Galinda had been doing fairly well with her odd roommate. Everything was normal... Except Elphaba had been dead for over a month, and Galinda had no memory of how it had happened. Was she merely interacting with a vague hallucination of her roommate, or a lost spirit trying to discover the cause of her own demise? Together, Galinda and Elphaba's "spirit" deign to find out the truth, however horrible it may be. Book/Musical. Shiz-Era. Ultra-AU

A/N: Because inspirations come around 2 in the morning –_-

Well, I've been wanting a paranormal thing with Wicked for some unknown reason. References from the musical Next to Normal are blatantly obvious here… And I think some Ratatatouille too, for some ungodly coincidence. There are definitely some references to Marc Levy's amazing novel "If Only It Were True".

Wicked is not mine (though I would ravage it if it were)

LunaSibuna: As promised. Oh well… I tried :D

Chapter One: She's Not There

There was pain.

Galinda didn't remember the last time her head had throbbed so sorely that it was seemingly ready to burst any moment.

All she knew was that she was curled on her bed; the familiar scent of her floral shampoo on her fluffy pillow filling her nostrils.

Her eyes were squeezed shut. She felt hot liquid brimming at the lids on both eyes. Whether they were tears of sadness or of sheer exhaustion, she couldn't remember…

"Get up, you silly twit."

Galinda frowned to her pillow at the sound of the dreary voice.

Right… It's her again…

It was her roommate. The ever obnoxious Miss Elphaba Thropp.

Galinda had been tolerating her invasion in her supposed private room for over half a year now. The thought wasn't enlivening. They have gotten nowhere in terms of friendship, and Galinda preferred it that way. She assumed it was the same with Elphaba, who didn't even bother to try and be friendly with anyone.

"Shut it…" Galinda groaned out aloud, her voice being muffled by the pillow, in which she had sunk her face to, willing to stop the incessant pounding in her head, "Seriously, if you're going to leave, you don't have to inform me about it… Oz, what am I? Your keeper?"

"You're already late for your first class," she heard her roommate said calmly.

"And why do you care?" Galinda snapped, her brain feeling ridiculously heavy and out of place in her skull.

Within the confines of their room, they never bothered to hide how they really felt about each other. It makes life more bearable for the both of them.

Elphaba didn't respond, causing Galinda to finally dislodge her face from its comforting position to see what had sealed the green girl's lips.

Her vision swam, and it took several moments for to reclaim its focus. She found her green tormentor standing by the foot of her bed, her arms crossed, her face impassive. She was already dressed in her dark blue uniform with her glasses on her incredibly sharp nose. Overall, she looked absolutely ready to leave for class.

"Why are you still here?" Galinda grumbled, letting her fingers plow through her messy, golden curls, cursing the horrible beating her head was going through.

What did I do last night? Did I knock myself drunk or something? Damn it, I couldn't even remember… Ow… Maybe I shouldn't think too hard right now…

Elphaba just stood rigidly where she was, staring at her with an empty, glazed look. "Honestly, Galinda," Elphaba decided to say, "I don't know."

Her plain statement vaguely suggested something more than confusion. Galinda didn't bother comprehend the intriguing thought since she didn't want to push her mysteriously fatigued brain just yet, but she felt like she was communicating with an inanimate statue. The colorless way her roommate had been talking contrasted starkly with her usual roughness.

"Oh well…" Galinda slurred, beginning to swing her legs off the bed with ample difficulty, "There's a first for everything. Elphaba, I think that's the first time you don't have an answer to a question—"

There was a soft crash of glass.

Galinda shrieked, lost her balance, and fell on her bed again. Elphaba didn't even blink at the sudden disturbance. She remained as she was.

The blonde leaned over the covers and saw a shattered small vial on the wooden floor. Luckily, it seemed that the container had been empty, otherwise it would've made more mess. "And what is that?" she snapped, her annoyance refusing to be soothed. She raised an accusing eyebrow at her unnaturally rigid roommate.

Elphaba merely gave her a small shrug, her face as blank as ever. "You tell me," she simply stated, "How should I know?"

Galinda rolled her eyes, regretting it instantaneously when her head protested with a smarting throb. She got up at the other side of the bed, away from the offending china. "Forget that I even asked…" she muttered, hating how useless Elphaba was.

She raised her eyes up at the wall clock and saw that her first class had been progressing for half an hour now.

Whatever, she thought nonchalantly as she bent over to fix the covers, As if I ever listened to History—

"Wait!" Galinda suddenly exclaimed, standing straight to look at Elphaba, who looked as though she hadn't moved at all. "You're late too!"

"So?" Elphaba shrugged.

"So?" Galinda reiterated, starting to be truly startled now. She now knew that something was totally off, totally wrong with Elphaba. The green girl would never ever dare miss a class, however boring it may be. And there was her unusual calmness, stiffness, and passiveness. "Are you sick or something? What's the matter with you today?" Normally, she wouldn't have cared, but what was happening was not normal.

Elphaba once more kept her peace, staring aimlessly at her. Galinda was finding it disturbing now. It was all her roommate had been doing. No emotion imprinted on her face while being stuck in a bone-chilling reticence.

"Listen," Elphaba finally said with the same stiffness, "How about I accompany you to breakfast? And then you can skip to class for all I care."

To Galinda, it sounded as though Elphaba was trying to reclaim her ignorance, but it lost its familiar sense of annoyingness. There was lesser sting, and they almost had no impact at all. If anything, it was dead monotonous.

"You? Accompany me to breakfast?" Galinda repeated, the words sounding silly in her own ears, "Well this is a really weird day. You're starting to be civil with me!"

She didn't want to admit it, but she'd been hoping for some company. As much as they don't get along, she might as well attempt to start in being good terms with Elphaba. She was secretly happy that her stony roommate was starting to soften up. She reasoned that it must be the explanation to the new stillness the green girl had been demonstrating.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Elphaba asked, and Galinda was relieved to finally see a difference in her face; she saw a small smile inch its way up the corners of her verdant lips.

Galinda fought down a smirk as she made her way to her closet. There would be less, if not none at all, people at the cafeteria at this hour unless they have convenient schedules of having afternoon classes. She would be spared from being questioned for letting the green menace escort her to breakfast.

She dug through layers and layers of hanging clothes. "That's a yes, Elphaba," she called, not sure if the girl in question had heard her through the thick apparel before her.

As she rummaged through her forest of coats, her thoughts suddenly reminded her of the small vial that had seemingly fallen from her bed. She vaguely wondered if it had anything to do with her intense headache, which, thankfully, was beginning to subside. She would have to clean it up though before she leaves, if she were to avoid further injuries.

She turned to tell her roommate about necessary cleaning, only to find out that Elphaba was gone.

Galinda scooted a bit from her closet, scanning the room for signs of the green girl, but it was to no avail.

She blinked, and then she frowned.

She hadn't heard her leave at all. But, then again, Galinda might've been lost in her ruminations.

Oh well, she thought ruefully as she finally decided to fish out a white blazer, This is going to take a while, this "getting to know" thing… Well at least she's trying.

Just as she had expected and had hoped, the cafeteria was almost empty except for the staff and some scattered groups of older students.

Galinda scanned the room for her finally-socializing-roommate , but was ever so dismayed not to find her. Well she wasn't that hard to miss, with the uniqueness of her color and all.

What was she exactly expecting from a total sociopath?

Elphaba probably slinked off into her own classes. Galinda never knew her to be a food-lover anyway. She even imagined the green menace smirking at the faux expectation.

She tried to hide her disappointment as she grudgingly went over to the station to grab a tray.

She merely took an apple, a bowl of lumpy, viscous porridge, and some juice, she went over to a lone table and flopped herself off-spiritedly on her seat. As weird as it was, Galinda would've liked the idea of having a "civilized conversation" with Elphaba for the first time. She wanted to know more about her, to at least have an amiable relationship with the girl she had shunned for so long—

"Hello."

Galinda jumped on her seat. She had been drinking from her glass, and at the sudden sound of Elphaba's voice, the juice sputtered from her lips like a fountain, making her choke and gag.

She whirled on her seat and was immediately looking up at Elphaba's towering stature. A little farther behind her, a group of girls were all looking at Galinda incredulously and curiously. Galinda glowed red when she realized that she made herself look like a total fool with the juice.

She turned to dab her lips with clean linen, frowning as Elphaba slowly took a seat in front of her.

"Where have you been?" Galinda deemed to ask, trying to maintain her confident posture. She was almost certain that the gaggle of blabbering bitches were still gawking at her back. Her reputation around the campus wasn't exactly anonymous. It was quite the contrary, in fact.

"Around," was Elphaba's plain response.

They sat in an awkward silence. Awkward for Galinda, at least, since Elphaba looked completely unbothered with it.

"Thanks," Galinda blurted out, done twirling her spoon on the thick porridge, "For, um, you know… I thought you went ahead… I mean, not that I want you to miss your lessons, but thank you for sticking around…"

Could I even sink lower? Galinda thought, mortified to find herself at the debt of the girl she had hated. Had hated.

The green girl's eyes bored into hers.

Galinda can't help but feel that there was, once again, something unusual with it. She began mentally debating whether or not it was the pristine glasses making the effect of emptiness in her eyes, which were usually filled with intense heat to show her cold hatred for humanity.

She didn't know how long she'd sat there with her silent "observer". Elphaba didn't eat anything. She just folded her arms on top of the table, staring at the edges of Galinda's tray as if lost in an unknown trance. As Galinda munched on her apple, she can't help but praise her for her rigidness. It was as if she wasn't breathing nor blinking.

After a while, she heard a bell resonate within the corridors of Shiz, signaling the morning break.

"Oh Oz," Galinda groaned, watching her spoon sink onto the depths of her murky food without bothering to save it, "I've missed two classes this morning!"

She hurriedly got up from her seat and picked up her tray. Elphaba silently followed suit. Any minute now, her schoolmates will come milling into the cafeteria.

"Come on, you," Galinda said to Elphaba after depositing her leftovers, taking long strides out of the hall.

While eating, Galinda had came upon the decision of introducing Elphaba into her group of friends. She knew that the green girl must've had a sense of belongingness somewhere underneath all the pretenses of independency. Given the time, her misunderstood roommate can potentially be her best friend. Galinda just knew it. She will make it happen.

For some reason, her "migraine" was slowly kicking in again, but she valiantly tried to eschew it from her head.

It wasn't long till she finally met her targets: Pfanee and ShenShen.

"Where have you been?" Pfanee immediately asked, her hand on her hip, "That's two classes you missed today!"

ShenShen looked worriedly at Galinda, who was ever so surprised when ShenShen suddenly pressed her palm against her forehead, as one would do if checking for signs of fever. "How are you today?" the girl asked with strange tenderness. Galinda didn't even know ShenShen could be so empathetic.

Galinda stepped back a bit, her head feeling swollen. "Um… Fine, I guess," she muttered uncertainly. She glanced at Elphaba, who was standing silently behind her, before turning to her friends again, "Why? Shouldn't I be?"

Pfanee looked as though she had resisted a tempting urge to roll her eyes. "You've been out of sorts for weeks," she said slowly, "I'm actually glad that you're somewhat normal today."

"Wait," Galinda said, feeling her head grow heavier on her shoulders, "What do you mean, for weeks?"

ShenShen looked sadder than before, and Pfanee slowly shook her head, as if in disbelief. "And now you're suffering some sort of amnesia or something," she said, as serious as she'll ever be, "Do you want us to accompany you to the clinic again?"

"Again?" Galinda blurted out, catching several curious glances from the passing students, "What does that mean?"

"Yup," Pfanee said to ShenShen, nodding gravely that it made Galinda want to strangle her for the delay, "Let's bring her in."

ShenShen moved forward, but Galinda stepped away. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," she said hurriedly, "You two better start explaining yourselves. What happened?"

Galinda tried to recall the last memory she could remember. The vague and distant memory returning to her was nothing more than an ordinary day at school, nothing special whatsoever. The idea of being so clueless about how her life had been for weeks was deathly bothersome indeed.

Pfanee and ShenShen looked at each other meaningfully. Galinda felt pressure build in her chest as the desire to burst out and inquire them what she had been mysteriously missing overwhelmed her.

"Fine. Don't tell me," Galinda grumbled, getting apologetic stares from her friends, "I'll find out myself. Come on, Elphaba. Let's ask someone who cares."

ShenShen's eyes grew into huge, round orbs, and Pfanee involuntarily twitched from head to foot.

"Who, Galinda?" Pfanee shot out, harsher than she meant to. Next to her, ShenShen began hyperventilating madly that she looked as though she was suffering from asthma.

Galinda rolled her eyes. "You two, don't be such drama queens," she reprimanded in a commanding tone, "Elphaba's a nice person. And I won't have you two keep ignoring her—"

"Galinda," Pfanee interrupted, sounding more urgently than Galinda had ever heard her before, "Have you forgotten that too?"

Galinda stomped her foot in utter frustration, the heel of her shoe almost snapping off. "Forgot WHAT, Pfanee?" she screeched, not caring that several students craned their heads from the cafeteria to see the commotion, "For Lurline's sake! Just spit it out already!"

Pfanee looked equally angry as well. "How can you- of all people- forget?!" she snapped back, and then she dropped her voice to low whisper, "The green bean's dead, Galinda!"

Galinda's heart dropped from her chest.

She must've misheard. It couldn't be. That was not possible.

"…What?" she asked weakly and blankly, her head seemingly floating.

"She's been dead for over a month!" Pfanee continued, angrily throwing her hand in the air, "How can you forget something that important?"

"But I've… I've been talking… she…" Galinda maundered, feeling tipsy.

"Galinda, stop," ShenShen squeaked, clutching her purse to her chest dearly, "Stop it! You're scaring me! There's no one there!"

With rising horror, Galinda slowly turned. That's not true. We talked! She was there this morning. Pfanee's lying. It couldn't be true… Her head was hammering again, and so was her heart.

There was Elphaba, looking expectantly at Galinda with her hands behind her back. Their eyes met again. Her dark brown eyes looked emptier and lifeless than before. Her face was completely neutral, devoid of all possible emotions, just as she was all morning.

Galinda blinked several times—

Elphaba disappeared, as if the hadn't been standing there moments before.

"What…?"

Galinda felt everything spin in a nauseating speed. Before she knew it, she was falling face first onto the ground, losing consciousness fast.

She dimly heard Pfanee and ShenShen rush to her aid. She saw a blur of green hovering behind the two of them before her world completely faded to black.

A/N: So… How did it go?

I think I rushed things a bit :/