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Hey, just so you know ahead of tomorrow, the party starts at 7pm, bring your own drinks! Apartment 5, flat 9, Courts Block, Emerald City. Hope to see you there.
Elphaba stared incredulously at her phone.
“What is it?” Boq stuttered from across the sticky pub table. The pendant light was shining brightly off his sweat slicken forehead. He’d been clammy since he had arrived and slinked into the booth opposite Elphaba, regardless of it only being March.
“Unknown number, something about a party in the Emerald City.”
“Well, who is it from?” Asked Boq.
“Boq, an unknown number means that I don’t know.” She threw her head into her palms. Sometimes. She had to ask herself what her sister saw in him. They were waiting for Nessa to meet them both when she finished work, hence his sweatier than usual appearance.
“Are you going to go?” He dared to ask.
“No.” Elphaba scoffed. “Of course I’m not, it could be from anyone.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her best friend.
It was at that moment that Nessa joined them. “What is?” she asked.
“Elphaba got an invite to a party from an unknown number.” Boq shrugged as he pulled the chair adjacent to him away from the able to allow Nessa to join them.
“Well, are you going to go?” she asked.
Elphaba groaned. “I understand now.”
“Understand what?” Nessa questioned.
“Don’t worry.” She muttered. “But no, of course I’m not going to go.”
“Why not? It might be a great party!” Nessa encouraged.
“Absolutely not.” Elphaba sighed.
“You should definitely think about it.” Nessa pushed, picking up a menu and nudging Boq to run up to the bar and order her a drink. “What have you got to lose?”
Elphaba didn’t want to admit it, but her sister and Boq had certainly put the idea into her head, and she was stupidly considering going. Life had stood still recently, and she was lost in the routine of work, finding little time for anything else.
Was she out of her mind? Possibly. Would it provide a switch-up in the monotony, for sure.
Nessa was right. What did she have to lose?
That’s how she found herself on a late afternoon train to the Emerald City, dressed in black ripped jeans, a cream button up shirt and a grey leather jacket. She didn’t know what the dress code would be, so she played it safe. She re-tied the lace on her boot awkwardly. She stood waiting outside the block of apartments mentioned in the text message, watching as people arrived distinctly there to enjoy the party.
A man and a woman appeared next, clinging onto each other’s arms, giggling showily at an inside joke. They were both boldly dressed and Elphaba wondered what type of party this was going to be.
“Oh, Galinda is going to lose her mind when she hears that Fiyero is planning to come tonight.” The man said laced with artificial excitement. Elphaba deduced that it must be this Galinda girls party she was about to gatecrash.
His friend gasped, her face strained in a manufactured look of shock.
“Pfannee, stop!” She squealed and Elphaba could not stop the eyeroll from happening. Oz.
She followed closely as they approached the apartment buzzers. An equally shrewd voice answered the intercom with a scream and buzzed the pair in. Elphaba followed suite and slipped through the open door and up the stairs.
The party was in full swing already, the hallways were littered with stragglers and music was thumping from behind the cracked door.
“Fuck me.” She grumbled. How old were these people?
Elphaba took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.
A ‘Happy 30th Birthday’ banner was strewn across the ceiling, tied messily to a curtain pole and crudely fixed to the wall on the other side with more tape than felt necessary. She relaxed at the site, at least these people were her age, despite the college like appearance of the party.
There were bodies everywhere. Too many people in a small space. Why did she even entertain this. She should just turn around and go-
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” She collided with something, someone.
The next thing she felt was a red sticky beverage soaking into her cream shirt, staining the fabric with a pink hue. Despite this, Elphaba still reached out to steady the person she’d bumped into, but the woman instantly shrugged her off, scoffing.
Elphaba rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to apologise, not after a reaction like that.
She turned on her heel and started to walk away.
“No, don’t walk away from me!” The enraged blonde called after her, grabbing her by the shoulder and turning Elphaba in her grasp.
“Hey!” It was Elphaba’s turn to shout.
“Who even are you?” The blonde spat out.
“Who are you?!” Elphaba yelled back over the music, pulling away sharply, feeling appropriately irked now.
“I’m Galinda, this is my party. Why are you at my party if you don’t even know who I am? For the record, everyone knows who I am.” She crossed her arms and Elphaba swears she saw her stamp her foot.
Elphaba softened a little at the image. For someone so angry, she was actually very tiny and completely non-threatening. Despite not being very tall herself, Elphaba still had a good few inches of height on her. She tried not to look too hard, because if she did, she’d have to admit that Galinda was very attractive too, and pretty cute, stomping feet and all.
Remembering that the blonde was waiting for an answer, Elphaba boldly said “Well you invited me.” Raising an eyebrow in challenge.
“I’m sure I’d remember if I did.” She grumbled.
“I can show you the text message.”
“Fine, stay, whatever.” And Galinda stormed off. Leaving Elphaba feeling riled up, and if she was honest a little overheated in more ways than one.
The living and kitchen area was open plan, so it was easy to find herself a drink. She pulled a beer from a storage box filled with ice and grabbed a bottle opener from the kitchen island to crack it open.
She took a swig and sighed in relief. There was a pool table over by the floor to ceiling windows. Elphaba made her way over to where a few guys were in the middle of a match.
Perching on the sofa, she watched a very handsome man with well styled dark hair pot two balls in one swift shot.
Impressed, she let out a slow clap and gave him a nod, lifting her beer in recognition. He gave her a nod back, grinning widely and slowly advanced towards her whilst his opponent took his turn.
“Hello.” He said smoothly. “Have we met before?” He paused for a moment, looking at her thoughtfully. “No, I’d remember if we had.” The man decided.
Elphaba laughed. “I’m Elphaba.” She offered her hand for him to take.
His hand grasped hers tightly and gave it a firm shake.
"What happened to your shirt?"
"Don't ask." Elphaba replied stiffly.
“I'm Fiyero. Come and play with us?”
Elphaba decided Fiyero was quite fun to be around and if nothing else, she’d enjoyed some time out of the house. She settled into the games of pool well, Fiyero cheering her on when she played a particularly good shot. They teamed up towards the end, and she and Fiyero won match after match against their rivals.
Just as they finished and placed their cues back on the table, Galinda showed up.
“Hey Glin.” Fiyero smiled. “Have you met Elphaba? She’s a whizz at pool, I think she’d put you to shame.”
Galinda huffed, that foot twitching, threatening to stomp again. Elphaba couldn’t hold back her chuckle.
“We’ll see about that. Come on.” She gestured at Elphaba and placed the cue back in her grasp. “I challenge you to a match. If you win, you get kiss to me.”
“What?” Elphaba choked on her beer, picking the wrong moment to take a sip. She felt like she was getting whiplash from the change in Galinda’s demeaner.
“You heard me.” Galinda challenged.
“What makes you think I want to kiss you?” She countered, ignoring the butterflies she felt at the thought of it.
“Elphaba, you’d be lucky to have the chance.” Honestly, the gall of such a tiny woman, she resisted the eye roll this time.
Alas, Elphaba wouldn’t turn down a challenge, especially one which might end in her getting to kiss the pretty blonde in front of her. Fuck it.
“Yeah, why not.” She said complacently.
Galinda grinned arrogantly and motioned for Elphaba to start.
Elphaba was fortunate to pot two balls upon breaking and was instantly ahead in the game.
But as it turned out, Galinda was horrendous at pool. Elphaba wasn’t even sure if she had ever played before this moment.
When she was lucky enough to sink a shot, it wasn’t even her one of her balls.
Elphaba stuttered a few times throughout due to Galinda’s distracting behaviour. She missed an easily lined up shot when she glanced up from her position hovered over the cue and spotted the top three buttons of Galinda’s blouse suddenly undone, teasing her with far too much exposed skin between her breasts. Pink lace teased at the edges of the open shirt.
Not that Galinda needed a distraction to perform even worse than she already was, but Elphaba took her time in rolling up her sleeves and flexing her muscles slightly. Feeling triumphant when the blonde’s cheeks flushed and she messed up yet another shot. Yes, she stooped that low.
Elphaba only had one ball left. This time, Galinda approached her from behind and draped herself across her body. Elphaba’s heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. She revelled in the heat against her and determined to win, she focussed all her attention on the ball and sent it flying straight into the pocket, hard.
Elphaba placed her cue down on top of the green fabric, taking Galinda’s from her grasp and setting it down next to her own.
Galinda looked at her hungrily. Elphaba breathed heavily with anticipation, her heart pounding.
Galinda’s back pressed against the pool table as Elphaba stalked towards her, closing the distance between them and effectively trapping her with her hands placed either side of Galinda’s hips.
“Do you want your prize now, Elphaba?” The blonde cooed.
“Are you sure?” Elphaba asked tentatively, her confidence faltered. She waited eagerly to receive the consent she needed from Galinda before she made a move.
Galinda smiled and nodded almost coyly. The shyness took Elphaba by surprise. This was her idea after all.
Elphaba moved in leisurely, building up the anticipation. Her palm came up to gently hold Galinda’s jaw and finally she guided their lips together in a chaste kiss. Elphaba lingered there for a while before slowly pulling back far enough to take in Galinda’s expression.
Her eyes were closed softly; her mouth parted a little.
“Kiss me again.” She whispered.
And Elphaba did, she kissed her like she meant it. Like her whole life she’d been waiting for this moment and this moment alone. Galinda sighed, her lips parting against Elphaba’s, tongue tentatively brushing against her own.
Elphaba tried to bite back the moan that threatened to escape, but it stuttered out against her will. She pressed Galinda harder against the table, effectively pushing her up on top of it. Galinda’s legs wrapped around her waist as they continued to deepen the kiss.
Fiyero’s loud cheers and guffawing abruptly interrupted them and instantly cooled the mood. Elphaba hauled herself away from Galinda, putting a safe distance between them, amused. Galinda was biting back a smile too. Her cheeks were beautifully flushed and Elphaba wondered what the rest of her would look like, writhing breathlessly beneath her.
Galinda’s eyes were locked with her own. It was like Fiyero and the others were fast fading away in the distance. The only people left in existence were the two of them.
Elphaba wanted more.
As if Galinda read her mind, she jumped down from the table gracefully, taking Elphaba’s hand in her own and pulling.
“Come with me.”
Elphaba gulped. This was actually happening. She tried to calm her nerves.
Galinda turned to face her, she was practically skipping across the room.
“Happy birthday to me.” Galinda beamed proudly.
And Elphaba? She was just thankful that she’d received the message in error that led her to this exact moment.
Smiling, she allowed herself to be pulled away by the blonde. She intended to make it a very happy birthday indeed.