Calore Dance Academy// Red Queen AU

Chapter 55

Iris's cold and calculating eyes peer back at my own.

"You know, Mare. You're good at Monopoly."

On Monday evening, the Academy girls have a little party in Blonos's studio. The doors to the marble hall are locked, and the balcony windows have their raven-colored blinds drawn shut. One of the Soloists brought a Bluetooth speaker to place in the center of the room, and per the request of Bess Blonos, it now spits out classical ballet music. Otherwise, the familiar room contains forty-or-so ballet dancers, all still clad in their fairy-pink tights and leotards.

Ten separate games of Monopoly go on throughout the room. Fake-paper money gets whipped around, and dice are thrown to the boards again and again. Bun-headed ballerinas swear as they land on houses and hotels, and particularly naughty words fly out of our mouths with every mention of Boardwalk.

The Academy girls are practicing their Monopoly strategies.

The annual Calore Dance Academy Monopoly Tournament takes place on the first Saturday of October. Three years ago, at the glorious age of sixteen, Cal came up with the idea, and it's been loved ever since by the company. With four-player games, three-quarters of the competition gets thrown out in the first round. The next four rounds are between two people. After all of that, one dancer is left.

And that dancer has the pleasure of playing with the Monopoly King, as Cal has dubbed himself.

As the 2016, 2017, and 2018 winner of the Calore Dance Academy Monopoly Tournament, Cal is currently the Monopoly King.

From what I understand, it's all fun and games until the final round, where Cal sheds his dancer's skin and pulls out every ruthless tactic known to businessmen. He is the heir to a Wall Street corporation, so I suppose that his talent for a board game meant for ages eight and up makes sense. From what I hear, except to his dad, he hasn't lost a game in years.

Ptolemus was Cal's opponent last year, and despite being heir himself to something or other, he lost rather quickly. Cal slaughtered him. The year before that, he went up against one of the older ballerinas. A Principal. He slaughtered her too.

There's also something about a bathrobe. It's known as the Monopoly Winner's Robe, I believe.

I sit in front of a Monopoly board with Iris to my left, one of the soloists in front of me, and Elara Merandus to my right. Blonos is at another board, scolding one of the Corps girls for sitting with legs spread apart. Funny, considering that I heard the ballet mistress belt out a string of curses when she landed on a St. James Place bearing three houses.

"You think so?" I return to Iris, waiting for her to count the money that she owes me. Iris landed on my favorite property: Illinois Avenue. By probability, it's the space that's landed on most often, and I currently have two houses on it.

I'll have a few hotels soon enough.

"Yes," Elara says for Iris. It's odd to see Maven's mom sitting on the floor, even if she still wears her sleek black Mary Janes and black dress. She has a decent amount of fake money laid neatly in front of her, along with a dynasty on the utilities and a complete collection of the pink properties. Her paralyzingly cold eyes, rimmed with mascara, peer back at mine as Iris's do. "You think like Cal, but in a dirtier, more underhanded way."

On a separate note, Maven's mom seems rather happy that I'm dating her son. She's smiled at me as best as the cold woman knows how to, telling me that she hopes that she and I can "get to know one another" in the future. She also would like to meet my mother. I told her she can on Wednesday.