The next couple of months flew by. Mike had a few more scouting and recruiting trips, but none more than a couple of days away. Jenny and Josh would occasionally hook up during these times. Jenny was a little sad that she didn't get to spend as much fun time with Mike as she did with Josh. Mike assured her that he was okay with this as he was very busy, but that just made the few times they could get together more precious.
Jenny found work at a casting agency as a receptionist. She was excited as this would help her in her coming college classes and career. Near the end of August, Josh began to prepare for the school year. He worked on his lesson plans and did research. The week before Josh's school year started, Jenny helped Josh set up his classroom. It was the last time in a while that she got to spend one-on-one time with him.
Jenny also began to get ready for her school year. At the beginning of September, she registered for her classes. Since it was her first semester, she concentrated on general education classes. She had one business class. She had ended up with 15 credit hours. She had most of her classes in the morning hours and would spend 3-5 hours a day at the talent agency. The agency manager even said she could study when not busy at work.
She went to the freshman orientation. She was very excited to get started. She checked out a couple of the clubs and associations, but decided to wait until she found out how much class work there would be. A couple of people ended up walking around the civic center together. One girl, in particular, seemed to be shadowing Jenny as she walked around. Jenny struck up a conversation with the girl, Dennie. She was from Texas and was going to major in linguistics. She already spoke three languages and wanted to study more. Jenny explained that she was from Nebraska, and this was her first time away from home but that she lived with her brother and his husband. Dennie said she was living in a student apartment building not far from campus with three other girls. As they finished up in the civic center, Jenny said she was going to walk around the campus to get a feel for things. She invited Dennie to walk with her. Dennie smiled and agreed.
As they finished walking around, the found themselves near the civic center cafeteria. Jenny invited Dennie to eat lunch with her. Dennie shyly declined, saying her budget didn't let her eat out. Jenny insisted on paying. Dennie tried to decline, but Jenny could tell that Dennie was just being polite, but really did want to come with Jenny. Dennie finally gave in, and she and Jenny went in and got their food. The found a booth to share and eat and talk.
Dennie asked Jenny if she had a boyfriend. Jenny explained that she had not left anyone waiting for her back home. Dennie said she had a 'kinda' boyfriend back home. He was a mechanic at a dealership. They had decided that they would keep their relationship open. She was sure he would be dating others while she was away. She wasn't sure if she would date. She hinted that she was looking for friends to spend time with.
"What kind of friends are you looking for?" Jenny said with a bit of pretended innocence.
"Um," Dennie started, "I wouldn't mind a friend with benefits." Dennie was actually blushing.
Jenny reached across the table and took Dennie's hand. "Just to be open here, I do play for both teams."
Dennie giggled and squeezed Jenny's hand. "I, well, have not been with my own team much."
Jenny felt something rubbing her leg under the table. She looked at Dennie. Dennie tried to look everywhere but at Jenny. Jenny looked discretely under the table to see Dennie's shoeless foot sliding up and down Jenny's leg. She looked up again and found Dennie sneaking a peek at her. Jenny smiled. She decided to see where this would go.
"Are you interested in more friendship or benefits?" Jenny said, deciding to escalate this.
Dennie giggled. "Both, I guess. I really don't want a relationship. Just someone I can have fun with. Hanging out and," switching to more seductive tone, "and hanging out."
Jenny giggled and smiled. She nodded her head. "I think I could be open to that. I'm not interested in a relationship right now either." She wanted to say that she was already in a relationship of sorts but didn't want to scare her new friend off.
They finished their meal and headed out of the cafeteria. Jenny looked at her watch. Jenny said she needed to head to her brother's office in the athletics department. Dennie looked at her questioningly. Jenny explained that her brother worked for the athletics department as a scout and management trainee. That was one of the reasons Jenny had decided to come to Wichita State. Dennie nodded in understanding. Dennie said she was going to head to her apartment. She handed Jenny a card with her number on it. Jenny thanked her and said she would send a message soon so that they would have each other's numbers. Jenny left and headed to the athletics building. She went to her brother's office and hung out there, helping him until he finished. They rode home together.
At dinner, Jenny told Mike and Josh about her orientation. She said she had made a friend. They were excited for her. They encouraged her to find more friends as that would make her experience more enjoyable. After dinner Jenny went up to her study room to look over her courses. She also texted Dennie, who responded with hearts a few minutes later.
-Hey- Dennie added.
-Hey- Jenny responded. -You wanna talk a bit about what we started at lunch? -
There was no response for a moment.