Sex Education

The Only One I Know

May 1991

Mary nibbled her lip as she stood outside a small council house on a council estate not too far from her own home. It was the address of Liam Gallagher that she'd searched for in the yellow pages. She'd triple checked the number against the name 4 times. She glanced back to the scrunched up yellow pages sheet in her hand that she'd torn out. P. Gallagher. There were 5 Gallagher's in total in the area, and this was the one that fitted best. Her hands were shaking. This was completely stupid. How would she even attempt to explain herself?

'Hi. I hear you know lots about sex. I myself know very, very little about sex. I'll pay you money if you tell me what I need to know.'

God. Even in her head, it sounded beyond ridiculous. She'd never met Liam Gallagher... not really. She had been on the most outer edge of his orbit at school when he'd bothered to show up. She'd been two years below him, and she was a ghost to everyone in her year, let alone the ones above. Before he'd left in Year 9, she'd had quite a crippling crush on Liam Gallagher. She wasn't the only one. Liam was cool, popular, funny, and the life and soul of every party. He was liked by everyone. He was decent with a football, so the sporty guys liked him. He was into music, so the creatives liked him. He was a bit of a 'bad boy', so the bad boys liked him. And he was pretty fit so the girls liked him.  He wasn't the guy everyone fancied, but he was the one every guy wanted to be.

Mary recalled that he had the most dazzling and hypnotic blue eyes that would render the intended target of his gaze speechless. Girls in school still spoke about him like he was a God 2 years on. A sex God that is.

He was serious and intense but also fun. She'd often watch him and his mates larking about behind the bike sheds smoking and laughing when they should have been in class. Liam Gallagher, in other words, was in a completely different solar system, no universe from Mary, and she thought that would always remain that way. Until one passing comment she'd overheard in the canteen as she'd been making herself invisible reading in the corner caused the pathway of hwr entire life to change.

"Did you hear virgin Mary got into Cambridge?"

"Yeah. Good for her. Maybe she'll come back pregnant after the Christmas holidays like her namesake"

A table full of laughter tinkled behind her.

"No way. Only if by immaculate conception. She wouldn't know what to do. Her parents never let her out, and she always got taken out for sex ed...poor thing won't know how to handle uni."

Mary swallowed thickly as she put her book down. The bell rang, and they shuffled off to class, but she remained. Fuck. She'd never thought about it, but a large part of uni life was made up of doing things you weren't supposed to...mainly drinking, taking drugs, and having lots and lots of sex. Without her overbearing parental supervision, she would be free. But free to do what exactly? Besides the basic mechanics that she'd learned from watching telly, she shouldn't have she knew nothing about how to even get in the situation where sex was an option. How did you let a boy know you were interested?

Mary exhaled shakily as she was brought back to the present. She knocked on the door. She'd thought ahead and got changed out of her uniform, at least. Maybe then he'd give her a second longer to explain. He was too cool to want to help some silly school girl.

Footsteps. Oh shit. What if it was his mum?

'Hello, Mrs Gallagher, I was hoping to discuss learning how to have sex from your son. I'd pay, of course. Nothing untoward." Fuck.

The door was pulled open. Mary gave a sigh of relief. Thank fuck it was Liam. Liam frowned for a second taking her in. Then Mary's heart began to pound. Oh fuck it was Liam. She'd never been privileged enough to see him up close like this. His hair had grown out of the buzz cut he'd had in school. His thick chestnut hair was starting to curl over his ears. His distinctive, heavy brows rose. His intense blue eyes surrounded by thick black lashes settled on her face. His lips were very full for a boy she thought. She'd never noticed before. He was wearing overalls flecked with paint. His hands were splattered in emulsion which caged the doorframe. Someone had told her his dad had got him some construction job part time and he took some painting and decorating on the side.