Committed Chapter 3

Ariadne only waited fifteen minutes after the final bell before she decided that her mother was not coming to pick her up and she started the hour long walk home.

            New Carthage High School was in the northern suburb section of the city, pretty much as far from the downtown area as you could get before you left the city limits.  Her house really wasn’t that far from the school so it would have been simple enough for her mother to come and pick her up.

            A few puffy clouds drifted across the blue sky as Ariadne walked.  The weather in New Carthage was starting to get a little colder, but not as cold as it was further south.  The Atlantic Ocean kept the city relatively warm during the fall and winter months with the downside, of course, of keeping it cooler in the summer.  Ariadne much preferred heat to cold so she was thankful for Mother Nature’s assistance in keeping it from getting too cold too soon.

            She reached the end of the road that NCHS was on and turned left.  She crossed the street and ignored the honks from a car that peeled past her.  As she walked down the residential street she noticed that, unlike her own streets lawns, the lawns here were coated in the red and orange blanket of falling leaves.

            The trees all along this road were birch, so their leaves would biodegrade naturally as the snow came.  On her own street, her father had paid for all the birch trees to be removed and replaced by maple trees so that in the fall he could watch the leaves turn from vibrant green to blood red before falling to the ground.  Of course, the consequences for that meant that they had to hire and pay someone to rake up and bag the leaves every year.  This had already been done, since her father seemed to think that once the leaves hit the ground they were no longer worth looking at.

            She, on the other hand, loved to see the leaves, still brightly coloured with the season changes, coating the ground.  She shuffled her feet along the curb where leaves had piled up and heard the satisfying crunch of her shoes crushing the older leaves.

            Some people were out of their houses, raking the leaves into bigger piles.  Ahead of her she could hear the sound of kids laughter and spotted a couple and their children playing in a massive leaf pile that they’d created in their front lawn.  Ariadne smiled as she approached, watching them silently.

            “I think this neighbourhood could use with a little bit a clean-up.  Unless they like how all of these leaves on the ground make their properties look messy and ill maintained.”

            Ariadne had been so absorbed in her surroundings she hadn’t even noticed the black car that had pulled up alongside her.  She glanced at Janus, smiling from the backseat of the car where he had rolled down the window to talk to her.

            “Stalking me now, are you?” Ariadne asked.

            “I just wanted to offer you a ride home,” Janus said, gesturing to the free space in the back of the car.  It was a black Saab with tinted windows so that Ariadne couldn’t see the driver.  She wondered if Janus knew that cars with tinted windows were illegal in this province.  If he didn’t, she really had no desire to let him know, so she didn’t say anything.

            “I don’t live that far,” Ariadne lied.  If there was one thing her family, despite all of their money, didn’t indulge in it was being chauffeured around.  Her father had always had a love of cars and had taught her the same.  Her mother had often argued with him about the benefits of paying someone to drive them anywhere whenever they wanted but he had categorically refused to pay for someone to take away the thrill of the road from him.

            “Well then, I’ll keep you company until you get home.”

            Ariadne expected the car to slow to a stop and let Janus out, but it seemed the boy’s intention was to join her for the remainder of the trip with the car doing the walking for him.  Ariadne adjusted her shoulder straps and kept walking.

            “So, what is this I hear about some sort of event at the high school this evening?” Janus asked.

            She glanced over at this handsome rich kid who had decided to make it his personal mission to follow her around – shamelessly at that – and blurted out, “Why are you here?”

            “Here with you now?  I thought you might want some company.”

            “No, I mean what are you doing here in New Carthage?  Signing up as a new student at a public school?  You’ve clearly gone to private school before and you certain don’t act like a public school student.”

            “Well, from what I’ve seen on your fellow classmates I can’t say there’s really a lot of appeal to the public school lifestyle,” Janus replied.  “But if you really must know my father sent me here to our manor because of some complications he’s having back home.”

            “You have a manor here?” Ariadne asked.

            “Of course.  Seeing as our families are so close my father took the liberty of purchasing a property here in New Carthage any time he wanted to visit.  For my twentieth birthday he sent me here.  I’m going to be attending university here next year.”

            Ariadne tried not to register surprise at what Janus had said.  Their families were close?  She’d never heard of the Menelaus’ before.  But now that she thought about it, one of the local universities was Menelaus University.  Could it really have been founded by Janus’ family?  And if their two families were so close how come her father or mother had never mentioned them to her.

            “I take it you were unaware of our family connections?” Janus asked.  Again, something in his voice gave Ariadne the distinct feeling that she had lost another round with him.

            “No.  My dad’s never mentioned you or your family to me before.”

            “Well, I’m sure once you get home he’ll fill you in,” Janus replied.  “Speaking of which, I thought you lived close?”

            They were crossing a four way intersection now but Ariadne wasn’t worried about her lie being revealed.  Ahead was a pathway that cut between streets and she would simply tell him that her house was on the other street.

            “It’s just up ahead,” she assured him.  “So our fathers know each other?”

            “Yes, our fathers have invested in many similar enterprises together through their mutual companies.  Hellenistic Inc. and Menelaus Industries are very closely connected, if you do your research.”

            “I’m not really interested in my father’s business.”

            “Oh, I am very interested in my father’s, seeing as I will be coming into possession of it and all the wealth that entails once I complete my university education.”

            Janus sounded very proud of this and seemed to be expecting a response from Ariadne.  When she chose not to answer him she could almost feel the disappointment in the air.

            “I’ll be heading this way now,” Ariadne said, indicating the path that cut through to the adjacent street.

            “I’ll have my driver swing around and join you on the other side,” Janus offered.

            “No, that’s all right, my house is just on the other side there.”

            “Well, then will I be seeing you tonight at this…Halloween event?”

            Janus asked the question as if he had never heard of Halloween before.  Ariadne decided there was no point in lying to him about that fact.  She didn’t have any intention of spending time with him at the Halloween event.  Maybe she could lose him in the corn maze if he got really insistent.

            “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

            “I’m glad to hear it,” Janus said, fixing her with that smile.  “You know, you really are something special…Ariadne.”

            She felt a shiver run up her spine when he said her name.  She glanced at him, having mostly kept her gaze forward as she was watching.  He was gazing at her intently, his eyes seeming to drink her in just as they had that moment when he entered her history classroom.

            She was at a loss for words, and Janus seemed to like that.  He laughed softly and rolled up his tinted window.  The Saab sped up and disappeared around the corner at the end of the street.

            Ariadne frowned, wondering if maybe it had been a better idea to lie to Janus after all and say she wouldn’t be attending tonight’s event.  His level of persistence was starting to make her uncomfortable.  Plus the way he looked at her, as if he hungered for her, it was different from the way the guys at school looked at her.  Where they undressed her with their eyes Janus seemed not to hunger for the sight of her flesh but for something deeper.

            Shaking off the feeling, Ariadne turned and walked up through the path to the next street.  As she reached the other side and kept walking down the street she heard the sound of a car approaching her from behind.  As she glanced over her shoulder she felt her heart leap in her chest as the same Saab with tinted windows rolled up beside her again.

            Janus rolled down his window again as he pulled up next to her.  “Now, really, was there any need for that deception?  We both know you live at least half an hour away.  I’m familiar with your family’s estate after all.”

            “You know an awful lot about me when I know very little about you,” Ariadne said, trying to cover her embarrassment at being caught in her lie.

            “Hmm, I suppose that does put you at a disadvantage, doesn’t it?” Janus asked, waving his hand to show he wasn’t really concerned by this.  “As I said, your father will no doubt fill you in once you get home.  Are you sure you don’t want that ride now?”

            Ariadne considered it for a moment.  She did still have a half hour walk ahead of her before she got to her house and the prospect of being driven was inviting.  But something about the idea of getting into that tinted car with someone she barely knew – even when he claimed to be related to one of her father’s business associates – made goose bumps run up and down her arms.  She quickly rubbed them with her hands to avoid Janus seeing.

            “No, thanks, I think I’ll run the rest of the way.  Get some exercise.”

            And without waiting for him to respond, Ariadne started to jog.  The Saab accelerated, keeping pace with her as she went.

            “Come on Ariadne.  You don’t think you can outrun a car, do you?”

            Ariadne picked up speed as they approached a three way stop.  She raced across the intersection while Janus’ driver was forced to come to a stop at the sign.  Once she reached the other side of the road she picked up her pace.  The Saab quickly pulled up beside her and dropped its speed.

            “Ariadne.”

            Ariadne suddenly slowed, causing the Saab to shoot ahead of her.  It braked sharply, slowing down, and Ariadne cut behind it across the street.  Now, in order to drive alongside her, the car would have to drive on the wrong side of the street.

            Apparently having enough of this game of chase for the moment, the Saab accelerated up the road and disappeared down the first side street it came to.  Ariadne breathed a mental sigh of relief, but decided to keep running the rest of the way home, hoping the adrenaline running through her was a result of the running and not because of Janus.