7. Harlowe
Orion Hart shouldn’t be at Blackvale Academy. Well, he could be, but only as a teacher. He was around my age, but loads more famous. I managed to catch Immortal Nightmare before they made it big and I just knew. It was one of the best performances I’d ever seen.
The fact that they were all gorgeous helped a lot. Orion was tall, very dark-skinned, and had locs down to his waist. He was a virtuoso on the piano and his compositions were haunting.
From what I understood, Misha Petrovitch was Polish. He was short, but reminded me of a cat. I wasn’t a ballet dancer and had never set foot in ballet class, but I could tell how strong he was. Misha’s leaps were insane and there was just so much emotion in his performance.
That left Azriel Ivy, the artist of the bunch.
He was tall, slim, and had that vampire vibe I loved.
He was covered in tattoos he did himself or drew himself.
His black hair was always in his eyes and he loved to gender bend his outfits.
He was noted for being able to switch art styles at the drop of a hat.
He could paint like Caravaggio one day, then produce an Impressionist or completely abstract work the next.
I didn’t know if Misha and Azriel were here. I didn’t even know why Orion was. They’d been at the top of their game and selling out shows. There was some kind of incident that was being kept hush-hush and then their tour was suddenly canceled. They disappeared and their social media went dark.
It didn’t make sense Orion was here. Even if he’d had a falling out with Misha and Azriel, they were all famous enough to have solo careers. People came to Blackvale to get better at their craft, but also for the connections. They didn’t seem to need either.
“You’ve got that look,” JaToya said.
“Mm. It’s just weird our tour guide is here. That’s the composer for Immortal Nightmare.”
“You mentioned that. Those guys you’re obsessed with and got all cranky about when they broke up? You should try to hit that while you’re here and tell me all about it.”
“Shut up! I did not! And absolutely not. I’m here to learn, not get involved in whatever drama made them break up.”
“Did too. Download the app so we can see your dorm and class assignments. It’s weird you don’t get to pick, right?”
Yeah, maybe I moped a bit when they broke up. I’d never be able to afford to see them after they blew up, but I could watch the snippets they posted on social media. You could also buy albums of their music and prints of Azriel’s art.
But yeah, it was also weird I couldn’t pick my classes.
I got the app downloaded and found my dorm assignment.
I’d look at my classes when we found my room.
Orion gave us just the basic layout of things and abandoned us, but it was pretty easy to find once I knew what building.
The dorms were the biggest building outside of the theatres.
I decided to take a detour and check out the theatre because we had to pass by it. I didn’t tell JaToya what I wanted to do. She knew I was going to want to see it.
And, wow. It was gorgeous. It looked like an art déco take on the Roman Empire. There were frescoes and sculptures everywhere. Even the ceiling was painted. I’d never played in a theatre this big before. It looked like the stage was set for a musical or play instead of an orchestra right now.
“When you graduate, I’m going to be here with my family and yours to watch your final performance. You’re going to be amazing.”
“This is fucked up, right?”
“Totally. But it could be the universe testing you. That guy was sexy. Orion, was it?”
“Completely out of my league. And I don’t think he likes me. It’s weird he’s here. I don’t know if his partners are, but they are hot too.”
“Artist sandwich?”
“JaToya! I’m here to study, not get laid. Besides, he was grumpy.”
“What? You spent undergrad either locked in a practice room or terrorizing men. You should cut loose in grad school.”
“I’ll take it under consideration. Want to see my dorm?”
“I know you want to get up on that stage and stand there with your arms out picturing your audience.”
Yeah, I did. The theatre lights were on, but the place was empty.
I could get as stupid as I wanted up there because JaToya had probably seen me act dumber.
I took a step forward to try to find away up to the stage when I heard something get knocked over backstage.
Shit! We weren’t alone. I grabbed JaToya’s hand and hauled her out of there.
I didn’t want to make an ass of myself on the first day.
JaToya just laughed at me, but she didn’t give me a hard time.
We made our way to my dorm building and tried to find someone to give me the key.
I found someone right away, and they were pretty nice.
I could tell she was in love with my best friend after five minutes.
Most people were, but JaToya wasn’t into women and had particular taste in men. She introduced herself as Rue.
“My roommates name wasn’t on the app.”
“They’re all singles,” Rue said. “Blackvale only takes the best, so we aren’t packed to the rafters all the time. I do see where you got one of the nicer rooms. Lucky girl. You must have a patron or just rich folks.”
“I thought patrons had fallen out of fashion for the most part. I thought it was mostly to launder money now.”
“Oh, we have a few people here being sponsored. Not to launder money but because they actually believe in the student. There are also a few scholarships. I’m here on scholarship, so I’m working as a dorm monitor. Others are TAs.”
“You look more like a dancer than a musician.”
Rue beamed at me.
“Keen eye. I am a dancer. The dorms are mixed. You’ll have dancers, actors, visual artists, and writers in this building. The common room is through that archway and your room is on the top floor. We all gather there to talk about art when we can.”
I nodded.
“I remember Orion saying something about that.”
“You met Orion Hart? Were Azriel and Misha with him? They are usually joined at the hip.”
So that answered that. Immortal Nightmare was all here. But what were they doing here if they weren’t teaching?
“Orion was my tour guide, though he didn’t so much give a tour as tell us the general direction of everything and tell me to download the app. He said he wasn’t a teacher.”
“They aren’t. They all enrolled as new students at the beginning of the semester.”
“Isn’t that weird? They are famous.”
Rue just shrugged.
“They are weird. If you are a fan, don’t tell them. They get rude about it. The three of them are always together. People throw themselves at them all the time and they hate it. Just in case you were thinking of trying.”
I wasn’t. I didn’t chase, and I was particular about being chased.
I was here to learn, not date. I knew what JaToya wanted and I wouldn’t say no to it if the circumstances were right.
I wasn’t going to ruin this opportunity and Immortal Nightmare?
They could ruin me. I didn’t even know them, but I knew that.
“Here’s your key. We’re all artists with weird schedules, but the dining hall employees all have families. There are plenty of vending machines and a microwave in the common room, but if you want dinner, you’ll need to get to the dining hall in about an hour.”
Yeah, I did. I was starving. But first, I wanted to check out where I’d be laying my head for the next few years. The dorms were really nice. Nicer than undergrad. This looked more like an expensive hotel.
We found my door, unlocked it, and stepped in.
I brought my sheets with me, but they weren’t going to work.
My apartment was tiny. I slept on a twin bed and this one was a double, which was weird for a dorm.
There were also already really nice sheets and blankets on the bed and scented black candles on the shelves.
“Uh, how long did you stare at that guy in the subway? Because he’s got you pegged.”
He did. These weren’t standard issued dorm sheets. They were black silk and there was a purple and black damask thick blanket on the bed. There was a thick rug on the floor with the moon cycle and a celestial snake. There were arched black mirrors and paintings of ravens and skulls on the walls.
“How’d he know I like plants?”
Because they were everywhere. They said I could get a hot plate, but there was already one here and an expensive coffee maker. I couldn’t function without my coffee. JaToya snooped on my mini fridge and let out a low whistle.
“The fridge is stocked too. There’s milk, creamer, and cheese. You’ve got a loaf of bread and coffee here. You think he knows you’re obsessed with grilled cheese?”
“That’s weird, right? This is all weird.”
“Definitely. Can you deal with it?
“I don’t know. I think so? I haven’t had time to think about it.”
“That Faustus guy knows your patron, right? You said you were going to ask for an audience about that Gadreel guy. Ask for one for his brother too.”
Because yeah, I decided that on the train. I was going to ask Faustus about security because I didn’t want Gadreel coming back. Since I knew he was my benefactor’s brother, I was going to see if I could get some kind of wellness check for him.
That could work.