Brilliance - Aruden AU

7- par-TAY

Aru's pov--

If you mentioned a party to Aru, she would usually run in the other direction.

Ok maybe not run, but she would much rather watch TV on the sofa with Mini and gossip about celebrities than... Do whatever it is you do at parties.

She didn't get out much.

But, she did have high hopes for Nikita's meet up. She was pretty sure that Nikki wouldn't do anything as tasteless as a normal teenage party. And she was also quite sure that Sheela wouldn't let her run an underground crime scene. It seemed like a comfortable in-between.

So, here she was, standing with Mini in the elevator (stairs are more deadly) and on her way to Nikita's room.

After the speech, everyone had checked into the hotel rooms, ordered room service, and chilled out. Aru, Aiden and Rudy were all on the same floor, with Aiden and Rudy having conjoined rooms, while Mini, Brynne, and Hira were below and Kemi, Joshua and the twins were above.

Anyways, Aru had settled in, re-tied her braid, and waited for Mini to swing by.

The hotel was like something out of a movie. Each corridor wall was lined with crystal chandeliers and plush carpets decorated the floors. Even the elevator was extravagant, with gold panels engraved with intricate patterns. And according to Mini...

"The accident and emergency here is great! I called some of the medics earlier and they were super friendly -"

"Mini, how did you call the medics?" Aru asked.

"I have my ways," Mini laughed, becoming interested in her nails, before talking in a more serious tone.
"How's your mom?"

Aru sighed and stepped out of the elevator. "Good. Better, at least."

About half a year ago, her mom had gone weirdly paranoid. She'd added 2 extra locks to each door, hardly ever slept, and even shut the museum in case someone came in. Of course, Aru had never known who that someone was. Her mom was worried enough without Aru adding to it. But all of it had eased off now, so the threat must have passed.

"Well, that's good! I'm glad she's better." Mini smiled.

"Sooooo," Aru attempted to change the subject, "how's Rudy?"

Mini managed to pale and blush within 5 seconds.

"I, uh, good, I imagine," Mini stuttered and tried to cover her beet-red face, "it's not like we've been texting for the last half an hour or anything, or something else like that,"

Aru grinned wickedly. "Sounds like someone has a crush..."

"No! I just like his music, and his personality, and his face." Mini paused. "Okay, I have a crush."

Aru's evil grin widened. "Yes! You admit it! This is going to make getting you together so much easier."

Mini changed the subject. "How's Aiden?"

"He's Aiden." Aru grumbled.

Mini's face scrunched up before her expression dawned in understanding. "Is he that Aiden?"

"Yup."

"Oh." Mini said. "You should really talk to him about that. I don't understand how he could go from being so nice to just..." She mimed an explosion.

"Neither do I! But I don't know how to talk about that sort of stuff. It's not like I can get out a bowl of chips and say 'hey, you made my life suck for 'bout a year, wanna chat about it?'"

Mini was quiet for a while. "You could give him a chance though. And if he is as much of a dufus as you thought, I'll buy some low-sugar ice-cream and we can talk about it?" She offered gently.

Aru smiled gratefully at her best friend. Mini always knew exactly what to say. They walked in silence until they arrived at Nikita's room.

"Hi guys!" Sheela swang round the door, beaming at them. "Glad you could come!"

She beckoned them in smiling.

Aru looked around. Considering there was only one room, Nikita had gone all out. Somehow, the stylish twin had managed to fill the room with balloons, fairy lights and even a disco ball.

"Wow." She heard Mini whisper next to her.

Wow fit it perfectly. It was beautiful.

"Quite nice, right?" Aru spun round to see Nikita herself, glowing with pride. "It took the whole afternoon."

"Really cool!" Aru agreed. Nikita grinned at her just as Brynne turned around from the sofa.

"Hey! You ready to start the movie yet?" She asked, a bowl of chips in hand.

Movies? Ok, this was definitely Aru's type of party.

Sheela hurtled herself over the sofa while simultaneously switching the TV to Disney and grabbing a handful of chips. Niki walked round to sit beside her.

"Let me guess, Disney Channel?"

"Don't diss the Disney Channel," Sheela retorted, " and I was going to put on Marvel anyways."

"Ooh-ooh, put on the new one!" Aru piped up, copying Sheela's sofa volting move.

"The marvels?"

"I heard it's good," Kemi added. She'd combed back her hair into two afro puffs, but hid behind a visor instead.

"Kamala fangirls over Carol for, like, 5 minutes straight," Hira pointed out, "that makes a good movie if I have ever heard of one."

"Marvels it is!" Sheela said descicively, switching on the movie.

They all got settled down and put on the movie which was, as Aru anticipated, epic.

It was one of the most fun evening Aru had had in a long time - besides her Lord of the Rings binge fest. Everyone had chatted and laughed like it they'd known eachother for years. And Aru had even made friends. Real friends.

Definitely a good party.

So um, I'm sorry about not updating for forever...

I had exams (blech) and just wasn't sure to write.

Hope you liked anyway!