The immense arousal of contagious comedy was dissipating and dissolving into the concrete of the walkway with each step I took. Jesse was still, well... Jesse. I was dragging him along toward the administrative center by the hand. It might've looked like we were a couple to the layman or everyday student, but I didn't outright care. I was enjoying pulling him alongside me. I liked the way my arm tethered him to my body like a living leash, and I enjoyed how he let me tug him around however I wished. He was like a personal little plaything or like a stuffed animal that you carried around. I could pull his hand this way or that and his arm and body would follow.
Besides, his hands were smooth and soft. He clearly took really good care of them and refrained from any kinds of manual labor.
'Apart from sex slaving, I suppose.'
There it was again, that tiny tickling of the brain stem that trickled up to the top of my head until my frontal lobe squashed it under the weight of what was still at stake.
I'd take him out to a nice dinner and a drink afterward in order to say thanks for everything he put himself through. I could only imagine being on the giving end instead of the receiving. It was easy to judge someone else when you weren't in their shoes or position and I was certainly worse about it than some people.
Approaching the front door to the big ADMIN building, I turned and pulled Jesse into my personal space, anchoring him in place by cupping his back just below his right shoulder. I leaned in within an inch of his face until he was on the verge of transforming into a boiled lobster. A skinny one at that. One that somebody might consider tossing back into the waters.
"Who's his counselor?" I whispered into his now scarlet, flaming ear.
"Ms. Atkinson," he gulped.
"Thank you, Jesse," I smiled and released him back to a safe distance.
He seemed to melt at the mention of his name. Each and every reaction he displayed with even minimal traces of flirting directly defended and reinforced to me his dedication and commitment personality traits. Loyalty and falling in love seemed to be a few of his primary character traits. I felt kind of bad for him and also a bit protective. If he ever met the wrong person, he'd be one of the easiest victims to manipulate and shatter.
"Let's go find Levi," I said with freshened resolve.
He nodded and we burst through the front doors of the administrative center. There would be nothing here but the university guides, financiers, and student liaisons. An evil type of folk, self-defeated, and permanently resigned. The tragedy of their positions isn't what made them evil, perse, but rather the masks of enthusiasm and jubilee which they wore WHILE hollowed husks of their former selves are what made them terrifying to behold.
The strategy to survival here was to don the biggest smile you could possibly muster and pretend as though nothing in the world were even slightly neutral. Imagine the air smelled permanently of your favorite candy, and everyone had access to first class luxury services, and you'd make it just fine.
"Hi, Judy!" I exclaimed in greeting to the general admissions counselor.
"Oh, why hello there, You," she replied as though I were someone familiar to her, but clearly having no idea who or what my name actually was.
"I'm trying to meet with Ms. Atkinson; do you know where I can find her?" I asked.
"Well, do you have an appointment with her?" she retorted in kind.
I stopped to think for a second. How could I both gain Judy's trust and use her to exploit the information I needed without revealing our actual intentions?
"Yes," I stated, confidently.
"Well, ok, then!" she replied, "What time was it at, dear, and do me a favor and spell your last name for me."
'This sneaky little fox.'
She was uncovering exactly who I was while feigning that she knew me the entire duration of our interaction. What a masterclass in emotional modulation tactics.
"L.E.G.A.R.D.E." I spelled aloud.
"Well, you were supposed to be here an hour and a half ago, Levi!" she chastised, "It'll be a minute for her to wrap up with her current meeting, but head on up to floor 3, room 315."
"Y-yeah, sorry about that!" I stumbled as the sudden confrontation struck directly at the core of my false iron heart.
Having never let go for a single moment from Jesse's attachment, I sprinted up the nearby stairs, skipping steps in the process and fake laughing as Jesse tried to keep up. There were a couple of chairs staged right outside the door to room 315, undoubtedly meant for students waiting to meet with their counselors.
I placed Jesse on one of them and leaned up against the wall next to him. I couldn't sit down or relax. I had to remain alert and on the lookout for middle aged shells seeking to catch us off guard with small talk and good tidings.
As we were posted stalwart against the encroaching multitudes of performance though, I thought that I'd caught the softest cries of whimpering amongst the echoing chamber around us. The first instance was simply an illusion, and I immediately dismissed the thought of it as a mirage of some kind, but then I caught it again, and again, and again.
After the third time, there was no aspect of my soul which could contest the presence of sorrow and despair hidden deep within the confines of gluttonous merriment abound in the atmosphere. I sniffed the stagnant air and caught wind of its exasperation buried nearby and broadcasting its location from the nearby women's restroom.
I used my right elbow to bump Jesse's shoulder until he glanced up at me, then I nodded toward the restroom. It was my tactful way of saying, 'keep watch', without actually having to give the command verbally. He nodded back to me as if he somehow understood what I was asking.
With that, I abandoned my post to delve directly into the ADMIN Center's women's bathroom.