Up For The Test (Aru Shah AU)

Chapter 4

3rd Person 

Aru slowly walked to the classroom with Philipe trailing not far behind her. It irritated her to have her every move observed and recorded. She spun around to him and lashed out. 

"Would you mind?!" she yelled. 

"I'm sorry, but I have direct orders that I have to keep an eye on you at all times."

"Does it look like I care? If it does, please let me know so I can fix my facial expression."

"No, it doesn't," Philipe said softly. 

Aru thought about how she had just snapped at one of her first friends there. "I'm sorry, Philipe; I didn't mean to snap at you. Just stay back, ok?" Philipe gave her a faint nod. 

She started to walk again when Aiden jogged toward her. "Shah! I'm sorry about yesterday!" She continued to walk but didn't disregard him. Rudy ran next to Aiden. 

"I thought I made it obvious yesterday that I don't want anything to do with you," she spoke harshly. 

"Oh, come on. You can't be that mad. I didn't know they were going to do that!" Aiden defended. He walked beside her, and he kept his eyes on her face.

"It doesn't matter what you thought would happen because what happened, happened. My life was perfect until you became a part of it, Aiden!"

Aiden slowed down, and so did Rudy. Aru stopped but still faced away from the two boys. 

"Because let's face it. You got me in trouble so that the queen and king would see through my little act, and then they would know I'm not little-miss-perfect. And in your eyes, no one is flawless except for you and your snotty little cousin over there."

"So you admit it's all an act?"  Rudy asked. 

Aru spun around. "No! Of course, Sherlock Holmes! How utterly dense are you?"

"That's a better question for yourself than us," Rudy said. 

That's when Aru truly lost it. She took the books in her hand and threw them at Rudy. "Read them, and maybe you will be a tad bit smarter next semester," she spat.

One book hit him directly in the nose, while the others, landed at his feet. "You little peasant!" he yelled. 

"Rudra, that's enough!" Aiden's voice echoed in the hallways. It reminded Aru of Hanuman's deep voice at times. "Shah is already in enough trouble as is. She doesn't need to be associating with you."

"Aiden-"

"Zip it! Do I look like I want to talk to you right now?" Aiden snapped at Rudy. 

Aru was surprised that Aiden had actually taken her side for once. "Thanks, Acharya," she said suspiciously. "Uh, I better get going before Philipe tries to find me."

Aiden smiled at her, and he allowed her to leave. 

"What is up with you? You're actually being nice to Arundhati," Rudy scoffed. 

"Yeah, so?" 

"I think you may be developing a soft spot for someone. You haven't even developed one for me, let alone a girl you just met a day ago. You've managed to get her in trouble twice, make her irritated at you three times, and who knows what the future holds," Rudy said. 

Aiden picked up Aru's books from the ground, and he bonked Rudy on the head with all four. "Stop getting such stupid ideas in your mind, Rudra. I could never fall for a girl like her." Of course, he still had no idea what he felt toward this new girl. She was compassionate even toward the people who treated her in the most disrespectful ways.