“I didn’t sleep much,” I admitted, then scrubbed my hand over my face, trying to focus. “Sorry. I just want to say one more thing before we open up discussion.” I looked down at my clipboard but didn’t see the words.

“Like I said before, desire and attraction are not the same thing. To experience sexual desire does not make someone less asexual than someone else. Asexual people can engage in sexual pleasure. It doesn’t make them any less asexual. Sometimes our bodies betray our minds, and it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with you. Your asexuality is still valid.”

I looked at Jordan then, and he was staring at me, his face drained, his eyes were glassy. I took a deep breath and shook off my tears. “Does anyone have anything they’d like to contribute?”

Glenn spoke first. “I think we’ve all had sex because we thought we were supposed to. Well, I know I have,” he said. Others nodded. “We’re pressured into it, told we’re abnormal if we don’t.”

“Yeah,” Leah agreed. “And sometimes I want to engage in sexual release. But not with another person. It took me a long time to realise that was okay.”

“And that it doesn’t revoke your A-card,” Sabina added. “I still don’t feel sexual attraction to people, but taking the edge off once in a while is okay.”

Bonny nodded. “I spent two years in a relationship where I willingly participated in sex. I never initiated it; it never actually occurred to me to initiate it. They were very sexual, and I wanted them to be happy. I still want them to be happy,” she said with a smirk. “Just happy with someone who is not me.”