Shadows Peak |✔

Chapter 22: Jasper

"THAT'S ENOUGH FOR TODAY! NOW GET OUT OF HERE AND CLEAN YOURSELVES UP! YOU ALL STINK OF MEDIOCRITY!" Seargent Payne yelled through his megaphone. "EXCEPT YOU, CADET ROWE! YOU SHOW PROMISE!"

Jasper rolled his eyes as he walked away, his legs aching from the conditioning of the day.

"Except for you, Cadet Rowe. You show promise," he mimicked to himself.

"Haha, is someone jealous they aren't as good as me?"

Great, what does he want?

"Just leave me alone, Baron. I don't have time to waste on your ego," Jasper said, focusing on getting back to his dorm room.

"I don't know. With your two lady friends gone, I'd say you have plenty of time to waste,"  Baron taunted.

As much as Jasper tried to ignore his comment, Baron had struck a nerve and he couldn't keep quiet.

"Don't you ever, and I mean ever, even mention them." Jasper said through gritted teeth. "If I so much as hear just one of their names slip out of your mouth, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Baron asked with a condescending sneer.

This is exactly the reaction he was hoping for.

"Forget it. I have better things to do."

Jasper walked away before he could provoke him again, although he couldn't tune out Baron's signature laugh. The way it made his skin crawl with irritation was unlike any other.

He hurried back to his dorm room because he honestly did have something better to do. He was meeting up with Lucas, hoping his friend had some good news for him. It had been two weeks since he told him everything that happened with Sydney.

The day he came back into his life was the same day Jasper was finally able to talk to someone about what he was feeling. It was hard for him to have to keep everything bottled up, but he knew he couldn't trust anyone else with the truth of what happened that day; the truth of how Sydney was framed and he helped her escape. Lucas, however, was someone he would trust with his life so he knew he could confide in him.

Two weeks is more than enough time to gather information.

After showering and changing into a fresh set of clothes, Jasper jogged to the library where he was meeting up with Lucas.

"It's about time you showed up," Lucas said, leaning his back against the chair he was sitting in.

They were in the very back of the library; a place not many people on campus went.

"Luke, I'm here earlier than I said I would be," Jasper replied, amused.

"Yeah, well, you had me looking like some creepy loner back here. People probably thought I was looking at-"

"Don't even finish that sentence," Jasper managed to say through a laugh, cutting his friend off.

"What? I was just going to say cartoons," Lucas joked.

Yeah, sure you were.

"Okay, on a more serious note. Did you find out anything?" Jasper asked, sitting down in the chair across from him.

Jasper had asked Lucas to see if he could squeeze something out of a girl on campus. He happened to know she was the daughter of the head of campus security. But, since everyone knew he was best friends with Sydney, the most wanted person in all of the Eastern Region, he knew no one would trust him with any information. He hoped his attractive friend would be able to swoon it out of her.

"Sorry, Jasp. She didn't know anything."

"Are you sure? Maybe she was holding out on you."

A sly smirk grew on Lucas' face.

"Nah, she didn't holding anything out on me," he bragged.

Jasper knew what he was implying happened between them.

"Dude, were you focused on finding out if her dad saw anything that proves Sydney's innocence, or were you too focused on getting in her pants?!" Jasper asked, his voice much louder than he intended.

"Shhhhhh!" the librarian hushed, sticking her head out from one of the many aisles of bookshelves.

Jasper rolled his eyes, annoyed.

Why is she always there, waiting to tell someone to be quiet? Doesn't she have overdue book emails to send?

"Jasper, I know how seriously you take this. I promise you, I did my very best to find out what she knew," Lucas said, his expression one of sincerity.

Jasper nodded his head, believing his friend.

"Well, what do we do now? I know Syd is innocent, but the whole nation thinks she's some criminal. How am I going to find any evidence to clear her name when I have no means to even get my hands on campus security footage?"

How am I going to get her back?

Lucas just looked at his friend, sympathetically. There was nothing they could do; nothing that they could see from where they stood.

"Um...I may be able to help you with that," a familiar voice said within their proximity.

Jasper spun his head around, looking for the source of the voice. If they were speaking to them, then that meant they heard everything he just said. Him and Lucas may not have done anything illegal, but that didn't mean their conversation wouldn't be interpreted the wrong way.

Finally, Jasper spotted the black-haired boy he'd trained with for years. He hadn't seen, nor spoken to him since he quit conditioning weeks ago.

"Brenan?" he asked, walking around their table to look at the guy squatted on the floor underneath the back staircase of the library.

"In the flesh," Brenan said, looking a little awkward.

"What are you doing underneath the stairs?" Jasper definitely found it weird.

"Yeah, man. That's a bit odd," Lucas chimed in, earning him an elbow in the side from Jasper.

"This is where the library's internet is the fastest. I never have to worry about buffering or bad connection," Brenan answered with a geek-like smile.

Jasper nodded his head before responding with the only thing running through his brain.

"So, how much did you hear?" he inquired nervously.

"Honestly, I heard everything you said since you got here."

Jasper exchanged a look with Lucas; one that showed his slight panic, but only through his eyes. Lucas clearly picked up on it.

"Well, you better keep it all to yourself or, I swear to God, I'll knock your lights out," Lucas threatened, sounding very intimidating.

"Woah, man. Chill. Who would I tell?" Brenan said with his hands raised like he was surrendering.

Jasper pulled Lucas back, not wanting him to go too far. There were a lot of things he'd be willing to do if it meant he could have Sydney back. But they hadn't crossed that bridge of desperation, yet.

"Brenan, please keep what you heard to yourself. I know that it may not make sense, but I don't want word of this getting to people that can't be trusted," Jasper supplicated.

"I wouldn't tell anyone. Didn't you hear me when I offered to help?"

They all grew silent as Jasper and Lucas processed what Brenan said.

"Help how?" Lucas asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You need security footage. I can get it," Brenan stated plainly.

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Jasper inquired.

If he can help us, maybe we'll actually find something.

"I'm pretty good at this thing called 'hacking'."

For the first time in over a week, Jasper saw a glimmer of hope.