This is a piece of short fiction I've been working on for December's Carnival of Aces. The theme this year is "change", so I decided on a darker version (unfortunately common) episode of change for the average asexual--discovering your friends were not who you thought they were. It's also a sort of epiphany for our protagonist Maurice, who is an asexual teenager trying to come to terms with what he is. Not an easy task for someone so young and caught up in the hyper-sexualized environment of high school and teenagerhood. Especially when there is substandard sexual and gender education (just about everywhere in the United States! As far as I know, at best sex ed. classes might mention homosexuality and possibly bisexuality as valid identities, but so far no mention of asexuality).

I would appreciate it if this were critiqued or even if you feel like just mentioning one point via comment. Of course, hugs for all who read, fav, comment, or decide to add to a group. This is only a first draft, so go hard at it if you can. I'm tough!~

Q and A: Asexuality--
Asexuality is a sexual orientation where the person isn't physically attracted to any sex or gender. Common sense dictates that if "opposite" (hetero), "same" (homo), "two" (bi), and "all" (pan) are options available in nature then "none for me, thanks" (a) is also quite reasonable.
Asexuality is not "caused" by anything specific. It is not a disease or a disorder. If it is "caused" by anything, it would be by whatever causes other orientations like heterosexuality and homosexuality.
Asexual people can still have romantic thoughts or feelings towards other people, thought not all feel like they need an intimate relationship. These guys (meself included) tended to call themselves "aromantic".
Acephobia is when people are irrationally disgusted or hateful towards asexual people, for whatever reason they can muster up. These are usually either religious reasons (beliefs concerning having children) or personal reasons (people who believe, without exception, that sexual adventures are a fundamental part of "the Human Experience", and seek to "help" those who don't conform to their worldview). In my experience, vague tradition or a relative being cheesed off about not getting to have grandkids are also reasons that discrimination towards asexuals may occur. There is a lot of overlap of acephobia, homophobia, and biphobia.
"Asexual" does not refer to the biology textbook term "asexual reproduction". Because words can be used in different ways in different vocations. Claiming that a person cannot be asexual because they can't split into clones is like saying that a person's personality can't be sanguine because it isn't made of blood...
Go here for more detailed answers, information, and possibly a friendly chat with one or more asexual persons around the world: www.asexuality.org/home/