Aruden Oneshots

As It Should Have Been - AU

Suggested by Tvisha_SS, who has the most awesome ideas. There will be another chapter from them soon.

Is a no-magic world AU. (And also kinda long, because this was such a fun story to write ;))

Enjoy!! And let me know if you have any recommendations.

Aru Shah struggled to keep her eyes open in her Pre-Algebra class as she absentmindedly doodled on her math homework. She'd been up late again texting her mom, who was on a work trip. 

The bell rang, and Aru tripped over her own two feet getting up from her desk. Luckily, her best friend, Mini, caught her by the arms and hauled her up.

"You don't look too good," she said, eyebrows scrunched in worry. "Are you dehydrated? Are you sick?" She scooted away from Aru as if she might be contagious.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Aru assured her as she collected her books. They walked into the crowded hallway. "Just tired, that's all. And hungry for lunch." They stopped at their lockers, which were right next to each other. Aru threw her books inside and slammed the door. "Let's go, I'm STARVING." 

They walked through the lunch line. Aru grabbed a mysterious-looking casserole, a discolored-looking orange, and applesauce. They sat down at their usual table near the trash cans ("It's quicker to throw away your food that way!" Aru always insisted) and were joined by their other friends Brynne, Rudy, and Hira.

Mini uncapped her hand sanitizer and forced them all to take some, before squirting twice the usual amount of sanitizer onto herself. "Now we may begin," she smirked.

"Did you guys hear about the new kid?" Hira asked after taking a ginormous bite of her cheese sandwich. "I heard he's a model or something." 

"Yeah, he's my cousin," Rudy shrugged. "No biggie. His name's Aiden, and he's kind of emo. I'm his favorite relative though." Aru glanced at Brynne, who nodded.

"Yep. He's, like, my best friend. He was homeschooled for a while, but he's coming to school and he's super excited. His voice was all squeaky when we talked about it on the phone yesterday."

"Aww, does Brynne have a crush?" Rudy teased, and Brynne blushed immensely hard. Aru noticed she shot a glance at Hira before exclaiming, "Ew, no way!"

Suddenly, the cafeteria was shot through with whispers. Aru looked up from her disappointing meal to find a boy slightly taller than her, with dark hair and eyes, holding a lunch tray and looking at her pointedly. 

She crossed her arms. "What's it to you?" Mini's mouth fell open, Brynne smirked, Hira looked shocked, and Rudy just flat-out laughed. He stood up and put an arm around the new boy's shoulders.

"This is my cuz, Aiden Acharya," he said, and Aiden huffed. "Of course you can sit with us, my broski." 

"That's not what I was going to-" Aiden started to protest, but he was cut off by Rudy shoving him in the seat next to Aru, who scooted away, muttering about cooties.

"Hey, I'm Aiden, and you are?" he asked sweetly. She turned her head away and made her voice mysterious.

"Shah. Aru Shah." She smirked, pleased with her mystery voice. His eyebrow raised up a notch.

"Do you have a cold, Shaharushah?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cough drop. "Cause your voice sounds a little strange to me..." Aru sighed.

The rest of the day, she tried to avoid Aiden as much as possible, but he seemed to be in all of her after-lunch classes. And she seemed to embarrass herself in every one.

Poetic Structure? Stuttered and sneezed while in the middle of reading a poem out loud. AT THE SAME TIME!

American Geological History? Told the teacher (in front of the whole class) that Washington, DC was most definitely in the state of Washington. Duh!

PE? They were playing dodgeball. Use your imagination.

Aiden, however, wasn't getting the hint. For the next few months he hung out with them 24/7. He was at every party, every lunch table, and every one of Aru's basketball games. The group started calling him her 'Wifey' because he was always hovering around her (which Aru found frankly annoying and definitely NOT cute) and taking pictures of her with Shadowfax, his old-school camera.

And no, the fact that it was named after Aru's favorite horse in the whole wide world of Lord of the Rings was also not cute.

Soon, those in their group started getting together. Brynne asked Hira out on a date, and they immediately became the cutest couple ever. Rudy finally worked up the courage to ask Mini out, they flirted for a bit, and finally (finally!) after ages of cringy side-eyeing, giggles, and inside jokes, they themselves got together.

It was just Aru and Aiden left.

"You'll be next!" Brynne always teased, and Aru rolled her eyes. She didn't have a crush on Aiden. She hated his dark hair, and the way it fell in front of his sparkling eyes. She hated the dimples that formed in his cheeks whenever he looked at her, and loathed his little man-purse that he always carried that looked super cute, and despised how kind and sweet and funny he was. And she absolutely DID NOT like the fact that he called her Shah, and the fact that he always teased her lovingly.

She did NOT have a crush on Aiden Acharya! 

And he did NOT have a crush on her!

Right?

She wasn't certain until after one of her basketball games. It was the championship, and they'd gotten totally creamed by the Atlanta Demons, their rival school. Feeling like the worst person in the world because she'd missed the game point, Aru trudged back to her car, only to find Aiden leaning against the hood.

"Go away," she muttered, turning her key in the ignition and feeling it start up. "I'm going to run over you." Without even asking, Aiden slid into the passenger seat. 

"Will you be my ride, Shah?" Brynne left halfway through for her double date with Hira, Rudy, and Mini."

"Weren't you supposed to go with them? You know, as the fifth wheel." Aiden looked down.

"Look, Shah, I don't want to be the fifth wheel. And I doubt you want to be the sixth wheel either." She glanced at him, face reddening.

"So?" He ran a hair through his hair and sigh-groaned.

"Aru, what I'm trying to say is...I really, really like you. And, it's okay if you don't like me back. Well, obviously you like me, but I don't know if it's as more than a friend, and I'm okay, but do you like me and willyoupossiblywanttobemygirlfriend?" Aru's mouth fell open in shock.

Then she busted out laughing.

"Your face- it's so red!" she giggled, and she found herself making an unconscious decision. "Of course, Aiden. I would love to."