Chapter 6

"You walk to school alone?" Jade asked as Ariel got ready to leave the next morning.

"I have for a long time now," she said as she shoved a sandwich in a brown paper bag into her backpack.

"Is that safe?"

Ariel shrugged. "I guess you can run into bad people on the way, but that's the same everywhere, I imagine. And it'd be a bit much to force every young woman to have an escort, isn't it?"

"Where I'm from, most of them opt to have a family member or friend with them as they travel. Though my home is generally safe, you never know who might be around. Our towns, when not at war, are quite open and diverse. We have since locked down and have learned to vet people better, but... it's hard to catch all the bad ones."

"Not all bad ones start as that; they develop that way, so it's impossible to make any place one hundred percent safe. Anyway, I have to go to school. If my brother comes home, please hide, and don't leave evidence around."

"Wait." Jade grabbed her wrist as she headed to the front door.

"Hmm?"

"Can I come, anyway? I need to learn about your world, and you can answer my questions as we go." He glanced at her backpack. "I need to start somewhere, and I'd also feel better about this if I escorted you there."

An escort? Somehow, the other girls will find a way to turn this on me. Not that they've bugged me in the morning; it's only after classes.

He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it, his eyes not leaving hers. "Please?"

"Well." Ariel cleared her throat as the warmth on her hand drew all her attention. "I guess that makes sense, but you'll need your own set of keys." She pulled away from him and went into the kitchen. On the wall next to the fridge, she grabbed a set of spare house keys. "Here." She held them out to him. "You'll need these to get back into the house."

"Thank you." He took the keys and admired them. "Smaller than what we have. More convenient."

His socked feet came into view. "Oh, I guess you'll need some shoes. Hold on." She rifled around in the closet near the entrance for something that might fit and wouldn't be missed. A pair of dress shoes, barely used. With a quick rub of her arm, the scuff came off the front. "I hope these fit." She set them down by him.

He slid them on and wiggled his toes. "A bit tight, but these will work. Thank you, again. Shall we go now? I don't want you to be late." Jade held his arm out to her.

"Oh, you don't have to go that far. This is more for you to see my world than to escort me, right?"

"Sure..." He sighed and stood at attention, waiting.

Geez, you can tell he's a soldier. Her eyes trailed along his straightened figure. "Let's go." She grabbed her backpack and headed out the door with Jade, locking it behind her.

Jade took a deep breath of fresh air and looked around as he stayed in step beside Ariel. There was no time, and not enough light to look around last night, but with the sun up, the world seemed different. "What are those?" Jade asked as a car zoomed by on the road.

"A car; a horseless carriage that moves using machinery. Assuming you have horses?"

"We do."

"They come in all sorts of shapes and forms. Don't be surprised by how many you'll see today, but make sure you don't walk on the street unless it's at a crosswalk like this," Ariel said as they came up to one. "Deeper into town, they have cross lights where you only cross when the walk symbol of a person walking comes up. Don't start when the orange hand is up, but please keep going if you've already started." How much do I have to worry about him wandering around? He's not a little kid.

"Any chance to ride in one of those?" Jade's eyes followed a car.

"I can't drive, and my brother has his car with him. We can ride on a bus, though. Oh." Ariel pointed at a bus passing by. "That's a bus. You have to pay to ride, and they have regularly scheduled stops throughout the city."

"Oh, similar to an omnibus, I suppose."

Ariel answered any of his questions, though he was more focused on observing than anything. She stopped across the street from her high school. "Well, this is it for me. Are you sure you can make it back home by yourself?"

"Yes; I've memorized the root. This institution is quite large, but may I ask one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Is it co-ed? I see males and females heading in."

"Yes, it's co-ed. Why? Is that a big deal?"

Jade cleared his throat. "In my country, they're kept separate through all of schooling. Does it not cause trouble?"

Ariel shrugged. "Always been in these schools, so I can't say to otherwise, but this is supposed to better prepare people for the real world. You're not going to only run into your own gender once you leave school; you need to be comfortable interacting with everyone to some degree."

"I figured the boys would end up distracted by the girls and make it harder to learn."

"I guess that happens sometimes. I wouldn't really know. Pretty sure anyone can be distracting. Anyway." Ariel pointed at the school with her thumb. "I should get going."

"Should I walk you to the entrance?"

"No, thank you. I'm good."

"What time do you finish?"

"Oh!" Ariel's eyes widened. "I didn't give you a watch, and I don't have a spare phone... Don't worry about me, just head home. I'll—"

"What time do you finish?" Jade asked again.

"Three P.M." Maybe he plans on being home where there are clocks.

"Okay; I'll be here to pick you up."

"I'm not outside instantly." Especially yesterday. "So you don't have to pick me up. I wouldn't want you waiting here for me."

"I want to, so I will. I imagine it's worse to walk home than to walk to school based on timing." Jade gestured his hand towards the school. "Try not to worry about anything and focus on your schoolwork."

"Okay... I'll see you later." Hopefully, at home. "Bye."

"Goodbye, Ariel."

A tingling sensation ran through her spine when he said her name. What was that?