Page 103 of The Academy
Would Davi wear a silk slip dress to a dive bar?Olivia wonders. Maybe if, like Olivia, she had no idea what the Alibi was.
When Olivia sees Willow Levy step out of the dorms, she waves her arms. Willow can sit with them; three people will be slightly less pathetic than two.
But Willow heads for the food trucks. When she returns, she’s holding hands with Royce Stringfellow. Olivia blinks. Is this real? She looks at Tilly, who’s swilling from the water bottle. Is Tilly okay with this? Royce has been obsessed with her since third-form.
“I already knew,” Tilly says. “Someone told me Charley and East set them up.”
Sure enough, Willow and Royce head right over to Charley, East, and the others and they plop down.
Olivia lowers her voice. “How did Charley go from being weird to being the center of everything? Is it just East? She’s more relevant than even Davi.”
Tilly hands Olivia the water bottle. “She’s a freak. But don’t worry, I’m getting revenge on her.”
Olivia takes a third mouth-puckering swallow of vodka. “Tell me more.”
Before Tilly can answer, the band rips into “Teenage Dirtbag” with surprising authority and everyone jumps to their feet. Tiffin-palooza has begun.
Honey is back.
Cordelia isn’t sure how or why it happened, but Honey has returned to their relationship with a sweetness that has been missing since school started. It might have to do with all the college decisionscoming in. Honey cleared the biggest hurdle: Annabelle Tuckerman got into Princeton—and after that, everyone else fell into place. Now that the Class of 2026 is all set, Honey can relax until September.
Honey spreads out her navy-and-white striped ChappyWrap blanket and pats the spot next to her for Cordelia to sit. They’re off to one side, away from everyone else, but they still have a decent view. Simone Bergeron weaves through the crowd in yet another inappropriate outfit—a blue silk cami top and tight orange leather miniskirt. (The dress code is suspended during Tiffinpalooza.) Cordelia hopes Simone doesn’t come over to them—and her wish is granted. Simone glances at Honey and Cordelia, then veers in the other direction, leaving Cordelia to bask in Honey’s undivided attention.
Every once in a while, Honey will reach for Cordelia’s hand—and during the final band’s rendition of “Brown Eyed Girl,” she pulls Cordelia to her feet and they dance. Is anyone watching?
No: The entire school is dancing in the sun—even Audre, even Chef Haz, even Mr. James! Other schools may have their spring fairs and spring flings, but they can’t compare to Tiffinpalooza.
As the band launches into their final song of the day, “Mr. Brightside,” Honey whispers in Cordelia’s ear, “Should I come to your cottage tonight?”
Cordelia is so overcome with happiness she can barely answer, so she just raises her hands over her head and sings along.
In the week following Tiffinpalooza, Olivia can’t shake the idea that Tilly is right: Davi and Charley—and maybe even Madison J.—are sneaking out of school and driving to bars in East’s truck. Olivia watches Davi obsessively—more obsessively than usual—and notes the people she pulls for chats. It’s not only Charley and Madison J. but Willow and Taylor as well.
Then, a piece of gossip rocks the school: Cassie Lee has broken up with Hakeem.
“What?” Olivia says to Tilly. “Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around?”
“I asked the same thing.Shebroke up withhim.Nobody seems to know why.”
Olivia H-T can easily find out. She and Cassie Lee take Visual Foundations together. It’s the introductory art requirement, but Olivia hasn’t had room in her schedule for it until this year. Taking a class with third- and fourth-formers was initially mortifying, but Olivia quickly bonded with Cassie Lee and her little friends. They are properly deferential to Olivia H-T because she’s two grades older and she’s tight with Davi.
Or shewastight, Olivia supposes one might accurately say now.
Olivia sits next to Cassie. “Girl, spill.”
Cassie pulls her perspective study from her portfolio and reaches for a graphite pencil from the bin of supplies in the middle of the table. “I was sick of it,” she says.
“Of what?” Olivia says. She regards her own perspective study, which looks like it was drawn by a rambunctious three-year-old with one eye closed. She rummages through the bin for the big eraser.
Cassie gazes at Olivia in disbelief. “You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed. The fifth-formers have some kind of major secret and Hakeem won’t tell me what it is.”
Olivia nearly responds:I’min the fifth-form. But Cassie obviously knows this and knows Olivia isn’t privy to whatever the secret is. “Are you sure you’re not imagining things?”
Cassie starts to shade with the flat edge of her pencil. Her perspective study is damn near perfect. “Don’t be daft,” she says.Daft,Olivia notes, is a word stolen straight from Davi. “There’s something going on.”
It can only be happening on Saturday night,Olivia thinks. The rest of their week is fully accounted for. On Saturday evenings there’s always some kind of activity, and this week it’s a badminton tournament in the gym. Olivia suspects this is way beneath Davi, but it turns out Davi is going and so are the other girls on the floor. Fine, Olivia will go as well. Shockingly, Charley asks Olivia to be her partner against a couple of fourth-formers. When Charley and Olivia win the match, Davi jumps out of the bleachers to give them both a high five. Charley and Olivia quickly lose the next match to Teague Baldwin and Benj, the third-form offensive lineman, but Olivia doesn’t care. She feels herself drawn back into the fold. After badminton, Olivia goes with Charley and Davi to the Grille for milkshakes; they’re both so friendly to her that Olivia gets suspicious. Do they know Olivia is on to them?
They all walk back to Classic South. Miss Bergeron is doing aBridgertonbinge in the common room. She’s ordered petit fours from a bakery in Haydensboro, and some of the girls are making herbal tea in the microwave.
