"Where are we going?" July asked as she clutched the strap of her bag, trying to keep up with Drake's quick steps as they walked to a building unfamiliar to her.
"The student affairs office, we need to get you an affidavit for lost I.D. first, and I'll have to stop by the supreme student council office to fix this mess," answered Drake, his eyes still fixed on his iPad.
The office building wasn't as spacious as the main building of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, but the walk almost seemed to deprive her of proper breathing. July had to stop by the staircase and held her balance against the white wall as she heaved heavy breaths. Her sight strolled around searching for an elevator nearby.
"Wait up!" Her voice echoed along the narrow hallway, it took a few steps before Drake paused and turned sharply in her direction.
"Give me a second to – to catch my breath – " said July.
A moment lasted for a half minute, and then she decided to continue and keep up with him. Drake had longer legs than July, thus a step to him was two steps for her, causing her to walk a little bit behind him, though she was following him close. July almost stumbled against his back as she realized how close they were. They were close enough for his perfume to greet her nostrils.
Musk and mint.
"We're here," said Drake as he halted his steps in front of an identical frosted glass office door. There was a plaque just beside the door frame.
"Student Affairs Office..." July mumbled as she read the text.
Drake knocked twice and opened the door. An unforgiving freezing blow of the air condition machine greeted July's face. She was certain her fingertips would numb in less than a couple of minutes of being inside that office. Her sight wandered and everyone in the office was exhaling misty breaths. Most of them wore thick sweaters and the rest wore thick cardigans over their uniforms as though they were trapped in a modern igloo.
Her arms automatically wrapped around her sides as she followed Drake inside.
"Drake! What are you doing here, honey? Aren't you supposed to be in the assembly?" Asked an older woman while she was organizing the piles of documents on her desk.
"Came here to help a friend," said Drake as he glanced at her.
"Oh, what happened to you dear? I'm guessing you're new here?" The old woman asked sweetly.
"I- I lost my I.D. and I am not allowed to sign the attendance without it," July explained.
"Oh, you're the fifth one this day. You know what? We need to tell the admin office that their supplier of materials sucks with their job! Just this early morning, I almost lost my I.D. at Starbucks. Anyways, the I.D.s have contact information on them, have you checked your phone yet dear? Perhaps a good citizen is trying to contact you by now?" The woman suggested.
"Oh, right..." July rummaged through her bag and grabbed her cell phone. "Nah. Nothing," said July as she put it back in her bag.
"Is there any chance, my friend here could be excused from this event? We'll ask for a lost I.D. affidavit – "
"Oh, no worries my dears. We excused those who lost their I.D.s earlier this day too – but, you're still not allowed to sign the attendance. When you have your I.D. back, then you could sign the attendance. Is that all right?"
Drake looked at her, waiting for her to respond to the kind lady.
"It's all right. Better than never having a chance. Thank you – "
"Mrs Nelly, my dear," continued the sweet woman.
"Thank you, Mrs Nelly."
"Now, you just write your institutional email here and I'll email your affidavit within this day," said Mrs Nelly as she handed her a pad of pink sticky notes.
July handed her back her stick notes with her cold shivering hands.
They excused themselves and July realized how much she took warmth for granted the moment they stepped out of the office.
"Was that place supposed to be that freaking cold?" She asked, rubbing the sides of her arms.
"I got used to it. My responsibilities were somewhat inclined toward getting used to that temperature," said Drake and laughed. "You'll get used to it one day," he added.
"Oh, hell no. I don't plan on getting used to that," said July, her voice still shivering a bit.
"Well, you need to take care of your I.D. so you won't have to visit here frequently. Anyways, where are you headed now?"
"I don't know. Go back to my apartment and sleep? I don't have many friends to hang out with yet," July confessed as she fixed herself as soon as she felt warmth take over her ice-cold body.
"Well... uhm, you could come with me and meet the band?"
"Have you found a band?" July asked, raising a brow at him.
"Not yet," replied Drake as he laughed.
"Are you sure? Like, I know you're super busy right now and – "
"It's fine, honest. So... are you down?"
There was nothing else to do on her list but to go back to her apartment and doze off then she figured maybe it'd be helpful if she could stroll around for a while to familiarize the place.
They strolled along the hallway on the left and stopped in front of a frosted glass door identical to the one in the student affairs office. A plaque was hinged on the door with the words, Supreme Student Council Office.
Inside was a big rectangular table to accompany the members and the advisors of the supreme student council. The room was painted white and cool grey. The wall facing the door was tinted glass, providing a great view of the university grounds. There was a mini library on the left side of the room. A built-in projector faces the whiteboard on the right side of the room. The lighting was efficient enough for eye comfort, and not too dim to make writing and reading difficult.
At one corner near the whiteboard, there was Gwen standing there, scrolling frantically through her phone, facing the view of the grounds outside.
"Have a seat," Drake offered as he pulled a swivel chair for her.
"Thank you."
Drake sat next to her as Gwen occupied the seat opposite them.
"So... Have you contacted the band?" Gwen began as she opened her laptop.
"Yeah," replied Drake, but he doesn't sound relieved at all.
Gwen raised her brow and looked over Drake from her laptop. "But?"
"They said they're available today, but one of the members isn't," said Drake. A touch of stress began to swim in his voice.
"Well, it's just one member. Don't they have an understudy for that? Anyone to fill in the part?"
"It's their vocalist who isn't available today, Gwen. Out of all days, this is the day he chose to wander out of nowhere. They said they'll try to contact him. Now, there's nothing we can do but wait for their update."
"Should we call the others for an emergency meeting?" Gwen suggested.
Drake shook his head slowly as he stared intently at the table. Thinking.
"Why don't we contact other artists?"
"We can't. I promised everyone to get the Broken Glamour, and the concert will take place tonight. I don't have the luxury of time to find other artists."
"I've always wondered how they're the university-based band, but it takes us much effort to get them to perform here. Shouldn't they be here right now? They are students here as far as I can remember. This is not the first that this happened, Drake," Gwen said as she fidgeted with her pen.
"This is my fault, somehow. If there's anyone who should fix this, it would be me," said Drake as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"What are you going to do now?"
"Help that band find their vocalist, or if he doesn't want to be found, then I'll search every corner of the school to have someone fill in his part."
Drake straightened his posture. "But before that, please inform every student council member about this and try to prolong the assembly. Try icebreakers and games and buy me some time. I'll try to get the band, with or without Hugh."