Kavitha wished that they could arrive at the Youth Carnival already. She felt suffocated.
She smiled at Erik. It was forced, unusual, because she could never find a reason not to smile at Erik. Perhaps, right now is the exception.
"I'll think about it." She said. Erik pumped up his fist. "Hell yes!"
Vren looked at her with a concerned look. "Kavi, you know you don't have to consider anything. It's your own hair."
Kavitha brushed her fingers through her long hair. "Maybe. Some change would do me some good. I mean, I had this same style for a long time."
Erik nodded and looking hyped for the first time in the last twenty minutes. "Yeah, you always have the same old boring look for years now." Kavitha felt another pang. "B-boring?" She enunciated the word slowly, despair circling in her frontal mind.
Erik shrugged. "You said it. Not me. But, yeah, you always have this plain look. You are pretty I guess but you look awfully average. I bet blond hair will spice things and make you less of p-" Erik halted seeing the hurt look on Kavitha's face.
"You were about to say, prude, weren't you?" Kavitha remained composed but it was getting harder for her to prevent her eyes from getting wet.
"Kavi." Eri started his voice soft. Kavitha lifted her eyes to meet his. Erik continued. "You know I don't mean that." When Kavitha didn't answer, Erik went on.
"But, you do know that a makeover will do you some good?' He asked innocently. Kavitha wasn't sure his tone was anything from innocent though. "Ok," She said lightly. Erik grinned triumphantly. "Ok?" He pressed. Kavitha smiled hesitatingly. "Ok" Her tone was stable yet the air of this concept didn't feel entirely present with her desire.
Vren smiled weakly. "Why don't we talk about something else?" Kavitha smiled. "Sure." Erik made a non-committal noise. Vince nodded. "So, Kavi, Vren was asking about your ethnicity?"
Kavitha grinned. "I'm South-Indian." Vren looked interested. "Cool!" He said Kavitha gave him a warm smile. Vince looked amazed. "India is so beautiful. It has so many languages. Speaking of which, what Indian language do you speak?" he asked.
Kavitha glowed at this question. "I'm Tamil! வணக்கம் vanakam hello" She clasped her hands together in a welcoming gesture. Vren looked at her in awe. "That means...?" He asked with attentiveness.
"It means hello or any form of formal greeting." Kavitha was pleased with how this conversation going. She would much rather talk about this, then debating the possibility of bleaching and damaging her precious hair. She wasn't sure if her mother will even let her bleach her hair.
Vren and Vince gave a chorus of excitement over the first Tamil word they learned while Erik stayed mute, his eyes still on his phone. Kavitha immediately saddened at that. Despite, Erik trying to compel her to change, she could never be upset at him, ultimately. Erik was so dear to her.
Thinking about Erik made her think of her previous question. She smiled at the twins. "Are you guys Vietnamese like Erik?" The twins looked at each other, seemingly deciding something. "Why?' Vren drawled.
Vince raised an eyebrow. "You think all eastern Asians look the same?" The question was incredulous to Kavitha. Of course, she didn't.
Kavitha tried not to look crestfallen. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean-" Vren cut her off. "We tricked you!" Vince wasn't able to control his laughter.
"You should have seen her face, Erik." Vince chortled grabbing at Erik's shirt. Erik paid him no attention, his AirPods were in his ear and his head was bobbing lightly to whatever music he was listening to. Vince rolled his eyes, clearly looking annoyed.
Kavitha threw her head back and laughed. "No matter, Vince, you guys got me good. Better than I did." Vince smirked at her playfully. "We did, didn't we?"
Vren grinned "We couldn't let you get away with pulling a fast one on us." Vince nodded. "No one tricks the Prankster Twins and gets away with it." Kavitha grinned widely. "The Prankster Twins?" She asked.
Vince winked at her. "Perhaps we will tell our stories one day." Kavitha smiled. "I'd be elated to hear them." Erik scoffed. Everyone looked at him.
"What? Their pranks aren't that impressive." Erik retorted. Vince only smirked at Erik. "Is that so? Well, certainly you don't mind if I told Kavi how I pranked you by putting-"
Erik's eyes widened as he looked alarmed. "No, no I'm good." Vren laughed at Erik's expense. Kavitha simpered. She really was enjoying herself and they haven't arrived at Youth Carnival yet.
Vren smiled at Kavitha. "Oh and Kavi, to answer your question. Vince and I are Korean." Vince interrupted. "South Korean." Kavitha smiled, parting her mouth as beamed. She loved how they were sharing their origins. It makes her ecstatic with such livelihood.
Vince shrugged. "It's an important heads up." Vren smiled and made two peace signs. "Ayyyy we are all Asian!" Kavitha gestured widely with her hands. "Whoo hoo!" She called.
Vince nodded. "Yep, squad goals." Erik huffed wearing a look of annoyance on his face. "What the hell are you talking about?" Vince looked at him confused. "What? Is something wrong with us celebrating that we are all Asian?"
"Kavitha is not Asian," Erik replied simply. Vren scrunched his nose. "Sayyy what? Of course, she is." Kavitha was very uncomfortable. It wasn't the first time, someone has accused her of not being Asian when she clearly was. She decided to stay quiet.
Erik shook her head. "No, she is Indian." Vince scoffed. "So what?, that doesn't make her any less Asian." Vren folded his arms, looking tired. "Erik, I'm not sure if you passed geography class but last time I checked. India is clearly in continent Asia."
Erik sat up more and straightned his clothes. "Yeah but our cultures are clearly different." Vince closed his eyes, looking irritated. He opened them again and adjusted his glasses as he glowered at Erik. "Ok, first of all, it is insulting to hear from another Asian that we are all supposed to look the same. And second, of course, our cultures are different but it makes sense since we are all ethnically different."
Kavitha smiled softly. "it's ok, you guys don't need to-" Vren shooked his head. "No, Kavi, relax let us handle this." Kavitha closed her mouth. Vren looked at Erik with an eyebrow raised. "It is kinda sad that's the only argument you have. South Asians are just as Asian as us. I think you have forgotten that desi clothing resembles the Vietnamese outfit which is the Ao Dai. If I'm not mistaken, we do have differences which we celebrate but we are pretty similar too. Kavitha is just as Asian as us. It's not up to you to tell her otherwise."
Kavitha flushed. "Thank you so much." Vince blew her a kiss. "Anything for our Asian sister." Kavitha placed her hands on her chest. "And I'll do anything for you!" The twins smiled at her. Kavitha's mind wandered to Aith. For some reason, Kavitha deeply wanted his opinion on this. Does he consider himself Asian? Would he ever want to talk to her about this sort of thing? It seemed impossible. Would he ever forgive her? That was the question that was immensely ingrained in her mind ever since they talked about Professor Snape. Kavitha decided she will apologize after she gets home from the Youth Carnival. She forced her heart to be brave.
Erik with nothing else to say put his AirPods back on. Kavitha smiled fondly at him. At least he learned something new today. Even though It was kind of annoying that Erik didn't know basic geography she could live with that. Perhaps, she could bear it a little longer. Perhaps.