Into the Darkness

13. Ariadne

I leave it at that knowing that pushing won't achieve anything, I don't want to ruin a friendship over something that she can't change. I've always liked people who don't spill the beans just because they are asked. She crawls into her bed and I roll over to text Marcus.

Ariadne:

Hi. It's Ariadne, I got your number from Nienna.....

I stare at my phone waiting for a reply, 15 minutes later...

Marcus:

What do you want Ariadne? To keep on pushing me away?

Ariadne:

I want to say sorry. When I met you that day at the airport I was struggling with a lot, but you made me feel like everything would be okay. When I came here and I was singled out by Arielle I took it out on you, I didn't know if I could trust you. You and Arielle have been friends for such a long time and I figured if she was being mean to me then maybe you had something to do with it.  I still don't know if I can trust you. I'm scared to get hurt, especially by you.

Marcus:

Why do you think i'll hurt you?

Ariadne:

I guess I feel like it ends two ways. 1) Liking me is just a joke and I end up getting humiliated in front of the whole school. 2) I end up liking you, and that won't end well either.... So maybe I want to protect you.

Marcus:

Ariadne you are not a joke to me, I want to protect you not hurt you. Why do you think 'us' wouldn't end well? What are you trying to protect me from?

I look down at my phone thinking of what to write.

Ariadne:

I want to protect you from me. Things didn't end well with my last boyfriend, it was... bad.

Marcus:

I wish you would let me in Ariadne, I can prove to you that I won't hurt you. I truly believe that you will never hurt me, please Ariadne.

I put my phone away, not knowing how to reply to that. Is it really possible that he could really want me?

I wake up in the morning and head to English class, I see Marcus sitting at a desk in the middle of the classroom and I sit next to him. "Hello, " he says and I can hear a hint of surprise in his voice. "Hi," I say still not sure whether to trust him or not. I decide that for the moment I have no reason not to trust him, why not just give him a chance? "Do you want to talk about what was said last night," he asks and I hear the hesitation in his voice. "There really isn't much to say," I reply and he drops the subject immediately. The class begins to fill up and Elliot comes into the class sitting in the far right corner of the room, I glance over at him and he once again gives me the cold shoulder. The usual good morning routine happens when the teacher walks in and class starts promptly. "Today we shall be drawing names for our partners for our next assignment. You will be required to meet with your partner outside of class time to ask them a number of questions that you will be given. Once you have the responses to those questions you will be required to write me a paper on what you learned and your opinions of the person. I understand you may have an idea of who you want as a partner however the draws are final. I have a bowl here full of the women's names and the men shall each pick a name out of the bowl, as we have an equal number of men and women this will work perfectly." She finishes her statement and starts to walk around the room with the bowl in her hands, she starts at the beginning of the class and students start picking out names.

I look over at Marcus and I can see the hopefulness in eyes, a part of me hopes he will pick my name I wouldn't mind the extra time with him. Elliot pulls a name out of the bowl and I hear him sigh loudly, I wonder what could possibly be so bad? The bowl finally reaches Marcus and I study his facial expression hoping to see his smile stay on his face. He unwraps the note and our teacher continues walking, his smile falters somewhat but he doesn't look sad. I look at him and he shrugs his shoulders, if he didn't get my name I wonder who did? "Your papers are due on Monday so I suggest you use the rest of the week and the weekend to do your research. Class will be cancelled on Friday because I will be out of town to attend a conference.  We will also start our first reading project of the semester, books are on the table beside the classroom door and you may pick one up on your way out. I expect everyone to have chapter 1 read by Monday and to start the character development sheets which are next to the books." Our teacher finishes her sentence and promptly leaves class early, I look around and Marcus is up and about talking to Susanna who I can only assume is his partner. I sit at my desk patiently hoping that whomever is my partner will come up to me, I sit there for a few minutes and everyone has left the classroom, the only people still left are Marcus and Susanna. Susanna heads out of the room and I continue sitting at my desk starting at the blackboard, "Who's your partner?" Marcus asks and I continue looking forward not knowing what to say, "I'm not sure" I say quietly. He sits at the desk next to me and looks over at me, "Ariadne I'm sure whoever pulled your name will come forward in the next few days. I'm sure they were just nervous to talk to you or something, at least you know it isn't Arielle!" Marcus finishes and I'm not sure if Arielle was even who I was worried about, I think back to Elliot's sigh and I wonder if that was because he pulled my name.