Page 37 of Malice in e minor

“Do I wanna know?” she asked.

“Remember how we said we’re never going to fuck, even though that should be a crime, because I don’t sleep with students and you don’t sleep with people who could further your career? Meet SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward, the reasons I don’t. You’re Squidward, cupcake,” Topher said, blowing me a kiss.

“I hate you.”

“Not touching that with gloves on and a ten-foot pole,” Harlowe said.

“Oh, I’m fascinated, go on,” Cullen said, resting his chin on his hand.

“Or we could just talk about Leif’s ballet,” Harlowe said. “I’m allergic to drama. Let’s make art instead.”

Leif hadn’t said a word yet aside from how he wanted his sandwich. I would have. We were meeting to discuss bringing his vision to life and Topher was ruining it like he ruined everything. I wanted to do this. His ballet was definitely the kind of music I enjoyed writing and I really wanted to work with Harlowe. We may have eventually gotten to this on our own, but Topher was the one who put the idea in our heads. The least he could do was not cause drama.

Misha spoke highly of Leif and I would have thought he was going to let us steamroll his entire ballet because he wouldn’t rein us in, but I was watching him. He wasn’t speaking because he was scared of us. While Topher was airing our dirty laundry, Leif was sitting back watching and deciding if he wanted to work with us or not.

Smart. If Topher hadn’t ruined my life, I would have been doing the same thing. Leif finally spoke. He was soft-spoken and I could see why Misha and Cullen liked him. He was astute and shrewd, but I had a feeling if he decided our drama was too much for him, it would have been the kindest rejection I’d ever gotten and some people were quite cruel when they didn’t want to hire me.

“So, I know what dancers I want to cast and the vibes I want. I’m not going to add any characters, but there are no major female characters in the book and I want to use Rue. I don’t think I’m terrible, but Rue has this way of making any choreography look better. I’m gender bending Dr. Hastie Lanyon and casting Rue in that role because I think she’ll be phenomenal.

“I was having trouble visualizing exact choreography because I hadn’t found the right music. Orion’s music is close to what I want for Jekyll’s scenes, but it was missing something when Misha would switch over to Hyde. I didn’t know what it was until I came across a girl playing the violin in the subway.

“You did something in all the songs, but it was more prevalent in the second. Do you know what I’m talking about? I didn’t have time for music lessons, but I know the basics. I don’t actually know what that thing is. I know it’s dissonance, but it’s different.”

“The Devil’s Tritone? It was Halloween, and I needed to make money. I was breaking out every spooky piece I knew. I was going to play Danse Macabre and I would need to tune my E string to an E Flat. The video started recording after I’d tuned my E string down. I played anything I wrote or knew with that tuning. The second piece you’re talking about is one I wrote. I wanted to play with the Devil’s Tritone, dissonance, and teasing that I wasn’t going to resolve it until it got a little uncomfortable.”

I listened to that piece. It was uncomfortable and eerie. She’d bump right up to resolving the chord, and you felt like you could breathe again, and then she’d let it go for another few bars. It took a lot of talent to do that. I understood why Leif wanted her better and I could work with that. I wanted to work with that.

“Yes! That. I’m also allergic to drama. So, I have questions about all of this.”

“I can answer,” Topher said. “The Immortal Nightmare boys and I have a past, but I’m not an artist, musician, or dancer. I’m just here because I believe in you and I think if I can get the right people at your thesis performance, I can make you a star.”

“That’s the thing. This is my thesis performance, and this ballet means a lot to me. I don’t want this to be an Immortal Nightmare show, but I want to work with you.”

No, I got it and we had a solution. Faustus would market this as an Immortal Nightmare show if I wrote the music, Azriel did the sets, and Misha was dancing the lead, but at its core, this was about Leif’s choreography. As much as I hated him, Topher could fill the seats for people who were there for Leif, not us.

“Misha can’t because people recognize him, but Azriel and I have pseudonyms we can use. We don’t always need to take credit. You know that Broadway musical that blew up several years ago? The one about Eros and Psyche that Misha choreographed? The sets and music were us.

“Someone who wrote the lyrics couldn’t write the music. He posted a bit of it on a message board asking for help. She never knew it was me who did the score. Azriel got inspired listening to me write and dumped his designs for the sets and costumes in her inbox without being asked. She didn’t know it was him either, but she ended up using it. She didn’t know she was getting Misha for choreography until he showed up at rehearsal.”

“That was you?” Harlowe asked. “I was obsessed with that musical for the longest time.”

“Yes. We can use those names or make up new ones. If you advertise Orion Hart and Azriel Ivy worked on this ballet with Misha Petrovich as the lead, it’s going to turn into our show, not yours. You’re the one who conceptualized it and if she agrees, Harlowe will be writing too. It’s not fair to either of you.”

“That’s decent of you,” Cullen said.

I could have snapped at him and put him in his place that we weren’t monsters, but he was Misha’s friend and I kind of liked him.

“We’ve had the limelight. Sometimes, it’s nice to do anonymous projects you really want to work on.”

Leif broke into a huge grin. I could see why that Isobel girl had a crush. He was adorable with a baby face and he just lit up when he smiled. He also wasn’t into any of that, so I didn’t react.

“So, do I have composers and a set designer?”

“I’m in,” Azriel said.

“Same.”

We all looked at Harlowe. She hadn’t said much either. She sat back and listened. I could appreciate that.