An unusually bright star caught her attention. Where was that astrology binocular that her dad had given her?

Alice searched her mom’s miscellaneous pile of things to sell because they weren’t used much.

Divorce was a messy business. Alice managed to check out the star. It was moving, maybe it wasn’t really a star? This needed further investigation.

Now her mom was working nights, so she had to find something to do, because after the divorce she was more alone. No friends moved with her. This new idea of searching the stars for an answer might reveal something, but what.

There was nothing that was broken because there wasn’t anything to break. Having a birthday near Christmas, she didn’t have parties usually, therefore she didn’t have many visitors. Her mother kept her on a short leash, so contemplating the stars seemed great.

On to the computer, where there was everything and nothing. Her father had been to college, so she would go also maybe. The divorce had put a big MAYBE everywhere.

The computer was not always to be trusted. She had found plenty of messages asking for money for lots of made-up difficulties. Her father had warned her about how easy it was to make up stories, so it was necessary to exercise caution.

Now she found the sky scanner, which even had a place for asking questions. So she asked about the bright light she had seen.

Planet Jupiter was the answer. Apparently people had been waiting for it to show. from the answer she received. Alice then thought this could be a great activity, tracking stars.

There was lots of information, speculation, things best to be ignored, some things good. She would look for Venus rising tomorrow evening.

Her mother acted a little concerned about Alice adjusting to her new home and school. Alice had never had many school friends, therefore Alice kept her head down at school and always answered when called upon. This led to her being viewed as a smart one, rather than one who liked to fool around or cut class.

But mother Helen was having her own problems, mostly about a lack of funds that the second job didn’t seem to cure. There wasn’t much she could do, Alice felt. She took care of doing laundry and making dinner.

But still she felt guilty. Her father had made a teary good bye speech in which he had mentioned college, but there was nothing certain yet. Alice had taken the tests necessary. She was applying for a scholarship, but she knew there was no guarantee. Now she was looking at stars.

She had to look at Venus rising now. There was still a year left before she would start college anyway.

She got the astrological binoculars and went to look for the red planet. The color should make it easy to find. Alice looked and looked, but to no avail.

This called for consulting internet. She went to her computer chair. She sent a message asking why she couldn’t find Venus. She didn’t open the message titled YOU ARE TOO LATE STUPID. Instead she went for one titled VENUS TODAY. Not all stargazers are decent she thought, remembering her father’s warning.

She then realized she should have started looking at dinner time. Not sure about that possibility, she returned to her computer.

A message asking exact times for the next day was sent. The reply was nice this time and asked her time constraints and what exactly she wanted to see.

So she ended up starting a conversation via internet. She knew there were many possibilities, both good and bad. Her mother loved telling her stories about bad things that were started via internet.

She had no fat bank account and not much to lose, therefore no qualms about giving a little personal information.

It was kept as impersonal as possible. None the less, she told that she was trying for a scholarship and she looked at the stars for entertainment. She wasn’t studying astronomy, not yet anyway.

Her father had been to college, so she would like to go also. But after the divorce she wasn’t sure there would be enough money.

There was lots of speculation during these internet conversations. Why was she not getting automatic discount if her father had been to college. Not wanting to talk about money much, she had to discuss this with mom, not something she really wanted to do.

So she bit the bullet and asked, Why don’t I get automatic discount on tuition if I go to the same college as dad?, she asked.

Now mom knew she had to come clean, even if she didn’t really want to tell all. Mom was getting tired of hiding everything, so she blurted out, ‘‘Your father has a big gambling debt, we had to divorce to keep from being held responsible, we had to divorce before you turned 18.’’

Alice felt both relieved and betrayed. Her father had always told her she deserved the best and he would do everything for her. He had wanted her to avoid technical stuff and go for literature. She now felt nothing would prevent her from asking to be accepted at a technical college.

Ask she did. She wanted to tell her internet friend, but this was something to talk about in person. She arranged a meeting. It turned out this internet person was at Cal Tech. This required a bit of maneuvering, but she managed.

The meeting went well. This internet person meet her for coffee at a Starbucks in Pasadena, near Cal Tech, a well known Technical College. This Dave was a second year student at the College. Dave gave her some useful advice and he was good looking too. Wether or not he had a girlfriend wasn’t discussed, It was left unknown.

She then had to wait. It is always unnerving to wait, but she used the time to do much of the technical stuff she had been putting off.

A built up resume of various technical and mathematical classes helped. Then came the offer of a scholarship for those willing to risk a long-term voyage to the stars. Alice went for this immediately, because she felt betrayed by her parents.

There was nothing holding her back. Encouragement came from her internet acquaintance. A visit to the campus at Pasadena was also helpful. While she waited, she found a favorite star she followed nightly, wondering how close she could get to it.