Warning: this story includes both explicit language about sex and graphic depictions of sex itself.

Russel Middlebrook is a gay teen who’s been through a lot. He’s the lead character in Brent Hartinger’s Lambda Award-winning Russel Middlebrook Series. And he’s also the star of Geography Club, the book that started it all and that has now been adapted as a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula and Ana Gasteyer.

But now Russel is facing his biggest challenge yet: getting tested to find out if he has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Along the way, he recalls some of his own most important sexual experiences.

This free short story is part of The Real Story Safe Sex Project, a volunteer organization started by Brent Hartinger, using fictional characters to spread the word about HIV/AIDS and safe sex to gay and bi male teens and twentysomethings.