Page 73 of The Academy
A little while later, nearly everyone is ready. Madison J. puts on a parka over her little black dress and waits for Teague Baldwin by the front door. Madison R. is in her white robe because she sings in the choir; Olivia P. wears a red robe because she is in the handbell choir.
“Do you have a date, Miss Bergeron?” Willow Levy asks.
“I do not,” Simone says, though ofcourseRhode suggested that they “go together.” Simone told him she didn’t feel that was appropriate. The majority of girls on her floor were going solo and Simone didn’t want them to feel awkward about it. “I’ll just see you there,” she said.
At ten minutes to seven, it’s time to head over to the chapel.
“Allez!”Simone calls out. Everyone puts on coats, slips into heels or boots. The air in the hallway is thick with Flowerbomb perfume.
Finally, the door to Davi’s room opens and Davi steps out wearing a tiny red crushed-velvet dress and a pair of sky-high black Louboutin sandals with studded straps. She’s stunning and sophisticated, but this, Simone expected. Davi closes the door behind her.
“Is Charley not coming?” Simone asks.
“Oh, she is,” Davi says.
A second later, the door opens again—and Simone gets goose bumps. Charley emerges in a skintight white silk dress with a black lace deep V. Her hair flows down over her shoulders. She has ditched her glasses. Her makeup—smoky eye, glossy lip—is worthy of a supermodel. She’s breathtaking.
All the girls in the hall turn around. There’s one second of pin-drop silence—and then they cheer. Simone feels herself choking up. Charley Hicks is a total smokeshow, and although Simone believes that the only beauty that matters comes from within, she couldn’t be happier.
Simone pulls Davi aside. “You worked some kind of magic,” she says. “Charley should be going to this thing with Prince Charming.”
“Hotter than Prince Charming,” Davi says. “She’s going with East.”
Simone jerks her head back. “What?”
“Charley,” Davi says. “She’s going to the Kringle with East.”
“Wasn’t that service magnificent?”
Simone is darting from the chapel over to the Teddy for the soiree in the Egg when she turns to find Honey Vandermeid at her elbow. Honey is wearing opera-length pearls and a camel hair coat; her hair is in a chignon. She emits a timeless elegance that Simone will neverachieve. Honey must have left the service at the first possible opportunity and moved at quite a clip to catch up with Simone.
“Magnifique,”Simone says dully. Her eyes are blurred with tears, which could easily be blamed on the bitter cold.
Simone barely paid attention to the service. She only remembers the choir singing “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and the handbell choir, predictably, chiming out “Carol of the Bells.”Ding-dong, ding… dong.Chaplain Laura Rae recited the entire Christmas story according to the Gospel of Matthew while Simone stared across the aisle at Charley Hicks and Andrew Eastman sitting side by side. East occasionally leaned in and whispered in Charley’s ear and Charley smiled each time. Once, she swatted East’s leg.
Simone was consumed with a sick green jealousy. She would never have put East and Charley together, but now she realizes that out of any girl in the school, it’s Charley she’s most envious of. If East had chosen someone beautiful but silly like Tilly Benbow or someone too-cool-for-school like Davi, Simone wouldn’t mind quite so much. The problem with Charley Hicks is that she’s quality. She’s brilliant and hardworking and self-possessed. Girls like Olivia H-T call her a “freak” because she doesn’t care about the things other teenage girls care about. She’s mature, more mature than Simone herself.
Simone should begladthat East likes Charley. This is how it’ssupposedto be—students dating students. But Simone replays the scene in her classroom: Simone on the Harkness table, East’s head between her legs.
As the choir sang “Silent Night” and the congregation passed a flame from one handheld candle to another until the sanctuary was aglow, Simone thought,East is mine. He’s mine.
Simone attempts to escape from the chapel in order to be alone with her agony, but Honey seems intent on chitchat. Where is Simone spending herNoel?
“At home in Montreal with my parents.”
Will she ski? Honey loves Mont-Tremblant. Does Simone’s mother make any traditional dishes at the holidays?
“My father cooks a goose for Christmas lunch,” Simone says. “On Boxing Day, we have the neighbors over.” For a moment, Simone is comforted by thoughts of home. Her parents were scandalized by what happened at the end of Simone’s senior year at McGill, and they barely tolerated her presence at home the years after she graduated when she worked as a barista. But now she’ll be able to regale her parents with all her Tiffin successes: She taught a full semester ofl’histoire des États-Unis;she has become a beloved dorm parent.
Simone should be glad nothing else happened between her and East, and relieved that they didn’t get caught.East and Charley together is a blessing,she thinks.A Christmas miracle.
Simone enters the Egg, which exudes tasteful Christmas: green-and-gold tartan tablecloths and hundreds of electric pillar candles. The mocktail bar serves cranberry-ginger shrubs, honey vanilla cider, and “Grinch punch,” which is bright red with a green sugar rim. Servers pass trays of mini lamb chops with mint aioli and filet mignon sliders. In the middle of the high-top tables is an elaborate cheese fondue set up with chunks of baguette, veggies, and sausages for dipping.
DJ Radio is back. After the kids get mocktails and dunk pieces of bread into the bubbling fondue, they hit the dance floor. Simone keeps her eyes pinned to East and Charley. She tries to catch East’s eye; she wants him to know she’s watching him, but he seems to be studiously avoiding her. Or maybe she’s flattering herself. Maybe he isn’t thinking of her at all. He seems locked in on Charley.
Honey appears at Simone’s side, offering a gingerbread latte, which Simone has no choice but to accept. “I’ve been trying to catchthe kids sneaking alcohol,” Honey says. “But I haven’t seen any suspicious behavior. They’re probably afraid of Zip Zap.”
Yes,Simone thinks. It’s a little disconcerting now that Zip Zap seems to be watching them.
