A collection of Aru Shah stories: Aruden, Mindy, AUs, Potatoes, chaos, this is cheesy I don't know how to write a description so just read it please :P
⚠ All of the characters belong to Roshani Chokshi and I don't own the cover art! ⚠
The only other wedding Aru had been to was when her second-cousin-once-removed had fallen in love with a guy who presumably wrote her love poems in Elvish, which Aru had thought tremendously romantic. Still, she had never met that particular second-cousin-once-removed, and had felt as if she wasn't supposed to be there.
Aru had the same miserable feeling one hour into this present celebration- the wedding of her mom's best friend in high school. Sure, it was a sunny day and the decorations were nice and there was plenty of food to keep her happy, but the only person she had really talked to was an uncle whom she didn't remember, but who apparently recalled all the embarrassing stories from when she was a kid.
At least her cousin's wedding had been in October.
This wedding was in June.
June.
Aru could see the beads of sweat dripping off all the guest's faces from her perch on a chair in the shade. It was 5pm, basically the hottest part of the day. She took another sip of her water-in-a-champagne-glass and did her best impersonation of that Leonardo De Caprio meme just to entertain herself.
All in all she was glad she had remembered to apply deodorant that morning. Everyone at the wedding looked great, especially her mom if she did say so herself. They had gone shopping together for their wedding attire earlier that week.
Round white-clothed tables were set up on the green lawn, and lanterns were hung decoratively on the trees. Flower bouquets donned on each of the tables, and at the side, a large charcuterie of meats, cheeses, crackers, fruits, and desserts sat calling to her.
Sighing, Aru got up and ambled over to the buffet. She stood next to the table, surprisingly not very hungry, and began people-watching. There was the uncle, slapping someone on the back and laughing, a little girl tugging on the hem of her mother's dress and whining, and the bride, whispering something into Krithika's ear and giggling.
Aru turned around and rammed right into someone, nearly spilling water on her dress.
"Ah, I'm so sorry!" A familiar voice gasped.
Aru's head snapped up.
"Aiden?"
Aiden's eyes widened. "Aru? What are you doing here?"
"...Not spilling water on myself?"
Aiden smiled. "I wish I could say the same for me." He gestured to a wet stain on the sleeve of his dress shirt. Aru snickered.
"Don't worry about it," She said, shrugging. "There's still that tea stain from the last movie night on my bag." She raised her purse, displaying the corner where the beverage soaked through.
Aiden nodded. "I guess we're even then." He paused for a moment. "You look nice."
Heat bloomed across Aru's cheeks like a tea stain of surprise. Her mouth opened slightly before settling into a smile. "Really?"
Aiden got awkward, his hand traveling to the back of his head. It was really cute. "I mean, yeah. I like your dress, it looks really good on you. Brings out your eyes." He looked away at this, hiding the red of his own face.
Aru's dress:
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Aru looked down at her hands which were gripping her purse tightly. She felt happy. So very happy. Her thoughts were all muddled and she felt like she was floating, and she couldn't suppress the smile that burst out on her face.
"Thank you," she replied, trying not to sound as surprised and pleased as she was. "You look great too."
It was true. Aiden was wearing the usual black washout jeans, but also a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up (again, it was June) and his dark hair was perfectly floppy as always. His midnight eyes met hers for a brief moment, before they both quickly looked away.
A warmth filled an empty space in her chest, and for a moment, Aru forgot she was at a sticky, miserable wedding. Her heart was practically vibrating like a hummingbird, and the chatter and gossip of the crowd faded in comparison.
So, so happy.
"So." Aiden said. "What are you doing here?" They began walking to a table, where they sat down and started picking at the assorted finger food.
Aru could have laughed, but quickly decided that would be embarrassing. "The bride is my mom's best friend from high school." She gestured to the table where the happy couple sat, and the two beautiful women smiling and prattling away. "I just came along for the food." She popped a grape into her mouth.
Aiden smiled. "Of course. Wait. Did you say best friends from high school?"
Aru nodded.
He made a suspicious face. "But she was my mom's best friend from high school."
They both turned to look at the couple's table. The bride was speaking to the groom and Krithika and Malini were now talking and laughing and clinking each other's champagne glasses.
Aru's and Aiden's eyes narrowed, but then they looked back at each other, shrugged, and clinked their own water glasses.
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Prompt for this chapter: Aiden compliments Aru like a normal person for once!
I named this chapter in honor of June, my favorite month (It's just a great month!). But yeah, kind of a short chapter but I hope you guys enjoyed. See you next time!
