How You Get The Girl | An Aruden AU

Seven | Seven

"And I've been meaning to tell you: I think your house is haunted..."

"Please Ace-Cakes, you've never met her! It would be such a nice chance to bond."

Aiden rolled his eyes at both his Mom's nickname and her argument. "I don't want to meet her." He motioned pulling his hand across his throat to Rudy, who was snickering over the pet name from the other side of their dorm.

"She's your grandmother," his mom, Malini, reasoned from the other side of the phone.

"I didn't ask for her to be! Besides, I've been pretty busy with classes and...stuff."

"And stuff?"

"I...kinda have a girlfriend?" Wait, this was his excuse from a passive aggressive family meeting. "Not kinda. I have a girlfriend."

"Seemed like 'kinda' when Brynne and I found out." Rudy called out.

"It's been a week. We've progressed." Aiden responded, "Do your homework."

Malini was silent on the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

Malini was still quiet.

"Mom?"

"You have a girlfriend?"

His mother's voice was quiet, a hoarse whisper. They both knew why.

When Aiden was thirteen, his parents got divorced. They had told him it was because they weren't getting along, and that seemed like a believable excuse. The fighting was so bad that Aiden could turn the music to full volume and still hear their screaming downstairs. Not getting along was an understatement.

Still, Aiden knew why. One night they were arguing, like usual. But they weren't yelling. His mom was crying, and his dad sounded annoyed. His dad was cheating on his mom. That's why they were fighting. That's why they got a divorce. It was interesting how one conversation could change your entire life. Going downstairs for one fucking glass of water and suddenly all the murky, misfit pieces were suddenly snapping together perfectly.

They never found out he knew. They never found out why he didn't cry when his dad didn't even fight for custody of him.

Last time Aiden had stalked his social media, he was married to a woman named Annette and apparently, he had a two-year-old half-sister.

But his mom did know why he had rejected every single person who asked him out in high school, or rolled his eyes at every romance in a movie. Love wasn't real. Even if you did feel something for someone, it would just stab you in the back.

Now he was telling his mom he had a girlfriend. A full 180, in the span of five and a half months. He didn't even bother looking at anyone in Freshman year.

"Yeah." Aiden lied, "Her name is Aru Shah. She's a freshman."

"Where is she from?" asked Malini.

"Atlanta, Georgia." Aiden and Aru had both shared basic information for conversations like this.

"So you can't go meet your grandmother because you have a girlfriend?"

"Relationships need time." responded Aiden. He had never been more grateful for all the romantic subplots in movies.

"Look," Malini's tone softened, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. I can't force you. But you don't have to make up a girlfriend to get out of it."

"I'm not lying about this!" lied Aiden

He could feel his mom's maternal I-know-a-lie-when-I-hear-one look from the other side of the country.

"He actually has a girlfriend." For once, Rudy's interruptions were useful. "Brynne had to set it up because he can't do anything."

Well, it was useful for about one second.

Malini was still skeptical."You?" Maybe Aiden had underestimated how well Malini knew him. He did spend a lot of time with her after the divorce.

He also didn't think he would feel guilty lying to her. Maybe the sinking sensation in his stomach would fade as he got used to this?

"Yeah," he answered. "I'm actually dating someone. I didn't expect it but I really like her and—"

"You don't have to apologize. That's amazing. You deserve to be happy. You know that, right?"

Did he? He was lying to his mom about a girlfriend and how much he liked her. He was ignoring his own family (even if she did deserve it). He was manipulating the entire school. It was important though. Not for long, just for a few months, until Navdeep was jealous enough. Then he could plan a fake break up with Aru and feign the heartbreak he'd always seen in movies.

"Yeah. I know."

"Your dad is always mad and that must be why..."

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