Finally, she exhales. “I don’t know. For a while I thought pansexual was the right label for me, but I just … can’t seem to get into cis boys. Girls? Very much! Nonbinary people? Definitely! Trans guys? Absolutely. But then a cis guy flirts with me, even a really rare good guy like Austin Barrett, and I am so, so not into it.” Her fingers twist around each other like she needs something to do with her hands, and I think about reaching out to take one, but it feels like she needs her space to process. “According to the wisdom of the Internet, ‘polysexual’ is the best fit, so that’s what I’m trying on right now. In my head, anyway.”

“And? How’s it feel?”

“Like it’d be nice if more people knew what it meant,” she says with a twitch of a smile. “But I think I like it. And I’m also good with ‘queer.’ And really, I just know what I find hot when I see it.”

“Meaning … me?” I ask with a grin.

A fucking adorable pink flush creeps into her cheeks. “Well … yeah.”

I laugh and lean over to peck her on the mouth. “You are cute as hell, you know that?”

“Shut up,” she says, swatting me away, her skin flaming. “What about you? Gay or bi or … what?”

“Oh, I’m super fucking gay.” At that, she cracks up, and so do I. “I mean.” I gesture down at my flannel shirt and cargo shorts. “I’m definitely not fooling anyone who doesn’t wanna be fooled. The only thing that could maybe make me look gayer is an undercut, which I wanna do eventually. A full-on mohawk, maybe. Super short on the sides and soft and spiky on top. I think that’d look cool.”

She smiles. “I think so too. So why don’t you just do it? Like you said, it’s not like you’re in the closet.”

I tug my upper lip between my teeth. “There’s a difference between being visibly but quietly queer and putting it all out there. You’d be amazed by how much people can ignore if they want to. There are literally people who assume I’m in this just to see guys naked in the locker room, because they can’t imagine a girl could have zero interest in boys. And while I categorically do not give a shit about them, I don’t feel like giving people one more thing about me to tear apart. Besides, I don’t need to reinforce anyone’s stereotypical bullshit, either. I’m not good at football because I’m a lesbian; I’m good at football, and I’m a lesbian.”