Thunderstruck

Chapter 2: Epiphanies

The next morning, Galinda awoke to dark, unrecognizable gray sheets.  She shot up in bed, before realizing she had been in Elphaba's bed that night.  She looked around the room, but the green girl was nowhere to be seen. 

"Elphaba?" 

No answer.

"Elphaba?" Galinda said a little louder, panic rising in her voice.

She didn't know why she was so worried about her friend, Elphaba was probably just in the library.  Yes.  Elphaba was in the library, studying like usual.  At least that's what Galinda told herself.

The blonde got out of bed, got dressed, and put on her daily makeup.  She walked out of the door at 7:15 sharp.  History was her first class, with Elphaba.  Elphaba had always loved that class, since she was so very interested in animals and the general history of Oz itself. 

As she was walking to her history class, she began to wonder why she found herself thinking about Elphaba so much.  "Stop it Galinda," she thought out loud.  She wouldn't even think about you anyway.

Galinda walked into history, and took her usual seat, two seats behind where Elphaba sat.  Elphaba's usually at least half an hour early, she thought.  What could be causing her to miss her favorite class?

History was over, and still no Elphaba.  Galinda began to worry when she still couldn't find Elphaba in the halls.  She quickly masked that concern when Pfannee and ShenShen walked over to her. 

"Heeeyyy Galinda!" ShenShen greeted, a little too excited for Galinda's mood.

"Hey ShenShen," she replied.

"Pfannee and I are going out to dinner tonight with Avaric and one of his friends, would you like to invite that Winkie Prince Fiyero? He's soooo hot!" ShenShen babbled.
Galinda was torn, she did want to go with her friends, but she also wanted to find Elphaba and see if she was alright. 

"Thanks girls, but I can't, I don't know where Elph- the green bean is, she wasn't at class like she always is, what a dork."

"Galinda Upland! You are not the type to miss a dinner date with the hottest boy in the whole school! Why do you even care about that freak! She's a monstrosity to society."
Galinda's blood boiled, but she stayed calm and hoped it didn't show.  These two were important friends to have, even if they were in it for just the popularity, as Galinda expected.  They were always good to go to if you ever had a good gossip story to tell, and though they may or may not spread it around the whole school, you could mainly openly vent to them whenever they were around. 

"I agree completely." Pfannee stated.  They never should have accepted her at Shiz, she's a walking disaster."

Something inside Galinda snapped.  She stormed off, leaving behind a shocked Pfannee and ShenShen.  Little did she know that Elphaba had been just around the corner, hearing the whole conversation.

XXXXXX

Elphaba was late, but she didn't care.  All that mattered was last night, when Galinda had slept next to her.  She decided to skip the first class, which was the complete opposite of how she usually acted, but she knew the teacher wouldn't mind since she was already a week ahead with her homework.  She stayed outside that morning, enjoying the stillness of the campus while everyone was in class.  Her mind wandered to Galinda a lot.  Why are you thinking about her so much? Elphaba thought to herself.  It just meant we are friends, right?

Elphaba was interrupted from her thought when she began to hear students filing out of the classrooms; first period was over.  She walked through a patch of lawn to get to her books, when she heard a familiar voice coming from behind a brick wall.  Galinda and her friends.

She could only catch bits of their conversation, but those bits made it very clear of what they were talking about.

"Green bean," came Galinda's voice.
"Monstrosity to society," came ShenShen's.

"Walking disaster," was the last thing Elphaba heard before running away, tears stinging her cheeks as they ran freely down her face.

XXXXXX

Galinda walked quickly away from the aggravating situation, not caring about anyone she pushed or elbowed out of her way. 

Why are you so mad? She's just a friend, right? Maybe she means more to you than I do to her, Galinda thought to herself. Wait, do I... love her?

Galinda quickly pushed that thought out of her head. Her heart pounded at the mere thought.

She was nearly at the edge of campus when she spotted a familiar navy blue frock, and green hands over a face with long black hair tumbling down hunched shoulders.  Elphaba was... crying?