Event: The Talk Part 5, The Path to Enlightenment

[Event !]

In which Dr. Neville hopes to go three consecutive years without major incidents.

This event is open only to students age thirteen and above, and a few staff from the school officials or teaching staff. If your character is a senior, the event is mandatory, but you do not have to post. It will just be assumed that your character attended and didn't do anything noteworthy while there.

By all means, enjoy yourselves.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The past two years had gone well, and Sean believed that on their own merit, rather than contrasted with 2011. Although 2011 had been a disaster of unfathomable proportions, both 2012 and 2013 had returned to the quieter pace of his seminar. There would always be students who mouthed off, and there would always be awkward discomfort with a topic as taboo and important as sex (particularly against the backdrop of U.S. cultural conditioning which put both unhealthy focus and unhealthy restriction on sexuality, particularly adolescent development), but there had been no massive interruptions. The psychiatrist hoped to continue at that pace while trying to minimize awkwardness.

There was only so much that he could do to minimize awkwardness. As he couldn’t entirely focus on feelings, he focused on actions. He would minimize pranks, he would certainly minimize attacks and judgmental speech, and he would work from there. As always, he had other faculty to chaperone, and he had both security, and Cee Cohen, to handle outbursts and technology respectively.

Considering the questions that he had received in his question box, this would be an interesting lecture. Several of the students seemed emboldened, but not in a disrespectful way. The psychiatrist had hopes that this lecture would go smoothly, and he intended to everything in his power to ensure that while simultaneously imparting wisdom and treating the students like mature adults while remaining mindful of the fact that they were, in fact, minors, some of whom were sheltered and had little, if any, experience in these matters.

To that end, he was prepared for the Talk. As he did every year, he had placed the anonymous question box outside of his door for the week before the lecture was scheduled. He had then sorted them, the serious and the absurd, and had copied down the serious questions to be answered during the question and answer portion of the lecture. He had prepared his slides and updated his materials in anticipation of the lecture, which would focus a bit more on non-traditional relationship arrangements than he had in previous years, based on general interest. There had also been enough questions about gestalt pairs that he had designed special information for that (and he wanted to follow up outside of this lecture so that the students could receive answers tailored to their particular concerns). He wanted the students to receive the most accurate information possible, while being non-judgmental of their developing needs and inclinations and while properly warning them of potential dangers. The abusive relationship situation that had arisen at the end of last term remained foremost on his mind, and he wanted – he needed – students to learn the skills to avoid such trappings; they all deserved better.

Additionally, more than one student had managed to embody everything wrong with certain cultural cues, and the psychiatrist wanted to address that as well.

Today, he had cleared his schedule of appointments and had arrived at the auditorium early to set up and to conference with the other chaperones. Some of the rowdier students were rising seniors this year, so everyone had to pay closer attention. Additionally, as there was one student on individual chaperone, and they had to be kept separated. He had the security staff keep an eye on that situation as well, as his attention would undoubtedly be split.

This summer had been miserable in terms of temperature. There had been draughts all over, and, even with the promised rain of the past couple of days, the humidity was enough to choke on. Thank Heavens for air conditioning, although he had foregone his suit jacket. If necessary, he would roll up his sleeves as well, but it was a start. The psychiatrist stood by his chair and the podium, watching as the students began to arrive. The seniors came primarily to satisfy their graduation requirement, while the younger grades did so by choice, for a variety of reasons, although curiosity, peer pressure, and boredom frequently topped the list.

Stepping onto the podium, he tapped the microphone attached to his shirt to test it, and then, satisfied, he turned to the audience to begin. “For those of you who may not know me, I’m Doctor Neville. Let’s talk about sex.”

He set up the first slide, the one of standard female and male anatomy. It was always necessary to cover the basics. He then continued, “Some of you are veterans of this lecture, but for others this is your first time. As such, I will say this once. There will be no euphemisms or slang in this lecture. I don’t want to hear anyone say ‘boobs,’ ‘tits, ‘thing, ‘pole,’ ‘lady parts,’ ‘meat,’ ‘dick,’ ‘cock,’ ‘pussy,’ ‘twat,’ ‘balls,’ ‘jizz’ or anything similarly crude. If you are old enough to be here, you are old enough to speak like an adult when discussing this subject.”

The psychiatrist stepped back to make sure that everyone could see the slides clearly. “Additionally, many of you have either heard rumors or were privy to last year’s lecture. As I’m sure you’ve all been warned, none of that behavior will be tolerated. Particularly in a lecture about the importance of respecting ourselves and one another’s boundaries and comfort.” Between that and the administrative warnings, he believed that was enough on the subject, and they could move on to the prepared material.

“Is anyone here unfamiliar with basic mechanics of anatomy? If not, you can think loudly and let me know that way, rather than speaking aloud. There’s no shame in not knowing the basics. But, if everyone is familiar with that, we can do a truncated lesson in basics and move on.”

[Adaryn Breslin]

Adaryn had avoided the Talk like the plague the past few years. The idea of anything intimate simply made her more uncomfortable than she had ever been. The idea of sex, and clothes off in general, didn't appeal to her in the way that she was told she would in the future. She didn't want people to see her scars, nor did she want people to think she was 'easy' if she lost her virginity.

Virginity... Addie cringed at the word.

She was one of the first ones there, however, knowing that if she wasn't, she wasn't going to get a desirable seat in the back of the auditorium. While she wished that Monroe was there, she also didn't. This was about safe sex, intimacy, understanding human anatomy, etc, and to be subject to listening to that with her boyfriend was something that she wasn't sure she could do. Instead, she had texted AJ before the talk to ask if she would grace Addie with her presence during the mandatory talk.

When Dr. Neville began speaking, she tried to look everywhere but the screen - at the curtains, at the back of student's heads, and at her phone. She listened, yes, but she just couldn't bring herself to look at the images left on the screen. She understood basic anatomy and the reasons for each part. She just didn't want to look at them.

[Vincent Romanov]

Ah yes, it was that magical time of the year when Sean was graced with the official sanction of embarrassing the student body. Vincent per the usual was on hand with some of his security staff in order to help maintain order but more importantly to help avoid the nightmare of 2011. The Headmistress had already made it clear to Vincent that she wasn't having another social crisis like 2011 ever again. Vincent had added extra security since then however and made sure that the monitor Sean was using could be killed with a single thought from the techonopath on his security team. The past two years had went rather smoothly, aside from the outbursts from last year, but that was handled well enough.

This year, Vincent would be stationed just off the stage to better coordinate his team. He would still have a good view of Sean and the monitor behind him just in case things went south. Although Vincent was raised in a rather strict religious home, he wasn't embarrassed by talking about sex or even some of the images Sean would be showing. Vincent had spent too many years in the army to be embarrassed by much. He thought the Talk was a good idea. Vincent thought the better these kids were educated, the less likely they would be to end up parents at an early age or even better, that they would be less likely to end up with some STD.

The students eventually began to file into the auditorium and after a short while, Sean started the program. Vincent radioed his team as Sean began, making sure everyone was in place and that all the exits were covered. No student was allowed to leave unless it was an emergency and even then, the guards at the doors had to be notified by either Vincent or one of the teachers.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ wanted to avoid going to the Talk, but as an incoming senior, it was something she had to attend. She was hoping that Dr. Neville would extend her an excuse or something, given what she'd been going through lately with Oliver and the therapy and facing what had happened in the past that was neither of their faults.

But here she was, plopping down in the back of the auditorium in a seat next to Adaryn, who looked as uncomfortable as she felt. She offered a small smile to her friend and settled into her seat, although it was nothing near comfortable. She let out a slight laugh that was more nervous than anything while many settled into seats around them. "This is torture," she mumbled to Adaryn.

Dr. Neville began speaking a few minutes later and AJ wondered how he could get in front of a bunch of teenagers and do this. Who would take it seriously? She wondered why she was so uncomfortable anyway. I mean, sure there was the thing with Oliver back in Minnesota, which almost ended up in a sexcapade in the hallway that neither of them wanted. And then what happened with Phoenix... both times something was almost taken away from her without her permission and AJ didn't like to address the fact that both of those times things could have gone further. But she'd had sex. She wasn't a virgin anymore. Wasn't there some sort of saying? That if you were able to have sex, you should be able to talk about it? She didn't regret her relationship with Travis, but she knew she'd had sex too early. And that was really hitting her hard now.

[Georgina Speer]

George swaggered into that auditorium like she owned the place. No one could underestimate how bloody casual she looked in that very moment. The British girl wasn't one known for her time management and organization skills, but she had managed to somehow arrive on time - even slightly before the majority of others who would be coming along as well.

If the hat-wearing girl was honest with herself, this was daunting. And weird. She wasn't necessarily scared or anything, it was just a whole area of general life that she had... yeah, no experience with what-so-freaking-ever. To cope with the awkwardness and timidness that came with insecurity, she would cover how she always did. With casual amusement. Or infinite laughs, even if that would make her seem immature. What else were people supposed to expect from her? She had considered pulling someone with her, but she was a big girl. Besides, she could make friends with someone.

Perfect place to make friends after all, at a sex talk.

She made her way to a good seat fairly far back, but not at the very back, whilst not being in the middle. She was in the back middle. Or the middle back. Maybe even the back middle back. That was too specific - she was in a seat and the chair didn't break, and that was good enough for her.

Sean's introduction put a smile on her face subconsciously just because of how he completely smashed any kind of inconfidence here right out of the water. Also, it really set the mood - George had heard about how these sex talks had gone in the past. If they were as chaotic as some people said, then she looked forward to the comedy.

[Deleted]

Oriel would have avoided this altogether were he allowed. Save everyone the trouble. He could have just stayed in his room and do what he was doing most of the time these days. Practically nothing.

But here he was, being forced to relive unwanted memories because of a silly graduation requirement that they’d gone to way too many pains to ensure he fulfilled. The Talk last year wasn’t all bad, but it did happen whilst he was in the middle of his fight with Kodah, and Madison left shortly after that. Then immediately after the Talk, Oriel had decided that Lux was all he needed, which the BMW-twins(formerly the Chevy-twins because Chevys weren’t snooty enough to describe them) felt the need to intervene on. So rudely.

Whatever. That didn’t matter anymore. With the new school year, Oriel had a new set of problem he was causing for both himself and everyone around him. That’s why he was so kindly escorted into the auditorium, a fierce glare on his face prepared to stare down any who wanted to give him their looks of insufferable nosiness. Oriel stuffed his hands into his old, faded jeans and trudged along the outer rim of the seating area until he was directed to sit along the far right wall. His eyes naturally scanned the area, searching for the familiar figure of his boyfriend but…there were too many people…and maybe Phoenix just wasn’t here yet.

Oriel snorted and sat down, kicking his feet up against the back of the seat in front of him.

[Akira Koizumi]

Being a senior in the fall, Akira had to go to "the talk." Akira had follow some other students into the auditorium. He stood in the back of the auditorium, trying to figure out where he should sit. To his surprise the talk hadn't started yet. The one time Akira wanted to be late, he was on time. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his lucky charm. He made a face at it and then put it back in his pocket.

He wandered around, looking for a place to sit. It was kind chaotic in the auditorium. By the time Akira finally sat down, he realized that he was kind of in the middle of the auditorium. Now there was absolutely no way he could escape.

Yeah Akira never had sex before, but he knew the jist of sex and reproduction. He has taken health class before. Akira was just going to drown out Sean's voice and play with the ink on the inside of his right forearm he put there earlier. Akira made the mistake to look up at the stage. There on the slide show were pictures that he really didn't want to see. He will never unsee that again. Akira quickly looked down at his arm and started to play with the ink.

This was going be looong torture.

[Oliver Barnes]

To say Oliver felt incredibly awkward would be an understatement.

The only reason he was attending the Talk was to satisfy the graduation requirement. Even then, he had thought about bailing out and spending the afternoon with Ace (who probably would have encouraged him to do such a thing) instead of... this. Sitting with his peers, all sweaty and nervous for what was to come. He anxiously ran a hand through his hair, deep in thought as he trailed into the auditorium.

The night of Fall Formal flashed before his eyes. Thanks to intensive therapy, Oliver had come to terms with what had happened, and tried to not blame himself for what happened. What he almost did to AJ. As he thought back to the event, the guilty began creeping up and he shook his head.

His eyes landed on the crowd, sparse, but the empty spaces were filling up with students that were embarrassed, snickering, or plain indifferent. Eyeing his peers, Oliver took notice of a couple dark haired girls, sitting together. AJ and Adaryn. Although they were his friends... he couldn't bring himself to sit near them. He diverted his focus, sitting in one of the first rows. Perhaps more embarrassing, but then he couldn't turn around and look at them. Or anyone, for that matter.

Dr. Neville began talking a few minutes later, and Oliver kept his head low, barely peaking through his eyelashes to the screen above. He understood basic anatomy already, and didn't find it necessary to look. If anything, the only thing Oliver was curious about was the hormones. Mostly due to his personal experience. He folded his arms across his chest, letting out a small sigh.

[Kingston Carmichael]

Kingston sank in his seat. He was covering his hands over his face. What in the world was Kingston thinking? He just left his dorm to go to the cafeteria for some strawberry yogurt because there was none left in the dorm.

With yogurt and a spoon in hand, Kingston was going to go back to the dorm. He noticed students going to the auditorium. Kingston was wondering what was going. He joined in the crowd.

The next thing Kingston knew was that he was sitting in the auditorium with many other students with Sean standing in front of them talking about sex. This was not where Kingston wanted to be. He had no interest in the subject. Nor did he ever see him self in the future doing it. He would most likely be alone and a virgin all his life.

Kingston much rather be in his dorm with his computer. Why did he have see what was going on? He doesn't even have to be here. Next year he will. Kingston should have just taken his yogurt back to the dorm.

[Mathis Reeves]

Matty didn't want to be at The Talk. Even if he had asked questions (anonymously and even then Demetrius delivered them) for Sean to answer, he didn't want to be there to hear the answers. However it was a graduation requirement and Matty desperately wanted to graduate. Though he has briefly entertained the thought of skipping out and making Cam take him somewhere else that could be more fun. But then Dem came bursting into his room with all his tired strength and dragged Matty to the auditorium.

Which is why Mathis was currently trying to slip into the room without anyone noticing the fact he was a few minutes late. He glanced at the backroom before shaking his head and heading to the front. Then he could just pretend no one was looking at him. And that no one he knew was here except for the sullen, dark boy walking beside him.

Nope. He wasn't at the auditorium at all. He hadn't just tripped over his own two feet and gotten a weird stare from some girl. He was back in his dorm eating cookies with Cameron while the other continued to do college stuff that Mathis still wasn't all sure about. Cookies that he baked, might he add. Matty blushed slightly as he tripped again and tried to ignore the tired glare from his companion as they made their way to the front.

Matty slid into an open chair by the first friendly face, not yet realizing this might make things more awkward. He didn't say anything as Demetrius sat on the other side of him. Instead he turned up to focus on Sean all while trying to ignore the burning red on his face. "This is weird." He mumbled, aiming his comment to the boy beside him.

((He's sitting by Oliver. Sorry it's not clear. But yeah.))

[Deleted]

Phoenix had technically sort of barely graduated from classes this year, but he still had a lot of training to do, so he was stuck at Hammel for at least another year. Hopefully just another year. With his status, he wasn’t exactly sure if he was required to attend the Talk again, but…

Well, he knew Oriel was required to be there, and any chance to see his boyfriend anymore would be taken gladly. Besides, the Talk wasn’t that bad. Phoenix knew pretty much all he needed and wanted to know about sex (or so he was convinced – how he dealt with things that Oriel made him do were less than satisfactory with most people’s beliefs, but that was just how Phen was). The recent incident between the two of them was a great example. When he should be staying away from Oriel willingly, all he wanted was to be back with him.

He shuffled into the auditorium with his head down, looking meekly around at the students already there. It was getting pretty full, and the pixie looked desperately around for – there he was! It took Phoenix only a few seconds to locate Oriel, on the far side of the room. Immediately he made a beeline for the chairs nearby… But before he could make it next to the younger boy, a staff member came to escort him some distance away, leaving Phen flustered and blushing with embarrassment and, above all else, upset. He didn’t know the people who were around him.

He could still see Oriel from where he was forced to sit, at least. So as Dr. Neville began his talk, Phoenix only stared at the troubled boy, trying to communicate silently to him. Suddenly he realized he might have a panic attack in this situation, and the fact that that usually came with a spray of dust made Phen nearly freak out there and then. He took a couple deep breaths and forced himself to stay calm… For now. He just kept gazing at Oriel, taking comfort from his distant presence.

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

Kuni.... Didn't know what to expect from this.

Most teenage boys his age thought about this 'sex' stuff on a regular basis, or so he was told. Sure, he'd felt urges, and knew his body fairly well, and found his gaze traveling to certain areas on a woman's body when he wasn't really thinking. But it just wasn't a topic he actively thought about or chased after. He just... Went about his business, being the simple soul he was, and thought, well, if it came to that he was with a girl someday and it happened, then that's how it would be. Kuni wasn't in a hurry.

What he didn't realize was how incredibly awkward he was going to feel at this Talk.

He was seated behind a boy he vaguely knew - Oliver was his name, he thought - but hadn't yet made any conversation, which was unusual for the rather social boy. His lips were sealed shut and his face slightly pale as he sat with his elbows resting on his knees, hands slightly covering his face as though to hide his eyes at a moment's notice. Kuni winced as Dr. Neville began speaking, looking with a mixture of horror and fascination at the images on the screen.

So that's what it all looks like inside... he thought to himself. He'd seen the internal organs of many animals, but he'd somehow avoided seeing this until now. Probably because he was pretty much a stranger to the internet.

[Colton Bryan]

Colton looked around at the mostly older people who were assembled in the auditorium for "The Talk", thinking it strange that he was one of the only ones in his age group here. Colton had already heard about most of the things that were going to be spoken here before at his own school that decided to show some educational program about sex and male growth, he was only here to see how this would be when he graduated

Deciding to sit at the back of the auditorium yet still far away from the older boy who looked like he caused a lot of trouble. After taking his seat Colton leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees and placed one hand above the and listened intently to the man named Doctor Neville. As he listened though he looked around at the other students that trying to make note of all the the older kids in front of him. The vulgar words had little affect on him, he had heard these words in his old school and when he took the bus home.

[Rowan Booker]

Good god this dreaded Talk again. Rowan had not been too thrilled when he found out that the annual sex talk was mandatory to second year seniors still. Definitely not something he'd been wanting to repeat. Least of all now that he was pretty sure he'd be sitting alone. Lucy had plenty of people she'd probably sit with and one of them was not on Rowan's favorite people list. Much as he really enjoyed sitting with Lucy and making fun of the bull shit Dr. Neville spouted off. But things were different this year. It wasn't just him and Lucy anymore.

Without Lucy, he was left with...Matty, the twins, his new buddy Ray, Ellie, Callie or someone random from his contacts list. Of that group, he figured Matty would be with his own friends, Ray too more than likely, Callie would probably be found anywhere, he could only hope with Ellie and the twins didn't need to go. So what was he to do? Ultimately he decided minions were much needed for an event such as this. Then he decided that Ellie was his next go-to babe and that he missed her so she had to come along with him too. So without Lucy...well at least he had some friends. Maybe he'd get lucky and get to see his Lucky though, too.

After meeting up with the twins and Ellie at his dorm, Rowan led his little group of youngn's down to the auditorium for Dr. Neville's infamous porn relay, the whole way down giving them a rundown of the shenanigans that resulted from The Talk in years leading up to this one. He'd only been to last year's, but he'd heard the stories and couldn't believe how ridiculous some of the stuff had been. Genius of course. Arm looped through Ellie's he practically dragged her down the stairs with him, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the twins followed. Yup, he could do this, suffer through another...hopefully his last.

Rowan glanced around for a seat near the middle, but his eyes fell on that of one little Matty Reeves, and he simply couldn't pass up the opportunity. Making his way to the front row, he pardoned himself until he stretched right in front of Matt and plopped down in the younger boy's lap, snuggling up to him, "Hi Matty, how's it goin'? You make a very comfortable seat, much better than these ridiculous chairs. I think I'll just chill here for the whole talk." He smirked, not paying attention to the other reactions he may get from those surrounding the boy. He was only in it for Matty's reaction.