Leslie drew on his experience of meeting like this then leaned forward before speaking, "As you can see, Dean, I am Leslie. I match the files from the military, application record and driver's license."
The dean and everyone else , except the doctor, looked at him expectantly. When it was clear he had nothing else to say, the Dean asked, "And what about the girl?"
"Yea, where is Les? She wasn't responding to our texts this morning!" shouted Lila.
"I was hoping you could tell me, sir, what we should do about this issue. You have given me plenty to be worried about," answered Leslie looking straight into the dean's eyes before turning to Lila when the dean blinked, "I promise I will help find your friend." Lila nodded, holding her hand to her mouth.
"Leslie, we are trying to find this girl, and will continued to do so. What do you know about her?"
"About as much as you all do. I had not seen her before the day I got to campus," answeed Leslie turning back to Skinner
"How did she get into your apartment?"
"Maybe she lived there at some point and had an key."
"Why do you think she is here?"
"I think she is here to learn, like all the students here. Any other questions I can answer for you?" asked Leslie, staring straight at the dean.
"No, Leslie, I think you have answered all my questions. Thank you for your time and thank you all for help in this matter. Meeting adjurned," replied the dean. The dean and Chad left together, followed quickly by Ben then Lee. Stacy came over and held out her hand, "Sorry about all this. Nice to meet the real Leslie."
Leslie stood up and shook her hand, "Nice to meet you too. Maybe you can help me get settled in?"
"I'd be happy to, let me give you my number."
Leslie took out a pen and wrote it down on his hand and waved to Stacy when she left. He started to walk to the girls, who were texting furiously, when Dr Nicholas cut him off.
"Hello Leslie. If you happen to know the other person in question today, please pass on that I truly am here to help. I'm going to give you my card, just in case. Thank you," said Dr Nicholas before leaving. Leslie went over to the 3 girls who were hugging eachother.
"Hello. I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I'm Leslie. I think I can help you find your friend."
"Why should we trust you? You are that guy that Les had in her room that needed help," answered Lila
"I will try my best. If you could give me your number, I'll be in contact."
Lila glared at Leslie as Tammi replied, "I'll give you mine. We just want to see our friend again," wiping tears away from her eyes. Leslie wrote on his hand, and left the room to murmurs of his friends discussing if they should trust "some guy" Leslie walked back to his apartment, and looked on his phone. The chat with the girls had 80 messages about the meeting this morning and a bunch asking Les if she was OK. Stacy had texted as well. Feeling sorry for the girls, he texted them back that he was fine, but hadn't heard about the meeting. There was a flurry of texts about the meeting, how mean the dean was, how the guy from his apartment was there instead and how he offered to help. They said they wanted to see her to help her out and were coming over.
When he got home, he put away all his stuff, turned the couch to face the kitchen and grabbed the medallion in the bag and the dress. The text announcing the girls arrival came through just before the knocking. He opened the door and let them in.
"Listen, 'Leslie'", started Lila with air quotes around the name, "We are here because our friend is in trouble and this is where she lives. You have 10 seconds to explain where she is before Tammi calls the police!" Tammi showed her screen to Leslie to show she had 911 already in her phone. Staci crossed her arms to look tough behind Lila.
"You all deserve the truth. I appreciate your friendship, and want to let you know everything. It will take more than 10 seconds. It will take about 30 minutes and a little trust," answered Leslie, "I promise it will make more sense after what I show you."
The Staci and Tammi looked at eachother. Lila took a quick glance back before saying, "OK, but this had better be good."
"It is. If you all could take a seat on the couch, I'll show you." The 3 girls slowly sat on the couch. They all crossed their legs and arms. Leslie walked the couple steps to the kitchen where he put the medallion and dress. He took off his shirt and put it to the side before taking the medallion out of the bag.
"This necklace is the answer to your question"
" Why did you take over your shirt, perv? Besides, that gaudy thing? It looks like something I would wear when I was 6. " said Lila skeptically.
"So I could show you what it does. Again, you need to be patient." Then Leslie touched the dress to the medallion he just put on.
