Aru Shah One-Shots

Telephone Cords and Bike Rides (AU)

not proofread. please feel free to correct any spelling errors or anything like that you may come across.

Summary: This is set in the 80's. Brynne, Mini, and Aru have been friends since they were three, seeing as they have all lived less than 10 minutes away by bike. Aiden and Rudy have just moved in across the street from Aru. Aru, Mini, and Rudy are 16. Brynne and Aiden are 17.

"Shah!" Brynne yelled as she stepped into Aru's house, Mini following close behind. "We tried calling your phone, but you didn't answer, so," Brynne's voice trailed off as she made her way into the living room where Aru was fast asleep on the couch.

She picked up a small book from the coffee table and dropped it on Aru. "Wake up, man! It's literally 11!"

Aru rolled off the couch from being surprised. "How the heck did you guys get in here?" she groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"The spare key under the mat," Mini smiled innocently. "We saw your moms car wasn't here, but your bike was, so we were thinking that we could go talk to the new kid, or go on a ride."

Aru lazily got up and looked the two girls up and down. Brynne was wearing a white button-up shirt and mom jeans with a black belt. The top two buttons were undone, so you could see her collar bone, and her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows.

Mini wore a college sweatshirt that was tucket into her mom jeans that were cuffed around the top of her black high-rise shoes. It didn't seem to bother her that it was nearly 90 degrees outside and it was the middle of July.

"I'll go get changed," Aru groaned, starting to make her way toward the stairs.

Brynne jumped over the back of the couch and landed on the couch. She turned on the tv and acted as if it were her own home.

"Yup, just make yourself at home," Aru mumbled as she walked up to her bedroom. When she came back down, she was wearing a black button-up, mid-length sleeved shirt which was tucked into high-rise jean shorts.

"Let's get this show on the road," she said, tying her hair back into a low ponytail and throwing on a black beanie.

"A beanie in summer?" Brynne asked, turning off the tv and walking outside with the other two girls.

"Mini's wearing a sweater and you haven't said anything," Aru replied, passing Brynne's bike to grab hers.

She had finally saved up enough for a new one. It was a shiny red color that shone when the light hit it. She climbed on and waited by the sidewalk for the others.

"Did you even brush your hair?" Brynne asked.

"Nope. I didn't bother," Aru shrugged. "What were you saying about new kids?" she asked, throwing her ponytail over her shoulder.

"New kids across the street," Brynne said, riding up next to her. "Aiden Acharya and Rudy Loka. They're cousins. Apparently, Rudy is Aiden's cousin who moved in with them when Aiden and his mother moved because his parents had to go to some foriegn country for a year."

"How do you know so much about them? Are you some type of stalker?" Aru joked, peddaling down the road.

"Nah. I heard it from Nikita, who heard it from Elise, who heard it from Alex, who heard it from Poppy."

Aru started to laugh. "Poppy? You do realize she is the least reliable source in the whole world, right?"

"Yeah, but she's never wrong about people's backstories. She's good with that type of stuff."

"Wait!" they heard from way back. Brynne and Aru stopped peddaling and looked back over their shoudlers and saw Mini desperately trying to catch up. "Why are we going up hill instead of downhill?" she groaned.