Free Fast-Tracked by Tracy Rozzlynn Page A

I’ll show you to the college; it’s in the direction I’m headed anyway.” He placed his hand on the small of my back and steered me towards the tram. I was so thankful for the help that I didn’t complain or pull away.
    I started to join the regular queue of people waiting to grab a seat, but he grabbed my hand and led me over to a sectioned-off area. I watched as he swiped his identification card over a scanner. The next tram to arrive seemed to slow down too soon. It stopped short of its normal mark, and the very first compartment lined up with our area on the platform. The door slipped open, and an attendant warmly welcomed us. I noticed none of the other doors on the tram opened.
    I walked into the compartment and immediately noticed it was unlike any tram I had ever been on. Usually trams just had rows and rows of thinly padded bench seats, bare metal walls, and sticky metal flooring. But this compartment had big comfy seats that reminded me of the ones on the air-tram. Plush burgundy carpeting covered the floor and the walls were lined with dark wood paneling. The entire thing was all lit by several fancy sconces.
    “Would you care for a beverage?” the attendant pleasantly asked. Avery just waved her off without even glancing at her. I at least smiled and thanked her for asking, but my politeness just seemed to amuse Avery.
    I expected the tram to pull forward and line up with the rest of the platforms once we were seated, but instead the tram started up and just kept going. “What about everyone else?” I asked, confused.
    First Avery just chuckled – then he explained, “Trams run a little bit differently here. The stops are so close together that it’s impossible to stop at them all. So it only stops to pick passengers up when they swipe a scanner with their ID. Then it only drops them off at the stations they indicate once they are on the tram.” He motioned the attendant over. “The college.”
    “Yes, sir.” The attendant nodded and stepped over to a screen and pressed some numbers in.
    “Only the busier stations have a special fast-track area, but you can swipe your ID at any scanner and it will automatically line up the proper compartment for you to enter. Once you are on the tram, it won’t stop to pick up any additional passengers. Unfortunately it does still stop to drop off the ones that are already on it, but at least the stops are minimized.” He chuckled at my amazed expression. “Sweetie, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Do yourself a favor and stop looking so surprised. It’ll be a dead giveaway to all the other fast-trackers that you’re a newbie and they’ll eat you alive for it.” He punctuated what he said by patting my knee.
    I crossed my legs in the opposite direction. I nodded my head and kept my face neutral as he continued to explain some of the differences I’d notice in the city. Apparently the air-tram was located in an industrial section of the city. The college itself was located in a section known as the heart. It was the area where the business, entertainment and high-class residential housing converged. In the center of it was Central Park’s Botanical Gardens.
    I knew from my history lessons it was named in honor of the original Central Park that existed before the rebuild. That park was said to be nothing more than a small patch of grass compared to its modern day counterpart. As a little girl I had dreamed of one day visiting it. Now, from what Avery said, I’d be living at its edge. If I was lucky, I might even have a view of it from my living quarters. Momentarily I forgot to be sad as I imagined how wonderful that would be.
    “I’ll have to give you a tour of the park one day, but right now you should hurry and find Mrs. Glabough . She’s the last person you want to keep waiting,” Avery warned as we exited the tram. He hurriedly led me to the college and its elevators.
    I only got a quick glimpse of the area around me before we entered the