“Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
“Funny. Don’t be a jerk or I might take back my gift.”
“What gift?”
“Listen, I know what Mom said yesterday about this being my money and all … ”
This had Beau sitting up, rubbing his eyes.
“But I want to give you some. I want to give you a million dollars and pay off your loans.”
Beau’s knees had been up, and he dropped his head onto them for a long time. I couldn’t see his face but I hoped this reaction was happiness. The way his shoulders slightly shook, I thought he might’ve even been crying. But it was dark in his room and maybe my eyes were deceiving me because when he finally looked up the only thing I saw on his face was a smile.
“Maddie, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“I think I do. And I’m glad it will help. You can finish school now, right? Go back and be with your friends. You could even move into the dorms if you wanted.”
He stood and pulled me into a hug. I returned it for a minute before I pushed him away. “You seriously need to shower.”
He laughed and then tried to grab me again. I screamed and ran out of the room with him chasing after me. When he finally caught me and administered another hug, he said, “You’re the best sister ever.”
I smiled.
“But I really need to shower now.”
A few minutes later, I sank onto my bed, my heart close to bursting. Maybe now I didn’t need to worry so much about my family. My win would solve everything.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to tell my friends, or anyone for that matter. Hey, I’m a millionaire now, so … you know, just treat me like you always have. Nothing’s different. I actually didn’t feel that much different. Lighter, for sure. Like something that had been resting on my shoulders for years had been lifted. That was a good feeling. An amazing feeling. But still, I was me. Still Maddie. The money wouldn’t change who I was, deep down.
It was Monday night. My family had just finished eating takeout from a fancy French restaurant we’d never been to, with a name I couldn’t pronounce. All I knew was that I’d never spent fifty dollars on a steak before and now I had. It was delicious.
Now I was in my room, lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering if I’d ever felt this happy in my life.
There was a knock on my door and I sat up. “Come in.”
“Blaire is here,” my mom said, poking her head in.
“Blaire?”
“Yes, you do have a friend named Blaire, right? Or was that in your previous life?”
I smiled. “I just wasn’t expecting her.”
“Should I tell her to come in?”
“Yes, of course. Thanks, Mom.”
I took a deep breath. Had Blaire heard about me winning somehow? Did the lottery announce stuff like that? Had it been tweeted out to everyone without me knowing? I should’ve told my friends right away so they didn’t have to find out through social media.
But when Blaire appeared at my bedroom door, she didn’t wear an excited expression, one that said, you just won the lottery, how are we going to celebrate? Instead she wore a worried one.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
“What? Why?”
“Your birthday.”
That’s right. I’d almost forgotten about my birthday.
“My grandma had to go to the hospital.”
“Oh no, is she okay?”
Blaire rolled her eyes. “She thought she was having a heart attack but after a night in the ER, it turned out to be heartburn. Can you believe that?”
I laughed a little. It was much easier to forgive people after winning the lottery. “I wish you would’ve called or texted. I was worried.”
“I’d left my cell phone at home and my parents and I didn’t get back until the next morning. I wanted to sleep all day so I sent you a quick text but you never answered.”
“Yeah, I was kind of mad at you.”
“I figured. And what about all the texts I sent today?”
“Today?” I scanned the room for my phone, but didn’t see it anywhere. I hadn’t looked at it once since I’d gotten the news about the lottery. “It’s probably out of batteries somewhere.”
“That means you didn’t get Elise’s texts either.”
“No, I didn’t. Did her grandma have heartburn, too?”
Blaire gave me a side hug. “You had the stupidest birthday. I’m so sorry.”
That wasn’t an answer to my question. “What happened to her?”
“Boyfriend got sick. He was barfing and everything.”
“Was Elise sick, too?”
She cringed. “She wanted to take care of him. Bring him soup and wipe his brow. She wants to major in nursing now.”
A lump was forming in my throat and I tried to swallow. Okay, so winning the lottery only made it a little easier to forgive. “She should’ve texted.”
“Well, now she’s sick. She stayed home from school today and everything.”
“That sucks.”
“Karma, I say.”
I hit Blaire’s arm and she laughed.
“Yes, it sucks. But not as much as your birthday must’ve sucked. I really am sorry.”
Now was the time I told her about winning the lottery. Now was the time I remembered how lucky I was, regardless of the fact that my friends stood me up for kind of lame reasons. That didn’t matter. The universe had made up for my bad birthday in a big way and I needed to get over it. “It’s okay. Really. I’m happy actually.”
“You’re happy we missed your birthday?” Blaire’s phone chimed in her pocket but she didn’t reach for it. The noise was familiar, one I hadn’t heard in a while because I didn’t have my phone. It made me a little twitchy.
“Well, no, I mean—”
Her phone chimed again.
“You can get it,” I said.
“No, it’s just my calendar reminder.”
“What’s it reminding you of?” I was sure I was missing something, too, since I’d skipped school and hadn’t looked at my phone in about twenty-four hours.
“Test tomorrow in History. Don’t you have that, too?” She looked around my room and saw the books on my desk. “Of course you’re studying.”
“Yes, I am. I was. Well, I was thinking about it.” Sort of. “Do we have anything else this week?”
“Just the reading for English.”
I’d remembered that.
“Are you okay, Maddie? When you were absent today, I realized we’d really messed up. You never miss school.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine. It wasn’t about my birthday. I just … ” My mind froze, why couldn’t I just spit out my news? “I had a bad headache. But I’m feeling better now.” Why did I say that?
“Good.” Blaire squeezed me into another tight hug. Her phone chimed, again. “I better go. We both have a lot of work to do.”
“Okay.”
Then she was gone.
“I won the lottery,” I said easily, to my now empty room. “Let’s celebrate.”
The house phone rang in the distance and then stopped. A couple minutes later my mom poked her head in my room again. “Hey, that was … ” She looked around. “Where did Blaire go?”
“She had to study.”
“What about you? Do you need to study?”
I nodded halfheartedly.
Mom stepped all the way inside. “If you’re still planning on going to college, you need to keep your grades up. They don’t care about your lottery win.”
“I know,” I said quickly. “I am still planning on it.” That had always been the plan, from the time I was in the third grade. Why would Mom think that would change now? The only thing that changed was I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to pay for college.
I didn’t have to worry about paying for college! Excitement bubbled back up my chest with this reminder. It was an instant jolt to my system.