"I know," Kennedy says. "Perhaps, we could conspire with one of them."
Is she talking about Liam? After the sailing trip, he seems pretty indifferent to the idea of Kennedy and me dating. The idea of Kennedy and I being intimate might weird him out, but if Kennedy asked him, he'd help her.
"Like who?" I ask.
"I'm thinking Bonnie. It wouldn't be weird, right? She can keep a secret."
I let out a subtle breath. "Yeah. Maybe Bonnie can suggest they go… surfing or something. They're pretty close."
"They are, aren't they?"
I think of Liam's secret crush, which I haven't been able to stop thinking about since he told me. It's like an itch I can't scratch or a puzzle I can't solve. "Do you think that maybe… Liam has a crush on Bonnie?"
Kennedy's brows jump up. "Why do you think that?"
"I don't know if I think that," I say. "But you said yourself that they're pretty close. They get along."
Kennedy's eyes shift to the distance. "I don't know if Bonnie likes Liam that way, but I'm pretty sure Liam only sees her as a friend."
"Really?"
Kennedy looks back at me, frowning. Her eyes run over my face, up to my hair, and then down the front of my shirt. I look down, worrying that I've spilt something. But no, my shirt is fine.
"Kennedy?" I ask because she hasn't answered.
Kennedy bites her pinkie nail. "I doubt it," she says, after a moment. "As far as I'm aware, Bonnie's not his type."
We settle into a strange silence as we eat our lunch, and I force that recent exchange from my mind because attempting to untangle it will give me a headache. While I eat, my eyes pass over the other patrons in the restaurant. There are families with pre-teen or teenage children having happy conversations. There are middle-aged couples too, but mostly there are young couples and groups of friends in their twenties, who check their phones scarily often.
Everyone looks happy and relaxed. If they looked at Kennedy and me, they'd think we're an adorable high school couple. I know the type of looks adults would give us — patronising smiles and questions about Year 12 and our plans for university.
My eyes slide to Kennedy, who's taking a sip of water. Has she thought about our future, about what will happen when we graduate from high school?
"How's your family?" I ask, then remember I asked the same question two days ago.
"Yeah, though Erin does most of the talking — reassuring my parents and my aunt and uncle that we're all okay. Actually, there's a bit of family drama. Our grandparents want us to visit them for Easter even though we already told them we would be here for the whole holidays."
"So what's going to happen?"
"Erin's still trying to tell them and her parents that we won't go. She hates disappointing them."
"It's only a couple of hours' drive, right?" I say, visualising a map of the state in my mind. Melbourne isn't too far from here.
"I'd rather stay here, and we have you and Liam with us. I don't want to drag you two to our family's Easter gathering because I doubt you guys would enjoy it, and I don't think my grandparents would be that pleased either, especially as they go on and on about how the holidays are for family," Kennedy says. "They've got nothing against you, though. I'm sure if you met them —"
"No, I know what you mean. That makes sense," I say. The idea of meeting Kennedy's extended family makes my palms sweaty.
"I'm waiting for Erin to grow a pair and tell them no. I can't blame her though — she's been a goody-two-shoes all her life."
We settle into silence again, and I try to think of something to say. I pick at my salad.
"So," Kennedy says after a few minutes. "How's your investing book?"
"I finished that one, and I also finished one about the property market." I open my mouth, ready to give her the same spiel I gave Liam about real estate in Australia, but remember that Kennedy's not interested in that stuff. "Now I'm reading one about mindset and how that relates to wealth."
"So is the book just saying, think about being rich?"
"Well, kind of, but there's more nuance. It's about not only thinking positively but financial stress and anxiety and how that can cause… never mind. It's pretty interesting."
