Aru first learnt play chess aged 7. Her mom had taught her with a chess set from a thrift store, before surprising her birthday with a brand new one. Aru loved that chess set more than anything, and every Friday, as long as Krithika wasn’t away, they would play a game of chess after school. It was usually the best part of each week.
Aru blinked. Her phone screen blinked as well. Your move. She swiped the bishop back, protecting her queen. The computer moved its knight, taking the pawn protecting her king. Checkmate. With a grumble, she switched off her phone. Sitting on garden wall at night playing chess was not a normal thing for Aru, but frankly, Aru was past caring. She stared over the shadow soaked hotel grounds. Aru was about to get up when she heard a scuffling noise behind her. She froze. She could sense someone standing behind her. Slowly, carefully Aru turned around to see...
“HI!” Kemi said.
“ARGH!” Aru screamed back. Kemi’s smile dropped.
“I was too quiet wasn’t I? I was going to say something earlier, but I didn’t want to disturb you. Sorry...” the girl rocked on her feet nervously. Her silhouette looked familiar somehow.
“No problem! Just made me jump is all.” Aru tried to reassure her. Kemi looked unconvinced. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Really? Um, yes!” Kemi jumped gracefully over the wall, before taking a seat. She picked at her black nail varnish and hummed to herself.
“Your pretty, by the way,” Kemi spoke suddenly. “Like really pretty.” Aru blinked.
“Oh, um, err,” Aru stuttered, “Thanks?”
“Your welcome,” Kemi smiled casually. “Do you want to be friends? If you don’t , that’s fine, no worries!”
“Yeah, sure, let’s be friends.”
“Great! I had a friend in middle school once, I almost killed her with jalapenos once. By accident. And now I’m over-sharing. I’ll stop now.”
There was a long pause.
“So,” Aru attempted to start a conversation, “Why are you out at ten o’clock?”
“Running,” Kemi answered, her face lighting up, “It’s one of my favourite things. After swimming. And basketball And tennis is great as well.”
“It sounds like you like sport more than whatever you were going to ask for in the scholarship.” Aru laughed. Kemi smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Yeah well, sport isn’t a perusable career according to my auntie. History is much better.” Kemi shrugged. “And it’s not like I’ll get the scholarship anyway. But I might as well try anyway.”
“What about your parents? Can’t you ask them?” Kemi picked at her nails more and wiped her face.
“No.” She said quietly.
"Why not? Shouldn't they get more of a say than your auntie?" Whoever that woman was, they did not sound like any of the aunties Aru knew.
“Their... Not around anymore.”
“Oh,” was all Aru could say. "I'm sorry."
“It’s ok, I never really knew them.” Kemi attempted a smile, but it looked more like a grim line. “It’s only a last name.” There was silence for a while.
“My dad’s not around anymore either.” Aru mumbled. “He left my mom before I was born. Lost interest probably. I only ever saw him once, when I was about 5. Chances are he got bored of ruining other people’s life so tried to ruin ours again.”
“Maybe he just cared about you?”
“Not enough to come back after that. And it’s alright, I have my mom.” Aru sighed.
“I’ve got my aunt. But most of the time I think she cares more about her shoe collection than me.” Kemi muttered. Neither spoke for another few minutes, until a beeping interrupted the silence.
“Oh shoot! I gotta go before my heart rate drops too far! Bye, friend!” Kemi hurdled over the wall and hit the ground jogging.
“Bye, Kemi.” Aru shouted back. That was an... Interesting conversation. Once Kemi started talking, she hadn’t really stopped. But she was friendly enough, so that’s what mattered.
~~~
There was a note left on the table when Aru got back to her room, similar to letter she had when she had first applied. It had been placed on her bed, just below her pillow, and stamped with an intricate seal. After changing quickly into her pyjamas, she laid back and read the letter.
To Miss Arundhati Shah,
Congratulations on completing the previous challenges, you have played incredibly well so far. With only 10 teams left, the competition, is at it’s peak!
Your next tasks will involve some travelling, so please pack 3 days worth of clean, comfortable clothing. You will not need more than that, unless you’re planning to be leaving the process. During the next challenge you will have to search Miami on a scavenger hunt, with cryptic clues, hard-to-find objects, and maybe even hidden traps. We wish you luck and hope that you can continue your journey in this competition further!
Best of luck,
Mr Spettro.
A letter from the curator. The man who started the competition. It was definitely getting serious.
But Aru knew what she was doing. And she wasn’t just in this for some scholarship; she had to win this. And she was going to. She was going to win this no matter what.
~~~
“An outdoor challenge? In the city? Gosh, how easy is it to watch her?” They laughed, a low, menacing laugh. “In fact, we hardly need you anymore,” they turned to their spy, whose face was set in the dim lighting.
“Our deal still stands, right? You signed the contract just like I did. You can’t back out, Shadow.” The spy arched an eyebrow, folding their arms.
“Wow, you sure have a mouth. You know what I could do to you, child.”
“And you know what I could do to you. The feds are on speed dial and you have, so much illegal activity to your name.” the spy paused to snigger, “A couple of clicks and you lose everything. I have no such problems.”
“Oh, really? Friends? Family?” The spy looked bored.
“Bold of you to assume I care about either.”
“Oh, of course, you don't have anyone left.” They watched as the face of their employee changed. “What? You think I don’t look into who I hire before I do so?”
The spy picked at their nails. “Just, keep your end of the bargain!” They said firmly.
They scoffed. “Your parents ever mention you have an attitude problem? Oh, right, yeah. You don't have any” They laughed harder. The spy didn’t.
“The bargain.” They repeated instead. "Keep your end."
“Don't worry sweetheart. I will,” They rolled their eyes at the spy’s sour expression. Was it that hard to take a joke?
Kemi sent him a glare. “Till the next meeting, boss.”
“Till, the next meeting, little spy.” Shadow sunk back into their seat and removed their mask, just as Kemi, their little secret agent rounded the corner.
Hi! How are you guys? Hope everything is going well!
Also, Kemi's conversation with Aru might be based on a bunch of different things my friends have said.
Byeee!
-Bea
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Brilliance - Aruden AU
FanfictionAru Shah's life is just getting better. Her mom had almost recovered from the past few years, she had finally finished middle school and she'd been selected to take part in the National Competition of Brilliance! The prize, a scholarship to the most...
