Legends of Mirandis Academy

Chapter 23: You Decide What's Good

No one wanted to go with Brielle. Spencer was going out with that girl from his art history class, her little sister Blanche told her it sounded boring, the girls from soccer basically said the same thing. Iridia was working tech for the show. Her cousin already had plans. She even texted Kelsi if she wanted to go with her. Kelsi. And, of course, she said she was busy.

So Brielle found herself walking to the school theatre all alone. She could see a few clusters of people loitering by the front doors. The campus was cloaked in gloom and shadow; the sight of the night sky above the school changed the atmosphere more than she would have expected, crafting the illusion of a whole new space. A sign on the wall pointed to the door and simply read TICKETS.

It was a small, dimly lit room. An adult, probably a parent volunteer, stood behind a counter passing out pamphlets, a set of swinging double doors just past them.

Brielle gave them a nod. "I was told I had a ticket reserved?" she said, half doubting it to be true. But Luna had kept her word, and there was a ticket waiting under her name. At the bottom of the ticket there was a word scrawled in loose handwriting—Enjoy. And a drawing of a winking face, which Brielle supposed was pretty in-character for Luna.

As Brielle received her ticket, she could hear muffled laughter behind her. A short staircase led up to a door, which opened as she glanced at it, and there Kelam Quincy stood, holding the doorknob while still looking into the room.

"All right, everyone. Have a good show! Good luck—sorry! I mean, break a leg!" Finally, he turned and saw her. His wide laughing smile transformed into one of practiced courtesy. "Ah, Miss Prescott has come to see a high school theatre production? Didn't peg you for the type."

"You would normally be correct, Quincy. However, tonight I'm making an exception. I was persuaded to come by one of the cast." She looked past him, trying to peek into the room before the door closed. "Where did you just come from?"

"That's the tech booth. Iridia's up there working sound, along with the other theatre techs. I was enjoying their company before the show." He adjusted a bandage on one of his fingers.

Damn it, she internally swore. She wished she had gotten there earlier if it meant an opportunity to chat with Iridia beforehand. "Friends with the theatre techs? I didn't know you were in with the drama crowd."

The two of them had to step back and stand against the wall as a group of students came to buy tickets. "Friends with Iridia, mostly," Kelam explained. "Though I did help paint a lot of the set for the show, which allowed me to get to know a few of them."

So Kelam and Iridia really were friends. Brielle didn't let the twinge of annoyance she felt show on her face. In any other case, she would be happy for Iridia to have friends—the girl didn't seem to have many—she just wished she hadn't made friends with a Quincy, of all people.

This particular Quincy had been oddly helpful, though. There really wasn't anything he'd ever done to her. During the few interactions they'd had when she was a freshman, they both were cold and standoffish towards each other. But this semester, he started to act differently, and she couldn't place why.

No, wait. They had sex. The two of them. Together. That's what changed.

She was so close to repressing the truth after living in the lie they had told for the past month. The sudden remembrance of what the two of them had engaged in was rather unpleasant.

She forced a polite smile. "Well, enjoy the show," she told him, and pushed her way through the doors.

The theatre was surprisingly full, especially considering both Luna and Adrian's dire predictions. A walkway sloped downward before her, with rows and rows of seats stretching to the right. The house was lit still, so she could see all the families and students in the audience. The sight of Duran got her hopes up—perhaps she could sit with someone she knew—but he was in the back row with people quickly filling up all the seats surrounding him.