Judy watched as Nick retreated with a slightly concerned look on her face before continuing her run. As she ran, she thought about her friends she left behind and what they would think of Nick. They would probably tell her to stop worrying about some guy and focus on her studies. Of course, Amanda would probably hint at something more going on she thought as she rolled her eyes.

She came to the end of her run which always ended at a fountain in the shape of a bowl which occasionally sprayed a water show at certain times. It had a staircase going up on either side in a curved matter, so it almost appeared the fountain was being slowly encased. At the top of the stairs was a building she new well. It was the campus swimming pool and gym. She always spent about an hour here either on the equipment or doing laps just to stay in shape. She decided today would be a swimming day.

She entered the building and headed for the woman’s locker room. As she approached her locker, she was surprised to see a note hanging in the grate. Taking it, she opened what she thought was a note and discovered it was just an invitation to some frat party on campus. She trashed it quickly not even slightly being interested before grabbing her one-piece swimsuit and heading for the shower. She hated changing in the open in case anyone walked in.

A few moments later she exited the shower in her suit and, after putting away her cloths, headed for the pool. She started slowly just doing a few laps before picking it up and pushing her body hard. She had a standard amount of exercise she would do every time she swam. She always wanted to be at her best in case she ever needed to push herself after she was a cop.

She stopped to rest for a moment and was breathing heavily when someone walked by and asked how the water was.

“Waters fine if you’re here for exercise, but a little nippy if you’re a leisure swimmer.” She replied as she kept trying to make her breath slow.

“Good to hear, I’m here for some exercise today. Gotta keep in shape if I’m ever going to be worth anything as a cop.” The wolf said as he removed his shirt and shoes.

“Your going to be a cop?” she asked with a smile.

“Ya I wanted to get some law school behind me and get into good shape before the academy. They can be strict, and I’ve only got a year before it starts again. Luckily, I’ve been accepted, but it never hurts to be prepared.” He said as he approached the side of the pool and dipped a padded paw in the water cautiously.

“That’s amazing, I’m trying to get into the academy myself!” she said proudly.

He looked at her with a confused face and slightly tilted his head “Are you sure you want to be a cop? Id be surprised if they would let a rabbit into the academy. No Offense.” He said.

“What don’t think a cute little bunny can keep up with a wolf?” she asked getting slightly irritated at being told she can’t do something yet again.

“no no,” he said raising his paws and cringing, “I didn’t mean I didn’t think you could keep up; I’m just worried you might not pass because of your size. That and Id be too afraid in your position because of all the big mammals that become crooks.” He said quickly.

Judy smirked at him as she realized he wasn’t trying to dissuade her. “I have an idea” she said as her smirk grew “I challenge you to a swimming race. If I win you help me train to be the best cop I can be and treat me no different than anyone else, you would train with.”

He thought about this for a moment, before replying, “and if I win?” he asked as he smirked back at her.

“What would you like?” she asked hoping he wasn’t some perv.

Know any she wolves that need a date?” he asked “I am not to good at talking to girls when I must talk to them first. If you know someone you can set us up on a blind date.” He said as he watched her for a reaction.

She thought this over for a moment as she looked him up and down. He seemed nice enough Amanda might like him, but she wasn’t sure how she would feel about a blind date. In the end she was confident she would win so she agreed. He dove in and took a few warmup laps before meeting her back on her end of the pool. “You ready to lose?” he asked grinning at her.

“On your mark get set go” she yelled and took off. They swam the standard one-hundred-meter race. He was confident he would win but pushed himself hard just to be safe. As he finished, he popped up at the end of the pool to see her sitting on the edge breathing a little heavy but obviously had been sitting for a few mins.

“How bad did I just get my rump kicked?” he asked trying to catch his breath.

“only by about twenty-five meters.” She said as she smirked.

“Well a deal is a deal. When do you want to start meeting up?” he asked smiling up at her.

“you really don’t mind?” she asked hesitantly. She hadn’t expected him to follow through because of her species.

“Hey if you can kick my tail that easily then you deserve to be at the academy. Ill do whatever I can to help.” He offered his paw in a friendly manner.

She took it and shook “I’m Judy Hopps and we can swap numbers on the way out and text later. I gotta get to class soon.”

“Well that sounds good to me, I’m Anderson by the way.” He shook her paw and let go so he could climb out of the pool. They headed to the separate changing rooms to leave.

Judy finished and used a piece of paper from her locker to scribble a note and left it at the front desk for Anderson. As he approached the front desk to ask if she beat him out, they handed him the paper.

“Anderson, I appreciate you wanting to help me and maybe we can work together. My number is at the bottom of the page, and as a thank you Ill talk to a wolf friend of mine about giving you one date. I think you two will become good friends and maybe more with time. Have a good day -Judy”

He blinked and reread it before grinning and saving the number in his phone to text later and assigning her as officer Hopps.

__________________________________________________________________

Judy had just arrived at her classroom in time to see a note from the teacher on the whiteboard stating that he would be late by a few minutes. She sighed and pulled out her phone deciding to text her sister Samantha. It had been a while, so she needed to catch up. And if she was being honest, she wanted to talk to someone about Nick.

“Hey Sam, how you doing?”

“I’m doing good. And you?”

“doin ok. Kinda wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What’s up??”

“Well you know how mom and dad kept saying I needed to settle down instead of going of to be a police officer?”

“Um idk maybe lol, that was the main topic no matter what you were doing ha-ha”

“ha-ha ya well I’m not giving up on my dream, but I might have maybe met someone…”

“O my goodness Jude that’s amazing! Tell me everything!! Dad will be so happy you won’t have to go through the arranged marriage after all!!”

Judy stared at that last sentence for a minute before hesitatingly responding, “Arranged Marriage? What are you talking about?”

“O crap I thought mom had told you. Its not my place to say anything so you need to talk to mom before I say anything else. I gotta go the kids are getting into stuff. Love you”

She stared at the screen for several minutes until it went black. She wanted to call her mom, but she couldn’t afford to miss this class. Just as she was about to text her mom the teacher walked in and she had to put all other thoughts on hold.