Free Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery by Keren David

. . . and . . . stuff. As much stuff as I wanted. Stuff for everyone I knew. New stuff every week. It was dazzling. It was incredible. I’d have to buy a huge house to put all the stuff I was going to buy in. I’d have to have a walk-in wardrobe . . . a personal dresser. . .
    I could have anything I wanted. I could style my life any way I wanted it. I’d be like someone in a glossy magazine, showing all the special things in their life. Unique pictures and clothes and furniture. Objects that reminded them of holidays and adventures and people. You have to have money to have stuff like that. And if you don’t, then somehow you’re not as real.
    It was warm in the sunshine, and I was sleepy and my mind was drifting. I could hear the murmur of voices. Shaz and Jack. I was always proud that theygot on with each other, given how Shaz was kind of serious and sensible and wore a headscarf and all that, and Jack took nothing seriously at all. I was the missing link and I obviously did the job well, because without me I didn’t think they’d have ever spoken to each other.
    â€˜You know,’ Shaz was saying, ‘he could be. . .’
    â€˜Leave it to me,’ said Jack. ‘I’ll see him.’
    I opened my eyes. ‘What are you talking about?’ I asked.
    â€˜Oh nothing,’ said Jack lazily.
    â€˜Lia,’ said Shaz, ‘are you all right? You look a bit out of it.’
    So I sat up and shook my curls to make sure there was no grass stuck in them, and said, ‘Who, me? I’m fine. Fine. Never been better.’
    Science was the last lesson of the day. I sprayed on some Impulse. I smeared Vaseline on my lips. I applied Mum’s lash-lengthening mascara. I undid two buttons of my silky cream top (The Hospice Shop, three pounds). Thank goodness we didn’t have a school uniform. I was ready. Bring on the lab partner!
    I glanced over towards Raf as I slid into the seat next to his. I batted my lashes. But he looked away.His nose wrinkled. My stomach clenched. No one had looked away from me all day. His hands were bunched into fists, knuckles white against the dark wood of the lab tops. He was definitely ignoring me. OMG. What had
happened
?
    Mr Pugh was the first teacher of the day to congratulate me on my win.
    â€˜Marvellous! Wonderful! Fantastic!’ he said. ‘I hope your Maths teacher is going to work out the probability for you. . . Well, Lia, the sky’s the limit. How are you going to make a mark with your money?’
    â€˜Ummm . . . I don’t know,’ was my feeble response.
    Mr Pugh thumped his desk. ‘Scientific research!’ he roared. ‘The call of the new! The possibilities! With that money, Lia, you could make a real difference! You could find cures to terrible diseases! You could find energy sources that would slow global warming!’
    Oh God. ‘Yes, but Mr Pugh, I’m not very good at Science,’ I pointed out, even though he’d said so himself quite recently.
    â€˜Never mind, never mind, it doesn’t matter,’ he beamed – certainly not the impression he’d given at the last parent-teacher consultation evening. ‘You canfund research, Lia. Do you know how difficult it is for scientists to get financial backing for their research? You must look into it. . . I’ll give you some websites to look at after the lesson.’
    The whole class was shaking with laughter. But Raf sat still as a statue in his seat. I stole a glimpse out of the corner of my eye. He had his head turned away, as though the sight of me revolted him.
    What the hell was the matter with him? He’d almost kissed me . . . he’d possibly been stalking me – how
did
he know my address? He liked me, I was sure of it. What had happened between then and now? What had I done wrong?
    Nothing. I’d done nothing wrong. Huh. If he was going to come over all Edward Cullen, then he could get stuffed. Stupid