<P> On the bus ride on Forrest's first day of school, Forrest met Jenny Curran and was instantly taken by her . "I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life," he would later say of her, "she was like an angel ." The two became close friends, often playing around a large nearby tree . Forrest described their relationship saying, "Jenny and me was like peas and carrots ." Jenny was one of the few people besides his mother to accept Forrest as he was, helping him learn to read and stand up to bullies who harassed him . However, Jenny's home life was not nearly as happy as Forrest's: her mother had died when she was five and her father was an abusive alcoholic who molested his children (until Jenny was taken away to live with her grandmother), and Forrest's friendship offered her an escape . </P> <P> One day, a group of bullies was throwing rocks at Forrest, and one of them cut his forehead . Jenny told Forrest, "Run Forrest run!", which he did, only to prompt the bullies to chase him on their bikes . As Forrest struggled to run, his leg braces broke apart . Once he was free of them, Forrest was able to run incredibly fast . Forrest would never wear leg braces again, and was able to run anywhere he wanted to after that . </P> <P> Forrest and Jenny remained close friends all the way through high school, though he remained a target for bullies . One day, while running from some bullies, he interrupted the local high school's football practice by running across the field faster than all the players . This feat caught the attention of Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, who was at the practice scouting football players . After his incredible running ability impressed the coach, Forrest received a football scholarship to the University of Alabama, where his speed helped them win several games . He played for five years and wore jersey number 44, which is believed to be a reference to his birth year . He was later named to the All - American team and got to meet President John F. Kennedy at the White House . When asked by the President how he felt, Forrest (having drunk about fifteen Dr. Peppers) gave an honest answer: "I gotta pee ." </P> <P> Forrest was also present at the University when it was desegregated and observed Governor George Wallace's Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, denouncing the desegregation . While several citizens jeered the black students entering the campus, Forrest, not entirely understanding the situation, simply walked up to Vivian Malone and handed her a book she dropped, saying simply "Ma'am? You dropped your book...ma'am?" before following her and James Hood into school, causing his coaches to watch the incident in disbelief . Forrest later spends time with Jenny in her college dormitory during a rainy day after she had gotten abused by another college boy . </P>

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