Snapshots

Chapter 2: I Know Where You Live

"Don't do anything weird." Kara told her as she led her to the studio. "I don't want him to think you're weird or crazy."

"Me? I would never. What makes you think that?" Aru replied, looking at her innocently.

"Aru." Kara responded in a stern tone. "Promise me."

"Fine," Aru rolled her eyes. "I won't make you look bad."

Kara simply nodded at her as they entered the studio.

And Aru was sure her breath hitched.

You know when you've heard a lot about someone and then your mind makes an image of what you think they look like, and then you meet them and it's not at all like that? Yeah, that was Aru's case.

Aru had expected a fairly attractive guy, yes.

She didn't expect Aiden Acharya to actually have a perfect jawline, perfect hair, and a perfect face. She honestly thought Kara was exaggerating. But, standing here right now, she could see that everything Kara had said about this guy was completely correct.

He looked up at them. "Oh. Hey, Kara. And this is...?"

As he smiled at her politely and expectantly, Aru couldn't help but apologize to her sister in her mind. 'Sorry, Kara. About to say something weird now, don't kill me'

Kara's eyes seemed to say something too. 'Arundhati Shah, don't you dare–'

"I know where you live!" Her voice came out quicker than her mind could comprehend what she was saying. Aru mentally smacked herself, as well as mentally preparing herself for Kara later.

"I—what?" His smile completely faded, and he looked confused, concerned even.

"I—uh, Kara told m—"

"Oh, haha," Kara intervened quickly, laughing nervously and putting her hands on Aru's shoulders. Her nails dug into Aru's skin and she understood that to be Kara trying to restrain her. "This is my little sister, Aru. Isn't she the funniest?"

Kara looked at her then, except it wasn't really a look, it was more of a glare. If you looked at them from afar, you would be fooled by Kara's sweet smile and wouldn't see anything past that. But her eyes screamed 'Don't you dare ruin this for me'

Aru didn't back down, smiling and glaring back at her sister, her eyes speaking for her. 'My dear, dear sister. I would never.'

"Um...nice to meet you, I guess?" Aiden snapped them out of their little glare-argument.

"Nice to meet you too." Aru nodded at him.

"She's gonna be our model." Kara spoke up, a stiff smile on her mouth.

The room quieted. The gentle whirring of the fans could be heard. Even the bees buzzing outside, even though the windows were closed.

"Really?" He asked. Aru could tell he chose his words carefully, since he didn't want to offend her but disbelief lined his words.

"Really, Kara responded. "She has a project too, in her theater course. She needs photos for it, and we need photos for ours. It could work out."

"Well," Aiden relented. He turned to Aru and said, "I'll explain it to you then."

As Aru sat down to listen, Kara could be seen blushing on the side. It was too funny that Aru couldn't help but respond to it. She subtly rolled her eyes. Or at least she thought it was subtle.

"Did you just roll your eyes at me?" Aiden asked her, pausing in his explanation. "Well, I'm sorry I'm taking time to explain to you the basic concept."

"No." She denied frantically. Great, they just met and she already got on his bad side. "I, uh, was doing it at my sister."

"And what was she doing?" Aiden looked over to Kara. She blushed more, although Aiden didn't seem to notice.

"Let's, uh." Kara attempted to save both of them and walked over. "Let's drop this. My sister's a bit weird."

"Weird?" Said sister raised her eyebrows at her. "Well, let's not forget about the time you—"

"Arundhati Shah." Kara glared with a sweet and icy tone. "Don't."

Aru muttered some not-so-child-friendly things out of anger and crossed her arms. "Whatever"

Aiden, probably tired of standing next to the siblings fighting, sighed. "Guys, let's try to get along. Please. Clean slate, Aru?"

"Clean slate" She reasoned.

"Aru and Kara? Clean slate for you guys?"

"Clean slate," Kara agreed.

"A bit scuffed, slightly dented," Aru thought. Both of them glared at her and she added quickly, "but clean slate, yes"

She was not going to be the victim of two 20 year olds now.

"Alright then." Aiden said, looking miffed and annoyed. "Back to the explanation, when I'm going to be clicking the pictures, be as natural as possible. Don't pose too much, but you need to pose. Are you even listening, Shah?"

Did this guy even make sense?

"Of course I am! I should pose but pretend I'm not posing, is that it? Also, why are you using my last name?"

Aiden was the one who rolled his eyes this time. "That is not the question you should be asking, Shah. You should be asking about the lighting."

"No, because who gives a damn about the lighting?" Aru asked, trying to rile him up.

There was something about this guy. He looked easy to get along with, but actually wasn't. That camera on his person all the time was the happiest part of his attire, looking at his blacker than a crow jeans and olive green hoodie.

"The lighting is what's going to make the photo a worthy photo." He said, as though explaining to a toddler.

His eyes were glinting weirdly, like some kind of starry reflection on water.

Aru blinked hard around six times before she nodded. "Yup! Lighting. Interesting, uh–"

She looked over at Kara, noticing that her sister had a pained expression on her face.

Aru winced. What was up with her today?

Aiden clapped his hands, getting up from his seat. "Well then, we can start whenever you say so. Remember the rules, Shah. Pose naturally, don't try to mimic other poses too much, and relax.

She nodded, swallowing nothing. This was going to be interesting in a way that she didn't want it to be.