The next morning, I pulled into the school parking lot, parked, and stepped out of my car. I didn't know what I expected to happen (a big sign posted over the school announcing my good fortune, maybe?), but nothing was different.

I found Jisoo and Irene huddled together around Jisoo's locker.

"Hey, guys," I said as I approached. My heart sped up. This was it. I had to tell them now.

They turned around, looking guilty.

"What is it?" I asked.

Irene had her hands behind her back, and when I tilted my head to see what she was hiding, she brought them forward, revealing a wrapped box. Then she and Jisoo embraced me into a hug.

"I'm sorry about your birthday," Irene said. "I'm an idiot. Boyfriend distracted me. But I dumped him. For you."

"You dumped him? For me? Why would you do that?"

"Because we made a pact. And I've never let a guy distract me like that before. You're my best friend and I missed your birthday to take care of a boy. That's why we made the pact, right? To make sure stuff like that didn't happen."

"You didn't have to break up with Jinyoung for me," I said.

"Oh, now he has a name?" Irene asked in fake indignation.

"You did the right thing, Irene," Jisoo chimed in. "We're proud of you." I elbowed Jisoo but she just shrugged. "What? She did. Long live the pact."

I sighed.

"It wasn't only for you," Irene said. "Jinyoung and I took our first selfie together the other day and I noticed he was too prince-like. I can't date someone whose prince-like while I'm average." (I honestly shipped them too though, but let's pretend this is a reason)

I laughed. "I hear you're majoring in nursing now."

"I am. I'd make a killer nurse." Irene winked and pointed at the wrapped box with a smile. "We got you a present." She placed the gift in my hand.

"And," Jisoo said, "this weekend, we'll take a break from studying and . . ." She paused as if she wasn't sure a world existed outside of studying.

"And do what?" I asked.

"I don't know. Bowling? We've bowled before. Remember that one night?"

I laughed. "Oh my gosh, we're pathetic."

"We have fun," Jisoo protested. "People don't have to go out and do things to have fun. We ahve fun sitting around and talking and studying."

"Now, open your present!" Irene said.

Jisoo was right, of course; we'd had plenty of fun over the years. I untied the ribbon and ripped open the bright yellow paper. Inside the box was a card with a picture of a seagull on it. A quote bubble said: Thank you for your donation.

"You guys donated to the zoo for me?" I asked, looking up with a smile.

"Yes!" Irene exclaimed. "You always talk about how they're a small, struggling zoo and if they had more money, they could do more things. Blah, blah, blah - we tune you out at that point."

I shoved her shoulder. "This is perfect," I said, meaning it.

"You like it?" Jisoo asked. "I thought maybe we should just give you money to use toward dorm room stuff. I know you've been stressed about that."

"No. I mean, I have been, but I'm not anymore," I said, without thinking.

"Did you get birthday money from relatives?" Irene asked.

"Not exactly."

They stood there, silent, waiting for me to explain.

"I wanted to take you both out to dinner and share the news but I'll just do it now." I took a deep breath, still not sure how to tell them. The lottery office needed to hand out a book: How to Tell Your Friends You're a Millionaire Without Making Them Hate You. I chastised myself for the thought. My friends wouldn't hate me. They'd be happy for me.

"You're scaring me. What happened?" Jisoo said.

I put their gift into my backpack, stalling. "I won the lottery."

Jisoo laughed and Irene looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" Jisoo said. "What's wrong?"

I must have a worried look on my face. It was a face that wasn't backing up what I was saying at all. "No. Really. I won the lottery."

Jisoo's mouth dropped open. "Really really?"

"Yes. I promise." I put my hand over my heart and held the other one up as though I was swearing in at a court of law.

A smile spread across Irene's face and she cussed. I'd never heard her swear in my life so it made me laugh.

"Suzy!" Irene exclaimed. "That is amazing! A miracle, really!" Jisoo poked her and she lowered her voice. "When did this happened?" she whispered.

"On Sunday," I said. "Well, I found out on Sunday. I bought the ticket Saturday night, on my birthday," I rambled. "Oh, and that's why I was absent yesterday," I explained hurriedly, glancing at Jisoo. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you last night. I think I was still in shock."

"Understandably," Jisoo said, looking totally shocked herself.

"How much money is it?" Irene asked, wide-eyed.

I gulped. "When all is said and done, about thirty million dollars."

Jisoo glanced to her right and left, then whispered, "That's probably not something you want to go around announcing."

I rolled my eyes. "Nobody here pays attention to us. Do you think they're going to start now?"

Jisoo got her serious face on. "Listen, Suzy. You need to see a financial advisor right away."

Irene raised her hand as if she needed to be called on to speak. "If I won thirty million, I'd drop out of school and travel all over Europe. There's something to be said about life education. Books can't teach you everything."

Jisoo put her hands on her hips. "Do not do that, Suzy. It wouldn't be smart."

"I'm no going to do that!" I exclaimed. Although it did sound pretty awesome.

"Why not? It would be amazing," Irene said.

She and Jisoo argued back and forth for several minutes about why it would or would not be a great decision. Then Jisoo reached out and squeezed my arm. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks," I said as she and Irene pulled me into another hug.

I smiled, feeling dazed. Now that I had told my friends, it was absolutely real.

☘ 𝔏𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔬 𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢 ☘

At lunchtime, I headed across campus toward the library, where I assumed Jisoo and Irene would be. I stopped short when the smell of kbbq invaded my senses. I wheeled straight around to the food truck and proceeded to order three brisket sandwiches. I didn't even blink at the total. With a bag full of goodness in hand, I pulled my phone out and sent a text to Irene and Jisoo: Do not eat. I have food. I repeat, do not eat or you will regret it.

That was how I was, head bent over my phone, thumbs typing, when I slammed forehead first into someone. My phone flew up, I flew back, and both me and my phone landed on the cement. Somehow I'd managed to save the sandwiches, though. Apparently my subconscious had the wrong priorities.

"Oh crap, crap, crap," I said, scrambling for my phone. It now had a huge splintered crack running all the way down the screen.

A frustrated sigh had me looking up to see who I'd run into. Jennie Kim. The Ms. Popular party-thrower herself. She held a Starbucks drink that was now dripping down the front of her shirt.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

I expected her to say something snarky but instead she shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I wasn't looking. Are you okay?" "I'm fine. My phone? Not so much." I  held it up.

"That ."

I pointed at her shirt. "That ."

"Yeah. I think I have another shirt in my car . . ." She trailed off and I realized she was searching her brain for my name.

My name did not exist in her brain. I did not hang in any of the circles she did. Not the student council circle or the fancy car circle or the pretty girls with perfect hair. Definitely not that circle.

"Suzy," I filled in for her.

"Suzy, did your phone break?" she asked.

I looked down at the phone. "Yea. It's my own fault for texting and walking. Thousands of people end up in the emergency room every year from text walking, I should know better."

She laughed, then stopped. "Wait, are you being serious?"

"Yup."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I like to learn stupid facts and apparently tell them to innocent people who probably just want to leave."

Jennie laughed again and I wasn't sure if she was laughing at me or with me. "So, do you need to go to the emergency room?" she asked.

"No. I'm fine. Fine. Thank you for asking." Now shut up and walk away, I told myself. I waved my broken phone at her and headed off.

I found Jisoo in the library working on her laptop.

"Hey, winner," she said, looking up and giving me a secretive grin.

I sat into the chair next to her. "I'm so stupid."

"Actually, you're super smart. Almost top in your class."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you're one percent better."

"What happened?"

"I bumped into Jennie and broke my phone and then I acted totally awkward."

"Oh, you meant socially stupid. Yeah, you are. At least you constantly reaffirm what side of the Popular Fence you belong on."

I smack her arm. "Thanks."

"Well, I'm also one percent ahead of you in that area."

I smiled and looked at her open laptop. "What are you working on?"

"Ugh. That paper Mrs. Ahn assigned."

My stomach dropped. "Oh no!" I'd meant to work on the paper last night but I'd been so exhausted from all the lottery excitement that I'd fallen asleep with all my lights on. "When is that due again?" I asked frantically.

"Tomorrow," Jisoo said, and I felt relieved. I could write the paper tonight.

My phone buzzed. It was a text from Irene. You all in the library?

Before I could even text back she was walking through the double doors.

"You told me not to eat or I'd regret it. Tell me that means you have food for me."

"Oh, right! Food." I pointed to the bag on the table. "I'm treating you all to the most delicious food this campus has to offer because, you know . . . I can now."

Irene opened the bag and let out a long, happy sigh after taking a big whiff of the contents. "You are my hero." She took out a sandwich and unwrapped it. "My super-rich hero. Like Superman. Or Tony Stark."

I laughed.

"Jennie broke Suzy's phone," Jisoo said out of nowhere. "I think that proves she's sinister, like I suspected."

"What?" I said, pausing in the process of unwrapping my own sandwich. "She did not. I broke it myself. I was text walking. Jennie was surprisingly nice about the whole thing. Even with Starbucks dripping down her shirt."

"You ruined her shirt?" Irene asked. "What kind of shirt? Do you think it was designer? She won't want you to pay for a new one, will she?"

"It just looked like regular shirt, I think. It had flowers on it or something."

Irene's eyes widened. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter if it was designer. You could afford to buy that now, Superman."

"Not loving that nickname."

"But you need one," Irene said. "I'll work on it."

"And no, I don't think Jennie's going to make me buy her a new shirt," I added.

"What did she say?" Irene asked.

"She asked if I was okay."

"Was she with her friends?"

"No, just her."

Jisoo made a face and pretended not to hear anything we'd just said. "Yes, she's sinster. The villian to your super hero." She looked at my phone, which I still held. "Don't text and walk again. You'll end up in the emergency room next time."

I laughed and handed her a sandwich. I had the perfect friends for me.