DIRECTOR: Stop. Florence, this is a play about horny teenagers. I don't believe you want to have sex with him at all. And, Jackson, you're a terrible actor.
JACKSON: I don't think you're supposed to talk to us like that.
DIRECTOR: I'm not a teacher.
FLORENCE: I have no idea why they gave him the part. He's terrible.
FRIEND 1: He's Jackson Marchetti. Who cares if he can't act?
FRIEND 1: And I heard since he broke up with Maeve, he'll basically have sex with anyone.
FLORENCE: Oh, he's not really my type.
FRIEND 3: No one's ever your type. You're so picky, Florence.
Florence looks concerned by this, but doesn't say anything.
OTIS: So, tell me what the problem is.
FLORENCE: You've probably heard, I'm playing Juliet in the school play.
OTIS: Uh, congratulations.
FLORENCE: Anyway, I thought it was a play about love but apparently, it's all about sex. And now, the whole cast seem to be thinking about sex every second of every day.
OTIS: So... you're not ready to have sex but you're feeling pressure from your peers to keep up with them.
FLORENCE: I don't want to have sex. But sometimes I think I should just do it, so everyone'll shut up and stop making me feel like a freak.
OTIS: Well, try not to think about what other people are doing. Run your own race, and when you meet the right person, I'm sure you'll be ready. You're worried these concerns might affect your performance?
FLORENCE: I'm the best actor in this school. I'm basically Meryl Streep but young...and Scottish.
FRIEND 2: I told you, he'll have sex with anyone. You better be quick, Flo.
Cut to Jean's office.
FLORENCE: I don't wanna have sex.
JEAN: Okay. Do you want to have a seat? Not having sex is a valid choice. And you shouldn't have sex unless you -
FLORENCE (interrupting): No. I don't want to have sex at all. Ever, with anyone. I think I might be broken.
JEAN: Okay. Why don't you start by telling me how you feel when you think about having sex?
FLORENCE: I don't feel anything. I have no connection to it. It's sort of like... I'm surrounded by a huge feast with everything I could want to eat, but...I'm not hungry.
JEAN: Mmm. Do you know what asexuality is?
Florence shakes her head.
JEAN: It's when someone has no sexual attraction to any sex or gender. Sex just...doesn't do it for some people.
FLORENCE: Oh. But I still want to fall in love.
JEAN: Well, some asexual people still want romantic relationships but they don't want the sex bit. And others don't want either. You know, sexuality is fluid. Sex doesn't make us whole. And so, how could you ever be broken?
Cut to outside of Jean's office as Florence is leaving.
FLORENCE: Thank you.
JEAN: Anytime.
FLORENCE (to another student in the queue to the office): She is so much better than sex kid.
Cut to further down the hall. Florence bumps into Otis.
OTIS: Hey, how are you feeling?
FLORENCE: Amazing. Yeah, your advice was a bit crap but your mum is my hero, so I need a refund.
OTIS: Uh...
O and Otis are going up against each other in a debate about who will be the better school sex therapist (trust me it doesn't make more sense if you watch the show let's just go with it).
O: I’ve got a question for Otis.
O holds up a book
O: Who is this man?
OTIS: That’s my dad. And…
O: Correct. This is Otis’s father, Remi Milburn.
ERIC (in the audience, whispering): Oh my God.
O: Now, his writing is quite popular amongst certain men’s rights groups. And, if you don’t mind, I’d like to read you a little extract from his latest book.
OTIS: Is this allowed?
O: It is allowed. Here we are.
PRINCIPAL: (mouthing) Yeah, it’s fine.
O: (reading from book) “In order to attract a woman, the modern man finds himself…”
RUBY: (mouthing to Otis from audience) It’s fine.
O: “…unable to assert his natural authority.”
OTIS: I don’t see how this is relevant…
O: Thank you, Otis. If you don’t mind, I’d like to finish. Thank you. “Forced into a submissive role, which not only emasculates him, but creates a society disinterested in harmony.” Wow. Thank you, Remi Milburn. Otis Milburn, would you agree that men have a natural authority over women?
OTIS: No. Of course I don’t. Look, my dad just writes that stuff to sell books. I’m not him, and I don’t agree with anything he says.
O: That’s interesting.
OTIS: Is it?
O: It is. Because I would argue that the way you have behaved, particularly towards me, has been pretty sexist.
OTIS: That is ridiculous. And I think it’s inappropriate that you’re even bringing my family into this.
O: I disagree. I think people need to know what kind of a person they’re getting advice from.
OTIS: I agree with that. So, O, I have a question for you.
O: No, actually, I’m not ready to move on. Principal Lakhani, I still have a few more points to make.
OTIS: No, principal, I thought this was a debate.
PRINCIPAL: Please continue, Otis.
OTIS: O, what advice would you give to someone who’s recently been ghosted?
O: Well, I would need a little bit more information than that, Otis.
OTIS: Sure. PK, it’s true, isn’t it, that O ghosted you last term?
PK: (standing up in the audience) Yeah. Yeah, that’s true.
OTIS: And you’re not the only one who’s been strung along and tossed aside. There are others.
STUDENT: (standing up in audience) You did it to me too. I tried to talk to you about it, but you ignored me.
O: Well, I…
STUDENT: I felt like shit.
STUDENT 2: You stamped on my heart.
O: I…
Student 2 runs out crying.
OTIS: Can someone go and check on her?
Student 2 (?): He's so right!
OTIS: I’m not sure I would want to be counseled by someone who clearly cares so little about people’s feelings.
O: Hmm. Uh, we… Um… Okay… um... Um… I deserve to be called out on my past behavior. I have withdrawn from several relationships without proper communication, and that is not something that I condone. I think that leaving people without closure just isn’t right. And I am an absolute arsehole for doin’ that, and I am owning that. However, this hasn’t just happened in a vacuum. I have actually been on my own personal journey recently. And… well, it’s not something that I was going to talk about until I felt ready to, but I guess you have kind of forced my hand there, Otis. Um… So… uh… Um. Oh God! Um… I am asexual.
Students gasp. Ruby rolls her eyes.
O: And I really enjoyed the friendships of the people that I ghosted. I really did. But when it started to move into somethin’ more intimate, I… I felt really overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I didn’t know how to deal with the feelings. I didn’t have the words to articulate that. So I did the cowardly thing, and I just ran away, and that is something that I really regret. But unlike some people, I can accept criticism when it is valid. And I really hope you all believe me when I say that I am working hard on doing better. I am working on accepting myself and… and feeling proud of my identity.
Students cheer and applaud. Ruby looks baffled.
O: Thank you.
Cut to after the debate. Otis walks off the stage.
STUDENT 3: (to Otis) That was bad, man.
OTIS: (to Ruby) What just happened?
RUBY: Well, I think she’s won, and you’ve been canceled.
OTIS: Yeah.
Otis and O are stuck in an elevator together.
O: I thought your girlfriend lived in America?
Otis doesn't reply.
O: Ah, come on. I’m only making conversation.
OTIS: No, she’s moving back to Moordale. She’s gonna start studying at Cavendish.
O: I thought she was doing that impressive course thing?
OTIS: What’s your point?
O: Mm. Just seems a bit strange. She must really like spending time with you to give all that up.
OTIS: Well, yeah, she does, actually. We are pretty happy. Things are going mostly great between us.
O: “Mostly”?
O gasps.
O: Are you still having that sex phobia stuff?
OTIS: What?
O: I read that thing your mum wrote about you. It’s actually really fascinating.
OTIS: That is so unbelievably inappropriate.
O: So I’ll take that as a yes, then?
Otis makes annoyed noises.
OTIS: Yeah, sure. We’re having some issues.
O: Sex issues?
OTIS: Yeah, I… Yeah, I have this thing. I had this thing where I would just get very anxious around sex, but I dealt with it. But now it’s back, and I don’t understand why.
O: Mmm.
OTIS: No, I’m not… we’re not doing this.
O: I’m not. What am I doing, Otis? I’m not doing anything.
OTIS: Why don’t we talk about you for a change?
O: What about me?
OTIS: Well, I don’t know literally anything about you.
O: Well, have you ever asked? No.
OTIS: Then, what happened with Ruby. Why don’t we start there? Do you have any idea how awful she felt?
O: Oh please, Otis. Don’t pretend like you care about her. You’re literally using her ’cause you want to win the election.
OTIS: How about everything you’ve said, making me out to be some kind of meninist. You got on my mum’s radio show. You literally don’t stop. Like, are you asexual, or was that just something else to make me look bad?
O: That’s a really, really fucked up thing to say, Otis.
O and Otis are still stuck in the elevator together.
O: You know, I do feel awful about what I did to Ruby.
OTIS: Why did you do it?
O: I’d just moved from Belfast, and I was the kid with the funny accent. I was one of the only kids of color in my year, and I already started feeling like something wasn’t normal. The other girls were talking about boys and kissing and crushes and… There was… There was so much pressure to behave a particular way, and I decided that I needed to become best friends with the popular girls so that people didn’t notice that I didn’t fit in.
Flashback to a younger O sitting in a stall in the school bathroom. She's reading a book about sex and taking notes.
O: (voice over) Then I started learning everything I could about sex and relationships so that I could pretend to be like everyone else.
Young O leaves the bathroom stall and goes to wash her hands. There's the sound of another girl crying somewhere else in the bathroom.
O: (voice over) I was actually quite surprised that I found it quite fascinating, but you know, keeping up that facade was really hard, and…
Young Ruby leaves another stall. It's clear that she's the one who was crying. Young O and young Ruby look at each other.
O: (voice over) it is exhausting…
Young O is about to say something to young Ruby when one of O's popular friends comes out of a stall.
O: (voice over) not being able to be yourself.
FRIEND: (to young Ruby) What are you looking at, bed-wetter?
The friend leaves and young O follows her. End of flashback.
O: And when I got into college, I set up my clinic, and I still didn’t feel like I could tell people that I was ace. I mean, who wants to have sex advice from someone who doesn’t have sex?
OTIS: Sounds like it’d be quite lonely.
O: Yeah. I did try to make friends. But I couldn’t let people in without giving myself away. So I decided that I was just better off alone. I mean, I didn’t need anything except my clinic. That was my passion. It was my safe place. Then you just came in and took everything away from me.
The elevator starts moving.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Doors opening.