The Cold
Elphaba awoke in the morning to the basking rays of the sun, relentlessly bathing her eyes in warm light through the window Galinda refused to ever close. She sat up slowly with a sigh, turning her head slightly to observe the bustling ball of energy in the corner of the room that was Galinda Upland. After last night, Elphaba was most confused, and no longer quite knew what to make of her roommate. But if anything, the gesture of both the umbrella and burn salve - which had been quite efficient at soothing and removing the green mark - had given her a small glimmer of hope that perhaps she and Galinda could move towards a more mature and tolerant relationship. So, she decided to continue the niceties.
After readying herself for the day, and watching Galinda do the same out of the corner of her eye, though the other girl seemed intent on pretending she didn't exist, Elphaba carefully leant down and retrieved the umbrella from where she had discarded it the night prior by the edge of her bed. Straightening her back, she approached Galinda's side of the room, crossing the clear unmarked boundary that divided their space in two.
Elphaba stood, observing Galinda as she rushed around tidying her belongings neatly away - everything had a place, from her dusty pink makeup brushes to a rose coloured blanket she neatly folded and placed by the foot of her bed. Galinda scurried around, furiously organising, the scuffling perforated only by an occasional sniffle or cough from Galinda. Strange, Elphaba thought, not knowing Galinda as the sniffly type, I wonder if she's getting a cold. Growing impatient, Elphaba cleared her throat, still standing rigidly at the very edge of Galinda's space. With surprise painted on her face, as if she truly hadn't noticed Elphaba walking over, Galinda whirled around, clutching a delicate hand to her chest as she seemed to try and regulate her breathing.
"My, you certainly gave me a fright!"
Elphaba made no response, simply staring at Galinda with the umbrella clutched tightly in her hand still. She practiced formulating her words, running her tongue delicately around them before she spoke.
"Here," she settled on, not quite as eloquent or friendly as she had hoped, "I thought you might want this back."
Elphaba held the item in her outstretched hand, offering it to Galinda, who seemed to be having equal trouble deciding the best response. Her eyes darted from Elphaba's emerald green hand and the umbrella in it to meet her deep green eyes, before flitting back and forth again like a ping-pong ball. Eventually, she settled on a high, bubbly laugh that sounded tighter than usual to the trained ear.
"Oh no, no," Galinda replied, her voice light, "You keep it." Elphaba wondered if she was hallucinating the slight smile that crept onto Galinda's face, or the warmth in her eyes that for a moment seemed truly kind.
"I wouldn't want anything back that's been touched by the green, of course. Might be contagious!"
Galinda spun around once more, returning to her morning rituals with her back to Elphaba, who confirmed to herself that she must've been imagining things. With any hopes of improving their relationship dashed, Elphaba in turn also whirled around, irritatedly throwing the umbrella from her hand and hearing it scatter across the wooden floor as she stormed out the door. I must've been truly foolish, she thought bitterly, to believe Galinda Upland was a creature that was capable of change, or more than a moment of kindness. Why, prolonged goodness to me would most likely make her physically ill. Yet Elphaba couldn't help but remember the tender, "I'm sorry", a secret whispered amongst the thrashing of the rain, which now seemed to be being discarded like the altogether meaningless gesture Galinda had made clear it was.
Shaking her head and resolving to not consider the enigma that was apparently Galinda Upland for the rest of the day, Elphaba moved on, stomping down the corridors with renewed vigour, clutching her bag as she made her way to her first lessons. I will not be fascinated by Galinda Upland, Elphaba reprimanded herself, no matter how confusing she has revealed herself to be. The girl seemed to be ever stuck in a perpetual coin toss between goodness and cruelty - and Elphaba Thropp was not someone who took kindly to chance.
By the time she had reached the lecture hall were her first lesson would soon commence, she had managed to push almost all thoughts of Galinda out of her head, convincing herself that she could at least purchase maybe one day free of the girl’s theatrics - and she would not ruin that for herself by fixating on minute and meaningless actions. Entering the room amongst hushed chatter, Elphaba made her way stubbornly to her usual seat near the back of the hall, at last almost used to the stares and whispered comments and snickers that trailed in her wake without fail, as she sat in her designated isolation. Sighing, she laid out her notebook and quill with deliberate precision, forcing herself to focus - it was ridiculous to be as distracted as she was after one small event, and even more ridiculous to let that apparent distraction impact her studies. They were the one precious thing she could cherish, the one thing that she could steadfastly hold in high esteem, and no one would take that from her, least of all Galinda Upland.
Doctor Dillamond was midway through his lecture on the dramatics of the history of Munchkinland (admittedly not the most interesting topic to Elphaba, but she paid attention nonetheless) when the door to the lecture hall creaked open. Elphaba felt something unnameable, but that was assuredly close to dread, surge through her chest as Galinda entered, heads adorned with beaming smiles turning to greet her as they always did. Prancing inwards, Galinda merely smiled kindly at the doctor in lieu of an apology, a smile which seemed to all but Elphaba as pure and apologetic as could be, yet the green girl found herself suppressing the urge to roll her eyes at Galinda’s entitled nature and insincere simper.
But when Elphaba glanced at Galinda again, reassessing her after her initial survey, she noticed that something she couldn’t quite place about the girl’s demeanor was off. Galinda’s skin was paler than usual, her body seemingly more fragile, shaking with each occasional sniffle that crumpled up her nose - the strange new habit that Elphaba had previously noted this morning. Perhaps she truly is getting a cold, Elphaba mused, ignoring the strange churning she felt in her gut. She could not possibly be feeling guilty for the fact that Galinda might be ill from her action of stranding Elphaba in the rain. No, that was entirely the other girl’s own fault.
Galinda’s normally spick and span shoes also seemed to be significantly muddier than usual, and looked to still be soaked, as did the coat she had slung gracefully over her arm. To all other onlookers, everything surely appeared most normal, Elphaba noted, observing the dazzling smiles from Shiz’s students that were still greeting Galinda, yet Elphaba could tell something was off, even despite Galinda’s admirable attempts to hide it.
Realising that she had been surveying the girl for quite some time, Elphaba was suddenly jolted from her contemplation, and felt her breath catch as she found that Galinda’s eyes had locked steadily onto hers. She watched in confusion, frozen in her seat as Galinda’s gaze flicked from Elphaba to her usual seat, flanked by Pfannee and Milla, who were already eagerly gesturing for her to join them. Yet Elphaba’s breathing quickened impossibly so when Galinda’s expression set in determination, and the pompous pink-cladded girl began to flounce up the steps towards her. Her fingers gripped the pen tighter, looking for some confirmation or safety in the inanimate object, as Galinda walked closer towards her, her path and gaze unwavering as she stared at Elphaba.
Surely not, surely Galinda Upland, who had mocked her just this morning, even after her attempts at resolution, did not mean to sit next to her. Surely Galinda Upland, the girl who was the most adept at reading social ranking and circumstance should realise the error of placing herself next to Elphaba. Or maybe, this was simply another way to continue her torment, to distract Elphaba, to poke fun and ruin her one solace, the comfort of learning. As Galinda continued striding upwards, Elphaba felt as if the coin were flipping in the air right before her eyes - heads or tails, goodness or cruelty - yet she would have no opportunity to find out, as Pfannee’s hand reached out to snatch Galinda’s wrist, dragging her to the safety of her usual seat as the girl let out a small surprised and affronted huff.
Trying to calm her heartbeat back to its normal pace, and altogether ignoring any reason why she had been so affected by the possibility of sitting near Galinda, Elphaba watched as Pfannee and Milla whispered harshly in Galinda’s ear, occasionally turning back to glare at Elphaba, with the boy’s hand still clutching at her wrist. Galinda merely sat with her arms crossed, with Elphaba unable to hear her response, or see her expression, only viewing the back of her head, adorned with flowing blonde waves of hair. Eventually, Galinda waved off their nagging with a flouncing hand, instead retrieving her things from her bag, as Doctor Dillamond cleared his throat to continue with their lecture after the disruption. Elphaba felt her stress alleviate as she could finally return to the comfort of academics, yet could not ignore the strange nagging in her head that seemed incessantly focused on the riddle of Galinda Upland.
As class ended, with the rest of it thankfully having been free from any other potential incidents, Elphaba packed up her things with laughable speed, eager to depart from the room, and place herself in the quiet predictable comfort of the library, or even the solace of a secluded area of the courtyard. Practically soaring down the steps and out of class, sparing a quick thanks to Doctor Dillamond on the way, Elphaba rushed into the corridors, bounding through with her usual threatening pace, and missing the way that melancholic brown eyes pooled over her, following her every step.
The next time Elphaba saw Galinda was in the corridors of Shiz, as she was making her way to her next class. The girl seemed not to notice her at first, bordered by a cluster of brightly-dressed students, their voices shrill and biting as they flocked around her, performing for her favour and attention. Like a strange animal circus, Elphaba considered, or a pack of flamingos, each coated in tussles and spools of eccentric fabric. Laughter echoed through the halls as the group pranced closer, and Elphaba felt her chest tighten. She was used to their barbs, but despite reminding herself time and time again that they meant nothing, and didn’t, couldn’t, affect her, she still felt the familiar sting.
Keeping her head down, Elphaba tried to walk past them discreetly, her sharp, angular features partially obscured by the signature shroud of black that was her clothing. Elphaba soon found that her measly attempt at invisibility had not in fact worked, as the first of Galinda’s hyenas called out.
"Honestly, can you believe she wears that every day?" one of the girls giggled, glancing back toward Elphaba.
"She must be allergic to mirrors as well as water," another chimed in, unable to suppress their taunting laughter, as they leant on one of their friends.
Elphaba's face contorted into a grimace, but she pressed on, ignoring the sharp ache in her chest that never seemed to fully fade, only dull with time. Still, she kept walking - she had long since perfected the art of ignoring them - but something about Galinda, centered in the crowd, made her pause.
The girl’s complexion, usually radiant, seemed to have worsened since Dr Dillamond’s class, though Elphaba didn’t think this to be possible, and her lips were pressed into a tightened thin line, as if desperately trying to endure some invisible pain. The girl’s usual biting retorts and theatrical gestures were absent, and the only movement, other than her stiff and rigid strides, was the occasional twitching of her eye or sudden contracting of body. As Elphaba watched, Galinda pulled a rosy handkerchief from her pockets, coughing violently into it as her friends exchanged confused glances that were quickly swept away.
As she walked forwards, her steps lacked their usual flourish, as instead she seemed to sway under the pressure of staying upright, seeming woozy and unsteady as she continued. Elphaba observed the sudden fuschia flush on her cheeks, and the slow methodical blinking of her eyes, feeling unfounded worry churn in her stomach at the girl’s symptoms. Finally realising she had a spectator, Galinda’s eyes darted briefly toward Elphaba, flickering with slight recognition, then away, as if even the effort of mockery was too much for her in her current state.
Elphaba frowned. But only for a moment. No, she scolded herself, it is not my concern. Miss Galinda Upland has been nothing but cruel to me, she reminded herself, and besides, she has an entire herd of doting friends to care for her. But she couldn’t sway the feeling that her sentiment was not entirely true - after all, Galinda hadn’t always been cruel to her, she did seem to be capable of slight kindnesses, even if she doubled back on them at the next possible moment. But despite this, Elphaba was determined to push Galinda from her mind. The state of her nemesis roommate should not have troubled her so, and she would not let it cloud over the remainder of her day. Enigma, puzzle, mystery that Galinda Upland may prove herself to be, she was not Elphaba’s problem to solve.
As the hour grew later, and the sky soundly darkened, Elphaba made her way to the canteen, having finally finished her afternoon classes, in addition to the studying and homework she had completed in the library. As always, her labour had increased her appetite, and so she was undoubtedly looking forward to her dinner. The lunchroom was its usual hive of activity, though it seemed somehow emptier, as Elphaba found a secluded corner, settling down with her usual tray of food into the solitude that was admittedly more comforting than the stares and whispers that seemed to follow her every movement. Nibbling at the corner of a piece of bread, Elphaba scanned the room, her dark green eyes flitting over familiar faces - she was not searching for anyone in particular, of course, yet still observed that Galinda was notably absent. Her absence was most odd, since she was never usually one to miss an occasion to primp and preen and revel in the awe of those around her, and Elphaba told herself that it was the fact that it was so very out of character that troubled her.
It shouldn’t have mattered, yet the absence gnawed at her nonetheless. Even despite every attempt Elphaba made to chastise her foolish worry, to pity herself for seeming to care for someone who regarded her as less than in every way, she couldn’t suppress the prickle of unease that lay deep down, causing her hesitation.
Suddenly losing her appetite, Elphaba sighed, pushing her tray aside. As she gathered her things to leave, she carefully wrapped up a few pieces of untouched bread and an apple, tucking them safely in the corner of her bag. No, she told herself, they were not for any specific purpose, she was simply being practical by not wasting anything.
Not wanting to return to the confines of her room with her head in such a muddled state, Elphaba instead elected to traipse around the buildings and pathways of Shiz in a blissful silence, punctuated only by the occasional scuffle of someone passing her - though this was rare, as most were still occupied in the canteen. Yes, fresh air, Elphaba reflected with a sigh, that was what she needed. For the past day, her thoughts seemed to have been stuck in a loop, like a broken record, relentlessly screeching the name of her roommate. Her roommate, who until yesterday had given no indication that she had any feelings for her other than loathing. Her roommate, who took every opportunity to tease her, to mock her, to turn every student, even her own sister, against her. Her roommate, who had brought her an umbrella in the rain, and had gone out to locate burn salve for her, and who now seemed to be suffering from a sickly cold because of it.
Elphaba didn’t know what to make of it, and realising that she would still not know tonight, began to head back to her room under the cover of the dark night sky. As she reached her dormitory, she opened the door quietly, half-hoping that Galinda would already be asleep, and recovered from her illness by morning so that they could return to their somewhat normal routine of mockery and loathing.
Instead, she found her roommate sprawled on the bed under the harsh light, still in her normal clothes. Her golden hair was tangled, her face pale and clammy, and every few moments her seemingly fragile body was racked with shivers. A soft groan escaped Galinda’s lips at the disruption as she shifted feebly.
Her heart panting as she slowly and carefully trudged over, as if warily approaching a distressed creature, Elphaba reached the edge of Galinda’s bed, the strange unnamed feeling twisting in her gut once more. She delicately stretched out a hand, as if with the thought to grasp the fretting girl’s shoulder, but thinking better of it, retracted it at the last minute.
Elphaba’s brow furrowed as Galinda’s expression contorted in pain, her legs thrashing around weakly on the covers. “Galinda?” She crouched beside the bed, tentatively placing a hand on the girl’s forehead and ignoring the quickening of her breathing. She found Galinda’s skin burning, sending heat pulsing through her own hand in turn, as her stomach twisted with something uncomfortably close to worry.
“You’re feverish,” she muttered, before cursing herself internally for stating the blindingly obvious.
With a sigh, she left her position by the bed, and moved to fetch a basin of water and a cloth, gently dabbing at the girl’s forehead even as she painstakingly fought to keep her expression as neutral as possible. This was supposedly the most popular girl in school, yet none of her friends had arrived to help her, instead leaving Elphaba with the uncomfortable task. Elphaba suppressed the disquieting swirling feeling in her stomach - what she was feeling was clearly irritation, at having to care for someone who already had everyone in the world waiting at their feet.
As she continued, Galinda stirred slightly, her glassy eyes fluttering open for a moment. “Elphaba?” she murmured weakly - her voice was barely a whisper, but there was something soft in it, almost grateful, or, relieved.
Elphaba’s hand froze. Then, she shook her head, resuming her task with renewed determination. This meant nothing, Elphaba repeated, her mantra increasing her confidence - she would do this for anyone. Yes, Elphaba was simply repaying the singular kind gesture that Galinda had paid her the other night. One solitary nice deed to quell the exasperating churning feeling, to finally end this strange tension, before they could return to the familiar routine of animosity. That was it, Elphaba assured herself, but even she could not reliably ignore the traitorous fluttering in her chest.