The Academy

Charley is a new student at Tiffin and one of the primary protagonists in the novel. She is starting the year as a junior, something made possible by the death of Cinnamon at the end of last year. Her classmates view her as nerdy and unfashionable, as she constantly reads, receives high grades, and dresses in clothes from several decades before. However, Charley’s fashion choices are directly tied to her father’s death. When he died during a routine surgery a couple years before, she took his old yearbook and modeled her wardrobe after the people in high school in the 1980s. She willingly isolates herself initially, preferring to read and study rather than engage in the many social functions at Tiffin.

Throughout the year at Tiffin, Charley changes as she gains popularity and sees the value in social engagement. When she gains the attention of the school’s most popular junior, East, she initially hesitates. However, as he becomes increasingly excited about the construction of Priorities, Charley realizes how much she has begun to care for him. When Davi reaches out to Charley to give her a makeover for the school’s Kringle dance, it marks the beginning of Charley’s change.