Chapter 3
Special Abilities
As I walked down the stairs past the enrollment table it seemed so dull and unexciting now, looking at students doing the typical enrollment. Hell, I’ve dodged a poisonous snake, crash landed a plane in the desert, avoided a bank robbery, and I don’t even know what my major is yet.
Even though I wanted to come to college to make some friends and have some fun for a change, I couldn’t ignore the feel of adrenaline rushing through my veins now. I know I’m nothing special, but just to be thought of as having potential and knowing someone was willing to put me into specialized training for something, made me feel great and all charged up.
I guess being this charged up could be from the near death experience with the non-existent poisonous snake. But still, this feeling was a rush. More questions were now starting to pour into my head, like how many classes a day I would have to take, what if I flunked a class, and what did “training” mean? How much is the allowance, was there a class list, and are there majors? Would I get a degree or diploma, or what?
Well there would still be plenty of time to get answers later, for now…. I’m starved and I needed to get some food and round up my roommate. Maybe Joe would know something about the SA program. I would swing by my dorm and see if Joe wanted to pick up something to eat.
It would be my treat now that I probably had my next four year’s tuition, room and board covered, plus the rest of the money I managed to save from my summer job.
As I passed by the pond I didn’t see the gator who had been sunning himself earlier, which gave me an eerie feeling. Like he would jump out from a bush or something. I guess the morning was a bit more stressing than I thought.
I could see that Joe and about a dozen other guys were playing football on the front lawn of our dorm. There were also just about as many girls sprawled out on blankets, tanning and watching the show that the guys were putting on. Half the girls were even brave enough to be lying out in the skimpiest of bikinis. I guess since this is the Florida coast, this was normal. But this was definitely not normal for a guy coming out of Michigan. I’ll just have to try my best to get used to it.
Joe saw me walking up the path and gave me a quick wave over. “Hey, want in on this game?”
“I would, if starvation wasn’t an issue. I’ll buy the pizza if you want to go out when you’re done there.”
“If you’re buying, I’m done, let’s go!”
“You sure you’re ready?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m starved too.”
Joe walked over to the imaginary boundary line and picked up his shirt. As he pulled it down over his head I heard sighs coming from the three girls on the ground closest to me. I grinned at Joe as he hustled over to catch up to me.
“Everything on it, right?” He spouted.
“Sure, you bet the works.”
Joe yelled back for to one of the guys that were standing on the sideline to take his spot in the game.
“There are a bunch of fun guys at this college. You’re going to like it here, Wilson. The spectators aren’t too bad either, if you haven’t noticed.”
“Yeah, I noticed alright. Makes me want to try out for the team.”
The pizza parlor was buzzing but we were able to land a booth up front by the windows. The big screen TV had an old ESPN classic showing, the Lakers and Celtics, and the place smelled great. We gave our order to a girl that was wearing a tight purple pledge shirt, “Pie Beta Beta.” She seemed to know Joe… or wanted to, but he really wasn’t acknowledging her, or picking up on the extra attention she was giving him. He seemed way more focused on getting something to eat.
Before the pizza showed up, I figured it was a good time to get some information from Joe, since we would both dive in headfirst the minute the pie hit the table.
“Have you ever heard of a program on campus called special abilities or something like that?” I was trying to be as casual as possible.
“Yeah, those guys are great, you don’t see them around a lot, but they have some of the coolest parties and games on the beach, everyone loves to go to their parties. They come to a lot of the school sporting events and frat parties too. Most of the classes for that program are closed to other students, but I always thought they were cool.”
The waitress brought over a large pitcher of soda for us and sat it on the table close to Joe with a couple of chilled mugs. She picked up Joes’ mug and filled it for him asking if she could get us anything else before the pizza came, not taking her eyes off him. Ok… so she didn’t fill my mug or look in my direction, not a big deal. She must like the sweaty oversized football type.
Joe still oblivious to her extra attention though, took a large gulp from his mug and proceeded to tell me of his first encounter freshman year with a SA student.
“My first year I was a lot smaller than I am now.”
I assumed Joe prefaced his story so I would know he was bigger and stronger now, and what ever was coming in the story, he would now be able to handle on his own.
“I was about to get a hazing from two seniors on the football team down in the spa room late after a practice one night. I knew it was coming but you just don’t know how far some guys will take stuff, ya know. Before they actually put their hands on me, a SA student came around the corner and we all kind of froze like little kids caught with their hand in the cookie jar or something. This SA guy was even a little smaller than I was. He took in the situation and knew what was about to go down in a heartbeat. He looked over at the two very large linemen and said, ‘It sure is good to have talented freshman coming out for the team this year. I am counting on you two to make sure they are well cared for and appreciated.’ He was as serious as a heart attack, never wavering, blinking or even skipping a beat. Those guys listened to him and treated me like gold the rest of the year, even going out of their way to help me out with plays and all sorts of stuff above and beyond. I don’t to this day know why or how that guy pulled the weight he did, but boy was I glad he showed up when he did. Those guys are all gone now, but in general the SA guys all get plenty of respect from not only the students, but the professors seem to be keen on them too. So what’s up, did a SA guy save you from a swirly or …?”
Interrupting Joe’s question the Pie Beta Beta girl walked up carrying our piping hot pizza, making all our current wishes come true. She had her back to Joe as she put our pie on the table and gave me a big smile. She reached over and tucked a napkin into my shirt, patting it down on my chest as she flirtingly giggled. Maybe she was going for the jealousy angle now since the direct approach wasn’t getting Joe’s attention, but I think the pizza had the best shot at Joe’s attention for now… at least for the next 30 minutes. I gave her a dismissive smile and nod, letting her know she was free to go.
In between wolfing down slices of pizza, Joe told me a little bit about the football team and about his position as linebacker. He also got in his list of top ten notable professors, kind of like David Letterman’s thing. I could tell he’d given it out at parties and stuff. He was very proud of all the thought and humor behind it. Number one on the list of top ten notable professor’s at PBHU was professor Rodriguez, a 5’6” Mexican lady in her early thirties that taught Spanish and coached girls lacrosse for the school. She made the list because… she wasn’t a fan of undergarments. She came up from Mexico to teach and said it was just too hot there and she never got used to wearing undergarments. At least that’s the story that’s passed around like folklore.
I guess there wouldn’t be any harm in telling Joe I was going to be one of the SA students. I still wasn’t real sure why they wanted me in that elite group, but Joe seemed to think they were an OK group. They still got to have lots of fun, and do all the college stuff I was looking forward to doing. Plus… no fees, free food, and apparently a good education.
I decided to go and tell the council today to sign me up. Joe wasn’t aware that I hadn’t answered his last
question so I figured… enjoy the feast now, go sign up, and fill Joe in later.
The pizza died an honorable death giving joy to the world, at least me and Joe’s world. Joe said we should head back to the dorm to see if anyone was still playing or hanging out. I passed, telling him I had a few things to take care of. Joe thanked me for dinner and took off back down Palm Bay Road as I headed south down Baker Road toward the Admissions building.
“Hey! Your not sneaking back to see Pie Beta Beta now are you” Joe yelled back and laughed. I gave him a send off salute as he went out of sight. He must have been more aware of the waitress than he had let on.