Aru's pov--

Aru could remember the last time she was this close to Aiden.

It had evolved shoving him into a tree.

~

"Hi Aru!" Aiden said, smiling at her like nothing had happened, "I went over to your house but you weren't in, or you didn't come to the door. Is everything ok?"

The park was always empty, which was why Aru had decided to go there, just to be sure that no-one would bother her. Her plan was to sit on a bench, listen to Lewis Capaldi and cry until she felt ready to face the world again. It was even raining, so her tears would be seen.

But, obviously, by some real bad strike of luck, Aiden was there. Aru tried to ignore him, knowing that if she saw him, nothing could hold her broken heart together.

Nothing could stop her from breaking down.

"Could you leave?" She asked, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Aru, are you ok?"

"Leave, please." She repeated.

"Are you -"

"Ok?" Aru asked, a deep bitterness rising inside her. "Okay?"

Aiden stepped in front of where she was sitting. "What is it?" Maybe, if it was another day, she could have thought it was genuine.

But not today.

"You're serious? After what you did!" Aru stood up now, her hatred burning. No, not hatred, stronger than that.

"What are you talking about?" Aiden took a step back.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Aru shouted, " I trusted you! Don't you know how hard that is? I thought you of all people would understand."

"Huh?" He looked surprised. Confused, even.

"You hurt me, Aiden.
You betrayed me."

The anger subsided, making way for a crushing sorrow.

Her vision clouded, and a lump knotted in her throat. She walked towards him, grabbed the neck of his t-shirt and pulled him down to her.

"Do me a favour and leave me alone." She whispered into his ear, "You've ruined my life enough already."

She stared into his eyes. Even with her blurry view, they still sparkled like the night sky. A small, sad smile crossed her lips, but she forced it off. She pushed him away, trying not to look back.

And she didn't

~

A voice brought her back to the present.

"Hi everybody!" Kara said, "So we got a flat tire, but luckily were right by a gas station! So we've just stopped here for now -"
She suddenly saw Aru and Aiden.

The "now" got very elongated.

Aru sat up immediately brushing off her t-shirt and blushing excessively. Fortunately, Kara didn't comment.

"Just come out when you're ready!" She flashed a quick smile at everyone and backed out.

"I... Ah..." Aiden began, sounding almost as self-conscious as Aru felt.

"So... Er..."

"Um..."

"Sorry." Aru said eventually, trying to end the cycle of groans.

"Yeah." No one spoke of a while. "Aru, I -"

"You two coming? They're doing free taste tests!" Brynne hollered from outside.

"Yeah, you should come," Mini advised, "Brynne is gonna try and pin-point the exact downfall of each dish!"

"Okay!" Aru said, more than eager to leave.

"Okay." Aiden echoed.

~~~

"Hm, not enough salt. Way too bland - oh - oh! What did you put in this, a bar of soap? Ugh, this is ok, but a bit too much salt? Wait, what is this? You call this a Mixed Spice cookie? Where's the nutmeg people, the nutmeg? And.." Brynne continued to rant, but Aru lost focus. The shop was pretty big for a gas station and...

Was that a candy aisle?!

She nudged Mini. I'm gonna go now, she mouthed.

Everything ok? Mini mouthed back.

Yeah, just realised they sell Swedish Fish here.

Mini laughed silently with a thumbs up, before Aru slipped out, James Bond style.

It didn't take long for it to get quiet, which was surprising based on how loud it was a second ago. But as soon as she lost sight of everyone, it went silent. But that was fine with Aru. She needed some time to think.

What was Aiden about to say? Did he remember it too? Why did she even care about him?

The last question was one she'd asked herself too many times.

Was everything this confusing for a teenage kid? Or was it just her who was targeted?

"Ugh!" She groaned, grabbing as many packets of Oreos as she could hold from the shelf.

She was about to grab yet another pack, when her phone started to vibrated in her in her pocket. A missed call.

It was from her mom, unsurprisingly. She was visiting a colleague in France, and it would be around lunch there. She texted her quickly.

Aru:
Wussup mom

Mom:
What's up with your grammar?

Aru rolled her eyes. Seriously mom?

Aru:
What happens to be up, Mother?

Mom:
Haha. I just wanted to let you know my business trip is going to take longer than usual.

Of course it is.

Aru:
Can you do anything about it?

Mom:
I'm sorry, I wish I could.

After rebalancing her pile of oreos, she turned back to the phone to see another message:

Mom:
Do you have any friends on the trip?

Aru thought for a moment.

Aru:
Mini

Mom:
Perfect! When you get back, stay with her until I arrive.

Aru:
Why?

Mom:
Just trust me.

With a sigh, Aru texted back.

Aru:
Ok, love you

Mom:
Love you too, Aru

Well, that was weird. Why couldn't she go home? She'd stayed there by herself enough times when she was younger. What was different now? Maybe it was something to do with her business trip. It was probably just that.

Is it though? she thought, is it?

A loud thwack knocked Aru's thoughts away. She turned to see a figure walking towards her. Rapidly. Backing away, she picked up an extra packet of candy from the side (Swedish Fish this time) and sprinted away.

Once she had hidden and the dude had walked past, she reasoned with herself.

He was probably just walking past her. Or maybe he wanted Oreos! She had taken all of the packets on the shelf she realised.

"Let's go pay for all this stuff." She muttered, expertly stacking the mountain of junk food.

In the end, she decided everything was simple. She decided that guy was definitely after the Oreos. She decided her mom wanted her out of the way. She decided that Aiden was just an idiotic snob.

But even when she'd decided it, she didn't necessarily believe it.

-Bea