Hope for the future

Ashley is a relative unknown to the world. It's not like there have been headlines about 'The Studious Pet' in the news. But her fateful hearing isn't being hushed up either, and students aren't the only people who gossip. Information and rumors about Ashley have been spreading through academic circles until they reached someone who could do something about it.

The first you hear of this is when you come home to see Ashley and Tibby sitting at the kitchen table, excitedly chattering about a letter clutched in Ashley's hands. As you find out once the girls have calmed down enough to form a coherent sentence, the letter is from the university a city over. Apparently its administration smelled an opportunity when they heard how Ashley was treated by their competitors at Baleview College. Not only do they want her to enroll at Spruceville-Tyler University, they're offering her a scholarship too!

The letter is somewhat sparse on details, but there's enough there to call it an appealing offer. STU has a biology department to rival BC's and boasts a number of well-known scientists and pharmacologists who had their start there. If Ashley is willing to transfer, the credits she's earned so far will be accepted so she won't have to redo the first year. There's a promise that any anti-pet sentiments will be dealt with, by expulsion of the offending party if necessary. And thanks to the university's location near a train station, Ashley's commute wouldn't even take much longer than it does now.

However, the offer of a scholarship does come with conditions. They expect Ashley to keep her grades up, which makes sense. You don't think she'll have much trouble with that. But the university wants to get something out of this as well. Publicity.

Though the letter doesn't say so in those words, the idea is that by showing themselves to be inclusive and protective of such a unique student, they can make other minorities feel more welcome too. That makes the number of applications go up, which increases the university's prestige and funding. It also means Ashley won't be left alone to study in peace. By accepting the scholarship, she'd agree to take part in some publicity work that isn't specified. If she wants to know the details she'll have to take the train to Spruceville and discuss it in person.

"What do you think?" the bunny asks when you put the paper down. "It sounds good, but I don't want to be turned into a spectacle. I'm not the type of rabbit magicians pull out of hats."

Imagining that makes you chuckle, but your answer is serious. "You wouldn't be committing to anything just by taking a look. If you're up for it, I think we should hear them out."

"And we can make a trip out of it," Tibby adds. "If this turns out to be more of a stick than a carrot, we'll tell them where they can stick it while we go out on the town."

Ashley laughs. "Careful kitty. You never did make good on that promise to beat up any nerd who tries to stop me from going to college."

"We were in court Ash, I couldn't start a fight there!" Tibby says with a pout.

"It wasn't a court," Ashley corrects Tibby before kissing her cheek. "But alright. Have either of you been to Spruceville before? What's there to do there?"

You know there's a rollercoaster park because your family went there once, but you haven't spent any time in the city itself. So you boot up the computer and look up what other attractions there are. Spruceville has some nice restaurants and a shopping center, of course, but there's also an arcade, a go-kart track, a movie theater, some kind of wilderness center hidden in the forest just outside the city limits, and more.