Page 75 of The Academy
Audre returns to the Egg just in time for the biggest moment of the night, the biggest moment of any holiday party across America:The DJ plays Mariah Carey. Students rush the dance floor, hands in the air, singing along.All I want for Christmas… is you!
At that moment, Audre’s phone buzzes. She holds it at arm’s length so she can see the screen; she’s come to the Kringle without her glasses.
It’s an alert from Zip Zap.Update on the Ranking Scandal: It seems Head of School Ms. Robinson believes Tiffin’s board president Jesse Eastman had something to do with our #2 spot.
What?Audre thinks. Then she remembers the text she sent to Big East:Please reassure me again that you had nothing to do with our ranking, Jesse.Does Zip Zap have access to herphone? It’s always in her possession; she charges it at night next to her bed. Audre searches the Egg for Mr. Rivera and finds him attacking the last of the fondue. There’s no way he could have posted so quickly. Most of the fifth- and sixth-formers are out on the dance floor, so she has to rule them—her likeliest suspects—out as well.
When the song ends, so does the Kringle. The lights come up, the kids scatter in search of their coats and the few remaining petit fours. It’s Audre’s tradition to return to the Residence, pour herself a glass of wine, and blast the “Hallelujah” chorus to mark the end of the first semester.
But now, Audre feels defeated. All she wants for Christmas, she thinks, is for things to be like they were last Christmas: Before Cinnamon Peters killed herself, before Cordelia Spooner and Honey started quarreling, before Audre hired either Mr. Rivera or Miss Bergeron, before Tiffin was ranked number two and became the subject of an official inquiry. Before Zip Zap.Is that too much to ask?she wonders. She fears the answer is yes.
January
18. Resolutions
The Tiffin Academy brochure shows the campus in high autumn when the foliage is at its peak—campfire orange, buttery yellow, deep crimson—and in late spring when the wildflowers in the Pasture bloom like pastel fireworks. There are, however, no photographs of Tiffin in January when the students return for second semester: colorless skies, barren trees, dead grass, Jewel Pond brown and muddy with a patchy skin of ice. The Thoroughbreds are facing three months of frigid wind and a new semester of academic rigor without much to distract them. For sports, it’s either squash or basketball, and both basketball teams are historically dreadful. Not even Hakeem Pryce’s natural athleticism or Annabelle Tuckerman’s occasional luck behind the three-point line can save them.
Despite this, the Thoroughbreds are happy to be back! Charley races up the steps of Classic South, nearly slipping on the ice. She lugs her duffel—filled with new, slightly more stylish clothes—to her room and seconds later, Davi appears. “Let’s go to the Grille.”
Charley is supposed to meet East in the tunnel as soon as it gets dark; he wants to show her the work he did over break. It’s quarter to four; Charley has an hour until the sun sets.
“Okay,” she says.
At the Grille, Charley gets a birthday cake milkshake even though it’s twenty-two degrees outside, and Davi orders a grilled cheese with bacon on Texas toast and a side of onion rings.
The morning of Christmas Eve, Davi texted Charley out of the blue, asking if they could FaceTime. Davi was barefaced and Charley had her hair down and her contacts in, so for a moment it was as though they’d switched roles.
“I’m just going to tell you what’s going on with my family,” Davi said—and she explained about Saylem, her parents’ third, who was now sleeping in the primary suite with her mother while her father slept in the guesthouse out back. “It feels like my father and I are living with a couple of newlyweds. My mother and Saylem are all over each other all the time. So now everyone at Out of Office knows, and it’s all over Annabelle’s.”
“Annabelle’s?” Charley said.
“Their club,” Davi said. “Have you never heard of it?” On the FaceTime, Charley watched Davi shove a lamington into her mouth. “What are things like at your house?”
Charley told Davi about her father’s death, then about her mother and Joey and Joey’s possible fascination with her best friend, Beatrix. “I hate him,” Charley said. “I stay in my room and read.”
“Notice the look of surprise on my face,” Davi said.
But whereas things stayed miserable for Davi—Saylem accompanied Davi and her parents on their annual ski trip to Courchevel—the situation at Charley’s house improved on December 27 when Joey announced he was driving up to Connecticut to spend the new year with friends and wouldn’t be back until after Charley left. This came as a surprise not only to Charley but to Fran Hicks as well, who said, “You’re doingwhat?”
With Joey gone, Charley could breathe again, though she spent just as much time in her room because she wanted to avoid her mother’s sighs and barbed comments. “I hope you’re happy. You drove him away. He knows you hate him.”
Charleywashappy! Shedidhate him!
On New Year’s Eve, Charley and her mother celebrated the waythey used to celebrate when Charley’s father was alive: with pizza and sparkling cider while watching the ball drop in Times Square on TV. At midnight, Charley received a text from East that said,I wish I was kissing you right now. Happy New Year, Charles.
Her mother called Joey and got his voicemail. She left a message that started out angry then devolved to weepy and pathetic. Fran Hicks had by then switched from sparkling cider to prosecco, and she refused help when Charley tried to get her up to bed.
It was Charley’s first lesson in Be Careful What You Wish For.
Now, in the Grille, Davi says, “I made a resolution. I’m going to do less posting and more studying.”
Charley says, “My resolution is to lighten up.”
When the two of them leave the Teddy, they lean into each other like real friends. Charley can’t get over how the start of this semester differs from last semester. Everything has clicked into place.
But then Davi peels off when they reach the Sink, saying she’ll see Charley back at the dorm. Although Charley is relieved—she’s going down to the tunnel to see East—she’s also concerned because she knows Davi is going to the third-floor bathroom to puke up her grilled cheese and onion rings.
Suddenly the new year seems slightly less promising.
