3rd Person
It was a cloudy autumn day in Atlanta, and Aru Shah was bored.
The sky was a misty shade of gray and even the usually colorful trees looked boring and dull. She had tried watching funny cat videos, tried baking a cookie -not cookies, but just one cookie-, and making a purple friendship bracelet for Mini. I bet you can guess. Everything failed miserably.
Aru was looking out the window in utter boredom when a loud crash echoed through the museum. She dashed out of her apartment and ran down the stairs into the lobby, where she was met with a surprising sight.
Greg's jaw was cracked open, a sign that it had been used recently. Sure enough, Brynne was marching across the lobby, headed for the stairs, with Mini and Aiden trailing behind her.
"Umm... what's happening?" Aru asked as she watched Brynne wordlessly make her way up the stairs and into the apartment.
Mini shrugged and said, "I don't really know."
Aru turned to Aiden.
He sighed. "Brynne's kitchen is being renovated, my mom is out of town, and Mini refuses to let us use her kitchen because she doesn't want us to start another"-he raised his hands for air quotes-"fire-"
"You mean the smoking toast two weeks ago?"
"Smoke inhalation is not something to laugh about!" Said an exasperated Mini. "In fact, it's the number one cause of death when it comes to fires. It can damage the body by causing asphyxiation, which leads to-"
"Anyway, Brynne is in my apartment because she's on a rampage." Aru guessed. "Was it the usual craving for Creme Brulee, or-"
"Three words. Gooey. Butter. Cake." Said Aiden bluntly.
"I'm listening."
"Brynne and I were chilling on the couch, she was scrolling around on Pinterest and suddenly she jumped up and showed me a picture of this cake. Then we were at Mini's and now here." Aiden finished, shrugging.
"So when you say "gooey butter cake", is it actually real butter or..." Aru trailed off. Just the name made her mouth water.
"Yeah, it's actually made of butter." Said Aiden, as they started walking back upstairs. "I watched a documentary about it a few weeks ago. Apparently it was invented in St. Louis, Missouri by this baker. He was really tired one morning-"
"Wow, imagine being tired."
"-And made a few mistakes while making his coffee cake, henceforth accidentally creating gooey butter cake. He made a few tweaks and served it to his customers. Everyone loved it and now it's served all over St. Louis. There's even this one restaurant that serves 74 flavors of it, and they ship it worldwide."
(An: all of that is actually true. My parents went to that restaurant for their anniversary and brought home some. My mom is obsessed with Gooey Butter Cake and we make it at least once a month. There's this chocolate pecan flavor that's just *chef's kiss👌* amazing.)
When they reached the kitchen, they found Brynne searching the cupboards frantically. "Where do you guys keep your freaking butter?" she asked, practically ripping open the fridge.
"Ummmm... I think we're out." Said Aru, already knowing and dreading the outcome of these fatal words.
Brynne suddenly reeled on her. "You're out of butter? How do you run out of butter? It's a basic pantry ingredient. It's like cardamom! Or Tillamook Mudslide Ice cream!!"
"I'm going to the store right now." Said Aru, trying to back pedal out of the conversation before Brynne started a tornado.
"Could I possibly come too?" Aiden asked. "I need to grab a few things for... my mom."
"Isn't your mom out of town?"
"She... umm... told me to always stay on top of the groceries! Yes."
"Okaaay," said Aru. "But you can only come along if you buy me a smoothie at the snack bar."
"Why do I have to- you do realize I could just go by myself, right?" Aiden said, getting a little annoyed by the whole thing.
"Yeah, but then you wouldn't have such great company!"
"Uggh, fine. But only one smoothie. We don't have time to spend ten minutes deciding on a flavor. Besides, we have to get back before Brynne has a butter meltdown." (getit?)
"Okay, let's go, Wifey!" yelled Aru, grabbing her shoes and starting to wedge them on.
"Um, Aru?" Squeaked Mini, automatically raising her hand. "You're still wearing pajamas."
Aru looked down at her Iron Man outfit. "What's wrong with my pajamas?"
Mini gave her the look.
"Fiiiiiine." sighed Aru, kicking off her shoes and rolling her eyes. She went into her room and changed into ripped jeans and a cropped shirt that said "I solemnly swear I am up to no good".
She stalked back into the room and posed dramatically. "Good enough?"
Mini nodded, beaming. "Our little girl's growing up!"
Aru grabbed her phone and wallet. "Alright, Wifey." she said, handing them to him to store in his satchel/purse. "Let's make like a dog and-"
"Shah, NO."
"FLEA!!!" she cackled, and ran out the door before anyone could catch her.
One eternity later (one hour):
"WE'RE BAAACK!!!" Aru kicked open the door to the apartment and set the grocery bags on the counter. Mini looked up from where she was playing Scrabble with Brynne. "Oh, hi!"
"I see you two have found a way to entertain yourselves." Said Aru, leaning against the counter.
Mini smiled and pushed her glasses further up her nose. "Yep, but I think the fact that I'm creaming Brynne isn't really helping her mood."
Brynned scowled. "She was cheating! There's no way "Acantha-something" is an actual word."
"It's Acanthamoeba, and it is a word." Mini corrected. "It's a disease that can cause rare but severe infections to the eye, skin, and-"
"Okay, okay, fine. But I want a rematch tomorrow!" Grumbled Brynne. "But for now, I'm going to blow you guys away with a heavenly invention called gooey butter cake!!"
Aiden moved out of the way as Brynne started whipping up a storm, literally and figuratively.
Two hours, one kitchen disaster, and one full watching of Onward later, Brynne tromped triumphantly into the room, carrying a plate that was stacked high with little fudgy golden brown squares.
She passed her beautiful creation around, and smiled proudly as the other Potatoes' eyes lit up.
"This is literally heaven." Said Aiden, nibbling at his delicately.
Aru nodded enthusiastically. "Brynne, I'll take a dozen of these cakes to go." She said, helping herself to another piece. "I need this every day for the rest of my life."
Everyone laughed and agreed. They stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon, talking, laughing, driving each other crazy, and stuffing themselves with baked goods.
Just another normal afternoon for the Potatoes.
Man, writing Mini's character has got me googling some weird things.
And every time I read or write about the Potatoes' hang outs, I get really jealous. They sound like so much fun, and just the right amount of drama, sarcasm, and Aru humor. The perfect group of friends. And the coolest thing is that that's not even all. They're demigods on top of that. I want to meet them so bad.
Help you guys, I'm addicted.
Hope you liked the chapter, comment if you did.
Don't let the muggles get you down!
-Aminha14