Aru 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...
The limo was as awesome on the inside as on the outside. The seats were a deep teal colour and the walls was lined with dark stained wood. Even the ceiling looked cool, decorated with turquoise lights, like blue stars. (Image below)
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Aru could hardly believe that this was happening. She was standing in a limousine on her way to the biggest competition in the country that could change her life forever. She half expected that someone was going to shake her awake. To be sure it was real, she pinched herself, extra hard. The result was surprisingly painful. Note to self: just flick yourself next time.
A voice knocked her out of her thoughts. A very familiar voice.
"Aru?"
"No. Frickin'. Way." Aru replied. "YAMINI KAPOOR-MERCADO-LOPEZ!!!!!"
"ARUNDHATI SHAH! - also we'll talk about your language later -"
Aru ran towards the other girl, about to tackle her into a hug, before stopping short and stretching out her elbow. Mini bumped it approvingly.
"I knew you could do it!" Mini said happily, pushing her gold-rimmed glasses up her nose. "And you don't look overly stressed either! If you're stressed that could lead to insomnia, and loss of sleep can affect your brain's ability to process and reason, resulting in unstable decisions and eventually..."
"Death?" Aru answered, smirking at her friend.
"I was going to say comatose, but death works too!" Mini replied, "Did you bring your sanitizer like I told you to?"
"Umm... I used it all up already?" Aru lied.
She'd actually tried to cook an egg in it, but Mini didn't need to know that.
"Okaaay theeeen," Mini said slowly, "I brought 5 extra bottles just incase anyway."
Kara poked her head round the door.
"Ok guys, we're about to start moving now, so everyone take a seat and get to know each other!" After a cheesy thumbs up, she disappeared to the driver's seat.
Once she was gone, Aru looked around the car for a seat. There was only one spot in the corner... And it was right next to Aiden. She had almost forgotten about him being there.
Almost.
Aru shuffled into the seat, trying to get as far away from Aiden as possible - which went crushing her face against the wall, because they were a bit short on space. She noticed him smirking at her out of the corner of her eye.
"What?" She demanded, letting her Irritable-Morning-Person Aru kick in.
He gestured to Mini. "I didn't know you still had emotions."
More than you know, Aru thought bitterly.
But she didn't say anything. Instead, she shot him a look that wiped the smirk off his face and went back to ramming her head into the wall.
