Out of Character (True Colors 2)

“I need to hire you to be my hype person.” I laughed nervously. “You really think I could do something with art?”

“I know you could.” Jasper squeezed my arm, his grip warm and steadying, even through my coat. “You’ve got a special talent. And even if it’s classes at the community college or something like that, you should pursue it. And explore the housing situation.”

“Maybe.” It was almost too much to take, the sudden infusion of hope dizzying. And daunting. Jasper might be ready to dream big on my behalf, but I had reality tethering me in place. I might want, but could I truly outrun my past? I wasn’t so sure. I looked away. “How’s the math problem coming?”

“It’s coming.” Jasper apparently wasn’t done helping, and he tore off one of the slips of paper and stuck it in my pocket before continuing. “There’s not many places for something to hide here. I looked all around the doorframe for Professor Tuttle’s office and his mailbox slot. I keep expecting one of the numbers here to line up with a room number, but so far no luck. Sorry.”

“No worries.” Now it was my turn to pat him. “You keep working. I’ll go back to pacing—”

“Wait. Pacing.” Jasper’s eyes went big. “Milo, stand at Professor Tuttle’s door and count out twenty-one paces to the south.”

“Got it.” That took me back into the atrium, but I stopped exactly on the twenty-first step and awaited further instructions from Jasper.

“Now fifteen paces east.” Jasper clicked away on his phone.

I carefully pivoted and measured out the steps, landing in front of a sculpture that was probably supposed to represent some math process but it looked like endless spirals to me. “Now what?”

“We hope this thing isn’t alarmed.” Coming over to where I stood, Jasper laughed as he crouched down near the base, which had many legs like a spider. “And here’s to hoping I don’t topple it.”

“You won’t.” If he could think I was capable of doing something with my art, the least I could do was believe he wouldn’t bring this thing crashing down upon us.

“I love your faith in me.” His smile was spring break in Florida warm.

“Always.” I kept staring at him, willing him to believe, even after he went back to searching. His triumphant noise broke my concentration, though, and had me bending to join him.

“And here it is.” He came up with another tiny box, which revealed a laminated scrap of paper. “Another clue to scan.”

Pulling out his phone again, he came up with a new page, this one a picture that looked like an overhead shot of a play mat with all the Odyssey game pieces arranged on it.

“What’s this one?” I asked. “A game board?”

“It’s set up like it’s midgame. That’s the card library—”

“Library.” I grinned at him and pointed out the windows across campus to the majestic library near where we’d parked.

“Okay, Boy Wonder, where are we headed when we reach the library? It’s huge, and I don’t have much longer before I have to run you home and be at work.” Frowning, Jasper tapped at the clock on his phone.

I studied the board more closely. “Apparently the depths of hell, if you go by the cards spread out.”

Jasper pursed his mouth, eyes narrowing before they snapped open wide. “The lower levels. Basement it is.”

Hurrying across campus, we didn’t talk much, and I tried to ignore the cramping in my leg. The campus was pretty deserted as everyone was probably either huddled up studying or still sleeping off their Saturday night. I’d spent a lot of years around this place thanks to my mom’s job, but unlike Jasper, I’d never imagined myself actually here as a student. However, as we passed the art building, I had a brief what-if moment as a pair of students exited the huge doors of the gleaming glass-and-steel building. Could I really go as far with my art as Jasper seemed to think? Maybe not here, but somewhere? It was like a peek at a future I wasn’t sure I’d ever get.

Once in the library, we made our way through the stacks and study carrels down to the dusty lower levels, which got increasingly lonesome and musty-smelling with more cramped shelves and worse lighting.

“Damn. It’s crowded down here.” Jasper pulled his phone back out as we reached the lowest and darkest level. The shelves were tight enough that we had to walk single file until we reached a wider aisle. No other humans were in sight down here, which wasn’t surprising as there weren’t any study carrels or group rooms down here. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Okay, so we’re in the library, in the depths of hell, and if we follow Odyssey lore, what happens next?” Like him, I was a little overwhelmed at the sheer number of books because no way could we search even this one level before Jasper had to be at work.