Page 3 of Sex Positive

As she navigates her way down the well-lit sidewalk to her apartment, Wesley Quinn’s name flares in her mind like a neon sign, a different type of chill settling over her at the thought of having sex with him.

Why thefuckdid she tell Nash she’d slept with him?

While she prides herself on her high level of intelligence and strong deductive reasoning skills—you don’t score a 178 on the LSAT without having some measure of both—sometimes, she will admit, she is very dumb.

Two

The path toWhitmer Hall for her first class of the day—Biostats—cuts through the middle of campus, the sidewalk lined with towering oaks. Sunlight pebbles the sidewalk, the slight breeze of the November morning crisp on her skin. Sipping her morning coffee, Charlie weaves around her fellow undergrads walking together in twos and threes while the latest episode of her favorite sex and dating podcast plays through her AirPods. The two hosts are deep in a conversation with a dual Sex and Pelvic Floor Therapist who works with women struggling with vaginismus.

When she approaches the building, she spies a familiar figure perched on one of the stone benches lining the sidewalk leading to the front entrance.

“Here you are.” She hands her second to-go coffee cup to her roommate and best friend, Syeda Amir. “One Caramel Cappuccino with almond milk.”

Syeda grins, accepting the cup, her dark eyes sparkling in the sunlight. “Bless you. I don’t know why I let Bri convince me to go to yoga so early.”

“Because you love her,” Charlie remarks, sliding on to the bench beside her.

Sy hums thoughtfully, taking a sip. Her long, dark hair is pulled into a high ponytail, her black puffer jacket zipped up to her chin. “Speaking of early…someone got back late last night.”

Charlie avoids her friend’s eye. “I was studying.”

“With whom?”

She takes another sip of coffee, stalling. Syeda Amir is the best thing Charlie never expected to find at Archwood. They roomed blind freshman year, then continued living together in the dorms sophomore year before moving into their current off-campus apartment. She was the first person Charlie told about being a virgin and how she didn’t care about waiting but she wanted it to be pleasurable at the very least.

“Then find someone who will do that for you,” Syeda said one night towards the end of their Fall semester freshman year. “Don’t settle for less.”

At the time, Charlie only wanted one person, but she didn’t mention this to Sy then.

Heavily involved in Archwood’s Greek life, Syeda is athletic and gregarious, double majoring in neuroscience and Spanish. She helped push Charlie out of her shell—and her heartbreak—after that horrible night with Wesley Quinn.

“Promise you won’t judge me,” Charlie says.

Sy arches a brow. “Not a great start.”

Charlie sighs. “It was Nash Hudson.”

“Charlie.”

“Nothing happened. He wasn’t…” She hesitates, trying to make it sound better than it was. “Receptive to my needs.”

Sy scoffs. “He’s atroll. My Little said he went to Spring Formal last year with someone from Pi Phi and then went home with adifferentgirl.”

Charlie glances at the time on her phone. She still has ten minutes before class. “Yeah, well. I’m afraid to say it gets worse. After we stopped, he asked if I was a virgin.”

“Gross,” Sy says.

“I may have told him I slept with someone.”

“You didn’t.” Sy looks at her sharply. “Did you say who?”

Charlie grimaces. “I might have.”

Sy narrows her eyes. “Who did you say, Charlie?”

“Quinn.”

Sy groans, palming her face. “Charlotte Rogers.”