The Academy

The following week, Chef Haz drops liquor in the garden next to the Back Lot. He wears gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints, even though East has assured him that everything will be fine. At the same time, East sends a voice message to seven students including Davi, Dub, and Taylor. He invites them to the speakeasy at one o’clock on Sunday morning, warning them not to tell anyone.

When the students arrive at Priorities, they are shocked by the granite-top bar, rows of liquor bottles, luxurious furniture, and more. As Davi and Charley drink a Tom Collins, Charley notes how smart it was of East to confiscate their phones.

After the first night, Charley praises East for the work he did. Everyone enjoys themselves while not getting too intoxicated and leaving promptly after two hours. They continue to return the next few Saturdays and keep Priorities a secret.

As a result of their time at Priorities, Taylor and Hakeem restart their relationship. Although Taylor acknowledges that she is still in love with Dub, she revels in the attention Hakeem shows her.

Mikayla Ekubo, ISNEC’s secretary, informs Audre that they have completed their inquiry into the America Today rankings and that the school’s #2 rank is legitimate.

On the first Sunday in May, several bands play in an outdoor concert on campus, called Tiffinpalooza. Olivia is optimistic that she can gain some favor with Davi today. Her cousin, Roddick, is the lead singer in one of the bands, and Davi has always had a crush on him. When she goes into Davi’s room in the morning, she is surprised to see Davi still in bed with the lights off. She also sees one of Davi’s nicest dresses crumpled on the floor. Davi rudely dismisses her, making Olivia wonder if she is hungover.

As Tiffinpalooza begins, Olvia goes with Tilly to the food trucks. She mentions her belief that Davi is hungover. Tilly tells her that she thought the same thing of Madison J. As they watch, Davi, Charley, and East set up a blanket in the grass, all of them wearing dark sunglasses. They wonder if East is driving them to the Alibi at night.

To Cordelia’s surprise, things have returned to normal with Honey. They sit together in the grass listening to the bands. When “Brown Eyed Girl” plays, they dance together. Honey asks if she can come to Cordelia’s cottage tonight.

Over the next week, Olivia watches Davi carefully. She decides that she is definitely doing something secret with a handful of her classmates. Then, when she learns that Hakeem and Cassie Lee broke up, Olivia asks what happened. Cassie Lee tells her that she got sick of the junior students’ secrecy.

That Saturday, Olivia decides that they must be sneaking out on Saturdays. She stays in her room, waiting for most of the night. However, before anything happens, she falls asleep. She wakes up at 1:30 am. She checks Charley, Davi, and Taylor’s rooms, but they are gone. As she gets back into bed, she wonders what she is going to do.

On the seventh Saturday at Priorities, East announces to the group that it will be their last night. Although some of them try to pressure him to do another one, East is adamant.

The next morning, Simone wakes up and wonders what she is going to do for the day. She is angry that Honey has started avoiding her. She thinks of how both Honey and Rhode are treating her poorly, even though they were the ones who mistreated her. She decides that she is going to get breakfast then drink a bottle of wine.

Olivia knocks on Simone’s door. She is nervous and asks for reassurance that their conversation will stay between them. She tells Simone that several girls in their dorm are sneaking out and drinking. She guesses that they are going to the Alibi, but Simone knows where they are actually going. She thanks Olivia and dismisses her, then pours herself wine.

A few hours later, Simone is intoxicated after drinking the entire bottle. She goes to East’s room and searches his nightstand. She finds and pockets a key. When East returns, he demands that she leave. He takes his phone and texts Rhode. When Simone accuses him of drinking in the basement, he points out that she kissed him and brought wine to his room. Ignoring him, Simone goes into the hall and runs into Rhode.

Simone pulls Rhode into the stairwell. She tells him about the basement and shows him the key she stole. Rhode is shocked that Simone is intoxicated and that she would steal from East. He tries to stop her, but Simone pulls him down the stairs.

When Simone and Rhode get to Priorities, the room has been emptied of its alcohol and glassware. Rhode is thoroughly impressed by the room’s design, noting his surprise that East could do something like this. However, Simone is adamant that she is going to Audre.

Rhode tries to stop Simone. He insists that there is no evidence that they were drinking. He explains that East is “untouchable” because of his father, and Simone is the one who is drunk and stole from East. However, Simone ignores him, insisting that she wants East punished.

On Monday morning, the students prepare for class pictures in the lawn. Audre gets a call from Roy Ewanick, the oldest teacher at the school, who told her that he needs to see her immediately.

Ewanick explains that he rarely checks his phone, which is an old flip phone. This morning, he found a message from East as well as a voice memo. Audre plays the memo—a recording of East and Simone’s conversation in East’s room the afternoon before.

Audre plays the memo for Simone. Simone admits to what happened but blames it on East. However, Audre interrupts, insisting that Simone is responsible as the teacher. She scolds Simone for not reporting any of this sooner. Desperate, Simone then tells Audre that East opened a bar in the basement.

Simone leads Audre down the tunnel to Priorities. When Audre sees it, she is shocked that East accomplished something so great. She thinks of how he finally “added value” to life at Tiffin. She points out to Simone that there is no proof of alcohol use.

Audre fires Simone, effective immediately. Simone tries to get her to change her mind, but Audre refuses. Simone then claims that Honey “made an unwanted sexual advance toward” her (399).

As finals week starts, the students gossip about what happened. They heard about Simone and East. They also know that Charley broke up with him, but she won’t talk about it to anyone but Davi. The students agree that Olivia started everything.

Audre invites Cordelia down to Priorities. To Cordelia’s surprise, Audre is happy about the room. She plans to repurpose it for administrative use. She tells Cordelia about Honey kissing Simone. When asked, Honey admitted to it and offered to resign.

When Cordelia returns to her cottage, Honey is there. She asks Cordelia to move with her to Florida where they can live near Honey’s mother. Cordelia knows that Honey’s mother is extremely wealthy and that they will be comfortable. However, she also realizes that Honey only started being nice to her again after the incident with Simone. Cordelia insists that she is staying at Tiffin.

In Charley’s room, Davi consoles her. Charley has been ignoring all of East’s text messages; he has sent her over 100. Charley insists that she doesn’t need to talk to him, as she knows what happened. East was only with her to conceal his relationship with Simone.

East comes to Charley’s room in the middle of the night. Standing outside with roses, he tells her everything. He insists that he was only with Simone to protect Priorities—and never after he started his relationship with Charley. Although Charley dismisses him, she accepts the roses and wonders if what he is saying is true.

As the gossip continues at the school, the students wonder what happened to Honey. Ravenna heard that she made sexual advances toward Simone. She also believes that Honey and Cordelia were together. However, she keeps this information to herself, insisting to her friends that they “should focus on the future” (410).

At commencement, an old professor, Doc Bellamy, gives the speech. As Audre watches the students celebrate, she sees Chef Haz and East talking and shaking hands. She realizes that Haz is likely the one who helped East with Priorities. However, she decides that she can’t “live without” Haz, so it’s better not to know.

Despite Charley’s desire to return to her dorm, Davi convinces her to go to the library. They go to the Senior Sofa, which is reserved only for seniors. They join Dub, Taylor, and the others who went to Priorities on the couch. A few moments later, East asks if he can join them. After hesitating, Charley moves over and invites him to sit next to her.