Chapter 75: I’ve Had All I Can Stands And I Can’t Stands No More!

April 1, 1984, McKinley, Ohio

Highly annoyed, I opened the door to find Bill, one of the nighttime campus security officers.

"Hey, Bill; what's up?"

"Is anyone here with you, Mike?"

"Another student, why?"

"May I look? Just to see who's here?"

"If you tell me why."

"We received a call from an irate father that his fourteen-year-old daughter is in this dorm."

"Wonderful. Sure, step in; only Laura is here."

He stepped in and saw Laura, who was sitting on the bed. I realized given how small she was, she looked younger.

"Laura?" Bill asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Do you have your ID?"

"In my room. I can get it."

"Would you? Please?"

She got up from the bed and left my room. She was back a minute later and showed her university ID.

"Sorry," Bill said. "I needed to check."

"It's OK," she replied.

She and I stepped out into the hall and watched Bill begin knocking on doors. He made it about halfway down the hall when his walkie-talkie squawked. He answered it and then came back down the hall towards us.

"Seventh Floor," he said.

"Just wonderful," I replied.

He went through the door to the stairs and left the floor.

"How bad is that?" Laura asked.

"It's a violation of the rules, not to mention she's seriously underage. Whoever it is could be in some serious trouble. But the bigger problem is, something like this can't be ignored by Dean Anderson, so I suspect there will be stricter enforcement of the rules, at least for a time. Technically, in about forty minutes, it'll be against the rules for you to be in my room."

"Nobody follows that rule!" she protested.

"I did say 'technically'," I replied.

"We're all adults!"

"I agree with you, but there are people in the school administration who don't."

"Are you saying I have to leave your room in forty minutes?"

"Technically."

"Is that 'technically' as in 'you should leave at 11:00pm' or 'technically' as in 'who gives a fuck'?"

I had another chance to say 'no', but I didn't WANT to. It wasn't just Clarissa encouraging me to have a fling; it was also that a girl had sought me out who wasn't one of my sister's friends and who hadn't been encouraged to do so by me or anyone else. And given I had every intention of trying to fulfill my fantasy with Violet, I couldn't really argue against the idea of a casual fling.

I also saw June fast approaching and, with it, likely an end to these kinds of opportunities. If Clarissa and I became a couple, that would be the end of even dating anyone else. If not, I'd start seeing Maggie, and if that didn't work out, one of the girls from church. In all of those scenarios, I'd feel somewhat compelled to avoid casual sex. And that might mean a year or more of celibacy.

I nearly laughed out loud at what I knew was rationalizing, but I looked at Laura and wanted her, which made the decision easy.

"Generally, the latter," I replied. "Nobody is going to tattle and the chances of anyone doing a bed-check on a Sunday night are near zero, though Bill showing up is one of those random things which could happen."

"I don't want to get you into any trouble."

"There's very little chance of that," I replied.

We went back into my room, and I shut the door.

"Do you remember where we were?" Laura asked.

"I had just carried you to bed and was about to inquire about birth control."

"Mom insisted I go on the Pill before I arrived at Taft. She was afraid I was going to do those things my dad doesn't approve of!"

"Dads are like that, as I'm sure my little sister would attest. I do have to warn you about something."

"What's that?"

"Every attempt to spend time with a girl in my room since Friday has been interrupted. Without fail, including us just before!"

"The blonde you were singing to, Charlotte?" she asked. "Forget it! She and her friends are the biggest prick teasers on campus! She and her friends play games with guys all the time!"

"Charlotte?"

"Let me guess — you were with her after the concert, and her friends showed up saying they had plans? Or one of them freaked out, and she had to go take care of them?"

BOTH of those things had happened! Either Laura was a savant, or there was some truth to her story.

"How do you know?"

"Ask Miles and Ted. Those girls toyed with them for weeks, never getting past making out but implying sex, only to have some excuse every single time. Afterwards, they heard from a Senior on the sixth floor that the same thing had happened. The redhead, Stacy, is the ringleader."

It all made sense, and I wondered if there had actually been a suicide threat or if that had been just another way of getting out of my room. There really wasn't a way to find out because student health records were private. I was tempted to report it myself, which would lead to an investigation if Stacy hadn't actually talked to someone in Student Health Services.

And one thing was certain: if I discovered that Laura was telling the truth, and as far as I could tell, she had no reason to lie because it gained her nothing she didn't already have, then Charlotte, Ann, Stacy, and Tracy were girls I didn't want to associate with in any way, shape, or form. I totally understood not wanting to go 'too far', but what they were doing was, in my mind, blatantly and willfully dishonest.

I understood limits and had carefully followed them with Katy, including stopping her from crossing her own line on a few occasions. But this, this was a different kettle of fish. But there was one other thing I needed to confirm before I picked her up and put her on the bed again.

"Speaking of Miles and Ted..."

"That was only the third time Sarah and I went out with them. We actually ran into them at the bowling alley right before Spring Break and decided to start bowling together. There's nothing going on that would make you picking me up again a transgression of any kind!"

I laughed and scooped her into my arms, and carried her to the bed.

"How much do you weigh?" I asked as I gently set her down.

"5'1" and 102 pounds!"

She was tiny compared to me at 5'11" and 170 pounds, and as I climbed into bed next to her, I realized I'd need to be careful not to crush her! And that made me think that her being on top might be the best approach. But I was getting ahead of myself, and despite everything that had been said and implied, I never presumed I had permission to do anything.

Lying side-by-side made kissing easier, as she didn't have to stretch, and I didn't have to bend down. After a couple of minutes of very nice French kissing, I tugged on Laura's heavy cotton blouse, pulled it from her jeans, and slipped my hand underneath, sliding unimpeded up to her shoulder blade, discovering in the process that she wasn't wearing a bra. Given her build, that didn't really surprise me. I moved my hand down a bit, then gently pushed Laura on her back as I brought my hand up and over a small rise of flesh topped by a large, puffy nipple.

As I ran my finger over her nipple, Laura tugged on my polo shirt and kept pulling, so I reluctantly removed my hand from her blouse and allowed her to pull my shirt over my head. I helped her remove it completely and let it drop to the floor next to the bed. I moved my hand to the buttons of her blouse and, one by one, manipulated the small, round pieces of plastic. When I reached the last one, she sat up and shrugged off the blouse, which fell to the floor.

She lay back on the bed, and after another soft French kiss, I lowered my head and ran my tongue across an erect nipple which sat atop a puffy areola. Laura moaned, and I began sucking gently. Seconds later, I heard a loud knock at the door and Clarissa calling my name.

"Oh, for the love of..." I growled.

I got out of bed and pulled my polo on while Laura grabbed a pillow and held it to cover her. I opened the door.

"Do you mind?" I asked, thoroughly annoyed.

"Dean Anderson is on 7 and talking to the RAs," Clarissa said.

"That can't be good."

"Rumor is that the girl was in bed with someone. I'm not sure what's going on, but I thought I'd warn you in case she came up to 8."

"Thanks."

"Sorry," Clarissa smirked.

"Get out of here!" I replied, half growling, half mirthfully.

I shut the door.

"Fallout," I replied. "Dean Anderson is talking with the RAs on 7, and Clarissa was concerned she might come up here to talk to me and Teri."

Laura grabbed her blouse, pulled it on, and started buttoning it.

"I should leave. I don't want you to get in ANY trouble."

"We still have about fifteen minutes before curfew, so it's OK if you're here, but as soon as you're dressed, I'm going to open the door. We can sit on the couch if you like and listen to music."

She nodded, and as soon as her blouse was buttoned, I put on Hi Infidelity, opened the door to my room, and we went to sit on the couch.

"Just when it was getting good," she complained, snuggling close.

"I'll say!" I replied, putting my arm around her.

"You have study group tomorrow, right?"

"Yes."

"When does your last class end?"

"2:50pm," I replied.

"Can I come by?"

"Sure."

Clarissa's caution was borne out less than ten minutes later when Dean Anderson came to the door of my room.

"Mike, I need to talk to you and Teri, please," she said, glancing at her watch.

"Five minutes on the correct side of the line," I grinned.

Dean Anderson nodded, "Yes, sorry. I know you're responsible. Let's go down to Teri's room."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mike," Laura said.

I nodded, and we left my room, me following Dean Anderson and Laura going to the room she shared with Sarah. Dean Anderson knocked on Teri's door and announced herself. I suppressed a laugh as I heard hushed voices inside. It took a good three minutes before the door opened, and a somewhat disheveled Teri appeared.

"Sorry to interrupt," Dean Anderson said. "Perhaps we should speak in Mike's room."

The look on Teri's face was priceless, as she knew that Dean Anderson knew what was going on and that there was no way she had been going to be in compliance with the rules, given only a minute or so to go.

"Uhm, yeah," she replied.

The three of us went back to my room. Teri and I sat on the couch, and Dean Anderson sat in a chair across from us.

"I assume you heard what happened?" she asked.

"No," Teri replied.

"Yes," I said. "Bill from Campus Security was here earlier. He actually checked Laura's ID."

Dean Anderson nodded, "If he didn't know her, he had to. Anyway, there was a seriously underage girl engaging in sexual activity with a student on 7. Somehow, she snuck into the building, as her name isn't on the sign-in sheet. Campus Security had no option except to call the McKinley police. We're going to be under severe scrutiny, and that's why I wanted to talk to you. First, do either of you know how students are able to sneak into the building?"

I'd heard rumors, but I had no idea if they were true or not, and as with all rumors, there were contradictory ones flying around.

"Just rumors," I replied. "I have no idea if they're true or not."

"That's a place to start."

"I've heard that it's easy to defeat the alarm on the emergency exits."

"How?"

I shrugged, "I have no idea. As I said, it's just a rumor, and Teri can tell you we haven't had any trouble on this floor except for the whippets and the recent bout of food poisoning. Most people on this floor have steady boyfriends or girlfriends and study way too much to get into much trouble!"

"Rickenbacker 8 does have a reputation for being, pardon the expression, a bunch of boring eggheads."

"I'll take that reputation," I chuckled. "I'm not going to get into medical school based on how good of a partier I am!"

"Quite true. Please be honest with me — are you aware of ANY incidents of underage girls being in the dorm?"

"Not since the rules changed," I replied. "During Freshman year, it was just a matter of everyone signing in. The rules changed after the incident with Dean Parker's daughter. My girlfriend from back home was here a few times during Freshman year."

I wasn't going to let her know that Emmy had snuck in somehow to see Clark.

"Same as Mike says," Teri added. "None that I'm aware of since the rules changed."

"And overnight guests?"

"If you want to suspend or expel the entire student body..." Teri said.

"Other students or outside?"

"Both, obviously," Teri said. "Nobody has checked sign-outs except when the fire alarm has gone off."

"We're going to have to beef up our checking of sign-ins and sign-outs and start calling RAs if there are people who don't sign out by 11:00pm Sundays through Thursdays or 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays. I don't like the rules, but I don't really have a choice at the moment. Student Government is trying to get the overnight guest rules changed, but I wouldn't hold my breath after today's incident."

"I assume there was an arrest?" I inquired.

"The police didn't have much choice, given that the girl's father made a complaint."

"How strict are we supposed to be?" Teri asked. "I mean, go door-to-door at 11:00pm and make sure nobody is in the wrong room? Random bed checks at 3:00am?"

"If you see violations or know of them, you need to report them. The first offense is a warning, and we're already in April."

"Great," I replied. "I didn't sign up to be a narc."

"Is that how you view enforcing the rules?" Dean Anderson asked.

"When they treat us as if we were kids," I replied. "I'm twenty-one. Teri is twenty-two. Everyone else here is at least eighteen, with most people being at least nineteen. I get the rules about drugs and about drinking for underage kids, but the 'overnight' guest rule is just silly. As my friend back home used to say, you can have sex during the daytime and places other than bed!"

"There are important safety and liability issues."

I smiled, "Which are used to justify a policy that is intended to prevent us from having sex, which is, to be blunt, impossible."

"I don't make the rules," Dean Anderson countered. "But I do have to enforce them."

The new rules, properly enforced, would mean not sharing my bed with Clarissa for our entire Senior year, no matter what we decided about our relationship. Even cuddling in our sleep would be impossible, and that wasn't something I could accept. And as RA, acting as a narc, retribution would be swift against me.

"I'll let you know for sure in a few days, but I believe I'm going to tender my resignation as RA for next year. I can't do what you're asking me to do."

"That would be unfortunate, Mike. You're well-liked and respected by students, professors, and the administration."

And maybe, just maybe, it was time to do what Melody had been urging me to do since Freshman year — get involved in a cause. Dean Parker wasn't a factor, and as such, there was no need to 'lie low' to avoid her.

"I think I'll test that theory," I replied. "When is the next Student Government meeting?"

"Thursday at 3:00pm."

"I'll be there with a prepared statement. And I suggest a MUCH bigger room."

"That's quite the change for someone who has resolutely refused to get involved."

"To borrow from Popeye, 'I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more!'"

Dean Anderson laughed, "OK. I'll add you to the agenda."

"I'll want permission to put up flyers, please."

"Come by the office tomorrow morning. I'll grant it. And I think I'll move the meeting to the auditorium in the student union."

"You might need the football field," I replied.

"I don't think I can do that, but I can do the auditorium. Remember, you need to enforce the rules until they're changed."

I nodded, "I know."

"Then I'll leave you two. I need to go talk to the other RAs."

Teri and I stood and watched Dean Anderson leave.

"What got into you?" Teri asked quietly.

"You know Clarissa and I are as close as can be and that she spends most nights here."

"But she's lesbian!" Teri protested.

I chuckled, "And the reverse of what I told Dean Anderson is also true — being in bed doesn't mean you have to have sex!"

"According to YOU!" Terry said with a laugh. "You were serious about what you said? You'd really quit as RA?"

"You're done in May, so this won't REALLY cause you a problem, and I'm not going to check on YOUR bed, no matter what. But an entire year of this? No thanks. I might even bail on the Summer session if we can't get this sorted out."

"Let me know how I can help. Even though I'm graduating, I don't want to see this place turn into some sort of prison!"

"Agreed. I need to go talk to Melody. And unless I miss my guess, I'll be interrupting her the way Dean Anderson just interrupted you.

"Poor Ed," she laughed. "And I can't even help him out!"

"I'm not going to rat you out if you give the poor man some relief!"

Teri laughed again, "Spoken like a guy!"

"Last time I checked, anyway!"

She left, and I went to Melody's room and knocked on the door. She answered, dressed in a mini robe that barely hid 'baby doll' pyjamas.

"Put your eyes back in your head, Mike!" she teased.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect that."

"You've seen it ALL, you big idiot!"

"And for some strange reason, it's more interesting when it's barely covered!"

"What's up?"

I quickly explained what had happened and what Dean Anderson had said, as well as what I intended to do.

"Well, well, well," she replied. "Even Mike Loucks has a point past which he can't be quiet. What can I do for you?"

"Help me construct a speech, put up flyers, and rally the students. All of them."