Logan watched as Francis poured over all the information placed in front of him. The boy's face was an open book, revealing everything he was feeling. Shock, awe, confusion, distaste, everything. Occasionally, he would look up from his task, and ask how a certain word was pronounced, and what it meant. Logan would answer him, pronouncing each word carefully. He surprised himself that he was so calm now. He fired up another cigar, ate the last slice of pizza, and opened a can of soda for both him and the boy.

It took nearly an hour for Francis to read all that was before him. When he was at last done, he piled the papers and pamphlets and books neatly in front of him, and stretched his legs out. He was very quiet, too quiet for him. Logan watched him for a few moments, before his curiosity got the better of him.

"So? Any questions?"

Francis' face suddenly became unreadable. "No."

Logan was shocked. "No? You're kidding. There isn't anything you're confused about?"

"No. Can I watch tv now?" His green eyes looked tired.

"Uh, sure. Why don't you get your pajamas on, and hop into bed. I'll clean this shit, uh, mess up, and turn on cartoons."

"Ok." Francis suddenly became all smiles again, and jumped up to do as he was told. Logan watched him as he put his pajamas on, folded his clothes neatly at the foot of his bed, and went into the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth. What the fuck is going on? Logan wondered. Most of the time, the kid was all questions, and now when he expected questions, the kid clams up. Maybe the things Jean had given him were clear enough, and were full of enough information to satisfy the curious child. This was even easier than he had originally thought.

Francis exited the bathroom, smelling of minty toothpaste, and dove into his bed. Logan put all the trash into a large trash bag, and turned off the over head lights, leaving only the lamp by the side of his bed illuminated. He undressed and pulled on a pair of sweats, and gathered up his pillows to watch the tv.

It remained very quiet for a half hour, the only sounds being the footsteps and softly talking students in the hallway, coming back from their night out, and the sounds of the tv. Logan figured Francis had fallen asleep, and he glanced over at the boy, noticing his eyes wide open, reflecting the light from the tv. When he saw Logan looking at him, he smiled.

"Oh, I thought you went to sleep." His voice was soft, and he muffled a small yawn.

Logan raised himself up on his elbows. "Nope. It's a little early for me. I kinda figured you'd be asleep by now."

"Naw, just thinking." Another small yawn.

Uh oh, Logan thought. Here we go. "Are you sure you don't have any questions? Anything bothering you?"

"No. Just thinking."

"Bullshit."

The boy just looked at him, his eyes glowing, his smile beaming. "That's a dirty word, you know."

"I'm allowed."

The two fell silent once more. Logan still watched Francis, his eyebrows raised, anticipating the boy's expected wave of questions.

Finally, Francis sighed. "Do I have to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Have sex."

"You don't want to?"

"No."

Logan layed his head back down on his pillow. "You're young yet. I promise you, in a few years, that'll be all you think about."

"Really? Why?"

"Hormones. Happens to everybody. You'll be no different."

Francis took in this new information silently, curling up in his bed. "Those books didn't say noth-anything about mast....mater....-"

"Masturbation?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, what about it?"

"Do I have to do that?"

"Only if you want. If you have an itch, you scratch it. See what I mean?"

"So, if I get a boner, I rub it until it goes away."

Logan fought to stiffle his laughter. "That's e-rec-tion. And yes, in private, of course."

"Ok."

Logan decided to go over the boy's wardrobe with him. Emphasize the joys of an over-sized shirt and baggy pants. First thing in the morning.

They were silent for several more mintes, when Francis asked yet another question. "Have you ever done it?"

"Yes."

"Did you like it?"

"Better than jerking off."

"Really? Does everyone like it? Doesn't it hurt?"

"Lots of people swear by it. And no, it doesn't hurt."

"Even the girl?"

"If you're both in the mood, no, it doesn't even hurt the girl."

"It feels good?"

"Yep. Real good."

"Is that why people do it so much?"

"I guess."

Francis sat up in his bed, his face suddenly very animated. "Those ladies who look at you? You said they were flirting with you? They wanted to have sex with you, right?"

Logan was a bit taken aback by the volume the kid used. "Shhh. Right. Figured it out, huh?"

Francis beamed from ear to ear, happy with himself to have solved the flirting problem all by himself. Logan also smiled. There really was nothing to this sex ed stuff. Just be yourself, he was told. Piece of cake.

"Look kid. It'll all come to you eventually. I promise. It's not a scary as you think. Now, how about you get some sleep. If you come up with any more questions, ask me in the morning. If anything bothers you, just ask me, Ok?"

Francis flopped down on his pillow. "Ok."

The kid fell silent and Logan noticed he had finally closed his eyes. Finally asleep. He turned down the volume on the tv, and used the remote to look for something other than cartoons to watch. He settled on the news.

For several minutes, he watched the sports report and the weather update, and then nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the boys soft voice.

"Logan?"

"Yeah?" Logan wondered why Francis didn't use his normal address of 'Mr.'

"Thank you for telling me all that stuff. I don't feel like such a dummy anymore."

Logan smiled, and let out a huge yawn. "Yeah? Just wait until you hear what I tell you about tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yep. You want to learn about flirting?"

"Shit yeah!"

Logan winced. "I guess we'll have to talk about that too."

"What?"

"I'll tell you in the morning."