“No, they don’t.”
“And what about the encouraging kind of support?”
“They don’t think any of my films are going to pay the bills. But they’re happy to watch them.”
“I want to watch them.”
“What? Oh, no. They’re all works in progress. I don’t really show them to anyone.” I’d never ever seen a side of Seth that wasn’t all confidence … until now.
I smiled at his stammering. “So you’re a filmmaker who doesn’t want an audience?”
He laughed. “Right now. Yes.”
“Well, when you’re ready, I’m here.” I cringed. I always seemed to realize too late how things sounded after they came out of my mouth. I backtracked. “For watching films. Your films, I mean.”
We were approaching my house. Seth pulled up at the curb and turned to me, flashing a quick grin. “I knew what you meant. And thanks.”
I sat on my bed and stared at my bank balance on my phone. Thirty-three million, five hundred fifty-six thousand, two hundred six dollars and forty-two cents.
It had taken almost four weeks to arrive—less time than they estimated—but there it was, every last penny of it, sitting in my bank account.
I was still trying to catch my breath. My eyes scanned the numbers again. The phone felt slippery in my hand and I wiped my palms on my pajama bottoms.
Seth had accused me of not knowing what it truly meant to right a wrong. I was pretty sure I knew more than most people. This moment was the ultimate righting. It covered any past or future wrong that would ever happen in my life.
Beau poked his head in my room. “Hey, Mom made breakfast.”
“Made breakfast?”
“I know. It’s a miracle, so you better get out here.”
I’d already stared at my phone too long. I really didn’t have time this morning to add another unscheduled event without being late for school. But when my phone had alerted me of bank activity with a happy ding when I woke up, how could I not look? I pounded my feet on the ground and let out an excited squeal. Then I jumped up to follow Beau.
I paused at my bedroom door and pulled up my bank account app again. There was no point in delaying. I could make everyone in this house feel the same giddiness I was feeling. I clicked a couple transfer buttons on my screen, then left my room with a smile.
“Good morning,” Mom said when I joined them in the kitchen, adding a stack of pancakes to a plate in the center of the table.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked. Did my mom somehow have viewing access to my bank account?
“It’s just been a while since we’ve had breakfast together.”
“You mean since never?” Beau said, pouring syrup on his pancakes.
My dad slid a pancake onto my plate. I cleared my throat. “This is perfect because today … ” I drummed on the table with my fingers. “We are all officially millionaires.”
“What?” Mom asked from the stove, pausing in the middle of flipping another pancake.
“I transferred your money a second ago.”
Beau jumped out of his seat and gave me a syrupy kiss on the cheek. “You are seriously the best sister in the universe.”
“And all it took to earn that title was one million dollars?” I asked him. “I don’t know how everyone doesn’t win that title.”
“I’m moving out,” Beau said.
“You found a place?” I asked.
“Yep, last week. It’s amazing.”
“That’s great,” my dad said.
“I want to quit my job,” my mom blurted out before Beau’s news had even settled.
My dad shifted his gaze from my brother to my mom. “What?”
“I’ve been working double time for the last several years and I want a break.”
He smiled. “Then take one. You definitely should.”
“I should?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he said. “This money will more than tide us over until I find a job.”
“For sure,” I agreed. My parents were in a good place now and I couldn’t have been happier. “You deserve a break, Mom. You two should go somewhere fun with this time you’ll have now.”
Mom smiled at Dad. “Maybe we should. Because I’ll probably get bored and need to go back to work in a few months. Preferably somewhere outside of the health-care profession. Maybe I’ll work in a greeting card shop.”
“A greeting card shop?” I asked, confused.
“I like the idea of only interacting with people who are about to celebrate something special and are picking out a card for the occasion.”
“What about people buying cards because someone just died?” Beau said.
“Or an I’m sorry I screwed up card,” my dad said.
“Or an it sucks you have cancer card,” I added.
My mom flung the pancake she held in our general direction with a laugh. It landed on my brother’s arm. “You just had to ruin it,” she said.
Beau tore the pancake in half and threw one at me and one at Dad. We shielded our faces and then devolved into a food fight.
That was how I ended up standing in the school office, forty-five minutes late to school and still smelling faintly of maple syrup. The administrative assistant was telling me about what she would buy if someone gave her a million dollars—a college fund for her two-year-old daughter, a house, and a charitable donation to the veterans because her grandfather was a veteran.
I nodded politely. “That would be a good way to spend it.”
She smiled. “You are a lucky girl. One very lucky girl.”
“Believe me, I know it.” And I was beyond grateful.
She handed me a note that would get me in first period, and I left before she was able to stretch her fictitious million even further than she already had.
As I walked down the cement stairs, a guy called out from fifty feet away. “Maddie! Wait up!”
I did not know this guy but slowed my pace, anyway.
“Hi,” he said when he was by my side. His dark hair was long in the middle and shorter on the sides, like maybe he sometimes fashioned it into a Mohawk. But not today. Today it flopped over his dark eyes.
“Hi.”
“I’m Leo.”
I almost said my name but realized he already knew it. “Good to meet you,” I said instead.
“I’m in a band.”
“Okay.”
“Do you know what my band needs to take us to the next level?” He pushed his hair out of his eyes.
“No, what?”
“An investor.”
“An investor?”
“Hear me out. We need studio time and better equipment and a really good gig.”
“Leo, you seem really cool, but I don’t know a thing about music so I am not your girl.”
He held out his fist for a bump and I obliged. “That’s cool,” he said. “Thanks for listening. Good to know you, Maddie.” With that he took off as fast as he had come.
The rest of the way to class I found myself wondering if his music was any good. Was that something rich people invested in? New artists? I’d heard the saying “making your money work for you.” I probably did need to invest in things so the money could grow even more. I really needed to see a financial advisor.
In Math, my desk mate, Alison, kept interrupting the teacher’s lecture to ask me how much money I’d have if it grew at certain rates of interest. Mr. Conway must’ve overheard because he said, “That’s a great exercise, Maddie. Let’s do some money math.”
He then spent the rest of the class multiplying and dividing my money.
“How much would she have if she gave us each five thousand dollars?” Heath Meyer asked from the back.
Mr. Conway just laughed. I couldn’t wait for the bell to ring.
Government class came next. I’d forgotten that Alison was in that class with me as well until she basically orchestrated a repeat of math class by asking Mrs. Forrest what kind of government would have to be in place to force me to share all my winnings.
I glanced Alison’s way. “Thanks a lot,” I whispered.