Chapter Text
Jesper
Jesper Fahey loved two things, being a general menace, and musical theater. Sadly for him, his friends only shared one of those interests and it did not involve jazz hands. The last year, when he had suggested they all audition for the musical Hairspray, and was rewarded with the absolute horror that was Kaz Brekker’s first ever laugh (A horrible, indescribable thing that he still had very real nightmares about). This year though, would be different, because this year, Jesper was a man with a plan.
He knew very well that if Kaz agreed to join the show, the rest of the group would follow. Inej would join since she was his shadow, Nina would join because of Inej, Matthias would join for Nina (though he’d make an excuse about only coming around to stop us from getting into too much trouble). Wylan, of course would join because this year’s show, Hadestown, wouldn’t require him to read any lines, if he memorized the soundtrack, he could rehearse without feeling embarrassed.
“I have an idea.” Jesper told the group that referred to themselves as the Crows at lunch one day.
“That’s a first.” Nina quipped as she picked at the pasta on her plate.
“Hey!” Jesper’s hand came to his chest in the kind of theatrical betrayal that deserved to be showcased in front of an adoring crowd.
“Well?” Kaz drawled.
“I know how you get revenge on Cardan Greenbriar.”
Cardan and Kaz had always been at odds with each other. Kaz was calculating and collected, Cardan was a walking anomaly that he could never quite control. Last year, Cardan had crossed a line when he made fun of Inej for hanging out with Jude, his sworn enemy. When Nina heard Inej crying in the bathroom and convinced her to tell the rest of the Crows what had happened, that battle lines had been clearly drawn. Even so, nothing that the Crows ever did seemed to bother Cardan much, he didn’t care about grades and as long as people were talking about him, he didn’t care if what they said was good or bad. Jesper and Wylan, as the only Crows who had attended Hairspray the last year, were the only ones of them who knew that Cardan Greenbriar was a theater kid to the core. Jesper was not afraid to say that Cardan was objectively good, but he also knew Cardan suffered from severe boy in theater syndrome and had incredibly untalented competition.
“Kaz, since when do you hate Cardan?” Inej asked, causing Matthias to start choking so hard that the other students around us started staring. Kaz averted all their eyes with one look, which was impressive, seeing as they were near the center of the cafeteria.
“I just happened to stumble upon the fact that Cardan is a sort of prodigy in the performing arts. Now, if we were to also take part in the show and outperform him, we would take his glory in the one thing he excels in other than partying.”
“Jesper, are you just trying to trick us into auditioning for the play with you?” Inej laughed as though if he had simply asked, they would have.
“Okay, maybe I might have selfish motivations, but that doesn’t make my plan less solid. If we want to get revenge, this is the only way.”
“Why don’t we just sabotage the show?” Matthias asked as if Jesper hadn’t schemed like Kaz himself to make sure his plan would work before revealing it to him. He did not want to risk hearing that devil's unnatural laughter once more, not when his sanity had already been tested the first time he’d done so.
“That will only get people talking about him, it won’t affect his superiority complex. What we need to do is prove he is inferior, so that there isn’t a single person who leaves that theater with his name on their lips.”
“So you’re in?” Jesper bit on his tongue to ensure this moment was real.
“But there is another person we need as well if we want to pour salt in the wound.”
“Who?”
“Jude Duarte.”