Page 124 of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

“Don’t slouch!” Nikita scolded. “You’re ruining the angle of the outfit! And stop doing that!”

“What?” asked Aru. “Breathing?”

“Do it more elegantly.”

Aru responded by tweaking Nikita’s nose.

Nikita was not amused.

Security was still too tight for Kara and Aru to have invited their human friends from high school, but the museum was plenty full, with classmates from the Otherworld, Rudy’s “posse” of naga friends—who kept getting distracted by products of human ingenuity, like staplers—and a few adults. Gunky and Funky, plus Sheela and Nikita’s parents, had insisted on “monitoring” them, which Aru thought was a little rude, but fine.

Honestly, things were going pretty well until Aru saw Kara tap Aiden on the shoulder. Aiden was the only one who hadn’t wished Aru a happy birthday yet. Sure, he’d sung the song and clapped along with everyone else, but that was the bare minimum anyone had to do at a birthday party! Aru wassurehe was going to say something to her. When she’d walked down the stairs, she could’ve sworn that he looked a little stunned for a moment.

Apparently, she was wrong.

Aiden bent down so Kara could whisper something in his ear. After a moment, he nodded toward the Hall of the Gods exhibit, which was supposed to be off-limits for guests….

Aru watched them leave, her stomach flipping.

Let them go, said part of her.

FOLLOW THEM AND FIND OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING!screamed the other part.

Aru swayed a bit, and then, with a loud huff, she wove in and out between her guests and silently followed Aiden and Kara.

She crouched behind a pillar near a mural showing the Pandava brothers in mid-battle. Aru had never liked looking at the painting—it was kinda gory, and Arjuna was super muscly and Aru was decidedlynot—but now she didn’t have a choice. She found herself face-to-face with Karna, the half brother of the Pandavas, and the sworn enemy of Arjuna.

She pushed the mural out of her thoughts as she strained to hear Aiden and Kara’s conversation over the pulsing sounds of Rudy’s music. Here and there, she caught bits and pieces…small talk about the weather and the party.

Boringggg, thought Aru, followed byWhat about me?

One of the nearby statues, a depiction of the god Krishna playing his lute, seemed to cast a scolding look at her.

Oh, c’mon, thought Aru.You’d want to know, too.

Maybe it was Aru’s imagination, but the statue looked at her a little huffily, as if saying,Would not!

“I like you,” said Kara, laughing a little. “I don’t like keeping secrets or holding stuff in, and so I…I wanted to tell you.”

Aru’s stomach twisted. There it was. The thing she always knew, and now she’d made herself hear it. What was she doing here, lurking among the statues? She should leave. She should get back to her own birthday party and steal the cake and—

“Oh,” said Aiden. He sounded confused. “Kara…I’ve always thought of you as a friend. Agoodfriend, you know? I don’t want to ruin that—”

Wait, what?Aru tried to crane her neck, but she couldn’t see beyond Krishna, who was blocking her with that sternSTOP SNOOPING!Face. Aru caught another muffled exchange, a loud sniff, and then Kara stormed out of the hall. A pang of sorrow hit Aru. She felt bad that Kara had been hurt, but—and maybe this made her a little terrible—she also felt relieved that she wasn’t the only person who had been rejected by Aiden I-Only-Like-My-Camera Acharya.

Time to go, thought Aru.

She scuttled like a crab from behind one of the statues. She’d made it a couple of feet when a shadow fell over her. Aru looked up to see Aiden standing there, peering down as if he couldn’t decide if he should laugh or scowl.

“Whatare you doing?” asked Aiden.

“Nothing!” said Aru, shooting up to her feet.

“I can see that,” said Aiden. A moment later, he backed away, that familiar coldness closing up his expression. He averted his eyes and mumbled “I gotta go…” as he moved past her.

That’s it, thought Aru. She’d had enough.

“What’s your problem lately?” she blurted.