Aru Shah Oneshots

X- Well, Well, Well...

Aru inhaled deeply. A warm gust of air whirled around causing her hair to trickle her rosy cheeks. She liked this; The not-too-cold yet not-too-warm weather, the company, and the warm embrace of the assurance that everything was going to be fine. 

After several rehearsals, Aru felt a little confident. By the looks of it, Sheela and Aiden did too. 

Sheela raised her arm, counting down with her fingers to the song.

3...

2...

1...

Aru rolled her sheet into a cylinder and caught it as if it was a mic. She sang her heart out; the first lines of the song imprinted in her memory.

 "There's something sweet, and almost kind
But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined
And now he's dear and so unsure
I wonder why I didn't see it there before,"

Aiden sighed and opened his mouth widely. He sang, "She glanced this way, I thought I saw
And when we touched, she didn't shudder at my paw
No, it can't be, I'll just ignore
But then she's never looked at me that way before,"

Aru felt her worries melting away into the vast unknown. Dysphoria became unknown as happiness flooded her heart. 

"New, and a bit alarming
Who'd have ever thought that this could be?
True, that he's no Prince Charming
But there's something in him that I simply didn't see"

Aru turned towards Sheela, waiting for her to sing the lines of the teacup(and a few other characters.)

"Well, who'd have thought? Well, bless my soul, Well, who'd have known?
Well, who indeed? And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?
It's so peculiar, wait and see, we'll wait and see a few days more
There may be something there that wasn't there before
Here's a thought, perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before,"

Aiden looked at her and let out a smile. Then looked away...staring at his sheet music. 

'Well, that was wonderful!' Sheela exclaimed.

'Yep,' Aru agreed before turning towards Aiden. He looked...distant. Sad, almost. 'You okay?' she whispered. 

'Yeah, I'm fine.' Aiden smiled reassuringly. 

'So, the callbacks are in 3 days.' Aru turned her head back towards where the words originated- Sheela, who now was scribbling something in her blue-spiral notebook. 'Wanna practice one more time?' she asked, playing a chord on the piano.

Aru recalled her schedule for the day. Which day was it again? Ah...Wednesday.

School, music rehearsals, aaaand chess practice for the tournament on Sunday.

Before Aru could pitch in, Aiden spoke. 'Ehh I'm kind of busy, Sheela. Sorry,'

'Yeah, me too.'

'Oh...That's fine I guess,' Sheela said, turning away and packing her music sheets. She turned around- 'See you guys tomorrow? You know, because you have to move over to the dance?'

Oh no. She'd totally forgotten about the fact that she had to act and dance along with singing. Singing was one thing, dancing was another. Neither were easy.

'Sure,' said Aiden. 'Wait...What about the other characters? We can't do the whole play by ourselves,'

Aru stared at both of them. She had a million doubts and her panic level was dangerously high. 

'About that...for now, all the other characters are finalized...except Lumiere and Plummette.  I as Miss Potts, Jenny Gildenhorn as the Enchantress, Rusty Neilson as Maurice, Walter Brown as Gaston, and Charlie O'Brien as Le Fou. The pair who isn't Belle and Adam will be Lumiere and Plummette.'

'Oh. That...is complicated.'

Aiden nodded. 'Well...Either way, we'll be in the play?'

Oh. Oh well.

Till now, all Aru had thought about was the callbacks and the song. Now, she realized that she had to sing, dance, and act no matter what. It made her stomach turn. There was no turning back, she knew that oh she did, but something still didn't feel right.

Over the span of a few days, she'd made really close friends...that seemed suspicious. Highly suspicious. It reminded her of the unreadable weather of a day in autumn. It could be searing hot in the morning and suddenly pour over the whole town in a blink of an eye.

 'See you guys tomorrow then.' said Sheela, walking out of the door. Aiden followed Sheela. He turned back. Aru waved at him. He, on the other hand, looked away. That was weird.

She walked backward,  confused about why he was ignoring her.

Clash!

Aru cursed and stood up. She straightened her outfit. In front of her was Airelle, who happened to be right there, pouting at Aru while crossing her arms.

Aru raised an eyebrow. 'What...are you doing here?' She was probably eavesdropping

'None of your business.' She was definitely eavesdropping. 'Now, if you will excuse me-' She shoved Aru aside and strode in the opposite direction.

O..k

That was definitely weird.

***

Everyone applauded, appreciating the grand victory of Aru and Mini. In the selections for the chess tournament( which, by the way, were today) they had won 8 games in a row, securing them the highest place and a chance to compete. 

Mini elbow bumped her. 'That was awesome!' she exclaimed. 

Aru let out a grin. 'It was,' It truly was. The day, even though it was a little peculiar, was awesome. It had a happy aura. She soaked in the joy. 

Ping!

Aru looked at the notifications. Aiden Acharya has sent you a message.

Aiden Acharya

Apparently, Burton is extremely sick and an exchange student from Paris(I have no clue how.) is taking his place.

Oh, thought Aru. That's cool.

Ping!

And the callbacks are on Sunday(!) to give them time to practice.

Oh sh-

A/N I'M SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE. VERY sorry.

My mistake, sorry. I apologize.

Anyway, what's up? Hope everything is going well! I've got a class in a few min. Gotta run. Thanks for reading. Tysm. 

Bye!

PS. I'll re-edit this chapter and the next one will be as soon as possible.

PPS. Sorry for the inconsistent updates.