MidReal Story
I stared at the lottery ticket in front of me and wondered if I should buy it.
Scenario: I bought a lottery ticket.
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I stared at the lottery ticket in front of me and wondered if I should buy it.
The last seven dollars in my bank account was a high price to pay for a few seconds of hope, but it was so tempting.
I’d always wanted to win the lottery, and I had a feeling that this ticket was my chance.
I’d bought tickets before, but I’d never won more than ten bucks.
I reached into my pocket and grabbed the crumpled dollar bills and coins I had left, then turned back to look at Jack, who was standing near the counter with his hands in his pockets.
He smiled at me as he leaned against the shelves filled with candy bars and energy drinks.
“Come on, Em,” he said.
“You know you want to.”
I shook my head at him and rolled my eyes.
“You’re such a bad influence,” I said.
Jack was always telling me to live a little, but he had no idea what that meant to me.
I gave him a sarcastic smile and turned back to the glass case in front of me.
He had me figured out.
Jack knew that I loved taking risks and playing games, but he also knew that I didn’t have much money left, so he usually tried to stop me before things got out of hand.
He’d been one of my best friends since we met in college, and we’d always been close.
He liked to tag along on my adventures, even though he had no idea what he was getting himself into most of the time.
“Why don’t you tell her what you said to me?”
Jack asked as he turned to look at Sarah, who was standing next to him.
Sarah was short with curly red hair and a witty sense of humor that could cut you down if you weren’t careful.
She had been my roommate for almost three years, and when Jack decided to move back to Chicago from New York, I suggested that he move in with us because we were looking for another roommate anyway.
Sarah gave him a bored look as she crossed her arms over her chest.
I’ll bet you’re going to tell me anyway,” she said.
“I told him that life is too short not to buy a lottery ticket,” Jack said with a smile.
Sarah looked at me with a smirk on her face and shook her head.
“He’s right, you know,” she said.
“You never spend any money, Em.You’re always worried about tomorrow, but what about today?”
She was right about that too.
I was always worried about running out of money, but I had too many bills to pay and not enough money from my job as a waitress at the local coffee shop to cover everything.
I’d been doing freelance graphic design work for a few clients on the side for a while now, but it wasn’t enough to pay the rent and utilities either.
Sarah had been after me for weeks to find a better job or start working full-time instead of part-time, but I loved my job too much to leave it just yet.
I gave Sarah an annoyed look and sighed as I looked at the lottery ticket again.
“Come on, Em,” Jack teased.
“There are people in line behind you.”
I looked up at the clerk who was standing behind the counter with his arms crossed over his chest as he gave me a disgusted look, but he didn’t say anything about it.
I pushed my glasses up my nose and looked at Sarah and Jack again, then reached into my pocket for my last seven dollars and handed them to the clerk as I took the lottery ticket from his hand and walked away without looking back at them again.
I had better things to do than stand there all day while they argued with me about it.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” Jack said with a grin as he followed me out of the store.
I looked at the ticket in my hand and shrugged.
“Do you want half?”
Jack asked with a smile.
“It’s only fair, right?”
We both knew it was just a joke, but I laughed anyway as I looked at him.
“Sure, if I win,” I said with a grin.
“I guess we’ll have to pool our money together next time.”
Jack lived in a small two-bedroom apartment with me, so we had a deal that he’d help me pay the rent whenever he could, but I promised that I’d pay him back in baked goods instead of cash every month.
The apartment wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it had two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen, so we both had plenty of space.
Since it was on the top floor of an old building with no elevator, I had to walk up six flights of stairs whenever I came home from work, but it was worth it.
The fitness room in the basement made it easy for me to work out when I got home, so I never had an excuse not to do it.
Since the rent was only five hundred dollars a month, it didn’t take long for Jack’s half of the rent to be paid off.
“I don’t know,” I said with a smile.
“I don’t think you can afford it.”
Jack gave me a playful look as he followed me down the street on the way back home.
It was getting dark outside, but we were almost there, so I wasn’t worried about it.
“Who are you kidding?”
he teased as he looked at his watch.
“I don’t have time for this.I have a date with a supermodel in five minutes.”
I laughed at him as we walked up the stairs to our apartment.
“You wish,” I said as I unlocked the door and walked inside.
“You coming in or what?”
Jack gave me a hurt look as he followed me inside, then walked over to the couch and sat down with a sigh.
“You don’t have any respect for my authority,” he joked as he picked up the remote control and turned on the television.
“I thought you were going on a date,” I teased as I walked over to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door as I looked for something to eat.
“I am,” he said as he looked at his watch again.
“Just as soon as my supermodel girlfriend gets here.”
“So what do you want to eat?”
he asked, “We have ice cream, pizza, popcorn, and more popcorn.”
“Why did you buy popcorn?”
I asked with a laugh as I shut the refrigerator door and sat down next to him on the couch.
“Because it was on sale,” he said with a smile as he handed me a bag of popcorn from the coffee table.
“It’s not like we can afford anything else.”
“Thanks,” I said as I took the bag from him and opened it up, then leaned back against the couch and sighed as I looked at the ceiling.
“It’s not that bad,” he said with a shrug.
“I mean, we’ve got food in the fridge, we’re both healthy, and we don’t have any major life-threatening illnesses.”
“That we know of.”
Jack gave me a look as he reached over and put his hand on my forehead as he pretended to check my temperature.
“Nope,” he said with a smile.
“You seem fine to me.”
“How are you feeling?”
he asked as he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.
“I’m fine,” I said as I leaned my head against his shoulder.
“But I wish I had money for a cookie.”
Jack looked at me with a playful smile as he reached over to pick up my lottery ticket from the coffee table.
“What’s this?”
he asked as he looked at it in his hand.
“This is your winning lottery ticket, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh as I looked at it.
“It’s not like I’m going to win anyway.”
“It never hurts to try,” Jack said as he looked at me.
“You want me to pay for your ticket?”
he asked as he looked through his wallet.
“Since you don’t have any money for cookies or anything else?”
“You don’t have to do that,” I told him.
“It was my idea to buy it, so I’ll pay.”
“Are you sure?”
he asked with a teasing smile.
“I mean, you do owe me after all.”
“I do not!”
I said with a laugh as I reached over to take the ticket from his hand.
“If you say so,” he said as he put his wallet away.
“But if you win, you owe me big time.”
“You got it,” I said with a smile as I started to get up from the couch.
“Come on, let’s go.” He got up from the couch and followed me back out the door, then locked it behind us before we started walking back downstairs.
“So what are you going to do if you win?”
Jack asked as we walked back down the stairs to the convenience store below.
“I don’t know,” I said as I thought about it.
“What would you do?”
“I’d probably buy a house somewhere warm,” Jack said with a grin as he opened the door for me and held it open for me to walk inside.
“Then I’d get a dog, maybe two dogs.Or maybe three.
Or four.Wait, how many dogs can I get?”
“As many as you want,” I told him with a laugh as I walked over to the counter where we’d bought our tickets earlier.
I checked the time on my phone and felt my heart race in my chest when I saw that there were only fifteen minutes left until the drawing.
“You’re going to buy another ticket?”
Jack asked in surprise.
“You’re going to use your last ten dollars to buy two tickets?You know the odds of winning, right?”
I felt my face start to turn red when I saw the line behind me and realized that everyone was staring.
“You don’t have to buy the ticket,” Jack said with a laugh as he nudged me in the side.
“I was just kidding anyway.” He reached into his pocket and took out ten dollars before putting it on the counter in front of the cashier and giving him a grin.
“We’ll split the winnings if she wins.” The cashier rolled his eyes and shook his head before taking the money from the counter and scanning our tickets for us.
“Thanks,” Jack said with a grin as he put our tickets in his pocket before picking up the six-pack of beer that he’d bought on the way in and heading toward the door.
“I’m ready to go,” he called over his shoulder to me.
“Okay,” I called back to him as I reached into my pocket and took out my last seven dollars and put it on the counter in front of the cashier.
“I just need one more ticket, please.”
The cashier gave me an annoyed look and shook his head as he scanned my ticket for me and handed it to me along with my change, then turned around and walked back into the storage room.
I checked the time on my phone again and saw that there were only five minutes until the drawing, then took one last look at my ticket before putting it in my pocket and walking toward the door to go join Jack.
I couldn’t help but feel guilty as I walked out of the store.
Even though I knew I was probably never going to win, I couldn’t help but hope that I would.
And even though I was embarrassed by Jack’s teasing and felt bad about spending my last money on lottery tickets, it was still fun to pretend.
“You bought another ticket?”
Jack asked as I walked over to him.
“I did,” I said with a nod as I put my hand in my pocket and took it out so Jack could see it.
“I can’t believe you spent your last seven dollars on this,” Jack said as he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.
“You know I was just kidding when I said we’d split the money, right?”
“I know,” I said with a smile as he opened the door for me.
“But if we ever do win, I’ll split it with you anyway.”
“You’re the best,” Jack said as we walked outside.
“But you have to do me a favor if we win,” I told him as I turned to look up at him with a grin.
“What kind of favor?”
he asked as we started walking down the street.
“If we win, will you share your pool with me?”
“Of course,” Jack said as he nudged me with his shoulder.
“I’m telling you, Em, if you win this money, you have to buy an apartment in my building so we can hang out at the pool together all summer long.
We can have barbecues by the pool every night and have all of our friends over.
It’ll be awesome.” He might as well have been talking about living on Mars because there was no way that could ever happen.
At least not in reality.
But it was fun to dream about winning the lottery and never having to worry about money again.
Besides, if I did win, there would be plenty of money for both of us.
“Okay,” Jack said as we continued down the street.
“But just remember that I gave you this idea so if you ever do win, you have to do it.”
I nodded as we finally reached the end of the street and started walking down the sidewalk toward my apartment building.
“So if you ever do win, you have to share all of your money with me,” Jack told me with a chuckle.
“I guess that sounds fair,” I said as we walked up the stairs and went inside the building.
“We should probably wait until we actually win something before we start making plans though,” Jack pointed out as we started up the stairs.
“Yeah,” I agreed as we walked up the stairs and headed down the hallway toward my apartment.
I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for even buying the ticket because it was just a waste of money and it would never happen anyway.
But at least I had Jack there to keep me grounded and make me laugh even when things seemed hopeless.
Besides, even if we didn’t win the lottery, at least we were still friends and had each other.
That was more than most people had anyway.
“So what are you going to do when you win?”
Jack asked as we finally reached the end of the hallway and stood outside of the door of my apartment.
“I don’t know,” I said as I took a step back and leaned against the wall next to the door and crossed my arms over my chest again.
“I guess I’ll pay off all of my student loans and buy a house or something.”
“Well don’t forget that you promised to buy an apartment in my building too,” Jack reminded me as he sat down on the floor next to me.
“And if you have any money left over after that, you can buy a bar too and give it to me so I can open my own brewery like I’ve always wanted.”
“I can do that for you if you want,” I told him with a grin as I looked down at him.
“And don’t worry because there will be plenty of money left over after all that for you too.”
Jack let out a laugh as he stood up and held his hand out for me. “Well if that’s what you’re going to do when you win then I’ll buy an elephant and live in a tree house or something like that too.” I laughed as I took Jack’s hand and let him help me stand up.
“If you buy an elephant then I’ll take you to the circus so you can learn how to ride it,” I promised him as I unlocked my door and let us inside my apartment.
“Just don’t forget that you owe me a dance in a tutu if we actually win because I’ve always wanted to see that.” Jack rolled his eyes and let out a laugh as I shut the door behind us and locked it up again.
We both knew that it was never going to happen but it was still fun to talk about anyway.
And even though we knew that we would never win, it was still nice to think about all the things that we could do if we did win for a change instead of worrying about how broke we were all the time like normal.
“So where are you going to buy your house then?”
Jack asked as we headed into my bedroom and sat down on my bed.
“Wherever I want,” I told him as I laid back on my bed and stretched out my arms over my head as I looked up at my ceiling that was covered in Christmas lights again because I never really saw any reason to take them down because they didn’t bother anyone anyway so why not just leave them there?
“Maybe some place warm where it’s always sunny and nice outside.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Jack agreed as he laid back on my bed next to me so we were laying side by side in silence for a while as we both thought about what it would be like if we won until finally I sat up again and turned toward Jack as I reached over and grabbed his hand again.
“And then I can quit my job and be a full-time artist and focus on nothing but my art forever,” I told him as I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair so it wasn’t sticking to the sides of my face anymore.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Jack agreed as he sat up next to me and put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.
“I mean, there are plenty of places where you can sell your art and make lots of money so you won’t have to worry about it anymore.
And when it comes to art, you’re one of the best people I know.
So it would only be a matter of time before someone discovered how talented you really are and you could make a living doing what you love the most.”
I felt my face getting warm and I suddenly found it hard to breathe as I tried to think of something to say back to Jack.
But I couldn’t think of anything to say because his words were so nice and they made me feel really good inside.
So I just sat there and looked over at Jack and tried to think of some way to thank him but before I could say anything, I heard the news begin to play on my television in the other room and I suddenly remembered that the Powerball numbers were about to be drawn and I quickly got up and ran out of my bedroom to see if I had won or not.
“Oh my God, what if I actually win?”
I asked as I walked into the living room and saw that the numbers had started to be drawn.
“What would you do?”
Jack asked me as he got up and followed me into the room and stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders as we waited for the last number to be drawn so I could see if I was a millionaire or not.
“I don’t know,” I told him as I tried to catch my breath as I stood in front of the television and waited for the final number to be drawn so I could see if I had won or not.
Suddenly, all the things that I had been thinking about for the last few days as I had been waiting to find out if I had won or not felt really real to me and I suddenly found myself feeling sick to my stomach as I thought about all the things that I could do with the money if I actually won.
“Well, you could start by buying yourself a new car,” Jack suggested as he looked over at me and smiled because he knew how much I hated my car because it was old and beat up and the air conditioning didn’t work anymore because it had been broken for years and I was too poor to ever get it fixed and the stereo was broken too so I could only listen to talk radio in it which was so boring and made me want to fall asleep all the time so I never listened to music in my car anymore because it was just too depressing.
“And then you could buy me a new one too because you still owe me for gas from last year when you drove us to the beach in your old piece of shit car,” he joked as he patted me on the shoulders and gave me a hug around my shoulders as we stood in front of the television and waited for the final number to be drawn.
And we both knew that Jack was only half joking about it because he had been complaining for a long time about how I still owed him for gas from when we went on a road trip last summer but he knew that he would never see a dime of it anyway because he knew that even if I did win, I would never pay him back for it because he was my best friend and he would always be there for me no matter what.
So I just laughed at the joke anyway because that was what best friends did for each other.
And even though it was still fun to think about what it would be like if we actually won for a change instead of always losing like normal, it was still nice to know that no matter what, Jack would always be there for me anyway.
“So you’re still going to buy me a new car if you win, right?”
Jack asked me as he looked down at me and put his arm around my shoulders again.
I asked him with a laugh as I looked up at him and gave him a hug.
“You bet your ass I am!”
he said with a laugh.
“Now let’s get out of here before anyone sees us out here buying lottery tickets like a bunch of losers,” he added with a smile because he was right, no matter what, there was no way that anyone could ever find out that he had bought one too because that would have been way too embarrassing if anyone ever found out that he had bought one too.
But I didn’t care one way or another because Jack was always there for me no matter what.
And I knew that he would always be there for me no matter what.
And he knew that I would always be there for him no matter what too because that was what best friends were supposed to do for each other no matter what anyway.
I said with a smile as Jack and I made our way inside of my apartment building with his arm still wrapped around my shoulders.
“Thanks for coming with me,” I said as I gave him a hug before we made our way up the stairs together.
“You know that I’m always there when you need me,” Jack replied as we made our way up the stairs together and I was so glad that Jack was there because even though I was already exhausted from a long day at work and the stairs were always so steep and difficult to climb, I was so glad that Jack was there to help me because I just didn’t know if I could have done it without him.
But even though I was already exhausted, the four flights of stairs still didn’t seem too bad at all because Jack was there to help me and I knew that I was going to need all of the help that I could get because the next hour was going to feel like it was going to take forever before I heard whether or not my numbers had won this time because I still had no idea what I was going to do if my numbers actually won this time but I couldn’t wait to find out if they did because it was so much fun to think about what I would do with that much money no matter what.
“So, how are you feeling?”
Jack asked as we stood in front of my apartment door and waited for me to find my keys in my purse so that we could go inside.
“I’m okay,” I replied as Jack gave me a hug around my shoulders and waited for me to unlock the door and let us inside.
