"Hi, I'm Rachel, and yeah... I guess you can call me a sex addict," I giggled as I looked at the expectant faces surrounding me.
I thought about that statement for a minute. Of course, I'd never called myself a sex addict out loud, but the idea of it sounded almost kind of sexy. Of course I knew I was supposed to be all serious standing there in the classroom at The Belleview Retreat for Sexual Health. But really, how can you find the seriousness of group therapy at all?
They were a miscellaneous collection of odd personalities from different walks of life sharing intimate and intense details of their sex lives with complete strangers. And we were supposed to be listening with rapt concentration, pretending that we were learning from all these stories, when it was clear that everyone was just getting more and more turned on. Three girls had already given their confessions before mine and they all seemed distracted, as though they were mentally reliving their own stories whenever there was a lull in the classroom or when we were on break. It seemed like sharing them out loud had given them life again, which seemed to be somewhat counterproductive to the point of therapy. It was a highly undisciplined group, and I guess that was where I saw the fun in it. The subtle flirting and long glances kept a high level of sexual tension in the room.
I was about to begin introducing myself when the unmistakable hum of a buzzing vibration broke the silence. Everyone began looking at each other with wide eyes and I could hear the various protests of "don't look at me, it's not me" ripple through the crowd.
"Wow, did someone bring their vibrator to class?" Brooklyn finally said with a sarcastic laugh. The edgy brunette was the owner of her own sex shop, and she certainly seemed to know her toys.
"Uhm, nah not a vibrator," came the voice from the least vocal member of the classroom. "Blackberry," he said, casually reaching into his pocket to check the screen display. "Can I take this?"
"No Dexter, you may certainly not take it," Dr Clark, our resident therapist, snapped. "Now let's redirect out attention to Rachel, shall we."
The offending member of our therapy group gave a rueful grin and stuffed it back into his pocket and pulled his cap down lower over his face. With his dark sunglasses that he refused to take off and his mysterious aura combined with a certain kind of standoffish arrogance, he definitely seemed to be the outsider of the group.
I might have been the only one that was intrigued rather than put off by him. I had always felt like an outside myself while I was growing up.
"Now Rachel, why don't you give us an idea of who you are."
I sighed and shuffled back and forth on my feet, wondering how exactly I was supposed to define myself to these strangers. Certainly there was the Rachel that they'd see just from outward appearances that was very different from the darker personality inside. I was a petite girl, a little over five feet tall with big blue animated eyes and an infectious laugh that some people tell me sounds deceptively innocent until they get to know me. I was born a blonde, but often colored my hair at whim to suit my mood, and now it was a fiery red and spilled just over my shoulders in waves. I liked being a chameleon of sorts that way. It helped disguise the real Rachel, because in the world I lived in, the real Rachel held no valid place.
I remembered when my father, the esteemed politician who had ambitions to run for Governor saw me come home from school one day with black spiky hair and a crystal nose-ring.
"No daughter of mine is going to run around like some kind of punk kid," he had roared. "Haven't you ever stopped to think how this will reflect on me and my campaign?"
I smirked to myself as I remembered that moment because certainly a daughter with a goth-punk look would be the least of his worries once I was done with exploring the darker side of my personality.
"You were such a lovely sweet little blonde angel when you were younger," he would say in a softer tone. "Where has that girl gone? No more costumes and piercings and trying to be something that you are not. Be who you are, Rachel, don't hide behind these masks."
Of course I would refrain from explaining the irony of the situation. That sweet little blonde princess he wanted me to be had been the biggest charade of all. Most of my high school years had been confusing times for me, having to live the farce of being the socialite daughter of an important political figure. My family was conservative and well bred, and always played by the rules. Unfortunately being the youngest of three girls, dirty little Rachel, did not.
I started to tell the class about my teenage years surfing BDSM websites and alternative porn online and my renowned bisexuality among the girls at the sorority my mother had insisted I join. I carefully hid every aspect of my secret life. My computer was password protected and I had a hollowed out bench that sat by my bedroom windowsill where I stored all the things I knew they wouldn't approve of. My sex toys, some pot and ecstasy tabs, a few wigs and role-play costumes, and fishnets and black latex panties with the nipple clamps. To say that I couldn't find what I sexually craved in our conservative community was an understatement.
But things changed the day that I saw the profile on the alternative sex site I frequented.
"Highly discriminating couple seeks obedient slut willing to devote herself to our pleasure and demands for one night of ultra-hedonistic slavery beyond her wildest imagination at our annual Nuit Noir Party. Obedient whores who are interested should be petite, beautiful, with a sybaritic spirit and well inclined to the pursuit of extremes."