you take the VHS tapes out of the brown rental cases
pop them in the rewind machine (be kind! rewind!)
Alison puts the rewound tapes back in their covers
returns them to the shelves behind the counter
you tell her she’s crazy
you tell her there’s no money for college so there’s
definitely no money to be an exchange student
you tell her you need to work next year if you want
to be able to move out after graduation
even City College costs money
Monday nights in the store are busy
people return videotapes checked out for the weekend
college kids bring back VCRs rented for Saturday parties
Alison hands a fraternity brother his deposit check
lugs a VCR to the storeroom
she comes back with a piece of paper
an application for a Rotary scholarship to study abroad
a scholarship would change everything
you could keep your earnings
figure out college later
skip a lot of calendar pages
move out a year earlier than planned
a scholarship would set you free
but spending senior year abroad?
is that even allowed?
you look up from the application
what about senior year?
Alison shrugs. what about it?
wouldn’t we be missing out? like, prom or whatever?
she laughs. seriously? prom? who are you?