Finnie (assignment: lose her virginity again, but naughtier)

The night before meeting Professor Klein, Finnie called her step mom Christine, the coolest woman she knew and basically her life-long best friend. Christine, who Finnie had taken to calling "MomChristine'" was the person who suggested she go from Frances to Finnie when she moved to Seattle and left Iowa behind. She'd also taken Finnie to get her first tattoo, a fairy on her shoulder that she still displayed proudly.

MomChristine was the kind of step mom you could tell any problem to, even personal ones and be sure she'd never judge you. So Finnie knew that she would provide the perfect sense of calm and understanding before this project.

"Remember," MomChristine said as she always said. "Relax. Be kind. Be happy."

And that always made Finnie smile.

"This professor has a thing for making students do outrageous things and get humiliated. If she's trying to humiliate you, don't take the bait." MomChristine continued. "Do what you're assigned, be a better person because of it."

Finnie agreed. This was going to be all about attitude. And she never wanted to be the type of person who was scared by sex. It was just sex.

And MomChristine added one more thing. "It sounds like most girls go into this meeting full of secrets and resistance. I wonder what your professor would do if you proved you were open and honest."

Finnie thanked her step mom as always and declared a great big "I love you. I wish I could hug you." and promised to call her up with news of the assignment as quickly as she could.

Still, Finnie was a little nervous as she stepped into Professor Klein's office. The professor wore a tight shirt and her hair pulled back dramatically into a bun. She looked stern and serious. Finnie told herself to breathe. She'd get through this.

"Tell me about sex." The professor started. Finnie expected.

"Sex is great! Sex is fun!" Finnie beamed, hoping her attitude would take the professor aback just a bit. "I've had silly sex, serious sex, sad sex, angry sex, happy sex, wild sex, safe sex, boring sex. I have no problem with sex."

The professor didn't respond. Could she be tripped up already? Was Finnie's attitude working?

Finally Professor Klein cleared her throat. "Well tell me..."

"I've been with fourteen guys, some better than others. The youngest one was 21 the oldest one was 28. I don't have any weird fetishes. I like doing it in the shower and the kitchen. I've never been with a girl, but if you say so, I'd give it a shot. I don't think sex is dirty or bad or anything like that. I don't think it automatically demeans women. I think women demean themselves sometimes." Finnie interrupted. She tried not to sound rehearsed, but she was excited. She knew this was the right answer. She knew it demonstrated her as well-adjusted and kind.

The professor took a few seconds to respond again. Finnie prepared herself to interrupt once more.

"Then tell me..." The professor started.

"I'll get to the one weird thing before you ask." Finnie intruded. "I lost my virginity when I was twenty-one. Older than most people, I know."

And Professor Klein smirked as if she sensed an opening. But Finnie was prepared to close that window back shut.

"You want to know why, right?" She asked.

"It does seem strange. You're a very pretty girl." The professor said drolly.

"Well I was a pretty weird girl growing up." Finnie explained. "I lived in a small town and was kind of a outcast. I wasn't depressed or anything, I just wasn't a.... how do I put this.... hick, like the rest of them. That sounds mean. I really do love some of the people in my hometown. But they're hicks. Anyway I came out Seattle for college, cut my hair, did my nose" Finnie pointed to a little piercing in the corner of her nose, "got a few more tattoos and suddenly fit right in. So I started dating, met a really nice sweet guy, we fell in love a little bit and we did it."

"I see..." Professor Klein's eyes pondered off into the distance.

"So I may have been older than others, but I was mature, and I was with a sweet guy who I loved. After a while we broke up but I don't have any hard feelings." Finnie was proud of herself. She'd tripped up the Professor and was still willing to show herself open to any assignment she could throw at her. Now it was time for the final point. "I had to wait a little, but I'd like to think I lost my virginity the right way."

"Yeah..." The professor sat in silence for a while, waiting to see if Finnie had anything more to say. And it seemed for the first time that she didn't. She just smiled, an adorable perky little smile. "Fix that." Professor Klein added.

"Excuse me?" Finnie didn't understand.

"You lost your virginity in a way that wasn't awkward or hurtful or regretful." The professor said, signaling that she'd been listening. "fix that."

Finnie gave her a look of confusion. "How do you want me to fix that? I don't understand."

"Our conference is over. You have your assignment. Fix that." The professor stood as if to walk Finnie to the door. But Finnie didn't budge.

"But it's already done. How can I fix it?"

"Try again." Said the professor. "That's it. That's your assignment."

"Fix that?" MomChristine said. "How odd."

"I know" Finnie gushed. "I was under the impression that I was going to get some long weird dirty task. But now I don't know what to do."

"Well it sounds like you can do whatever you want, as long as it sorta relates." MomChristine said.

And suddenly Finnie was dubious. Professor Klein wasn't the kind to let a student do whatever she wanted. What if whatever Finnie did wasn't good enough, or wasn't right, or wasn't what the professor had in mind. Would she fail?

"I think she wants me to lose my my virginity more like everyone else did." Finnie took her best guess at what the cryptic professor could mean. "Sort of, relive it. But I don't know how I'd do that."

"Well, you could always call the boy. The one you were dating at the time." MomChristine offered a suggestion.

Finnie pondered. Perhaps the first thing she'd do was ask around to some friends, see if they'd be willing to share their stories.

So for the next couple days Finnie did just that. And she found that all the stories were pretty much the same. "I lost it in high school" was a consistent detail. "It was awkward" was another. Finnie expected this. Her friends, her co-workers at the coffee shop, all said these things. She'd even decided to try to ask Professor Klein who seemed happy that she was investigating.

"I lost my virginity in high school" The professor volunteered. "To my physics teacher."

So finally Finnie phoned her step-mom for a third time in a few days.

"Sounds like you have to come back home to your high school" MomChristine said.

"Or at least, a high school" Finnie wondered if she could do the assignment and stay in Seattle. She couldn't think of anyone in Iowa she cared to sleep with.

"I still think it wouldn't be a bad idea to find the original boy." MomChristine continued. "Or maybe some boy you knew in high school who you really wanted to be with." It was a ploy to get her to visit. As cool as MomChristine was, she was still a parent sometimes.

Then Finnie realized she hadn't asked MomChristine the details of her first time. So she did so without hesitating, knowing she'd be honest. Knowing so good was their relationship that it wouldn't be weird.

"Oh," MomChristine seemed to blush through the phone. "I was in high school." As Finnie expected. "And it was awkward."

"Who was it with?" Finnie pressed.

"Who did I lose it to that first time you mean?" MomChristine seemed to want to dodge the question. "The varsity football team."

"The quarterback of the football team? Good pull Mom" Finnie lightened the mood.

"No dear," MomChristine clarified. "The whole football team."

And it was a little weird.