"Oh," I said, having never been asked that question before. "I- I don't know. I suppose... I mean, Eddie and I... we're not just friends."

I wasn't embarrassed about that. I wasn't ashamed. I didn't try to hide it at school, I left notes in Eddie's locker and I had kissed him once between classes, a quick, stolen thing, and I didn't know if anyone had seen, but I also didn't care. We weren't the only ones, the only couple, and not the only couple in which both were boys. This one couple -- a boy and a girl -- got in trouble all the time for kissing too much in the halls. But I didn't know if there was lewd things to say about them either. Maybe all they did was kiss.

"Richie says stuff about dicks all the time," I admitted, my voice dropping to a whisper. I understood biology, but I knew very little about sex.