Returning to teaching in the fall semester, I had been nervous about possible repercussions from my student, Kelly, encountering me washing Luke's truck in my driveway wearing a pink speedo and the cuckold horns T-shirt over the summer break. I checked the enrollment list and noticed that Kelly was indeed signed up for another one of my lecture classes, Male Masochism in Medieval Romances, a new class. I was surprised to see that the class was full; I had actually been concerned that it would be dropped due to low enrollment, but apparently six new students had signed up over the summer. On the opening day of class, I noticed Kelly sitting in the front row, dressed in short shorts and a tight T-shirt.
I saw her whispering to another female student sitting next to her who I didn't recognize, both of them smiling.
"Hi, Professor Rollins."
"Hi, Kelly. I hope you had a good summer."
"I did. It was too short, as always. How about you? I hope you didn't lose any more bets," she said with a grin.
"No, I learned my lesson last time. No more betting on sports for me. It's great to have you back in my class. It's really a full one."
"Yes, I might have had something to do with that. I love your classes so much, I really talked you up to some of my friends."
"That's very nice of you. Thanks, Kelly,"
"Don't mention it. You've been losing weight, Professor Rollins. The tighter pants look good on you. I like the silk scarf, too." She smiled.
"Thanks." I quickly turned away. I'm sure I was blushing deeply. Brooke had picked out a purple silk scarf that she wrapped around my neck that morning. Also, even though Brooke and Luke had recently brought me a smaller chastity device, I was still concerned that the outline of it was visible beneath my tighter pants. When I looked at myself in the mirror that morning, I could definitely see it, but I think one would have to be looking for it to really notice. But perhaps they were? I heard Kelly giggling with her classmate behind me.
There were a total of ten students in the class, seven female and three male. After I gave them an overview of the class and what they could expect in the coming weeks, I asked them if they had any questions.
One of the male students -- a tall, slender junior who I had seen walking the halls of the English building but who had not been in any of my classes before -- said, "Professor, what are your qualifications for teaching this class?"
I thought to myself, what nerve this current generation has. Never in a million years would I have ever even thought of asking such a question of one of my professors at Yale. Looking down at my class list, I said, "Well, Mr. Betz, is it? I have been lecturing on medieval romantic literature for nearly a decade and have published..."
"Excuse me, Professor," he interrupted, "but I wasn't asking about your qualifications for teaching about medieval romantic literature. I was asking about your qualifications for teaching about male masochism. Do you have any first-hand experience?"
Kelly covered her mouth with her hand in an unsuccessful attempt to restrain her laugh. Several other students also smiled and started tittering.
I felt my face burning as I replied, "Well, it so happens that the book I'm currently working on is partly about male masochism, but one does not have to have first-hand experience with a subject to teach it. I have never been a knight before, after all, yet I teach about courtly love."
"Well, you see Professor, I'm sort of a dominant guy myself, so I was hoping to learn about masochism from a true expert in the field. And I've always found that there's really no substitute for first-hand experience."
I saw Kelly roll her eyes and and heard the girl next to her whisper to her, "I can't believe he just said that."