Page 47 of Swallow Your Sorries

“The judges were biassed,” Stassi says. “This year you’ll win for sure.”

Aria seems to perk up at that. Perhaps their little tiff this morning would be forgotten soon.

But if they’re no longer fighting with each other, that makes me an even bigger target.

“That’s their speciality here, so they’re always at the ice rink.”

Wait, Beaulieu offered ice skating? There’s an ice skating rink on campus?

“The next bubble is my lard-headed brother, Zedd,” Stassi goes on. “Dirty blonde hair, golden eyes. Can’t stay out of my business for shit.”

An image of the blonde boy smirking at me cruelly as he drove his knee into my elbow and ran a hand through my hair pops into my mind. I hate how, despite everything, I can’t overlook his beauty, or any of their beauty for that matter. But I don’t need a second death glare so I keep quiet, working on the knots at the back of my head.

They’re assholes. Minions. Who gives a fuck what any of them look like?

“Zedd and Stassi are gunning for the championship too this year in ballroom,” Aria says.

Ballroom?I’d been so focused on ballet that I’d never seriously checked out the other departments Beaulieu offered.

Just like you didn’t ever check out who the hell Beaussip is.

“We’ve been dancing together since we were six. Our parents thought it’d be the cutest thing ever.”

“I think it’s cute,” Aria smiles.

“It’s different for you,” Stassi says. “I want to rub up against someone who isn’t my bro—”

At Aria’s reddening face, Stassi shuts up.

“I just mean, how cute are those sporting couples who seem to be in love? Aria, you know this. They’re the crowd's favourites. They get reposted all over social media as couple goals. Heck, some even inspire romance books and TV shows, even if it’s all fake. It doesn’t matter, people simp over those cute edits.”

“You have a point,” she says begrudgingly. “They are the most popular and they get all the endorsements.”

“Right! It doesn’t matter how technically good Zedd and I are, no one can ship us,” she says, dry gagging. “I really think if we swap partners, we’d stand more of a chance, but Zedd won’t let anyone near me.”

The room grows quiet as both girls seem momentarily lost in thought. Not that I’m complaining. I’m just glad not to be the focus for a beat.

“Lastly, we have Hale,” Aria says, coming back to the present and pointing to the last bubble that’s rapidly fading as the steam clears. “He’s in dance too, with Zedd and Stassi. He’s the one Mrs Cardot called out at the assembly and he’s also the school’s boyfriend.”

At my confused look, Aria clarifies, “You know, community cock.”

I don’t miss Stassi’s quick look down at her feet.

“And those boys make up the academy’s male royalty,” Aria says.

“They’re super popular, got it. But why are they untouchable?” I ask. “Why does everyone worship Gant Auclair and his minions?”

“Money, obviously,” Aria says. “Gant’s father and mother contributed millions of dollars to get the ballet program up to where it is now, with better studios, and world-renowned teachers. The latter is mostly thanks to Madame Auclair and her killer connections as a prima.”

Killer.The word causes the knots in my stomach to multiply.

“H-how did she die?” I ask. “I couldn’t find my phone to look it up and I was desperate to shower.”

“It fell out in the auditorium,” Aria says, pulling my phone from her pocket and opening up the web browser. “Here, I’ll show you.”

“The footage was leaked a few weeks ago,” Stassi says at my questioning gaze. “But the Auclairs went along with it. They’re offering a big reward to anyone who can identify the driver.”

“That’d be a lot easier if they could properly identify the car,” Aria says. “The route they took cuts through the woods and there are barely any cameras there. Only one managed to catch a glimpse of the vehicle and it caught less than ten percent of the back fender. Look.”

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