Chapter 2
The letter is sitting on the kitchen table, looking at him. He's been looking back at it for almost an hour now, unable to bring himself to open it. Whatever is written in this letter, it'll change everything. "It'll tell me if I'm someone or no-one." He tells himself. "It'll tell me if I'm a success or a failure."
"Stop being so dramatic." Vince looks up to see his father sitting in the chair opposite him.
"I didn't realise I was being loud enough for you to hear me upstairs."
"I've been sitting here for half an hour." His father says with a small smile.
"You can't have been. I would have noticed you."
"You've been in your own little world, staring at that." He gestures to the letter. "Just open it. What's the worst that could happen?"
"It could say that I failed and I didn't get in."
"And then what would happen?"
"I would end up going somewhere that isn't as good." He says, rubbing his temples in an attempt to relieve the pain that's growing there.
"That wouldn't be quite as awful as you seem to think." Vince looks up, confused and annoyed.
"You've always told me that my education is the most important thing I'll ever get. Knowledge is power, you said. Now you're saying that it won't be quite as awful as I seem to think? If anything, it'll be worse! You don't seem to understand just how much I need to get into this school. If I don't, what chance do I have?" His father sits there, waiting. When the tirade finally stops, he speaks.
"It will be fine. You're clever and you want to learn. It doesn't matter where you end up, you'll still do brilliantly. If you get in, wonderful. If you don't, it's not a problem. Worrying about it won't do you any good, though." He gives the letter a pointed look. Vince picks it up a little reluctantly, looking at his father for reassurance. Receiving a nod, he turns the envelope over and begins to open it.