Page 63 of The Academy
“How did you convince Cinnamon?” Hakeem asks.
“I didn’t. We never…”
“You never slept with her?”
“No,” Dub says. He understands why Hakeem finds this shocking: Dub and Cinnamon Intervissed every night and there were plenty of weekends when Dub sneaked into Classic South and spent the entire night with Cinnamon. But there had been no sex on those nights. Cinnamon was just really sad and wanted Dub to hold her.
Hakeem says, “There’s a chick I’ve been texting with at Dartmouth. She’s a freshman, a student athletic trainer for the team.”
“You’re not thinking about… I mean, dude, you wouldn’t cheat on Taylor, would you?”
Hakeem says nothing, which means yes.
Wow,Dub thinks.
The second Hakeem’s car service pulls out of the Tiffin gates the next morning, Dub gets a text from Taylor:Piano Bar tonight?
Dub isn’t sure how to respond. He and Taylor haven’t spoken much since the episode in the locker room. That was the price of restoring peace with Hakeem: Dub and Taylor couldn’t be close. But with Hakeem gone, the restriction feels silly and pointless. Dub hasn’t been to Piano Bar all year, though as a fourth-former, he and Cinnamon never missed it. Cinnamon was Mr. Chuy’s favorite.
Ok,Dub responds.
Since they’re going to Piano Bar in the Grille, they end up eating dinner together beforehand in the Paddock. They don’t take the Booth, that would be too high profile; instead they find seats among the randos of the fifth-form (some of whom Dub has never exchanged a word with). It’s Burger Night, so he and Taylor get their usual: Angus burgers medium rare with cheddar, bacon, pickles, and an extra side of special sauce. Hakeem always ate his burger in a lettuce wrap without cheese or sauce because, he said, his body was a temple.
They don’t talk about Hakeem, however. They don’t need to, they’ve never needed to.
Taylor tells Dub about the spring musical. Mr. Chuy has chosenMean Girls,and Taylor can’t decide whether to go out for the part of Cady or the part of Regina George.
“Cady,” Dub says. “More complex.”
“I love that you know the roles inMean Girls,” Taylor says. She dips one of her french fries in his ketchup. “I’ve missed you.”
When they get to the Grille, Dub buys Taylor a peppermint stick milkshake even though he’s down to the last ten dollars on his stipend and the school won’t deposit more money until next semester. When Dub doesn’t order a milkshake of his own, Taylor buys him an Oreo one on her account.
At the piano, Taylor takes a seat on the bench next to Mr. Chuy and Dub stands at her side. A few minutes later, the third- and fourth-formers arrive, along with the theater kids and Annabelle Tuckerman, Lisa Kim, and Ravenna Rapsicoli. The sixth-formers are starting to get nostalgic; they have only six months left at Tiffin and they want to enjoy every second. There’s a third-form kid who plays on Dub’s offensive line named Benj; he looks surprised as hell to find Dub Austin at Piano Bar, and he gives a tentative wave as if to say,Are you really doing this?
Dub nods. There’s no reason to be embarrassed.
Mr. Chuy launches into “Wagon Wheel,” and they’re off! Dub knows he has a good voice. They sing “Don’t Stop Believin’,” then “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” Then Mr. Chuy asks Taylor and Dub if they want to duet on “Shallow,” and honestly, they sound so freaking fantastic together—Taylor knows how to harmonize—that when the song is over, everyone cheers. Dub takes Taylor’s hand and helps her to her feet so she can bow.
The hour passes too quickly. Mr. Chuy plays “Friends in Low Places,” because he knows Dub likes country music, then he segues into Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” always the final song of the night.
Dub and Taylor walk back to the dorms together, both of them on an adrenaline high. It’s an even better buzz than the one he gets when he runs off the field after a game. He should have been singing every Monday all year. What was he afraid of?
Taylor links her arm through his. “That was fun.”
“Thank you for dragging me.”
Taylor is quiet but Dub thinks nothing of it. What he likes best about Taylor are their companionable silences.
Suddenly she says, “Hakeem wanted to have sex last night. He pressured me but I held out.”
Dub inhales the cold night air through his nose.
“I don’t want to lose my virginity to Hakeem,” she says.
“Taylor,” Dub says. “Tonight was amazing, and probably just what I needed. But I’d rather not talk about Hakeem. Okay?”
“Okay,” she whispers.
