“I’m just joking. I am!” He leaned in, eyebrows raised. “It’s just us here. I want
to celebrate with you. You only turn eighteen once. And you haven’t skipped school
in almost a month. I miss you, man.”
“We can go next week,” William said.
“Okay. But until then, you’re banned from renting videos here.” Dave ran behind the
counter. “I’m deleting your account right now, Further.”
He started typing loudly. “You are no longer a member at The Video Coop.”
William sighed and turned to David. “So, what are you up to?”
“Eric and I were going to rent something for tonight,” David said as Eric moved
toward the new releases. “Is Casey coming to your family dinner?”
“Yes. My dad invited her a few nights ago.” William followed them toward the back
wall. “I wasn’t expecting it. I told her not to get me anything. We’ve only been
together a few weeks. It seems too soon for presents.”
“You may want to have that talk again. Valentine’s Day is coming up. Make sure
you're on the same page.”
David knew the date of every holiday. William would often turn to him if he needed
to know which day a holiday fell on.
“Crap,” William muttered as they caught up to Eric.
Eric had already made it to the D section. “Nothing good so far,” he said.
They could hear Dave yelling something to Ed, but they weren’t listening closely.
David and Eric were debating on what to rent when William realized he needed to
leave. As he said goodbye, Dave pointed at him.
“Casino. Think about it.”
William left the store.
If he stayed, Dave would wear him down and talk him into going to the casino.