Standard disclaimers, I don't own things. This is my first co-write and my first multi-chapter, so please bear with me. Also thank you to Laz for betaing!
"Why can't I just say I'm sick and avoid this whole thing?" Tucker groaned alongside his friends.
"Because it's mandatory. Do you really want to discuss this one on one with Lancer later?" Danny raised an eyebrow as his friend visibly shuttered.
"No way, man. The topic itself is awkward enough, don't make it worse!"
Sam sighed and readjusted her spider backpack on her shoulders. "There's nothing awkward about it! It's the human body, it's natural. And I'm glad the school is taking a more progressive approach to this. God knows our classmates need it."
The boys looked at her bewildered. There's no way she was looking forward to this.
"How are you so cool about this? Even I have to admit, it's a bit...weird. Especially when Dash and other guys will be in the room too." Danny made a face.
Sam shrugged, "I dunno. I guess I know it all already." Tucker opened his mouth to make a comment. "Not like that! I just….I read." She shrugged again as if it were no big deal.
"Read what exactly?" Danny raised an eyebrow, and Tucker smirked.
"Damn, Sam. I never imagined you'd be an avid porn aficionado." Tucker chuckled as they trudged through the halls of Casper High.
"I'm not!" Sam shrieked. Her parents would just love to hear that rumor floating around school. "I just know a few things, and I'm actually mature about it, unlike some people." She looked pointedly at her friends.
"Hey, we're mature! I just don't exactly want to talk about sex with Dash...that came out wrong." Danny slapped his forehead and dragged his hand down his face.
Sam and Tucker laughed as Danny glanced at the posters hanging on the school walls announcing what day it was: sex education day at Casper High.
It was unavoidable. After a few rumors started spreading about some of the baseball players spreading a little something else to the JV girls' soccer team, Principal Ishiyama ordered a mandatory teaching of safe sex practices to all Casper High students. Abstinence wasn't 100% effective, after all.
"You're both being such babies about this! It'll be fine. A couple hours and it will all be over and we can go home. No big deal." Sam took her usual seat in the back of home room, Danny and Tucker following suit respectively to her left.
"I already had this talk with my dad," Tucker complained. Danny gave a nod.
"Wish I could say the same. It's my dad, so it just kind of went from puberty to about ghosts somehow, and I'm still not really sure how," he complained. He glanced at Sam, who flushed. "You?"
"If you count my mom silently giving me a book and scheduling me an appointment to go on birth control, then yeah," Sam replied. Danny was taken aback by that.
"Wait, you're on birth control?" Danny asked quietly, and Sam flushed a bit darker.
"Not like that!" she insisted. "Periods just really suck, and it helps a lot. With acne too."
Any follow-up questions were cut off by the bell ringing. Mr. Lancer strolled in just as the bell finished, followed by two people, a man and a woman. The man carried two boxes stacked on top of each other, the woman carrying a bag over her shoulder and rolling a crate behind her.
"Alright, alright. Settle down," he said, and the crowd's chatter died down. "This is Mike and Mallory from Planned Parenthood. They're going to talk with you as a group for a bit before we split you up. I expect you all to be mature about this and on your best behavior for our guests." Lancer sat at his desk after finishing his little speech.
Danny scoffed as he saw Lancer pull up Doomed on his computer and quickly hide his screen from being visible to students. "Figures. We get to sit here and suffer while he has fun." Sam rolled her eyes while Tucker started eyeing the woman at the front of the room. The couple that had come in from Planned Parenthood were too attractive to be teaching sex ed to high school kids. Mallory had opened one of the boxes that Mike put on the table set up at the front of the classroom for the purposes of teaching, pulling out a stack of papers.
"So, a little information about Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization, and our focus is on sexual and reproductive health. Not only do we provide birth control and condoms, but we also do cancer screenings as well as general checkups and STD testing. We are also a safe space and are trained to work with people of any sexual orientation and gender." Mallory stood cheerfully as she spoke, handing out the packet to students in the front row and asking them to pass the rest to those behind them.
Danny stared at the paper after he got it. It was a small informational packet bound together with a cheap plastic ring system. The Planned Parenthood name was on the first page behind a glossy transparent cover to protect the pages. Inside was a typical Planned Parenthood pamphlet tucked into the pages.
"So, good news!" Mike clasped his hands together. "You don't have to worry about notes. You can simply follow along in these packets. They are yours to keep, you can mark them up however you'd like or refer back to them whenever. This packet will go over a lot more than what we'll be discussing today due to time. What Mallory and I will mainly be covering is sexual health and relationships, but this packet will also cover other things like puberty, gender identity, and it has phone numbers and websites for if you need or want further information.
Sam opened the first page of the book, flipping through the first few pages. She immediately winced at seeing diagrams. Graphic ones with lots of words she didn't recognize based on any of her readings. Wait, what was that-? Oh. She shut the book.
"Let's start with some basic information that's important for all of you to hear," Mallory paused to be sure she had everyone's attention, "Abstinence is of course an option, but teaching that and only that is not effective. First of all, consent is important. Anything other than a clear verbal 'yes' is not consent. Make sure you and your partner are both ready and comfortable before you take steps to further your relationship. And remember, consent goes both ways."
Sam glanced over at Danny, who had begun to thumb through the packet curiously. Tucker kept drumming his fingers on the desk impatiently. Students had to turn in all electronic devices before the seminar started to ensure they would pay attention. Tucker had to turn in all four of his devices (they searched him thoroughly) and was already having withdrawal symptoms.
"When you are both ready to take that step, be sure you are using protection. Even if you are on some form of birth control, it is important to use condoms to protect yourself and your partner from sexually transmitted diseases. Now, the ladies will come with me into the room next door while the guys stay here with Mike." Mallory gestured to the room next door where Ms. Tetslaff was waiting for the girls to file in.
Sam stood and swung her backpack over one shoulder before giving Danny and Tucker a small wave. She smiled as Danny blushed when he came across a rather graphic illustration and closed the pamphlet shut. "Try to actually learn something, guys. Remember, it's just the natural human body."
A very short first chapter, but there's much more to come!