The flyers had been simple, and nondescript. Each one was bright, neon orange with little tear outs of a phone number at the bottom. They had been stapled to every imaginable surface on campus, nestled among the shreds of a hundred others that came before them. The text was simple and each message the same.
Adult Sex Education Classes
Evenings Only
Contact for further information
It was a miracle that Whitney had even tore off one of the scraps. She had passed one every morning on the way to the same class and each time she passed, it gnawed at her. It took a week and a half to pull a tab and another week to get up the courage to dial the number. There shouldn't have been anything imposing about taking a class like this. At 20, she was an adult and knew enough about sex to get by. She was far from a virgin, but it would be a mistake to call her experienced. A handful of partners and nothing had felt memorable or special like it was meant to be.
In fact, it was because of her experience that she felt ridiculous even calling the number. Sex education was for kids, something that she had been through years ago. It was embarrassing to feel like she needed a refresher. But those classes were for kids, maybe Adult classes could provide her with what she had been missing.
Apparently, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. She was both relieved and anxious to see that 13 others, 7 boys and 6 girls, felt the same that she did. You would expect an Adult Sex Education class to be full of awkward virgin stereotypes but she was surprised to see that everyone looked relatively normal. It was a comfort to see that if she felt awkward, at least she was in a group of her peers.
It was like the beginning of every other class. Mostly everyone kept to themselves, and likely even more so considering the topic of the class. A boy and girl in the front of the class were talking with each other in a frantic, hushed tone but everyone else was pretending to read their orange flyer. Maybe like Whitney, they were considering bailing for what seemed like the hundredth time.
The door opened before anyone got the chance to leave. The figure that entered looked exactly like her voice had sounded on the phone.
"Sorry to everyone for being late." She grimaced at everyone. "I would tell you that it won't happen again, but I don't like to set myself up for future lies."
She carried no papers, which Whitney thought was odd. She wore dark brown hair in a loose bun. She had dressed semi-professionally for the occasion with a cream colored, button-up blouse with a ebony, knee length skirt and sensible flats. She wore black frames, a touch darker than her hair, which gave her a classic professor's look. She looked a little frantic compared to other Professors she had who always seemed in complete control of their lives and sure of themselves. Rebecca Collier didn't seem sure of herself.
The Professor flatted the front of her skirt to open the class. "Okay, well we had better get started."
She clasped her hands in front of her, clearly nervous.
"I want to thank you all for coming and responding to my flyers. This is my Adult Sex Education course." She paused and smiled at everyone, "I would like to take this time to again state that this course is in no way affiliated with the University."
A boy interrupted her a column over and to Whitney's left. "Yeah, you mentioned that a couple times on the phone."
Professor Collier, smiled and looked down. "Well, that should have been your first clue what you were getting yourself into. What we're doing here is strictly off books and something done of my own free will. To my knowledge, nothing like this has been done before, especially at this University." She rambled on, almost as an aside to herself. "Of course you had the Masters and Johnson studies, but this is completely different."
She noticed that people were looking at her strangely and smiled. "I'm so sorry. This is my first class, I'm really just flying off script here."
"You've never taught before?" asked a small blonde near the floor, echoing the unease that Whitney felt.
"Uh, no. This is a topic that I'm passionate about and you are my initial class." She conceded, "My guinea pigs if you would."
If she was expecting a response, she didn't get one.
"You will notice that there is an even number of you, with a matching number of boys and girls. This is by design. I will admit that I received far less calls than I wanted but more calls than the amount of people here" She smiled wryly. "More girls called than boys. We also have a couple of front which is amazing!" She gestured toward only boy and girl that had been talking with each other at the front of the class earlier.
"But based on your answers to my questions on the phone, I whittled you down to the fourteen in this room. If I do this class again in the future, I might open it up to bigger class sizes."
The same boy that interrupted earlier spoke up again. "How were we picked?"
Professor Collier thought a bit before answering the question, "I would like to leave a little bit of that to the imagination before answering, but I will say that everyone here seemed open and less guarded about the topics we will be dealing with. My goal with this class is to reach out to those who might not otherwise seek out this information. I want to make young people who are just learning about sex as comfortable as possible with the topic. Satisfaction with your sex life can have a drastic effect on your overall mental health. However, I don't think that I can reach everybody. Some people are either too uncomfortable or closed off to fully learn what I'm trying to offer."
No one responded. The room was completely silent and Whitney could feel what everyone was thinking. This was a mistake. This woman had no idea what she was doing. It was time to leave.
"Look, I come from a deeply religious family." Professor Collier continued, maybe sensing the growing apathy. "I married young and my husband and I knew nothing about each other. Our first night together was awkward. Neither of us had any clue what we were doing. He slobbered on me for 3 minutes and then rammed his dick into me over and over before I was really ready. I could hardly walk the next morning and not in a positive way"
A few ears perked up at this. It was the last sentence they had expected to come out of her mouth.
She sat back on her desk. "I eventually gave birth to a girl and then two boys later. Over 6 years of marriage, I never felt like I knew what I was doing and I suspect that a few of you feel the same way."
Whitney knew she did, and no one else was arguing with the Professor. She had their interest at least.
"There's nothing wrong with religion and my first marriage was doomed from the start. When I left my husband, it took my 3 years to work up the courage to find another partner and luckily that relationship was slower and a little more open. I don't want anyone to go through the same thing that I did. This class is all about making sure you know what your partner is looking for in your sex life."
Whitney felt uneasy. She remembered that Professor Collier carried no papers with her at the start of class. She thought maybe it was just the first day, they'd be going over the Syllabus and maybe this was just an informal class. But this was beginning to feel different.
Professor Collier clasped her hands in front of her again, "I was late today, because I was fully prepared to have you all walk out on me today. This took some courage to stand in front of you today. To put it bluntly, this is a hands-on sex education class."
A girl, closest to the door, promptly stood up, collected her things and stomped out the door.
Professor Collier grimaced, "I understand that this is odd to say the least. I know the concept of casual sex has come a long way, but,"
While she spoke another girl, front row with dark hair, turned around and scanned everyone behind her. Without another word she stood up and exited the class.
"But, I was hoping that some of you may see this as me just facilitating your sex lives."
Another Boy, who had been silent before, spoke up, "I'm sorry, are you saying..."
She interrupted him, "Yes, if you stay in this room, you should be comfortable with the idea touching and being touched by every other person in this room. If you are uncomfortable with this idea, now would be the best time to leave. But you are free to leave at any time."
No one spoke. Some were taken aback and others were just stunned. A few took stock of their counterparts in the room. Whitney herself took a gander at the boys in the room. A few were attractive and most were fine. She didn't consider any of them unattractive necessarily, but most she just felt ambivalent towards, but touching? She felt a pit in her stomach...and something else much lower. The idea was terrifying and intriguing at the same time. Sometimes she fantasized an attractive stranger might touch her on the bus from behind. It would be terrifying prospect in real life, but as a fantasy it was enough to get her wet on the spot. She shifted her thighs uncomfortably.
"Wait, are you saying everyone? Like...everyone, everyone?" A guy spoke in the front. Clearly intimating at the other guys.