I picked up my phone, which I’d left on the bedside table last night, and I snapped a quick picture of the bracelet. Then I texted it to Aubrey really quickly with a message that said:
Me: Help! Do you know what this thing is?
Her: (After a pause that seemed to last forever) A friendship bracelet? Where’d you get it?
Me: I woke up and it was on my wrist.
Her: Aww. Not going to lie, that’s pretty sweet.
Me: Why is it sweet? I don’t understand.
Her: It’s a token of affection.
Me: Why do I need a token?
Her: I have no idea. But if I had to guess, he was trying to tell you that he likes you.
Me: He likes me?
Her: Yes. Probably. I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?
Me: Okay. Thanks.
My hand shook as I laid my phone down. I didn’t know what to do or how to act. I brushed my hair back from my face and tried to think.
My phone pinged again.
Her: Ask him!
I jumped up and walked toward the bathroom. He was in the shower. I could see his silhouette through the frosted glass. He hummed a little tune with his face upturned toward the spray.
I opened the shower door.
He startled, but he didn’t move away. “Jesus,” he said. “You scared the shit out of me.”
I lifted my wrist into the air. “What the fuck is thi
s?” My voice was louder than I’d wanted it to be, but I didn’t understand it. And I desperately wanted to.
He smiled, turning his face back toward the spray so he could wash the soap from his head. “It’s a bracelet.” His words were garbled by the falling water, which ran into his mouth and down his chin as he spoke.
“What’s it for?”
He turned and started to wash behind his ear. “It’s a gift.” He moved back a little from the spray. His brow wrinkled. “You don’t like it?”
I looked down at it. It was pretty. “What does it mean?” I asked.
“It’s a friendship bracelet.” His brow wrinkled again. “I know it’s probably stupid…” he said, his voice wary. “You can take it off.”
I wrapped my palm and fingers down the length of the bracelet. Then I rolled it on my wrist. “I don’t want to take it off. I just wanted to know what it meant.”
“The blue is the same color as your eyes. And you wear pink a lot, and I like the way it looks on you. And the white is just to break up the two colors. I know it’s not perfect. I spent the whole afternoon making it.”
My heart skipped a beat. “You made it?”
He blew water from his lips again. “Yep. Again, if you don’t like it, you can take it off.”
“Does it mean we’re friends?”