Misconceptions: Asexuality

Misconception: Asexuality does not exist (Part Two)

The first few seconds were a sigh of relief, Evie giving a small smile to the concrete as she taps her fingers on the tops of her legs. To hide something inside the crevices of the body for so long, the release that comes with saying who are you out loud is unlike anything else in the world.  It also comes with accepting herself, because nothing is ever truly real until that person has said it out loud. 

Then the panic hits.

Because even when a person accepts something for themselves, doesn't mean that everyone else will. Though they were all raised on the Isle, the way they were raised is completely different. Mal is raised to rule. Jay is raised to steal. Carlos is raised to serve. Evie is raised to bait. So, the methods of thinking are completely different and thus the reactions will be different. And despite everything in her saying that the people who don't accept her shouldn't remain in her life, she doesn't really want much to change. So, Evie turns her gaze to her friends and watches.

She doesn't get too much of a physical reaction, but she could almost see the gears turning in Mal's head as she tried to digest what Evie was saying. Jay just shrugged, set his spoon back into the middle, and reexamined his cards. She doesn't dare look at Carlos, but if she had, she would have seen something on the borderline between shock and pride. It's a few moments before someone decides to speak.

"What does that mean?" Mal asked, her eyes set on the cards in front of her in case Jay tried to steal one.

"It means I don't have a sexual attraction for anyone, basically," Evie breathed as Mal nodded in turn.

Carlos abandoned his cards to check on Evie with a quiet hand to the top of her shoulder as Jay quietly stole some of the cards from Carlos's deck and slid it into his hand. Jay watched Evie's reaction for a moment before deciding to steal the cards from her deck as well. 

Because no matter how disastrous the situation can become, Jay has always been a thief at heart.

"I didn't know that existed," Mal responded, slapping Jay's hand as it strays too close to her own.

Evie sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. Few people are aware of its existence, both here and in Auradon. Mostly because when people think of other sexualities, they think gay, bisexual, or straight. The other sexualities in between only tend to come to life for those who are affected by it. Like Evie (and now everyone in this circle).

"But I don't really care. You're still the same person you were yesterday. You just know more about yourself, I guess."

Mal shrugged at the awkwardness of the situation at hand. She was never good at emotions, feeling her mother whisper in her ear the weakness of them as she passed a card to Jay. If she was looking for sentiment in Mal's arms, she would not find it.

Carlos nodded in agreement and pulled her in for a one-armed hug before saying, "You know, we got your back, Evie, until the very end. It's doesn't matter what you are or who you're with as long as you're happy."

"Well, as happy as you can be on the Isle, of course," he added as an afterthought as the group nodded in agreement.

Evie smiled at the group in front of her before looking up the ceiling, desperately trying to avoid ruining her makeup as Carlos took his arm from around her shoulders and walked back to his playing cards. He squinted his eyes at Jay for a minute before the boy reluctantly passed 6 cards back to him and the game continued as if nothing had ever happened. Mal set out some new cards for Evie, figuring she could look for the rest later. It's not like they got a full pack anyway.

After a minute or two, Evie hesitantly grabbed a spoon and placed her 4 jacks face down on the floor in front of them. It was a mad scramble for the remaining two, with Mal and Carlos in the optimal position to grab the two remaining spoons. As Jay gained his second O, he took this moment to look Evie dead in the eyes and ask her:

"So, does this mean you won't help me pick up the girl by the docks?"

A devilish smirk appeared on his face as the somber attitude broke, his friends laughing at the stupidity of his words.

"She's asexual, not blind Jay" Mal cackled, slapping him on the head. Evie's grin takes over her entire demeanor as she watches the conversation in front of her play out. Carlos just waits, unsure of where this is going.

"So, I guess we could say she is my," Jay said, pausing to get a lasting effect, "ace in the hole."

Mal smacks her forehead, gets up, and walks away from the game muttering something along the lines of "I'm living with idiots". Carlos is confused for a moment before he finally cracks a grin and nudges Evie with his elbow. Evie gives a small smile in response, but it comes off like a sigh of relief. 

She's just happy nothing really changed.

-----

She knows her friends were telling the truth that day through their actions.

Like the day that the group came in contact with their first demonstration, staring in shock before crowding around Evie protectively. Jay picked a bracelet off one of the jewelry stands and handed it to her in an effort to distract her as Mal grabbed a hold of her hand, holding it until they were clear of the spot. Carlos came running after a few moments later, tugging the group along at breakneck speed as the protest was broken up by the garbage shoots.

Or the day she came to the hideout to find them crowded around her notes on the floor, taking note of the things that would be helpful to remember in crayon before she cleared her throat to announce her presence. To their credit, they cleaned it up pretty quickly throwing the papers under Mal's bed while Jay created a diversion.

Then, there were the little things they would do all on their own. 

Like Carlos bandaging her cuts the evening after she told her mom, carefully listening as she retold the events to him. He told her that she was brave(but stupid) for what she did and offering her a piece of candy her found in the supply boat. Or Jay pulling her into a hug on the days she mourned the death of her previous self, longing that she had never touched that book. Jay only smiled and told her it wouldn't be very Evie-like to do anything else, so she shouldn't regret it. However, that didn't stop him from leaving a fairytale book on her bed a few days later. 

She wasn't sure how Mal truly felt. Obviously, she knew Mal would support her. She was a part of their group after all, but that didn't mean she would have to accept it. She would never really ask questions or take the time to physically say it, but she found out weeks later. 

When Evie opened her fashion book across the top of her bed to create a new design one day, a yellowing card fell out of the opening pages. Evie didn't really care for yellowing paper. She only really used white, so it's placement made no sense in her mind.  She picked it up and opened the small sheet of paper to find a redesigned ace of hearts card, revived with purple, grey and black crayons to make a dragon-shaped as a heart in the center. Evie looked over it with a smile a couple of times, before looking across the room to Mal with one of her eyebrows raised. Mal just shrugged and returned to her scheming, only letting a tiny smirk slip he tight grasp on her emotions.

She still carries that card, bracelet, and fairytale book to this day. If for nothing else besides to prove that asexuality exists.

To prove that she exists.