Teenage Dream

Chapter 17 - Emo Kid.

Aiden Acharya was more than scared of going to school on Monday.

He was terrified.

What was he going to do when he saw Aru?

"Cuz, are you okay?" asked Rudy, piling his things into their shared locker.

"Uh, I'm fine." said Aiden, carefully placing Shadowfax on the top shelf.

"You don't look like it though," said Rudy.

He looked like he was going to say more until Mini spritzed a bit of sanitizer on Rudy before they shared a hug. They were laughing and whispering things into each other's ears, which provided Aiden with the opportunity to take a picture of the couple.

"Did I just get photographed without my permission?" Rudy asked harshly.

"Did you?" questioned Aiden, fiddling with Shadowfax.

Rudy grumbled something incoherent, before turning back to Mini who laughed at the exchange between the cousins.

"How are you feeling, Aiden?" asked Mini, eyeing him.

"Fine," he responded drily.

"He's positively depressed," said Rudy, shaking his head. "I'm afraid he might turn into those emo kids or whatever."

"That's something Aru would say," said Mini thoughtfully.

"I learn from the best," responded Rudy. "Speaking of Aru, where is she?"

Aiden's heart raced at the thought of her and for the hundredth time, he questioned what he was going to do when he saw her.

"I think she's coming late," said Mini. "She isn't feeling too well."

"I still can't believe she likes-" Rudy was cut off by a hard punch to his back that almost toppled him over.

"What did we agree on?" asked Brynne, who had suddenly spawned out of nowhere in particular.

"I'm sorry!" wailed Rudy.

"Um, guys," said Aiden, awkwardly, suddenly capturing everyone's attention. He heard Brynne utter a Telegu curse and Mini shook her head in disappointment.

"Rudy," growled Brynne, clearly agitated.

"Forgive him," said Mini exasperatedly.

"Okay but what happened with Aru?" asked Aiden, concerned. Alas, his question was left unanswered because of the sound of the bell.

"Saved by the bell," he heard Rudy mutter.

"See you, Aiden," said Mini awkwardly before heading to class.

"Bye Ammamma!" exclaimed Brynne.

Aiden forced a smile, "Bye, Bee."

He couldn't help but think his friends were hiding something from him. Not only that, but it was about Aru? Strange. He found himself quickly walking down the halls to his Photography class. Students crowded the bustling hallways, blocking his way making him press his lips together in discontent.

"Look who's finally here!" announced Mr.Gray sardonically.

"Sorry," muttered Aiden, taking his seat.

Mr.Gray just rolled his eyes before re-doing the attendance.

"Dude, what took you so long?" asked Chase, one of his friends who sat next to him.

"The hallways were really crowded," said Aiden. And my friends were desperately trying not to tell me something.

Chase shrugged, buying the response.

"So, today we will be editing the photos that we took last class. Make sure your pictures are eye catching and flawless–"

Aiden lost track of his teacher's words at that moment. Photography meant he could capture things he saw in his opinion, which was nowhere near flawless. His photos give an insight of how he feels about the person, more often than not, capturing the little things about them.

He pulled out his laptop, opening the photo they took last class, a flower from the school garden. Aiden sighed as he began editing the photo, adjusting the white balance, contrast, colour balance and saturation.

"That seems to be coming along well," commented Mr.Gray, who somehow ended up behind him, assessing the photo.

"Thanks," said Aiden awkwardly.

His teacher merely nodded and trailed onto the screens of other students. Aiden inwardly cursed himself because he had no idea how to react to compliments.

He found himself finishing making edits to do the photo and attached the previous photo and the edited version on the assignment and turned it in.

"You're done?" questioned Chase, looking over at his screen.

"Yeah," responded Aiden, scrolling through the rest of his gallery, finding new images to edit. He scrolled to the very top of his gallery, clicking on the image.

It was Aru, during her performance on Friday. Her gold lehenga made her shine and the gold temple ornaments made her stand out. Her long, wavy hair was let loose, stretching to her mid-thigh.

Aiden lost the ability to breathe while viewing the photo.

"I feel like I've seen her before," said Chase, glancing at the photo. "Does she go here?"

"That's Kara's younger sister," he responded breathlessly.

Chase looked at Aiden for a good second before looking back at the photo, smirking. "Do you like her?"

"Excuse me?" asked Aiden, snapping away from the photo.

"Do you?" asked Chase, smiling.

Aiden took a deep breath. He thought the first person he'd tell was Brynne and not some random dude in photography class, but he just couldn't deny it anymore.

"I...guess," he said slowly.

"Damn," responded Chase. "I didn't take you to be the type of guy to like anyone like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Aiden incredulously.

"You two just seem like opposites," said Chase, looking at his laptop.

Aiden sighed, "You won't tell anyone, right?"

Chase grinned and clapped Aiden on the back, "Of course not, dude."

After his classes, Aiden walked to the cafeteria, spotting Mini, Rudy, Brynne, Hira, Kara and Aru at the table where they usually sat.

Aru had burst out into a fit of laughter, throwing her head back as she snorted. People always commented on her seemingly 'ugly' laugh, but Aiden found it so endearing he couldn't help but crack a smile at the sight.

Suddenly, all the emotions hit him at once and he dashed out of the cafeteria into the washroom. He loved Aru, but memories of his mother crying at the dinner table, head in her hands were all he could think of. The time his father introduced Annette as a colleague of his twirled in him, and the time he found them entangled in each other's arms broke him.

Love destroys people.

He didn't trust himself to love, all because of the circumstances he was raised in.