Kennedy makes a face. "Fine. Bonnie can be your new best friend."
"She already is," I say with a grin.
"Well, Erin's my new best friend," Kennedy says, unwrapping the blanket with Erin.
"That so?" I ask.
Curtis watches our exchange with a furrowed brow but disguises it by busying himself with plastic cups.
"It's true," Erin pipes up, "we've already exchanged friendship bracelets." Her total lack of emotion makes her words funnier.
Everyone sits down, and Bonnie and I unwrap the food while Curtis pours the soft drink into plastic cups. The fish is covered in crunchy thick batter and on top of the crispy golden chips are potato cakes for Kennedy.
"I swear, years ago, the two of you had friendship bracelets," Bonnie says, pointing at Kennedy and me.
Kennedy howls with laughter. "No, not bracelets. Rings!"
"Rings?" Curtis echoes, looking more confused than ever. "Like engagement rings?"
That makes everyone, except Curtis, laugh.
"They were super cheap," Kennedy explains as everyone digs into the food.
"I don't remember them," I say.
"They were — what are they called — the ones that change colour?"
"Mood rings?" Erin asks.
Kennedy claps. "Mood rings!"
The memory of a black ring on my pointer finger dawns on me. From Kennedy's smile, she sees that I'm remembering.
"I used to cherish that ring," she says. "I thought it actually told me my mood."
"I think I still have mine somewhere," I say. "I'll find it when I get back."
"And do what with it?" Curtis asks, raising a brow.
"Maybe I should wear it," I say.
"Wear it?" he echoes.
"Yeah. Mood rings are in fashion at the moment."
"At the very least, you'll be in fashion with the Y2K aesthetic," Bonnie offers. "Or the E-boy look. But you almost look like an E-boy, anyway."
"You're going to wear it?" Curtis asks.
I know Kennedy said to be nice, but it's painful, putting a smile into every one of my sentences. "You're not the fashion police, are you?"
"You know what?" Kennedy interrupts. "I think I have my ring at home, too. I'll give it to you, so you can wear two." She picks up a chip and passes it to Curtis.
After a second, he takes it and lets himself get distracted by eating. The girls talk about current fashion trends, and while I try to pay attention, I can't help fuming.
The way Curtis spoke… Maybe I'm not a textbook boring-ass eighteen-year-old guy like him, but I can have character. I can wear mood rings if he wants.
I look at my hands and remember when I had black fingernails during the summer holidays. I had to remove the nail polish for school, because of the uniform policy, which is bullshit. But it's the holidays again.
