Aru's pov

Once Mini had finished telling her the story, Aru was grinning ridiculously. She was just so proud of her.

"I actually love you so much. I'm so proud. I mean if you swore I might be more proud, but like you do you, and you still slayed him so" Aru told her. Mini sniffled and smiled genuinely.

"Where are you staying? That is not your house"

"That's because I'm at the twins'. My mom wasn't home" Aru sighed.

"Oh. Well, do you think we can still use your house for the Christmas celebration?" Mini asked worriedly.

"Of course. We'll all just have to stick together."

"If you say so"

"Have you booked your flight?" Aru asked.

"Yeah, I have. I leave in like an hour and I'll reach there in another"

"Okay. Just tell me when you arrive and I can come pick you up with Rudy" Aru waggled her eyebrows at her sister, while Mini blushed severely.

"Oh stop, he could be busy"

"I'd slap him if he didn't agree to come" Aru nodded at her casually. Mini looked horrified.

"What?"

"Love you bye!" Aru blew a kiss to her sister and cut the call.

She checked the time. 9:26 pm. She got her phone and called Rudy.

"He better not be sleeping" Aru muttered.

Rudy: Aru?

Aru: yep. You awake?

Rudy: yeah, college messed up my sleeping schedule. What's up?

Aru: there's a huge change of plans. Mini's coming in like, 2 hours.

Rudy: She is?! What happened?

Aru: not my place to tell you, but I think she will. Let's go pick her up?

Rudy: uh-

Aru: that wasn't a question, let's go pick her up.

Rudy: I was going to say uh, are you kidding, Let's go-

Aru: alright, See ya, snake.

Rudy: you're so mean, bye

Aru cut the call and slipped on her shoes. She got her jacket and headed to the next house. She knocked.

It opened, revealing Aiden.

"Shah? You do know we have a doorbell don't you?" He asked.

"No, actually, I don't. I've never even came this close to your place" Aru reminded him. "Is Rudy ready?"

"No. He's currently trying to figure out what to wear to impress Mini"

"That makes sense." Aru rubbed her temples.

"Wanna come inside?" He asked, leaning on the doorframe. He had a dark green knitted sweater on and black sweatpants.

"Would that be okay...?" Aru asked, tilting her head.

"I think my mom would still fry me if I still didn't offer for you to come inside" Aiden scratched the back of his neck.

"Uh, I wouldn't want to intrude-"

"Ace-cakes? Who's at the door?" Came a melodic voice from the house. A beautiful woman came into view. She had a spatula and an apron, as if she was in the middle of cooking. Aru recognized her immediately. Malini Acharya. "And who's this?"

"Uhm, Aru Shah ma'am. I used live across the street, I think you may know my mom, Krithika Shah?" Aru bowed slightly.

"Oh yes. Krithika was a good friend of mine, and I have heard of you from her. You seem quite an exceptional young lady in terms of grades. And looks, apparently too" She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Aru flushed. "I mean, my middle school grades were bad, and I don't really look all that nice-"

"Nonsense. Are you here for my son?"

"No, actually, for your nephew"

"Ah, he's taken-"

"Oh, no, not in that way" Aru said quickly. "Actually um, he's a good friend of mine and dating my best friend. We were going to pick her up from the airport"

"Oh, I see"

Then they looked at each other awkwardly. Aiden, who had stayed at the side, shifted uncomfortably.

"Would you like to come inside?" Mrs. Acharya finally asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose-"

"When my mom asks that, it's not a question" Aiden whispered to her.

"Oh, alright then" Aru smiled.

She stepped into the house, immediately welcomed by the warmth and the aroma of the cooking. She inhaled deeply and exhaled. She took off her shoes and jacket, kicked her shoes to the side and held her jacket.

Aiden led her to the living room and gestured for her to sit. He sat next to her.

"Ace-cakes! Tell her to come here!"

Aru grinned. Ace-cakes? Serious blackmail.

"Don't even think about repeating that" Aiden muttered. "Go to the kitchen"

She got up and walked to the kitchen. "Yes, ma'am?"

"First, please tell Aiden to go to his room" His mom informed her.

"Me? Okay" Aru nodded. "Aiden! Go to your room"

"You don't get to tell me that"

"Orders of your mom"

He groaned and went upstairs.

"I'll start off" Mrs. Acharya said, switching the stove off. "Do you like my son?"

"Well I mean, I like him but not in that way, you know? Not romantically" Aru nodded at her. What she was feeling right now was attraction. There was a difference between the two.

"And he feels the same way about you?"

"Yes, I think. He doesn't show anything if he likes me romantically, so I'm guessing he sees me as a friend"

Malini seemed to think for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure, since your son never really says anything about that. But I'm making an educated guess that he doesn't see me that way"

"Hm. Okay" Malini nodded at her. "Tell me a bit about yourself. What are your hobbies?"

"Oh, uhm. Reading, writing and making stories"

"Stories? Why stories?"

"In stories, your writing relies heavily on your imagination" Aru explained. She was quite used to this, after all there were similar questions that were asked in college. "And depending on how far your imagination goes, your story will be more alive. In stories you can meet gods, you can control lightning, pigeons can talk, making force fields are possible, controlling the wind, so many things can happen and it all comes down to what you think of"

"That feeling of being able to control where the story goes, the characters and the plot gives me a sense of relaxation. It gives me ideas. People's past will be turned into legends and they will be remembered. Every thing in this world has a story" Aru finished. Malini's eyes were wide as if she hadn't anticipated such a detailed answer.

"That is...wow. That is just beautiful. The way you see the world is amazing" She smiled at Aru. "You know, I'm not so sure that you and my son only see each other as friends, but I allow you to ever date my son. Thank you, dear"

Aru blushed a little, and said. "Okay."

"You were here for my nephew? The room is upstairs, to the right"

Aru thanked Malini and went upstairs to the room. She knocked twice. Rudy opened the door.

"Are you ready yet? We have to go!"

"I'm not!"

Aru sighed and stepped inside. She took in the room. Pictures of The Rock were pasted everywhere. In the gaps, there were photos of Rudy wearing blindingly bright clothes, and they had Aiden's signature at the bottom indicating that he took the picture. The camera angles were kinda off, it was a little blurred, and Aru suspected that it was because Aiden was forced to take them.

Aiden was sitting on the bed, holding his camera and looking at it.

"Sit" Rudy lazily waved to the room. "Wherever you want"

Aru turned to sit, but then Rudy said "No actually, help me find something Mini would like"

Aru groaned. "Oh my gods Rudy! Just move aside"

Aru roughly pushed Rudy to the side and opened the closet. Her eyes had to adjust for a second to the brightness, but she eventually recovered. She took out a white sweater and bright blue jeans and threw it at Rudy. It hit him in the stomach and the force knocked him directly onto the floor.

Aru turned to the door and stepped out. She turned back, pointed at him and said "Wear that."

Aiden howled with laughter at Rudy's flabbergasted expression. He blinked. "Okay?"

Aru closed the door and went downstairs.





Nothing really here. I have a feeling this book might go on for 40 something chapters.

Anyway, what do you think?

-Loife