She smiled. “It’s saving us having to listen to a real lecture. So thank you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. She was right; the class seemed way more entertained by this topic.
After class, I pulled out my phone. It had been buzzing in my pocket the entire period. It showed forty-three notifications. I scrolled through my social media accounts. More congratulations. More tagged, candid pictures of me at school. More people talking about how they would spend fifty million dollars.
By the time lunch came around I was confused. I pulled the collar of my shirt up to my nose wondering if I smelled like money today. It was like everyone knew what had arrived in my bank account that morning and they were eager to help me spend it.
I found my friends standing under a tree in the commons and draped an arm around Blaire, leaning into her. “I need a hot tub and a pound of chocolate,” I said.
“Are you going to buy a hot tub?” Elise asked.
“What? No. I was just saying it’s been a crazy day.”
Blaire patted my cheek. “Ah, too much attention for our poor antisocial girl.”
I smiled. “I’ve never been antisocial. Just underappreciated.”
Blaire laughed. “It’s amazing what money will do.”
“Let’s eat,” Elise said, “I’m starving.”
“Starving is an overused word that diminishes the importance of those in the world that actually are starving,” Blaire said.
Elise rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’m famished.”
Blaire gave up with an exaggerated sigh and we walked toward the BBQ truck. We’d eaten there almost every day since my lottery win.
“So,” Blaire said as we fell in step with each other. “Are you any closer to deciding to go to Stanford with me?”
“What? No, nothing has changed,” I said.
“What do you mean? Everything has changed.”
She was right. The main reason I always gave for not wanting to cross the entire state with her was my family. They weren’t in a stable place. My mind went back to that morning, eating breakfast with them, our smiles stretched around the entire table. Maybe alleviating the money stresses had solved all the major issues in our family. Everything else was normal day-to-day problems that they could handle without me. And Stanford really was a good school. One of the best. But I wasn’t ready to make any commitments yet.
Blaire swung her backpack around to the front of her body and unzipped it. “I brought something for you.” She pulled out a stack of stapled pages. “This is the information on Stanford. This is more than me telling you why it’s the best place to go if you want to go into veterinary studies. This is research, Maddie. Facts. I know you like those.” She put the papers in my hands. “Just think about it.”
“Maddie!” a guy across the campus called out.
I looked over. A scrawny kid, probably a freshman, was waving both hands at me. “Yeah?” I asked.
“Hi!”
“Hi,” I said.
Elise waved. “What about me? Are you going to say hi to me, too?”
“Who are you?”
“Maddie’s best friend, Elise.”
“Hi, Elise!”
She laughed.
He ran over. “Can I take a selfie with you guys?”
“Of course,” Elise said, right as I was about to say no. He held up his phone and snapped a pic with us, then ran off.
Blaire rolled her eyes. “I hope everyone gets sick of you sooner rather than later because this is going to get old.”
I pushed her arm. “Thanks a lot.”
“You know what I mean.”
The comprehensive multisource packet that Blaire had put together for me was amazing. Stanford really was a great school. But still, UCLA was closer to home. And it wasn’t like it was a bad school. Location was more important. Did money really change all that?
I sent Blaire a text: Thanks for the packet. It’s impressive.
She texted back: Hmm. That does not sound like I convinced you. Let’s have a meeting.
A meeting?
Next Thursday at 7:00 p.m. We will discuss this further.
Okay, boss.
I entered the date into my phone calendar. She was giving me over a week to think about this. She wanted me to think hard.
There was a knock at my door. It swung open and Beau’s head appeared.
“You know, when you knock, you should actually wait for a response.”
“Oh. Right.” He shut the door and knocked again.
“Come in.”
He came in with a smile. “I didn’t know the routine, since you never wait for me to respond in your efforts to save me from my oversleeping.”
“This is true. I’ve trained you poorly. The difference is that I’d have to wait hours for a response. You will get one right away.”
“And here I was coming to ask you what you wanted for dinner, but all I get is abuse.”
“Mom isn’t making dinner, too? I thought she was starting a trend this morning.”
“Not yet,” Beau answered, laughing. “Though maybe if she really does quit her job, we can look forward to that.”
“The thought of homemade dinners by Mom shouldn’t scare me but it totally does,” I said, getting up off my bed and stretching. “So … dinner? Are you making or buying?”
“I was hoping you would buy. That’s why I asked for your opinion at all.”
I took one of my socks off and threw it at him, but then said, “Fine. I will. I don’t have a preference. Whatever you want.”
“Chinese food?”
“Sounds good.”
He started to leave and I said, “Beau, wait.”
He turned, eyebrows raised.
“You’re going back to school, right?”
“Yeah, sure. Next semester.”
“That doesn’t sound very convincing.”
“You want me to sign something in blood? Declare it on my hands and knees? Shout it from the rooftops?”
I shoved his chest with a laugh. “Fine. Whatever. Get out of here.”
If Blaire really wanted me to go to Stanford with her, the only way it would happen would be if I knew things were good here at home. And I wasn’t quite convinced yet.
The next day at lunch Trina Saunders walked up to our group. Trina of the sparkling smile, gorgeous clothes, and awesome bowler group. I actually wasn’t sure about that last category—we hadn’t stuck around the alley to find out, but I assumed she was since she was athletic. She was the star soccer player at our school.
“Maddie,” she said like we spoke all the time. “I hear you’re throwing a party.”
“What? Who said that?” I asked.
“When someone wins the lottery, they throw a party.”
I laughed. “You know a lot of lottery winners?”
“Yes. I know one.” She pointed at me. “And she’s going to throw a party.”
“You are?” Elise asked. Her eyes were big and full of hope as she stared at Trina. I found myself nodding my head.
“You’re right,” I said. “I am throwing a party.”
Blaire coughed. “You are?”
“Yes.” Why shouldn’t I? Everyone at school already knew. And they wanted to celebrate with me. Elise had claimed my birthday wasn’t a real party because I’d only invited three people. And she was right. It wasn’t an anything because not even those three people showed up. I had a real party to throw. Plus, I wanted to make Elise happy. “Spread the word.”
Trina took a pen out of her backpack and wrote her phone number on the notebook I was holding. “Text me the details and I’ll get to sharing.”
“Invite your friends,” Elise called out to Trina as she walked away. “Mason and Beth and Heidi and everyone else!”
Trina smiled at Elise over her shoulder and then was gone.
“See, she’s not sinister,” Elise said at the same exact time Blaire said, “See, sinister.”
They looked at each other and laughed.
“So … a party, huh?” Blaire said.
“It will be fun. You guys will come, right?”