Roads And Maps - Aru Shah

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody

AN: In a part of this chapter, it kind of is like the end of the City Of Gold, but not really. I'm not in any way trying to copy Roshani Chokshi's work. She is an amazing author, and I'm nowhere near that, but I do come up with some ideas somewhat based on the actual story.

Aru's POV

I had hit the Otherworlds library with Mini since my dad died. Yes, I know. Aru Shah in a library is a rare occurrence. Soak it up. Aiden and Brynne have already teased me a lot about it. Mini is just happy that she has someone to go to the library with.

Ava had some way of meeting the Sleeper before he died, which means she must have some kind of tie to the Otherworld. Was one of her parents some kind of famous person like Aiden's? So far, we knew nothing. She hadn't popped up anywhere.

Ava has the power to ruin all of our lives, yet, she hasn't done anything. The Sleeper is someone I can never forgive, no matter what light you shine on him. Whether it's Vajra's, Sunny's, or the light of a lamp.

My mom also made me take dance lessons for getting my mind off of Ava. So for the past month, I've been taking lessons. I'm getting pretty good at it. One other boy is in my class, Denver. He lives close by. You just have to turn right at the end of the road and there is his house. He is cute, but we don't tell Aiden that.

I was reading in my room listening to 'I wanna dance with somebody,' by Whitney Houston. I put in my AirPods and swayed on my bed while reading some more on some random topic for school.

Soon, I got a bit caught up and put down the book to dance. Mini left her pile of books on the floor, and I tripped over them.

I laid where I fell on the floor and just stared at the ceiling. I saw Aiden's face pop up above me.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," I smiled. I took out one of my AirPods and placed it next to my head.

"Why are you on the floor?" he asked.

"I fell while-" I stopped talking. Aiden didn't know I did dance. No one except my mom and I did.

"A Pandava should study or practice fighting, not dance," Boo would probably say.

"Shah, you're doing dance lessons? HAHAHAHA! That would be fun to see," Brynne would tease. Mini would say something about how many germs I could get from touching stuff, or how many diseases I could catch.

"While you were what?"

"Um, reading?" I tried.

"You fell on your back while reading and," he paused and took the airpod that was laying on the ground. "Listening to 'I wanna dance with somebody?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

He offered me his hand. I took it, and he helped me up. I glanced outside and it was dark and rainy. I looked at Aiden and he had a smile on his face.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"We are going to go dancing in the rain," he smiled even more.

"Aiden! I have never danced before, and like you just said, it's raining!" He took my hand and led me through the halls.

"I have a feeling you know more about dancing than you are letting on, Aru."

"All I know is the macarena!"

He stopped walking and faced me. "Are you lying to me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, nope. I don't dance. Never," I lied. I melted under his gaze.

He opened the front doors and took me outside. The sprinkling sound of the spring rain hitting the ground was magical. "We are going to get soaked!" I pouted.

"Then wear the sweatshirt I gave you a few weeks back."

I rolled my eyes because that was not my point. I threw on the sage green hoodie and walked outside. Aiden was still inside trying to find a song on his phone. I immediately felt the wet marble touch my feet.

I never thought of myself being a dancer. I'm a Pandava. I should focus on that. I leaned against a pillar.

"Who do I want to be?" I muttered.

I thought of what my teacher Jizelle always tells me. 'Dance like no one is watching. But if someone is, show them what you are made of. It doesn't matter if you don't have music, just dance to the rhythm in your head.'

I put in my AirPods and played 'Wow' by Zara Larsson.

I was just fooling around. The rain was swishing off my skin as I jumped and spun around. My legs suddenly gave out and I started to fall back, but someone caught me.

"Aru. Nice fooling around," Denver said.

"I'd like to see you do better," I laughed. I saw Aiden out of the corner of my eye but he didn't mind I was talking to Denver. I got back onto my feet and crossed my arms.

Denver did near the same thing as I did but in a more graceful way.

"You cheater! You did the same thing!"

"I did it better though," he smiled. He took my hand and spun me around then dipped me. I laughed because he made a funny face when he lifted me back up. I let go of his hand and I started to do one of the dance routines.

It included quite a few spins then jump things and it was hard.

I was out of breath, and I looked up to see three little kids on their porch were staring at me. I stopped breathing for a minute. What was their reaction going to be? They started jumping and clapping, and I let out a deep sigh.

I saw Aiden leave the doorway with Kara.

"Good job, Ru-Ru," Denver said as he started clapping his hands.

"What did we say about calling me Ru-Ru?"

He took my hand once more and spun me around. Our faces were inches apart. "Not to?"

"That's exactly what I said, Denny," I teased. We stayed in the same spot just looking into each other's eyes for about a minute until he pulled away.

"I have to go look after my siblings." He started to run down the street. "And Aru? Get inside, it's raining!"

Just then I remembered that Kara and Aiden just left. I mean Aiden had every right because I was dancing with some other boy, but why did they leave? What are they talking about or doing together?

The rain started tapping madly off of doors and windows so I ran inside. I could hear their muffled voices bouncing off of different walls. I tried going to the kitchen where it sounded the loudest but they weren't there. I went to all places of the museum, my mom's office, the waiting area, everywhere!

I looked at the hoodie I had on. It was normally warm and soft, but right now it was cold and heavy. I gave up on looking for Aiden and Kara. I had to trust him. He trusted me enough to leave me with Denver, so I need to return the favor, right?

I walked up to my room to change into another shirt when I realized that's where Wifey and Kara were. I stood against the wall near my door to listen to the conversation.

"Aru is a really good dancer," Kara complimented.

"Yeah, I have no idea where she learned to dance but she is good," Aiden replied.

"Do you know who the other boy is who she was dancing with?"

"Um, no. Never seen him before."

"They seemed kind of close. Did you see that almost kiss?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, but it's just a part of dance, I think."

"Whatever you say. Anyway, I wanted to bring up an idea that the other girls and I came up with."

"What?" Aiden asked.

"I know you and Aru just got into a relationship last week but," Kara said.

AN: I truly enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope y'all are ready to see more of Denver even though I have a feeling y'all won't like him.