Let me know what you like or don't like, people. I can't get better without comments. And naturally votes are always appreciated, too.
*
Justin Heityme knocked on his academic advisor's door, a resigned expression on his young face. Another older person was trying to manage his life, he presumed, just like all the others he had encountered in his short existence. Did they not understand that there was a planet to save and that he was just the man to do it? Why was there all this uproar about his need to be a 'whole person' and to have interests outside his Environmental Engineering major? Being well-rounded was for those useless people in Liberal Arts over on the other campus. Here, at the technical school of Horner Springs Institute they studied serious things.
"Come in. Ah, Mr. Heityme, just the young man I wanted to see." Dr. Sylvia Ellynrunch smiled warmly at the precocious and (according to the faculty) downright obsessive sophomore. "I've been looking over your transcript and I wanted to warn you that you are missing graduation requirements. You need to sign up for an additional class this semester."
"But I'm already carrying sixteen engineering units, Dr. Ellynrunch. I don't have time for another class."
"Justin, I think you weren't listening to me. I said that you are missing graduation requirements. Horner Springs Institute insists that every student have a minimum of twenty units in human sexuality before they graduate. We didn't mention this before because you were so young when you completed high school but now that you are of legal age, you need to catch up. If you wait for next semester you will find yourself short when you come to the end of your four years here. Now, it turns out that Ms. Beindre has room for one more male student in her section of Introduction to Bondage so I'm signing you up for BDSM 101. It meets on the Liberal Arts campus and if you leave right now you will be just in time. It's in room 305 of the Major Horner Building so grab your iPad and scoot."
"Dr. Ellynrunch, this is out . . . ."
"I said
scoot
!"
Stunned and cowed by the intensity of the professor's command, Justin hustled down the hall and out the front door. He pulled his fleece-lined leather coat tighter as he stood in the cold at the shuttle stop and stamped his feet irritably. 'They' had done it to him again; making him do something he saw no need for because 'they' had the power and he didn't. It never occurred to him to ask why he obeyed so readily or to wonder why he put up no resistance beyond a cut-short protest.
He arrived at the Major Horner building with his head down and a scowl on his face. Climbing the steps to the big double doors, he paid no heed to the excellent copies of tenth century Indian temple carvings that formed a frieze around each story nor did he notice the Art Deco murals that covered the walls. Instead he looked at his watch, cursed under his breath and ran up two flights of stairs and burst into room 305 to find there was only one remaining empty seat—in the front row.
Ms. Beindre tapped a key on her laptop at the lectern. "Ah, and Mr. Heityme in the nick of time. How appropriate. Well class, good afternoon. I am Ms. Beindre and as I'm sure you all know this is BDSM 101, Introduction to Bondage. The class consists of an hour of lecture once a week in this room and two hours of laboratory which will meet in the large—gymnasium, if you will, at the end of the corridor. Since you will naturally be working in couples, I'm going to give you a few minutes to get acquainted."
A compact brunette with a page boy haircut was seated next to Justin. She turned and looked him up and down appraisingly, then smiled.
"Mmm, you're cute! Hi, my name's Amanda Knott and my friends all call me Randy Mandy. What's yours?"
Justin blushed. "Uh, Justin—Justin Heityme. Uh, I'm majoring in Environmental Engineering. Um . . . ."
"Ooo," the girl's eyes widened, "that's one of the
hard
ones! I'm an art major, specializing in landscape design. So what brings you to Introduction to Bondage?"
Justin glowered. "My academic advisor said I needed graduation requirements and this one was open so she signed me up. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here. It's not like I'll ever have any use for it. I've got important things to do and I need to get started. That's why I left high school at sixteen and came here. The planet is a mess and needs fixing before really terrible things start to happen! I don't have time for—," he stopped in mid rant, "uh, what is Introduction to Bondage all about, anyway?"
Amanda took off her glasses and laid them on the desk. She cocked her head to one side and peered at Justin with one raised eyebrow. Then she shook her head, as if to clear it of some impossible concept.
"You really don't know, do you? That's amazing! You graduated from high school at sixteen? When did you turn eighteen?"
"Last week. Dr. Ellynrunch said now that I'm legal I need to make up for lost time; otherwise I won't graduate on schedule. Obviously, this has something to do with sex, right?"
Amanda reached out and laid a gentle hand on Justin's shoulder. "Honey, it certainly does. And it looks like it's a good thing Ms. Beindre sat me next to you. I don't claim to be an expert, that's why I'm in this class but at least I've had some experience with being a tie toy. Uh, have you
ever