No Ordinary Exchange

everything is fine. i'm with you.

1. It's very important to me that the relationships I portray in my writing are healthy and mutual. As you know, however, I currently don't broach any content above PG-13 (just ain't my thing). So allow me to give you a rundown of consent! For one, consent does not just apply to sexual intimacy - consent can apply to any aspect of your life/relationships (ex. if someone wants a hug, but you don't want to hug them, you can refuse to consent and thus not give them a hug; there's nothing wrong with that!). But in terms of sexual intimacy, RAINN defines consent as this: "Consent is an agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity. Consent should be clearly and freely communicated." Generally speaking, consent is a decisive, well-discussed "yes" from both parties. A lack of a "no" is NOT consent. If one party is a minor or is intoxicated/otherwise incapacitated, they CANNOT give consent. If someone is forced to say "yes," that is NOT consent. Furthermore, giving consent one time does NOT mean you have given consent for future activities; consent must be established each and every time. Consent can also be revoked at any point; there is nothing wrong with changing your mind and letting your partner know you want to stop. When it comes to consent, remember FRIES: consent is Freely given, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic, and Specific! (Information condensed from @ soyouwanttotalkabout on Instagram and RAINN.)

2. Sexual violence resources, whether you want to educate yourself or are seeking assistance: RAINN, NSVRC, 1in6, VictimConnect, and the National Sexual Assault Hotline in the US at (800) 656-4673.

Bonjour vous-autres! This chapter is a soft one, and probably one of my favorites. Also,, I cannot believe we've only got ten chapters left (well, nine and an epilogue). I mean, WHAT?! That blows my mind. I appreciate y'all's support more than I can say, and I sincerely hope you stick around until the end of this story. Enjoy the chapter!

xXxXxXx

Rayla: do you want me to wear black?

Callum: if you want. my mom never cared much about that stuff

Rayla: okay. see you soon

If Callum was being honest, he hadn't even considered wearing black to visit his mother's grave. He was focused on just being able to - able to speak to her and Rayla at the same time. It was probably ridiculous and unnecessary and pointless, but... he still wanted to do it. It was important to him, for reasons he didn't - no, couldn't fully articulate.

He did end up wearing a nice black shirt beneath his typical blue jacket, though try as he might, Callum couldn't bring himself to wear slacks. He didn't want to look too formal, especially because he'd just told Rayla that she didn't have to wear black if she wasn't comfortable with it.

Callum was nervous, to say the least. For one, it had been a long time since he'd visited his mom's grave. Harrow tried to organize it so they went once every year or two, most often at or around her birthday because that was when Aunt Amaya tended to be in town. That meant it had been well over 700 days since Callum had last visited. He wondered if his stepdad had planned a trip to the cemetery this year, or if he'd pushed it back to late December so they could visit with Amaya as they usually did, seeing as she'd already flown out of town. Or wait - wasn't she returning in January because of the possibility of the championship? Would they not visit until the new year, then?

Ugh. He'd just play it by ear.

Also, Callum was more than a little anxious to talk about KSU's exchange program with Xadia University. Sure, he was pretty confident on a personal level that he wanted to apply, but there was really no one else's opinion he cared about more than Rayla's. And if she didn't want him to apply, then he wouldn't. He knew that there was a chance Runaan's... er, negativity was still weighing heavy on her mind. The only thing he wanted from her was honesty, favorable or no.