The Weaker Sex? II free porn video

PART II of VIII of The Weaker Sex. Comments are welcome. Thank you for the support for part I of the story. Without it I would not have had the energy to keep it going. If it seems slow, trust me, it accelerates as time goes by. I just need to get all the characters and their motivations set up the way I want them. The Weaker Sex? II By Genevieve I picked my head up off my arms and pushed away from the wall, while taking a deep breath and letting it out, trying to clear my head and make the slight queasy feeling I had go away. Looking at the school issued watch I realized that I only had maybe 20 minutes to get to the orientation at the amphitheater. Since I didn't know exactly where that was, I grabbed my map and class schedule, and headed out. The school was very pretty, but laid out a bit haphazardly. It seemed that some the buildings were built at the turn of the century, then a group of new ones put in a few years ago, including the dorms. I reentered the warm September morn furtively, looking this way and that trying to get my bearings again. I paused for a moment, though, feeling that something wasn't right. It took a moment, but then I realized it was the sensation of air working its way up my shorts to my briefs that I was feeling. I'd have to talk to someone about these things. They were way too big at the bottom. Not that it didn't feel nice on a day like this, though. On that thought, I went back to land navigating my way to orientation. A moment or two later I saw some buildings that looked like they were in the right direction and headed that way. The process of finding my way there was pretty easy, just find one building at a time, and eventually I found my way there. The auditorium was a large building, that probably could have seated a thousand students. The seats were wood, and cushioned with maroon colored pads. They looked both comfortable, and elegant, as if some money went into this place. At the front there was a large, raised wooded stage behind an orchestra pit, the pinewood gleaming under the glare of stage lights. It too was in great condition. If you liked drama, this would be a good school to attend I thought. The exterior and fa?ade of the amphitheater looked old fashioned and turn of the century, and the interior was too, but all of it had been recently put in, within the past few years I guessed, and everything was in good shape. Apparently gifted students had a bit less destructive appetites than what I was used to. Back in DC you had to hold your pee all day since the 8th graders always destroyed the bathrooms, no matter how many times they were repaired. By the end of the year, and the end of the budget, they gave up. There were perhaps 50 students already there, with more filing in behind me. For a while I gawked at them, but realized I was blocking traffic. Someone tapped on my shoulder and I looked that direction. No one was there so I turned the other. It was Marco, grinning like the Cheshire cat, and another boy I'd never met. The other boy was really short and thin, perhaps 5'2" and maybe 100 lbs soaking wet. He had short brown hair and wore a intense, but curious expression. You got the impression that he was exploring several frames of thought at once, and most of them were probably pretty deep, which made him brilliant, if somewhat continually distracted. "Dave! Hey, come sit with us! This is Robert; he's from Phoenix too. What are the odds, huh? Marco said, his outgoing nature apparent. "Oh hi, I'm Robert Tanner," the thin young man said, extending his hand. "Don't let him fool you, with the nothing big is out west stuff. Phoenix is getting to be huge, so the odds aren't that bad. Let's go grab a seat." "Cool, Robert, my name's Dave. You'll have to tell me about living out west sometime. I don't suppose you rode a horse to school or anything though," I replied as we se shook hands briefly. Robert looked around, almost birdlike, and hurried off towards an area of the auditorium that was near the front and center of the room. I got the feeling I'd be going to him for help with my calculus a lot as the years wore on. We all took our seats together there, and didn't have to wait long. All told, there were about 100 students here, all of whom had complied with the uniform policy. All of this was giving me a good feeling, really. Most of the schools I'd been at you were lucky if you could just get everyone to show up, much less do it properly. Apparently Wollstonecraft Academy was very picky about who it let in. Money alone wasn't enough, and neither was simply brains. I wondered if I should ask Marco and Robert what they thought this school was looking for, but Ms. Dobbins entrance interrupted my train of thought. She strode briskly to a podium located at center stage, took the microphone off of it and addressed us while walking around the stage. "Good morning, and welcome to the Wollstonecraft Academy. Our history is not nearly as long as you would think, though, despite the age of these buildings. I've seen many of you admiring this campus, and I'm glad to see that. We're trying very hard to make this institution one you can be proud of, and even grow to love. Our goal, for you, is to produce the future leaders and scholars of tomorrow. Period. Now, how are we going to accomplish this? Developing your mind is one thing. Certain inner city magnet schools have done a very admirable job of that through the International Baccalaureate program. However, this fails to address many students who do not have any access to such a program, nor does it address the lack of safety and social needs of their students. They remain isolated and imperiled. We believe in creating well-rounded people, who have developed their bodies as well. This Academy requires you to participate in sports. However, no one will be turned away from a sport. If all 105 of you want to be on the swim team, all of you will. We will not be like a traditional school, however, in that we do not promote contact sports, or sports where you will not be actively involved at all times. It doesn't do anyone any good for you to cripple your bodies now playing football, to stand around gawking in right field doing nothing, or to be putting in a half hearted effort into a sport you're not interested in. In order for you to grow, you will have to be self motivated. Well, now that I have downplayed the academics a bit, I can see some of the faculty in the back glaring at me. In truth, this will be the hardest academic program you could have hoped to have faced. All of you will take pretty much the same courses during your first year. After that, you will be able to branch out more into areas of academia that interest you. However, keep in mind we are a college preparatory school with limited resources, so esoterica is out of the question, no matter how interesting you think it is. As it is, you will have to retain at least a 2.15 average to remain at this school. As much as we hate this, there will be some of you out there who lack the motivation and self discipline to meet this standard. You may be given an opportunity to bring your grades up, but barring extraordinary circumstances, you will be expelled. We also have a strong desire to produce ethical graduates, and an honor code encompasses everything we do here. Anyone who is caught lying, cheating, or stealing will be summarily expelled and receive incomplete grades for the semester. Thankfully, because our screening process is so rigorous, we believe that fewer than five percent of you will be lost this way. The teachers, and in some cases, professors, are here to help you. If you need extra instruction, visit them after classes are over during the one hour period we provide before sports. I must confess, though, that this class is special. You are our great experiment. I assume that you have noticed that there are very few men here? This is because you are the first boys to attend what used to be an all girls boarding school. Based on recent cases though, we had to open our doors up to everyone. You will see your female classmates when you start class tomorrow. Outside of class, though, you won't have any interaction with them until we have evaluated you on an individual basis. When we feel that you have developed enough, and have earned our trust, you will be integrated with the rest of the student body. For now though, the girl's dorms are entirely off limits to you. Anyone found there without express permission will be expelled, regardless of any extenuating circumstances. No ifs, ands, or buts. We are a almost entirely private funded organization, and our sponsors expect the best from you. This institution was founded in order to give select students the opportunity to develop to their full potential, when they might have otherwise been held back by circumstance like poverty, or physical disability. You are among the brightest, most motivated students we could find in the country. Your potential is unlimited, and we are here to help you unlock it. For many of you, without this chance, you might never have found the key. Well, in any case I see that I'm running overtime here. If you ever have any questions, concerns, worries, ideas, anything that will make you or this school better, my door is open. In any case, this afternoon I'd like for each of you to get with your academic advisors back over at the Old Main building, and to pick out a sport you would like to try this fall season. Good luck to each of you. I've got a good feeling about your class." With the speech completed Dr. Dobbins put the mike back and left the stage to her right. Another woman, whom I didn't recognize, took her place and addressed us briefly. She looked to being her late 30's, and wore a very professional looking suit. Small, round glasses boxed in an oval face with straight dark hair. She looked studious, but also a little distracted. I thought she and Robert would get along fine if he were in a class of hers. "Good morning, I'm Ms. Phillips, I'm the academic dean here. I just wanted to introduce myself. The cafeteria's open now. Usually it's just called Stienem Hall by the students here. The counselors will be seeing students until 4 o'clock this afternoon. Afterwards, get cleaned up please and come on over to the gymnasium. We'll be holding a mixer there for you to get a bite to eat, and to meet the faculty. Hopefully, this will give you the chance to feel a bit more comfortable on your first day here. Today's schedule, class schedules, and weekly planners are printed out in the front lobby of the auditorium, and you can also find them on the LAN on your computers back in your dorm room. Do you have any questions?" One daring lad, who apparently wasn't all that hungry, raised his hand. "Yes, you there. How can I help?" "Ma'am, my name's Craig Pallagio, and I was wondering, what about our weekends? Will we be allowed out? What are we to be doing?" he asked, a little plaintively I thought. "A fair enough question. Your first semester here you will not be leaving the campus until Thanksgiving, or if you quit. There's plenty of studying, athletics, socializing, leisure reading, and even special guest lecturers scheduled to keep you entertained every weekend until Christmas. Every Saturday morning your rooms will be subject to a health and comfort inspection to make sure you are keeping up the rooms that have been donated to you. After the holiday break, those of you on the dean's list, my list, will earn the privilege of going out. I assure you, though, that will be a select few. In all truth, we expect this year to be the hardest, and it is a test to see who has the dedication to see this program through. You'll also find what activities are scheduled on your computers as well on our Local Area Network. Any other questions?" Seeing no more boys desirous of her expostulations, she bid us welcome once again and departed. "Well," I said turning to my two new friends "are you guys hungry?" I didn't want to confess that I was a little queasy still, but the feeling was going away and I was feeling some other rumblings. "Sure," said Marco, "but I have a bad feeling I'm not going to get any good Mexican food until I go home again." I had no idea what "good" Mexican food was, really, but I wasn't sure about cafeteria food either. It's never had a good reputation anywhere. We gathered up our stuff and headed off. I thought I remembered passing Steinem Hall earlier, it seemed to be a big building. It wasn't hard to find, and the inside of it was a lot different than I expected. There was the traditional cafeteria line, but that's where the similarities ended. The Hall was T shaped, and the big vaulted ceilings and heavy wooden furniture made me think for a moment of a Viking long feast hall. It looked very old, and made me suddenly think of the old Norwegian stuff my grandmother had, that her father had brought from the old country. We got in line, and I was really surprised by the food. There was plenty of salad and fruit, and the meat they served looked to be either broiled fish fillets or chicken breasts on Spanish rice. Not bad at all really. No greasy meat substitutes served in fatty glop, like in grade school and junior high. We all took our seats after taking what we wanted. No sugared sodas were offered, just juice, water, and skim milk. Well, at least these gals were health conscious. I guessed that my mom might not recognize me after all, between the sports and the twinkie-less diet. "Robert, how did you end up here?" I asked. I sort of was curious if their backgrounds were like mine. "Well," he said between bites "I suppose the same way you did. Had some gifted classes, I did okay on the state standardized tests. I took their test and had a short interview. I got the feeling that my interview was a bit of a formality, after the first minute or two." I guessed he had scored very well on the tests. I thought I would like Robert, he seemed to be pretty modest. He didn't mention how hard he thought the entrance exam was, so it was either modesty, brilliance, or both. "My folks don't have any money. My Mom stays home with my baby brother, and my Dad was an engineer, right up until he got laid off from the power plant when they closed it down. I guess no one needs nuclear engineers anymore, since there's no new plants out there." "I'm sorry" I said. I guessed that Marco probably had a similar tale. "Yeah, my Mom was home with all my younger brothers and sisters. Dad wasn't home very much, he was always at work. It didn't pay much though. I did pretty much what you did Robert. I took the test, I came here. Mom was so glad I had this chance. Dad wasn't too crazy about it for some reason. I'm the oldest, and I think he wanted me back home taking care of the house or something." "Yeah," I agreed. "I'm pretty much the same. I haven't a clue where my Dad ended up, and my Mom was a daycare worker. She likes kids, but 10 dollars an hour doesn't go very far. I guess this school is here to help gifted poor kids. I don't know, but so far it seems like we're pretty lucky to be here." They nodded, and the conversation drifted on to other things. We were, unfortunately, academics to the core, so it revolved around books, science, and movies. Lunch went quickly, and we cleared our own trays. We all cleaned up after ourselves and I noticed that the other tables were cleaned as well. It was so good to be away from all the destructive behavior I had been dodging and ashamed of at school before. Old Main wasn't more than a ten minute walk away. We went back to the front entrance and saw that the door off to the left of the entry area was marked "Admissions and Academics Department". Going in we saw that there was a sign up sheet for each of the counselors, based on out last name's place in the alphabet. We each signed up and found a spot in the room to wait. The lines were shorter than I would have thought. Perhaps people were sleeping off the lunch, or the stress of the morning, studying, or just exploring this huge place. There seemed to be several hundred acres of almost untouched land up here. My counselor, Ms. Wombach, sent out here current student and called me in shortly after. I was a bit startled to see that she was a girl, and looked kind of young like us. Maybe she was a sophomore, or maybe she was one of the girls in our class. "David," she called, "Please come on back and we'll take a look at your schedule, plus maybe your academic track." I took a seat in her small, cluttered office. It looked as if a file cabinet, somewhere, had exploded. Still, she found my file without any difficulty. "Have a seat, oh, here, let me get that" she said as she took a pile of papers off the now unburied chair. I took the seat, and expressed my thanks. "Well, I've looked at your academic record, and you seem to be in good shape here really. You're fairly strong in all the subjects you'll be taking this fall. You shouldn't have a problem with your six classes. It's just a baseline of History, Chemistry, English composition, Algebra 2, Philosophy, and Government. However, have you given any thought to the sport you'd like to play this fall?" "Well, not really Ms. Wombach, I haven't even seen the list actually." "Really? Well, my apologies. Here's the list of what's going on this fall. I'm sure at least one of them will interest you. Also, there's a number of extra curricular activities that we have available in the evenings. Orchestra, Chess club, Shakespearean studies, Science Club, Drama troupe, Choir. I have a list right here. You won't be part of the girl's groups just yet, though. We're easing you into this school as best be can. This is a bit much for you, really." I took the two sheets and looked them over. The selection of sports was really pretty good. Soccer, Swimming, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, Cross Country, Weight Training with Aerobics, Tennis, Racquetball, the list was pretty extensive. I wasn't sure, but I felt like asking a question. "Ma'am, Cross Country does all their running outdoors, right?" "Yes, of course, except on days when the weather's really bad, then they use the indoor track in the field house. Why do you ask?" I blushed, I wasn't sure I wanted to admit how pathetic my childhood had been, and how poverty stricken I had been at times. "Well," I looked down at my feet, "I really almost never got to see real natural forests and stuff back in DC. At least, not spend a significant amount of time there. We were always indoors, or on concrete." "Oh, David, I know what you mean. I can sign you up now on the computer to do Cross Country if you'd like." She said, happily. She was really very considerate and encouraging actually. "They'll be having an organizational meeting after school tomorrow in the liberal arts building, room 222. Ms. Waylons is the freshman coach, and an economics teacher here. She's a great lady, she's really popular as a teacher too. Although, I wouldn't believe all the stories she has to tell." "What do you mean?" I wondered. "Ha-ha," she chuckled, "You'll see soon enough. Don't worry; it's a lot of fun, and it's all very low pressure. Do your best, and you'll get along great. Is there anything else you're wondering about?" "Nope," I said brightly, "I think I can handle this." "That's the spirit, but don't be glib dear. This will actually be just about the toughest 4 months of your life so far. But I'm glad to see you so optimistic. Take care. Oh, and if you have a moment take a look at the stuff on the LAN. It will explain a lot of things. Just type your last name in at the login and your social security number, and that will get you in." She opened the door for me and said goodbye. I walked out, feeling pretty good. I felt like if I wasn't on top of my situation, I was getting there. The trip back to my dorm room was a short one, now that I was starting to get the feel for where everything was on campus. When I went into the room, I was a bit surprised to find Martin there. He was laying on the lower bunk looking over one of our text books. "Hey, I figured out where were going to be rooming together after I saw your bag. Pretty cool, huh?" "Yeah, I was wondering whose stuff it was in the closet. I'm pretty tired, do you mind if I take a nap on the upper bunk?" I asked. I'd been up since 4 AM, and I was really starting to feel it after lunch. "Sure, no problem. Hey, did you see all the stuff the left for us in the desk here? We've got a computer here, but they left notebooks, pencils, pens, all sorts of office supply stuff for us to use in class. I guess they really do provide just about everything." Martin sounded kind of excited about it, but I could tell he was coming down off the emotional high too. I glanced around inside of the desk and realized I wouldn't need much of anything this semester. I was all set to start. I glanced at the desktop computer on the desk, and realized we'd be sharing it. Not a problem I thought. I can always find something else to do while he's on it. As I was going to get the linens out of my closet, I remembered the iron supplements that the doc had prescribed. I picked out the bottles from the medicine cabinet. For some reason the contents of the bottle were listed by their chemical name, and not by a commercial name. Weird. I mentally shrugged and took one of each like I was supposed to. With that thought, I grabbed my linens and put them up on my bed. It was a bit of a challenge on a top bunk, but it only took a minute, and only a bit later I was asleep. *** I awoke considerably later, with the shadows beginning to lengthen outside. Like most afternoon naps, it left me feeling pretty groggy. The clicking of a compute keyboard and mouse told me that Martin was looking around on the computer. At first he didn't take notice of me waking up, but my groaning and rummaging eventually caught his attention. "Wow, you were out cold for over three hours there. I've been on the LAN for an hour here. This thing is great. All of our teaches have web pages, notes, e-mail accounts, daily event calendars, and the departments have the syllabus for each class. It's really cool. We've got e-mail too. Not that I have anyone to write to right now." He let out a laugh at the last one. I assumed his school districts had been as poor as mine. "I'll have to take a look as soon as you're off. What time is it?" I said, mostly to myself as I looked at my watch. It was a little past five. "You want to get a bite for dinner here in just a minute? I guess that I can take a look at it after the mixer this evening." "Sure, let me log off and comb my hair. Speaking of hair, have you seen a barber shop around here?" Martin observed. "No, I don't think so. Maybe all the upper-class girls don't need them, they just go to salons or something on break or on the weekends. I don't suppose this school has anything against long hair, though." I said, laughing. "From ones I've seen so far, it's the norm. Thanksgiving's not that far anyhow." We headed out and found Robert, who lived upstairs from us. Finding the cafeteria was easy this time. The three of us were getting to be pretty close as we walked over. In unfamiliar surroundings we were trying to hang onto whatever was familiar, and in this case it was each other's company. Steinem Hall again produced another more than passable meal. No fatty low budget slime, mostly steamed and grilled white meat along with salads, soups, and rice or bread. No dessert either. These guys really did want to break us of bad habits. Time was passing a little more quickly now, and the time for the mixer rolled around pretty quickly. We finished dinner and went back to the dorm, where we all got cleaned up and got back into our uniforms. It was odd, but when I saw Martin getting dressed the underwear he was wearing really did look like girls underwear. I shook my head, and tried to ignore what I felt to be an obviously homosexual thought. Was there something wrong with me? After this we gathered up again, with a map in hand, and went looking for the old gymnasium. The old gymn was another converted old building, made of grey granite block. There were huge arched windows on all the walls, allowing what was left of the sunlight to filter in through the westward ones. We saw a few people filtering in through the tall wooden double doors, and followed them in. One of them was a girl, and I sort of wondered what was going on. The answer wasn't long in coming. Something a little less than half of the students in there were girls! My initial surprise faded quickly. Well, we were integrating this school, so it wasn't that strange when I stopped to think about it. Interspersed with them were our teachers. I didn't see a male one in the bunch. That one made me stop, but I decided I'd think about it more later on when I had more facts. I did see one familiar face, though, not that it was all that comforting. Ms. Madsen off to my left about 20 feet away. She still looked severe. The thought occurred to me that she must be in the mathematics department. I let out a small snicker and went to see if I could go find some of my teachers. As I wandered around, the boys and girls congregated in clumps. They looked like they were the same age as us, and were Freshmen too. I didn't feel comfortable enough to approach any of the groups, so I kept looking for a teacher whose name I recognized . Finally, I found one, Ms. Wilkins. She was going to be my teacher in philosophy I. She was young, and very attractive. Ms. Wilkins was rather tall, with honey blond hair braided up behind her head. She was talking with a female student, so I casually ambled up to listen in and eventually introduce myself. "...Aristotle will be our primary focus here, along with the earliest Greek philosophers ideas. The one I want to concentrate on is his ideas on what is best, or most good." I ignored my manners and butted in a bit. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but what is the most good then, Ms. Wilkinson? My name's Dave Lansing, and I'll be in your 3rd period class." "Glad to see you're ready to jump right in David. You've seen my nametag apparently. This here is Mindy. She'll be my class that period too. As for Aristotle, he believed that the highest good was in achieving your full potential. We'll leave the rest for class." Her voice had a mellifluous quality to it, and she had a placid manner to it. Her movements were well coordinated and self possessed. "Ma'am, I'm a little curious why we're taking philosophy as freshmen? Isn't that an advanced college class to take?" I asked. "A good question, but certainly the wrong track David. Philosophy is the first thing you should learn in a classical education such as we provide here. I believe that this class will provide you a chance to really examine the world around you, including yourself, in ways you would never otherwise have considered. In all things to come, this knowledge will follow you I believe. When you get the chance, ask some upper-class about this course. I believe they've all found it to be a guiding force. Oh, I've gone a bit deep here. I'm looking forward to having you in the class. I'm sure you'll have a lot to contribute as well as to learn." She explained all this with a certain determination that I didn't have any idea the source of. Years later, I looked back and realized how important her class really had been to me. Another student came up to Ms. Wilkinson and the introductions continued. Mindy followed at my elbow for a moment and spoke my name. "David? I'm Mindy Allen." She thrust out her hand in greeting. Mindy was a little taller than me, with very dark brown hair. She still had some growing to do, having a somewhat tomboyish build and hair only down to her shoulders, along with glasses. I shook her hand too. I seemed to instinctively like her. She seemed far more outgoing and self confident than most girls I'd ever met. "Don't worry about seeming contrary to Ms. Wilkinson. I think she likes good arguments in her class, as long as you think before you open your mouth." I let go of her hand and smiled involuntarily. "I guess I'm in trouble, then." I joked. "Obviously," she said with a wicked grin. "Anyway, I'll be seeing you tomorrow. I want to go track down my other teachers here." I laughed at her jest. "Okay, bye." was the most intelligent thing I could think of to say. I guess once a nerd, always a nerd. At least I was smiling foolishly, so it was at least amiable. I had no idea how much 'interaction' I was going to have with the other half, but this seemed promising in some way. The rest of the evening passed pretty quickly. I managed to find all but one of my teachers and introduce myself. There really wasn't much more time than that, what with almost 200 students crowding them. I couldn't find Martin, but I did bump into Robert. "Hey, I've found all my teachers. Are you ready to go?" "Yes, I've seen what I needed to here." He said. The way he said it lead me to believe he had come to some sort of conclusion. "What do you mean? What was on your mind?" I asked, curious to what was going through his mind. "Well, I wasn't sure what the academics would be like at a formerly all girls school. Women's institutions don't have the reputations that men's institution traditionally do. This place, something's special about it. I don't think anyone on the staff has less than a master's. Frankly, I'd be happy to go to a college with credentials and an attitude like this place has. Of course, based on male life expectancy in the old neighborhood, I'd be happy to reach the end of puberty, much less the inside of a college. Still, something isn't quite adding up here." He said, puzzled at the end. "I don't know. It all seems a bit too good to be true." He said. "Maybe, but I have another old phrase. Never look a gift horse in the mouth." I countered. "True," he said, "true." Even if it's not quite what we're expecting, it's still better than anything I would have hoped for prior to the beginning of this summer." It was my time to agree. By now, we'd reached the dorm, and parted ways. He was right to an extent, but growing up where we did, you always had to wonder where the catch was, or who was going to jump out from the alley and whack you. Maybe it's just my well honed, inner city poor kid 'spidey sense' making me a touch paranoid, I thought. Going into my room, I looked at my watch and realized that it was past 8:30, and I at least needed to log on and register. I did, and browsed through our intranet. Very nice, I thought. All sorts of information readily available. Plus, my own digital planner in my profile. I programmed in my next doctor's appointment, and the x-country meeting the next day. Logging off, I realized I wasn't too tired, so I organized the stuff in my book bag, sorting out my books and notebooks for my morning classes. I grabbed my history book and crawled into bed with it. There wasn't much else productive to do. Then again, after today, how much more productive could you be. Finally I stated to feel sleepy, so I set the alarm for 6 AM. My first class was going to be at 7:30, so I wanted to get a decent breakfast and then be able to find my way to class. No need to be late right off the bat. When I woke up the next morning, it was to the harsh beeping of our alarm clock. Martin managed to crawl out of bed and shut it off first. "Ugh hermano, why does this have to start so damn early?" "Early to bed, early to ri..." I only got that far before I got whacked in the face with a thrown pillow. OK, note to self, Martin not a morning person. Or a fan of Ben Franklin. At about this point, I realized I was feeling queasy again. I hoped that fully waking up would help. I walked over to the sink, and got my toothbrush. When I first tried to brush my back teeth, it was just too much. I gagged and dry heaved into the sink. I took it slowly thereafter, and managed to finish without doing it again. "You're feeling sick too?" Martin remarked. "Yeah, I wonder if we got bad fish or something. We'll have something light for breakfast. I don't feel sick otherwise though. Weird, huh?" I remarked, puzzled, and a little less nauseous than I was a moment before. Finishing off my morning rituals, we were ready to grab a bite in a by 6:30 The cafeteria was a lot more crowded today. The whole student body was there now, or at least all the ones eating breakfast. There were tons of girls, and all of them were in good shape. They pretty much ignored Martin and me. I didn't really think it was cold shoulder kind of stuff, more along the lines of what do you say to a male freshman at a formerly all girl's school anyway? Steinem Hall's breakfast didn't offer anything but light, actually. Fruit, English muffins, bagels, cereal, and toast were available. Fairly typical, but no biscuits and gravy, no eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, doughnuts, and other assorted fat pills. It made holding it down easier. By the time we got back to the dorm I was feeling a lot better. Martin and I both took the meds we'd been given, and talked about our classes for a minute. Apparently, we didn't have any periods in common. "I'll see you before soccer practice. I signed up for it yesterday. Later!" Martin seemed pretty happy to be part of the soccer team. I hoped he'd apply himself to the academics. He was really smart, but I wasn't sure if he'd consider himself an academic like Robert and me. "I see you later too. I'm going to try Cross Country. I think I'll enjoy a little fresh air." Getting to class was a dizzying experience. There were so many people now. I suspected that the older girls had been kept away from al of us freshmen. They really didn't want them to interfere with us getting comfortable with the school, I supposed. Plus the integration thing. It was pretty easy on the eye, though, since all of them were in good shape. Classes went quickly. It was all getting to know you, introduction, syllabus, expectations, grading criterion, etcetera. I realized that this wasn't going to be a cake walk at all. I'd be doing math problems, reading at least 30 pages per class every day, much more for my composition class. Plus, papers all the time. My weekends were going to be booked with studying, projects, research, and just catching up on rest. I got the feeling that college wasn't going to be this intense. Wollstonecraft expected big things from us, and was going to make us live up to our potential. Ms. Wilkinson's class was interesting. Mindy was there, and I said hello briefly. She smiled, and mentioned about posibly meeting at lunch sometime. It seemed pretty cool. I was going to have to have some female friends if I was going to be here for four years. We would be reading classical Philosophy up to the founding of the US. Greeks, old Catholics like St. Thomas Aquinas, and the revolutionaries like Voltaire, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. The most important on, she said we would be looking at was Aristotle. I was really looking forward to digging in on these subjects. I was coming to the conclusion that Ms. Wilkinson had been right the other day. This was going to be one of those classes I was supposed to take first. Lunch period rolled around quickly, and went quickly too since it was only 45 minutes. I managed to get the books for my afternoon classes and head out to my first one, algebra II. To my relief, I recognized Robert, and surprisingly Craig, who had been worrying about our weekends at Wollstonecraft Academy. "Hey Craig, I'm Dave, and this is Robert. Are you still worried about what we'll do on weekends?" I said, without any real malice. It was a few minutes until class started, and I wanted to get to know some people better. "Sweet mercy, no." Craig's accent gave him away as being from somewhere in the deep fried south. This atmosphere had to be even more alien to him than it was to us. "I've done well in classes before, but woo, this is a lot. Since we're all taking pretty much the same classes, you wanna get together and study sometimes guys?" "Sure," replied Robert. "What else are we planning on doing? This place looks tough, but the work doesn't seem all that odious. I'm going to have fun with this, in any case." I was having a hard time imagining starting Calculus as fun, but that was in the future sometime. The afternoon passed quickly, and before I knew it the final bell rang and I was free to go get changed into the PE gear that had been issued to me. I stopped by our dorm room and saw Martin on his way out the door. We swapped greetings and he headed on out. My e-mail was empty, except for a couple of campus wide announcements about upcoming events. The PE gear I was wearing felt a bit, well, short, as if the shorts were a bit too short and the shirt would expose my midriff if I jumped up and down. I figured that it was just me though. As fashion goes, if shorts don't reach your knees these days they're too short. The classroom where the meeting was similar to all the other ones, except this one seemed to belong to an economics teacher. Economics text books, copies of the Economist, volumes of The Wealth of Nations, and others lined the shelves of the room. I wasn't sure what to expect from this teacher. Apparently, based on the texts they had in here, I was expecting Gordon Gecko or Ronald Regan to be the coach. I couldn't have been more wrong. Ms Waylons was a short, lean, African-American woman in her mid 40's who strode in with a kind of power about her. She wore her hair very short, and had a face that could be described as strong features, with a bright, wide smile, and eyes that bespoke mischief. "Good afternoon, I'm Ms Wayons. If you're not here for the Cross Country team, you're in the wrong place. Running for me is going to be the easiest and hardest thing you've done. I have three rules. Always be at practice on time. Always give me your best effort. Have fun. That's it. You do those things for me, and I don't care how sorry a runner you are, I'll get you a varsity letter by the end of your senior year. That's my contract with you. If any of you can't live with that, you can leave now. Personally, I don't think it's a hard bargain at all." No one left. "All right skittleheads, here's a handout on what we're going to be running this season, weekly workout schedules, and the exercises I want you to do on weekends to keep yourselves flexible and healthy. As you can also tell, I'm an economics teacher here. You're all bright lads, I expect one of you has noticed the theme here." I raised my hand, and she pointed to me "The things here are all very capitalist." "Do you find anything wrong with that? I'm sorry, but I don't know your name." "David, ma'am." I said. "I don't know actually." "That's okay. You're a nice kid, so when the revolution comes, I'll make sure you go easily." She paused for a moment, then laughed riotously at our shocked faces. "Gotcha! I used to be a radical in the 70's, always railing about the inequities of the system. Money corrupts and all that. Took me a while, but eventually realized that money is power, and it's how you use power that determines if it's a force of good or evil. I managed to finish off my education in marketing and economics, as well as my MBA in the early 80's. I managed to ride the market well for 15 years, and retired a rich woman in 2000, right before the market tanked. I teach her for fun, and because I believe in what Wollstonecraft is doing. I don't need the money. Plus, I get paid to exercise and keep ya'll in shape." Ms. Waylons got up and left the room for a minute, returning with a large box in her arms. She set it down on her desk and opened it up. "I know there's no such thing as a free lunch, I have something for all of you. In Economics there's no such thing as a free lunch, but I'm sucker for fresh faces. These are the uniforms that ya'll will wear when your running on my teams. They're state of the art, sweat wicking, gortex fabric. They'll fit a little funny, but they're really comfortable, plus the band that goes just below your chest is part of it. Welcome aboard. I've got to go run my varsity girls now, so take one of each of those forms off of my desk, fill them out, and return them to me tomorrow. Be outside the new field house tomorrow at 4:00, ready to stretch out and run. Don't worry, you'll be amazed at how much you can improve in one season. Any questions?" No one said anything. "Okay, that's all I have. Grab three shorts and tops on the way out, and I'll see you tomorrow." I took three of each and headed back to my room. As soon as I got back I got undressed and tried the uniform on. The shorts were typical skimpy lightweight running shorts, and appeared to be unisex. The top was pretty space age. It felt cool and light, and you could feel the air it let in circulate. It was white, with 'Wollstonecraft' in blue lettering across the front. What was weird was this band of fabric around the chest portion of it. It felt nice, but I wasn't sure how it worked. Well, guys at NASA designed this fabric, so the had to know what they were doing, right? TO BE CONTINUED...