling cohort, keeping Elphaba from rushing to her room as she had planned to do. Instead, they had crowded around her, shooting meaningless taunts as Elphaba began to fret more and more with the clouding of the once clear sky, pushing it towards a dense and threatening grey.
“Oh my, the artichoke simply looks distressed, wouldn’t you say?”
“I never knew a worse frown, though I suppose everything looks worse in green.”
“Oh Galinda, she looks positively anguished, does she not?”
Elphaba had watched the smirk grow on Galinda’s face, matching it with a resonating grimace on her own, hoping that her stubborn hatred was shining through clearly. The girl stood opposite her, draped in an overwhelming waterfall of pink tufts, her hand on her cocked hip, her foot pointing slightly outwards in her signature perky position.
“Why yes, I noted that too. Seems rather to me like an animal backed in a corner. A frog perhaps? Or maybe a grasshopper, so easy to squish.”
Elphaba scoffed, her weighty frown and furrowed eyebrows pulling her expression down even more. She decided her best course of action was to not dignify their taunts with a response, and instead moved to push past them, resolving to return to her room before it was much too late, and the sky began its inevitable downfall.
Yet as she moved to push past, one of Galinda’s brainless lackeys held out a stiff arm, blocking her way, even as she shot them one of her harshest of looks. Elphaba turned her head slightly, noting how Galinda’s smirk tightened, the familiar glint present in her eyes.
“See, that’s the problem with having an unfortunate water allergy,” Galinda began, as Elphaba felt the first drop glance upon her skin, sizzling upon the green canvas. She pulled her hand away with a hiss as Galinda crossed her arms with a haughty expression.
“Makes it rather difficult to go out in the rain.”
And so Elphaba had dashed backwards, to the safe cover of a brick archway, as the group rushed off giggling in the abrupt and worsening downpour. Which was what had left her stuck here, sunken to the floor with her arms crossed tightly around the huddle of her legs, and her back pushed stubbornly against the cold stone wall behind her. Nearly two hours had passed, yet the rain seemed not to care for her time, lashing down with renewed fervour, and leaving her trapped still. The world had grown even darker, and with a check of her watch, Elphaba noted the time as much too late for anyone to be out - not that she was sure any of Shiz’s student population would want to save her anyway. No, they were all wrapped up safely in their rooms as she should be, not sat miserably in the cold dark outside, fenced in on all sides. All because of some stupid allergy to water, or more accurately, because of her horrendously stupid and aggravating roommate.
This was just another reason in the ever growing pile of why she hated Galinda Upland. It would appear the girl had no redeeming qualities. Cruel, callous, self-absorbed, and polished to a tee - well, at least Elphaba could give her that, she supposed. Galinda seemed to have perfectly nailed the act of the charming, somewhat ditsy, innocent young girl, winning over all of Shiz, and no doubt, Elphaba thought, all that she came across. Yet Elphaba saw who she really was, and she did not find the version she was faced with as “good” as Galinda boasted she was. “Miss Galinda Upland, of the Upper Uplands” was a fraud, and even if she knew no one else would ever realise this, Elphaba found some comfort in knowing she could not be fooled. Galinda was not an enigma, no, in fact she was simply something that was all too common. A spiteful, unkind young girl. Maybe one day her porcelain persona would succumb to gravity, and be gratifyingly shattered, but whilst Elphaba could hope for such a day, she was doubtful this would ever happen. For now, she would have to content herself with dreaming of some way to get her back.
Despite herself, Elphaba felt her body shiver, and so she pulled her knees in closer, ringing her hands together and trying to find some comfort in the pitter-pattering of the rain, even though it was her current worst enemy, aside from Galinda. As Elphaba’s teeth began chattering, and she feared the rain would never stop, she felt the furnace of her hatred for Galinda fill with even more rising, chanting flames.
Oh how I hate Galinda Upland. How I loathe her! Her stupidly bouncy blonde hair! Her horrifically gleaming hazel eyes! Her smothering pink wardrobe! I loathe every bit, I loathe it!
I loathe her hair.
I loathe her eyes.
I loathe her wardrobe.
I loathe her.
I, Elphaba Thropp, LOATHE Galinda Upla-
“Miss Elphaba?”
Elphaba startled suddenly at the unexpected voice, distracted by her hateful monologue, to be met with the very eyes and face she had just professed her loathing for. Galinda was standing pin-straight in front of her, her heels neatly clicked together, her coat pristine and proper, so much so that you wouldn’t have known she had walked in the rain at all. Suddenly, Elphaba was much more self-conscious of her abysmal posture and huddled form. She straightened her back, smoothed out her jacket and tried to stop her pathetic sniffling.
“I am simply not in the mood right now, Miss Upland.”
Had Elphaba been less consumed by her own self pity and utter loathing of the girl standing before her, perhaps she would’ve noticed the sorrow and shame set in Galinda’s eyes, or that way that she was nervously wringing her gloved hands despite her attempts to appear assembled.
“Miss Elphaba, about earlier, I-”
“Do your ears fail you, Miss Upland? I stated I am not in any mood for your antics, so kindly depart.”
Galinda’s low set eyes suddenly sparked with indignation, her lips pressed into a tight white line as she fought the urge to stomp her foot.
“Oh so you’d rather I left you here like this?”
At this, similar fury sparked in Elphaba, as she pushed herself stubbornly up from the floor with a solid scowl, leering ever so slightly towards Galinda.
“Is that not precisely what you’ve already been doing?” She accused, her venom laced voice raising in volume.
Galinda, Elphaba noted, at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed, as she once again resumed her nervous hand-fiddling. “No- Well, yes.. But- but I..”
Elphaba marked it down as one of the few times that she had ever seen Galinda be less than perfectly composed, as she held up her hand to stop her. “Miss Galinda, I can withstand taunts, I can withstand pranks and I can withstand even this. But do you not think it needlessly cruel to come down here and add additional insult to injury?”
With her words, Elphaba gestured to the throbbing dark mark on her arm, where the first patter of rain had fallen. Even a single drop had caused an ugly dark green boil on her forearm, which stung madly, and relentlessly begged Elphaba to itch at it. Galinda upon following Elphaba’s gaze found her expression drawn into a tight grimace as guilt pulsed inside her. She opened her mouth to speak, and try and continue her apology, when Elphaba cut her off once more.
“So, if you are simply here to scorn me once more, or gather more information that you-”
“Miss Elphaba-”
“-can pass on to your friends so that you can all have a good laugh-”
“Miss Elphaba-”
“-at the ugly green thing, that I’d really rather you leave me alone so at least-”
“Miss Elphaba please!”
Galinda’s raised volume, much above what was ever considered proper of a lady, had finally seemed to catch Elphaba’s attention. Galinda cleared her throat, intending to make use of whatever time she had as Elphaba’s face still wore a slightly shocked expression.
“Please, I- I came down here to do none of those things,” Galinda began, though I can see why you expected them, she thought bitterly, “In actual fact, I came down here to.. apologise, to you.”
Elphaba’s shocked expression grew with this statement, though the green girl still carried herself with rigid poise and stubbornness. As if remembering herself, Elphaba shut her slightly agape mouth, and crossed her arms with a scowl still on her face, though her begrudging silence signalled Galinda to continue.
“What I did to you today, it- it was not good.” Elphaba began to roll her eyes, as Galinda sighed and continued, “And yes, I know I am never truly good to you, but today- it felt- I’m just- I’m sorry.”
With the seeming finality of her statement, Galinda expected Elphaba to say something, to snap back at her and tear her stupid excuse of an apology to shreds. But instead, she just stared at her, the corner of her mouth still ticking slightly down, her arms still tightly crossed and what appeared to be the remainder of a tear still glistening on her cheek. Galinda felt her despised ball of guilt tighten deeper in her gut, and so she sighed once more, removing her gloves and reaching into her small purse as she felt Elphaba’s intense gaze scrutinizing her movement.
“Here,” Galinda whispered, her voice barely registering above the relentless thundering of the rain. In her pale, slender hand, she produced an umbrella, removing the case, and triggering it so that it puffed out in a burst with a resounding pop. The umbrella, of course, was pink, though Galinda considered it a less offensive shade than some of the items she sported. It was also adorned with many frills and embellishments that were pertinent to the Upland girl’s style, but one of Galinda’s favourite features of it, was that it was adorned with tiny, glimmering emerald green gems.
With her hand outstretched, Galinda unceremoniously offered it to Elphaba. “Take it,” she whispered once more in a hush, and remembering herself, added, “and don’t worry, it’s waterproof, and doesn’t have any holes in it or any other cruel trick.”
Noticing Elphaba’s persistent hesitation, Galinda stepped forward slightly, meeting Elphaba’s eyes and trying to convey her guilt and regret over today’s events. Elphaba slowly raised a green, tender hand out to grasp the umbrella, but still seemed unwilling to clasp her hand around its handle. Galinda felt her breathing speed up, and her heart begin to rush - as a result of being in such close proximity to someone she loathed, of course - as she pushed the umbrella out further, into Elphaba’s palm, knocking their hands together clumsily as their skin brushed together. Galinda fought to suppress her light gasp at the contact, knowing Elphaba would only register it as disgust to her skin’s green affliction. With her hand still tangled around the umbrella’s handle, Galinda awkwardly withdrew her hand from beneath Elphaba’s, returning it to its natural place at her side. Elphaba still seemed unable to mutter a word, and so with a final sigh and resignation, Galinda met her eyes once more, before she rushed out into the rain on her own.
“For what it’s worth, I am sorry.”
Elphaba stood, still in a strange shape of shock, as she watched the unabashedly pink figure of Galinda Upland dash across the courtyard, becoming positively soaked in the heavy rain, since she had now relinquished her umbrella into the hands of Elphaba, who still was unsure what to make of the entire situation. Galinda Upland, selfish, cruel, callous Galinda Upland, whom she loathed, had brought her an umbrella, had come out in the rain to find her, and give her a way of returning to her room safe, so that she may actually be able to sleep tonight. Not only that, but Galinda Upland had done all of this when it was her very cruelty that had stranded Elphaba up here in the first place.
But as Elphaba quickly rushed back inside, clutching the handle of Galinda’s umbrella tightly in her hand, eager to return to her room, she puzzled over the most astonishing and confusing thing in her mind. Galinda Upland had apologised to her.
It was a feat she had never before witnessed - Galinda did not say “I’m sorry” to anyone, for nothing was simply ever her fault. Yet Galinda had uttered those words to her multiple times that night. She had seen fit to bless them upon Elphaba, whom she regarded as the lowest of the low, who she had no respect or even tolerance of at all.
Upon reaching her shared dorm, Elphaba crept inside, surprised to find Galinda already tightly wrapped up in her bed, sleeping soundly despite only having a few minutes gained on Elphaba on the journey back. Before tucking herself soundly into bed, Elphaba carefully laid the umbrella down beside her, noting the shining green gems embedded in the pink, as she couldn’t help but think they looked somewhat right together. As she raised her hand to turn off her lamp, Elphaba spared one final look at the sleeping girl on the other side of the room that was her increasingly strange roommate. And an even further cause of the strangeness was the mysterious lotion for soothing burns and boils that Elphaba found sitting idly on her bedside table come morning.
Yes, Elphaba Thropp hated Galinda Upland, she was still certain. But it appeared that the girl was more of an enigma than she had previously thought. Galinda was assuredly cruel, selfish, callous, stubborn and narcissistic, but Elphaba now had one more quality to add into the list, one that did not seem to fit with all the others. Galinda Upland could be kind.