Box

"Hey, Princess," Freddie said happily as he let himself into the Shay's apartment. He stepped over to the counter, where Sam was sitting at the desktop computer and gave her a quick kiss.

"Hey," Sam smiled. "How was lunch with your mom?"

"She took me to some place that makes everything out of seaweed," Freddie replied. "Seaweed salad, seaweed wraps, seaweed covered chicken…next time I go to the beach remind me to stay as far away from the stuff as possible."

"We can go get you some real food if you want," Sam chuckled.

"Maybe later, I need time to let my stomach recover," Freddie said. "So what have you been up to today?"

"Eh, slept until noon, ate all the marshmallows out of my Lucy Omens for breakfast," Sam said. "Figured out I'm not gonna be able to go to college, got the gum off the bottom of my shoe-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Freddie said. "What?"

"Yeah, you know that huge glob that's been stuck to my sneaker for weeks?" Sam said. "See, I just had to keep scraping at it with a butter knife and it-"

"Sam, what's this about you not going to college?" Freddie frowned. "I-You got in! Washington State accepted you! They didn't…They-They didn't revoke their acceptance, did then? Because-"

"No, they didn't do that," Sam sighed. "But they did just sent out their financial stuff. Do you realize how expensive just one year at that place is? And they expect me there for four? I-I can't afford it; there's no way."

"Okay, well, yeah, I know it's gonna be a little pricy," Freddie said. "All colleges are. But…you can't not go after you worked so hard to get in. With the degree you'll earn you'll be able to make back enough money to pay off all the costs here."

"Not if I can't afford to get the degree in the first place!" Sam snapped. "Look, you-you don't understand. You got a full-ride scholarship to MIT; you're covered. And Carly's dad is paying for everything so she's fine. Me? I'm somehow supposed to come up with twenty-five thousand dollars each year to be at this place. It's not like I'll just have to cut back on the ham for a few weeks; I don't have this money at all!"

"Does your mom maybe have anything saved for you?" Freddie asked.

Sam looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Right, sorry," Freddie mumbled. "But, um, what-what about financial aid? You know, most universities have some sort of fund for students who need help paying."

"I just finished looking at those," Sam said. "And even if I manage to get that, it's still not going to cover everything. I'd still be like, ten thousand dollars short."
"Okay, um, have-have you looked into student loans?"

"Like any bank is going to loan a Puckett enough money to cover that," Sam scoffed. "Look, I-I just can't go, Freddie. But-But it's okay. Really. Come on, me getting into college was a long shot already. I'll just…I'll just find something else. My cousin says they're always looking for new people at the casino he works at."

"Sam, you-you can't just not go to college," Freddie said.

"Why? It's not like anybody expected me to anyway," Sam shrugged.

"But you worked so hard to get in!" Freddie said. "And you've been so excited about going ever since! I-I'd hate to see you throw it away."

"Well what else am I supposed to do?" Sam said. "I can't afford to go. It's as simple as that!"

Freddie watched as Sam stared down at the counter. It wasn't fair…she had worked her butt off this past year to get into college. And now it was going to be taken from her just because she didn't have enough money? He couldn't let that happen.

"Well, um, you know, I-I do have some extra cash in my savings account," Freddie said. "It was supposed to go towards covering my tuition, but, um, with-with my scholarship I-I really don't need it. I could-"

"No," Sam said at once. "Not a chance. I'm not letting you pay for my college."

"Why not? I don't mind."

"But I do," Sam said firmly. "I-I no. Buying me food and stuff is one thing…paying for my degree is completely different. I-just, no, Freddie. Thanks and all, but it's not going to happen."

Freddie sighed as he put an arm around her. "Fine. You-You won't take my money. But Sam, your dream isn't going to stop just because of one little bump along the way. I'm not going to let it. Alright, so-so how about this? Let's sit down right now and figure this out."
He sat down at the computer and took out a piece of paper from his backpack. "Okay…how much financial aid do you qualify for from Washington State?"

"Um, fifteen thousand a year," Sam replied.

"Alright," Freddie said, scribbling this number down. "And how much do you think you can get from the banks?"

"I dunno…maybe another two thousand," Sam said. "But that still leaves me eight thousand dollars short."

"So we'll start looking at scholarships," Freddie said.

"No one offered me any," Sam said.

"That's okay," Freddie told her. "Not all scholarships get offered to you. There's plenty that you can apply for on your own. You just need to look online."

He typed a few terms onto the keyboard and a long list of results popped up on the screen.

"Here we go," Freddie smiled. "Look at this one. This corporation offers students a thousand dollars a year if they pick them for their scholarship. You need to be going to a four-year university, which you are…you have to graduate high school with a 'B' average which, you can do, and you have to be the first in your family to be going to college."

"Hey…I am," Sam grinned. "Or…ugh, wait! Is Melanie gonna screw that up? Little Ms. Princeton."

"Nope," Freddie said, reading the page. "They go by generations. So as long as neither of your parents or grandparents have gone, you're good!"

"Sweet!" Sam grinned.

"There's a ton of scholarships like this out there, I'm telling you," Freddie said. "I mean…it's gonna be a lot of work writing out all the applications and stuff, but, well, you can probably earn most of the money you need with them."

"If I actually get them," Sam sighed.

"I'll help you with every single one," Freddie promised. "And-And we'll apply to so many that you'll be bound to get at least a few. So let's say…let's say you get another seven thousand from scholarships like this."

"Well where am I supposed to get the other thousand?"

"Um, okay, maybe…maybe you can get a, um, summer job," Freddie suggested slowly.

"A summer job?" Sam repeated.

"Yeah," Freddie said. "You-You can probably earn the rest of the money if you start now. Lots of students have them during their breaks from college!"

"I don't know," Sam said. "This is my last real summer…Do I really have to spend it working?"
"Come on, it'd only be part time," Freddie smiled. "You'd still have time to relax. Besides, it'd be totally worth it if it means you get to go to college, Sam. Think about it. You do a little bit of work for this summer and then you get to start this amazing new chapter of your life! You'll get all these new experiences and opportunities…it-it's gonna pay off for you Sam, it really will."
Sam pondered this for a moment. "Well…I-I did see a help wanted sign at Inside-Out Burger."

"There you go," Freddie grinned. "And hey! I bet they even give you free burgers."
"That would be nice," Sam chuckled. "Okay…I-I won't give up on this whole college thing right now."
"That's the spirit," Freddie smiled, kissing her. "Come on, we can go down there now and you can fill out an application."

…..

"It's almost eleven, is Sam really not done with work by now?" Carly frowned as her and Freddie sat in the Shay's living room.

"I dunno, she said she was closing," Freddie said. "So she should be back soon. I really hope her first day went okay."

"Me too," Carly said. "I can't believe you actually talked her into doing this."

"She needs the money for college," Freddie said simply. "And no matter what she says, she'd be devastated if she didn't get to go. I'm going to make sure that that won't happen."

"You're such a sweet boyfriend," Carly smiled. "Man, I hope she makes enough money…I can't be left without a roommate! You think she'd maybe let me slip her some money to-"

"She's already said she's not taking charity," Freddie said. "Believe me, I tried. But you know what? I think it's great she's earning this money for herself. It really shows how much she can do."

Just then the front door opened and Sam walked in looking absolutely exhausted.

"Hey!" Carly said excitedly. "How'd it go?"

"Fine," Sam shrugged. "Hey, um, you have a package down at the front desk."

"Oh, really?" Carly beamed. "Yay! I think that's the new sweater I ordered! Be right back!"

As Carly headed out of the apartment, Freddie stepped over to Sam. "Glad that sweater finally came," he chuckled. "She's been wondering where it was for weeks."

"It's not there, I just told her that," Sam mumbled.

"How come?"

"Because!" Sam moaned, flinging herself down onto the couch. "I-I just need you right now, okay? I-I hate this job! I hate it!"

"Huh? Sam-"

"It's the worst!" Sam cried. "Ten times worse than that stupid Chili place! The boss is a jerk, all my co-workers are incompetent, and they expect me to do a million things at once! I had to deal with at least three thousand idiot customers today, I had to flip a million burgers with this flimsy little spatula that kept breaking! I burned myself on the deep fryer, my feet feel like they're gonna fall off from standing for eight hours, and when we were cleaning at the end of the day…I moved some empty boxes and I found a colony of roaches and they crawled all over me! That's not funny when it's not happening to someone else!"

Freddie wrapped his arms around her as she continued to sob.

"I can't do this for a whole summer!" Sam moaned. "I can't handle it! My back hurts, my head hurts…everything hurts! And when they gave me my free cheeseburger at the end of my shift…I didn't even want it after all that! I threw it away! You see what they're doing to me? They're making me throw away meat!"

"Sam, baby, calm down," Freddie said, patting her back gently. "It's okay. Everybody's first day at a job is rough. It-It will get better."

"No it won't!" Sam sighed. "And you know what? I barely even made enough to buy a binder for college. This-This is pointless, I-I can't do this! I can't earn the money."

"You can," Freddie told her. "This isn't all in vein. Hey…come here…"

He took her hand and led her over to the computer.

"You left your email up," Freddie explained. "And when I was trying to log onto my account, I-I couldn't help but see this. Look, Sam!"

Sam glanced at the screen. "Hey…it's from the Ben Griff Schoalrship fund. That's one of the places I applied!"

"Open the email," Freddie grinned.
Sam opened up the email and began to read. "Dear Ms. Puckett," she said. "Congratulations! We would like to inform you that due to your remarkable application we received, we will be offering you a scholarship to assist you in pursuing your post-secondary education. We will award you two thousand dollars per year for the four years you will be pursing your university degree. Below are further instructions on how you will receive this funding. Again, congratulations and good luck in all your future endeavors."

"See?" Freddie smiled.

"Oh my God!" Sam exclaimed, her face suddenly lighting up. "I-I got two thousand dollars! A year! Holy chiz, that-that's insane!"

"And that's just the first one," Freddie said. "You're bound to get more offers just like this, Sam. See? This-This is really going to work out for you. You've just got to hold out for a little bit and it's all going to be worth it! You can do this, Sam!"

"Yeah, maybe…maybe you're right," Sam said slowly. "Okay. I'll do this. I'm going to make enough money and get enough scholarships and do everything to get to college."

"Yeah, you are!" Freddie grinned, wrapping his arms around her as he leaned down to kiss her. "Man…I am so proud of you. Hey, you know, my mom's at work right now; she got the late shift. Wanna go across the hall?"

"I smell like stale French fries and burger grease," Sam said, rolling her eyes."
"Well you're in luck," Freddie smirked, kissing her again. "Because I love stale French fries and burger grease."