I chew at my lip. My hands are still shaking—have been shaking ever since yesterday. I’ve been ignoring Miles since I skipped the game, even though I saw him in the hallway and in history class. We definitely aren’t kissing against lockers right now. All because of this stupid note.

Maybe it’s not fair to ignore him, but I’m still trying to figure shit out. If I get used to acting like his girlfriend and then I tell him I have HIV, it’ll be even worse if he reacts badly.

“Act the way you want him to react,” Brie says, startling me. Her bangs are pushed back, which is weird enough, because her hair is always in her face. She meets my eyes and doesn’t look away. “If you aren’t comfortable talking about it, he’s going to be weird about it. If you’re chill, he’ll be, too.”

“Yeah, don’t even make a big deal out of it,” says Jack, nodding his head. The two of them share a look. If I weren’t so worried about Miles, I’d spend more time analyzing it. “Don’t apologize, because it isn’t anything to be sorry about, and it’s not your fault. Just text him.”

“You can’t just text him something like that,” Ralph snaps. Normally, I’d ignore him out of principle, but he has a point. I hate that he has a point. “That’s—that’s a lot to take in. We live with it every day, but it’s a big deal to people who don’t.”

“So tell him over a candlelight dinner, whatever,” Brie says, rolling her eyes. It makes me want to hug her. “The point is that if he’s the type of person who would reject you because you’re positive, there’s nothing you can do to change that.”

“Yeah, it’s not like waiting longer is going to change anything,” Jack agrees. “Tricking him into staying with you isn’t going to do anything.”

“I’m not trying to trick him into anything,” I say, but my voice sounds weak, even to my own ears. “I’m just nervous talking about it. That’s why I’ve been putting it off.”

“That’s valid,” Julie says, her soothing voice breaking the tension. “That’s completely valid. But no matter how you decide to tell this person, it’s important that you’re honest. Honesty is the most important part of a relationship, and you don’t want to start something with lies.”

I lean back in my seat, ignoring her as she moves on to the next subject. Waiting to tell Miles doesn’t count as lying. At least, it shouldn’t.