High school senior Jess Smith meets Ace of Spades, an online friend who helps her question her mask of celibacy and recognize her true asexuality. Except that their friendship begins to develop into something more.
[Featured April and May 2020 under...
I bet Carolyn never had palpitations this bad. And she drank enough caffeine to kill a small horse.
Helen led me down the hill towards a T-shaped brick building with a perfectly landscaped entrance. The place reminded me of that suburban community in Edward Scissorhands.
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"This is Stein Hall, the center for languages and the humanities," Helen said as she held open the door for me. It opened into a wide foyer with beige walls, light-gray carpets, and soft lighting from overhead fixtures. "The MRC is on the third floor."
"MRC?"
"Multimedia Resource Center," she replied. "The language labs."
We took the spiral staircase. My head was in the clouds, and somehow I managed to trip over my own feet.
"Are you okay?" Helen asked with a concerned look.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied with a casual wave of my hand. "Just a bit absentminded."
Way to be cool, Jess.
She descended a few steps towards me. "If it helps, I'm sure guys are even more scared of us," she whispered with an encouraging smile.
I chuckled. "I'm excited about seeing the labs. That's all." Helen gave me an incredulous look. "No, really. I'm serious. Like him and me...it's not what you think."
"Perhaps," she said in a faint whisper, "but I bet he's nervous too."
"He probably has a girlfriend anyway," I said in a vain attempt to calm my nerves and return to Planet Earth. "He's just being nice and showing me the labs."
Helen chuckled.
"Wait, sorry. Oh, gosh. Are you guys...?"
Helen gave me a puzzled look when we reached the landing. "What? Eric and me?" She burst out laughing and shook her head. "Hon, we're great friends." She winked. "But I bat for the other team."
"Well, between us, I don't bat for any team," I said in a muted whisper. "In fact, while you all are at the ball game, I'm playing D&D with friends or watching a Star Wars movie marathon."
"Then you and Eric are perfect for each other," she said with an excited squee.
Wait, when did this become about Eric?
It was always about Eric, my conscience growled in reply. Dumb-ass!
It was always about the language labs, my rational mind retorted. This isn't a date.
