Aru let her bag drop to the floor, disappointed. This had happened so many times before, but why was she so hurt? She felt so stabbed, so betrayed.
And she didn't even know where her mom was.
She saw her phone ring and it was Brynne. They did video call.
"Hey Aru. I reached New York. I sent you a text when I did but you never sent me anything about you reaching so I'm just checking up. You guys reach? Aiden sent me he did, but I was worried"
She put on a smile and replied "Yeah I did. Sorry, I forgot. Um, my moms not home actually"
"Oh nuh uh, girl. Get out of there" Brynne said. "You can't afford to be alone when your gang leader, stalker, creep of a father is trying to kidnap you. I don't even know if you can kidnap your own child but I don't want to find out"
"Okay, that's fair. What do I do then?" Aru asked, re-slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Stay with Aiden, you have experience" Brynne rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"Uh, no" She winced. "His mom kinda hates me as of right now"
"Met the parents already? Sure you're not dating?" Brynne teased.
"I haven't, I'm going off of what he told me. And I've met Mini's parents and we're not dating" Aru said. She sighed and then jokingly she said "What a pity. Aruni was such a good ship name. We'd make a great couple"
"No, you wouldn't." Brynne snorted.
"Are you indirectly saying Rudy isn't good for her? He and I are the same species, you know." Aru wrinkled her nose. "Except he is grossly uncultured. It's nauseating"
"You can say that again. He doesn't even know what lasagna is!" Brynne exclaimed.
"I know right. You know, earlier today, he asked me what a hashbrown is"
"Dude! Mini has some bad taste, not gonna lie"
"Yep. Anyway, now what?"
"Call him" Brynne said. "Or I'll call him?"
"NO THANKS!" Aru yelled. Brynne would change the words and make it seem so extra.
"Oh!" Aru snapped her fingers. The twins stayed at the house next to Aiden's so she could stay there. "I'll just stay with the twins. Easy peasy"
"Dang it" Brynne muttered.
"What?"
"Nope. Nothing. Kay bye!" Brynne cut the call.
Aru frowned. She shrugged it off and she hoisted her bag higher. She turned around and headed down the stairs.
Sherrilyn smiled at her, sadly. "I'll notify you once your mom comes back"
"Okay, thanks Sherrilyn. You're the best" Aru headed out the door. She crossed the street and met with the dark green wood of the door to the Jagan household. She took a deep breath and knocked the door twice.
Mrs. Jagan opened the door and her eyes widened. "Aru! What a surprise!"
"Aru?!" A voice called from the back. She heard footsteps and then saw the twins blue, wide eyes. Nikita was wearing a green silk dress and Sheela was wearing Aru's hand-me-down iron man pajamas.
"Hey guys" Aru smiled. Sheela, and to her surprise, Nikita came running and hugged her.
After many, many catching up later, Aru summarized all of the apartment stuff to the twins parents.
"You need to be careful, beta" Mr. Jagan addressed Aru. "That's some serious stuff. Especially if they start to suspect why you didn't call them that second time"
"I understand, sir, but we are very careful about this matter" Aru said, speaking in a serious and formal tone like she did to her professors and teachers. "We decided to come home early to be in the protection of our parents. My mom isn't home so-"
"You can stay here" Mrs. Jagan said immediately. "We will keep you safe"
"Thank you" Aru smiled, letting out a sigh of relief. Then she turned around, yelled in a cheerful voice "Guess who's staying here for a couple days or more!"
"Really?" Sheela asked.
"Yep."
"Okay! You can stay in my room!" Nikita said.
"It's my room too" Sheela argued.
"And? Remember that tape that separates the room?" Nikki asked. 'Ugh, teenagers' Aru thought.
Things settled, Aru tried to reach out to Sherrilyn one last time, but to no avail. The only reason she wasn't calling her mother herself is because of what happened with her father answering the phone and everything. It was too risky.
She got a message from Mini, so she decided to check that out.
Minnie mouse 💜💜💜💜
Any chance I could come over to your house early?
Of course. What happened?
My parents
Aru didn't reply but she FaceTimed Mini. Her parents were always being so strict on the poor girl, even when she went into college and became an adult. She was literally valedictorian in her school!
"Mini!" Aru exclaimed, noticing her best friend's tear stricken face.
"I-I told them-" Mini said between sniffles and sobs.
"Told them about what? The apartments?"
"No, I-" Mini took a deep breath and exhaled. "I told them about Rudy"
This chapter is generally shorter than my other ones, but I needed to leave this here. For a cliffhanger.
Okay, what do you think?
-Loife
YOU ARE READING
RUNDOWN
ActionAru Shah only wanted to get college over with. That's it. Seriously though, who else thinks that having to deal with more school after college is messed up? What was more messed up was her apartment after returning from the icecream parlour. It was...
