Aru Shah fanfic and stuff

Shopping Trip

Aiden was incredibly popular, and had half the grade crushing on him. And Aru... Aru was nobody. Of course, she was the daughter of Indra, and the reincarnation of Arjuna, but nobody else really believed in that stuff besides her sisters. So at school, well, the thing Aru was probably the most popular for was that time in the fourth grade when she slipped on milk in the lunchroom and sprained her wrist.

So Aru kept her mouth shut and averted eye contact.

"That's what I thought." Said Arielle, triumphantly, flipping her shiny black hair over her shoulder. She narrowed her large brown eyes. "Even if you did have friends, no one would believe you. Everyone knows that you're a big liar. I bet that museum you live in will shut down by next week. Or wait, then maybe then you'll start saying that you live in a fancy private flat or something. I bet your mom doesn't even own that museum, huh? She's just the janitor and pulled some strings to rent you guys that apartment, then drinks and gambles it all away at night. That would explain why she's 'out of town' all the time."

"My mom isn't an alcoholic. We do own that museum and I told you, she's out of town for a business trip." spat Aru, trying to blink back tears and look fine at the same time.

Arielle looked down her nose at her. "Sure. But we don't know that that's true. Because we never know what you're lying about. No one trusts you, Aru. I almost pity you for it." She said, frowning at Aru sadly, with a very un-pitying look.

Aru was just so frustrated with the whole thing. She had only lied when she was like, twelve. She stopped lying a long time ago and apologized for it, but people still didn't trust or believe her, no matter how much truth she spouted.

Maybe... maybe her friends only pretended to like her, but secretly were wary of everything she said. What if they pitied her as much as Arielle pretended to, only hanging out with her because they were forced to as her sisters, or because they felt bad for her?

"That's- that's not true!" was all she could say. She felt herself grow smaller.

"Of course it isn't." Said Arielle, leaning forward and looking her in the eyes. "Because nothing's ever true with you."

A hot tear ran down Aru's face as she tried to come up with a retort. Her hands fidgeted with the forgotten butter, and she tried hard to conceal her wet eyes.

Then, a voice came from behind her, and Aru watched Arielle's eyes widen in shock. 

"Take that back."

Aru recognized the voice before she turned around.

There stood Aiden, his arms crossed, jaw grinding menacingly, and his hair shadowing his eyes, making him look brooding, but still somehow cute at the same time. 

Arielle's jaw dropped as Aiden came and stood next to Aru.

Priceless. Thought Aru, even through her state of mind.

Aru straightened and tried to wipe her eyes before anyone noticed as Aiden nodded curtly at Arielle. "Go on." He said.

Arielle just looked between the two of them. "You're- you're friends with her? But you're so, so... and she's not..."

"I'll have you know that Aru is one of my best friends." Aiden said matter-of-factly, and Aru felt her heart grow three sizes. "What's it to you?"

The girl just stood there, then laughed. "Oh my gosh, I can't wait until Poppy hears about this." She said. "Aiden? Friends with Aru? There's no way."

And with that, she gave her hair one last flip and stalked away around the corner.

Aiden rolled his eyes at her and turned to Aru. "You okay?" he asked quietly, his breath brushing her cheek. "I heard all the horrible stuff she said about you and your mom. Honestly, kids these days."

Aru just nodded and didn't meet his eyes. The whole thing was already awkward to begin with. She didn't need him to know that it had gotten to her so much.

"Well... if you ever want to talk, I'm always here. You know that right?"

"Yeah."

They stood there for a few more moments. Then Aiden finally said "Well... we should probably get back to the checkout. I got worried after you didn't come back for five minutes and left the cart there."

Aru found herself snorting. "You're so paranoid, Amamma."

Aiden pretended to scowl at the comment, and the nickname, but his eyes gave his relief of Aru being back to her old self. 

She smiled, but a small sad look crept through her eyes. Aiden wrapped an arm around her and gave her an awkward sort of side-hug. Aru prayed that she wasn't super sweaty and gross, glad she remembered to apply deodorant that morning. 

They lingered like that for more than just a second, then he pulled away. "You good now?" he asked in what he hoped was a gentle manner.

She just nodded again. Aiden sighed, then perked up. "I know, let's go get that smoothie I apparently owe you."

Aru immediately brightened. "I guess, if you really want to..." she joked, earning a smile from Aiden. 

"Let's go." They started walking back to the front of the store. When they got there, they were relieved to find their cart still sitting in the place Aiden had left it. They checked out, and Aru, after only five minutes of deciding, finally got a mango smoothie, finally giving Aiden a real smile.

The pair strolled out the doors, grocery bags in hand, Aiden rolling his eyes as Aru "magically" opened the sliding doors with her telekinesis, waving her arms wildly, and Aru laughing as Aiden slid over the large red balls at the front of the store.

They started walking down the street. The museum was conveniently only a few blocks away, and the trip home was lovely with the cool breeze and the smell of rain. As she carefully avoided the sidewalk cracks, Aru found herself wishing that their shopping trip wasn't over.

Suddenly she asked, "Wifey, can we go to-"

But Aiden read her mind. "No, Shah. We are not going to Home Depot."

Another chapter!! I hope you guys enjoyed this one. I'm working on another fanfic right now, so I'm sorry if the updates aren't coming in very fast. 

Hope you have a great rest of your day!

And remember, Don't let the muggles get you down!!

-Aminha 14