She muses over how she came to be here as she sits in a still, nearly empty question hall one morning, with a proctor at the front of the room, glaring a little dangerously at her. “What?” says Elphaba.
“I said you could start. This is a timed test. Are you afraid to begin?”
“No,” she says. All of her life trembles on the tip of a pencil. “I was just thinking.” She lowers her head and turns to the first question.