The Academy

Davi begins to worry about not having a date to the Kringle. Even though she doesn’t like him, she decides to ask East. However, he is taking Charley.

Davi goes to Charley’s room offers to help Charley dress up for the dance. Charley agrees but asks Davi to get help from someone for her disordered eating. Davi reacts angrily, insisting that Charley doesn’t “know anything about [her] life” (266). Respecting Davi’s honesty, Charley agrees to the makeover.

The night of the Kringle, Davi and Charley spend several hours in Davi’s room. When Charley finally emerges, Simone is shocked that Charley has been transformed into a “supermodel.” She tries to ignore her jealousy that Charley is going with East.

During the dance, Simone watches Charley and East. Rhode tries to get her to dance, but Simone continues to ignore him as she has done since their date. When Audre pulls Rhode aside, Simone realizes that Charley and East are gone.

Simone goes into the basement of the dorms. She follows the second set of stairs and comes to a door. Inside, she sees Charley and East kissing beneath an ornate chandelier. She considers interrupting them, then realizes how “beautiful” they both look. It occurs to her that East’s actions with her amount to extortion, forcing Simone to fear disciplining him. She quietly closes the door and leaves.

As the dance finishes, Audre gets an alert from Zip Zap. Someone posted that Audre “believes Tiffin’s board president Jesse Eastman had something to do with” Tiffin’s #2 ranking (274). Audre panics, wondering if someone has access to their phones. She desperately wishes that things could return to how they were last year.

After Christmas break, Charley excitedly returns to Tiffin. Over break, she and Davi became close, talking over the phone about their terrible situations at home. To Charley’s surprise, Joey left for New Year’s Day to be with his friends. Her mother was devastated, calling Joey while drunk and leaving a sad voicemail.

Now back at school, Charley and Davi go to lunch together. Charley has bought new, stylish clothing and begun wearing her contacts instead of glasses. After lunch, she meets East in the bomb shelter.

Over the first week, Simone obsesses over Charley and East. She watches them traveling around campus together. To her annoyance, East turns in homework for the first time, which Simone assumes is Charley’s doing. She realizes that she “hates” Charley.

Simone gets an email from Jasper Stiefel. He was a student at McGill University with Simone. In the email, Jasper apologizes for what happened “that horrible night” (280), claiming that he was “too young” and didn’t understand what he was doing. Simone is angry: Although she knows that she should have acted differently, as she was the floor fellow for the dorm, she still blames Jasper and his friend, Lars.

That Saturday, the school shows a movie in the theater. When Charley insists she wants to stay in her room and read, Simone decides to do a surprise room check. She starts with Charley’s room, tearing through her fridge and her drawers with increasing frustration. In the end, she finds nothing.

Instead of going to the movie, Simone returns to her room and drinks a bottle of wine. When she wakes up the next morning, Rhode is calling her. He tells her to check Zip Zap. A new post claims that Simone was disciplined at McGill and replaced as floor fellow.

That night, Cordelia invites Honey over for dinner and to watch football. Honey accepts but never arrives. She apologizes to Cordelia, as Simone came to her room and was distraught over the Zip Zap post. Dejected, Cordelia eats alone.

In Honey’s room, Simone confesses what happened at McGill. Jasper and Lars, who were freshmen, came to her room with alcohol the week before finals. As the floor fellow, Simone was supposed to stop students from drinking, even though they were all over the legal age of 18. Instead, because she had a crush on Jasper, the three of them drank in her room. As she and Jasper started kissing, they tried to get Lars out of the room. However, he was nonresponsive, so they called 911. He survived, but his blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.42, a level typically considered lethal.

The next morning, Cordelia calls McGill University. She gets the story of what happened and takes it to Audre. Instead of being concerned, however, Audre dismisses it, insisting that Simone has done well as dorm parent.

As the school musical approaches, Davi surprises everyone by announcing that she is not going to try out. Olivia is angry, as Davi is once again choosing to be with Charley instead of joining the musical with her. In the end, Olivia tries out anyway. She earns the role of Regina George in Mean Girls.

A new message on Zip Zap says that Hakeem had sex with a freshman, Cassie. Distraught, Taylor goes over to Dub’s room with tequila concealed in a water bottle. The two drink on the floor while listening to music by Taylor Swift and Christina Perri. After several drinks, Dub tells Taylor that it is Cinnamon’s birthday. He makes Taylor promise not to tell anyone, then shows her the attachment that Cinnamon sent him. He insists that he is going to continue to wait to open it.

To Charley’s annoyance, Ravenna begins missing ‘Bred Bulletin meetings because of the musical, leaving her with Grady and Levi. They are too engrossed by the computer to help contribute articles.

The first weekend in March, all the students at Tiffin—except East—go to the musical. Charley is shocked by how well Olivia plays the role of Regina. She realizes that Olivia is using her experiences with Davi as inspiration, noting how Davi is the “queen bee” of Tiffin. It then occurs to her that, if Davi is Regina, then Charley herself must be Cady, the new girl who is transformed.

In the middle of the musical, Davi gets up and leaves. Charley finds her in the bathroom. She scolds her and insists that Davi get help. Reluctantly, Davi agrees.

Back in her dorm room, Davi emails the school psychologist, Dr. Pringle. She hesitates, then asks for an appointment to discuss her disordered eating.

The next morning, a new post on Zip Zap claims that Davi has an eating disorder.

After reading the post, Charley rushes to Davi’s room and finds her already awake, looking at her phone. Charley tries to talk to her, but Davi is adamant that Charley must have made the post. Charley tries to claim that Dr. Pringle may have told someone or that someone read Davi’s email, but Davi refuses to listen to her.

For the rest of the day, the girls in the dorm shun Charley. She realizes that everyone must have assumed that she made the post. She messages East and asks him to meet her in the bomb shelter.

In the bomb shelter, Charley immediately begins to cry. East hugs and consoles her. He asks if she wants to talk about it, but she refuses. Instead, the two continue to work on the shelter.

A few days later, Audre obsesses over the Zip Zap app. Big East offers no help. Deciding that the school needs a break, she declares a holiday on Tuesday for the season’s first snow.

As the students play in the yard, East messages Charley. They meet in the bomb shelter where he has set up a blanket for them. They kiss, then take off their clothes. They have penetrative sex for the first time, with East assuring Charley that she can trust him.

The next morning, there is a post on Zip Zap claiming that Charley “goes down” on East. Charley is partially relieved, as it means that someone saw their communications about the shelter—usually just a down arrow—and misunderstood them. She is grateful that no one knows about the bomb shelter renovations. However, the students quickly begin commenting on the post, further isolating Charley.

Later that morning, Simone knocks on Charley’s door. She threatens to discipline her for the Zip Zap post, but Charley argues that she has no proof. Charley wonders why Simone hates her.

When Charley sees East on the way to class, she is relieved that he is unbothered by the post. He assures Charley that he is going to take care of it. Shortly thereafter, an IT consultant named Laurie Hummel arrives to look into it while the students go home for break.

Charley spends much of her vacation tracking the other students on social media, something she never used to do. She sees that Davi went with the seniors to the Bahamas. She searches for Simone’s Instagram account but finds nothing.

One night, Charley’s mother tells Charley that she thinks Joey is cheating on her. Though upset, she admits that it was always going to happen. Charley consoles her when she cries, secretly hoping that she will get rid of him.

Simone goes to her parents’ house in Quebec for break. However, after a few days, they confront her about her drinking. Annoyed, she decides to return to campus. She takes a case of wine with her.

Back on campus, Simone sees a vehicle pull up with wood and a saw in the back. When East gets out, Simone asks what he is doing. He dodges the questions, claiming that he is helping Mr. James. Simone accuses him of building a “love nest” for him and Charley. In response, East grabs the case of wine and invites her to his room.

Because Rhode has little money—especially after spending so much on his date with Simone—he returns to campus early. He briefly considers writing a young adult book about boarding school but dismisses the idea. He then wonders if there is enough material within the drama of Tiffin’s staff.

As Rhode contemplates his book, he walks through the dark hallway of Classic North. He sees movement up ahead and calls out, but the person runs. Rhode catches up to them outside and realizes that it is Simone. He asks Simone what she is doing, and she insists that she was just out walking.

Rhode walks Simone back to Classic South. He can tell that she has been drinking. He tries to make plans to hang out with her, but she dismisses him and leaves him outside South.

Back in the boys’ dorm, Rhode goes floor by floor. He sees that East is in his room. He knocks and is surprised when East answers with a book in his hand. His room is neat, and the bed is made. He asks East why he is back early, but East claims that he has permission. Rhode considers whether East is lying. Just as he is about to leave, he spots a wine cork on the floor. He realizes that Simone was in East’s room drinking.

March 28 is “Ivy Day,” the day when Ivy League schools notify students of their acceptance or rejection. Honey is worried about Annabelle, who is fixated on getting into Princeton. After Annabelle was accused of fabricating her story on Zip Zap, she confessed to Honey. She then wrote a new college admissions essay in which she talked about how being caught in a lie in her speech gave her new perspective and motivation.

That night, Honey and Cordelia are supposed to go to dinner, something they always do on Ivy Day. However, Simone messages her asking to talk. Over break, Honey realized just how much she had fallen out of love with Cordelia. She knows that she should end their relationship but can’t bring herself to do so. She promises Simone that she’ll find time to talk with her.

When Honey gets to her office, Annabelle is already outside crying. However, to Honey’s shock, Annabelle reveals that she got into Princeton. As the two celebrate, Honey messages Simone. She tells her that they can go to the Alibi tonight. She then considers how to cancel her plans with Cordelia.

At the Alibi that night, Simone tells Honey about Rhode. She insists that he is a “predator” and has been “stalking” her. She tells him about the date and his advances at First Dance. She then talks about seeing him over break but leaves out the part where he found her in Classic North. Instead, she explains that he was just taking a walk, then Rhode caught her and followed her back to South. Honey expresses her concern, insisting that Simone needs to be careful.

On the ride back to campus, Honey begins talking about Cordelia without mentioning her name. She explains that she is trying to get someone to leave her alone but doesn’t know how to do it. When Simone excitedly agrees with Honey, Honey leans in and kisses her. However, Simone pulls away, apologizing for giving Honey the wrong impression.