“It shouldn’t,” I mumble, staring at my lap. My donut is still in my hand, uneaten. “It’s not a big deal. They aren’t living with it. There’s such a small chance that they’d get it.”

“But the chance of exposure is still there,” Julie says. “It’s not so simple.”

“What chance?” I say, leaning forward. “If it’s undetectable, it’s untransmittable. Didn’t we literally talk about this last week?”

“Simone—”

“Like, if I go into a situation where there might be sex, I’ll have five condoms if it’ll make the other person feel better,” I continue. “And I’ll have an undetectable viral load. If that’s not enough, they can take those extra pills.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Ralph says, cracking his knuckles and looking bored. “If someone doesn’t want to have sex with you, there’s no need for you to try to convince them. It just comes across as pathetic.”

“That’s not anything close to what I said.” I’m pretty sure my eye is twitching. “I’m just saying that I’ll be prepared if I want to have sex. That doesn’t mean I’m going to beg for it.”

Ralph narrows his eyes at me. I wish I could say he’s just acting like this because he’s having a bad day, but being a jerk is his most consistent character trait.

“She’s right,” Brie says, snapping me out of our little staring match. “We’re prepared because we have to be.”

Alicia laughs, startling me.

“I love it here,” she says. “You guys are great. So smart. I wish I had been like this.”

Julie clears her throat. Her face is red, but I don’t feel bad like I normally would. Nothing I said was wrong. I take a bite of my donut.

“Okay,” she says, voice steady. “We’re going to talk about safe sex now. Okay?”

I lean back in my chair, arms folded. This is probably the best group meeting I’ve been to, and it’s because Julie hasn’t dominated the conversation. I’m glad she tries, but she just doesn’t know what it’s like. The other kids do. Even if they aren’t my friends, they get it. Maybe Pops is right—I’ll just never admit it.

By the end of the meeting, most kids are lingering around on phones, waiting for parents to pick them up. Only a few lucky souls are able to drive themselves home.

“So. Are you still into musicals?”

I cringe at Ralph’s voice before slowly turning. His arms are folded and there’s something stiff about his posture, like he’s a teacher ready to call me out for violating the dress code.

“Yeah.” I shove my hands in my pockets. Hopefully, one-word answers will discourage him.

“We should hang out sometime.”

“No.”