9. Harlowe
When we thought I was going to be sleeping in a twin crammed in a tiny room with a roommate, JaToya was going to get a hotel and take the train back tomorrow, but it looked like I got another night with my bestie.
I didn’t have to worry about a roommate getting angry about her staying the night and my new bed was big enough for the both of us.
I didn’t think the dining hall would feed her since she wasn’t a student.
My room was stocked with the ingredients to make grilled cheese, but like, bougie grilled cheese.
This wasn’t the cheapest white bread that took ages to mold because that was all I could afford and whatever butter and cheese was on sale.
This was fresh bread from a bakery and expensive cheese and butter.
But this wasn’t a grilled cheese kind of night and JaToya was lactose intolerant.
I managed to catch Rue in the common room.
She was the only person I knew here besides Orion.
He was kind of rude and a terrible tour guide.
If I had questions about meal options nearby, then Rue was going to be my best bet.
“You should come to the dining hall. You can both eat there. It’s Breakfast for Dinner night and it’s going to be better than anything you can walk to from here.”
We didn’t even have to talk about it. Breakfast for dinner was right up there in our top favorite foods. My mother and JaToya’s family did it differently, but we still begged for it when we had sleepovers.
“You headed over?” I asked. “Want to eat with us?”
“Sure. I can introduce you to the people here who aren’t pretentious fuck bags.”
“I could be a pretentious fuck bag,” I pointed out.
“We all are just a little bit. It’s when you make it annoying and you’re still in your trial run.”
“That’s completely fair.”
“So, the kitchen staff are awesome, but they are human. They make mistakes so try not to abuse them.”
I wouldn’t. And I didn’t hang around people who did.
When we got to the dining hall, there was a menu up.
It was basics from eggs, bacon, and toast, biscuits and gravy, Eggs Benedict, and quiche, but they also had things like shakshuka and Huevos Rancheros.
There was also the option to add things like truffle oil to your eggs and you could get different kinds of Eggs Benedict.
I was a vegetarian, so I already knew I was getting Eggs Florentine because I was starving. JaToya was also a fan of Eggs Benedict and variations, so she ordered the Eggs Royale and we took our seats while we waited for our food.
“Guys, this is JaToya and Harlowe. Harlowe is the new student and JaToya is here for moral support until the morning. That’s Maya. She’s a sculptor. Cullen is a dancer. Isobel plays the violin like you. This is the second year for all of us.”
They all seemed friendly except Isobel and I wasn’t her competition. Both because I didn’t want to be and because we weren’t in the same year. We wouldn’t be vying for contracts at the same time, so I didn’t know why she was looking at me like we would.
“The semester is nearly over. You have no hopes of passing your written exams and you’ve missed all your practical exams. The final in all performance classes every semester is a jury.
Finals week is in four weeks. You’re going to start next semester on probation and first impressions matter in our world.
Everyone, even your professors, are going to have opinions about you swanning in right before finals and thinking you deserve to pass. ”
“Harsh,” Rue muttered.
“Why do you always have to be such a bitch, Isobel?” Cullen said.
I didn’t know Isobel well enough to say if she was an asshole or not, but she wasn’t wrong.
The only way I could pass any of the finals coming up was if I got special treatment.
That wouldn’t endear me to anyone here. The professors were here because they wanted to be.
I didn’t know who they were, but they all got to this point in their careers through hard work.
Which is what I wanted to do. I didn’t want anyone to be able to say I graduated and got a contract because someone passed me when they shouldn’t.
“No, that’s completely fair. I also wasn’t given a choice.
Dr Faustus handed me his card and a train ticket in the subway.
He said come now or don’t come at all. My life has been weird ever since I got fired because of a guy who can’t tell the difference between Ceasar and ranch dressing and decided to busk in the subway so I didn’t get evicted. ”
“I want all the details. We’re coming up on Christmas, so all the dancers are working on The Nutcracker.
I wanted to play the Rat King because it’s fun, but I’m the Sugar Plum’s Cavalier instead.
Basically, I’ve got one small solo and the rest of the time, I just smile and lift Rue’s ass up.
I would have been a shoo-in until Misha Petrovich showed up. ”
I launched into the whole sordid tale. Rue and Cullen were engrossed, but Isobel still looked annoyed with me. Cullen looked like this was the best story he’d heard in a long time.
“Wait, was the guy in the subway like, super hot, really blonde, and built like a Viking in the movies?” Cullen asked.
“Uh, yeah, why?”
“That’s Luca. He owns this school, not Dr Faustus.”
“I met his brother, and he thinks he’s the literal devil who bargains for people’s souls.”
“Yes, but aside from the portrait in Faustus’s office, no one has met him before.
There are rumors he likes to patron sometimes.
I wouldn’t ask them because they are super dicks, but I heard he’s the reason Immortal Nightmare blew up and the reason they disappeared and ended up here.
It’s all rumors because the guy is a total ghost. I’m just a lot nicer to the costume shop manager than everyone else.
She’s older than dirt, hilarious, and loves gossip.
You tell her the current drama and she’ll spill about decades old drama. ”
“But he’s not that old!”
Cullen just shrugged.
“I’m sure there’s someone in the music department with gossip.”
“There’s not. All the violin teachers are here to work. You’ll get an advisor, but they aren’t going to trash talk the person who pays their checks.”
“Heads up. Immortal Nightmare is staring at you,” Rue said.
“What are they doing? Even Misha is here and he never comes to the dining hall,” Cullen whispered. “Girl, don’t look!”
“It’s a knee jerk reaction when someone tells you you’re being stared at!”
“You don’t want to make eye contact with them,” Rue said.
“Cullen and I have rehearsals with Misha. He’s nice.
He’s the least intense of the three, but it’s like it breaks him any time someone tries to be his friend because he knows they are using him for his fame.
A few of us have convinced him we aren’t like that.
Orion and Azriel mostly ignore everyone unless you upset Misha. ”
“They aren’t going to abuse her, are they?” JaToya asked.
“They won’t lay a finger on her, but they don’t have to.
They have just as many connections as Dr Faustus does.
Everyone has a theory about what they are doing here and some of them are really crazy, but Faustus has a vested interest in keeping them here if they aren’t here because of Luca.
Once he announces they are here, it would bring prestige and money to him and the school.
No, they won’t physically hurt you, but if they want you gone, you will be,” Cullen said.
“And they keep looking over here,” JaToya growled. “The rest of you might not be able to make eye contact so they don’t destroy your careers, but my boss loves me and I suck at art. I need them to look into these big browns and know I can fuck them up back from a bubble bath.”
She really could. I was dying to know why Immortal Nightmare was slumming it in grad school instead of touring the world because I had a feeling it had something to do with me being brought here within weeks of final exams. A lot of this didn’t make sense at all.
Immortal Nightmare were brilliant artists, and they were all beautiful men. I didn’t want their attention on me, but it felt like I really needed to figure all of this out.
And possibly get the hell out of here.