"You've sailed before?" Bonnie asks.
"Yeah, at a school camp in Year 8. We all did." I gesture to Kennedy and Curtis.
"Great!" Erin says, bringing her hands together. "You'll have experience, then."
Kennedy nods, a big smile on her face. Beside her, Curtis looks pale. "I don't."
"Didn't you do it at camp?" Kennedy asks.
"I was…" he coughs. "I was sick that day."
"Not to worry," Erin says, "they'll explain everything there, and you sail in groups, so you'll have someone to help you."
"The Harding family loves sailing," Bonnie explains. "Our grandfather has a sailboat, so Erin and I have sailed a lot — Kennedy too, when she comes down to visit him." Kennedy's grandparents on her father's side — the Bonnie and Erin and textile company side — live in Brighton, a suburb in Melbourne by the beach. "Erin wasn't sure if we could go — the business is pretty busy — but they confirmed the booking this morning," Bonnie finishes.
"What time are we leaving?" Kennedy asks.
Erin checks her watch. "We have to drive to the next town, so… in the next hour?"
"Sounds good," I say.
Kennedy touches Curtis's arm. "Hey, are you happy to go?"
He looks around the table and sees all of us staring at him. He swallows. "Oh, yeah. Definitely."
Everyone finishes their breakfast and starts cleaning up. I follow Curtis and Kennedy to the sink with my finished bowl of cereal in my hands.
"Do we need bathers?" Curtis murmurs to Kennedy.
Kennedy shakes her head. "You won't be in the water. Just wear normal clothes, and something warm. It'll be chilly out on the wind."
Curtis nods, a small frown still on his lips.
I'm about to jump between them and suggest the possibility of capsizing when Kennedy gets up on her tippy-toes and kisses Curtis, which surprises him. By the time he reacts, Kennedy has already pulled away and started loading the dishwasher.
Curtis turns and looks at me.
I avert my eyes.
*
An hour and fifteen minutes later, the five of us are in the car, Erin driving as fast as she can without passing the speed limit. "God damn it, Bonnie, you don't need to put on makeup to go sailing!" Erin says from the front seat.
"It wasn't just me who made us late! Besides, you're wearing makeup too. And so is Kennedy," Bonnie says from where she sits beside me. When we were piling in the car, Bonnie wanted to sit in the back, so Kennedy offered to sit in the front.
According to the laws of car space, it'd be best for the smallest person to be in the middle seat, but when we were getting into the car, Bonnie got in last, which means I'm squished between her and Curtis. I'm trying to keep my legs tucked in so I don't invade anyone else's space, but god, it's uncomfortable.
"I concede, it's a tiny bit my fault too," I say.
Kennedy shoots me a look. "Did you need to style your hair when we were supposed to leave?"
"Style your hair?" Curtis echoes. His words make me jump a little — he's been pretty quiet on the car ride so far. All morning, actually.
I gesture to my hair, dishevelled a little, but not too much. It's a fine balance. "Do you think this occurs naturally?" I ask him. "And Kennedy, hair is very important. Come on, you know that."
Even with her head facing the road, I know her well enough to know she's rolling her eyes and smiling.
"You guys," Erin huffs. "It's not a fashion show."
