If We Were Villains

Content Warning: The epilogue Chapter Summary and the Analysis section contain discussion of suicide.

Oliver and Colborne head up to the tower to the room Oliver and James once shared. The castle is empty for the holidays, but it is evident students are still lodging in the room. Oliver is gripped by nostalgia. Colborne tells him he never understood the relationship between Oliver and James, and Oliver admits he didn’t either. He and James were inseparable, but their friendship is hard to define. Colborne suspects James was enamored with Oliver because Oliver was enamored of him. Privately, Oliver thinks of his love for James as an infatuation; the infatuation is difficult to describe because it “transcended any notion of gender” (360).

The set for Lear is spectacular. The floor is tiled with plexiglass mirrors that catch every reflection in sight. Hanging from the ceilings are fiber optic cables that, when lit, transform the stage into a night sky. As the performance draws closer, the fourth-years can hardly sleep with anticipation and anxiety. Alexander returns from the hospital and spends two hours every week with a nurse and the school psychologist. Colin and Filipa keep a close eye on him. Oliver often sleeps with Meredith.