Snapshots

Chapter Seventeen - Can You Hear The Crickets Tonight?

By this time, everyone seemed to notice the tension between Aru and Aiden. They all grasped on to the fact that they weren't talking anymore, and they'd all seen the deliberate avoidance of each other's eyes.

Aru wanted to stop doing everything she was doing and go to him and tell him how much she liked him.

But she wouldn't, shouldn't, and couldn't. It's for Kara and for me, she reminded herself, time and time again. She was doing this so that Kara could be happy.

Brynne 💪
come here rn
I made cookies
they taste like oreos

wuts the catch
u never bake cookies for me just like that

you and Aiden are going to talk this out
be there at Aiden's dorm in ten
or no cookies

u kno i can buy oreos

yeah but they wont taste as good as mine

touche

Aru really didn't want to go, but the prospect of cookies, freshly baked, was enough to draw her to follow what Brynne had said.

"Hey, Kara? I'm going to go to Aiden's dorm for a bit, is that okay?" She asked, putting on her coat.

As usual, Kara was texting someone on her phone.

Funny how she had her own dorm but decided to stay in Aru's.

Also funny how Mini was always in the gardens with Rudy and almost never in the dorm.

Aru was fully prepared to give an explanation as to why she was meeting Aiden, but she didn't expect Kara to just wave her fingers in a 'yeah sure' way.

"...you're not going to ask me why?"

Kara looked up from her phone. "I trust you, Aru. Now go, don't keep him waiting."

Kara telling her that she trusted Aru made her feel even more guilty for crushing on Aiden.

'Fuck my life', she thought.

She made her way to Aiden's dorm, praying that Aiden wouldn't be the one who'd open the door.

Luck should've been on her side because Brynne opened it instead.

"Finally, you're here. Cookies are on the table, take a few, and come sit on the couch. No excuses."

Exactly how did Brynne make Hira fall in love with her?

"Yes ma'am."

That was when she saw a figure turn on the couch, eyes blown wide with surprise. She had noticed him before too, even if his hoodie matched the colour of the sofa.

She always felt his presence.

"Brynne." His voice squeaked, and Aru had to mentally kick herself in order to not laugh.

She stuffed a cookie in her mouth.

Yup, she made the right decision. These cookies were better than the real deal.

"You didn't tell me she was the one you called." His voice continued.

"Y'all need to sort out your drama, because I don't like it."

Piling a plate with cookies, she went to sit on the couch.

She just ate another cookie, and, by force of habit, Aiden took one from her plate too.

Aru didn't stop him, because this small act, no matter how much it twisted her heart, reminded her that she and Aiden were actually friends at one point and it wasn't just a sick, twisted fever dream.

The silence was so loud that Aru found herself self-conscious of how loud she was chewing.

They just looked at each other, waiting for one of them to speak.

Aru thought of that one disney song, the one that went 'can you feel the love tonight', except she replaced feel with hear and love with crickets.

Can you hear the crickets tonight?

Aru had to stuff her mouth to stop herself from bursting into laughter.

"So, uh..." Even Brynne seemed uncomfortable in the silence. Then her eyes lit up. "Hey, Aiden, remember when you were giving that one speech in eighth grade? So, basically, Aru, Aiden was giving a speech on climate change on stage and he got all nervous–"

Aiden was looking at her in confusion.

"–and his voice cracked on stage, can you believe it–"

He was openly glaring at her now, and Aru had to constantly remind herself to not burst into laughter.

"Bee, what the fuck?" He whispered.

Aru's face hurt as she physically forced a resting face instead of the one where she would be laughing.

Under different circumstances, she would've teased Aiden about it, and she would've asked Brynne if she'd had a recording of that speech so that she could hear it for herself.

That thought made her slowly appearing smile dim quicker than a dying candle.

They sat in silence with each other again, the story Brynne had shared having done nothing to ease the tension between the two in the room.

Aru thought of a parallel universe where the three of them would be sitting with each other, cookies on plates on their laps, laughing with each other and talking about how obvious it was that Rudy and Mini would end up together.

Now, the tension rushed through the air in torrents, like it was rushing away from them and yet found no other place but them.

An hour later, after all the cookies were over, Brynne wearily clapped her hands.

"We're getting nowhere sitting here. Well, mission getting rid of tension, failed. We'll try again after my putting-up-with-you-two battery comes back."

Aru had never run away from a place so fast in her life before.

She rushed back to her dorm, and very belatedly, realised that she'd forgotten her coat there.

And yet, she didn't feel any urge to run back and take her coat.

Back in her dorm, Mini was reverently turning a bottle of sanitiser over and over in her hands, sighing dreamily.

"Can you believe Rudy got me this?" She asked Aru as soon as she entered. "He even got it in my favourite scent."

At least someone's relationship was going swimmingly.

She forced a smile on her face before replying. "Yeah, that's cute."

Mini put the sanitiser down, furrowing her eyebrows. "Aru, are you okay?"

"Yup! Just fine."

Ignoring the worried look on her friend's face, she went to her bed.

You know, the first hint of insanity is when you look back on your sorrowful day and find something to laugh about.

Aru thought back to Aiden's voice cracking and his squeakiness when he was taken aback.

She started laughing, hysterically.

People cried themselves to sleep.

Aru laughed herself to it.