29. Green Flag / Red Flag #2
Rhode knows that Cordelia feels she has an advantage in the selection process, because she’s so close to Audre and has been essentially serving as second-in-command on all administrative matters.
But that’s the problem. Does Rhode need to mention that Audre ended up doing nothing about the speakeasy they discovered last year deep below the dorms?
Andrew Eastman was never disciplined. And what about the rumors that Cordelia takes students’ appearance into consideration when she makes her admissions decisions?
Zip Zap was accurate about everything else it revealed, so there must be some truth about this highly unethical methodology.
What’s certainly true is that Cordelia and Honey Vandermeid were engaged in a romantic relationship, which didn’t break any rules and yet was kept under wraps.
The fact is, Cordelia Spooner has things she’s hiding. Rhode is on to her.
Then one day, just before the students return, Rhode receives a text from, of all people, Yardley, the woman from New York who inspired Rhode’s story “Green Flag / Red Flag.” Rhode rears back in shock when he sees the alert. What does Yardley want?
I see there’s a job opening for a history teacher at Tiffin, and I’m thinking of applying. Any intel?
Seriously? Rhode thinks. Yardley ghosts him, then reappears to ask about working at Tiffin? That’s a red flag if ever there was one.
But then Rhode recalls how natural and easy, even joyful, their connection was.
He’d liked Yardley. She was a hell of a lot more normal than Sondra Sacks.
Maybe the timing had been bad, maybe Yardley had something going on this past summer.
Rhode entertains a scenario where he is Head of Tiffin and Yardley is the new history teacher and they start dating, an Audre-and-Coop 2. 0.
Stranger things have happened at this school.
Hey! Rhode responds. Yes, there’s an opening in history. He grins in spite of himself. I’ll put in a good word!
As soon as Olivia returns to Tiffin, she’s in revenge mode. It’s time to find out where the bodies are buried.
Grady, however, has cooled on the idea.
He says, “You know I would do anything for you, but…”
But Olivia is asking him to risk getting expelled—because that’s what will definitely happen if he gets caught hacking into Tiffin’s server.
“I have more to lose than you do,” Olivia says. “If we get caught, they might not let me graduate, and if I don’t graduate, I won’t be going to college.”
“Right, so why…?” A look of bafflement crosses Grady’s face. “Why are you so determined to poke around?”
“Because we all deserve to know what’s actually been going on at this school.
” Olivia is making it sound like her mission is a noble one, but she’s mostly digging for dirt on Pippa’s behalf.
The little scene on the dance floor of Daddy D’s was embarrassing for Pippa; it made her doubly, triply, quadruply intent on bringing Davi, Charley, and East down.
Olivia wants them to go down too—all of them! All year long, the girls on her floor have been treating Olivia like she’s contagious. Nobody thought to save her a room in At Ease. She’s had enough.
“Please,” she says to Grady. “Can we at least try?”
Grady stares at her for a few long seconds, then sighs. “Yeah, we can try.”
He loves me, Olivia thinks.
It turns out Grady doesn’t actually know how to hack into the school’s computer server, but Levi Volpere is only a FaceTime away, and he’s happy to walk Grady through the steps.
They use the big computer in the ’Bred Bulletin office on Friday during lunch (it’s wood-fired pizza day, everyone on campus is at the Paddock).
Olivia tells Grady the place they need to start is with Ms. Robinson’s emails from five years earlier, back when East was applying to Tiffin. Olivia isn’t sure what, if anything, they’re going to find. Does the information they’re looking for even exist?
Oh yes, it’s all there in proverbial black and white—the emails between Audre Robinson and Jesse Eastman, cc: Cordelia Spooner.
It’s far more damning than Olivia even guessed!
Jesse Eastman’s donation of “twenty million to start” was contingent on East getting through high school at Tiffin “no matter what circumstances might arise.”
East would take English as an independent study.
East would be able to keep his pickup truck on campus and use it at will.
East would be exempt from participating in any “mandatory” activities, including daily afternoon activities.
East would not fail any classes.
East would not be subject to study hall or lights out.
Minor offenses such as vaping—East was written up for eighteen vaping infractions over the years—would not result in disciplinary action. Anything more serious would be dealt with by conference call between Audre Robinson and Jesse Eastman.
This is more than enough to fuel an exposé—but Olivia wants to know about Priorities.
“Miss Bergeron told me East built a speakeasy beneath the dorms. She showed it to Mr. Rivera, and Mr. Rivera told Ms. Robinson. There has to be something about it somewhere.”
Grady searches “Priorities,” he searches “speakeasy,” “bomb shelter,” and “basement of dorms,” but comes up empty.
“It seems kind of unlikely?” Grady says. “You know, that East built a bar in the basement while everyone else was living there? That sounds like a made-up story, Olivia. Miss Bergeron was a little wack, right?”
Olivia knows it sounds far-fetched, but she also remembers those weekends last spring when everyone on her floor acted hungover.
Then there was the Saturday night when Olivia went prowling at one in the morning and discovered Davi, Charley, Madison, Willow, and Taylor all missing from their rooms. They went somewhere without anyone finding out.
They went to Priorities, East’s speakeasy.
But nothing turns up, which is frustrating.
“Can we be finished?” Grady asks. “I’m low-key freaking out.”
“Just one more thing,” Olivia says. “Can you get into Mav’s stuff? I want to read the recommendation letter he wrote for me.” In truth, Olivia would like to read her letter and compare it to the letters he wrote for the other girls on her floor, but there isn’t time for that. “Please, Grady?”
Grady types and clicks; a bead of his sweat hits the keyboard. “There’s a file called Notes on Class of 2027 in Mav’s documents.”
“Perfect,” Olivia says. “Can you scooch over? I want to look at it myself.”
Grady seems only too happy to get up. He paces by the door of the office; there are only ten minutes left in lunch, which means any second the third-form boys will come into the Teddy, heading to the arcade to squeeze in a game before D-period. “Hurry, okay?”
“I will,” Olivia says. She would love to read the notes on everyone, but she has to be fast. She types her own name in the search bar—and then she sees what Mav has to say about her.
Follower.
Olivia flinches like she’s been slapped. What?
Choosing Miami solely because it’s a hot school. Will nudge her toward High Point and warn her against egregious name-dropping (Fidelity, etc.).
Oh god, oh god, Olivia thinks. She clicks out of the file, grateful that Grady didn’t see.
Follower. Follower. It’s suddenly the worst word in the English language.
“Okay,” she says to Grady as she blinks back tears. “We can be done.”