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Description
I looked away in slight embarrassment as Jules went through her normal routine of saying hello to every single person she passed. She was only greeted by stares, snickers, and eye rolls but she didn’t seem to notice, or if she did, she didn’t seem to care. She just kept walking, leading me by hand to her next class. Her free hand spun a lollipop inside of her mouth.

I would like to tell you this was the only bizarre thing about us. Acknowledgements of one another were no longer very common. I can count how many hellos I get in a day on one hand and most of those are from Jules. But no, Jules saying hi to everyone was not even the tip of the iceberg.

Part of it was our being the only openly girl-girl couple at school. Our hands were clasped tightly, our fingers interlaced and tangled together. She swung our hands back and forth cheerily, I liked to think proudly. But, like I said, that was only a small part.

It was Jules that was getting most of the stares. Not our hands. I went almost completely unnoticed all together. But her, she was all rainbows and sparkles and sugary cuteness. It was almost sickening. You could only catch tiny glimpse of her skin from her wrists to her elbows if you looked closely in between her hundreds of bracelets. Jules called them her “kandi”. I had a few on my own wrists, ones that she made for me, but nothing like her.

I swear, if Rainbow Brite was real and rolled down girl-girl alley, I would have competition.

She began to chat away, telling me something and mentioning vocabulary like “Happy Hardcore” and “P.L.U.R.” We had been dating for maybe a month now and I still only understood maybe three quarters of what she was talking about. But I was really trying to learn. Her passion was almost alarming at first, and then it was amazing. She was really into this whole style of hers, whatever it was.

Suddenly her words cut off though and she stopped mid-step. “No. Way,” she whispered under her breath and I immediately looked around.

“What? What’s wrong?”

She dropped my hand and took off running down the hallway. After the immediate confusion faded, I followed hurriedly behind her. “Jules!”

As if obeying my command, Jules stopped. I ran into her with an, “Oof.”

“Kandi trade?” She was asking a girl in front of her. The girl pulled her head out of the locker and that’s when I noticed all of the bracelets covering her arm. Almost as many as Jules.

She was grinning from ear to ear at my girlfriend. “Heck, yeah! Pick any from the bottom eighth and up.” This was like a whole nother language to me.

Jules’ eyes widened in amazement and I stared at both of them in confusion as they each picked a bracelet.

After that, it was kind of like a ritual. You know, one of those freaky ones, like an initiation.

The first step was the exchange in piece signs, then each girl made half of a heart and put them together. Their palms pressed against each other before their fingers interlaced. Jules slipped her bracelet onto the girl’s wrist and the girl did the same.

Woah. This was just getting creepy.

We watched the girl go, Jules and her waving until she turned a corner down the hall. “So what the hell was that?” I finally asked. I wasn’t being harsh, just curious. Very, very curious.

Jules giggled, “A Kandi Kiss.”

“And who was she?”

Jules shrugged and grabbed my hand, starting to walk again. “My new friend,” she replied.

Description
I looked away in slight embarrassment as Jules went through her normal routine of saying hello to every single person she passed. She was only greeted by stares, snickers, and eye rolls but she didn’t seem to notice, or if she did, she didn’t seem to care. She just kept walking, leading me by hand to her next class. Her free hand spun a lollipop inside of her mouth.

I would like to tell you this was the only bizarre thing about us. Acknowledgements of one another were no longer very common. I can count how many hellos I get in a day on one hand and most of those are from Jules. But no, Jules saying hi to everyone was not even the tip of the iceberg.

Part of it was our being the only openly girl-girl couple at school. Our hands were clasped tightly, our fingers interlaced and tangled together. She swung our hands back and forth cheerily, I liked to think proudly. But, like I said, that was only a small part.

It was Jules that was getting most of the stares. Not our hands. I went almost completely unnoticed all together. But her, she was all rainbows and sparkles and sugary cuteness. It was almost sickening. You could only catch tiny glimpse of her skin from her wrists to her elbows if you looked closely in between her hundreds of bracelets. Jules called them her “kandi”. I had a few on my own wrists, ones that she made for me, but nothing like her.

I swear, if Rainbow Brite was real and rolled down girl-girl alley, I would have competition.

She began to chat away, telling me something and mentioning vocabulary like “Happy Hardcore” and “P.L.U.R.” We had been dating for maybe a month now and I still only understood maybe three quarters of what she was talking about. But I was really trying to learn. Her passion was almost alarming at first, and then it was amazing. She was really into this whole style of hers, whatever it was.

Suddenly her words cut off though and she stopped mid-step. “No. Way,” she whispered under her breath and I immediately looked around.

“What? What’s wrong?”

She dropped my hand and took off running down the hallway. After the immediate confusion faded, I followed hurriedly behind her. “Jules!”

As if obeying my command, Jules stopped. I ran into her with an, “Oof.”

“Kandi trade?” She was asking a girl in front of her. The girl pulled her head out of the locker and that’s when I noticed all of the bracelets covering her arm. Almost as many as Jules.

She was grinning from ear to ear at my girlfriend. “Heck, yeah! Pick any from the bottom eighth and up.” This was like a whole nother language to me.

Jules’ eyes widened in amazement and I stared at both of them in confusion as they each picked a bracelet.

After that, it was kind of like a ritual. You know, one of those freaky ones, like an initiation.

The first step was the exchange in piece signs, then each girl made half of a heart and put them together. Their palms pressed against each other before their fingers interlaced. Jules slipped her bracelet onto the girl’s wrist and the girl did the same.

Woah. This was just getting creepy.

We watched the girl go, Jules and her waving until she turned a corner down the hall. “So what the hell was that?” I finally asked. I wasn’t being harsh, just curious. Very, very curious.

Jules giggled, “A Kandi Kiss.”

“And who was she?”

Jules shrugged and grabbed my hand, starting to walk again. “My new friend,” she replied.