I was quiet, partly listening to Eddie and Richie as they went back and forth, partly trying to work out what I believed to be more possible, and finally settling on trusting Eddie over Richie on this matter. As far as I knew, Richie hadn't kissed any boys and probably didn't really know the details about sex, and I thought Eddie might have tried to do some research, like I had.

I was still going to ask Magnus, though.

I was about to announce I thought Eddie was probably right, when his other words sunk in. The ones about mouths and hands, and my face flushed so deeply it felt like my skin was on fire. I hadn't really let myself think about it before and now it was the only thing I could seem to think about. At lunch.

"Yeah," I added in a hoarse voice, my tone a lot higher than I would have liked. I wasn't even sure if either of them would know what I was agreeing with. "I mean, what Eddie said is right."