The Next Generation Chapter 7
| The Next Generation | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 7 of 19 | |
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| Time frame | Fall, 1983 |
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Summary
Judy tells her parents that she had a good time on the canoe trip, and then drops the bombshell that she had registered for the fall term at Hinckley Junior College in Wrightsville. As usual, Irene throws a tantrum, and Norman sticks up for her, saying that if she gets good grades, they can provide some financial support.
Irene thinks that maybe if she can get Judith interested in someone else, she won't spend so much time with Ken.
The first day at Hinckley, Judy had a free hour after her first class, and headed to the cafeteria for coffee. She realized that she didn't know how she was going to manage a cup of coffee with her crutches, when Sylvia (in her wheelchair behind her) offers to help. During the hour that followed, they became close friends, and Sylvia shares her experiences, gives her advice and tips on how to manage schooling in spite of her handicap.
Judy found herself enjoying and excelling in the computer class that she had signed up to take. In the meantime, Ken was having trouble keeping up with his courses, since farmwork was still consuming most of his free time, even with Judy doing what she could weekends.
One day Judy asks Ken if he would mind if she went out with Tommy Fetzer (a double amputee; Irene had arranged the date). Ken says OK, but that she should remember "you're my special girl."
The date was a disaster; Tommy could only talk about how great he'd been before his accident, and had essentially done nothing since it. Judy tried to tell him about college and her work on the farm, but realized that he was too self-centered to even listen. Even so, when Tommy calls her, she agrees to go out again with him; it was even worse than the first time.
A few days later, after a hard frost, Ken tells Judy that it's getting near corn picking time. She gets home and Irene tells her that Tommy had called, and that she'd told him that Judith would go out with him. Judy tells her to call back and cancel; she was going to be doing something with Ken. Irene tried to tell her that Tommy was just your kind of person, but Judy tells her that he is no longer her kind of person, and not to make any more promises to him on her behalf.
