Joy’s eyes widen, completely aghast. What kind of trust— Who thinks like that? She’s spent years building up her walls, setting boundaries, and making sure people know how it’s going to be. And here’s Fox You-Can-Do-Whatever Monahan—wild with abandon. She couldn’t even conceive of wrapping her mind around that kind of freedom.

“What do you guys think?” Summer gestures to the screen. They’d narrowed it down to two popular movies: a dark comedy and a romantic thriller.

Joy votes, “Uh, thriller?”

“Thriller,” Fox agrees, watching Joy again. He’s so relaxed, half-reclined on the love seat without a care in the world. His head is cocked to the side, temple resting against his fist, arm propped up by his elbow.

“Majority rules,” Summer says happily, and presses play.

None of them have seen the movie before. They speculate about what the infamous twist ending could be, trying to solve the plot together. About an hour in, the leading couple has their first kissing scene. Joy lets out an involuntary “Ew.”

Fox asks, “On-screen kissing bothers you?” His amused tone makes a grand return.

“When it’s fake. They have zero chemistry. It’s the worst.” Joy shudders. “Grosses me out. I hate watching it.”

“Oh, because you’re asexual?” Summer asks.

Joy freezes like a deer in headlights. She stares at Malcolm. Did you tell her that too?

His eyes are wide, shaking his head and looking as stricken as she feels. No, of course not.

A few tense heartbeats later, realization clicks into place for Joy. “Oh, right, you follow me online. Right, right.”

Coming out online had felt like the second biggest mistake of her life. On a whim, she participated in a hashtag for aces to raise awareness by uploading a photoset of herself wearing outfits inspired by colors of the ace flag. She never for one second thought those pictures would leave her tiny bubble on the internet.

In less than twenty-four hours, her entire account had gone viral, and everything imploded.

Summer seems to recognize her faux pas, expression quickly shifting to embarrassment. Her cheeks darken with a creeping red flush. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have blurted that out.”

“It’s fine,” Malcolm says.

It’s not. Joy scowls at him. Suddenly, he doesn’t see her, purposefully avoiding making eye contact.

Summer begins gently flapping her hands. “I just thought we all knew so it didn’t matter. You two are the only asexual people I’ve met.”

“That you know of,” Malcolm says, kinder than Joy thought he should be. “Some people aren’t ready to talk about it even if they’ve figured it out.”