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College students face obstacles they never imagined, to get a goal they never dreamed of. |
| As she left her dorm on the first day of classes, Kaely had to admit--if only to her voice recorder—that she was rather apprehensive. "It's going to be just like high school," she sighed drearily. "Sure, my grades were good, but who cares about that now? I never went to parties, never had a boyfriend—good grief, all the guys acted like I was diseased! Though," she admitted, pain in her voice, "I can't blame them after what happened. If I can find just one guy who will meet my standards and stay after he knows, it will be a miracle.” Not that Kaely's standards were unreasonable; she just refused to compromise any of them. For the record, Kaely kept talking. "He must hold the same beliefs as I do, and practice what he says he believes. He will respect me physically, and he will never allow us to be in a potentially compromising situation. He won't even attempt to force me to do something-—he won't even question our set boundaries. If he loves me," she finished softly, "I mean, really loves me, he'll be all these things and more. No matter what happened back then, I have a fresh start now." A few minutes later, Kaely settled into a chair to prepare for her first class of the semester—-English 101. All thoughts of her future husband were soon replaced by discussions of British literature. In fact, she thought nothing more of men until she entered the self-defense studio that evening. Having trained in martial arts for nearly eleven years, Kaely had already gained the respect of the instructors and her fellow students during their first class the previous weekend. Kaely changed into her uniform quickly, but paused for a moment before tying her belt. After seven years of training back home, she had earned the right to wear a black belt. Moving here, however, had forced her to return to the rank of white. No matter how much experience she had received in her karate school back there, this was a fresh start--a clean slate. "Like I said earlier," she breathed, knotting the belt around her waist, "this is my fresh start.” With that in mind, Kaely pulled her long brown hair into a ponytail and bounded out of the dressing room to begin class. ~/~ "I can't teach you anything more tonight," admitted Rob with slight regret, "or Mr. Rawlan will have my head. Come in tomorrow and we'll do some more." Wiping some sweat from her forehead, Kaely replied, "I won't be in until Wednesday. I have string ensemble tomorrow night.” She grinned slightly--it was fun having classes with no set ending time. Rob—-well, Mr. Henals during class-—had taught her half of the yellow belt requirements between an hour on Saturday and close to two hours tonight. Provided, of course, that she took time to do her schoolwork in the midst of it all, she could be promoted within the week. Bowing slightly, first to Rob, then to Mr. Rawlan, Kaely took her leave—-"Thank you, sir."-—to go change. Chris nodded toward the women's dressing room, then asked, "You going to take her out sometime?" Rob laughed mirthfully as he removed his belt. "I doubt it-—she's not really my type, ya know?” He fell silent when Kaely exited the locker room, barely even lifting his eyes from folding his belt until she left. "You're right," Chris admitted. He plopped into the chair behind his desk and goaded Rob, "She's way too smart for you. And," he added with a smirk, "she could probably kick your butt to boot!" Running his fingers thought his short black hair, Rob went to get his bag and books. Maybe a cold shower would give him the chance to figure this out. ~/~ "What was he laughing about?” Kaely mused into her recorder on the way back to her dorm. Taking a deep breath, she shook off those thoughts. "I'm not doing that anymore.” With that, Kaely began to narrate her list of things to do that week. "I have to remember to call Samuel, and send emails to the others.” One of the goals Kaely had set for herself after graduation was to stay in touch with her friends as much as possible. "String ensemble Tuesday and Thursday, and karate Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.” Some people gave up their hobbies when they started college--Kaely was perfecting hers. "And don't forget," she reminded herself, "about the writing workshops Saturday mornings." Back at the dorm, Kaely wasn't surprised to see that her roommate Dawn hadn't returned yet. The redheaded junior seemed to spend every evening either at the library or with a group of her friends. Sitting in front of her computer with a sigh, Kaely decided to start working on her research paper for Old Testament Survey. "Might as well get it over with," she conceded softly. "There's nothing better to do." ~/~ As the sun rose on a chilly Tuesday morning, Natalie shut off her alarm clock and bounced from her bed to greet the day. Tonight she would begin her final year in the college's string ensemble, and after practice...Nat shivered with excitement--she had a date with Tim! It had been two years since he had first asked her out to dinner, and Natalie wanted nothing more than for him to propose. The twenty-three year old's golden hair flew as she spun with glee on her way to her closet. 'I've got a perfect boyfriend, a musical career set up, and my last year of college to start,' she marveled happily. 'What could possibly go wrong?' Her dark blue eyes sparkled—-this was going to be the best year of her life! ~/~ Rob pulled on his boxing gloves for his morning workout at the studio. As he attacked the hanging bag, though, Chris came in. "You know," he jibed playfully after watching Rob work for about twenty minutes, "I may live to regret giving you that key for this place." Rob barely heard his friend, he was so focused on the steady rhythm of his fists on the red canvas bag. He had lost way too much sleep last night over Kaely, and this morning his first mission had been to look over the studio's files to get her cell phone number. 'Maybe I should ask her to dinner.' "Hello?” Chris stood right behind his student and partner. "What's wrong with you, man?" "Nothing.” Rob turned around, taking his gloves off, as he revised, "Nothing a little time won't fix.” He peeled off his sweaty t-shirt on his way to the locker room and called behind him, "And I've got plenty of time today—-I'm done with classes by three, so I'll be back in around five.” The class ran from six-thirty on, and students were permitted to leave at any time they chose. As for the instructors, there were four regulars and two who came in when they could. Chris, Rob, Josh, and Alex were in nearly every night, and the two pre-med guys, Jason and Mike, got in most Saturdays. Whichever teachers were in each night worked with each other until the students arrived, then those who wanted to stay worked after the students left. But recently some of the black belts had also begun to use the studio in the mornings for a workout. Chris followed Rob into the locker room to drop off his freshly laundered uniform in his locker. "You gonna be in tonight?” he checked, already trying to plan the night's class. "Yeah, sure," answered Rob distractedly. He was in the studio every night without fail--he had been for the past two years, and would be until he graduated in another two. The studio was his life, the other teachers his closest friends, even the forms and techniques dominated his thoughts-—it was the same for all the instructors. The six men went out every Saturday night after class ended. Sometimes it was a movie, other times they'd just hang out in a hotel room to escape their apartments. Once in a while they'd split up—-Rob, Alex, Josh, and Chris would head somewhere to eat. What Jason and Mike did was their business; Rob preferred not to know what went on after they had a few drinks. Chris punched his younger friend in the shoulder. "Don't tell me nothing's bothering you," he warned, "because I know that's a lie. You never think this much, about anything! So what is it?" Swinging his book bag onto his shoulders, Rob shook his head—-"Nothing."-—and left. His first class of the day was Christian Philosophy. "Great," he muttered. "Let's just toss in some quantum mechanics—-I’m not confused enough yet!" Though he had been raised in church, Rob had developed a hatred for religion during high school because of his parents. They had always forced him to attend church, but that never bothered Rob; he got to hang out with his friends. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t ever questioned it until midway through high school. It was then that he had begun to realize how many hypocritical people he knew-—even in his own family! That had pushed Rob over the edge. He abandoned all ties to his church then, electing to spend his time at the college karate studio, despite the forty-minute drive. So now, between the stupid required religion class and Kaely, Rob had no idea how he could possibly be any more confused. As he sank into a chair near the back of the room, the college junior sighed, “Sometimes I hate my life.” ~/~ Entering the classroom, Kaely sighed. 'Can't I know just one...' Her thought trailed off and was lost when Rob raised a timid hand in greeting. Kaely sat beside her instructor and began, "Hi, Mr. Henals.” She busied herself by pulling a thin wire bound notebook from her bag and sliding her voice recorder into her pocket. "It's Rob, Kaely," he corrected her mildly. "We're not in class.” Rob's bright blue eyes sparkled—-maybe he should ask her out. Kaely's next words silenced his thoughts. "You can call me Kay.” Her voice had just betrayed that she was distracted—-but about what? And the way she sat, she leaned slightly away from Rob, like she was afraid of him. The professor, a fifty-something grandfatherly type, began his lecture then, forcing Rob to file his observations away for another time. ~/~ As soon as Professor Mitchell dismissed the class, Kaely rushed from the room with only a quick glance at Rob with her deep green eyes. The eighteen-year old girl whipped out her recorder again. "I have to call Sam and ask how Moriah is tonight," she remarked sharply. "I can't forget again!" Rob raced up behind Kaely, panting, "Do you always bolt from place to place?" "I have things to take care of," was the curt answer. "My next class starts in twenty-five minutes, and it's in the Rhyna building. I don't have time to sit around.” Kaely's thoughts turned to Samuel's warning, given right before she left for school—-"Don't you dare push people away from you," he had told her, his gray-blue eyes playfully fierce. That in mind, Kay slid the recorder back in her pocket and looked up into Rob's eyes. "I'm sorry. My schedule is very full on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I need to try to graduate early. But I really can't afford to be late for this class.” With that, Kaely tried to focus on her Music Theory I class coming up. "Stop!" Rob's desperation forced Kaely to turn. "What's bothering you today? You seem so distant, so cold..." Kay shook her head and answered, "Later, Rob," before walking away once again. ~/~ |
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