Let's Talk About Love

by Claire Kann

I don’t even know if I want him to flirt with me, though. I like that he goes along with my jokes.”

I think he’s cute, too. It doesn’t mean anything.”

I’ve decided it doesn’t. Mind over matter.”

It was the least she could do for the one friend who had always stood up for her.

“Hello, my loves!” Ryan announced.

This is a safe space and anything you say here will be kept confidential

She needed to be there. Wanted to be there.

She had to trust him to give her sound advice,

it meant talking about herself. Sharing parts of her she hadn’t even t...

“I wouldn’t say I’m unhappy, but I am confused.”

“How did seeing the person make you feel?”

I have an intense aesthetic attraction. I like cute things.

“A common misconception is the difference between arousal and attraction.

Arousal is a physiological response, whereas attraction is an experience, and they are not mutually exclusive.

arousal may not have been a direct result of a desire to have a sexual experience with the person.

“Asexuality isn’t something that’s black or white. There is a multitude of shades of gray in between.

Everyone talks about sex like it’s the greatest thing ever in the history of all the things, and I don’t get it.

“What I don’t get is why this is happening to me now? I figured all of this out years ago and now all of a sudden, I’m changing? How am I ever going to explain this to anyone?”

Wearing her asexualness, sharing that fact about herself with the world, wasn’t something she was ready to do.

It’s hard enough trying to explain that word, so how in the hell am I going to explain I’m biromantic asexual?

“My girlfriend broke up with me because she thought that since I didn’t desire her, I wouldn’t be able to love her, which is not true at all.

am very loving. I cry at the end of romcoms.

I want to fall in love

like to take the scenic route.” Alice sniffled, wiping her eyes. “It’s cuter.”

“This isn’t something where I can tell you to go read a book and it will methodically list the steps of how to come out. It is a personal and individualized experience.

be prepared to educate. It may feel unfair that the onus of that responsibility will fall on you,

You will have to be willing to inform and to educate.

you will have to know when it is time to remove yourself from situations and disconnect from those who either do not understand or are unwilling to. You have to do what is right for you.”

How would she ever explain to the one person she might possibly be sexually attracted to that she was asexual?

it was maybe possible her body could experience attraction, but she wasn’t attracted to them?

until she sorted through all this emotional crap, a protective style would be her best friend.

Dr. Burris had given her homework: research different kinds of attraction and figure out which ones apply to her

Aesthetic was a no-brainer.

why did his presence do this to her?

This intruder was wrecking her life. But she couldn’t bring herself to tell him to stop.

Whatever this was, she wanted to get to the bottom of it. And the only way to do that was to stay near him, to keep interacting with him.

Alice was angry at herself, not him. It was difficult to tell the difference, to find who deserved to be snapped at when he was the catalyst.

the concept of magic has been around as long as humans have.

“Because people want to believe,

“I wanted to do this to cheer you up,”

I know we only met two weeks ago, but I care. I’ve been thinking about you, wondering what I could do to help.

You were right—people want to believe in magic, because when things seem terrible, magic and miracles give them hope.

believe something is working in their favor behind the scene...

Something that will surprise them.”

I want you to have something miraculous to hold on to when everything seems awful.”

Graciously accepting his kindness felt true to her soul.

Everyone has moments when they’re less than their best.”

have a lot going on right now.”

“I think you’d be good at whatever you put your mind to. You can be kind of indecisive.”

you have a great memory and you do really well in structured environments.