726. Chapter 726

She normally doesn’t mind the low level of noise, of chatter, that seems to have a life of its own in the lobby of her dorm.

She did, after all, grow up sharing a bathroom with a Kryptonian; so unusual noises are almost comforting to her, including when she’s studying.

But right now? The noises consist of everyone squealing about some sexcapade or another, and it’s making her sweat.

Not in the way it’s making Lucy sweat; no, Lucy seems to be enjoying it, laughing along with the rest and sharing some sex stories of her own.

Even Winn shares some experiences. Winn, who hasn’t had sex, but distinctly puts a “yet” on the phrase, because he does, at some point soon, want to go there with James.

She glances up furtively from her textbook, hoping she won’t make eye contact with her best friend, her crush; because Maggie, too, has stories to tell, lots of them. They’re all respectful, and none of them use names, and none of them are objectifying, but the stories do, nonetheless, speak to the fact that Maggie is – like the entire rest of the world, it seems – a person who enjoys… it even makes her face burn to think the phrase… who enjoys… well… sex.

In other words, Maggie’s like the rest of their friends; normal.

Unlike Alex.

Great. Just another thing she can be totally weird about.

She’s hoping, when she glances up, not to make eye contact with Maggie – or anyone, for that matter – but of course, Maggie’s eyes are the ones she meets. She tries to smile, tries to laugh along with the crowd as Lena tells a story about a girl she kissed at boarding school when they both had braces – Lena’s were the sheek invisible kind, of course – but Maggie sees right through the smile.

Dammit.

Maggie always sees right through her.

She extracts herself from their giggling band of friends and sidles up to sit on the table Alex’s books are spread out on.

“You okay, Danvers? We being too loud?”

Alex shakes her head, looking for words that refuse to come. Because no, they’re not being too loud. It’s not that they’re talking; it’s what they’re talking about.

Maggie tilts her head as she stares down at her, and it makes Alex’s face burn in shame.

“You know what?” She stands abruptly, nearly knocking Maggie off the table by accident. “I’m gonna go study in my room.”

Maggie’s frown deepens. “Oh… kay… lemme help you take your books upstairs.”

“I’m fine, Sawyer.”

“Danvers, let me – “

“I said I’m fine!”

She winds up shouting, and all their friends’ eyes – and the eyes of a few passersby – land on her heated face.

“Danvers,” Maggie says, and it’s a whisper this time. Alex’s eyes burn with unshed tears.

“I’m sorry,” she grabs her books – gently though, gently – from Maggie’s hands. “I’m sorry for yelling, I just – “

“Let me,” Winn extracts himself from their friend ground and puts a comforting hand on Maggie’s shoulder as he brushes past her to chase after Alex, rapidly carrying her messy array of books out of the lobby and up the stairs to her dorm room.

“Alex, wait,” he calls, and she slows down on the stairs when she realizes he’s alone. “Do you need to talk to Kara? Do you want me to call her? I can probably rig up a holoprojection if you want more than just a phone call – “

“No, I… I’m fine, Winn,” Alex turns with a practiced smile, her feet braced on opposite stairs. “Thanks for checking. Just… just apologize to Maggie and the rest of them again, okay? I’m just stressed. Studying and everything.”

Winn nods silently and she takes it as her cue to continue her stomp up the stairs, but then he clears his throat, and his next words nearly make her topple down.

“You know, you don’t have to like talking about sex to be a normal college kid.”

Her body is frozen, rigid.

She hears Winn climbing the steps to meet her, and she wants to run away from him, from this conversation, but her feet stay rooted where they are.

“Or, you don’t even have to like, you know. Sex. Itself. Maggie wouldn’t care. She’ll for sure want to date you no matter how you feel about sex.”

Alex pffts despite herself. “She doesn’t want to date me.”

Winn rolls his eyes and laughs as he reaches to take some of her books out of her arms. “She does. But that’s only part of the point. Bigger one is, it’s okay if you’re asexual. More than okay. It’s awesome. Just like you told me that it’s awesome that I’m bi. And also that Winn hasn’t always been my name, and all that.”

“But I can’t… I…” Her eyes shift around and her face gets hot. “Do things. Alone. With myself.”

Winn smirks, but not in a lewd way. “Lots of ace people masturbate, Alex,” he shrugs as they give up on getting to her dorm room and sit next to each other on the stairs. “And lots of ace girls want to date other girls.”

“It’s annoying when you’re all mature and wise, you know that, right?” Alex nudges his shoulder with her own, but the tears in her eyes and the cracks in her voice give away her gratitude and affection.

“I do my best,” Winn smiles broadly. “And hey, I’ll do my best to cut the sex talk around you. And if you want to tell the others, I’m sure they will too, but in the meantime, I can just ask them if we can stop talking about it for reasons unspecified when – “

They both freeze when they hear someone on the stairs below them.

“Is this a private party?” Maggie asks, and suddenly Winn is standing and giving Alex back the rest of her books.

“It wasn’t, but it is now. I’ll see you two later,” he scurries back downstairs, giving Alex a wink over his shoulder and giving Maggie a small squeeze as he rushes back to their friends.

“You okay, Danvers?” Maggie asks again, and this time, Alex doesn’t get defensive.

“Yeah, I just… I’m sorry I snapped at you, Maggie, I just… you all just like…” She takes a deep breath, and something about Winn’s calmness about her being ace settles into her veins. “You all just like talking about sex so much, and it felt… uncomfortable.”

“Because you don’t like the talk or the thing or both?” Maggie tilts her head, and Alex’s stomach backflips as her heart races so fast her hands start to tremble.

“Both?”

Maggie nods up at her, slipping her hands deep into her pockets, head still tilted, eyes more intense than ever.

“Well, what do you say I take you to dinner? Off campus, somewhere nice? And we can only talk about Danvers Approved Topics. Sound okay?”

Alex doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but she does know exactly how to answer the question.

“Sounds perfect.”