For Good
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Wicked the musical.

Lying with your stomach against the light blue tie-dye comforter, chin propped up by your hands and legs bent into the air, you watch the beautiful girl. She dances around the square room like a ghost floating in mid-air. Her milky skin glows in the darkness, reflecting the light cast by two orange and blue candles atop her dresser. Small reflections from the flames dance in her green eyes, illuminating the small flecks of blue and brown within them. Velvet footsteps, created by feet with toenails painted cerulean blue, lightly graze the tan carpet. Her rose colored lips gracefully move to the rhythm of her body. Listen closely and you can hear her voice, the sound of summer raindrops falling gently onto the lush green grass. As her body spins and twirls her waist-length cocoa brown hair is pulled away from her body and thrown into the air around her head, twisting into a dark tornado. Ever so slowly her face emerges from the whirlwind of hot chocolate tangles. In this state of mind the girl is at rest, at peace with herself and the world. With not a care, she submerges herself into the depths of the song playing out of her stereo. She closes her multi-colored eyes and feels the melody flow through her whole being, letting it take over her movements. Her lithe 5’ 4” frame elegantly slows as the song comes to an end. Her movement ceases, but her serene expression remains. You smile in her direction and she smiles back, grateful for your presence. At that moment, lights from her parent’s car move across her shaded window illuminating her pale blue walls.

“Perfect timing,” she whispers to you. Her parents never liked her sing-a-longs, even if she did have the voice of a goddess. Hurriedly, you clamber over the end of her bed and walk strait to her dresser to blow out her candles. When she flips one switch by her door the ceiling fan and lights turn on. As you are closer to the window you pull up the shade, making sure first that her parents cannot see you, and throw open the window. Warm summer air brushes against your skin. She comes over to help you slide the white box fan into the window frame. She turns it on high, hoping that by the time her parents get anywhere near her bedroom the smell of burning candles will have faded away.

Both of you step directly backwards and she, being the more graceful of you two, smoothly slides on her back over the dark metal at the foot of her bed. You, on the other hand, have to turn around and still you stumble and clumsily scramble onto the bed, scuttling over your friend in the process.

A knock at the door.

“Come in,” Tk says, turning down the stereo sitting on a table beside her bed.

Her mother opens her bedroom door just enough to poke her head in like a turtle emerging from its shell. “Hello girls.”

“Hi mom,” you simultaneously reply.

“Just wanted to make sure you two are still here,” she says. The both of you exchange worried glances out of the corner of your eyes. Her mom lets out a small high-pitched hyena laugh. You see your friend’s chest shrivel with a sigh of relief.

“I’m only joking. It’s getting late. You should be going to bed soon.” With that she pulls her head from the door and shuts it.

You breathe a sigh of relief and turn your head to the left. Looking past Tk you see the end of the bed. Past that there is a blue doughnut chair backed into the corner sagging with the weight of your clothes and backpack. You focus back on your friend.

“Tk, when do we leave?” you ask, calling her by the only name that you have ever known for her.

“Shh, Fetz” she reminds you, referring to your nickname. “When they fall asleep,” she whispers. Tk reaches over to her stereo. When she presses the play button the room is again filled with the sounds of Broadway actors accompanied by a full orchestra.

“So, what do we do now?” Tk turns her gaze back to you, looking for some sort of idea in your blank, staring face. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Are you seriously asking me to make up my mind?”

“You’ve got a point there. I should know better than to ask you to decide on something in such a short time,” she says teasingly. But you don’t care. It’s one of her infinite traits that make you love her so much.

“What time is it?” you ask, still smiling from her comment. She looks at the watch wrapped around her skinny white wrist.

“Almost eleven thirty.”

“Well, lets just watch a movie. I’m sure your parents will be more like rocks then they usually are by the time it’s over.” A sound like the twinkling of fairy wings escapes from Tk’s lips at your remark about the boringness of her parents.

“So, what do you want to watch?”

“Um….” You strum your fingers on your chin, contemplating on what to watch.

“Or should I decide?”

“No, no, I’ve got it! Let’s watch Furuba,” you exclaim, finally deciding on one of your favorite anime.

“Okay!” She slides off the edge of her bed and starts to set up her TV and PS2. After everything is in place at the end of her bed, she pulls the chain hanging from the ceiling fan and the room goes dark though you can still feel the gentle breeze from the rotating blades. Even in the dark Tk is agile. She turns off her stereo and climbs on the bed next to you, not injuring herself in any way.

For the next hour and a half, you and Tk lie on her bed watching episodes of Fruits Basket laughing, crying, and crying because you’re laughing. You are trying not to be loud as you recite the different characters lines from memory, talking in sync with the TV. Finally, the end credits scroll across the small television screen. Tk reaches out and presses the power button on the TV.

“Should we go check?” You ask apprehensively.

“I’ll go. You get the fan out of the window. But be quiet!” Tk moves smoothly off the bed to her door and cracks it open a bit. Opening it more, she gives you a smile and tip toes into the hall. Less than thirty seconds later she comes back in to the room with a huge smile on her face and gives you the thumbs up. That’s your sign. You gently slide the white box fan from the window and place it on top of your backpack. Tk is suddenly at your side. She has car keys in one hand and CD's in the other.

“So, they’re asleep?”

“They’re both out like lights. Okay, so, you should go out first. Don’t worry,” she says seeing your skeptical look. “I’ll help you.”

“Alright.”

Tk sets down the items on her blue tie-dye comforter and holds out her tiny but strong hand for you to use as a crutch. You take it, marveling at its capability to hold you steady as you slowly climb out of the window. Thankfully, the ground is only a few feet away so your feet make no sound as they hit the ground. In the summer air crickets chirp. The heavens are cloudless but the stars are invisible, cast out by the pinkish tinge from city lights.

“It’s a disappointment, isn’t it?”

You nearly jump out of your skin. Tk is at your side looking at the sky.

“Jesus, Tk, don’t do that!”

“Shh, Fetz. We’re not out of the parental vicinity yet.” She calls you by your nickname to make sure you get the point. “Help me put this fan back in the window. It’ll be tricky.” After a few minutes and several strings of hushed curse words, the fan is again in its rightful spot.

“To the car!” Tk skips the couple hundred feet to her navy blue sedan. On the driver’s side, she slides the silver key silently into the lock, gives it one gentle turn and quietly opens the door. She flicks the switch to unlock the passenger side door and you both slide into the leather seating. Quietly, two car doors shut, making the tiniest of sounds. As the silver key is slid into the ignition, you see that Tk’s pale hand is shaking.

“Everything okay?”

“We’re sneaking out of my house knowing that if my parents catch us we will spend the rest of our lives buried in the ground and oh yeah, everything is just dandy.”

“You know, we don’t have to go through with this.”

“I’ll be fine as soon as we get out of this neighborhood.” She turns the key in the ignition and the engine, quiet as a mouse, exhales a small breath, its way of saying, let’s get out of here!

Gravel crunches under tires as the car backs out of the driveway. Tk’s face, lit by the pale moonlight, is mixed with anxiety and ecstasy in a big adrenaline rush. You’re sure that that is exactly the expression on your face as well.

The streets of the subdivision are deserted. Every house, looming above the car, has darkened windows. You are surely the only two humans awake amongst the dozens of houses. Tk pulls to the corner of the main road.

“Left or right?” she asks.

You consider your options. Turning left would take you towards the mall and a more populous area of town while taking a right and then a left would lead you outside the city limits. Then again, if you took a right and then right again you would head towards downtown Traverse City.

“Take a right and then at the stoplight turn right again. I wanna go downtown.”

“You’re brilliant!” She turns right and then at the stoplight she takes another right. The farther away from the house you get, the more Tk relaxes. While stopped at another light, Tk reaches into the middle compartment and takes out a CD.

“Would you put this in?” she asks you. Her hands have become busy once more controlling the steering wheel. You take the CD from her and look at the case. She has chosen the soundtrack to the musical Wicked. You pop the disk out of the case and slide it into the player.

“Skip to number four.”

Both: There’s been some confusion over rooming here at Shiz.

Elphaba: But of course I’ll care for Nessa.

Glinda: But of course I’ll rise above it.

Both: For I know that’s how you’d want me to respond, yes. There’s been some confusion for you see my roommate is…

Glinda: Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and all together quite impossible to describe.

Elphaba: …Blond.

Tk and you burst out laughing. She rolls down the windows, letting the warm air blow through your hair while driving through the street lamp lit lanes. Both of your voices mix with the pre-recorded voices. Tk takes the part of Glinda just because she can sing super high and you take the part of Elphaba because she sings lower and you have a lower voice.

After exploring all of the lit downtown streets, you are at a loss of where to go.

“I’ve got an idea!”

“What?”

“How about when you come to a stop I’ll signal you to either turn left, right or keep going straight and lets see where we end up.”

“Just so long as we don’t get lost. It’s already quarter to three.”

“Oh my God, is it really?” You check and double-check your watch. For added reassurance, you look at the clock in the car. Sure enough it reads 2:47.

“So, lets get started.”

“Alright, take a left up here,” you say and then turn the music up. From then on, you sing to selected tracks from Wicked and give Tk hand signals on which way to turn.

At a stoplight you come to, you realize that there are actually cars on the roads.

“Is it me or has it gotten lighter?” Tk asks.

“No, it’s not you. I noticed that too. And look, there are actually cars on the road. Crap, what time is it?”

“It’s almost four. We need to get home.” Tk takes a second to look around at another stop sign. “Um, which way exactly is home?”

“Oh! I know that red building over there.” You point to your left and Tk follows your finger.

“Okay. I know where we are now. Only a few more minutes and we’ll be home.” She smiles and turns up the radio once more. She restarts the song and says to you, “You have to sing loud on this one. It’s our song!”

“Alright,” you say, unaware that you sing quietly. Unlike all the other tracks on the CD, you sing the part of Glinda because she sings with a lower voice. Driving down the road, windows and mouths open, you and Tk sing as loud as you possibility can, even if it means disturbing others in their cars or houses.

Elphaba: I'm limited.
Just look at me - I'm limited
And just look at you.
You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda.
So now it's up to you.
For both of us - now it's up to you...

Glinda: I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led to those
Who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return.
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun.
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood.
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good.

Elphaba: It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you.
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea.
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood.
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

Glinda: Because I knew you

Both: I have been changed for good

Elphaba: And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for

Glinda: But then, I guess we know, there's blame to share

Both: And none of it seems to matter anymore

Glinda: Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun.
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood.

Elphaba: Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea.
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

Both: Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

Glinda: And because I knew you...

Elphaba: Because I knew you...

Both: Because I knew you…

I have been changed for good...

Right as the song ends, Tk turns into the entrance to her neighborhood. It’s ten after four and you are both praying to God that her parents are still asleep. Tk pulls into her driveway and parks the car without a word. Silently, she opens the car door as you do the same. You press it lightly back into place so it doesn’t make any noise. Tiptoeing over to her window, Tk has a look on her face that you can’t read. Her tiny nose is wrinkled, her lips form a straight pink line and her eyes dart from side to side restlessly. Slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible you both gently inch the box fan out of her window and drop it lightly to the floor. Tk climbs through the open window first, again extending her hand for your safety. Miraculously, you make no noise. She grins at you in silent applause and motions you to forget about the fan and just close the window. You do just that and pull down the shade to block out the rising sun. Tk goes to her dresser and pulls out a pair of PJ pants and changes into them and then crawls to the bed. You join her after changing into your own pajama pants. Under the covers she lies on her side, facing the door. Settling yourself under the covers behind her, you wrap your arms around her and rest your head by hers, using her pile of hair as your pillow.

“Tk?” you whisper.

“Yes?” she whispers back.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Friends forever,” you close your eyes, ready to immerse yourself in the world of your dreams but before you can do that, Tk whispers back to you.

“Forever and for good.”