Page 88 of The Academy
East can do better (and probably does).
Charley pretends to be elevated but she’s as common as a back-alley whore.
Charley suspects this last comment is Davi, though she has no way to prove it. She needs to remain stoic; however, it feels supremely unfair that the Tiffin community, who haven’t commented on a Zip Zap post since Annabelle Tuckerman, are now piling on her.
There’s a knock at the door. Charley holds out hope that it’s Taylor or Madison J. or someone else offering support and solidarity(this is textbook slut-shaming!)—but when Charley opens the door, she finds Miss Bergeron.
“Yes?” Charley’s tone is icy; she hasn’t forgiven Miss Bergeron for the arbitrary room search.
“You do realize I could write you an infraction for making a public space private,” Miss Bergeron says.
Charley takes her time gathering her hair in a ponytail. “I’m sorry, what?”
“The Zip Zap post,” Miss Bergeron says. “You and East?”
“Wait, I’m confused,” Charley says. “You’re threatening to give me an infraction because of something that was posted on Zip Zap?”
“Everything on Zip Zap has turned out to be true,” Miss Bergeron says. “So I assume that’s the case here. You’ve been breaking school rules.”
Charley shrugs. “Zip Zap got it wrong this time.”
Miss Bergeron glares at her with what seems like contempt. But why? Because Charley doesn’t like to rot her teeth with Starbursts or her mind withLove Island? Because Charley alonedoesn’tthink Miss Bergeron is fierce? She’s a mediocre teacher and she tries too hard to be liked by the girls on the floor. The Zip Zap post about Miss Bergeron herself must have been true—she got disciplined in college and lost her floor fellow position. Did anyone write up an infraction forthat?
“I’m watching you,” Miss Bergeron says, and Charley tries not to laugh. Are they in a movie?
The sound of rushing water and the roar of the hair dryer from the bathroom break the tension. Charley says, “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready for class.”
The only reaction to the Zip Zap post that matters to Charley is East’s: He might not love that his sex life is trending. But as Charley is walking to the Schoolhouse for English, he calls for her to wait up.
He grabs her hand and kisses her neck, just under her ear. “We dodged a bullet,” he whispers.
“I know,” Charley says. “I just have to endure the entire school thinking I’m a back-alley whore.”
He squeezes her hand. “Nobody actually thinks that.”
“Bergeron came to my room threatening to give me an infraction for making a public space private. She has it out for me for some reason.”
East pulls Charley close, wrapping his arm around her. The paths of the school are now slushy and Charley’s toes freeze in her boots. “Zip Zap has to go,” he says. “I’ll handle it.”
“How are you going to handle it?” Charley asks.
East pulls out his phone and starts texting.
As soon as Audre gets off the phone, she hurries to the admissions office to find Cordelia.
“I just hung up with Big East,” she says. “He’s sending a computer forensics expert to the school over spring break. A woman named Laurie Hummel. She lives in New York, and she’s an IT security consultant to all the Wall Street banks. She’s going to put an end to Zip Zap.”
“We don’t have to be here to welcome Ms. Hummel, I hope?” Cordelia says. She knows that Audre is heading down to New Orleans for break. Honey, meanwhile, has invited Cordelia to go to Naples, Florida, to visit her mother, who has Alzheimer’s. Cordelia is so happy to spend time with Honey that she doesn’t even mind that much of her vacation will be spent in a memory care facility. But if someone needs to stay behind, Cordelia knows it will have to be her.
“No,” Audre says. “Jesse told me it’s like having the exterminator come. It’s better if nobody is here.”
“Wonderful!” Cordelia says. “Let’s hope she gets the little rat.”
22. Spring Break
Charley, who has never before cared about social media, spends the majority of her spring break scrolling through Instagram and Snapchat.
She starts with posts of the sixth-form trip to Harbour Island in the Bahamas, a long-standing Tiffin tradition. The only sixth-formers Charley knows well are Ravenna Rapsicoli, Annabelle Tuckerman, and Lisa Kim, who have rented a villa called At Ease. (With those three in residence, the villa should be named Not At Ease,Charley thinks.Are they talking about anything other than college admissions?)
