Second Draft: Chapter 19

Hermes cornered me between classes one day. “Hey Jon! Where have you been? We haven’t seen you at Art Guild in weeks.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I’ve been real busy with Cadets lately.”

“That never used to stop you before.”

“Yeah but-.”

“Is there something you’re not telling me Jon? Your friend Icarus tells me you’ve got a girl now.”

“Maybe.”

“Well who is she? How did you meet her?

“Her name is Clio. I met her at...Hey! I first met her at the art show. You know, the one we went to together at the beginning of the year.”

“I don’t remember meeting her.”

“No, you wandered off to talk to your other friends and left me standing by the art exhibits all alone. She had a painting on display. I was looking at her painting, and then I was looking at her.”

“You mean she’s already entered a painting into one of our shows? Well that’s perfect Jon. The two of you can come to art guild together. Other people will want to meet her. No fair keeping this girl all to yourself.”

Actually I had brought up the subject with Clio before. Hermes was right; Art Guild did seem like the perfect place to take Clio. It was the kind of place Clio and Orpheus should have naturally wanted to go to anyway, without any extra prodding from me.

Only it wasn’t. Clio made faces every time I suggested the idea, and even sometimes said she regretted submitting her painting to the first art show. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t think they understand the kind of stuff I do.”

“You don’t even know them,” I said. “Hermes is a great guy. He understands all sorts of stuff. I bet he’d understand your stuff if you gave him a chance.”

“Maybe he would.” She looked down at the floor. “Actually I don’t care whether he does or not. My stuff isn’t all that good anyway. It’s my brother you should be asking.”

Later, when I talked to Orpheus, he listened very carefully to my invitation, but didn’t seem to understand it. “Now explain this to me again Jon,” he said. “Why do you want me to go to Art Guild?”

“You like art. It would be a natural fit. You could probably learn a lot there. I know I certainly have.”

“I don’t know,” he responded. “I don’t think I’d get anything out of it. This is going to sound incredibly arrogant of me and everything, but Jon seriously I think I’m going to be just so far ahead of everyone else there that it’s not even going to be funny. I just can’t imagine what they could help me on.”

When I reported this back to Hermes, he just laughed. “Who does this kid think he is? He’s a first year?”

I was reluctant to give my own opinion on Orpheus’s work one way or the other before I knew what Hermes thought of it. I was worried I’d end up revealing my ignorance. “I guess some of his work used to be in museums. The University has some of it on display now in the art department if you want to see it.”

I had been once before to see these paintings. Clio and Orpheus had taken me shortly after the paintings had been delivered from the provinces. The art department was a little dark and dusty, but I remembered the way well enough to show Hermes.

On the way there, Hermes talked the whole time about Art Guild gossip, even after we had entered the art department. But once he saw the paintings, he shut up immediately. “Wow!” was all he said for a long time as he stared at the paintings. Finally he turned to me. “This kid is amazing. Where did he come from again?” I opened my mouth, but Hermes didn’t give me time to answer. “This just blows me away. The way he arranges color is just incredible. He shouldn’t even be here.”

“At Art Guild.”

“At this University Jon. He should be studying overseas at a decent art school. This is a waste of his talents. Look at this! They don’t even have his stuff in decent light. It should at least be by a window.”

“I don’t think his family can afford to send him overseas.”

“That’s a waste. You know he’s never going to get the recognition he deserves in Fabulae. Jon, promise me you’ll find someway to get this kid to art guild.”

“Ok, I’ll try. But I already told you, he thinks art guild is beneath him.”

“Well in a lot of ways it is. He’s much better than anyone else we have, but I’d practically pay to see his stuff every week.”

“I’ll try. You might want to talk to him yourself if you feel strongly about it.”

“Maybe I will.”

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

I was having trouble studying as usual. My book was open on my desk, but my eyes kept repeating the same paragraph over and over. No matter how many times I read it, it refused to make sense of itself. Every little sound from outside threw off my concentration, and I had to start all the way back at the beginning again.

I heard a knock from outside. “Come in,” I said.

Helen came in the door. “Is now a bad time Jon?”

I immediately softened my tone. “No, not at all. Come in.”

“You sounded annoyed.”

“I’m just frustrated by this studying. I could use a break actually.”

She was just about the last person I expected to walk through that door. If Flash himself had decided to walk in, I would have been less surprised. It wasn’t that she never came here. Over the past year and a half she had visited this room many times, but always together with David. This is the first time she had come alone.

“It’s good to see you Helen. I haven’t talked to you in a while.”

“I know. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately.”

I tried to guess the reason she had come here. My first thought was something related to homework, but we had none of the same classes. Did she just want to talk to me? We still saw each other in the cafeteria. Did she want to talk to me alone? I tried to stay focused and not get my hopes up about anything.

“Here, have a seat. Do you want something to eat? I’ve got lots of sweet breads and candies.”

“No thank you Jon. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Well just let me know then. I’m really sorry the place is such a mess. I would have picked it up a little if I knew you were coming.” I realized I was talking too much, and told myself to relax.

“It’s okay Jon. I’ve seen your room before. It’s always a mess.”

“It’s clean most of the time. You and David just always happen to visit on the bad days.”

She laughed. I had missed that laugh. It was so warm and rich and inviting and everything good. And it made me feel that I was the most charming person in the world.

“I’ll tell you what Jon,” she said. “You let me know when the next good day is, and I’ll drop everything and come over and visit.”

My heart quickened. But it was probably just a joke. “I will,” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral.

“Now, Jon, what is this I hear about you and a young lady?”

My heart dropped. So this is why she had come over? I tried not to let my disappointment show on my face. “Did you hear about this from David?”

“No, from Simon actually.”

“Really? When did you hear from Simon?”

“He was on campus a few days ago visiting everyone.” She hit my arm playfully and laughed again. “And don’t change the subject Jon. Are the rumors true or not?”

“That depends. They might be. I mean I don’t know what Simon told you. Sometimes these things get exaggerated.”

“Well you tell me then.”

“Okay, um, well there is this girl. Clio. I saw her painting at an art show I went to with Hermes. And I’ve met her a couple times afterwards, just for coffee or something like that. We usually talk about art. We’re both interested in art, Clio and I, so we make good conversation partners.”

I stopped, and she looked at me suspiciously with a raised eyebrow. “Is that all it is?” she asked in a sing-song voice.

“Um, yeah, at this point I guess. It might develop into something more. You never know.”

“Hmmm. That’s not what Simon told me. But regardless Jon, whatever it is, I’m really happy for you. Honest. I kept thinking to myself that there’s a good girl for you out there somewhere.” This was almost unbearable. There wasn’t a trace of jealousy in her voice. She really was genuinely happy for me. I forced a smile.

“Having common interests is so important. That’s something I really envy you two for. I wish David and I had more common interests. It makes for better conversation.”

This candid admission took me completely by surprise. “I thought you guys had tons of stuff in common. Don’t you talk about all the same books and plays you two like?”

“Sure, when we first started going out. When was that, when we were sixteen? It seems so long ago. But lately...” She didn’t finish the thought, and changed subjects. “Anyway, Jon, the real reason I’m here is I want to set up a double date with you and Clio and David and I. Even if you two aren’t official yet,” she gave a knowing smile, “I think it would be a really fun thing to do. And I would love to meet this girl, and I know David would too.”

“Where is David tonight?”

“He’s studying I think. He’s gotten a bit behind in his course work.”

“He’s gotten behind?” If anyone should have been behind, it was me. But David wasn’t in Cadets, or any other school clubs.

Helen knew what I was thinking. “Yeah, it’s a good think he’s not in Cadets, huh? He’d have washed out of University a long time ago.”

“But he likes to study. He was always such a good student. I was the one who would have to get him away from his school books. How did he get behind?”

“He’s been going to a lot of discussions about the war and politics. LJ has been coming on campus and talking with people. David’s really gotten into it.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

Helen shrugged. “It’s just talking. It isn’t even a formal meeting. They just sit in chairs and talk. David dragged me along a couple times. Rosa and Emma and Varro and a lot of people from our school days are there. LJ really does most of the talking though.”

“I’m not sure you should be going. If Flash found out-.”

“David said not to worry. It’s just talking. It’s not like anyone’s publishing anything or having official meetings. It’s just private conversations. Flash can’t regulate that, can he?”

“Technically I think the law says he can.”

“And David says the worst that could happen is the meetings would be forbidden, and we would just stop coming.”

“You could get expelled, like LJ. In fact I’m surprised they still let him on campus.”

“I don’t know. David said it’s alright.” She waved her hand dismissively as if the subject bored her. “The double date Jon. You keep changing the subject. Now I know you’re busy with Cadets, so what time would works for you.”

“After eight usually.”

Helen scrunched up here nose in disapproval. It was very cute actually. “Now that winter’s almost here, it gets dark so early.”

“They have lighting inside the coffee shops.”

“I was thinking a picnic. Doesn’t a picnic sound fun? You don’t have Cadets on the weekends, right?”

“Only in the mornings. Unless there’s a special event or something.”

“What about this Saturday?”

“This Saturday should be okay. David doesn’t have another discussion on Saturday, does he?”

“He might,” Helen said seriously. Then she winked at me. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll drag him away.”

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

Clio was indifferent when I mentioned the picnic. “I’ll go if you want me to Jon,” she said. “Although I really don’t see the point.”

“Because these are my friends and I want you to meet them. And they want to meet you. David has been my best friend as far back as I can remember. And Helen is such a wonderful person. You’ll love her. Trust me.”

“Okay,” she said. “If it’s important to you, I’ll go.”

We all met at the tree in the center of campus. Clio was already there when I showed up. She was leaning against the tree and looking bored. “You’re late,” she said.

“Only a little.”

“What happens when you’re late to Cadets?”

I smiled. “I know better than to mess around with that. With Cadets I’m always on time.”

“But with me it’s okay to be late?” A few weeks ago, I may have felt I was in trouble, but I was beginning to understand Clio better now. I could see the faint ironic gleam in her eyes, and I knew she was half-joking.

Of course she was half serious as well. There really was something of a princess in her, and she did not like the idea of being kept waiting, even for a minute.

“I’m not the only one who’s late,” I said. “David and Helen aren’t here yet either.”

“Yes, why is that?” Helen’s the one who set the time, isn’t she?”

“Yes, but-.Oh, here they come now. See over there? That’s them.”

“Sorry we’re late,” David said as he and Helen approached. And then to Clio, “although we didn’t expect you two would be here already to be honest. Jon’s late for everything.”

David is one of those people who always has the ability to stumble across the right thing to say by pure dumb luck. (Kind of like the opposite of me.) Clio was impressed. “So you really are a friend of his,” she said dryly. David laughed.

“Clio, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” Helen said. “Jon’s told me so many nice things about you.”

“Then he’s a liar or,” Clio shot me a smug glance, “he’s got another girlfriend.”

“So it is true? You are his girlfriend?”

“Isn’t that what he told you?”

Helen realized her blunder and did her best to correct it smoothly. “That’s what he said, but we didn’t believe it.”

“You’re much too good looking to be with Jon,” David said.

“Yes,” Clio agreed. “I am. Dating Jon is like charity volunteer for me.”

David and Helen both laughed at this. “You’re perfect for Jon,” David said. “He needs someone like you to keep him in line.” He touched Clio’s arm in a gesture of friendliness. I don’t know what he was thinking really. Perhaps all the time he spent with Helen had made him accustomed to all those extra friendly gestures, but it did not go over well with Clio. She didn’t act startled or jump backwards or do anything like that, but I could see her muscles tense up. And she fixed David with an icy stare. David dropped his hand immediately.

The initial ice breaking had gone so well, but once things froze over again it was hard to regain a friendly mood. With forced small talk, we walked out of the University gate. There were several nice green areas inside the University, but we all were sick of the campus and wanted a change of scenery. And so we headed downtown. There was a nice little park about 20 minutes from the University. An oasis of green right in the middle of all the street shops and sewers. It was in a busy area, but we didn’t mind crowds. In fact David and I enjoyed people watching. We would nudge each other and point out different people in the crowd, and compare them to other people we know. There was an old man by the pond that resembled one of our teachers from school, and we debated the possibilities of it being the same person or not.

“What are you two talking about?” Helen asked finally.

“Nothing,” David answered. “What kind of food did you bring us?”

“Yeah, what did you pack?” I asked.

“Just sandwiches,” Helen said apologetically. “I know it’s not much, but it was simple.”

“Well, where do you want to sit Jon?” David asked.

“Under this tree looks fine,” I said, heading towards the shade that the branches offered.

“That looks as good as anything,” David agreed.

I looked at Clio, and saw her glaring back at me. Something told me I would do well to add, “Is that okay with you?”

“Let’s sit at a picnic table instead,” Clio said. “I don’t want to sit on the ground.”

“There are no picnic tables at this park,” David said. “We could sit on a park bench, if you want.”

“Oh, but then we won’t be facing each other,” Helen said. “I like to see people’s faces when I talk to them. And besides, it’s so nice in the shade. I’ll tell you what Clio, you can sit on the picnic basket once we get all of the food out of it.”

Clio looked carefully at the picnic box, and then looked up at Helen. It was not a friendly look, and every muscle of Clio’s face seemed to be saying, “No.” But her mouth said, “okay.”

There was a tense silence in which Helen was deciding whether to listen to Clio’s face or her mouth. It was broken by David, who lifted the top of the picnic basket. “What kind of sandwiches did you bring?”

Helen, who had been resting the picnic box on her arm, jerked it away. “Get out of there. I don’t want you to see what I made for dessert.”

“Is it a surprise?”

“Yes, actually it is, so keep your hands off for now.”

After that, the tension of the moment was forgotten, and we all started moving towards the tree automatically. Clio followed us, but she still had a sullen expression on her face.

David and I were the first ones to sit down. We both sat in the shade and leaned our backs against the tree trunk. Helen started getting out the sandwiches. David looked up at Clio. He had to squint to see her because the sun was now at her back.

“So, Clio, where are you from again?”

“From the provinces.”

“I know, but which one.”

“From Silva.”

“Silva!” Helen’s eyes light up. “Why I’ve been there. It’s beautiful. Have you been to see it yet Jon.”

“I’ve never left this city in my life,” I answered.

“Neither have I,” David said.

Helen shook her head in disgust. “I can’t believe that. You two really ought to travel more.”

“When you already live in Urbae, there’s no need to travel,” David said. “People always come in from the provinces to see Urbae. No one ever leaves Urbae to go to the provinces.”

Helen gave Clio a look of sisterly sympathy. “Well I’ve traveled,” she said. “My family lives in Urbae now, but we’re not from here originally. We’re from the West Coast. Of course we’ve traveled all over the place also. Have you ever been to the West Coast?” Clio shook her head. “If you ever get a chance, I can’t recommend it highly enough. People there are really different than here in Urbae. It’s like a different country.”

“The West Coast again? You know in all the time we’ve been going out together, I’ve heard so much about this damn West Coast-.”

Helen cut him off by throwing a sandwich at him. “Well, maybe you should go there someday and see for yourself. If you think you can leave Urbae for a few days.”

David picked the sandwich off of his lap and took a bit. “Maybe I will. I’m very curious to see this mythical place where all the men are six feet tall with curly golden hair, dark tans, and muscles like a god.”

“That is enough out of you,” Helen said. Her voice was groping for a firm note, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

Clio was the only one still standing now. Helen slid the picnic box over for Clio to sit on. “Be careful,” she warned. “The desserts are still in there. You can take a peak if you want, but don’t tell the boys what it is.”

Clio sat down on the box. She showed no interest in looking inside, but she did take Helen’s advice and placed herself down carefully. The box still creaked slightly under her weight.

“Be careful with that,” David said. “That box isn’t important, but the food inside is.”

Clio glared at David, before she realized this was just his way of joking, and then she tried to transform her face into a smile. Unfortunately forced smiles were never really her strong point.

Things between David and Clio were deteriorating rapidly now. After an initially hopeful beginning, she had obviously decided that he rubbed her the wrong way. So I decided to draw David off, and let Helen talk with Clio. Besides, I had something I had been wanting to talk with David about anyway.

“David, what about walking around the pond with me,” I said.

“Sounds romantic,” he answered.

I threw a clod of dirt at him. He was ready to retaliate when Helen’s voice came out sternly. “No wrestling here. Clio and I are in our nice clothes. Well, Clio is anyway. But I don’t want to get this shirt full of dirt either. David, go over by the pond if you’re going to do that stuff.”

We both mumbled apologies and left towards the pond with our heads down like scolded children. “Nice going Jon. You got me in trouble once again,” David said.

“David, what are these meetings Helen was telling me about?” I asked.

“Meetings?”

“With LJ.”

“Oh, those. They’re no big deal. Just discussions really. I’d ask you to come, but you’ve made it so clear how you feel about that stuff.”

“Don’t you think they’re a little dangerous? LJ isn’t even allowed on campus technically.”

“Lucius doesn’t care about stuff like that.”

“Why is everyone calling him Lucius? His name is LJ.” David opened his mouth to correct me, but I kept on talking, “And it doesn’t matter whether he cares about it or not, it’s still dangerous. And it’s dangerous for you to be around him.”

“The old Jon-.”

“Oh don’t start that up again,” I snapped.

I didn’t expect it, but David did actually shut his mouth after that point. We walked in silence for a while, and evidently he was thinking of something. There are times when silence is more powerful than all the words in the world, and I began to feel guilty about snapping at him. But I continued on because there was a reason I had brought all this up. “Look, I don’t care what you do,” I said. “Sure, this is dangerous, but it’s probably not as bad as stealing a policeman’s hat, right?” He smiled slightly at that point. “I don’t care what meetings you attend or what petitions you sign. I just don’t think it’s a good idea to drag Helen into all of this.”

David stopped walking and looked at me. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just the meetings mainly I guess. Don’t drag her along to them if she doesn’t want to go.”

“I’m not dragging anyone to anything. She goes because she wants to.”

“She goes because you’re going.”

“Did it ever occur to you that she has a mind of her own Jon?”

“We both know that she doesn’t have any interest in any of this.”

“Do you think I’m forcing her to go these meetings?”

“No, but she goes because she’s trying to be a good girlfriend.” I took in a deep breath. This conversation didn’t seem to be getting me anywhere. “Look, we can both agree that there is some sort of risk in being seen with LJ, right? We can debate the size of the risk, but I just want to know that you’re looking out for Helen in all this.” In Reality I wanted to yell at David, but I was staying calm with an effort.

“I’ll worry about Helen, Jon,” David said. And with that he turned and walked back toward the girls. I closed my eyes and forced myself to calm down, and then followed behind him. It was obviously no use continuing the argument now, but I would bring this back up at another time. [Think about if it wouldn’t be better to have the point about Helen following David into LJ’s group more below the surface].

Helen and Clio appeared to have been pleasantly talking while David and I were away. “Clio was just telling me about her art work,” Helen said. “It sounds fascinating.”

“I’m not very good,” Clio said. “But my brother’s going to be famous someday.”

“Let’s get some dessert,” David said abruptly. Clio had to stand up again while Helen got the picnic box out from under her and cut pieces of cake for us.

It was delicious, and my appetite got the better of my manners. I had finished eating my piece before Helen and Clio had even started on theirs. “Could I have another piece?” I asked.

Unfortunately this meant Clio had to stand up a third time in order for Helen to get the cake back out. I could tell by the look on her face that her patience was nearing its end. She was not as careful when she sat down the third time, and the picnic basket lid broke under her weight and she fell down into what was left of the cake.

If it had been anyone else, I think we would all have had a good laugh about it, but as it was there was a sense that this was the worst thing that could have possibly happened. I quickly helped Clio up, and tried to brush the cake off of her dress. My hands only succeeded in smearing the frosting around.

“That was my fault,” Helen said, “I should have known the picnic box wouldn’t support your weight.”

“The frosting won’t stain,” David advised. “You can clean that right out no problem.”

Clio didn’t respond to either of them. I decided it was time for the two of us to leave before things got any worse. I thanked Helen for the food, and Clio and I walked back to campus. She didn’t say a word to me the whole way back. [On second reading, not as bad as I thought, but could use some revising. Work on getting Clio’s character consistent.]