Aru checked the time. 11:48 am.
As they walked out the shop, Aru suddenly got hit with the cold November air. She shivered. New Jersey was cold.
"What's up?" Aiden asked.
"The sky" Aru said under her breath but then she shook herself. 'Literally shut up Aru' Her brain told her. 'This is so not the time for your bad jokes'
"So haha, about today" Aru started.
"Uh yeah, um today" Aiden said. 'Awkward!' Aru scolded her self.
"Okay abouttheapartmentyousawtodayimeantherundownstuffandall-" Aru rambled.
"Woah woah, what?" Aiden laughed.
"About the rundown stuff, Me, Brynne and Mini are gonna investigate," She said.
Aiden blinked a couple times. Aru stared at the street lamp. She fiddled with the glowing gold bracelet that she had gotten from Boo.
"Are you asking me to help?" Aiden finally said.
"Not...exactly?" Aru said. "We're asking you if you want to help."
"That's exactly what I said!"
"No it isn't! You said that I was asking you to help which meant I wasn't giving you a choice whereas-"
"Okay, okay I get it! You studying to become a author or something?" Aiden asked.
"You bet'cha" Aru replied. She turned to the door "You don't have to help y'know. It's your choice. I'll just go tell the re-"
"I'll help. I'd be worried about all three of you"
"I'll help. I'd be worried about you"
Aru's eyes flew open and she turned to face him.
"I've only known you for two days, but I still feel like you're a close friend" Aiden said. "I don't know if I can stand a friend getting hurt."
"I don't know if I can stand my sister getting hurt,"
Now Aru knew why he seemed so close.
"Let me help you guys"
"Let me help you, Aru"
She felt tears sting and a lump in her throat. Aiden reminded her so much of Kara. Kara, who always looked out for others. Kara, who was as bright as the sun. Kara, who would always be prettier and more perfect than Aru.
"Thank you" She whispered. "You're a lot like my sister"
"Nikita? I thought she was arrogant or something. Or Sheela maybe?" Aiden asked.
"No my- my real sister" Aru said.
"Your real sister?" Aiden asked, quietly.
"Let's head inside. It's cold" Aru changed the subject. Snow had started to fall on them now. Aru was only wearing a sweater and leggings so she wasn't lying about the cold.
She didn't miss the flash of guilt on Aiden's face. He knew he touched a hard topic. Aru wanted to tell him; she really did. But she only knew him for a couple hours. She couldn't trust him yet.
'Nikki says trusting someone is a lot like walking off a cliff on purpose' Sheela told her once. It was so true. Once you trust someone, you give them full permission to hurt you. It was like playing hide and seek, when you got tired of hiding that you just expose yourself, allowing the seeker to catch you.
"You coming, Shah?" Aiden asked, already at the door. 'Shah' Aru thought. It was gentle and calm. Not like the way Arielle and Poppy said it. The way they said it was vicious and sneering. She liked it.
"Yeah I'm coming" Aru said shaking herself off and walking toward the door. Aiden held it open for her and she walked in.
"SOooooooooooooo?" Drew asked. He turned to Aiden. "Did you accept or reject? If you got rejected, Aru, you know where to find-"
"I wasn't kidding about the electrocuting earlier" Aru said.
"Oh so it wasn't a confession? Boring" Drew said, gulping as he caught Aru's glare.
"Y'all ready to go?" Brynne asked. "I mean uh- gods I'm so used to saying that- Mini are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, let's go" Mini said, getting up.
"We should get going too" He said to Aru, glancing at his watch. "It's 12:11 pm"
"AWWW you two live together?" Drew asked. "Are you sure you're not dating?"
"Drew" They both said in unison warningly.
"Ok, ok sorry, I'll get back to work now" Drew said turning away. Aru swore she could hear him say: "Plan Aruden shall commence"
Aiden seemed to hear it too because he had his signature red face and walked to Drew and headlocked him.
"Imma just get to the car" Aru said quickly, walking out.
She felt a strong hand close around her arm and pull. A gloved hand covered her mouth as she screamed.
It all went black.
A CLIFFHANGER.
Don't hate me please.
Drew represents the fandom honestly.
ANyway, what do you think?
~Loife
YOU ARE READING
RUNDOWN
ActionAru Shah only wanted to get college over with. That's it. Seriously though, who else thinks that having to deal with more school after college is messed up? What was more messed up was her apartment after returning from the icecream parlour. It was...
