The Shy Billionaire

I feel like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory

Chapter Four

I held the ticket between my fingertips as if it would bite me. Ava's words ran through my mind.

"The chances of winning are like nil."

Jeez. I couldn't believe it. My luck. My stupid luck. How did this happen?

"Excuse me, miss?" the kind lady asked gently. Dazed, I looked up at her concerned face. "Are you all right?" I don't know what my reply was. No. Yes. Maybe this was a dream. I stared at the numbers again.

How did this happen? Why? I've had such terrible luck my whole life. I've never done anything extravagant, knowing that if I did, it would only end up as a disaster. Jeez, what was I doing?

"Wait," the lady said. Her name tag said Beth. A ghost of a smile graced her glossed lips. Her twinkled with curiosity. "You didn't-"

"Yeah," I croaked, finding my voice. "I did."

She squealed before settling back into professional mode. "What are you going to do?"

"What are my options?" I asked, walking towards her desk. It's not like I was an expert. I've never bought a lottery ticket before my birthday, just last week. I didn't expect to win.

"Well," Beth started. "You can receive payments or get the whole thing at once."

"What's the catch?" I wanted to know. How could there not be a catch?

"If you receive payments, you'll never see all of your money," she predicted. "But if you get it all at once, the government takes taxes out of it and then you have to pay people who deal with this in order for you to receive your money." Hmm. Either way, I'm not getting exactly what I had won.

"What would you do?" I wanted to know. It seemed very logical. Her eyes widened and she got flustered.

"Me?" she repeated. "Oh, I don't know. Getting all at once would be the best way to go, in my opinion. You'll still get at least half of what you've won. And then you can do whatever you want with the money. But, that's just me."

I nodded. "I'll do that, then."

Beth smiled at me. "I'll make a call." She gripped her phone and put it up to her ear. In the middle of punching in numbers, she paused. "And congratulations. You are one lucky girl."

I blinked a couple of times. Was she serious? Then again, she didn't know me. She didn't know that I spent all of tenth grade in casts. Nor did she realize that I have railings on my bed because otherwise I fall off onto my hardwood floor every night. But she did have a point. I was suddenly lucky. Overcome with joy at the idea that I, Chance La Vie, actually won something, I grinned at Beth. I couldn't believe it. Safe, cautious, klutzy Chance won the lottery.

THE FREAKING LOTTERY!!!

Oh my, I feel like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. And it is glorious. With shaking fingers, I dialed Ava's number. She was going to be the first to know about this.

"Yolo home slice," her bright voice cheerfully greeted me.

I frowned. "What does that even mean?" I wanted to know.

"Stop frowning, it will give you wrinkles." Wait, what?

"How did you know I was frowning?" I asked her, looking around at my surrounding to see if she was hiding by a plant or something.

"Chance, I know you better than yourself," she pointed out, sighing. I knew that sigh.

I grinned. "Just like how I know that you are exasperated with me for interrupting your alone time with your magazines?" She huffed.

"You have a super power that tells you when I'm drooling over Zayn from One Direction. Seriously, Chance, it's creepy. Stop it. Stop it now."

I laughed heartily. "So, I guess you know where I am, then?" I could barely contain my excitement.

There was a pause before Ava groaned. "Girl, I don't know what you've done, but this is not what I meant by 'live a little' okay?"

"Whoa," I said, trying not to laugh.

She kept going. "I am your friend, okay? Your best friend. And best friends tell each other everything, right?"

"Yess," I said slowly, not following.

"Even if you didn't want to?"

"Of course."

"Even if it was something bad?"

"Ava, what do you think I-"

"Are you at the police station?" she asked bluntly. My eyes widened.

"No!" I yelled into the phone, startling Beth. I waved at her to tell her everything was fine.

"Because you can tell me the truth. Do you need someone to bail you out?" I couldn't believe how serious she was.

"Of course not!"

"So you want to stay on jail?" her incredulous voice came over the phone. I rolled my eyes. "Oh my god! Did you make a 'friend'? Don't tell me you're already someone's-"

"No! Listen, Ava, I'm not in jail. I won the lottery, okay?"

"Are you serious?" she laughed. "Now why would I believe that?"

"Turn on your TV," I commanded. "Look for a news station. They should be announcing the numbers." I heard her sigh and get up. There was a sound of protest that followed. Ava's little brother must have been watching a show.

After another minute, Ava answered. "Okay, they are about to announce it."

"You read to me out loud the numbers on the screen and I will read you what is on the ticket." She sighed and did what she was told. Her voice became louder as I spoke the same numbers in sync to her.

"Oh my god!" She screamed. "You won! You actually won! Chance! Wow. You're like a billionaire now. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Beth- that's the lady who is helping me right now- says that I won't get all of it, but it's still a lot of money."

"Don't get payments," Ava advised. "Just get the whole thing."

"That's what I was told," I said truthfully. "I still can't believe it. I thought I was unlucky?"

"Not anymore, sweetheart." I could tell she was grinning. "I'm so proud of you! You did something different and it paid off!"

Yeah. It did. Ava was right. I'm so glad I did it. And now, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.