Glasses

Ever since she was young, Elphaba Thropp had needed glasses, and sweet Oz how she hated them! For one thing, they made her look weak, and helpless, like she was totally dysfunctional just because she couldn't see as clearly as other people. For another, she thought they made her look quite ugly and stupid. Imagine! A little girl, wearing big circles of glass framed with thick black plastic! Not exactly a shining example of beauty... And already, Elphaba had been cursed with the fate of possessing green skin. The glasses only gave her tormentors one more thing to mock and deride her about. Sweet Oz, did she really hate those glasses! But unfortunately, her eyesight was so bad that she couldn't afford to go without them, so she was forced to get used to them and all the abuses that came with them...

Then, even after Elphaba managed to move away from her small-town home and hit a big college city, she was still mocked and derided, both for her green skin and her glasses!

"To think!" Elphaba hissed to herself as some of the students laughed and pointed at her glasses. "This is supposed to be a place of intellectuality and open-mindedness! But here I am, being teased like I was back in grade school, and all because I wear glasses!" but what really irked Elphaba was the fact that, here at Shiz at least, there were quite a few other students who needed glasses, but Elphaba was the only one to ever get teased about it. She understood that this was all really only an extension of what a freak her green skin made her, but that didn't make it any easier to take.

But in time, after a prank gone wrong and a party gone right, Elphaba managed to make her first ever friend: Galinda Arduenna-Upland. Against all odds, the girl who used to be Elphaba's worst enemy became her best friend and, as the days rolled on, the two grew closer and closer.

"Hey Elphie!" Galinda said one day. The two of them had been resting in their dorm room when Galinda spoke up.

"Hmmm?" Elphaba acknowledged, though she was still deeply engrossed in a book she was reading.

"Can I try on your glasses?"

"What?" that got Elphaba's attention, and she lowered her book with a stern and wary eye.

"I just want to see how they feel," Galinda replied. Elphaba continued to glare warily at her. Was this some sort of joke?

"I promise I won't do anything to them!" Galinda added quickly, sensing where Elphaba's hostility was coming from. And it wasn't unwarranted. Galinda hadn't exactly always been the nicest person to Elphaba and she was one of many students to have engaged in making fun of the green girl for needing glasses. Now, though, Galinda was determined to prove that those days were over, and she had no malicious intent anymore.

At last, Elphaba relented. She carefully removed her glasses before handing them off to Galinda. It was a very vulnerable moment for her.

"Elphie! Your eyesight really is awful!" Galinda cried the moment she slipped Elphaba's glasses on.

"Hey!" Elphaba pouted, though it wasn't like Galinda was wrong. Her lenses were really thick.

"Well? How do I look?" Galinda asked next, ignoring Elphaba's little remark of annoyance.

"Blurry," Elphaba deadpanned.

"Oh! Elphie!" Galinda huffed. "Why must you always be so difficult?" then she hopped off her bed and rushed over to Elphaba's side.

"Says you," Elphaba snarked back, but she was hiding a smile.

The moment Galinda came into Elphaba's line of sight, however, that hidden smile became very, very apparent. The green girl burst out laughing immediately, and it was loud enough for half the floor to hear.

"OH MY OZ! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!" Elphaba could barely breathe, but to see Galinda's dignified and beautiful face framed in ugly old spectacles that made her blue eyes seem to bug out made the green girl cackle like nothing else ever would. For just a brief moment, she understood why people made fun of her. They really were the ugliest, dumbest glasses Oz had ever seen.

"THAT IS THE FUNNIEST- HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Elphaba looked like she was about to pass out.

"It's not that funny, Elphie," Galinda pouted, but Elphaba was cackling far too loudly for her to hear. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Galinda carefully made her way over to her vanity and leaned in close to get a look at herself. Sweet Oz! Elphaba was right! She did look like a moron!

"You can keep these!" Galinda declared at once, shoving the glasses back onto Elphaba's face, but Elphaba was still laughing too hard to hear.

Fast forward a semester and the two girls found themselves walking hand in hand through the Emerald City.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Galinda (who had since renamed herself Glinda) cried, enchanted. Everything was so big and beautiful! Mere words alone simply could not describe the decadence and luxury that spread out in an emerald sea before her. There was just so much to do and see! So many treasures and riches! So many marvels and adventures! This was beyond anything she could've ever-

"ARGH!" Elphaba's angry and pained shriek interrupted Glinda's thoughts and Glinda whipped around to see the green girl on her hands and knees. All at once, Glinda's excitement switched over to concern and fear.

"Elphie? What is it? What's wrong!?" she demanded as she knelt by the green girl's side.

"My glasses!" Elphaba replied with a wail. She had tripped on uneven patch in the sidewalk and fallen face-down. As a result, her glasses had shattered. Only a few shards remained in the thick black frames.

"Oh, no!" Glinda moaned sympathetically. "Here, let me help!" she tried to help Elphaba to her feet, but Elphaba yanked away.

"I can do it!" she snapped. Glinda let her go, but gave the green girl a small sigh. Elphaba's fierce independence was just one of many things that Glinda adored about her, but sometimes, Elphaba really did need to learn to let it go and ask for help.

Elphaba learned this lesson after about five seconds of trying to stumble forward through the city streets.

"Ok! This isn't working!" she griped as she was, for about the eighth time in two seconds, nearly trampled. And as she said this, she nearly walked right into a lamppost. Glinda had been walking behind her up until they, stuck between laughing in amusement and groaning in sympathy and concern. Now, though, hearing Elphaba's little surrender, she hopped up to Elphaba's side and took her arm.

"You'll let me help you now?" Glinda asked gently.

"Yes," Elphaba pouted. Glinda had to resist the urge to laugh and tell the green girl how childish she was sounding.

"Come on, you," Glinda teased at last. "I'm sure there's a repair shop or eye doctor around here somewhere," then she began to lead Elphaba gently on. At first, Elphaba cursed the indignity of being so helpless that she needed to be led around by the hand like a child, but when she felt Glinda snuggle up against her side, it gave her a moment of pause. Then Glinda squeezed her hand before nuzzling her shoulder. Ok, so maybe needing to bed led around by the hand wasn't so bad after all... A few minutes later, the couple had successfully found an eye doctor and, through Glinda's stubbornness, Elphaba was fitted with contacts. Glasses were a thing of the past!

With sight fully restored to her, Elphaba was able to continue the day with ease, but even though she no longer needed the help, the moment she and Glinda were back outside, she grabbed Glinda's hand once more. Glinda squeezed it knowingly and Elphaba squeezed back. Good as it was to have functional eyesight, Elphaba had to admit that the highlight of the day was feeling Glinda's body pressed sweetly up against hers.

AN: This is based off a prompt I saw wherein Elphaba loses her glasses, but it turns out to be a good thing because it means she gets to use Glinda as her crutch and Elphaba is always up for spending more (physical contact) time with Glinda.