Chapter 18: I’ll Think About It

August 22, 1983, McKinley, Ohio

"Well, here we go!" Teri said as we walked together into the lecture hall.

"I had an abbreviated one of these at the start of the Summer."

"How did things go?"

"Well, there were two incidents and one surprise. The incidents were a girl who went into diabetic shock and a fight between two guys over a girl. The big thing from that first incident was that my counterpart was fired because she was drinking with some underage students at the time."

"Oops. I take it they replaced her?"

"Yes. Milena's friend, Deb, if you know who that is."

"Sure. I saw her at a couple of Milena's parties. What was the surprise?"

"That the tradition says floor RAs have to sleep together the first night," I smirked.

Teri laughed, "Did Deb try to pull that on you?"

"No, the original RA, Cecilia. She's the one who was fired. I refused and found out later it wasn't the case."

"Usually, it's the guy RA who pulls the joke. I can't imagine you doing that, though!"

"I just did!" I countered.

Teri laughed, "So you did! And if I hadn't known about it being a joke and had said 'yes'?"

I grinned, "We'll never know for sure!"

We took seats near the front of the lecture hall, and I surveyed the room. I recognized about a third of the people in the room. I stifled a groan less than a minute later when Dean Parker walked into the room. I'd known she was in charge of the first portion, which covered the rules, and was prepared for it, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

"Let's get started, please," Dean Parker said.

Everyone quieted down and faced front.

"This is your most important session of the two-day orientation and will cover the dorm and campus rules. I want to be clear: these rules are serious and MUST be enforced to the letter. If you try to be lax, I WILL find out, and you WILL be removed from your position and be subject to further discipline as necessary. I will not tolerate cover-ups or feigned ignorance. If you open the binder and turn to page 1, we'll begin with the rules designed to protect female students from male predators."

"Dean Parker?" a male voice in the back of the room called out.

"Yes?"

"Who protects the male students from the female predators?"

Uproarious laughter quickly filled the room, and Dean Parker's face clouded. I had NO idea who had the guts to challenge her that way and didn't want to turn to look. Teri solved that by leaning over.

"The son of the Vice Chancellor," she whispered. "There is literally nothing Dean Parker can do to him!"

"Nice," I chuckled.

"That's enough, Mr. Lawson! One more outburst, and I'll be forced to notify your father AND the Chancellor! As I was saying, these rules are important to protect our female students."

She droned on for the next two hours, sounding more and more like a prison warden than a dean responsible for 'Student Life'. When we finally had a break, Teri, I, and a few other RAs from the Rickenbacker dorm sat in the student union with cups of coffee.

"How did you handle things over the Summer?" Rick, who had the 7th floor, asked.

"Nothing like the way she's talking," I replied. "The only time there was a real problem was when we had to call for an ambulance. It was kind of hard to hide the fact that the girls had been drinking from the cop who showed up."

"Ambulance?" Beverly, who had the 3rd floor, asked.

"A girl with diabetes went into diabetic shock. They had been celebrating a birthday, and the cops saw the red plastic cups in the trash, and that was pretty much all she wrote. They cited the kids for underage drinking, and Cecilia was fired. The under-twenty-one girls were kicked out of the dorm, but Dean Anderson was cool and didn't suspend or expel them. One of the professors took them in for the rest of the term.

"Anyway, the other time was a fight, and even though I'm pretty sure one of the guys was drinking, and the other guy and the first guy's ex-girlfriend were smoking pot, I sure as heck didn't say anything to anyone because I didn't actually see it happen. I could truthfully tell the detective I didn't see anything. And neither did anyone else."

"So how do we handle it?" Teri asked.

"Don't go looking for rules violations!" I said. "Seriously, everyone should know to keep their doors shut if they're going to drink. The Freshman will have to hear that from other students. We can't tell them how to break the rules! But we don't go looking for violations, either."

"What's she going to do when every floor votes to have no curfew?" Beverly asked.

"Blow a gasket," I chuckled. "The all-girls floors are automatically under curfew, but the mixed-sex floors can vote. According to my friend Melody, Dean Parker about had a total meltdown when the Board of Regents voted to eliminate the girls-only dorm. The Chancellor's goal is for both the Rickenbacker dorm and the new Armstrong dorm, which opens next year, to have only mixed-sex floors. Dean Parker is fighting that tooth and nail because all men are rapists."

Beverly rolled her eyes, "Give me a break."

"You didn't go to the 'Campus Safety' rally she had last year?" Rick asked.

"No."

"All men being sexual predators is one of her hobby horses," I said. "It didn't help that Dean Parker's underage daughter fooled around with her graduate student piano teacher last year."

"I heard about that," Bev laughed. "The rumor is the daughter was the predator."

"That is the rumor," I replied. "But it reinforced the Dean's thinking. That said, we all have to watch out for ANYTHING that might be considered abusive behavior. Guys need to police the guys in a serious way. If we don't police ourselves, SHE is going to police us, and that is the last thing we need."

"College students get drunk and fuck," Teri said. "It's a fact of life. And then they regret it. That doesn't make it assault."

"No, it doesn't, but it surely calls into question consent, doesn't it?" I asked. "I mean, I get your point, but being stupid isn't going to do any of us any favors."

"Hmm," Rick mused. "College students. Alcohol. Sex. That's a recipe for stupid if there ever was one."

"I know," I replied. "As I said, we need to police ourselves. Get drunk or get laid; don't do both at the same time."

"Good luck convincing anyone of THAT," Teri laughed.

"Then we're all screwed in the end," I sighed.

We finished our coffee and returned for the second half of the morning presentation, which, thankfully, was done by Dean Anderson and covered dealing with emergency situations. When that session finished, we had our CPR refresher course and then the final session of the day, led by Doctor Hart, on dealing with adjustment issues for incoming Freshmen, as well as dispute mediation.

At the end of the day, there was a dinner and a reception with the Chancellor and Board of Regents. I stayed just long enough to be polite, then headed back to Doctor Blahnik's house to call Liz.

"What Hannah told us was totally accurate," Liz said. "One of Maggie's parents is with her pretty much every waking second. They alternate who goes to church, so she's not alone. It's worse than with Sasha!"

"Wonderful. How is she holding up?"

"Well, she's happy that she's not allowed to go to church, but otherwise, miserable."

"I can imagine."

"She wants to see you."

"That's asking for no end of trouble," I sighed. "I mean, I want to see her, but I can't go anywhere near their house, and she's grounded for two centuries, or so you said."

"Why don't you come home over Labor Day weekend? Maybe we can figure out a solution by then."

"That seems awfully dangerous," I replied.

"Just come home, Mikey. I know Mom and Dad will be happy, and we can hang out."

"I'll think about it."

"Mikey, please?!" Liz whined.

"If you promise to stop whining," I chuckled.

"Deal!" she laughed.

"Then I'll see you that weekend. Let Mom and Dad know."

"I will."

We said 'goodbye', and then I went to the music room to spend time with Clarissa and Milena.

August 24, 1983, McKinley, Ohio

On Wednesday, Teri and I joined the other RAs in the main hall of the Student Center at 8:00am to await Freshmen who were arriving for orientation, which would begin on Thursday morning. We sat down at the table marked 'Last Names: M-S', and I opened the box with the envelopes.

"How many Freshman do we have on our floor, I wonder?" Teri asked.

"I just scanned the roster, and it looks like an even dozen," I replied. "Six guys and six girls. Most of the rest of the list is composed of our friends who selected the floor. I only see a couple of upperclassmen whose names I don't recognize."

"That's going to make this year a lot easier," Teri said. "With everyone knowing each other, I can't imagine we'll have any real trouble."

"And you know Dean Parker will put us under the microscope for that very reason."

"That bitch needs to fall off the face of the earth!"

"You're telling me?" I said, shaking my head. "If I never see her again, it'll be too soon."

"I heard you're giving a concert for the Freshmen tonight."

"I got roped into it by Doctor Blahnik and Milena."

"Guitar?"

"And piano, with Milena singing some duets with me. She'll play some of the songs on the piano, and I'll sing. For other songs, it'll just be me and my guitar."

"Cool. Are you going to do concerts for the floor?"

"I figured maybe three per semester — one each in September, October, and November."

"So, three new groupies?" Teri teased.

"Are you signing up?" I chuckled.

"You've certainly loosened up! That's a good thing, Mike. You were WAY too uptight in the past."

"That's a 'no', isn't it?" I grinned.

"Are you asking me to cheat on my boyfriend?"

"No way!"

"So you were teasing, as I suspected."

"Of course!"

"José Ochoa," a black-haired, brown-eyed, obviously Hispanic kid said, walking up to our table.

I flipped through the packets to find his.

"Welcome!" I replied. "I'm Mike, and this is Teri. We're your Resident Advisors on the 8th floor. You're in room 811."

"Hi!" Teri said.

I handed him a manila envelope.

"This envelope contains your room key, student ID, dining hall card, parking sticker, a campus map, a set of dorm and campus rules, and a schedule of activities for the next five days. The only mandatory sessions are this afternoon and tomorrow morning, but we encourage you to attend as many sessions and activities as possible.

"There are carts available on the first floor of the dorm to use to take your things to your room. The dining hall opens today, so you'll be able to eat there if you want, but your meal plan doesn't start until Monday. Any questions?"

"No."

"OK. Go back out the main doors, follow the path straight, and you'll be at the front door of the dorm. If there are any problems, the student at the desk can assist you."

"Thanks."

He was the first of a steady stream of students, and by lunchtime, we had only two envelopes left — Marie Olsson and Jacob Reiner. I took those two envelopes to the coördinator and handed in the check-off sheet.

"Two 'no shows'," I said.

"OK. Thanks. You and your partner are done for the day."

"Thanks," I replied.

I went back to let Teri know we were finished and then headed back to Doctor Blahnik's house to have lunch with Clarissa. Once we finished eating, we took my things to the dorm. Clarissa couldn't properly move in until Saturday, but she brought some clothes and her bathroom things so she could stay in my room with me.

"You're sure you won't get into trouble?"

"I'm sure. The overnight guest rule only applies to non-students. You're enrolled. I double-checked with Doctor Blahnik and Doctor Hart to make sure."

"Won't I cramp your style tonight?" she asked with a silly smile, looping her arm with mine.

"Because of the concert? I swore off groupies, remember?"

"That was the old Petrovich," she laughed. "The new one finally got over himself and spent nearly three hours fooling around with a girl just because she asked!"

"But Katy wasn't some random girl I had just met!" I protested.

"I'm stringing evidence together. You made peace with yourself about Kristin. You and Milena became very intimate lovers. And, Petrovich, as soon as Maggie can figure out how to be alone with you, she's going to DEMAND you make love to her, and you'll agree!"

"That would commit me to marrying her," I replied.

Clarissa laughed, "No, it'll be her declaration of independence. It's the SECOND time that would be the potential commitment, but then again, she might just want to fuck to rebel!"

"That strikes me as a VERY bad idea."

"Aren't you the one who says each person has to make their own decision on their own terms? Or are you going to take on the role her dad is playing now and control when and with whom she can have sex?"

"That's not even close to true," I objected.

"OK, how about you'll decide for her if she's ready or not, even if she tells you she is? And unlike Tasha, she hasn't extracted a promise from you NOT to do it with her."

"It just seems over the top as an act of rebellion."

"Ask your sister about that."

"«Говно» (gavno)," I spat. ("shit")

"It's all about who controls her body — Maggie's dad or Maggie. And if you refuse because you don't think she should, then you're just doing the same thing her dad is."

"«Ерунда» (yerunda)!" I declared.

"It's not nonsense, at least in her mind."

"Then I'm just going to avoid being alone with her, which shouldn't be too difficult given she's under house arrest."

We arrived at the dorm, and Clarissa helped me set up my room, and once we had it in some semblance of order, we began walking towards the Quick Mart to restock my supplies.

As I thought about what Clarissa had said about Maggie and thinking about Maggie's behavior, I concluded that there was quite a bit of truth to what Clarissa had said. And that meant ensuring Maggie and I weren't alone together. As I'd said to Clarissa, that wouldn't be tough given the current situation, but I did need to be careful. And as for groupies, that wasn't something I wanted, and it would be simple enough to avoid.

"So now you think I'll just sleep with anyone?" I asked.

"No, of course not! But I think your hang-up over sex is gone. And that was important for me."

"For you?"

"Petrovich, if you were going to feel guilty, or be tentative, or whatever, I couldn't even consider any exploration. You had to get past all your hang-ups. I think you have. But not in a way which will have you out of control. That said, there is nothing wrong with a bit of selective fun!"

"I'm curious; what do you think I should do about Kristin?"

"An interesting question, really."

"Because you expect to sleep with me every night?"

"Did you forget I have a girlfriend?" Clarissa laughed.

"No, of course not!"

"So why an interesting question?"

"Because if you resume what you were doing last semester, it basically serves as a way to block any other girls. On the other hand, it gives you guaranteed access to regular sex."

"And you think that's what I need?"

Clarissa shrugged, "I think you need intimacy. Sex is a bonus, if you will. I think what happened with Milena proves that not to mention our relationship. Ultimately, the question is, does Kristin provide that, or is she just a convenient, warm, sexy body?"

I took a deep breath and let it out, "The latter, I think. After the first few times, Sandy was more about intimacy; Kristin was always more about sex. Certainly for her and probably for me. And to make it a bit stranger, it's softer and gentle with Kristin than it was with Sandy by a long shot."

"I am NOT encouraging you to seek out other girls, Petrovich; I'm saying keep your options open, especially given that for various reasons, you're realistically down to just Tasha, and you aren't completely sure she's the right girl for you."

"You think Maggie is out of the picture?"

"Unless something changes; otherwise, you won't see her before you and Tasha need to have your conversation. And you certainly can't make any plans unless you do it through some third party, which has its own set of risks."

"Yeah," I sighed.

The conversation stopped as we entered the store, where we picked up soft drinks, snacks, and Pop-Tarts. I paid Nancy for the purchases, and then Clarissa and I headed back to campus.

"She's still interested," Clarissa said after we left the store.

"I know. But every time we try, she gets flakey, or I have some sort of serious concern about what's happening. It's nobody's fault, really; I just don't think we're compatible."

"Of all the girls, who do you think you're most compatible with?"

"You!"

"Minus the whole being a lesbian thing."

"That doesn't change our overall compatibility, Lissa. Sure, it means we probably won't marry, but it doesn't change anything else."

"OK, besides me, then?"

"I'd say it would have to be Tasha. Honestly, with each day that passes, it seems to me she's the best choice."

"What gives you pause?"

"Just the fact that she's lived in a very controlled environment."

"You mean like you?"

I laughed, "Yes, like me. But coming to McKinley changed that. Sure, it's not Berkeley or even UCLA, but it changed my perspective. I know there's a lot more to the world, and I want to see it. Of course, that's going to have to wait."

"You haven't thought about medical school somewhere else?"

"Thought about? Sure. But this really is home, Lissa. I just don't see myself as a big city kind of guy."

"I think I agree with you on that. I mean for you."

"You don't want to stay?"

Clarissa shrugged as well as she could, carrying a bag of groceries, "I want to stay with you. But I wonder sometimes about the opportunities in bigger cities."

"Is this something we need to talk about?"