Kira never spoke up in class. She always sat in the back row, watching and observing her classmates in their daily shenanigans and class discussions. She never liked talking much; it almost felt like too much of a bother to make conversation with strangers. She would much rather spend her time sipping on some green tea and enjoying a nice comic book. Attention was definitely not her “thing.”

On this specific morning, Kira noticed something was off. When she walked into class, the other students’ eyes went to her like a hawk to a baby bird. She felt an uncomfortable presence as she took her seat. She looked down at her school uniform, trying to determine the cause of the staring. Nothing seemed off about her outfit, as it was just a plain blue sweater and a matching skirt with the school logo on it. She tried to brush it off as her social paranoia, and opened her notebook to prepare for notes. She noticed when she looked up that the staring had not ceased. This made Kira very nervous, so she lowered her head into her hands and tried to hide her embarrassment. Students began whispering, and Kira started hearing things like, “I can’t believe she came today” and “I think the shock got to her.”

By now, Kira’s entire face was bright red, and she attempted to ignore it, but the burning sensation on her face got worse as she turned into a human cherry. This caused her classmates to stare more, this time accompanied by giggles and laughs. This went on for almost five more minutes, until one of Kira’s best friends rushed into the classroom to greet her. “Did you hear?” Her friend, Harper, excitedly chirped.

Kira looked up, visually confused.

“Are you seriously telling me you don’t know?”

Kira shook her head at her friend’s question.

“Look!” Harper exclaimed as she pulled out her phone, showing a picture of Kira’s parents.

Kira noticed nothing off about this picture, and this simply confused her even more. For the last two weeks, her parents had been on vacation for work, but that didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary for them.

“Huh?” Kira said as she tilted her head.

“Look closer,” said Harper.

Kira squinted her eyes, focusing on the phone screen. It was an article, the headline reading, “Couple Wins Big: Next Lottery Winners.” Kira felt her jaw drop. Kira would’ve never guessed that such an awkward morning would turn into the best thing that could’ve ever happened to her. Her parents were officially millionaires!