Clark startled awake to his blaring alarm at 7:30am. He pulled back the covers and noticed that for the first time since the 6th grade, his sheets were wet.

While waiting for his toast in the kitchen, he pondered how many twenty year olds still had wet dreams. He was never very good at remembering his dreams. He couldn’t for the life of him remember what had led to such a sensual explosion.

He swiftly spread jam on the hot toast, threw on his parka, and weathered the walk from his apartment to Baron Hall.

8am Calculus with Mr. Leer was dry and draining as per usual. Clark grabbed a coffee in the library before heading to Animal Behavior in Maylor Hall. He looked forward to this one because he at least had a friend to talk to, Rachel. They shared a few classes this quarter. Clark entered the classroom early and sat in his usual mid-section seat. Rachel walked in a few minutes later. She waved and made her way to the seat next to him. As he took in her smile and met her eyes, Clark saw a few flickers. Him and Rachel in the car together. Rachel dancing in the passengers seat.

“Hey!” Rachel said, sitting next to him.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“I was up until three finishing this research paper and I am so fucking tired.”

The professor, Dr. Wagner, entered and pulled down the projector screen.

“Three? Shit. Want some of my coffee?”

“Sure, thanks. Drip?” Clark handed it to her.

“Yeah, medium roast I think-“

“Good afternoon, let’s go ahead and get started.” Dr. Wagner stared with a furrowed brow at her laptop and back at the projector screen.

Rachel sipped the coffee and turned her attention to Wagner vs. PowerPoint.

Clark watched Rachel discreetly, taking her natural resting face in. His dream last night definitely involved Rachel, and it was definitely exciting. But how was that possible? He’d been solely seeing guys since he fingered Katrina Turk in the 9th grade. He tried to imagine what it would feel like to hit every base with Rachel.

Clark’s internal monologue went into hyper speed. He analyzed every inch of Rachel, his identity shaken to its core. He Googled dream analysis. He took four online quizzes to confirm his sexuality. Three said he was gay. One said he was pansexual. But the majority said gay. So gay, right? He was obsessive. He feared Rachel crawling into his dreams again tonight and confusing his fragile identity further.

He woke the next morning relieved to have no recollection of his dreams and no wet sheets. He used his free morning to utilize a campus resource: his Psych 101 teacher from freshman year, Mr. Thibaut. Clark’s shoe squeaks reverberated in the quiet hallway, until he stopped at Mr. Thibaut’s office door. He softly knocked and entered.

“Hi Professor Thibaut…” Clark started, poking his head in gently.

Mr. Thibaut looked up from his computer and smiled, “Hi! It’s nice to see you again.”

“Hi, thank you. I was wondering…If you have time, can I ask you some questions about the psychology behind dreams?”

Mr. Thibaut nodded and checked his wall clock, “I’m free for a bit. I’m not an expert on dream analysis, but I’ll try my best. How can I help?”

“Okay, how do I explain this. What are possible reasons…or I guess why might someone see someone in an intimate way in a dream? Sorry. This-“

“-Don’t apologize. You had an intimate dream?”

“Yes,” Clark’s gaze followed Mr. Thibaut as he slowly walked toward Clark with a softness in his eyes. Mr. Thibaut nodded with understanding. He raised his hand to Clark’s cheek. Clark closed his eyes and leaned into the gentle caress.

BAH-BAH-BAH-BAH

Clark’s alarm wailed and he flinched awake, his hand was inside his boxers mid-pump. He internally cursed his alarm for waking him prematurely. He relaxed a bit and closed his eyes. He pictured Mr. Thibaut lifting him onto the office desk, dragging his thick thumb down Clark’s lips all the way to his jeans zipper. Clark’s toes curled and he sunk into bed with ecstasy and relief. With Rachel far from his thoughts, Clark focused on falling back asleep to get a few more moments with the professor before heading to class.