مغازه فیلم فروشی

CHAPTER TWO - The Video Store

After school, Dawson and Pacey had jobs at Screenplay Video, a video rental store. On Wednesday evening, they were both working there, putting video tapes on shelves. Dawson loved to work in the store, among all the movies. And every evening he could borrow videos from the store to play at home.

It was five o’clock and there were no customers in the store. As they worked, the two friends were talking about their unhappy lives.

Pacey’s problem was his family. They didn’t understand him. Pacey’s father was the Chief of Police in Capeside. Pacey’s older brother, Doug, was a police officer too. They were tough and difficult people. They didn’t like Pacey. They didn’t understand him!

Pacey didn’t work hard at school. He only worked hard at things that interested him. Nothing at school interested him. His father always told him, “You’re a failure, Pacey. You don’t work hard. You always say the wrong things and you always do the wrong things. You’re a lazy fool. I don’t understand you. You’re not a good son to me.”

Pacey wanted to leave school and get a good job. He wanted to leave his family and live on his own. Dawson’s problem was Joey.

“Pacey, I don’t want to lose her,” he told his friend.

“She loves me - I’m sure of that. She isn’t honest with herself. She says, ‘I want to meet other boys. How will I know if you’re the right boy for me if I don’t meet other boys?’ Pacey, I’m worried about this party that she and Jen are going to in New York. Maybe she’ll meet someone there. Maybe she’ll meet a tall, rich, handsome boy. Maybe she’ll fall in love with him. I feel sick if I think about that, Pacey. I don’t know what to do.”

At that moment, someone came into the store. It was a girl from Capeside High School. Pacey and Dawson knew the teenager. They both disliked her, and she disliked them. She was always rude to them. Her name was Abby Morgan.

“I’ve come to return this video,” Abby said. “If you guys have time to think about work, you can help me. But maybe you’re too busy talking.”

Abby gave the video to Pacey, then she went to look for another movie to rent. She disappeared behind some tall shelves, and Pacey and Dawson soon forgot about her.

“We both need to get away from this town for a few days,” Pacey said. “Maybe we could go to New York for the weekend too. Then we could meet Joey and Jen. We could visit famous places with them. And they’d have to invite us to Courtney’s party. You could dance with Joey. Then she wouldn’t meet any tall, rich, handsome men.”

“I can’t follow Joey to New York,” Dawson said. “She’d be so angry with me. She wants me to leave her in peace.” Then he thought for a moment. “How would we get there, Pacey?” he asked. “We don’t have enough money.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about that,” Pacey replied. “My brother and my dad will be away from home this weekend. They’re going to Hartford, Connecticut. They’re going to a police convention - a kind of meeting for police officers. The convention is about teenage crime. I could use my dad’s truck for the weekend. We could drive to New York on Friday evening and come back on Sunday.”

Pacey was a little older than Dawson. He was sixteen. He bad a driver’s license. He was allowed to drive a car now.

“Will your dad let you borrow the truck?” Dawson asked. He was surprised.

“I won’t ask him,” Pacey said. “If I get back home before him on Sunday, he won’t know about it.”

“Is this really a good idea Pacey?” Dawson said. He was worried.

“It’s a great ideal” Pacey answered.

The boys had forgotten about Abby Morgan. She was still standing behind the tall shelves. She was listening to them carefully. She heard every word of their plan. And she was smiling when she quietly left the store.