maguire intentionally keeps a lot of the details of gelphie's exact relationship behind closed doors and leaves it to the reader to interrupt whether or not they were in love (they were) and whether or not they were sleeping together and when exactly that started. and i do stand by the interpretation that glinda spends her whole life deeply closeted and never really grasps that her feelings for elphaba are romantic, and elphaba's simultaneously terrified of the negative consequences of being tied to anyone and hurt by glinda's own closetedness that she has to suppress her feelings, on some level, to cope. and i also think there's a good case to be made that the only time they had sex with each other was the trip to the emerald city
but to the extent they were romantically entangled at shiz, boq's crush on galinda and that whole arc serves as a semi-mirror to elphaba's own feelings about galinda and gelphie's evolving relationship. cuz elphaba never directly confesses to the reader that she has feelings for galinda, despite clearly being into her since the moment she saw her (what with that bright golden presence bs). her friendship with boq, however, grows largely from their mutual feelings for galinda. and i think elphaba uses boq's feelings for galinda to process her own
like, when she sets up the first meeting between boq and galinda, she says, "how can i predict someone's affections?" and while she very well could just be being coy with boq, i do think she's genuinely trying to understand how galinda feels about her in this moment. at this time, galinda's calling her beautiful in the dorm but refusing to speak to her in public, so i can't blame 16/17 year old elphie for being confused and wanting a way to figure out where they stand without revealing herself. so she sets up this meeting between boq and galinda, where it's clear she finds boq's attraction to her humiliating and immediately shuts him down because of their different social positions. this obviously reflects her attitude toward elphaba, too, considering she won't publicly associate with her for fear of how it might impact her social standing
then fast forward to the summer, where boq and elphaba are talking about their feelings for galinda, and that's when we get elphaba's, "you know, boq, the thing is I have become fond of galinda myself." this comes after boq goes on some tirade about how down bad for galinda he is, and basically equates elphaba's feelings to his, suggesting she, too, is romantically interested in her. when elphaba says, "when her mind is really working, she could, if led, think on you--even, i suspect, somewhat fondly" i think she's talking about her own relationship with galinda just as much as, if not more, than his. especially since she sees the most stark contrast between how galinda treats her in the privacy of their dorm room and in social settings
both boq and elphaba's relationship with galinda comes to a head in the lake chorge incident. elphaba is humiliated when galinda's 'friends' write her a fake booty call, causing her to rush to lake chorge, much to galinda's initial horror. and i find it interesting that we never see galinda and elphie reconcile this incident, despite it being a turning point for their relationship. instead, elphaba locks herself away, with galinda being the only one visiting her in her room, and we the reader aren't privy to their interactions
interestingly, the only resolution we do get to this incident is a conversation between boq and galinda that culminates in the most awkward kiss ever. but in this conversation, galinda does confess that she finds boq somewhat sweet despite herself. you can imagine in a different world--where galinda isn't oz's biggest lesbian--this could've been the start of a budding romance. but i think this kiss is supposed to mirror where she is in her relationship with elphaba at that moment, given the fact the reader isn't allowed into gelphie's private conversations. yes, i am suggesting that gelphie kissed at lake chorge. you heard it hear first. the booty call was a success. shout out pfannee for making gelphie happen
however, it's clear in the immediate aftermath of the lake chorge debacle, galinda's still processing her feelings and deciding who she wants to be and probably having a sexuality crisis of sorts, because when boq and elphaba talk about her again elphaba mentions her being in a sulk, and then says, "you’ll look back on this summer and cringe. she may be lovely, boq--no, she is lovely, i agree--but you’re worth a dozen of her." again, i think this is elphie trying to process her own feelings about galinda, and trying to protect herself emotionally against rejection. she also gets so embarrassed after this that she runs into oncoming traffic, which is really just an all-time elphaba moment
the next scene is dr. dillamond's murder, and it opens with "the next time boq saw elphaba and galinda, all thoughts of romance fled." this is significant because it's the moment that inspires galinda to become glinda, and boq points to the galinda -> glinda shift as the reason he falls out of love, and on a wider level it's him losing interest in glinda's more authentic, non-superficial self, but i also think glinda's greater understanding of herself and acceptance of elphaba allows the boq plotline to be dropped because neither woman needs him to sublimate or process their attraction to the other. even if neither of them fully recognize their relationship as romantic love, they're more in tune with their feelings such that they don't need to hide behind him
