Cassie sits in the library trying to study, overwhelmed by math and her own self-doubt.
A yellow flyer for free adult tutoring catches her eye.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The only job Cassie ever had was a three-month stint answering phones at a dentist's office.
That was two years ago. Now, at thirty, she sat at the public library, her pencil tapping against a GED prep book, trying to relearn math she hadn't touched since high school.
The fluorescent lights above buzzed softly, echoing the quiet ache of regret that had settled into her chest.
She stared down at a half-scribbled page of long division, then flipped it shut. Page 47 could wait.
Cassie rubbed her temples, glancing around the near-empty room. An elderly man dozed in one of the armchairs near the magazines, his cane leaning against the wall like it, too, had given up. At the far end, a teenage girl in a hoodie was furiously typing on a Chromebook, earbuds in. Everyone else seemed to have a place to be, something to do.
Cassie didn't. Not yet.
She picked up the prep book again and turned to the reading comprehension section. The passage was about ocean currents. She made it through two paragraphs before her thoughts wandered.
Her phone buzzed.
Mom: Did you pay the internet? It's not working again.
Cassie sighed and typed back: I told you it's due Friday. Gotta wait.
She didn't mention that she had exactly $38 in her checking account and a jar of change in her closet she hadn't counted yet.
As she tucked her phone away, her eyes settled on a yellow flyer pinned to the corkboard by the reference desk:
"Adult Education Tutoring — Free. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6PM. Room B."
She stared at it. She could pretend she hadn't seen it. Or—
"Hey, miss?" A voice broke her focus.
It was the librarian. Mid-forties, kind eyes behind round glasses. "We're closing in ten."
Cassie nodded, clutching the prep book like it might vanish. "Thanks."
As the librarian walked away,
Cassie turned back to the corkboard and took a screenshot of the adult education flyer to look at for later.
The anxiety of starting from the beginning again was strong but at this moment, Cassie decided to think about it later when she got home.