Passing on his way by, Levi dropped his paper on the desk I was standing beside, then stopped abruptly in front of me.
"Did you say Jasper asked you to turn in his paper?" he inquired.
"Ye... yes." I answered.
Levi took a look at me, then down at Professor Lindt, then back at me. His eyebrows raised and a look of concern crossed his pupils. Without skipping a beat or letting anyone onto the fact he'd pieced something together, outside of the message he clearly meant for me, he walked up the incline, the stairs, and eventually exited the door.
A few more minutes went by until every student had exited the classroom, everyone except for me.
Professor Lindt's demeanor hadn't relaxed whatsoever, though. He was stiff as a board, mesmerized by the way my skirt danced back and forth along my thighs. He took a moment to swallow the egg of lust lodged deep in his throat before attempting to bridge into conversation.
'No, not my professor, please,' I begged.
"Ok, so what's your student ID?" he asked.
'I only had my ID, I couldn't give him that,' I thought before answering, "5631722".
I'd modified my existing student ID by the last 2 digits, from 45 to 22, hoping that if it did belong to a student, it wasn't one that already existed in his class.
"Michael?" his tone hid a thin sheer of annoyance beneath it.
"Pronounced Michelle," I answered quickly, "my parents thought they were funny."
He bought it. Not because he actually believed it, but because he wanted to believe it. Every part of his rational mind was calling for him to press me further. His initial instinct most certainly a 'What?' or even a 'Really?' followed immediately by a skeptical glance. He refrained for the sole purpose of that sweet, supple dessert held just from outside of his vision.
"I'm not one to judge. Technically speaking, your skirt does meet the academy's dress code, but you really should wear something underneath." he continued.
He was so forward about it. Was this what was meant when people referred to the "mature man"? Were I not able to see the raging boner prevalent in his dark brown slacks, I would've thought he was actually being strictly professional. My body pulled me forward toward him.
'NO, please, no. Not again.'
Left foot, right foot, until I was standing over him. He looked up and oriented himself to face me. I placed my right foot onto his chair, beside his left leg, exposing myself fully to him. His eyes didn't waver for even a second and I watched as he transfixed his gaze up my skirt. He gulped again, multiple times in a row. It must be some kind of trigger or response for his sexual arousal. It was the only part of what was happening that felt remotely interesting.
"Like what you see?" my voice asked without permission.
His arms reached out and grabbed me by my waist. They spun me around to face away from him and pulled me back down onto his lap. I could feel his steel rod rub between my cheeks as I grinded back and forth on it. His hands became dazed and delusional, not knowing whether they should anchor themselves to my waist, my ribs, or my ass.
And then I was launched up and away from him and he'd pivoted back to his desk; his knuckle tucked under the chin, his lower half lodged as far as it could be under his desk, hiding.
My eyes scoured the room around us. Levi had returned and was standing at the top of the room.
"Sorry! Forgot my backpack!" he called out as I identified him. He stepped down across rows of chairs and picked up his bag from the floor behind the seats, "Oh... and Jasper asked me to come get you!"
He'd directed his former statement toward the professor, but his last statement toward me.
My body was drawing me back toward Professor Lindt's lap as if it were magnetized and my ass were a steel plate.
"You're dismissed, Michelle." he stated plainly, breaking the effect.
I hurried up the ramp and joined Levi at the stairs. His left arm wrapped around my back and guided me up each step until we'd left the room. Once we were out, he led me up one of the halls I'd never ventured down, and we stepped into an empty classroom. It was dark and Levi had opted not to turn on the light.
"Sit," he said, "please."
I did. I sat on the top row just as I had in Professor Lindt's class while he leaned up against the wooden desk of the next row down. We stared at each other in silence for quite some time, to the point that it was starting to become uncomfortable.
"I knew it," he stated.
I gave him a bewildered look. What was he talking about?
"It's really you," Levi said, "How'd you do it?"
He couldn't stop scanning my physical appearance. His expressions seemed earnest, hopeful, and... envious?
"Wha, What are you talking..." I started.
"It's you, Jasper, I know it's you," he interrupted, "you might have been able to completely change your body and your face, but you can't and haven't changed your personality, your mannerisms, or the way that you stutter a bit when you're nervous about something."
I couldn't believe it. Levi of all people. Shallow Levi. Levi that always had something to say about this woman's body part or that one's. How the hell had he out of anyone else here put it together?
"It's ok, Jasper," he continued, much more softly and caringly, "just tell me what happened."
I hadn't realized before how much all of this was weighing on me. I broke down and started sobbing on the desk.
"I don't know what happened," I gasped out between breaths, "it's been so overwhelming."
Levi leaped over the chair in front of him and beside me. He placed his hand into my hair and onto the back of my head, slowly scratching and massaging my scalp. The feeling of his fingers helped me channel the emotions I was bottling up through them, letting my tears soak the wood and my panic and isolation leech out my head into Levi.
I told him about the strange man, the business card, and about everything that had happened this morning until now. Then, with swollen eyes and reddened cheeks, I admitted something I had been afraid of since I'd discovered my new body.
"I don't want to go to Hell."
Levi's brow furrowed as he considered the implication.
"Did they mention that, like kind of a deal-like situation? he asked.
"No, not explicitly. But the women that visited me said that Kabo, my supposed sponsor, required a gallon of human 'essence'" I replied.
"Essence?"
"Mmhmm," I nodded, "Based on what they did to me I assume that they're talking about sexual fluids."
He squinted and his lips moved without saying anything. I could see the gears inside his head turning as he'd entered problem solving mode. After another few minutes, he finally spoke out again.
"Ok. I'll escort you back to your room, then I can go out and vet people on your behalf," he paused to gauge my reaction, "and then I can just bring them to you in the safety of your room."
His head dipped subconsciously as his mind approved of his own plan.
"No accidental run-ins with a professor," his face contorted with disgust recollecting the close call I'd just had, "No creeps, perverts, or weirdos. It'll be ok, I promise."
I looked up at him. This wasn't the same Levi I was used to with the guys. This one was kind, thoughtful, and now... determined and resolute. If that were entirely true, then why was there this lingering sense of nostalgia? Maybe I had met this Levi at some point and just not noticed him. There may have been times when others had left and all that remained was him. In the quiet moments before he opened his mouth, could he have been there?