Playing House

4

"STDs! Sexually Transmitted Diseases! Name one!" Mr. Graham shouted as he wrote STDs on the whiteboard.

"The clam!" Niall shouted back.

"Oh yes, Mr. Horan. Correct referred to as Chlamydia. A tricky one because you rarely show symptoms, but guys if your dick starts to leak or it burns when you take a piss, take a test! Girls, same goes for you. Same symptoms. Bleeding can be another one. If it hurts when you have sex, for the love of God, get a check-up! Untreated Chlamydia can affect your chances of having kids. Give me another one!" Mr. Graham said.

Harry just stared at him. Mr. Graham was very outspoken.
"Gonorrhea." Louis said.

"Another excellent example, Mr. Tomlinson." Mr. Graham said and pointed at Louis before he wrote gonorrhea on the board.

"Same symptoms if you get any. Again, if your body does something it usually doesn't do and you're sexually active, get a check-up!" Mr. Graham said before he turned to look at them, waiting for another SDT.

"Herpes." A girl said.

"Miss. Swanson got it right. Genital Herpes. If you get warts on your genitals, go see a doctor! There's no cure though, remember that. Once you get it, it's there. Doesn't sound nice, right? Protection youngsters. Protection! Next?" Mr. Graham said.

"Crabs." Liam said.

"Nasty little buggers. Correct Mr. Payne. Pubic Lice. If it's itching like crazy, look it up!" Mr. Graham said and waited for the next one. Everyone was mumbling and laughing.

"HIV." Harry said and the room got quiet.

"Correct Mr. Styles. The scariest of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, right? Human immunodeficiency virus. Destroys your immune system. There's no going back from this. There are some good medicines that keep the disease in control longer. AIDS is the final stage. Now, I can't stress this enough. HIV is not just a disease for the LGBTQ+ community. Anyone can get it. Unfortunately, gay and bi people have a higher risk of getting it, but the virus spreads in a lot of different ways. Sex is just one of them. If you have another STD it can increase the risk of getting HIV. If you inject drugs or share a needle, blood-on-blood contact, and of course if you skip the condom. Unprotected sex. That's how you get STDs. If you think you're old enough to be sexually active you have to be responsible enough and use protection. If you're in a long-term relationship and want to skip the rubber, make sure you both get tested before so you know you're disease free. Be responsible. That doesn't mean that I'm encouraging you to have sex or get rid of the condom, but I'm also not naive. Be responsible. That's all I ask. If you are at a higher risk of distracting HIV, there's a medicine called prEP, popular in the gay community. There's also a medicine called PEP, an emergency medicine you can receive within 72 hours if you've possibly been exposed to HIV." Mr. Graham lectured and his face was serious.

Wow. It felt nice to be included somehow even if everything Mr. Graham just said was freaking scary. Harry twisted in his chair.
"You can get an STD from vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Remember that. Let's see. What else do we got?" Mr. Graham said an continued his lecture about different sexually transmitted diseases.

When class was over Harry was surprised to find Louis walking over to him.
"That was intense."

"Yeah." Harry agreed.

"Some solid information though." Louis continued.

"Yeah." Harry agreed.

"You're so chatty today." Louis joked.

Harry just stared at him.
"Alright, alright, tough audience. Eh, do you wanna take Darcy here to the playground after school?" Louis asked.

"Okay." Harry agreed.

"There's one down the street from me. Will that work?" Louis asked.

"Sure." Harry agreed.

"Just meet me by the lockers when school ends. I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about." Louis said ironically before he took the doll and left.

Harry didn't look forward to it. He had nothing in common with Louis Tomlinson, but an assignment was an assignment. He had to do it.

He watched him at lunch. Louis had the doll in his lap and a bunch of girls surrounding him. They were laughing loudly and flirting with him. Harry finished his lunch and hung out in the bathroom for the rest of the break.

The school day went by quickly. Probably because he was dreading for it to end. After his final class, he headed to his locker. Louis was standing with a large group of friends on the opposite side. There was no way he was approaching them and from the look of it, Louis hadn't even noticed him.

Harry closed his locker and headed for the entrance when Louis shouted.
"Hey, Styles! Wait up!"

Harry turned around. Louis was running up to him. One of the guys from the football team shouted at them.
"Hanging out with your boyfriend, Tomlinson? You know he's a freak, right?"

Harry wanted to sink through the floor. It didn't come as a surprise. He had heard worse through the years. What startled him though was Louis' reaction. He looked angry. He turned around and pointed at the boy from the football team.
"No cool, Paul! Don't be a fucking asshole."

"It was a joke! Relax, Tomlinson. It's hilarious that Mr. Graham put the two of you together." Paul laughed.

"Do you see me laughing? It's an assignment. Stop being a dick about it and don't go around calling people freak." Louis growled before he turned around and approached Harry who just stared at the scene with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry about that. Let's get out of here."

"You shouldn't have done that. Now you gave him something to talk about. You don't have to defend me. I can talk care of myself." Harry said.

"Well, I don't tolerate shit like that." Louis answered. He sounded irritated.

"Being teased about having a boyfriend?" Harry questioned.

"No! Yes! That's not funny and neither is name-calling. I mean, you never know people's sexuality so you shouldn't joke about stuff like that." Louis huffed.

Harry glanced at him. Louis kept surprising him.
"True."