Page 76 of The Academy
Simone Bergeron’s New Year’s resolution is not to obsess about East, or about East and Charley together—but by the end of the first week back, she has broken this resolution 114 times. Every F-period, East and Charley enter class together, they sit next to each other, they walk out together, leaving Simone to steep in her envy. East turns in written responses to the reading for the first time all year. Simone assumes Charley is doing his work for him—until she callson East in class and he gives an answer so eloquent and informed about the causes of the War of 1812 that Simone feels defeated. All it took for East to turn things around academically was the good influence of Charley Hicks.
Simone nowhatesCharley, though she tries to tamp down her pettiness and treat Charley like the other girls. But one day, as she’s hunting through her desk, she comes across a copy of the’Bred Bulletinfrom Family Weekend and she remembers something.
The In and Out list that Charley wrote.
Simone notes the items of the In column that track for Charley:staying in, reading, hating people.Simone’s eyes then drift down to the last two items:orgasmsandfifth-form repeats.Charley’s scheme was coded right there in the newspaper back in October.
During Family Weekend, East kissed Simone in the brick tunnel. To think of it now is like a straight pin through her heart.
Also on Charley’s list isvodka Red Bulls.
Which gives Simone an idea.
As if East and Charley getting cuffed isn’t enough, a troubling email lands in Simone’s inbox. It’s from Jasper Stiefel, a person so problematic from Simone’s past that she’s tempted to delete the email without reading it. The subject line says:I’m sorry.Out of pure curiosity, Simone clicks on it.
Hey Simone.
I tried sending a letter to your parents’ house in Saint-Henri but I heard nothing back, so I tracked down your mother at her medical practice and she gave me your new email. I hope you read this apology, even though it’s long overdue.
I want to say how sorry I am for being a part of that horrible night in your final semester at McGill. I heard you weredisciplined harshly and lost your position as floor fellow. Lars told me they let you graduate, but not walk with the rest of the class. I assume since you’re now working at an American boarding school, everything turned out okay?
I have no excuse other than that I was young—too young to resist the temptation of hanging out with you. Even as it was happening, I knew what we were doing was wrong and I’m sorry you alone had to pay the price.
I hope you can bring yourself to forgive me, and that you’ve dusted yourself off from the debacle of that night in McConnell and moved on.
All best, Jasper
Simone reads the email twice, the first time incredulous, the second time merely enraged. Jasper must be going through a twelve-step program and this must be part of his amends. Heshouldbe sorry! If he and Lars hadn’t appeared at her room with their mischievous grins and their bulging backpacks, Simone would have graduated with honors, a shining paragon of hard work and leadership.
Instead, she leftentaché.
Simone can’t blame anyone but herself; she was the floor fellow. She should have turned Lars and Jasper away but didn’t.
She reads the email a third time and feels a deep mortification.
She would like to say she dusted herself off from the debacle of McConnell and moved on. But she hasn’t changed, not really.
Simone won’t respond right away; she’s learned that much. She’ll think on it for a couple days.
All week, Charley signs out to the Sink, but instead of going on the scheduled trip to the cineplex in Capulet Falls Saturday night—Simone has learned they save trips to the movie theater for the deadof winter—Charley opts to remain in the dorms. She says she wants to read.
Simone isn’t naïve; she knows what this means. Davi and all the other girls are going to the movies, which means that Charley is planning to link up with East—and Simone will be damned if she’s going to let that happen.
Simone steps out into the hallway as the girls scurry among one another’s rooms getting ready; rumor has it boys from the nearby public schools frequent the cineplex and the Five Guys next door. “Room check!” she shouts.
Everyone freezes. Simone has never done a room check; she has been too intent on winning the girls over, making sure they’re happy, becoming their bestie. But what did Simone learn that terrible night in McConnell? Sheisn’ttheir friend. She’s a figure of authority. Someone to be respected, even feared.
Simone notices a squeamish expression on Tilly Benbow’s face. Ditto, Willow Levy. Their mini fridges are probably packed with cans of passion fruit Truly. Madison J. gives Simone a quizzical look. As prefect on the floor, she’s supposed to be informed when a room check is about to take place (so she can give the girls a heads-up, which is why nobody at Tiffin ever gets in trouble).
Simone ignores Tilly, Willow, and Madison J. and marches down the hall to Room 111. She flings open the door without knocking to find Charley—not reading like she claimed, but rather, on her phone. Simone already feels justified: Charley was lying (thoughReal Americansby Rachel Khong is splayed open next to her on the bed).
“Charley,” Simone says. “I’m conducting a room check.”
Charley rises to stand in the doorway, as is protocol, phone still in hand. Simone wants to grab it.Is she texting East? Making a plan to meet later in that room down below?
Simone opens Charley’s mini fridge to find six cans of A&W RootBeer, a package of Boursin cheese, and… an opaque white bottle. Drugs? Simone snatches it up. This is beyond her wildest dreams. What if Charley Hicks is not only Honor Boarded but expelled as well? The bottle has a typed label, listing the scientific name of the contents.
“Qu’est-ce que c’est?”Simone asks. She shakes the bottle. It’s a powder, not pills.
