Chapter 16

"Would you rather I go back to the library alone?" Jade asked as Ariel tried to hand him her library card.

"Well, I can go with you, but if you want to borrow something, and I'm not around, it'd be better if you had it." She slid it across the kitchen table past their empty plates from breakfast to him once again.

"But what if you need it?"

"I'll wait until you're home, and I'll get it from you then."

"What if your brother's around and wants it?"

Ariel burst out laughing. "My brother's no idiot or anything, but he hasn't been to a library to borrow a book since he was last forced to in middle school. He's only been to this library to pick me up after I stayed too late."

"Oh, so there are times when it's acceptable to escort you home? I wasn't sure, since you walk to school on your own normally."

"Time of day makes a world of difference; it's more dangerous at night." I think that's pretty universal.

"Agreed, but it's nice to know when the line is. But considering what has happened, I plan to escort you to and from school on a regular basis. No compromises." Jade rummaged through a bag from his most recent shopping trip. "I even picked up this watch to help me keep track of time when I'm not near a clock."

"Is time the same where you're from?"

"It's similar, but there are more hours in a day where I come from."

"Does that mean days feel short to you here?"

"Yes, quite a bit so. Does that mean I'm older than you? We have thirty-six hours a day."

Ariel's eyes widened. "I mean... in number of hours alive, yes, but not much different in days... I think. Are years different, too?"

"I haven't worked out your number of days per year here yet, but our years are two hundred and eighty days."

"Ours are three hundred and sixty-five, well... Sometimes it's three hundred and sixty-six, but those are leap years."

"Leap year?"

"We can worry about those when and if it comes close in time here for you. That calendar should be enough to help." Ariel pointed to the one on the kitchen wall.

"You had one in the... device, too."

"Oh, right." She pulled out her smart phone.

"Oh, can I get one of those while we're out and about? They seem to come in handy, and people everywhere seem to be attached to them."

"They can be addictive. Best not to walk or drive while using them, and they're distracting in general, but yes, we can get you one." With that giant wade of cash, you should be good for a long time, but how do we get a credit card for someone who doesn't exist here? Guess I'll have to use mine for now.

"About driving. I've been curious about all the vehicles around. I'm used to horses and horse-drawn carriages, but I haven't seen any."

"They're rare these days, but there are places to find them."

"I was actually wondering how I'd go about learning to drive one of these vehicles."

"You'd need an ID for that, and I can't help you learn; I can't drive yet, either. We're borderline the age to start learning. Not sure I could, anyway; I imagine it's anxiety inducing."

"Not if you learn to control it."

"That doesn't help when there're other people on the road."

"Maybe down the line you'll feel differently. So." Jade stood. "Shall we head out shopping first, or go to the library?"

"It's even busier today than it was yesterday," Jade complained as they weaved through the crowds at the mall, searching for a phone store.

"I know you wanted a phone, but how about clothes?" Ariel tugged on his sleeve and pointed at the line of clothes stores. "One of them is bound to have something you like, and you need more than one outfit."

"I bought some clothes yesterday, though it's still sitting in a bag."

Rats; I was hoping I could help him, or at least enjoy seeing him in different outfits. A blush tinged her cheeks. Get your mind out of the gutter. Is it enough to consider it a gutter? Oh, is that... Janice? Ariel shuddered and dipped her head down.

"Ariel?" Jade called out to her again and tightened his grip on her hand.

"What?"

"That place looks like it has a bunch of phones. How about there?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's try there." And stay out of sight. "I'm not sure what you'd look for."

"I have no idea. How about something like yours?" Jade asked as he looked at the line of smart phones with only minor variations.

"Mines... old, but does the job." Until they update a bit further and make it obsolete. "And you can't buy that here. That's the newest version of mine, but it's pricey." She pointed at the second to last one in the front row. "We can always go with one slightly older and cheaper."

"It's all the same to me. Excuse me; I'd like one of these." He pointed at the one she did.

"But that's—"

"Don't worry about it."

"Yes, sir. One moment." The attendant ducked down as they looked through their keys to find the one for the case below the counter with the one he wanted.

Ariel couldn't help herself and looked out into the crowd, scanning it for Janice and her friends.

Jade followed her gaze while they waited. "Is something wrong?"

"What? No..." She shifted to be on the other side of Jade, away from the window, and pretended to look into the display glass.

"If there's something you want, tell me, and I'll get it for you."

Her eyes widened. "N-no, there's no need to. My current phone is fine."

"The offer stands in other stores as well. Don't hesitate to ask for what you want."

As if I could do that!

"I would like to get you something during our outing."

"Here you go." The attendant set the phone on the counter and rung them up. He leaned in close to Ariel. "Do your boyfriend a favour and humour him. If a guy is this insistent, that means he really wants to buy you a gift, but doesn't know what. As a clueless guy myself, I feel for him. It doesn't have to be something big, but just something, okay?"

Ariel nodded absentmindedly and glanced at Jade. Boyfriend? Does Jade look like my boyfriend to outsiders? Isn't he too handsome for that? I mean, I'm... She shook her head and concentrated on getting Jade set up with a phone plan.

Janice grabbed a strawberry shake with her friends and roamed the mall. Familiar long, black hair caught the corner of her eye in the crowd, and she stopped. "No way! It's that guy from before." She craned her neck to look through the crowd at him.

"What guy from before?" one of her friends, Cherry, asked.

"That one I told you two about before with the beautiful long hair. I ran into him, and..." Janice sighed. "Totally fell in love."

"What about Mr. Lux?" Pat, her other friend, asked.

"I can have two, right? Besides, I can't do anything with him until I graduate, but he should be fine for now." Janice bit her lip and smiled.

"She's got a new target; what should we do?" Cherry whispered to Pat.

"Go along with it." Pat shrugged. "What else can we do? You know how she gets."

"I mean, it's got to be fate for us to meet up again, right?" Janice asked and watched him walk into a phone store.

"But you haven't met up again; you spotted him from afar," Cherry said.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing."

"Thought so."

Cherry squinted as she tried to get a better look at him. "I think you're out of luck; he's with someone."

"So? We don't know that it's his girlfriend. Could be a friend or his sister for all we know."

"I can't be certain from this distance, but she looks familiar." Cherry slurped on her shake. "I mean, with those glasses and that hair, doesn't she look like Ariel?"

"What? No way! It can't be her, not again. Tch." Janice clicked her tongue. "How come all the guys I want end up giving her so much attention?! It must be the innocent act she pulls; she fools them all." She curled her lips in disgust. "This won't do, not at all."