if you like,’ I offer. Scarlett and Liv don’t follow me. Not surprisingly. It’s not every day you get gifted a two hundred and seventy quid bag. I reach into my sports bag and pull out the totes. They look particularly shiny and special next to our school uniforms, which are pretty ug.
‘For reals?’ asks Liv. I nod. Her eyes widen but she doesn’t hesitate, not wanting to risk me changing my mind, I suppose. ‘Dibs on the butternut one.’
Scarlett smiles, ‘Works for me. I’ll have the pink and fawn one that matches Emily’s.’ We grin at each other. Handbag twins. It feels good. A relief. The three of us chat and laugh for the rest of the journey. I don’t look around, but I feel eyes follow me. I guess everyone is curious and any number of people could be staring but I sense it is Ridley and Megan sending the evils. Their loathing can’t touch me though, because I’m protected by an invisible barrier a bit like the one Violet in The Incredibles throws over her family all the time. I guess my mum did just that; she created a protective bubble when she bought that winning ticket.
By lunchtime word has got around that I am giving away designer handbags to my friends, so I have plenty of friends. In the dinner hall, everyone is jostling to be on my table but Scarlett stays close, like a best friend. I’m not an imbecile. I know she’s not my best friend yet but I’m not going to lie, it feels awesome to have the possibility that there might be new friends on the horizon. No one mentions Ridley or Megan or asks what the beef is between us. All anyone wants to talk about is the lottery win.
‘Do you want to know what heaven is?’ I ask. ‘Heaven is all the shops on New Bond Street, the moment after you’ve told the assistant that you’ve won the lottery.’ Everyone gasps and laughs.
I tell them what I learned. ‘Dolce & Gabbana is just out there. Maybe one day I’ll go to some event, like a ball or something, and being so out there will seem like the right fashion choice but it’s not OK for me right now. Miu Miu is crazy chic, Loewe charge over six hundred quid for a pair of khaki trousers. One word. Gap.’ My new friends laugh again.
‘Although, you totally won’t be shopping in Gap anymore,’ points out Scarlett.
‘I hadn’t thought about it.’
‘No, you totally won’t. You’ll be all about brands like DKNY and Boss.’
‘I did try some of theirs, but all their stuff is way too long for me.’
‘They’ll have tailors or something that do the alterations,’ points out Scarlett who I think is taking to me being rich faster than I am.
They want to know exactly what I’ve bought so far and what I’m planning on buying next. We’re not supposed to have our phones on in school hours but I pull out my brand-new iPhone and flick through various sites so I can show the girls what I’ve got. They ooh and ahh appreciatively. I practically drown in a chorus of, ‘You are so lucky!’
‘That is going to look so cute on you!’
‘Do you think I could borrow that?’
I show people the hotel we are going to stay at in New York. Not the one that cost 80K because Mum vetoed that but we’re staying at one that looks really good anyhow.
‘When are you going?’ Nella Wang asks.
‘The week after half term.’
‘Term time?’ Everyone looks surprised, a few gulp in a melodramatic way. It’s to be expected, we are fifteen-year-old girls and yeah, we are excitable! Term-time holidays are a rebellion, maybe even an act of war because the Head is dead strict about people taking time off during term. I still can’t believe Mum agreed to it. I think she only did in the end because the people at the lottery recommended that we get away ‘to take stock, take a breath’ and Mum couldn’t get half-term week off school because nearly everyone in her office has kids and they take turns about who gets to go on leave during school holidays. The ones with younger kids get priority. Mum said she’s going to call the Head today and explain.
‘Do you think you’ll get permission?’ asks Liv.
‘What can Coleman do? He can’t chain me to the desk.’ Everyone laughs at this and we start to make jokes about whether the Head