Brian Price glanced over his head as the seat belt sign flashed on; the flight from Los Angeles to Boston had begun its final descent. Brian took a quick look through his email, scanning the profiles of the young women he was traveling to New England to meet. With a little smile, he snapped his laptop closed and stowed it under his seat. Leaning back in his chair and gazing out the window, Brian watched the blooming forests of Massachusetts roll beneath him. This trip would be his third visit to Smithton College and he still couldn't believe his great fortune in being the producer and occasional co-star of the Smithton Tapes.
Brian had worked in the pornography industry for nearly a decade, and he had always heard the rumors about the Tapes. A fair number of prominent industry insiders dismissed them as a hoax, or possibly something that had happened once and was never repeated. Brian himself didn't believe any such things existed; he had seen almost every pornographic film in existence and had never seen a Smithton Tape. That was until one day, when the President of the porn production company he worked for, Star Productions, called Brian into his office. And in that meeting, the President revealed that yes, the Smithton Tapes were real, and that he was putting Brian in charge of their production. His mouth agape, Brian couldn't believe what he heard. That meeting was three years ago. Since then, Brian knew that every spring meant a trip to Massachusetts to the quaint campus of Smithton College.
**
A gentle spring breeze drifted through the window of Christina Barnhardt's dorm room, just parting the curtains. The air was still a bit cool, and it caused goosebumps to break out over Christina's bare chest. Christina smiled as she listened to birds chirping while she fastened her bra. As she buttoned her blouse, she glanced at the photo of her family sitting atop her desk. She smiled; the semester was almost over and she would soon return home for the summer. Her junior year at Smithton was winding down and only a few finals stood between her and home.
Christina gathered her things before her last day of classes before the beginning of finals. This morning she began with perhaps the most interesting class she'd ever taken: History, Theory, and Practice of Pornography. The class was offered every spring semester and generated a fair bit of controversy on campus every time spring semester rolled around. Every year, there was a group adamantly opposed to it and another group just as fiercely supportive. The controversy, however, never attracted much attention off campus, so Smithton never faced serious pressure to stop offering the course. One might think that mostly men signed up for the course but, in reality, the students were mostly women. The majority female enrollment always surprised the women who showed up on the first day of classes, as they expected to enter a room full of horny men. But the mostly women class resulted in thoughtful discussion. Beginning with the crudest cave paintings and continuing through the sleekly edited porn of today, the class studied porn from every possible angle.
The morning sun broke through the many trees on campus as Christina walked to class. Tucked under her arm were her class materials for the Pornography class. She was a stand-out student and had thrown herself into the class with unexpected enthusiasm. Christina was a shy girl, not overly sexual or sexually experienced. She had a nerdy girl next door look to her; wavy medium blond hair, a slim physique with well-shaped but smallish breasts. Add to it her modest dress and tortoiseshell glasses, and no one would suspect that she was a top student in a class on pornography. But despite her appearances, she had distinguished herself among a class of the brightest ladies at Smithton. The class though, had changed her. Exposed to sexual acts and fetishes she had never even dreamed of before, she had spent many a night poring through porn sites on her laptop, fascinated by what she found. Anal, interracial, deepthroat, gangbangs, double penetration, she had never seen such things before. They seemed to be common and expected among the performers and the consumers, but it was a new world for her. And she had this feeling, deep down, that it was exciting to watch. What would it feel like, being the woman in the video? A receptacle for lust and erotic passion?
Snippets from the DP scene she had watched last night flashed through her mind as she entered the classroom for the last Pornography class of the semester. The professor, Dr. Jones, quieted the class with an announcement:
"Alright, everyone, listen. It's going to be a short class today. Really all I have is to return your term papers. And remember, the study session is on Thursday at 7 in this classroom".
Dr. Jones then wandered the rows of desks, handing back the student's papers. He smirked a little when he handed Christina her paper. She eagerly looked for the grade, as it was one of her favorite papers she had written in college. "Deepthroat and Internet Pornography: Satisfying a More Sophisticated Audience". But the grade was not on the cover page. Christina flipped through its pages until she came to the end, where she found "98" written in large red letters. Smiling to herself, she read further below, where she found a note from Dr. Jones: "Please see me in my office after class".
Christina's brow furrowed; what could be wrong? She glanced around the room to see three other girls staring at their essays as the remainder of the class exited the room. Sitting in silence, the four girls contemplated each other quietly for a moment until Erin, a tall and leggy brunette, spoke up:
"Did Dr. Jones ask you to see him in his office?
The other girls murmured in the affirmative.
Another moment of silence passed until Nicole, one of the most insightful members of the class, stood up from her desk, declaring: "Well, I guess we should all go together".
Grabbing their backpacks and collecting their books, the four girls quietly departed the classroom and proceeded down the long hallway to Dr. Jones' office. Upon arriving, the found a man sitting in Dr. Jones' office chatting amicably with him, as though they were friends who hadn't seen each other in some time.
**
Brian piloted his rental car through the tree-lined roads of rural Massachusetts. The red eye flight from Los Angeles hadn't done as much damage as he had anticipated; he felt alert and awake. And without a sip of coffee. With what was on his agenda today, it was easy to feel energized. Only working on the Smithton Tapes gave him this jolt.
Arriving at the Smithton campus, still rising from its slumber and getting ready for the day, Brian parked his car in the faculty lot beside the Humanities Building. His took out his cell phone and scrolled through his contact until he found "Eric Jones". Pressing on the call button, he listened to the phone ring a few times before hearing:
"Brian! Are you here?"
"I'm in the faculty lot. Are you coming down?"
"Yes, any second!"
After only a brief delay, Dr. Eric Jones came striding up to the car. The two men shook hands before pulling into a brief hug.
"The good Dr. Jones, how are my man?" Brian asked, a smile spreading across his face.
"Excellent, excellent. Especially today" Eric replied, breaking into a mischievous smile of his own.
"I hope you've got something good for me."
"Oh, as if that was in question."
Brian and Eric entered the Humanities Building, swiftly ascending the stairs to Eric's office. The office was cluttered with books and papers piled in every conceivable cranny. Clearing off two of the chairs, Eric motioned for Brian to sit. Eric searched through his desk, finally producing a file folder with four smaller folders inside. Handing the folder to Brian, Eric said:
"Here's the targets for this year. As always, I think you'll find them more than satisfactory. Remarkable students, all of them. Enthusiastic too."
Brian flipped through the files labeled; Barnhardt, Christina; Byrd, Nicole; Ricci, Emily; Widener, Erin. Opening the "Barnhardt, Christina" file, Brian was immediately struck. The soulful eyes, the beautiful hair, the innocent look. He skimmed through the profile, seeing the information from her student profile and a few pictures pulled from social media. He grew more fascinated before forcing himself to look over the other profiles. The other girls were pretty, certainly, but Christina still held that charm.
"All right, you can still look over those. But I've got to go hand back their essays. And deliver the news" Eric declared before exiting his office, one eyebrow raised in a look of knowing.
Brian took closer looks at all of the girls. One senior, two juniors and a sophomore. One of them, the senior, with a known boyfriend. All of them so temptingly nubile, so pure and sexy. Brian smiled to himself: Man, did he ever love his job.
He wasn't alone for long, as Eric returned quickly.
"And now, we wait" Eric said, placing his hands atop his head.
Brian glanced up from the profiles, absentmindedly adding: "Do you ever worry they won't do it?"
Eric scoffed: "Why? They never have. Not for as long as this thing has been going. Why? Are you?"
