The Important Lessons of Life

I was pissed. Just a few minutes ago, I caught my son, John, and his girlfriend having sex. On my own bed, no less. I had told him I'd be gone all evening, on a girl's night out with my best friend Sharon, but she cancelled on me thirty minutes after I left the house. She had cited "marital obligations," which I knew meant hot steamy sex with her husband, who still surprised her regularly after ten years of marriage. Sometimes he would take off early on a Friday, and they'd spend all weekend together at a spa or resort, and fuck each others' brains out. The next week I'd have to listen to her go on and on about how fantastic the experience had been, while I sat there thinking of my Dylan, John's father, who died during a tour in Iraq, when John was still eight years old. I didn't begrudge her the fun, I'd most likely do the same if I were in her position, but that didn't mean I had to enjoy listening to it.

All dolled up for nothing, and feeling frustrated, I turned around, thinking I could at least enjoy a nice relaxing evening curling up in bed with a glass of wine, watch a sappy flick, and maybe some battery powered joy. It wasn't an unusual activity these days, being a single mom had left me precious few dating opportunities over the years. I didn't want to bring a bunch of guys into John's life, so I contented myself with a few one night stands and casual flings. Lately I've been missing my husband more and more, but with John graduating high school this year, and going off to college, I was greatly looking forward to re-entering the dating world with a few good years left.

Pulling into the driveway I noticed the lights in my bedroom were on, but I was pretty sure I turned them off when I left, and John was supposed to spend the evening at his girlfriend Crystal's house. I disliked that girl from the moment I met her. Maybe it was the fact that it was John's first serious girlfriend, and it felt a little like she was stealing my own son away from me, maybe it was the fact that she was actually named "Crystal" and really lived up to the stereotype that comes along with it. She always walked around in skimpy clothing, and shamelessly slobbered all over John at every opportunity. But she seemed to make John happy for reasons I couldn't fathom, and so I had always tolerated her. The things we do for our children.

So, imagine my shock when I came home and heard her very voice from the direction of my bedroom. Without hesitation I swung open the door, ready to lay into her for being in my private space. However, at the sight of Crystal, eyes closed, one hand on her tits pinching her nipple, gyrating naked in pleasure on top of John, I completely lost my temper.

"What the FUCK are you doing my room?"

Crystal's eyes shot open, and she jumped. Hard.

"You trashy whore what the fuck are you doing to my son, get the fuck out of here before I call the cops."

She scrambled herself up, and with a sort of wet squelch dislodged from John. I couldn't help but stare at the rock hard cock that slid out of her. Still slick from the activities it popped out of her, and it was hard to believe just how massive it was. It had been years since I saw John naked, but he had clearly won the puberty lottery. Crystal frantically scampered around the room, collecting her clothes, and trying to cover herself at the same time. John grabbed a pillow, and pressed it on top of his cock, barely managing to cover that beast.

"Mom! What the hell?"

"Don't you 'what-the-hell' me, this is MY house, MY bedroom," I bellowed. I wanted to add "my pillow," but he seemed embarrassed enough already. "And you!" I rounded my fury back on Crystal, advancing towards her. "What the fuck are you still doing here?"

She bolted out of the room, still naked, clutching the few scraps of fabric she called clothing. Moments later the front door slammed, apparently frightened so much she actually ran out of the house as bare as the day she was born. I would have laughed if it wasn't for my son still lying in my bed. She lived only a few houses down from us, so I wasn't too worried about her.

"Mom, please!"

"Get dressed. Now. You have a lot to explain." I turned on my heel, and walked out, slamming the door behind me. I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down. I had no idea why I overreacted this much, after all it's only natural for teenagers to do these kinds of thing, isn't it? I thought back to my own childhood, and I had lost my own virginity when I was sixteen, two years younger than John is now. It had been a dumb mistake at a party. So why was I so upset?

John emerged, fully clothed, thank god, with a downcast head, looking very uncomfortable.

"Mom," he started, not looking at me, "I'm sorry. We were just fooling around... she said... it was her idea. She begged me to do it on your bed."

Bitch. I felt my anger flare up again at that, but for the sake of my son I tried my best to remain level headed and begrudgingly said, "I think I may have overreacted a bit."

"Gee Mom, you think?"

"Don't give me that sass. You had no right to do that in my room! You know that's my personal space."

"I know, Mom, I'm sorry."

I took a few more deep breaths, while John stood there looking dejected. I hated seeing him like this, and I was more angry at Crystal than him, really.

"Well, what's done is done." As if that made things better. "I'm sorry I blew up like that, it's just... you know she gets under my skin."

"I know, Mom."

"Was that..." I hesitated, and wished more than ever his father were still with us. "Was that your... uh, first?"

"No, Mom. I mean yes, she was my first," he stammered. "But not uh, not today?"

I sighed inwardly, wondering how long she had been defiling him. The next part would be even more awkward, but I steeled myself.

"John, just now when you were in her, uh... I mean in there. In the room. With her. I didn't mean to do it, but I noticed your, ah... thing. You weren't wearing a condom."

He flushed a bright scarlet. "Mom!"

"Oh grow up, I've seen you naked plenty of times when you were younger. Anyway, what I meant to say was, are you practicing safe sex?" The last thing I wanted was a pregnant whore of a daughter-in-law. John could do so much better than her, and I wanted him to go to college, and get a good education, not be tied down in this small town with a kid, while still in high school.

He looked at me, confused. "Safe? What do you mean? Is it dangerous?"

Oh boy. "Well, it's not exactly dangerous. Well, it can be. But in other ways. Oh I wish Dylan could be here to explain all this to you."

"I miss him too."

"What I mean is that sex can lead to... things. Is Crystal on the pill?" I inquired.

"The pill? What's that?"

I took that as a no. "It means she can't get pregnant. Didn't they ever teach this in school? You should have had sex ed by now."

"No, they cancelled that."

"What? That can't be right." An idea formed in my head. "I'll tell you what, I'm gonna call your school tomorrow, and ask if they offer any sex ed classes. Then they can teach you about all this. Less embarrassing for both of us."

"Okay!" He was clearly eager to stop talking about this to agree so quickly.

"I'm not mad at you, you know. I was just... surprised. That's all."

"Yeah... me too."

"I'm gonna watch a movie or something, do you want to join?"

"No, I think I'd like to be alone for a bit. Maybe call Crys."

"Fine, whatever."

He went into his room, and I didn't see him again for the rest of the night.

I finally poured myself that glass of wine I now desperately longed for, and attempted to distract myself from the situation by watching a movie, the title of which slipped my mind immediately. In my head I kept replaying the earlier events. I hoped I could forget how Crystal looked, impaled on my son, writhing in pleasure. She had an amazing body, the way you do when you're still young. A pang of jealousy hit me. Sharon and I exercised together twice a week, but aging has an irreversible effect on your body, and self esteem, that no amount of working out will cure. My breasts were bigger than Crystal's, so at least there's that. My mind kept being drawn back to the moment when Crystal hoisted herself off of John, his cock slowly emerging. It seemed to take much longer in my head than it actually did, and I started to feel a familiar longing between my own legs. Guiltily, I pushed away the thoughts of my son, that wasn't the right thing for a mother to do. Instead, I redirected my thoughts to Dylan, and wondered what he'd do in this situation.

One glass turned into two, two turned into three. Before long the entire bottle was empty, and I spent the remainder of the evening frustrated and horny. Vibrators are great and all, but they're no true substitute for a man. I drunkenly stumbled to bed, and flopped down. My head landed on a pillow, and I was immediately aware of the fact that it was slightly wet, and that it smelled of sex. Fuck, that had been the pillow John used to cover his dick. Nobody had actually cleaned up here. I flung the pillow against the wall, but I was too drunk and tired to care anymore, and fell asleep.

***

The next morning I woke up with a splitting headache. I stumbled out of bed, into the kitchen, and made myself some coffee. Ten minutes later, and the memories of last night came rushing back to me. John had already left for school, I was proud of how diligent he was about attending, and trusted him to get to school on time on his own. That left me with basically only one thing on the agenda. I dug up the contact sheet for Beaumont, and dialed.

"Beaumont High, this is Sofia speaking."

"Hello Sofia, it's Monica." The school was small, and I had attended enough PTA meetings that I knew Sofia Hernandez, the receptionist. Well, that was her title anyway, but she knew the school inside and out, and was the go-to person for every parent.

"Oh, hey, Monica! What do you need?"

"I just had a few questions about the curriculum. I was talking to John last night, and he said you guys don't have sex ed classes, is that right?"

"Yeah, we removed them from required course list a few years back. Had too many parents call in and complain, something about teaching filth, and such."

"But you still offer them?"

"Oh, yeah we do," her voice chirped up. "It's an elective now."

"And they'll teach him about, you know. Condoms, and such. Safe sex."

Sofia paused for a bit, then replied, "Well, not exactly. It's an abstinence only course. State mandate." Oh, that was no good. He was clearly past that stage. "But we do have an extracurricular advanced sex ed program for kids that are over eighteen." That wouldn't be a problem at all.

"Why is it over eighteen?"

"I don't know the details, but the description in the student handbook says it's a course aimed at couples. You can bring your boyfriend, or girlfriend, and they'll teach you about the reproductive system, and condoms, and all that jazz. I assume you need to be eighteen because the state mandates only abstinence education for minors." That sounded perfect, I could send both John and Crystal there. I'd have to clear it with her parents, but that shouldn't be a big problem.

"That sounds great, Sofia. Can you sign up my son and his girlfriend for that?"

"Sure. Who's his girlfriend?"

"Crystal Mason."

"Ah, have you cleared this with her parents?"

"Not yet, but I'm planning on it. Can you just sign them up, and I'll let you know if she won't attend?"

"Sure! And which date?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not an actual class, more of a seminar. We have one per quarter, the next one's this Saturday, and after that there won't be another one for 3 months. Looks like there's only room for one more pair in that."

That was cutting it close, it was already Thursday. I'd have to make some quick arrangements with Crystal's parents to get them to agree before then. And, of course, convince Crystal herself, which would undoubtedly be more difficult. There was no way I would want another 3 months of unsafe hanky-panky though.

"That sounds great, actually. I'll square it away with Crystal and her parents."

"One more thing, since it's a special seminar there's a small fee. It's five hundred dollars."

I inhaled sharply. I had the money, since I just got paid this week, but five hundred bucks was still pretty steep.

"That seems like a lot of money for a seminar."

"It says here the money is used to pay for the material, condoms and such, I guess. The whole thing is arranged by a Dr. Sorensen, she's a sex therapist out of New York. Must be famous, or something."

"Hm... five hundred is still a lot less than a baby costs. I suppose it's worth it."

"Oh, and it's non refundable. Well, it is if you cancel it with a three days notice, but since it's tomorrow that doesn't really apply to you."

"Fine, whatever. I'll bring the money by later today." I'd just have to be extra convincing to get them to go.

"Sure thing, Monica. It's this Saturday at eight in the evening, room 305." I jotted it down.

"Thank you so much, Sofia. I gotta get going now. I'll call if anything changes."

"Have a great day!"

"Thanks, you too."

I hung up, mentally checking off one thing on my todo list, but having to add a few more. After a quick shower I tossed the sheets in the laundry, and put on my uniform. Nothing special, just a simple white blouse and black slacks. I worked as a waitress at a small family owned restaurant downtown. It wasn't much, but combined with Dylan's army death benefits it afforded us a decent life. Certainly not glamorous, but we never had to worry about making rent, or going hungry. I even managed to squirrel away a sizeable chunk for John's college fund. During my lunch break, I swung around by the school, and paid the fee, in cash.

***

I normally get off work after school is already over, so I typically bring something off the restaurant's takeout menu home with me. Today, I selected spaghetti with meatballs, John's favorite, hoping to appease him with good food, while delivering potentially unpleasant news. He was already waiting in the kitchen, looking a bit somber. Normally he has the healthy appetite befitting a growing adult, but today he just picked at his food, not really eating anything. Hopefully he wasn't too upset with me from last night. I studied his face while I ate, noticing just how much he'd grown up over the years. It really sneaks up on you, the changes are so gradual you don't really notice them, until it suddenly hits you. He had some of Dylan's features, especially his eyes, but they were just a touch softer. His dark brown hair was always kept relatively short and unkempt, always looking like he just got out of bed. All in all, I thought he had grown up to be a pretty handsome young man.

"I signed you up for sex ed at school," I told him, after I finished eating.

"Oh?" He perked up a bit at that.

"Yeah, the regular sex ed classes are pretty bad, but Ms. Hernandez told me about this seminar by a famous doctor from New York."

"I never heard anything about that. When is it?"

"It's tomorrow, actually. They only offer it four times a year, and there were still spots open, so I signed you two up."

"That's pretty soon." He mulled it over for a bit, then asked, "What do you mean 'us two'?"

"You and Crystal. It's a partner course."

"Oh... I guess you haven't heard. She broke up with me today."

"What? Why?" I couldn't say I was entirely sorry to hear that, but it might throw an expensive wrench into my plans.

"She didn't come to school today, and during lunch she texted me saying it's over."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. That's awful."

"She said she's been seeing some other guy for a while now, and just stuck around for, well, you know. I kinda figured that for a while, but wasn't sure. And after last night she said it wasn't worth the trouble anymore."

What a fucking bitch. "Oh, John... I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, I know you've always hated her. Besides, she was kind of getting on my nerves anyway."

"So you're okay?"

"I'm a little bummed out, but yeah. You can cancel that seminar though."

Uh oh. "Shit, I actually already paid for it. Non refundable."

"How much?"

"Five hundred." He knew I didn't make a lot of money, and that five hundred dollars was a good chunk. That money could go a long way. We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I could tell he was weighing some options.

Finally, he spoke. "This is gonna sound weird, but how about you come with me, and pretend to be Crystal. I actually want to learn this stuff, so I don't make the same mistake again, and we won't waste the money."

"I suppose I could do that, it's my fault I didn't consult with you in the first place, so I guess it's up to me to make it right. The only problem," I mused, "is that it's a class for high schoolers, and I'm not exactly in high school anymore."

"Don't worry, Mom. Everyone in my grade is trying to look older anyway, and uh... you actually look really pretty. Much prettier than some of my classmates." He blurted out that last part, and blushed. How adorable.

"Hah," I guffawed. "That's nice of you to say, mister." Still, I felt extremely flattered by his words. "I guess that's settled then. Tomorrow it is."

We spent the next couple of hours venting about his breakup with Crystal, and my favorite part, talking trash about her. By the end of the night he seemed to be in pretty good spirits again, and I went to bed that night feeling like we bonded a bit like friends, not just mother and son. Moments like that happen much less often during the teenage years, so I learned to treasure them when they do.

***

The next day passed by uneventfully. I got up, ate, showered, got dressed, worked, came home, ate some more, cleaned up around the house, did dishes. You know, routine. Since we'd be going out at night I showered again, cleansing away the daily grind. Then I stood in front of my closet with nothing but a towel on, trying to decide what to wear. I was supposed to pretend to be a student, but it's been awfully long since I've been in high school myself, and I had no idea what the kids would be wearing these days.

Ultimately, I decided on comfort over style, and went with simple white cotton panties and matching bra, jeans, and a nice and bright floral print blouse. As an afterthought, I also grabbed a wool cardigan in case it was too cold in the classroom. I thought about tying my hair into a ponytail, but wasn't sure if I could pull that off at my age, so I simply let it hang loose across my shoulders, thinking that the more it hid my face the better off we were going to be. I admired myself in the mirror. Not too shabby, actually. I was willing to bet no high school girl had tits like mine.

It was now officially time to leave, and I collected John from his room, dressed in simple slacks and a colored tshirt. Boys always have it much easier in that department.

"Do you think this is okay?" I asked him, spinning around once. "I don't want to embarrass you, showing up with your aged mother in tow."

"Wow, you definitely don't have to worry about that, Mom. You could easily be in any of my classes, and nobody would notice."

I just snorted. I wasn't convinced by his flattery, but I was glad to hear it anyway.

When we arrived at the school, I felt a pang of nostalgia. I used to attend, back when I was young. It had since then, of course, been renovated a lot, but the layout was still the same. Room 305 was upstairs, and testing my memory of the place, I led the way. We were five minutes early, but three couples were already sitting in the room. It wasn't that big, about your average classroom size, but it was nicely furnished. Instead of the usual chairs, with small fold out desks, that I remembered from my own childhood, there were actual tables with proper chairs. A total of five of them not counting the teacher's desk in front. They were positioned in a semicircle, each wide enough for two chairs, and plenty of space between. I remembered Sofia telling me there were spots for five pairs, so the number made sense.