Out of Character (True Colors 2)

Eventually we all filled our plates for our late-night feast and found places to sit. I ended up at the table next to Milo and near Professor Herrera. None of us ever drank before gaming, but now that filming was done, Conrad and Kellan had beers with their food. Milo, however, stuck to soda, whether in solidarity with me or as part of his newfound resolution I wasn’t sure, but I appreciated it.

“Thanks for loaning me your friend,” Professor Herrera said. “He’s a fast study.”

“Hey, I thought I was your favorite helper.” Kellan faked being wounded, undoubtedly because Professor Herrera was one of his advisers.

“Was that you grating two pounds of cheese?” Professor Herrera laughed. “Now, everyone eat up. I don’t want leftovers.”

Milo pulled his chair closer to me, explaining which parts of the various dishes he’d helped with, and I again resisted the urge to touch him because his enthusiasm was so infectious. I liked how everyone tried to include Milo as we talked—Professor Tuttle getting him talking about classic cars while Kellan involved him in a discussion about the upcoming revue. I waited until Professor Herrera returned to the kitchen to ask Conrad what I’d been trying to get at all evening.

“So tell us, oh Great Odyssey Employee, do you have any inside scoop on getting the Royal Frog Court rares?”

“There seriously isn’t a vault of rares or something we get to raid on our lunch hour. I know some of my coworkers who are collectors, too, and they still have to navigate the secondary market, same as everyone else. But I put out some feelers. I know some people now.”

“We know,” Kellan and I groaned simultaneously.

“I heard George, the jerk who Arthur banned, bragging that he got hold of a set,” Jasmine shared. Next to me, Milo stiffened, and I tapped his foot with mine, trying to let him know that I hadn’t told and wasn’t going to break his trust like that.

“There’s no way to guarantee George’s cards are legit.” Kellan stretched, eyes pinched together, a rare sign of irritation from him. “He’d probably part with them, though. For a price.”

“And no one wants to pay his prices.” Conrad sounded like he knew a thing or two about George’s tactics.

“Is this George criminal or merely underhanded?” Professor Tuttle stroked his chin. I hadn’t meant to include him in this conversation, and the last thing I needed was him thinking we needed law enforcement or something.

“A scuzzbucket, but he’s careful to walk the line,” Jasmine answered for me. “I definitely wouldn’t do something stupid like try to play George for the cards.”

I had been considering doing exactly that all week. I had something he might covet—my ticket for the Odyssey launch party next month, and I also knew I had the skill to at least have a chance of beating him. But Milo tapped my foot hard as he frowned. He wouldn’t be down with that idea, but I wasn’t completely discounting it yet either. I liked the idea of the big rescue, probably more than I should have, but Milo kept making me want to save his day.

“Why play George when you can hunt treasure?” Conrad leaned forward. “One of the people I know at the office told me about these secret treasure hunts. Like geocaching or letterboxing puzzle hunts where you can find rare items as the prize. She thinks there might be one around here with one of the Royal Frog Court cards as the lure. She gave me some top-secret links.”

“An old-fashioned treasure hunt.” Professor Tuttle rubbed his hands together. “I approve.”

“Have you ever seen one of those cards?” I asked him.

“The queen, once. Had a chance to win her, but I was outwitted. Later, I thought about acquiring a set for display here, but I ended up getting us some better cameras and microphones instead.”

“And an air fryer,” Professor Herrera added mildly as he handed out cookies. “I’ve heard about some secret treasure hunts around the campus too. There was one with Broadway tickets.”

“Exactly. I’ve been doing some investigating with these links and I think it may be legit.” Conrad leaned forward. “Of course, with all these things, the rule is that if you take something, you have to leave something of value behind.”

“I’ve got that other rare I won at the tournament in Philly. We can use that as the trade.”

“That would be awesome. When can we try?” Milo’s eyes were big, and the hope there made me ready to agree to anything—even setting my alarm.

“I work tomorrow afternoon, but maybe we could try in the morning.”

“I’ll bring the doughnuts.” Milo’s big smile was worth any lack of sleep.

“As long as it’s not the crack of dawn, you can call us if you’re stumped about campus clues.” Conrad leaned closer to Alden, who nodded.