...Looking up at the star-strewn sky, I cautiously curled my fingers around her slim hand. I noticed that her fingers were like that of a pianist's - they were long and slender and moved with the grace of a dancer. 

She smirked at me playfully, and when she pushed a lilac strand of hair off her forehead, I noticed a twinkle in her eyes that hadn't been there a moment ago. My grip on her hand tightened, and her grin widened, urging me to do what I most wanted. Inch by inch, my face got closer and closer to hers, until our lips met with a crash that seemed to rival the intensity of the Titanic collision. 

WHAT??!! That was the only thought that was spiralling around my brain as I sat bolt upright, my duvet discarded on the floor from when my unconscious state had thrown it off my bed during the hypothetical romance a few hours ago. Scenes from the dream replayed again and again in my head, and I could almost hear a distant voice telling the storyline. Curled my fingers around her slim hand...she smirked at me playfully...our lips met...Gah! "It's not real," I told myself sternly, swinging my legs out of bed and rolling onto the carpet. "Dylan is your best friend, and you are certainly not a couple of characters in a cheap romance novel. She's only a friend. A good friend." Now, Eve, are you quite sure about that? A vexing voice piped up, and some cackling came from the other side of my head, informing me that a new voice was about to enter the mental conversation. This new voice was obviously a lot bolder than the first. Of course not. Believe me, she'd like to do a lot with Dylan. "Shut up!" I practically shrieked, hurriedly grabbing my towel and heading into the bathroom. Then, out of the blue, I had a new thought.

You can't control your subconscious, Evelyn.

I groaned and sank onto the tiled floor, crouching into a tiny ball. God, if anyone saw me like this... I shuddered at the thought of what they would say, what a freak they'd tell me I was. Then it struck me. I would never be able to escape the constant need for control. I was in a prison, trapped in a cruel dictatorship between my OCD and...me. The idea was terrifying. My hands started to shake, and my breathing sped up to twice its normal rate. I dragged my fingers through my eyes, but the clouded vision didn't shift and I struggled to make out the objects in the bathroom through the mist. The fact that I couldn't see through my panic made my heart beat faster still, and I had an irrational, fleeting worry that it would somehow burst out of my chest and land in a bloody mess on the bone-white tiles.

Calm down. Calm down. You'll be okay. Now take a deep breath. Good. Another one. In, out, in, out. With an enormous effort, I reached into the darkest depths of my frayed memory and managed to pull out a calming exercise that Leo had taught me only a few days ago. Imagine a glass ball is in your hands. Now picture a plant growing inside the ball. Which plant is it? It's a bean. Imagine your bean growing in the ball, slowly but surely getting taller. There we are. It's reached it's full height now. Isn't that nice? You'll be fine. You'll be fine. I slumped on the floor as the adrenaline from the panic attack seeped out of my body, and my heart gradually slowed. The exercise may sound odd, but I loved plants. There was a certain serenity about their slow but fascinating growth, watching the leaves unfurl and the flowers blossom. Taking another deep breath, I washed my hands and stepped into the shower, much-needed relief flooding through me as I felt hot water and soap flowing over my cold skin.

Twelve minutes later, I sat crouched in a towel on my bedroom floor, pink-faced from the scalding water and my hair twisting down from my head like blue snakes. Just as I tugged on a pair of blue jeans and a black button-down shirt, my phone squawked with a frantic text from Dylan. My cheeks slightly red from the memories of the dream, I snatched it up and saw what was bothering her. 

HEEELP! It's the SE lesson today please come over!!! Smiling a little at the childish fear in the messages about her Mum's spontaneous sex ed lessons, I swiftly typed: Oof! Coming right over. What's the topic for today? She replied straight away. Not sure yet. Hopefully nothing too terrible, but with Mum you never know... 

Switching it off, I slipped my phone into my pocket and rushed down the stairs. I had around ten minutes until had to be at Dylan's house, and although it was an involuntary SE lesson, it would seem rude if I was late. I opened various cupboards in the kitchen and pulled out a bowl, spoon and a box of cinnamon-flavoured cereal. Then I ran back up the stairs again, shovelling the cereal into my mouth as I went. Thankfully I didn't need permission from Mum since my best friend's house was only a few streets away. Even so, after running a toothbrush around my mouth a few times, I scribbled a note for her which I left on the table, just in case she started worrying. Then I zipped up my boots, glanced at my watch and rushed out of the house, wondering in slight fear what this 'surprise' lesson would be. I had been to a couple of these in the past, and believe me, they had put me off learning about anything of the sort ever again, but I told myself firmly that I had to be there for my best friend. She had repeatedly expressed to me how much she hated this parental-induced torture,

but despite various dramatic arguments (some of which I had been present during) and endless pleading, it looked like the lessons would continue to be a weekly occurrence.

"Eve! How lovely to see you! You're just in time for the Sexuality Expression talk! Come in, come in and make yourself at home." Maria, Dylan's mother, smiled widely at me. It obviously hadn't occurred to her that she was about to cause her only daughter some serious mental pain a few minutes later. My smile was uncertain. "Thankyou for, erm, for having me." You're such a pervert. You obviously want to learn about this sort of thing, no matter how hard you try to hide it. My stomach squeezed slightly, coiling up inside my belly and making a shiver of revulsion skitter down my spine. I began clicking my fingers behind my back. Once, twice, three times. Nine sets of three. Yes, that felt about right. But then I felt Maria's curious gaze, and looked up. Please don't let her find out that there's something wrong with me... She quirked an eyebrow at me but said nothing, stepping aside to let me pass.

I pushed my way through the heavy beaded curtain that hung in the doorway and shuffled past her into the conservatory to where Dylan was waiting. I saw that Maria had already set up the room for the lesson, complete with a whiteboard on a stand, a pointer stick and two organic-material beanbags for Dylan and me. The room looked more like an astrology tent at a festival than an ordinary British house. Small baskets of burning incense hung from the ceiling, coating the air with a balmy, sickly smell that lingered in the nostrils. Blood-red scarves coated the lampshades, which were the only sources of light in the room. My foot struck a jagged edge as I shuffled forward, and upon looking down I noticed the crystals scattered across the floor, presumably to 'awaken our chakras' or some other nonsense.

 Well, this was going to be fun, wasn't it?

 I hugged her in greeting (Dylan, not Maria) and we both sank into the beanbags in front of the board, pulling obscene faces at each other in an attempt to lighten the mood. Maria took her position at the front of the room and began the lesson. "Now, girls, I have decided that the topic we are covering today is..." she paused, an interruption that she probably intended to be dramatic, but was really just awkward. When she got a nonexistent reaction from us, she cleared her throat and continued. "Today we are learning about menstruation!" She wrote it up on the board in embarrassingly obvious block print, and Dylan emitted a barely audible groan. Personally, I thought that there was a large array of worse things she could've chosen to talk about, but I patted Dylan's hand in consolation anyway. She looked up at me through her hair, her ice-blue orbs piercing through the sheet of lavender tresses that hung about her face. My cheeks abruptly felt as if they were engulfed in flames, and I absent-mindedly began clicking my fingers again to work off my nervous energy, using all my willpower not to look at her. Idiot.

"Now, menstruation is more commonly known as a period. Can anyone tell me what happens inside the body when a period takes place?" Maria looked at both of us, expecting one of us to volunteer. Unsurprisingly, neither of us raised a hand, but this didn't deter her in the slightest. She just jabbed her manicured finger in my direction and said, "Eve. Let's have you tell us. What happens in the body during menstruation?" She looked at me expectantly, and I squirmed. Then, having a sudden surge of mischievous bravery, I had the perfect answer, and my lips stretched into a grin. "The uterus commits suicide," I remarked, looking her dead in the eyes and waiting for a reaction. I wasn't disappointed. Her eyes narrowed at my insolence, and I smiled demurely. I could see she was struggling to keep her facial muscles from transforming her countenance into a scowl. Dylan sniggered but quickly transformed it into a cough under her mother's death stare. "Eve, let's go about this scientifically, please. The uterus does not commit suicide, as you put it. It sheds it's lining each month if a..." 

It went on like this for some time, and regrettably so. I couldn't believe that Dylan had to go through this type of thing every single week. Maybe I'd go next week as well just so she didn't have to suffer alone. Her complexion hadn't been it's normal clear creamy colour for the past hour. It had been scarlet the whole way through, which, considering the topic of the lesson, had been weirdly fitting. And yes, it did go on for an hour. An entire hour. Just imagine. Actually, maybe it's best not to. Just imagine taking over the galaxy in a Star Destroyer instead. There. Much nicer.

"...And the egg travels down one fallopian tube! Okay, that's it. You are dismissed. No, no, wait!" Her eyes bulged as her voice raised to a shriek, making Dylan and I freeze where we stood. She blinked, her eyes returning to their normal size, and composed herself, stretching her thin lips into a somewhat painful smile. "I apologise. Please, both of you, sit down. The fates have informed me of something that escaped my memory. The lesson has not yet finished." I cringed. Was this woman a psychopath? Was she not somewhat aware of even a fraction of how blisteringly embarrassing she was? Apparently not, judging by what followed.

"Now girls, this is incredibly important, so come, come closer, my dears." She beckoned to us frantically and we inched forward, still seated in the beanbags, wearily awaiting what her next words would be. She lowered her voice to a whisper and bulged her eyes slightly for effect, and began to speak. "Make sure that you never  touch yourself while you are menstruating. It could wreak havoc on your pH balance, and can even cause infections." She wrinkled her nose in mock-disgust, all the while completely unaware of our horrified faces. "But," she carried on hastily, misinterpreting our disbelief for fear," don't worry. I'm sure you girls are too sensible to ever do such a thing as mas-" Unable to stay quiet any longer, Dylan cut her off sharply. 

"Mum. We are not  talking about this when Eve is here, in fact, we will not mention this again for the foreseeable future, agreed? Eve, I'm sorry. Let me walk you home." And, leaving a disgruntled mother standing astride the board, she curled her fingers round my hand and tugged me out of the conservatory, slamming the door with a triumphant finality behind her.

Hi!

*Waves*

I'm back! Kind of. Well, I'm editing again, so, in essence, I'M BACK! How is everyone? What did you all think of my latest, ahem, addition to this chapter? I would love to hear your opinions/questions in the comments.

FeistyPebble x