“Should we say sorry?”
Aru shook her head. “I think if we make a big deal out of it, it’ll only be worse.”
Mini nodded.“Did you know his parents were splitting up?”
“I didn’t put it together until now,” said Aru.
But she had noticed there was something off about the Acharya household. It seemed like every time his dad’s car pulled into the driveway, Aiden would leave the house, his camera slung over his shoulder. His mom, Malini, rarely smiled at anyone.
Wow, Shah, you reallyarea stalker, she told herself.
I am observant, Aru thought.Huge difference.
And you talk to yourself.
Aru grumbled.
“It must suck for your family to break up,” said Mini sadly.
Aru didn’t know what to say to that. She partially agreed with Mini. The divorce had to be hard for Aiden. But she didn’t agree that it meant his family was broken. Lots of kids at school had divorced parents, and not all families needed a dad anda mom to be whole. Some had two dads, or two moms, or just one parent, or no parent at all. It wasn’t like her family, with just her and her mom living in a museum with a bunch of statues, was exactly “standard.” And anyway, families weren’t like a box of standardized-test-taking number two pencils. Families were like a box of assorted-color Sharpie markers: different, kinda stinky (but not ina bad way), and permanent whether you liked it or not.
They passed through the border between the Otherworld and the human world, which looked like a thick, rolling fog. Time had moved forward in the mortal realm. Weak morning sunlight streamed across their skin. They were still surrounded by a barrier of magic, but to Aru it seemed as flimsy as frost on a windowpane and just as easy to see through.As the gazelles loped down highways and pranced across the tops of billboards, their delicate hooves sometimes bounced off the barrier with a sharp bell-like chime.
When they were barely ten feet away from a minivan with a bored kid inside, Aru asked, “Can they see us?”
“Nah,” said Aiden. “Watch.”
The kid was more or less looking in their direction. Aiden waved his hands wildly and pulled hisface into strange expressions. No reaction.
Arulaughed, then did the same … and maybe the light caught her, because the kid started pointing and screaming.
“Uh-oh,” said Aru. She tugged up the reins, pulling the gazelle higher. Oh well. Maybe she’d livened up someone’s game of I Spy at least.
Soon they arrived at a little park. Below, the trees were bare and ice sleeved the branches. The gazellesgently lowered themselves to the ground, and Aru and her three companions found themselves in a clearing in front of a gleaming green sign that saidLOVES PARK,ILLINOIS.
“We’re alongway fromA-T-L,” said Aiden. He rolled up his sleeves, and for the first time Aru noticed twin leather bands around his wrists. Before she could ask about them, the trees started changing right in front of theireyes. Blossoms burst from the branches. The pale sky transformed into a sheet of vivid blue. Puffy white clouds rolled above them and sparkling sunshine drenched the world.Nowit looked like the home of the god of love.
The three of them slid off the gazelles, gaping in astonishment. It was as if they’d skipped winter and gone straight to spring in a matter of seconds. After bowing, the gazellesopened their mouths at the same time and said, “The temperature is sixty-three degrees Fahrenheit, seventeen degrees Celsius. The southeast winds are blowing at six miles per hour, and the humidity is forty-three percent. All in all, favorable conditions in Loves Park. Fair winds, Pandavas!”
“I’m not a Pandava! I just got special clearance or whatever!” Aiden called, but the gazelles had alreadydisappeared.
“Why is it spring here?” asked Aru, looking around.
Aidensnapped a photo of the scenery. “Probably because we’re close to Kamadeva. He’s the god of love, and love is supposed to feel like eternal spring.”
Aru and Mini exchanged a look. Mini smothered a laugh, and Brynne glowered.
“Aiden, are all your Instagram captions Ed Sheeran lyrics?” asked Aru.
Aiden rolled his eyes. “It’sjust something my mom told me.”
“Aiden’s anartist,” said Brynne, but she said it likear-teest. “That’s just how he thinks.”
Aru mimickedar-teestin her head for a good five seconds. Love like eternal spring? No thanks. Her favorite season was autumn, but she didn’t want love to feel like that. It would be crunchy and orange. Or worse … pumpkin-spice-flavored.
Mini rubbed her eyes. “Ugh,spring. My allergies are acting up. I can already feel my eyes getting watery and I don’t have tissues—”
Aiden reached into his camera bag and pulled out a tiny packet of Kleenex. Mini squealed with delight.
