Misconceptions: Asexuality

Misconception: Asexuals won't go on dates

Evie checks her reflection one more time, twirling in a dark blue lace dress in front of the mirror for effect before looking back at Mal, who was too busy drawing to even care what was going on in front of her. Only imprinted the excitement in Evie's eyes with colored pencils and a light, gray outline.

Telling Mal she would be home by 9:30, she slowly closes the door behind her and quickly walks to the meeting spot Doug and her set up 4 days ago. He seems like a nice guy in her opinion, always prepared to help a person in need and not as prejudice against her Isle heritage, which is the reason she agreed when he asked her out on a date Monday morning. A dark part of her wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. 

Her last date was set for a couple of weeks after Ben was crowned king with a guy whose named has been obliterated from her mind for her own sanity, but that doesn't mean that she didn't remember him. Despite begin born in Auradon, he had been born with a childish sense of mischief and a booming laugh, which was one of the reasons why they had become accustomed to each other's atmosphere.  They challenged each other to be faster, think smarter, which is why she was caught off guard the day he stood timidly in front of her lockers and asked her if she wanted to go to dinner the next Saturday.

That should've been her first red flag. 

Instead she had said yes and talked her friends' ears off in her excitement. And her friends were excited for her, mainly because this is the first romantic interest that helped Evie feel comfortable with herself. 

When the night came, she had decided to add a little more red to her current outfit, choosing to wear a red leather jacket with a gold crown threaded into the left side,  a white T-shirt, and a set of blank leggings. The boots she had put on to accompany it were a new purchase that could be accounted for when starting a new business, a set of black heeled boots that clicked against the wooden floor as she shut her dorm room door behind her and began to walk to the entrance of the cafe, which is where he told her to meet him only a couple days before. 

This was Mal's first sign at trouble. Any person who was willing to go on a date with Evie should be respectful enough, in her opinion, to come to their dorm to pick her up. But Mal had only been on one date in her life, so she let it go and continued the math homework that was technically due 3 nights ago. 

Evie arrived at the entrance of the cafe by 6:45, 15 minutes before the date was set, and sat down at a table with a good view of the outside door. She watched people filter in and out for a while, figuring that he was just running a little late while she put her earphones in, slid them carefully into her ears, and began to play some music in her ears while opening up one of her word puzzle games. The boys' dorms weren't that far away, she knew he would be down soon enough. 

And soon enough turned to later. And later turned into well past her bedtime. And well past her bedtime turned into not at all. 

She stood up in dull silence sometime past 9:30, face set carefully neutral as she pushed in her chair and made her way towards the exit, and up the stairs towards the boys' room. The stomach that should have been well beyond growling with hunger twisted inwards on itself, making her nauseous as she gave 3 light taps to one of the doors. Jay's face peeked out before meeting her eyes and opening the door a little wider in confusion. She just gave him a little sad smile, waiting for permission to enter, which was readily granted as he stepped aside and swung his arm around her waist as she walked past. He kicked the door shut with his foot before giving her a quick hug and giving her a clean, white T-shirt to wear. She never went back to her own dorm room that night, but Mal somehow showed up with the best outfit she could come up with in the morning. 

The only response she'd gotten when she confronted him that day was a shrug and the words:

"I thought asexuals don't go on dates."

She had left that conversation with a pounding headache breaching the front of her mind. Her sexuality shouldn't be the thing defining her as she walks into a date. She's 2 am cups of coffee designing another outfit washing through her dreams. She's the high heels shoes Dizzy gave her as a thank you as she wanders around in them, even though late at night she has to take off the remaining strands of hot glue. She's icy smiles as she's defending the people she loves during the day and hot tears when she cries in her bed at night. She doesn't need people to accept all those things but at least acknowledging their presence would be a welcome change.

She shook the memory from her head as he continued to walk towards the lamppost in the center of the park. 

"Now isn't the time to be thinking about such things," she tells herself softly, "Negative thoughts tend to bring out negative actions, "

She really wants for things to go well, if only to prove to herself that its possible while bracing herself for the opposite. 

The light post where they were supposed to meet is barren where the light hits, highlighting the lack of another person's presence. The wind lets out the sigh of disappointment as she feels the aching in her chest present itself in full force. The black stilettos turn her around to walk in the opposite direction 15 minutes and lead her to the library, a normal spot for her to go when things do not go as planned. She doesn't want Mal to punch the lights out of another guy in the span of 2 months for Evie's sake. Plus, the library is open until 9 anyway.

She is almost a quarter of the way there when she heard someone running up behind her. His hair was slightly tousled as he held his hand out in front of him as he attempted to breathe in some form of oxygen. He stood up once more, fixing the bow tie on his shirt before speaking in double-time.

"I'm sorry I'm so late. My original plan was to buy some food from the cafe and put it in a picnic basket but, when I went to get it, they said my order had been pushed back another hour so I had to phone another place and I wasn't sure if you were a flowers kind of girl or chocolates person so I got a bit of both," Doug rambled, trying to readjust the things in his hands to hand her the flowers properly, "And then I got there and saw you walking away so I tried to catch up but I rounded the corner too fast so I ended up tripping on - "

The rest was lost to her ears, she was too busy smiling as waves of relief and newfound hope slammed down upon her.