Second Draft Chapter 17

As a child I used to love being outside in the autumn afternoons. I liked being outside in any season, but there was something special about the fall. And it wasn’t just because fall is such a beautiful season, although even I had enough sense to appreciate the autumn leaves in the city.

What I like most about fall is the cool feeling in the air. The feeling that I can run forever. There’s also an excitement in the air, something that’s hard to describe but there nevertheless. Maybe it’s the feeling that the seasons are changing.

And yet for all that I always hated the fall. As the leaves turned color and the heat of the summer faded to a pleasant coolness, I knew all too well what it meant. It was an unwelcome reminder that another summer was gone, and that school had come. As a child it was the worst thing imaginable.

Now it wasn’t so bad. After all, summer vacation had long ago ceased to be the seemingly endless stretch of freedom that it used to be. Ever since I was 16 I had spent every summer day working in the Cadet office. School was almost better than that boredom.

Besides, I spent the summer in my family’s house, but when fall came I moved back into the University dormitories. Living with my father had never been easy, but it was much more difficult to get used to again after being away for nine months.

And so this year when I noticed the weather was turning, and the green was slightly fading, I welcomed it with a smile. The first year of University had sped by too quickly, but the summer had seemed to drag on forever. Now at last I was back in my dormitory room.

*********************************************************************

I was standing by the window on the first day back at University when I heard a knock at the door. So absorbed was I in my thoughts that, although I heard the knocking, I didn’t register it as something that I would have to attend to it. When I didn’t respond, the door opened of its own accord and Hermes let himself into the room.

“Jon, good to see you here.”

I turned around and smiled. “Yeah, well it’s good to be back.”

Hermes used my bed as a sofa, practically jumping onto the mattress. “Well how the hell are you man? How was your summer? Tell me all about it?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but Hermes immediately interrupted me. “Hey, sorry, do you have any food around? I missed lunch, and Icarus says you always have a lot of food in this place.” I tossed him an apple from my shelves, and he bit into it greedily. “Sorry man, you were saying?”

I shrugged. “Same old summer I guess. Not much to tell. And you?”

“Not too bad. It was good to go back to my hometown for a while. I never thought I’d say this, but sometimes I miss the simple country life. I’m pretty exhausted actually, I just got in last night.”

“Don’t stay up on my account,” I said turning back to the window. “We can meet up tomorrow if you want to get some rest.”

“Are you crazy?” Hermes said through a mouthful of apple. “Do you remember what day it is today?” When I didn’t say anything, Hermes responded for me. “It’s the art show Jon! Remember the art guild show I met you at last year? There’s lots to see, come on.”

And so I went with him, mostly because I didn’t have anything better to do. I knew David would be busy hanging out with Helen, as he was every night.

We talked a little bit as we walked across the campus lawn. It was early fall, and the leaves were only just beginning to change. I really wanted to just stay outside and enjoy the air, rather than go into the basement where the art show was. But I knew Hermes would have been appalled at the very suggestion.

We went into the basement, and looked at the paintings. “It looks like you guys did a good job this year,” I said.

I said the words so flatly that I didn’t expect Hermes to react to them, but he seemed to take me at face value. He smiled. “Thanks a lot man. We put a lot of work into this.”

He pulled a toothpick from a nearby cup and put it in his mouth. He started chewing on it absent mindedly as his tongue gently rolled it from one cheek to the other. He did all of this so automatically I don’t think he even realized what he was doing until he noticed my eyes were following the toothpick. In a room of motionless paintings, my eyes had been attracted to the motion of the toothpick rolling back and forth.

Hermes took the toothpick out, looked at it in his hand briefly, and then defiantly put it back in his mouth. “Hey, I like to chew on these things, alright.” His voice feigned outrage, and I laughed. A stocky arm swung out and hit me playfully in the chest. I was initially caught off-guard by this sudden escalation, but I reacted quickly. I grabbed Hermes’s arm and easily twisted it behind his back. My training with the Cadets had made me much stronger than him. He tried to twist out of my grip, but when he could not he reached backwards with his free hand to grab my leg, and try to pull me off balance. When this too failed, he called out, “Okay Jon, okay. Enough enough. We can’t wrestle here, we’ll lose our dignity.”

I let go of his arm, and he straightened back up. “Boy, you’ve always got to take things one step too far Jon.” Again his voice was mock outrage.

“You started it.”

He breathed out sharply in a sound that was almost a laugh. “Yeah, but I didn’t think you were going to go as far as to wrestle me in the middle of the art show.”

We walked down the hall, pausing occasionally to look at various paintings that caught our eye. “Just think,” Hermes said, “it was this time last year that I first met you and Icarus. Where is Icarus anyway?”

“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. This is his kind of thing.”

“We ought to get that kid to come to some art guild meetings. I don’t understand why he doesn’t go.”

“Icarus? I don’t think he has the attention span to sit through it.”

“But he hasn’t even been to a single meeting.”

“Yeah, that’s Icarus for you.”

“You know Jon, you should really think about submitting some of your own stuff to the next show.” I laughed. “No, I’m serious.”

“My stuff? Forget it.”

“It’s a University show. It doesn’t have to be good.”

“My stuff is absolute rubbish.”

“It’s your voice Jon. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad. The point is you’re the only one who can do it.”

I didn’t reply to this, and we walked on in silence for a while. Pretty soon Hermes saw other friends of his, and he left me alone to wander the art show alone.

I walked silently for a while with my hands in my pockets, trying to take in all the art and be cultured, but feeling that everything was simply washing over me without any impression. And then, without even realizing I was doing it, I found myself simply staring at a single painting, completely captivated by it.

The whole painting was composed of two colors only: red and black. The black paint was dominant, with the red moving first in a straight line around the edges, then sucked in towards the middle into a swirling spiral until it disappeared at the center. I’m not sure why the painting fascinated me, but it did. It was almost as if the two plain colors had put me under some sort of simple hypnotism, or if my mind had been sucked into the red vortex.

As I stood lost in front of this painting, I began to feel, as one sometimes does, the presence of someone watching. I turned around and saw the artist.

I’m not usually good at realizing these kind of things, but I could tell she was the artist without her saying a word. She just had a look of ownership on her face as she looked at her painting, and a look of satisfaction as she watched me looking at her painting.

And her colors. Almost as if she had painted herself with the same brush she used on her painting. She was dressed almost all in black. Her long black hair seemed to blend into her black dress. Her black eyes shone out strongly against her dark olive skin. But there were spots of bright red as well: her shoes, her bracelet, her fingernails, and her lipstick. She was absolutely gorgeous. My first thought was that she was too beautiful to be a student at this school. She must be visiting royalty from another country. Not only was she dressed so elegantly, the way she held her head back haughtily also supported this thesis.

I thought I saw her smile at me, but I wasn’t sure. She turned and walked away, and I started after her, but I was intercepted by Icarus.

“There’s the man,” Icarus exclaimed as his face filled my line of vision. I looked over his shoulder at the girl, disappearing into the crowd. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” Icarus did not even seem to notice that I was distracted. “So how do you like the show? Have you seen Hermes?”

The girl was gone now. “Yeah, Hermes is around here somewhere.”

“Hard to believe we’re in our second year already, huh?”

With a slight sigh of disappointed at the lost girl, I looked back at Icarus. “Yeah.”

“We’re getting old fast.”

“I know it.”

“That’s why this show is so important. It marks the start of the new year. You’re probably going to start Cadet training again soon, right?”

“It never ended. We’ve been training all summer.”

Icarus shook in amazement. “All that training. What are you guys training for?”

***************************************************

As soon as I heard the harsh, impatient knocking outside, I knew who it was. Even into my second year, my father still made a habit of dropping by my dorm room. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes. He opened the door and let himself in as I was still walking to the door.

He made a face of disgust when he saw that I was just waking up, but he didn’t say anything at first. He took off his jacket and walked around the room for a while, making idle conversation as I straightened the bed sheets and picked up last night’s clothes from the floor. I was slightly taller than him by now, but I always felt like a child in his presence.

Finally he sat down in my chair, which indicated he was ready to begin. I sat on the corner of the bed. Abel had by this time stopped coming along to these visits. I think he had his own group of friends that he hung out with on Saturday mornings

After making his usual comments about how dirty my room was, and how it wasn’t good to sleep too late, he came to his purpose. “I was just talking to the school register. They told me you still haven’t picked a field of study.”

“Well it’s a big decision. I don’t want to-.”

“You’re in your second year now. If you don’t decide soon you’ll be behind.”

“I know. I know.”

“Well, what are you interested in?” I shrugged. “Well then pick something!” His voice boomed out in frustration.

“Dad, I’m in the top of my year at Cadets. I’m the second year Cadet leader, and if this keeps up in two years I’ll be the head of the whole corps.”

“Don’t change the subject Jonathon.”

“Yeah, but I thought you’d be proud of me. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“That’s what I expected. After all that time at the Cadet Center and training with Orion, you would have been a disappointment if you didn’t make leadership. But you can’t hang on to that forever. Once you graduate, no one cares what you did in Cadets. You need a solid degree to go with that.” He must have seen the disappointment on my face, because his tone softened. “Look Jonathon, it doesn’t really matter what you study. I mean, study something useful of course, but your position under Flash is pretty much guaranteed. What we don’t want is for you to be here any extra years. The important thing is that you get out of University on time, so that you can start working for Flash. That’s when your future will really begin.”

“Okay.”

He stood up, and put his coat back on. “I’ll be back next week to see how things are going.” He stopped as he was at the door, and turned around to look at me again. “Do you see much of LJ these days?”

“No, he was expelled last year.”

“Yes, he was. But I heard he was still hanging around campus. You haven’t been spending time with him, have you?”

“With LJ? Why would I do that?” This was truly an odd question. He knew LJ and I had never been close.

“Just checking. Keep your distance from him if you can. He’s not someone you want to be seen with.”

I nodded. He turned around again and walked out.

**********************************************************

I sought Orion’s advice the next chance I got. “Don’t worry about it,” Orion told me. “Just pick something. These days it doesn’t really matter what you study anyway.”

“These days.”

“When the war starts, no one will care what your fields of study is.”

“The war?”

He stopped walking and looked at me strangely. “Have you been reading the newspapers?”

“I never read the newspapers.”

We started to walk again. “There’s going to be war soon. The throne of Fenestra is vacant again.”

“So?”

“The King of Amicae wants to put his wife’s cousin on the throne of Fenestra. But old Flash isn’t going to stand for that. He’s going to make sure his brother-in-law, the true heir to the Fenestram throne, becomes king.”

“And we’d go to war for that?”

“Of course. Can you imagine what would happen if Amicae got their way? We’d lose face for one thing. They’d know they can push us around on that issue, so they would try and push us around on everything. You have to stand up to bullies, otherwise you’re never safe against them.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” I agreed.

“And, if their man became king, then it would always be those two kings against us. We need a king in Fenestra who would be friendly to Fabulae.”

“Yeah, we do,” I agreed again.

We arrived at the Cadet field. Orion was now in his fourth year, and was not only the leader of his class, but the leader of all the Cadets. It was a huge honor, but it was also a lot of hard work. He always went to inspect the equipment in the afternoon and make sure the other Cadets had cleaned it properly.

“How soon will the war be?” I asked.

“Depends who you ask. Some people say it will come soon, some people say it will come next year. A few people are still foolish enough to think it won’t happen at all, but it will happen.”

“What does Flash-.”

He sensed my question and cut me off. “Flash is saying what he must: that he still hopes to resolve the matter diplomatically. But he has to say that right now. He can not declare war before the nation is ready.”

Orion took out his keys and unlocked the storehouse. He pulled the doors open, and we went inside. “But everyone who is smart knows there will be war. He can not back down now.” Orion looked over the equipment, and his hand was drawn towards the swords hanging on the wall. He ran his fingers softly over the sharp side of a sword, more I think to admire the beauty of the thing than to actually inspect it. His hands seemed naturally to fit with any kind of weapon, like the way I had first seen him load the gun with such fluidness of movement. “There will be war before you graduate. That is certain. And if you are still a Cadet leader, you will go on to receive a command position in the army, and go on to make your name on the battlefield.” He picked up one of the swords and held it before him. His eyes focused in on the sword, and I think he was imagining himself on the battlefield. “Whatever subject you pick, just make sure you finish your studies on time. An extra year of University, and you might miss the war.”

“What are you studying?”

“What?” This question brought him out of the battlefield, and put him in the University again. He put the sword back in its place. “Oh. I’m studying law and medicine.”

“Both.”

“Yes both.” He paused, and then, “studies come easily to me,” he continued almost apologetically. “I’ll have no problem completing both in time. But you might want to try something easier.”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I hear the geography department is very easy. You might want to try that. Besides, you never know where the future will take you. A little geography might be useful to know.”

I registered for geography the next day.

***********************************************

I was in the cafeteria when I saw the black haired girl again. Miraculously, she was sitting by herself. Someone as beautiful as her should never be sitting alone. It was a chance not to be wasted.

David and Icarus were all expecting me at another table on the other side of the cafeteria, but I decided they would forgive me. Before I had a chance to get nervous or think myself out of it, I grabbed my food and went to her table.

She was looking down at her tray at first, but she must have sensed me approaching because she looked up and smiled at me. There was a knowing look in her eyes, and I realized that a girl this beautiful must have guys approaching her all the time. She knew exactly what I wanted. But she did not seem displeased, and there was something of an invitation in her smile.

“Mind if I join you?” She tilted her head back slightly to look me over. Then she pulled her tray in towards her to make room for mine. I sat down and gave her what I hoped was a friendly smile in return. “I think I’ve seen you before.”

“At the art show, yes,” she said impatiently, as if I was wasting time by stating the obvious.

“You remember then?”

“Of course I remember.”

“It’s just that it was so brief, I wasn’t sure if I made as much of an impression on you as you did on me.” She put a piece of food and her mouth and raised her eyebrows at me as she chewed. “Am I right in assuming that was your painting?”

“Why do you think it’s my painting?”

“Because it looks like you.”

She laughed. “What did you think of it?”

“I thought it was very good.”

She dismissed my comments with a wave of her hand. “I just submitted that so I could have something in the show. I have others that are much better.”

“I’d love to see those sometime.”

She gave me another knowing look that told she realized I was coming on strong, and that she wasn’t entirely displeased. I took this as encouragement. “What’s your name?”

“Clio. What’s yours?”

“Jon. I mean Jonathon.”

She tried it out on her tongue, pausing on the syllables. “Jo-na-thon.”

“Actually just Jon’s okay.”

“If you’re interested Jon, the stuff you should really see is my brother’s”

“Brother?”

“My stuff’s okay, but he’s the genius of the family. He’s a whole year younger than me, but his art is so good that they let him into the University a year early.” [This sentence doesn’t sound like Clio. Think about putting this information into another part of the story].

I leaned forward and tried for a charming smile. “I’d rather see your paintings.”

She leaned back, but she was still smiling. “Okay, what about tomorrow at five?”

“What about nine? I’ve got Cadet practice at five.”

“Nine O’clock’s too late. Couldn’t you just skip Cadet practice?”

“Skip practice?” I looked to see if she was joking, but it was very hard to read her face behind that confident smile. Then I remembered that a girl like this probably has guys bending over backwards for her all the time. “I can’t skip practice,” I answered firmly.

“Not even for me?”

“I’m the second year leader. I can’t skip. Even if I wasn’t a leader, practice isn’t the kind of thing I can skip.”

“The leader?” She looked over me again, but this time with new eyes. “Yes, you look like a leader.”

“I am. I’m the head of all the second year Cadets.”

She leaned slightly forward. “And you appreciate art?”

“Art is...one of my passions, yes.” The words stuck in my throat, and I had to force them out a little awkwardly, but she still seemed impressed.

“Mine too,” she answered, and I noticed there was a sweetness in her voice that hadn’t been there before.

“Are you sure nine is too late?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly. “Nine is too late. Could you come at eight?”

I considered this. “I wouldn’t have time to clean up.”

“That’s okay. You come at eight. If you need to be cleaned up, we’ll clean you up later.”

I just barely avoided choking on my food at that last comment. I managed to swallow down my mouthful even as I felt my throat closing up. I looked at her to see what she meant, but again I found her face hard to read. “Eight it is then,” I said, and I hoped she didn’t notice how dry my voice was.

“Meet me in front of the North Hall by the main entrance. And don’t be late.” She stood up. “I have to go to class now,” she said. “But it was nice meeting you Jon.”

“Nice to meet you Clio.”

She gave me one last smile before she walked away. I followed her with my eyes almost all the way to the door, until I realized I was starring, and then I quickly looked back down at my own food.

[Problems: Jon too aggressive-Think about rewriting as Clio’s initiative. Also does Clio like b/c of leadership? Restrictive?]

***************************************************************

The next day I looked eagerly for Clio in the cafeteria, but I did not see her. No matter, I was meeting her that night anyway. So I went back to my usual spot with David, Icarus, and Helen.

My absence of the previous day was not even commented upon. Instead David and Icarus had their heads bent over some book. “Hello,” I said, sitting down.

“Hey Jonny, check this out!” Icarus exclaimed.

I smiled a greeting at Helen, who was sitting across the table from me. She, like me, seemed a little confused as to what the excitement was.

“Jonny, you’ve got to check this out,” Icarus repeated, shoving the book into my hands. I turned the book over in my hands. It had obviously been printed on an amateur press. There was no binding, instead there were holes in the pages and twine rope tied the book together.

I looked back in confusion. “Go on,” David urged. “See what it says.”

I turned the book over to the front page (there was no cover) and leaned back in my seat so that the light from the overhead windows fell across the page. “The Problem of the Hungry in a City of Plenty,” I read aloud. “An analysis of the unequal distribution of resources in the city of Urbae and the resulting destruction of the poor.” I took a breath. You needed to take a breath after reading a sentence like that. That was more big words than I usually used in a week. On a good week. {Actually not that many big words. Ditch this sentence or change title}.

And then the impact of what I had read began to seep into me. I looked back at David and Icarus. “How in the world did this thing get published?”

But I had missed what they were excited about. “No, not that. Look at the author,” Icarus said.

I held the book up in front of my face again and my eyes scanned down to the end of the page. “By Lucius Junius.” I looked up at their faces, looked down at the book again, and then looked up at them again. “He signed his name to it?”

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Icarus said. “Our boy LJ. Have you ever seen such courage?”

“Or stupidity,” I said, throwing the book back at Icarus. “Do you know what happens to people who write this kind of stuff?”

“They already expelled him from the University,” David said. “What else can they do?”

“They can ban him from campus for a start. I hear he’s still around here all the time.”

David gave a short laugh. “He doesn’t care about that. Being expelled was the best thing that ever happened to LJ. He’s getting a real education now. He’s been meeting all sorts of fascinating thinkers and philosophers outside of these University walls.”

“Well he’d better be careful. This kind of stuff is illegal for a reason. How did this even get passed the censor?” I asked this even as I knew what the answer had to be.

Sure enough, David responded: “they found an underground printing press.”

“It looks like their press has seen better days.”

“Well what do you expect Jon?”

“Are you going to read it or what?” Icarus asked, pushing the book in my direction.

“Are you crazy?” I pushed the book back. “I’m a Cadet. I can’t even be seen in the same room as that thing.”

Icarus’s jaw dropped. “What? What’s the matter with you?”

“Jon, since when have you been concerned about the rules?” David asked.

Helen, who had been silent this whole time, spoke up now. “It won’t hurt you to look at it Jon. The campus is flooded with them. They can’t arrest everyone who has a copy.” Her calm voice instantly melted away the tension between the rest of us.

“Have you read it yet?” I asked.

She laughed. “No, those two won’t let me near that copy. They keep hogging it for themselves.”

“You’ve been sitting here this whole time and they wouldn’t let you look at it?” I said in a scolding tone.

“We were going to,” David said. “We just wanted to read it first.” He was turning red, and I could see he was embarrassed enough by this oversight without need of me pressing the point further. Here he had been trying to force the book on me, without even letting his girlfriend see it first.

I felt glad that I could rush to Helen’s defense like this. “Well, give her the book then,” I said in a commanding tone. David handed it over meekly.

Helen took the book with eager hands, but as soon as it was in her hands I started worrying again. “Don’t let anyone see you with that,” I said.

She looked up from the book just long enough to laugh at me. “I can take care of myself Jon. But thank you as always for your concern.”

The campus had indeed been flooded with those booklets. I saw them popping up all throughout the rest of the day. Students were trying to grab them up before the administration could confiscate them. Many students grabbed several copies at once to save them from the fire. The University administrators tried to crack down on the books, and threatened discipline to anyone caught with a copy, but there were so many copies on campus that day it was impossible. I never heard of anyone actually disciplined.

LJ, whatever future consequences he had brought down upon himself, was undoubtedly the hero of the day.

*********************************************

After Cadet training, I stayed behind with Orion and the other leaders to supervise the clean up. I knew better than to ask Orion to cover for me. He had gotten so angry the last time I had asked to get out of training early for a girl. And that had been back when the two of us were training informally.

Besides, I was very much aware of how tenuous my position was. I had just barely beaten out Christopher for the last top spot, and I didn’t want my commitment to the post to be questioned.

After practice I ran over to the North Hall. It was a warm fall evening, and my Cadet Uniform was think and heavy. But after three hours of training, it was impossible for me to get any sweatier than I already was. I really wished I at least had time to change clothes. In addition to the sweat, my uniform and face was covered with dirt from the wrestling. I really felt uncomfortable meeting a girl in this state, but I was already five minutes late as it was. A fact which Clio did not fail to comment on.

“You’re late,” she said as I arrived breathless. She was dressed more casually than at the art show, but she still looked stunning. Black pants, and a tight fitting black sweater. Her face had just a hint of make-up on it, skillfully applied, and I realized that she must have gone through a lot of effort to make herself look this casual. I felt even more self-conscious about my appearance.

“I’m sorry,” I answered. “I had to supervise the clean-up.”

Almost to my surprise, she quickly forgave me. “It’s alright,” she said. “We’ve got all night.”

“We do,” I said excitedly. “Where do you want to go? If you like coffee, I know this great place right on campus.”

“Later. First I want to introduce you to my brother.”

“Your brother?” It was beginning to get annoying how often her brother managed to work his way into our conversations. “I wanted to do something with just the two of us.”

She put her hand on my chest. “Calm down. Everything you want to happen tonight will happen. But first you really should meet my brother. If you like art, than you have to see his paintings.”

I had never had a girl speak to me like this before and I wasn’t sure how to respond. I simply swallowed, nodded meekly, and followed her into North Hall. All the way up the stairs I wondered what exactly she meant by that last statement.

We went down the hall and stopped at one of the rooms. She didn’t say anything, but she smiled at me to let me know this was her brother’s room. I was beginning to notice how conservative she was with her words. She often chose to smile or give a pointed look rather than speak. But she wasn’t shy. Her whole body constantly exuded confidence.

She knocked at the door lazily by flicking her wrist backwards as if she were swatting at an insect. There was the sound of someone standing up and moving across the room, and then the door opened from the inside. “Jon, this is my brother Orpheus,” Clio said proudly. “Orpheus, this is Jon.”

They were obviously related. The resemblance was unmistakable. The same black hair, although on Orpheus it was not quite as long and not neatly combed. And the same exact eyes, although Orpheus’s eyes were hidden behind round eyeglasses. Their faces looked surprisingly similar also. Orpheus had soft, almost feminine looking features, which seemed to resemble the same soft curves of his sister’s face. But his short hair and thick beard stubble gave ample proof of his masculinity. His chest and arms, although very skinny, had thin outlines of a masculine frame as well.

As soon as we were introduced, I extended my hand out in greeting. He looked at it as if unsure of what to do, then stuck out his own hand. I tried to give him a friendly handshake, but I felt I was almost crushing his hand beneath mine. He withdrew his hand awkwardly, and then opened the door wide for us.

As we walked into his room, I searched for a way to make conversation. “How do you like the University?”

“It’s not bad so far,” Orpheus answered. “A lot of my classes are pretty interesting. Of course it’s pretty hard to tell because I’ve really only just begun. But so far I like everything. I’ve met a lot of cool people at least.”

My first impression of him was that he was in action as dissimilar from Clio as he was alike in features. He obviously lacked her economy of words, but he lacked her confidence as well. When he talked it was a nervous babbling. His words were accompanied by useless gesturing with his hands, which also struck me as a nervous gesture. It was as if Clio had absorbed all the confidence her parents had to offer, leaving nothing for her brother.

And yet, far from being embarrassed, I saw that Clio was beaming with pride at her younger brother. She was standing straight and tall and she was looking at him with adoring eyes. And then she looked at me to see if I shared her convictions. I quickly looked away and refocused on Orpheus.

“So you’re in your first year?”

“Yeah. Yeah just starting out. I’m actually only seventeen, but the University let me come a year early because of my art work.”

“Yes,” I said. “Clio’s been telling me about your paintings.”

“That’s actually why we’ve come,” Clio said. “Jon’s an art fan, and I wanted to show him your paintings.”

“All my best stuff is still back home,” Orpheus said. He looked at me apologetically. “Clio and I come from the provinces. It was a long way, so we had to pack lightly. I didn’t dare take my paintings with me. We had third class tickets on the train, and I knew there wouldn’t be any room, and even if there was room my painting might have gotten crushed by all the people. I couldn’t take that chance.”

I had actually never ridden the train before. I had never been outside of Urbae in my life. I had heard about train rides of course, but I really had no idea about the difference between first, second, and third class, or how crowded the train cars were. I simply nodded like I understood. “Yeah, I don’t blame you. I don’t think I would have taken the paintings either. Still, it’s a shame. After all Clio has told me, I really would have liked to see them.”

“You’ll get a chance,” Orpheus said. “The University is paying for them to be shipped over here, first class.”

I didn’t really understand what he was talking about, so I decided to start out with simple questions. “How many paintings are there?” I asked.

“I’ve been painting since I was...Well, ever since I can remember. I don’t know how many paintings are stored back at the house. Over 100. Close to 200 maybe. But there are a few paintings in particular that I won special awards for.”

“Seven,” Clio said.

“Yes, seven paintings that are my best work. I guess you could call them my master pieces.” He must have been aware of how pretentious that sounded, because he blushed with embarrassment.

“What sort of awards?” I asked.

“Well, all of them were in museums,” Orpheus began.

“The museums?” I interrupted in astonishment. I had expected first prize at the school fair, or something like that. I never thought that a young hick from the provinces, someone two years younger than me, would have art in the museums. “You mean the provincial museums of course.”

“Well, yes, initially. But the museum director was so impressed that he sent some of my art on a tour to the capital city of Urbae. That’s how the University found out about me. They wrote and told me that they had a place for me at the University art department. I didn’t even have to finish school first.”

“So the paintings are in the art museum here in Urbae?”

“They were, but that was just a temporary tour. By the time I accepted the University offer, the paintings were already back home. There were only seven of them, but they’ve all been framed and mounted and they’re quite bulky. I couldn’t have taken them with me. But the art department wants to display them right here at the University. The director of the art department said the university would pay to have the paintings shipped first class.”

As Orpheus talked he still maintained some of his social awkwardness. He still talked too fast and he still motioned with his hands. But he had lost all of his embarrassed modesty. The more he talked about his art, the more obvious it was that he was proud. And apparently with good reason. I began to wonder if I really was in the presence of genius.

“Show him the stuff you have here,” Clio said.

“Yes, I’d like to see it.” I was being honest now. The little speech he’d given had genuinely aroused my curiosity.

“I don’t have anything important here,” Orpheus persisted. “I left all my important stuff at home. All I have now is the drawings I’ve done since I gotten here. They’re nothing really, just little projects I do. It’s only to pass the time. There’s nothing I’ve put a lot of energy into.”

“Show him anyway,” Clio said. “I just want him to get a taste. He’s never seen any of your work before.”

“If he’s never seen any of my work before he should start with the best stuff first,” Orpheus persisted. “The stuff I could show him now would only disappoint him.”

Clio rolled her eyes. “I don’t see what the big deal is,” she said. “Last week you had it hanging on the walls for everyone to see.”

I looked at the bare walls. Orpheus followed my gaze. “My roommate complained about it,” he said. “So I had to take it all down.”

“He doesn’t like your art?” I asked.

Orpheus shrugged. “He’s an idiot. A complete idiot.” Orpheus shook his head with disgust at the thought. “He’s the dumbest guy imaginable. You wouldn’t believe how dumb this guy is. I don’t even know why he’s at the University. Do you know what he’s studying? Geography. He’s studying geography because it’s the easiest subject.”

“I’m studying geography,” I said automatically. I’m not sure why I said it. It was true, but I’m not sure why I felt the need to volunteer the information.

“I thought you were studying art,” Clio said, and her eyes were now colder towards me.

“Art is more of a hobby. I’m a man of many diverse passions.”

“I’m sorry,” Orpheus said. “I didn’t mean to-.”

“No, it’s okay. I feel the same way.” Now it was my turn to shake my head in disgust. “You know, it’s guys like that who give geography a bad name. I can’t tell you how mad that makes me. I always say that if you’re not passionate about maps and compasses, they shouldn’t even let you in the geography building.” I took a breath, afraid that I had pushed this act a little too far. ‘I’m sorry, it’s just something I feel strongly about.”

Silence followed, and I thought then that I really had gone too far. Then Clio cleared her throat gently and said to Orpheus, “Just show him a few of your paintings. Please. I told him he could see your work.”

The mood of the room had altered somehow. I think they were both unsure of how to react to my speech on geography. Orpheus forgot his protests, and said, “Okay, yeah,” as he went into the closet to take out a leather portfolio. “These aren’t anything special, you understand. This is just stuff I’ve been doing for fun.” And yet, even as he spoke these words, the reverence with which he handled the paintings contradicted his words. He took out each drawing very carefully, always taking care not to touch his fingers to the front of it. He laid them slowly on his desk for me to see, as if they might crumble into dust at the wrong touch. I was almost afraid to get close to them, lest I might breath on them wrong.

“What do you think?” asked Clio.

“They’re amazing,” I said. They’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” They were actually unlike anything I had seen before. They looked to me just like paint splattered. In truth I didn’t understand them at all. But my words had the desired effect. Clio moved up close to me and put her hand gently on my arm. It was as if I had praised her instead of the paintings, and I knew I had been forgiven for being a geography student.

“They’re nothing really,” Orpheus repeated, but his tone of voice betrayed his own pride. “If you like these, you should stop by again after my real work gets here.”

“Yes, I’d like that,” I said, and I felt Clio tighten her grip on my arm.

There was a knock on the door, and I thought for a moment I was going to meet the legendary roommate, but then realized he wouldn’t knock at his own room. “Come in,” Orpheus said, and the door opened very slowly. I thought the person on the other side of the door must have been afraid to disturb us. “Come in, Eurydice,” Orpheus said. “You’re right on time.”

A petite looking girl entered. She had long blond hair and round glasses very similar to those worn by Orpheus. She had on brown pants and a plain white shirt, both of which looked like they hadn’t been washed in a long time. She kept her eyes fixed down on the floor as she walked in. Once she looked up at me and Clio, but then quickly lowered her eyes back down again. “It’s okay,” Orpheus said. “My sister and her friend were just here to look at my art work.”

“Hello Eurydice,” Clio said in a flat tone. “This is Jon.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, forgetting my experience with Orpheus and extending my hand. Eurydice looked at it, but did not return her own hand to shake.

“We were just leaving anyway,” Clio said. “I hope you and Eurydice have a good night.”

Taking this as my cue, I turned to Orpheus. “It was really good to meet you.”

Orpheus was putting his arm affectionately around Eurydice, and his attention was already elsewhere. “What? Oh yeah, good to meet you too Jon.”

Clio and I left the room. “That’s his girlfriend,” Clio explained as we were going down the stairs. “Although what he sees in her I don’t know.”

“She did seem kind of strange,” I said.

“Strange,” she repeated with her cynical laugh. “That puts it well.”

It was obvious from Clio’s tone of voice, if not her words, that she had little love for Eurydice. I wondered if this was actually because of Eurydice’s shy awkwardness, or if Clio would hate any girl who captured her brother’s affections. Nevertheless I felt the simple thrill that we were in agreement. I hoped to find many more things that we could agree on.

“Do you want to get that cup of coffee now?” I asked.

“The rest of the night is all yours,” she said. “Whatever you want to do.”