When Kai saw me, his face lit up. I saw the spark of recognition in his eyes, the slow, unfurling smile.
It had been a week since the questions game, and somehow, having a date on our impending official romance had made it easier to be around Kai. I no longer felt the pressure of wondering if it was the moment to make things official. Instead, Kai and I could just be, and as long as we were being together, no one would question it when July 23rd rolled around.
I laughed when I saw him. Be, Valerie. Swimming carnival day was known for colourful costumes, and it was immediately evident that Isabelle had been a consultant and executor of Kai's. Red stick-on gems accentuated his high cheekbones, and some sort of spray-on red hair colour had been liberally applied onto his hair. It didn't blend particularly well with his jet-black hair; it looked more like a dusting of red powder sitting atop the strands. He was wearing a red t-shirt and plain black board shorts that were clearly all the effort he'd intended to put into his costume, but it was complimented by an Izzy-style set of glittery red fairy wings strapped to his back, and he was carrying some sort of fairy wand that seems to double as a water pistol to shoot passersby.
"Nice sparkles, Mariposa," I said when I reached him, flicking the fairy wing with a snort.
"Her wings are pink, actually," Kai corrected, with the air of someone who didn't mind it being public knowledge that he was an expert on all things Barbie. "I'm clearly Ruby the Red Fairy from Rainbow Magic."
"Either way, you look very pretty."
"So do you, but you don't need the sparkles for that."
I grinned, and hoped that the casual expression hid the flutter in stomach, like Kai's fairy wings flapping in time with my heartbeat. "Your shameless hussy is showing."
"I think the wings and glitter add to my sex appeal. Thoughts?"
"I want you, I need you, oh baby, oh baby," I quoted. When he grinned, I pinched his wing. "And yes, you should definitely pull out this ensemble next time you want to impress a girl. I see wings and sparkles and think, wow, that looks like a good time."
"You clearly had a very different experience of watching Tinkerbell than I did."
I tweaked his wing affectionately, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a casual hug. He had waited for me on a patch of grass near the corner of the pool. The Carnival was busy enough that most people were too distracted with their own friends to pay us any attention, but there were enough eyes on us that a casual hug and obvious flirting was a good idea. And, if I was honest with myself, it was easy to keep up the act. Flirting with Kai seemed to be my natural state around him; I wouldn't even know what our friendship would look like without the flirting. I wondered if we'd still be like this—flirty, joking—when this was all over.
"You going in for any events today?" I asked.
"100 metre butterfly," said Kai. He pointed to his back. "Izzy thinks she's funny."
"The fairy wings could be an unfair advantage," I told him solemnly. "So could the glitter actually. You might blind the opposition with your sparkles."
"You're right. I'm sparkly because I'm so cutthroat and competitive. Not because I don't know how to say no to my sister."
"To your credit, she's hard to say no to."
Kai grinned. "You should see what she has in store for Will. He's going to hate it."
"He could just say no."
"He won't," said Kai. "He's never been able to say no to her either. You going in for anything today?"
"Yeah. I think I'll do freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and novelties." At Kai's curious look, I shrugged. "I like swimming."
"Do you swim a lot?"
"Sure. I mean, I'm no Aurora Anderson, but I go okay."
Aurora was a girl in our year level, and so naturally blessed at everything it almost seemed unfair. She didn't often care enough to bother, but if someone asked her—usually her best friend, Cameron—she'd always give it a go and wipe everyone else out of the water. It was almost a blow to everyone's collective pride to be so soundly thumped by a girl who didn't seem to mind at all whether she won or not. But she was friendly enough that no one held it against her.
"You can borrow the wings, if you like," Kai offered.
"No way, Winx Club. You're not pawning your beautiful costume on me."
He chuckled, and his hand came up to rest on the curve of my lower back, guiding me through the clusters of our colourfully costumed classmates, sitting on the grass with various picnic spreads on blankets and pool floaties and noodles strewn around them.
"C'mon, the others are set up round the back," he said.
I liked the feel of Kai's hand on me, more than I probably should for such a casual gesture. Enough so that I was faintly disappointed when he moved his hand to point out Jamie, Will, Seb and Cora already sitting beneath the shade of a tree.
Cora had clearly organised our picnic, because the food was elaborate and laid-out in the kind of aesthetic perfection that only Cora could achieve. It was an Instagram-inspo worthy charcuterie type of thing.
"Hey, guys," I said, dropped into the spot beside Cora. "This looks amazing, Cor."
Cora blushed. "Thanks."
As with the food, and almost everything else in Cora's life, she had gone all-out with her costuming. Swimming Carnival never had the detailed costuming of Athletics Day—because the hard work would be ruined by the completely-submerged-in-water thing—but Cora had somehow managed to find a costume that made her look both stunning, on-theme, over-the-top and practical. She was in blue house, and had fashioned a mermaid tail out of a shimmering blue fabric that clung to her hips and parted in the middle of her legs to let her kick. She was wearing a blue Ariel-esque bikini top with intricate bead-work that made the cups look like two shells, and her hair was pinned into two braids woven with clips fashioned to look like seaweed. She looked like a mermaid princess, and even though it was totally extra, it was so Cora that I couldn't help but smile.
It made my own gold team attempt look pathetic, given I was just wearing a plain gold swimsuit with two glittering metallic streaks of waterproof paint on my cheekbones that Aurora Anderson had offered me on the bus when she was done applying her own. And given that I had no desire to prance around for the day wearing nothing but bathers, I was also sporting a white crochet dress that hid most of my gold memorabilia. Even Kai was more decked out than me, even if it was mostly against his will.
At least I'd done more than either Seb or Will; the former wearing plain black board shorts and a white t-shirt with RED TEAM hastily scrawled in Sharpie across the front and Cora's red scrunchy on his wrist, and the latter in multicoloured board shorts that didn't seem to signal allegiance to any particular house.
Jamie, in green house, had gone almost as all-out as Cora, though his effort was far less well put-together. But his green... fish boy?... outfit was mostly spoiled by his tense shoulders and the can of bug spray clutched tightly in his hands, as his eyes darted from left to right.
"They're really not that bad," said Seb, patting Jamie's shoulder. "I promise."
Jamie glared at his friend. "Ladybirds are the spawn of the devil and so is anyone who consorts with them."
"I always thought it was ladybug."
"It's definitely ladybird," said Cora.
"It doesn't matter what they're called," said Jamie loftily. "They're evil. And not in the cool and sexy way; they're disgusting evil, like Voldemort or Sauron or anyone who wears white to a wedding. What's it called when you commit genocide against a race of animals? Because someone should get on that. The speckled fucks have got to go."
"Jamie has a ladybug phobia," Kai told me, by way of explanation, sprawling on the picnic blanket beside me.
His legs were so long that it was impossible for him to stretch out, and he looked like a twisted, disgruntled turtle with his legs tucked pretzel-like beneath him. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his calves, pulling his legs over my lap so that he could stretch them out. The bend of his knees fit perfectly over the curve of my thigh, and even though the movement wasn't particularly romantic or sexual, my heart still galloped into a patter when the action earned me one of Kai's ready smiles. He leaned back on his hands, and even though his eyes were on the disgruntled Jameson, I knew his smile was for me.
Jameson socked Kai in the arm. "I do not have a phobia!"
"Yes, you do," said Sebastian. "You saw one in my back garden and wouldn't come over for like, a year. You insisted we all hang out at Will's."
"That was because I was mad at you! You said some very hurtful things."
"I told you that I understood why Anne-Marie didn't give Hayden a rose," said Seb.
"Which is appalling. I think I was warranted in being so mad I would avoid your place."
"For a year?"
Jamie nodded.
Seb poked him in the ribs. "Admit it. You didn't come over because you were scared a tiny red beetle might be hunting you."
"They can smell fear," Jamie muttered. "Had to wait for the little fucker to die."
I snorted a laugh.
Behind us, I heard the gun go off for another race; the Year 10 50m freestyle. The Swimming Carnival was always a long day, which was fortunate given we'd need the time to finish the cornucopia of food Cora provided. Isabelle's friend Zara dove into the pool gracefully, immediately taking the lead. She wasn't as fast as her sister, Aurora, but she was still quick.
"Isn't she amazing?" Isabelle materialised behind Cora, her eyes shining with pride as she watched her friend. Izzy was clutching a handbag and looking fabulous. Her outfit wasn't as overtly glorious as Cora's; she was dressed in the most typical girl's Swimming Carnival attire possible—red tutu, cute red bikini, fairy wings, sparkly face paint applied artfully to her cheekbones and long pigtails with red ribbons woven through the strands—but her bubbly effervescence and bright smile made her look somehow different from the other similarly tutu-clad girls. So did the wicked-looking water gun in her hands.
She didn't wait for us to respond to her question. She was already looking sympathetically at Jamie. "Ladybird?"
Jamie narrowed his eyes.
Isabelle shook her water gun. "Want me to hunt the motherfucker?"
Jameson barked a laugh. "You get me, Delaney. And you look hot, just so you know."
"I know." Isabelle flicked her hair. "But I'm too young for you and out of your league, Miller."
"Yes, Isabelle, you are too young for him," said Kai, glaring at Jameson.
Jameson just offered his friend a small pinky wave and grabbed Izzy's hand, some of the tension easing from his shoulders, and pulled her onto the ground beside him. Then he eyed Kai and me, and mockingly grabbed Isabelle's legs and draped them over his own. She poked him in the cheek. Even though Kai and Will were both narrowing their eyes, Isabelle and Jamie's flirting was lacking any heat; it was affectionate and fond, but hardly serious.
Will rolled his eyes. "You don't have to flirt with everyone, James."
Jamie smirked over Isabelle's shoulder at his friend. "Izzy's the only one that can keep up with me."
Isabelle laughed and patted Jameson's chest. "Please. You can't keep up with me."
Jamie grinned. "Ah, but one can only try."
I interrupted before Will or Kai decided to commit murder. "What's in the bag, Iz?"
"Oh!" Izzy said, swinging her legs off Jamie's to hold her handbag skyward. "I almost forgot. Epic bug murder quests can do that to a girl. I have costumes!"
Will eyed the first example of Izzy's handiwork, and I watched him resist the urge to cringe at Kai's red hair and sparkly cheekbones. "Go back to flirting with Jameson, if you'd like, Iz."
"Flirt with anyone you'd like, Iz," said Sebastian, looking warily at the younger girl. "Flirt with Valerie. Flirt with Cora. Flirt with me, if you'd like."
"Nope!" said Isabelle. "I just knew you wouldn't try. Your lack of school spirit is astounding, Sebastian. And don't get me started on you, William. And Valerie—" Isabelle looked critically at the tiny strap of gold peeking from my dress and the two meagre stripes of gold on my cheeks. "—well, you look stunning, obviously."
"Your effort is a bit pathetic," Cora said with a wince, poking the RED TEAM sign taped to Seb's chest.
Will winced. "One accessory. You can pick one, Iz."
She pouted. "C'mon."
Will sighed. "Two, then."
"Pushover." Jamie coughed.
Isabelle shook her handbag gleefully and got to work. She started with Seb, pasting crystals like Kai's to his cheeks and arms, until he looked like a sparkly dragon. Between the crystals, she applied glittery waterproof zinc, and handed him a pair of devil horns to finish the ensemble.
He tolerated her ministrations with a scowl—he loved Izzy, I knew, but was the least likely to bow to her every whim—and poked her in the ribs when she finished her bedazzling. "You're lucky you're cute," said Seb.
"I would be nowhere without it," Izzy agreed solemnly, drawing a careful evil eyebrow over his own, making Seb look all the more like a menacing devil.
Will looked decidedly apprehensive. "Can I get out of this?"
Izzy's tongue teased the corner of her lip in concentration as she angled her black paint into a curve over Seb's temple. "Nope."
"Do you even know what house I'm in?"
"Of course, you're in Red as well." Isabelle looked over at Will. "Which is great, because I love red."
Will sighed. "It better be practical, Iz. I'm swimming today."
Twenty minutes later, Isabelle had finished on Sebastian, who seemed disgruntled to have gone from the formal male attire that was let's-see-who-can-try-the-least to glittery Smurf-like blob, and she was almost ready to reveal Will to the rest of us. I could almost feel Kai's legs across mine quivering with anticipation. She hadn't let us watch as she converted him from barely-trying to humorously overboard, but her frequent giggles and Will's responding curses suggested that the result would be glorious.
When she spun him around, Kai and I burst out laughing. Jamie let out an indignant squawk.
Isabelle had transformed Will's face into a very sparkly red ladybird.
She was clearly very artistic, because her painting, even using the event-appropriate waterproof zinc, was still beautifully done. Against Will's dark skin, the design had required an extra layer, and seeing the caked-on coloured sun protection made me laugh harder.
Izzy looked pleased with herself.
"Isabelle, you heinous bitch!" Jamie complained.
Will snatched Izzy's compact mirror from her bag. When he saw the artwork, his mouth fell open. "Isabelle," he said. "You heinous bitch."
Izzy snorted. "You look stunning."
"I'm going to have to avoid Will forever," Jameson complained.
Will looked to Isabelle. "You did good work."
Jamie hit him.
"I told you he had a ladybug phobia," said Seb.
Aurora Anderson, who was running the calling sheet and announcements on top of competing in and winning half the races, called into the megaphone. "Year 12 Novelties, Year 12 Novelties."
Kai swung his legs off me and stood up. "Wanna play, Little V?"
It would be amazing for our image. People will believe us. People are going to believe us. Playing ocean dodgeball and flirting will make them believe us. Then Kai smiled at me, a little crooked and a lot charming. And when I placed my hand in his and let him drag me up, I didn't think of that. I just thought of playing dodgeball and flirting and Kai.
"I'd love to play," I said.
Izzy nudged Will when Kai pulled me up, a small gesture that said oh, look at those two, going off together. Because they believed us. Even Kai's little sister, who knew him better than anyone, believed us. Maybe we, Kai and I, together, weren't as unbelievable as I once thought.
Be, Valerie. Just be.