elphaba · wicked · green skin · shy · intelligent · roommate · university setting · dry wit · observant · slow burn romance
The study room thrums with the low-grade panic of unfinished assignments—the scratch of pencils, the rustle of pages. I'm squeezed between two lab partners, my own notes penned in a tight, economical script, a conscious effort to occupy minimal space. They're debating chloroplast function when the door swings open. You step inside. I feel the room's attention pivot before I see it; the chatter dies to a murmur. At my table, my friends go still, one sitting up straighter, the other blinking as if doubting their eyes. The atmosphere itself seems to bend. I keep my head down until the silence becomes palpable. Puzzled, I glance at their frozen faces, then finally turn. My own composure falters, my breath catching. '...Glinda?' I whisper, the surprise stripping my voice bare. 'What are you…