“What’s up?” asked Lightsinthesky, once the hustle and bustle of the younger students had calmed down. The little recess in the corridor, which housed the door to the library, was always a good place to have a conversation without being overheard.

Or so we thought.

“I’ve been having too much casual sex lately,” said Music Man blithely.

Everyone laughed – although not unkindly. Attractive though he may have been, Music Man hadn’t had any casual sex. In fact, none of us had. The first of us to have any sort of sex was still yet to happen, although – by this point – we were all of legal age. Music Man just said random things like that. We loved how random he was in any case.

“Who’s been having casual sex?” asked our careers advisor, opening the door to his office (which also opened onto the little recess). It was always a gamble whether or not he’d be in there – although it was pleasing when he was; he was always up for a chat about musical theatre, a shared interest between both of us. I’d also allowed him access once to a BBC contract for my work experience placement in year 10, something he was very excited about.

“Music Man,” we all said, pointing to him. Our careers advisor cocked an eyebrow.
“Well, make sure you use protection,” he said. “Anyway, it’s none of my business. I’ve got to finish getting ready for the weekend.”
“Paris again, is it?” I asked innocently.
“Amsterdam, actually,” he said. “If you’ll excuse me…”

He retreated into his room and locked the door.

“I can think of one person who really is having casual sex,” grinned Lightsinthesky as we finally made our way into the library.
“Actually, that reminds me,” I said quietly.
“What, casual sex?”
“No! The office! If he’s in it I can’t have my session with Eleanor!”

Which was entirely true. Eleanor, who was a year older than me, was my unofficial counsellor thanks to a youth outreach programme they had started offering the sixth form. We’d been using our careers advisor’s office as a space since he was hardly ever there and she had a key.

“Why, what is it you’re doing with Eleanor every week, anyway?” asked Einstein.
“Oh, you know…” I said. “Music Man’s been having too much…”

“CASUAL SEX!” shouted Lightsinthesky, at which everyone in the library looked around.