I had never seen anyone so painfully beautiful in my entire life. I had only read about the beauty of Gillikinese people in books - but what I was affronted with? There seemed to be so much sadness hidden in those ice blue eyes, a depth that not even I could fathom. I was immediately drawn in. The way the sunlight, filtering in through raised windows shone on her soft, flaxen curls, and illuminated her ghostly pale skin. The shadows indicating loss of sleep under her bright eyes contrasted against the pearly glow of her skin. This specimen was the most attractive thing I had ever laid eyes on, and I wanted - needed - to learn more.

She stepped into the orientation hall, held with such grace. Her dress was a deep green, velvet, and very intricately designed, accompanied by an academic shawl. I simply couldn't take my eyes off of her.

"Tragic, isn't it?" came a male voice. I jumped and turned around. A tall boy with curly blond hair and extremely green eyes was staring past me, and nodded in the blond's direction. I followed his gaze.

"What is?"

"Her beauty. It almost breaks your heart."

I ignored him and picked up my carpet bag, heading for the orientation hall. An hour went by and pair by pair, girls were being sent off to their dorms. My eyes were stuck to the short curls of the beautiful girl I had seen earlier. I didn't notice when she turned around until her eyes met mine, and I suddenly felt as though I was being scrutinized. I didn't shrink away - I held my ground and my eyes never left hers. This seemed to confuse her. She tilted her head to the side ever so slightly. The emotion in those eyes was incredibly difficult to read.

"Galinda of the Arduennas of the Uplands?"

Her head snapped around and she stood, walking towards the large fish-like woman that was our Headmistress. Their conversation was inaudible, a look of increasing frustration on the blond's face. I only realized it had involved me when Galinda's eyes pierced into mine again, before she turned around and fled. The Headmistress motioned for me. I was to be rooming with Miss Galinda Arduenna.

It wasn't the most enjoyable situation at first. The girl spoke nearly two words to me in an intoxicating voice, before fleeing. I hardly saw her after that. She was always out and about, making acquaintances with all of the nice young girls. There was only one occasion on which we were both in our dorm at the same time for more than thirty minutes.

"Why do you always read?"

I looked up from the pages of my worn sermons, and her eyes pierced into mine. The same curiosity I saw one month and a half ago was returning.

"Why don't you read?"

I heard her huff of impatience, and smirked to myself. "That does not answer my question, Miss Elphaba," came her prim response.

"I read to occupy myself, Miss Galinda. And I read because I enjoy it."

"What is there to enjoy about old sermons?" I looked at her in curiosity, and she motioned to the title on the spine of the book. Her eyes bore into mine and pried the truth out of me.

"My father is a devout follower of the Unnamed God, I'm simply interested in what others think of it."

The blonde rolled onto her back on her oversized, frilly comforter. "And are you a devout follower?"

My eyebrow rose. "Why are you suddenly so interested in me?"

Her small, fragile shoulders gave the tiniest of shrugs. "You are my roomie. I'm simply interested in learning more. This is the polite thing to do, is it not?"

"Indeed."

"So, green bean. Are you?"

"Am I what, Miss Galinda the Badger?"

"Devoted to the Unnamed God?"

I didn't have to think. My entire life, my father and Nessarose had been devout followers, and always tried to push their beliefs on me. "No, I don't believe so. I like to think of myself as a neutral being."

Silence filled the room for quite a few moments. I went back to reading, thinking the conversation was over. Galinda had never been very talkative with me, and I was expecting the moment of communication would be short-lived. I occasionally caught glances of the blonde fanning herself to relieve herself of the heat. Her neck was exposed, and I felt something strange in my stomach. Her eyes caught mine as she glanced around the room.

"Miss Elphaba?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you always stare?"

I scowled, but offered her no answer. Galinda simply nodded in response to my silence and continued rifling through her mass of gorgeous, delicate dresses. My eyes peeked out from behind the worn pages of my volume, and I watched as she unbuttoned the front of her gown and stepped out. I quickly looked back, unable to handle anymore. Within thirty seconds, she was changed into another dress. I simply rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the volume I was reading. It would certainly take some adjusting for me to be comfortable with Galinda.

After that, she hardly spoke to me again for weeks. She greeted me when she entered the room, and dismissed me when she left. She asked questions related to our Life Sciences work, I answered, and silence followed. Though, I suppose I can't complain about her behavior - at least she was decent. The way most of the other girls acted still disturbed me. The things they said!

As I walked along the Suicide Canal, I heard those ninnies whispering.

"I hear she prefers the company of women over men."

"I hear she was born a male!"

"I hear she's the spawn of a toad."

I looked up at them and offered a crooked smile, and they giggled in a cruel manner. As my eyes scrutinized them, I recognized the hem of a very familiar dress - one of Galinda's. My eyes rose to her face, and her strong gaze bore into me. The brightness of her eyes contrasted at large with the dark shadows beneath them. I stopped in my path, and she flashed me a brilliant smile. I tried not to stagger backwards at the sheer perfection, and her companions looked at me in disapproval, each of them scoffing. Her eyes stayed locked on mine however, and hard as I tried, I couldn't grip the emotion that seemed to be dripping from her gaze. Could it be... satisfaction? A very strange sort of satisfaction, as though one of the things she heard had pleased her profoundly. I found my skin burning under my cheeks and quickly tore my eyes away from her, quickening my pace. I could feel her gaze burning into the back of my head as I retreated.

--

After that incident, she began speaking to me more often - she was far more friendly, and it disturbed me. What had she heard? Did she want something? No one had ever been so kind to me without seeking something in return. But she never asked for anything. Months passed, and rarely did I find her around the crude idiots that she used to call friends. As she spent more time with me, I began to see past her perfect, happy facade. I began to realize the reason for the dark, sunken circles under her eyes that seemed to make her inhuman beauty that much more heartbreaking.

She never slept at night. And when she did, it was short-lived. I would wake up to find her reading, or staring at herself in the mirror intently - as if she were judging herself. There would be a frown - not the pout I had become accustomed to - on her rose lips, and her eyebrow would crease prettily, as if in concentration. Or, disapproval? And sometimes, she would be combing her hair with no emotion in her eyes whatsoever.

One night I woke up, as I often do numerous times in the middle of the night. I looked to Galinda's bed, unsurprised to find it empty. I turned to glance at her vanity. She sat, staring emotionlessly into the mirror. A cup of tea sat in her hand, and as I gazed at her curiously, I noticed something disturbing. Her chest wasn't moving, nor her shoulders. She didn't appear to be breathing. I sat up and looked at her in concern.

"Galinda?"

Her eyes moved quickly to mine in the mirror. She took a sip of the tea that was in her hand. My brows furrowed, and she offered me a sweet smile. Her chest began moving again. "Can't sleep, Elphie?" she asked in her musical voice. I shook my head.

"Is something wrong, my sweet?" I asked as I rose from my bed and walked to her vanity. She was still dressed in her clothing from the day before. I placed my hands on her shoulders, looking into the mirror at her eyes. The eyes that constantly had something to hide.

"I'm in over my head, Elphaba," said Galinda solemnly and quietly. I asked why, but Galinda simply shook her head and sighed. The moonlight shining in from the window seemed to illuminate her skin. She looked like a ghost in the desaturated colour of the night, her pale skin glowing and the dark shadows beneath her eyes more prominent than ever. And yet her hair was curled meticulously, perfectly, and her dress was as pristine as when she had put it on. Her light eyes peeked out at me from thick eyelashes, and I didn't ask any more questions. I knew she wanted to leave the subject be.

I didn't go to sleep after that. I stayed up with her, sitting quietly and sipping tea. No further words passed between us, but there was no need for them. The silence was comfortable. In that moment, I felt a paradigm shift between myself and my roomie. I knew something about her that no one else knew. And as we sat in silence and I watched her facial expression, I knew that that fact frightened her.

--

A few days later I arrived at Life Sciences to find the seat beside mine - which was usually empty - filled with a body. The pale wheat-coloured hair and the intricate, deep violet dress gave away who my mystery companion was. I took my seat beside her and looked at her with concern. For the first time, I got a good look at her face in the sunlight - an up close view. Her skin had very little tint to it, excluding the use of the tiniest bit of beauty product to add a hint of colour to her otherwise pale face. The dark shadows seemed to take on a purple hue - they almost looked like bruises. It made me wonder just how long - months or years - she had been without sleep.

She looked over at me with those void, yet strong eyes and a smile adorned her features. I leaned back to absorb her entirely. "Why, pray tell, have you chosen to accompany me today?"

Galinda gave a small shrug. "It looked dreadfully boring for you, alone in the front row. I thought I would provide some company." I raised my eyebrow and her eyes shot over to her former friends at a particularly high speed - had I blinked, I would have missed it. I also would have missed the extremely brief look of disgust. She didn't speak a word to me the rest of the class, however, excluding making inquiries about the work of course. I watched her mannerisms as she worked, suddenly aware of things I had never witnessed.

She twirled her already perfect curls as she read, she tapped her perfectly lacquered nails while Dillamond was lecturing, her eyebrows would furrow in frustration when she didn't understand a function, and a small crease would appear in her perfect forehead. Occasionally I saw her pink tongue poke out of between her lips in concentration. The small, lilting giggle that escaped her lips when Dillamond said something particularly witty captivated me - it was a sound I had never heard before from my particularly melancholic roomie. And it made me realize that somewhere within her, there was a little girl dying to escape whatever it was that ailed the strange and appealing young woman next to me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the first chapter of my new story. Clearly I write Galinda with a bit of... a strange kind of darkness and mystery to her character, sort of how she is in the novel. For now, anyways. : I know I don't usually finish my stories, but I've had this idea in my head for a long time - I just had to perfect it, and even now it's still a little rough. This one, I will definitely be finishing. Even if writer's block gets in the way in the process, which it inevitably will.