#64 - They Won't Have Me (part 2; final)

Today’s words: Origin, Yield, Zeitgeist, Yenta

Word count: 950

Completion time: N/A – this story was thought about since I wrote the first part

Summary: Two completely different people meet each other unexpectedly

For more in-depth information on asexuality, go to http://www.asexuality.org/home/. No one asexual person is exactly the same as another.

 ** Part 1 **

--

He stared at the new phone contact and wrinkled his brow. Alexis.

He wondered: was it normal to ask for the number of a girl, a stranger, who had tried to have sex with him? Had he just felt guilty that he didn’t yield to her impromptu advances?

The phone vibrated, ceasing any further thoughts.

‘hey! u free this evening?’

~

The mood inside the carriage of the underground train was the same as ever, but David was uneasy about what was going on. Yes he had agreed to meet her, at a cocktail bar; yes he had met her less than 24 hours ago; and yes, he thought he might be harbouring some feelings for her which was ridiculous because he didn’t know anything about her, her origin, what she cared about, which position she slept in, if she liked cats or not...

He knew it was irrational and stupid and pointless and a bunch of other negative words, but she intrigued him. He concluded that it was something to do with the look in her eyes just before she’d said her name. It felt like they had wordlessly exchanged secrets in a language meant just for them.

But...she had tried to have sex with him. What if she tried to take him back to her place?

He swore under his breath and stared at a Durex advert pasted by the ceiling. “If it gets to that, I’ll just be honest.”

~

The agreed meeting place was on a side street in Shoreditch, off of the main road. Lacey’s Cocktail Bar. A generously-sized place that looked a little like an American diner with more booths and sofas. After stepping onto the slight ledge and opening the door, he looked around and tried to spot her. She had shoulder-length brown hair in an asymmetrical bob, and he was sure she had a mole by her eye...but on second thoughts, it could have been make-up.

“David, right?” a voice from behind him asked unsurely.

Turning around, he saw her standing there in a cream jumper and a flower-print above-knee skirt. “Yeah, right. Alexis?”

She nodded, walking past him and motioning for him to follow. “You have got to try the Sex on the Beach they do here, it’s,” she paused, looking up to the ceiling and back at him, “delectable.”

~

“Sorry, what’s a yenta?”

“Oh,” she put her drink down and leaned forwards, “someone who gossips...kinda nosey, you know? A German friend asked me if I knew what it was once, before proceeding to bitch about someone who had two men on the go,” she laughed and bit on her black straw, “that was a few seconds before she realised who she was talking to.”

A red flag flew up. “Oh?”

“I’m not a slut,” she sipped some more of the multi-coloured cocktail, “I just like sex.”

“Fuck,” David thought, not sure if the word had made it out of his head or not. “Yeah?” he added, in case it had.

“Yeah. I mean...who doesn’t, really? I mean, really,” she raised an eyebrow.

His heart beat nervously. “I...don’t really get it...why do people like it so much?”

She studied his face. “What?”

“My mum used to call me someone who retained the zeitgeist of the 18^th century, assuming I was waiting for marriage, assuming I was still a virgin.”

“Well,” she finished the rest of the drink and clasped her hands on the table, “I like it because it brings two people together closer than...probably anything else.”

False, he thought. “What about...hugging? Falling asleep together? Holding hands? Sharing yourself,” a pause, “emotionally?”

“Nothing beats an orgasm. Haha,” she laughed, trying to assess his expression, “are you a sex critic or something?”

“No...I’m asexual.”

~

After listening to his basic explanation of what being ‘asexual’ meant, she looked at him, tilting her head and furrowed her brow. “So...you just don’t have sex? Because you don’t want to?”

“It’s more like,” he searched for the right words, “I never feel the desire to, so it isn’t really a choice, it just how I feel. Not everyone has to like or want sex, right?”

She nodded slowly. “I guess, but I’d never thought of it like that before – never having sex...” she looked into the distance like she was trying to figure out a complex maths equation.

He figured he’d just go for it, say what he really wanted to say. “I don’t want to be presumptuous, and it’s probably this horrible-tasting cocktail, but I felt something with you last night, and I don’t know if it was imagined or what but...fuck, what I’m trying to say is, can you imagine spending time with me if you’re probably never going to have sex with me? Because if that’s what this is, you’re looking at the wrong guy.” He looked down into his drink and played with the straw.

“As long as we’re being honest...”

He reluctantly looked up.

 “...Yeah, I did want to,” she bit her lip, almost apologetically, “but if it’s never going to happen, I guess I’ll need to see how I feel about you. After all, we just met, and I’m not about to give up a big part of my life for someone I don’t know yet.”

“Don’t feel like you need to agree to anything with me,” he said quickly.

“Same here!” she raised her eyebrows as she said that. “I’m not about to try and change your mind. This works both ways.”

“Cool.”

“And I’m sorry about last night...I assumed...”

He put a hand out. “It’s okay,” he smiled, “it was kind of funny.”

“I guess, yeah.”

They both laughed.

“Soooo...” David began. “Do you like cats?”

#63 - They Won't Have Me (part 1)

Today’s words: Acquiesce, Whetstone, Fellatio, Soliloquy

Word count: 768

Completion time: N/A – research and things got in the way, but I started research at 8pm (4 hours ago)

Summary: Two completely different people meet each other unexpectedly

Part 2 will be written with a different selection of words on 17/11.

For more in-depth information on asexuality, go to http://www.asexuality.org/home/. No one asexual person is exactly the same as another.

--

This couple’s relationship would likely end with disaster or unfulfillment, feuding families or poison aside. That’s not to say that it was wrong or bad for them to get together, it just wasn’t ideal, especially at the beginning.

The first person in the couple was Alexis – a confident twenty-one year old who apparently had had more sexual partners than Russell Brand. Every night out would result in at least one sexual encounter, and if she went home empty-handed, she’d collapse onto her bed, close her eyes, and pretend that her Rampant Rabbit was that guy in the club who had definitely been making ‘come to bed’ eyes at her. Exhausted and temporarily satisfied, she’d sleep and probably have erotic dreams to prolong the fantasy.

At the beginning of puberty, Alexis developed a higher sex drive that normal; she found it inconvenient and incredibly frustrating, but it was what it was.

The second person in the couple was David – an energetic twenty-three year old who had only had sex once (when he thought it would be rude not to acquiesce) and never wanted to again. In school, it went around that guys thought about sex every few seconds, so David found it strange that he never thought of it (in that way) at all. Nearly any time he found a promising relationship, the bond would be tested when he said that he didn’t want to have sex; instead of understanding, a lot of them would take it personally – “You don’t find me attractive?” He did find them attractive, just not sexually, which is completely separate from aesthetic or romantic attraction. As a teenager, he would constantly try to make himself think ‘normally’, like a whetstone sharpening a dull knife, but it wouldn’t work – he just wasn’t sexually interested in anyone, he was asexual.

David would often perform a ritualistic soliloquy in front of his mirror before he went to work that went a little something like:

“There is nothing wrong with me, it’s everyone else that makes me feel wrong. I am not broken, unnatural, or incomplete, I am me and this is who I am. Ignore people that try to make me feel bad about it – it’s something that I can’t help. I am just as valid as my friends and anyone else who wants to have sex. Sex is not the be all and end all of any relationship and it never should be.”

So how did these two people meet? At a house party hosted by a mutual friend. There was alcohol, public displays of affection, loud voices, louder music, and in the host’s room, Alexis was joined in the room by David.

Alexis propped herself up on the bed with both hands beside her. “Hey,” she began, trying to figure out who he was, “you’re not the guy I said to meet me here. I’m pretty sure he was blonde...”

David’s heart jumped uncertainly and he looked to where the voice came from. Sat on the bed in a red strappy top and black fitted skirt was a girl he didn’t recognise but who he immediately thought was beautiful. “And...this room isn’t empty,” he said, bashful but confused.

“What made you come up here?”

“I need to go, and the coats are all up here,” he explained, walking towards the pile of coats next to Alexis.”Sorry, it should be somewhere underneath all these...”

“Don’t leave,” she said, putting a hand on David’s as he went to reach for the coats.

He stopped moving his hands and said, avoiding eye contact, “What are you doing?” His hand tingled uncomfortably.

Her eyes flicked up to his and she gave him a look that she voiced out loud: “What do you think?”

David didn’t move from the spot he was in as Alexis began to pull her top over her head.

“Hey!” David exclaimed, holding onto her hands. “Don’t.”

“Oh,” she put her top back down, “you want fellatio?” she questioned, putting on a ‘posh’ accent and getting on her knees. “I can do that, too.”

He backed away and knelt down so they were on the same level. “I don’t want that either. Listen, I really do have to go right now, but, fuck...do you want to exchange numbers? I’m not gonna have a chance to talk to you, so...”

She stared at him, slightly open-mouthed before laughing and putting a hand to her forehead. “I really don’t usually do this, but yeah why not...you look a little like Orlando Bloom.”

“I do?”

“Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean,” she continued to stare. “I’m Alexis.”

“David.”

#62 - "Chicken Isn't Vegan?"

Quote from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World ;)

Today’s words: Chicken, Catnip, Love, Friendship

Word count: 311

Completion time: 37 minutes

Summary: Why a good taste doesn't justify death

“You don’t even eat chicken?”

“Chicken is meat...”

“But chicken is so delicious, I love it.”

“I swear it’s either chicken or bacon that is like catnip to a kitten for some people.”

“So you don’t eat chicken?”

“No I do not.”

“Don’t you miss it?”

“Not really...but even if I did, I wouldn’t want to eat it.”

“Why not? If you miss something, just have it.”

“I miss the thrill I felt when I used to break into my sister’s house as a teenager, but that doesn’t mean I want to do it again because I know that that little thrill didn’t justify my actions. Just like taste doesn’t justify senseless murder, you get it?”

“That’s not the same, like, burglary is illegal.”

“It’s the same concept – a thrill or a good feeling at the expense of something that’s a lot more negative. Just because chicken tastes good for however long the meal takes to finish...that really doesn’t excuse the shit that they go through for us. It’s almost like bullying someone because it makes you feel powerful...yeah it feels great to have power, but not at that expense.”

“Yeah but no-one is directly involved in killing these animals, so it’s still not the same.”

“You’re right, but by paying for it and consuming something that is a product of pain, you’re still contributing, even if it’s not first-hand. If people stopped eating meat, there’d be no need for the supply...but since people keep demanding meat, the animals continue to be used and abused.”

“You can’t blame me for something that people will do anyway, regardless of if I stop or not.”

“You’re totally right, man, why give even a little to charity if lots of people are going to give anyway?”

“Exactly!”

“I was completely kidding. I value your friendship, you know, but your views are a little sketchy.”

#61 - Did My Heart Love Til Now? ....Probably

Today’s words: Horrifying, Love, Exquisite, Mood

Word count: 702

Completion time: 1 hour 47 mins

Summary: Love in a really inappropriate place

--

The loud voice echoed through the building, dominating the atmosphere. At frequent intervals, heavy emphasis would be put on certain words, words one should pay particular attention to, shaking awake any drowsy bodies that dared get too comfortable. The voice commanded that you follow its every word, like a pendulum commanding the gullible. Almost every word was important, judging by the volume of the voice and the intensity of the arm gestures. Several people in the audience nodded strongly after important-sounding sentences, but most were probably acting like the nodding dog, or imitating their neighbour.

The mood was tense, too tense, and all I could think of was how great (no, exquisite would be the right word...probably) it would be to have an orgasm, even one of those weak ones that felt like a mildly satisfying piss.

Orgasms had the power to cure headaches, stress, even period pain...they were nature’s medicine (must remember to google ‘orgasm pain remedy’ for more).

The most uptight people probably only needed an appendage between their legs to cure them of their – seemingly perpetual – misery, I guarantee.

The person standing behind the microphone talked at such length, it was like he had only just then regained his voice after ten years of mutism. He refused to place his mouth more than a couple of centimetres away from the mic, like he was prolonging an inevitable, long-awaited kiss with a lover.

Keisha sighed involuntary at the spectacle before her, crossing her right leg over her left and slowly rocking back and forth. No-one else looked as bored as she did, so she tried to construct her best serious expression, but it felt like her face had been plastered with PVC glue.

As she slyly looked around the sea of sombre faces, she spotted a girl with pink hair who, hair aside, stood out to her – she was bopping her head and rolling her eyes, checking her watch mere seconds before she had checked it the previous time. Keisha smirked.

As she was inspecting the candyfloss girl, several noises erupted through the room – the creaking of benches, material swishing against material, the shuffling of feet. It was time for everyone to move to the front.

Keisha joined the line of people, making sure not to lose sight of the rose-colour hair that had been the lamp to her moth. There were two lines, both facing each other, and the girl had joined the other line. If she got the numbers right, they would meet at the front at exactly the same time. She counted twenty-six people in front of her, so she allowed seven people to move in front of her. The moths went wild.

Slowly the line moved, made slower by certain people taking too long at the front. She got a headache from willing the line to move faster.

As soon as I saw her, I knew that I couldn’t leave without saying anything. She’s the type of person you need to talk to just so they know your face and remember your voice, the itch that’s painful to leave unscratched.

Scratch that

Too cheesy

She was just nice to look at, that’s all.

After a few more minutes, Keisha made it to the front and was face to face with the girl she had dubbed as Pinky in her head. She was just as beautiful as she had been from afar, but no point dwelling on her features – beauty is subjective.

At the front of both queues, there was a long oak box that people were free to look into (as the nature of the event expected, but didn’t compel), so the girl hadn’t even looked at Keisha yet – her attention was on what was inside the box.

“This is horrifying...” she mumbled to herself. “He looks just like he did when he was alive.”

Keisha put both hands on the edge of the wood, not bothering to look into the box, but instead looking over at the girl, seemingly suspended in time. She felt like Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet just as he spots Juliet close-up for the first time.

 I’m not gonna fall in love with her, misunderstand everything and kill myself...am I?