Page 112 of The Academy
“It was just a crush,” Honey says. “It wasn’t real.”
Because Simone’s romantic interest lay elsewhere,Cordelia thinks.With Andrew Eastman!
“So it’s true, you’re leaving?” Cordelia asks. She must be in shock because her voice betrays no sadness, no anger, though she realizes she should feel both sad and angry. SheknewHoney was into Simone, so in some sense her mind has already traveled to this place. Looking back, Cordelia realizes that Honey started to pay Cordelia more attention right after this happened.
It was so calculated.
“I want you to come with me,” Honey says. “We can both move to Naples. Start fresh. Or take an early retirement. I’ll sell my mother’s house…”
Right: Honey’s mother, Sarabeth, has plenty of money, enough to keep them both in a lifestyle for the rest of their years. But Cordelia can tell that Honey is asking out of desperation. Once they get to Naples, there will be some new distraction, a cute server at The Claw Bar, or one of the nurses at the memory care facility. Cordelia can never trust Honey again.
Besides, Cordelia belongs at Tiffin. There’s a way in which (forgive her hubris), Cordelia SpoonerisTiffin.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she says.
Charley hands her phone over to Davi. “I don’t want it.”
“There are a hundred and fourteen texts from East on here,” Davi says. “Have you read any of them?”
Only the first one:Please let me explain.
Charley doesn’t need East to explain because the second she heard—from Tilly Benbow, naturally—that Miss Bergeron had been fired for getting with East, every inexplicable moment from the past year suddenly made sense. East had never liked Charley at all; he wasusingher. He threw pebbles at her window the night of First Dance because he knew she would be in her room, she was new and naïve and weird as fuck—of course she would be his partner in the speakeasy. She would serve as a shield! When East threw the pebbles at her window the second time, the night of the Northmeadow football game, it was so he’d have a way into the building. He’d sneaked into Miss Bergeron’s room!
Charley remembers with a sick heart the night she first blew out her hair because she thought East would invite her down to the bomb shelter—but he’d texted to say he was going to see Bergeron for extra help.
That was the night of the Harkness table, Charley is pretty sure.The only reason she isn’t vomiting into her trash can is because Davi is with her, and if Davi can keep her food down, so can Charley.
Charley thinks about how Miss Bergeron’s contempt for her started to show. The bullshit room check! Bergeron wanted to bust Charley, she wanted Charley to get thrown out so she could have East to herself.
“I lost my virginity to him,” Charley says. She always sensed she wasn’t enough for East; she suspected there was someone else he was really scheming—a girl from the city, a fashion model or an influencer. But the threat had been right here at Tiffin. Miss Fucking Bergeron. “How can I stay here?”
“You’re not leaving school,” Davi says. “That’s letting him win.”
Charleycouldleave school. She could return to Towson and finish her senior year at Loch Raven; Beatrix would be happy to have Charley back. Charley could claim her year at Tiffin as a one-off, like a year abroad, something to expand her horizons; she would easily graduate as valedictorian. If Charley’s mother is correct and Joey is having an affair, they might split and Charley and Fran could bond over their broken hearts.
“Men suck!” Charley cries out. This sounds cheap and glib to her own ears. There are decent men: Her father was one. And guys like Dub Austin, whom Charley had gotten to know better during their nights at Priorities. Dub would never keep a secret like this. With Dub, what you see is what you get; Charley values that about him.
“I think you and East should talk,” Davi says. Charley’s phone buzzes in her hand. “That’s number one fifteen. Oh… he says he’ll leave school if you want him to. He says he’s not coming back next year if you two aren’t together.”
Charley is tempted to grab her phone back so she can read the words herself. His contrition is gratifying—but she won’t bewon over;she has self-respect. “He’ll probably finish school in Montreal,” Charley says. “Where he and Bergeron can feed each other all thepoutinethey want.”
“That sounds grubby,” Davi says. Charley’s phone buzzes again. “One sixteen.”
“Can you block him, please?” Charley asks. “And block his email.”
“At your service,” Davi says as her fingers fly over Charley’s screen.
“He won’t leave,” Charley says. “His father is president of the board.”
“You’re not leaving either,” Davi says. “We only have a few days left. This summer, you can come on holiday with me. We’ll fix you up with one of Paolo’s friends. Someone older, someone mature.”
East is older,Charley thinks.East is mature. East is everything.Charley will never find anyone who compares, she just won’t. And yet, East is a liar. He and Bergeron were together. The horror of this infiltrates everything—Charley takes no solace from her shelves of books or from the healthy green leaves of her plants or from the vision of herself enjoying a cappuccino andtramezziniunder the Tuscan sun. She’s in agony.
Davi’s phone buzzes. “Now he’s textingme.” She reads the message. “‘Did Charley block me?’ Yes, Sherlock, she did, take a hint. Chasing is Out.”
“I have to study for Spanish and math,” Charley says. “But I can’t go to the Sink. I can’t go to the Teddy or the Paddock. I can’t leave this room.”
“I’ll go to the Paddock and get you some soup and focaccia,” Davi says. “I can either stay with you and study or leave you be.”
