Symptoms of Being Human

Riley continues to build relationships with people at school besides Solo and Bec—for instance, Riley now practices French with Casey. The people who don’t like Riley have started to back off. On Saturday before their date with Bec, Riley answers some messages on Bloglr, offering advice to one follower on how to approach her sibling’s gender fluidity, and sharing words of solidarity with another follower who says Riley’s blog has helped them with their depression.

Riley prepares for their date by making their hair look a little more feminine and putting on some lavender oil. Later that afternoon, they wait for their parents to leave for a dinner before going to pick up Bec. Riley pulls into a mostly abandoned industrial park and parks in front of Bullet Hole Studios. Bec emerges with a guitar case. But after a boy kisses Bec’s cheek, Riley doubts whether this really is a date. Riley asks if the boy is Bec’s boyfriend, but Bec just says he’s the drummer for her band, Fluorescent Sunburn, and that people “don’t need labels” (147). Riley feels a little reassured when Bec says that she made Riley a playlist to listen to on the way to the club and that Riley looks hot.