"He's nice," I answered with a laugh, then lowered my voice. "He just... asks stuff. About me and Eddie. Mostly to embarrass us, I think, but not in a mean way."

Nothing Richie said seemed to be intended to be cruel. He teased and made jokes and asked us if we had touched dicks yet and it made me squirm and turn red, but I never felt like he was trying to be mean. I just also felt really young and really uninformed. I wanted to ask Elio about sex, because I thought he would be honest with me, and between him and Magnus I might actually figure some things out, but I was too nervous to just come out with it now.

I gave a snort of laughter when Elio said I would have to hold his hand. "I bet even you could fight the plastic ghosts inside," I teased back. "Maybe you'll have to protect me."