Chapter 15:

Chapter 15: Intimacy Preparation Class

What Lies Beneath the Surface


Jason and Moira were on another picnic in the oxygen farm. It was just as good as the last time, the picnic basket, the blankets, the delicious food, the only difference was that, for some reason, Skye and Andrew were nowhere to be seen.

It was just the two of them, eating together and talking. He couldn’t for the life of him describe the conversation, but he knew he enjoyed it. They weren’t confused about the disappearance of their Partners. It just felt… right.

Moira’s smile was still burning in his mind when he woke up.

“Good morning, Jason! The sun is out, and it’s looking like another gorgeous day!”

Another one, huh… Jason rubbed his eyes and glanced warily at the telescreen, turning it off. It had been over a week since the picnic in the oxygen farm, but he was still dreaming about it. Dreaming about Moira.

Sometimes they weren’t having lunch. Maybe they would play bunker ball one on one. Or he would be drawing her again. But it felt like every dream he’d had recently featured her.

But he didn’t have time to waste thinking about dreams. It was time for breakfast, and then off to class! He slipped the book into his backpack. It was filled with fresh notes.

“Good morning, Jason! How’d you sleep?” His father greeted him with a smile. Jason flinched. Did he look that tired? Hopefully they wouldn’t guess he’d stayed up late reading again.

“Good morning, father, I slept fine.”

“Jason, did you have any good dreams?” His mother asked hopefully. “Dreams about Skye, maybe?”

Skye? Why would he be dreaming about her? …Then again, he wasn’t sure why he was dreaming about Moira, either. He shrugged.

“Margaret, it’s alright,” his father assured her. “It’s fine, son, we’re just curious about how things are going. You know you can tell us about anything, right?”

Jason smiled. “Yeah, dad. I know.”

He finished up his breakfast quickly and headed out the door, greeting Skye as he always did. They ran into Moira and Andrew as well, and they all exchanged greetings. Moira’s smile was especially bright today, and Jason couldn’t help but remember his dream.

It’s too bad we won’t ever get to eat just the two of us… it was a passing thought, but it stuck with him for some reason. He didn’t know why. Sharing a meal with someone other than your Partner was against the rules, after all.

“Are you guys excited about class?” Moira asked, her eyes shining.

“Why?” Skye asked. “What will be learning about today?”

“Today, class,” Teacher Elyse addressed the room, “we will be starting our first practical lesson in Intimacy Preparation. I hope you’re prepared, because we’ll doing hands-on work today.”

Jason swallowed. Hands-on intimacy preparation? He felt his body start to heat up. He’d diligently copied down all the previous lessons, but now he had to put that into practice.

Teacher Elyse turned to the telescreen. “For our lesson, we’re going to learn about holding hands.” A picture of two hands appeared on the screen, and a few students gasped. Jason’s eyes nearly jumped out of his skull. The hands, they… they were touching! Their fingers were wrapped around each other!

“Holding hands is a form of intimate contact performed with one’s Partner. It’s a lewd behavior. Can anyone explain to me what that means?” The teacher asked. “Skye?”

“Lewd, or ‘perverted’ behaviors are any actions that violate the public intimacy rules,” Skye explained. “Any form of direct contact with another person, even a Partner, such as hugging or holding hands or… k-kissing.”

Jason had to smile as Skye’s diligence as a student came into conflict with her embarrassment. He couldn’t blame her. When he read about people holding hands in the short stories, or even kissing, he felt rather ashamed himself.

“Excellent, Skye. That’s correct. Holding hands is an intimate act done behind closed doors. In the past, it was known as ‘fingering’. A man would take his hand and wrap his fingers around the woman’s fingers as a type of foreplay.”

Moira raised her hand. Surprised, the teacher called on her.

“Teacher Elyse, what’s ‘foreplay’? I’ve never heard that word before.”

“Moira, we discussed this just the other day. Can you check your notes, please?”

“…Um…”

As much as she was improving, Moira was a long way off from being a model student, that was for sure.

“I see. Would anyone like to explain to Moira what foreplay is?”

A few hands raised, and Jason’s was highest of all. He was practically jumping out of his seat.

“Yes, Jason, go ahead.”

Moira turned to Jason, her freckled face glowing eagerly.

“Okay, so ‘foreplay’ basically means stuff you do before you have sex,” Jason explained. “So before a man puts his penis in a woman’s vagina, he’ll foreplay her. Or maybe she’ll foreplay him. Or they foreplay each other.”

Moira’s face scrunched up. “I’m still not really getting it. What do they, like, do?”

The teacher cleared her throat. “That’s enough for now, Jason. Don’t worry, class, we’ll be going over the different types of foreplay in our future lectures, for now, we’ll begin with the most basic one, handholding.”

This time it was Skye who raised her hand, surprisingly.

“Yes, Skye, did you have something to add?”

“I’m just confused, that’s all,” Skye said. “Is foreplay a mandatory part of having sex?”

Teacher Elyse looked confused. She hadn’t been expecting a question like that.

“…I suppose that depends on the Partners. Some people perform foreplay, others don’t.”

That just made her more confused. “So if it isn’t mandatory, can you explain the benefit of foreplay before sex? I believe that would help me understand the proper method of executing the sexual act.”

The teacher’s jaw dropped, but she quickly regained her composure. “I-I see. Well, to many people, foreplay can make sex more enjoyable.”

“But if the purpose of sex is to relieve erections and wet vaginas, does it matter if it’s enjoyable or not? It seems like foreplay is unnecessary.”

“Well… what if I told you that foreplay can cause sex to more efficiently relieve an erection or wet vagina?” Teacher Elyse proposed. Sky immediately brightened when she heard that.

“Oh! I understand now! Thank you for clarifying, Teacher Elyse!”

“Not at all,” the teacher smiled. “Now, if there are no more questions, we can move onto the next part of our lesson, learning about the techniques of handholding!”

For the next ten minutes, the class listened to explanations of all the various ways that someone could hold their Partner’s hand. Positions, finger movements, when and where to squeeze, ideas that Jason had never even thought of! It was honestly kind of embarrassing, and he wasn’t the only student with a red face by the time Teacher Elyse finished her lesson.

“Now that we’ve gone through the proper methodology, it’s time for a practical application! What that means if that for this period only, the ban on intimate contact with your Partner has been lifted!”

Jason and Skye share a glance. So they could touch each other now?

“I want you all to spend the next thirty minutes practicing handholding with your Partner. Then I’ll start calling you up in pairs to demonstrate your technique before the class. But before we begin, we have a special guest joining our class today.”

Teacher Elyse gestured to the door, and a blonde woman stepped into the room.

Jason nearly fell out of his chair.

“You’re-!” Moira sputtered in disbelief.

“I would like to introduce you to Doctor Sylvia. She’s the Sexual Intimacy Counselor for our classroom, and she’ll be observing and grading your performances today.” At the teacher’s bidding, Doctor Sylvia stepped forward and addressed the class.

“Good morning, students! It’s a pleasure to be with you today.”

“Good morning, Doctor Sylvia!” The class greeted her together. Everyone but Jason and Moira.

“Now, as I said, Doctor Sylvia will be reviewing your performances today. If she decides that your technique meets the Bunker’s standards, then she has the authority to permanently lift the restriction on intimate contact,” the teacher explained. “You’ll be allowed to hold hands with your Partner anytime outside the classroom, provided you are in an area where intimate contact is permitted. Now, before we begin, does anyone have any questions for our guest?”

Jason had questions, lots of them. But he was too stunned to raise his hand.

“What does a ‘Sexual Intimacy Counselor’ do?” One girl asked.

“Oh, it’s a very important job!” Doctor Sylvia answered with a smile. “It means that I work together with students who are having difficulty with their sexuality. You know how when you get hurt you go to a doctor and he makes you all better?”

The student nodded.

“Well, if a student is having a problem with having sex, then they come talk to me, and I’ll help them get better!”

Skye raised her hand with a follow-up question. “What sort of problem might someone have when having sex?”

Doctor Sylvia’s answer was a diplomatic avoidance of the question. “Hopefully you’ll never find out. Now, any other questions? Yes, Andrew?”

Andrew dropped his hand, surprised. “You know my name?”

“Of course,” Doctor Sylvia beamed. “As part of my job, I’ve familiarized myself with all the students in your class!”

Jason gasped. So that was how she knew his name before! But why didn’t she say anything then?

“Now, what was your question, Andrew?”

“What, um…” Andrew’s face was bright red, and he glanced sheepishly at Moira. “What if, um… our… ‘technique’ doesn’t meet the Bunker’s standards? Will we be prohibited from ever holding hands?”

Doctor Sylvia laughed. “Oh, my, no, don’t worry about that! It’s nothing too serious. It just means that you’re in need of some extra practice! If any pair of Partners proves unsatisfactory, then I’ll assign them some supplemental practice lessons during recreation time, supervised by myself, of course, to help you improve your technique! That’s all.”

“Oh, good,” Andrew sighed with relief. Jason was feeling a little worried about that himself. He glanced at his hands. They were shaking and covered with sweat. He’d never touched Skye like that before!