36. Harlowe
The first thing I did after finding out Isobel was an eye stealing monster was go back to my dorm and call JaToya when I knew she was on her lunch break.
I told her she didn’t need to unseal the file because I got the deets.
Orion and Topher did a decent job calming me down. Now, I was just pissed off.
“What the actual fuck? She just scooped that girl’s eyeball out like a melon?”
“I don’t know. Meadow didn’t give me a ton of details and she doesn’t remember anything. She woke up in the hospital missing an eye and her friend was never heard from again.”
“Are you panicking or pissed?”
She knew me so well.
“I already panicked, so I’m pissed now. Meadow is really nice and Isobel just dumped a big turd in my cereal. I was really excited about scoring this ballet.”
“Was? I know you didn’t quit over maybe losing an eye. You’ve got two.”
“Asshole. I didn’t quit and nothing about this is going to make me. It just dampened my excitement. You should see Leif’s mood boards. I’m pretty sure if I look at them again, I’ll forget she could be lurking around the corner with a melon baller.”
“We took those self-defense classes in case we got mugged. Disarming a trust fund kid with a melon baller should be easier than disarming someone with a knife who wants your wallet. You don’t have to worry about grabbing the pointy end and she’s probably never been kicked in the vagina before.
You could do one for all of humanity by kicking her labia out her nose. ”
“And then her daddy gets me black balled for fighting back.”
“Yeah, you let me handle that part. You might not have put two and two together, but her father is Darren Shackleton. You know, that guy? He’s probably got some things in his closet way worse than covering up his daughter is a psychopath.
He likes to campaign on being a self made man since he didn’t come from money, but he handled estates and wills before he got elected and he’s never written a book.
Paid public speaking doesn’t account for the amount of wealth he’s amassed.
I looked into all that when you said his daughter doesn’t understand consent.
I’m going to look a little further and it’s not going to require anything dangerous like getting into sealed records. ”
“This is just a lot of drama considering I’ve only been here a week.”
“On the bright side, the eyeball drama made you forget about the devil wanting your soul drama.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
“Write your ballet and flirt with some hot artists, Harlowe. It sounds like you’ve amassed some guard dogs at Blackvale and you’ve got me here. Don’t go anywhere without them and keep an eye on the girl she hurt you think is cute.”
Yeah, she was cute, but I saw her reaction when I told her Rue was hosting the part I invited her to.
I wasn’t her type, but Rue was. Rue was one of the nicest people I knew and super talented.
I might be starting to get some complicated feelings I was going to completely ignore until I died, but maybe I would meddle a little if they were both interested.
“My lunch break is over, but we have a plan, right? If it starts going ass up, we can always move to Plan B.”
“I left my flame thrower in the storage unit.”
“Pretty sure you can get a new one off Temu for cheap.”
“I’ll look into it.”
“So, Harlowe, we’re officially in first date territory right now.
I’m going to need frequent text updates throughout the day that you’re okay and not in the vicinity of a psychopath.
If I call you and there’s not a sexy artist playing shadow, I’m getting on the train.
My company has a generous PTO package, but I can terrorize some men into behaving before lunch. ”
Ah, the buddy system. We did it even when we were several states away from each other. We could be thousands of miles from each other and still provide a phone call that Timmy was down the well and we needed to leave a creepy date early.
“Done. Get back to work and flirt with Davarius for me.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me what twice.”
Yes, I did. He could be end game and she wasn’t taking what she wanted like. He could actually keep up with her big brain, unlike most of the guys she liked, so she was playing it super careful. Because she was a Virgo and she’d virtually strangle me if I pointed that out right now.
“Bye, JaToya.”
“I don’t see anyone in there with you. The buddy system is bigger than us. Get an escort if you leave.”
“Yes, mom.”
She was completely right. We exchanged numbers and emails when we all decided to work on the ballet.
I didn’t particularly want to be out and about with Isobel on the loose, even with an escort.
I had a program to compose in instead of having to handwrite the score and get everything transposed properly.
I was going to snuggle in my comfy bed and read everything Leif planned for his ballet until it was time for Nutcracker rehearsal.