Jenny felt out of place at the university. True, she had been granted a scholarship for her track time at high school, but she didn't really feel worthy to be deserving of a full four year scholarship. Still, her parents had begged her to take it, since it might be the only chance she would have to get a college degree. So reluctantly, she had signed the acceptance letter, and was soon on her way to the Kansas University, S.U.
The moment she had entered the town thought, she had a feeling that something was different. There was a fence on the inside of the river, and the town didn't seem like it was the typical college town. Still, she put her concerns aside, and began to setup in her dorm room, which thankfully had come with a state of the art computer and of course some basic outfits for her track times. What she found strange was the outside areas around the buildings. It seemed like there were kennels and horse hitching posts all over the place. Jenny couldn't begin to understand their meaning, but figured it was just a piece of history the school decided to leave up.
As she waved goodbye to her parents, she joined a group of girls heading to the administration building. She needed to register for her classes still, so she did a leisurely jog to the building. The administration building was only two stories tall, but it seemed to have the offices of all the campus services inside it, except the security division. As Jenny entered, she found her last name's line, and got in it. The line, thankfully seemed to be moving forward at a reasonable clip, thanks mainly to the helpers who passed out class catalogues and offered advice to the nervous freshmen. Soon, Jenny found herself at the head of the line.
"Name, please." The woman behind the counter asked in a monotone voice, implying she was bored, and yet Jenny could tell she was examining all the girls before her.
"Jenny Miller." Jenny answered, looking at the woman as she typed in her name at the computer.
"Let me see. Ah, here it is. Yes, we have you down as a track girl. Ok, we have you scheduled for basic math, basic grammar, political and military history, computer programming 1, and stable maintenance and design. Being on scholarship, I must inform you that failure in any class, unexcused absences, or any breach of track team rules, is automatic dismissal from the university and conversion. Sign here, please." The woman printed out the warning page and Jenny's schedule, and passed them to Jenny to sign.
Jenny looked over the schedule, and signed the acknowledgment form, and then the woman gave Jenny a map of the campus, and sent her off to the bookstore to get her books. Jenny again felt like a fish out of water as she crossed the campus, but she knew she had to try her best. As nervous as she was, she entered the bookstore and handed her schedule to the worker behind the desk, who in turn scanned in all the classes on the schedule. "Would you like these delivered to your room, miss, or would you like to carry them?" Jenny was surprised at the question, but seeing as the store was able to deliver, she requested delivery. "Very good, miss. The books will be delivered in 2 hours to your dorm room. Good Luck."
Jenny was beginning to relax a little, and getting over her initial nerves, so she decided to go down to the track, to do some laps. Running always seemed to calm her down. She made a light pace to the track, and wasn't surprised to see she had the track to herself. She began her run with a slow pace and gradually built up to a run over the mile long track. As she picked up her speed, Jenny became oblivious to the outside world. She kept up her run for nearly an hour, not really straining herself, just keeping a constant pace going. Finally, she realized the bookstore delivery was only in a few minutes, so she left the track, and hustled to her dorm room.
Jenny didn't realize she had been watched by the track coach, but the coach had seen the girl on the track, and made some discreet inquiries of the security squads, who informed her of Jenny's status. The coach knew Jenny would be a great distance runner, but would she accept her fate willingly, was the question of the hour.
As Jenny got to her room, she found the bookstore crew moving down the halls, dropping off books. Jenny got to her room as the men came to her door. Jenny took the books from them, and gave them a smile and thanks as she closed her door. She turned on the computer and checked her email, to find a note from her parents and one from someone at the school. Her parents wished her luck in school and reminded her to write when she could. The note from the school turned out to be from the track coach, asking if Jenny would be willing to meet early, to discuss her position on the track team. Jenny replied to the coach, and soon a meeting was arranged for later that night.
Jenny met the coach in her office at 5 that same night, and Jenny couldn't help but be impressed. The coach had the legs of a runner, and the stamina to match. Jenny knew the look of a first class runner when she saw it. The coach likewise recognized the talent in the young freshman as she entered the office.
"Jenny, welcome to the school and my office. I am glad we could have this meeting early, as I saw you on your run this afternoon. Your form is perfect, and I am honored we had a good scouting report. The reason, however, that I called you over was to inform you that when school begins tomorrow, the penalty rules will also begin. Now I don't want you to be nervous, since it seems like you'll be ok for classes, but if you feel like they're not going as you would hope I would ask you to come see me, ok?"
Jenny felt moved by the small speech, and she promised to come see the coach if she felt out of her depth. Jenny went back to her dorm room, and began washing off from her exercise, and getting ready for bed.
Jenny awoke at 7 am the following morning, and quickly began her morning ritual. She brushed her hair and teeth, rinsed her mouth, and began to dress. Nothing over the top, she decided, just some nice shorts and a tee, over her sports bra and panties. Running shoes and socks completed her outfit. Jenny looked at the clock, and saw it was 7:45 am, and in 15 minutes she had her first class. Jenny grabbed the books for the computer programming class, and made for the computer sciences building.
Jenny found the classroom and entered the class, 2 minutes before the bell. She was surprised to see only 10 girls in the class, however. She opened her book, and got ready to take notes as the bell rang. The professor began right away, explaining the coding language C++ to the girls, who were rapidly taking notes. Jenny's head, however, began to swim, trying to copy the notes and understand them.
