Exact Change
Jack dreamed that he worked the night shift of a toll booth. A car pulled up to his plastic window. The indifferent, faceless driver handed him a fifty-dollar bill. Cars quickly lined up as Jack counted out change. The quarters were still in their paper-wrapped rolls from the bank. He tore one open carelessly, spilling quarters all over the register and floor. His palms began to sweat as he bent down and collected the coins. Quickly losing patience, cars started to honk.
“Come on,” said the driver outside the window, growing increasingly irritable as Jack fumbled his change. Eventually, after great struggle, Jack handed him a wad of money. The driver sped off while shaking his head in frustration. Another car pulled up to the window. This new driver handed him a $100 bill.
Suddenly, Jack awoke and sprang upright. A pile of clothes sat on the ground in the corner of the room, reaching halfway up the wall. Turning away from it, not wanting to think about laundry, he searched the bed for his phone. The sun had begun to set behind the single tree outside his window. His girlfriend Ellie, only half awake, pulled herself closer to him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked without opening her eyes.
“Nothing, just a bad dream,” he said, staring at the black TV screen that hung from the wall. Turning to the side, he reached under the bed and retrieved a vape pen. Inhaling until the light blinked, he took two long, successive hits. His eyelids drooped as the whites of his eyes turned crimson.
Ellie climbed slowly from the bed and went to the restroom. He took another hit while she was gone, filling the room with haze. When she returned, she began changing into her work clothes.
“What’re your plans for later?” she asked as she adjusted the low-cut black T-shirt with her bar’s logo on it.
“Nick and Joe are coming over later. We might go to the bar.”
“Are you guys going to come visit me?”
“You know I don’t like going out around here. It’s too sleepy.”
“Tonight is a Saturday. We’re always busy on Saturdays.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to run into people from like high school.”
“I think you just don’t like spending time with me.”
“I’ll see you later tonight, okay?”
“I guess.” Ellie rolled her eyes playfully.
Jack stayed in bed for a while after Ellie left for work, then walked to the kitchen and opened a can of Natural Light to bring with him in the shower. The cold beer breathed life into him as hot water sent steam rising from his shoulders. He stayed in the shower until he had finished his beer, holding it with one hand while the other washed.
Soon after changing into fresh clothes, his friends Nick and Joe arrived at his apartment. The three sat in the living room chugging several beers before calling an Uber to take them to McGillin’s downtown. After a thirty-minute, silent ride, they arrived outside of the bar. The red-lit sign, written in Old English font, glowed against the cold night sky. With their hands in their pockets and their shoulders tense from the temperature, they joined the line of people waiting out front. Although the line looked long, it moved quickly. Showing the bouncer their IDs, they entered the crowd of people standing shoulder to shoulder. The wooden tables and chairs had not been cleared away from the dinner service, making standing room especially tight. Nick managed to weasel his way to the bar and purchase them each a Yuengling. Shortly after taking their first sips of beer, they made friends with a group of women drinking mixed drinks from clear plastic, ice-filled cups.
“Hey!” said one of the women to Jack. Her long eyelashes and glowing green eyes invited him to step closer as she smiled at him.
“Hi, I’m Jack.” He extended his hand to her.
“Alice.” She shook his hand lightly.
“I think that we are going to head upstairs to dance. Would you guys like to join us?”
Jack smiled and took a sip of his beer. “Sure. Lead the way.”
Alice and her friends began weaving through the crowd toward the stairs. He gathered his friends and followed closely behind. The walls shook from the speakers as they reached the second floor. Red and green lights flashed across the room. At the DJ station, a man wearing a backwards hat worked on a laptop. They moved to the dance floor, finding a spot amongst the crowd. Though filled with people, the room narrowed to Alice and Jack as they danced.
In a trance, Jack admired how her eyes reflected the artificial lights. For a moment, all thoughts of Ellie, his friends, and his dream fled from his mind. She stepped closer, drawing him in. He pulled her in close, placing his hand on her lower back. Their hips pressed together as they swayed.
He thought of Ellie behind the mostly empty bar at her job. Ignoring the usual flirtations of regulars, she watched the door, waiting with hope for him to appear. Suddenly, he snapped back to the dance floor as Alice wrapped her fingers around the belt loop of his jeans and pulled him close. Drawing him in, she kissed him on the lips. The taste of vodka filled his mouth as their tongues became acquainted. He pulled back for a moment, feeling briefly ashamed, before leaning in and kissing her again.
When the lights came on for last call, she asked for Jack’s number. At first, he entered his number with one false digit, but when she tried to call him and his phone did not ring, he quickly fixed his mistake. After saving her number, he kissed her goodbye and searched the thinning crowd for his friends who stood by the door.
“Are you going home with her?” asked Joe as Jack approached.
“No,” said Jack. “I have a girlfriend.”
Waiting for the Lyft surcharge to pass, the three walked through the cold city streets for about an hour. Jack did not arrive back at his and Ellie’s apartment until 2:00 am. By that time, Ellie had returned home and was lying awake in bed scrolling her phone. The blue light brought out the tiredness in her features as her eyes, barely open, watched the screen in her hand. He entered the room and stripped down to his underwear before climbing into bed beside her. He kissed her on the cheek before pulling up the covers and turning on his side away from her. Before falling asleep, he took a final look at his phone. A new text notification appeared, which read “Hey, it’s Alice. I had a lot of fun tonight. LMK next time you’re in the city.”
Hunching his shoulders to hide his screen, he deleted her message and blocked her number from his phone. Then, rolling on his back, he drifted into a drunken sleep.
