"You won fifty thousand dollars? That was you?"
Rose and Clara looked flabbergasted, while Sam just tore a piece from the pizza, he looked relatively calm. He even dipped his pizza in the guacamole. A dollar-shaped sausage rolled off as soon as he took the bite, Clara casually caught and ate it. It didn't even raise Sam's and Rose's eyebrows.
"Yeah, and I sold the ticket to someone as well."
After licking his finger once, he tore another piece, and this time he pushed it in Clara's mouth. She was about to open her mouth to question him, but Rose narrowed her eyes, she understood he was not comfortable talking about this.
"There's no one threatening you, right?"
Clara's eyes widened with Rose's question, as her small mouth struggled to process the pizza slice. Sam had to push it out with his hand so she could take a small bite. Rose looked directly into Sam's eyes.
Sam just shook his head with a smile and tore another piece. Rose leaned forward slightly, waiting for her turn—and when Sam offered the slice, she took a big bite, almost catching his finger in the process.
"We can go to the Chisholm Trail Center, watch movies, and have a nice time."
Clara, understanding the situation, suggested it, and Rose nodded her head, while Sam just smiled. He was now very confused about which one to choose, he couldn't break one of their hearts.
Boy, you talked big in front of Mom, now what will you do?
With a self-deprecating smile, he stood up, they needed some cola, and he somehow knew it. Clara looked at Rose, while Rose just smiled reassuringly.
"It's fine, right?"
"It is, don't worry about it. Even though you're curious, don't ask about his money, that would be rude. You know how he is, secretive."
Sam returned back to a quiet table, which looked a bit suspicious to him, but he didn't poke it. Three large colas were placed on the table as he sat down with a smile on his face. Clara looked like she was very curious about something, she looked like a kid who wants a candy but is too polite to ask for it.
"Sigh! I changed it for a Harvester, which I will repair and sell for far more, he's an old acquaintance."
Sam, who didn't want to explain much, sighed and explained. Both of them looked super curious, he just couldn't go on with the day with their faces like this.
"You did? That's good."
"Yeah, nice job."
After getting their answers, they finally touched the pizza. The bill came to $45.89. Clara reached for her phone to pay, but Sam stopped her. His wallet was heavy today, so he slipped a fifty on the tray—tip included.
"Sam is rich!!!"
"How long have you been waiting to say this? Sigh! "
The trio sat in the car. Clara was driving this time, she knows this town well. She had to cross this big Newton every day to go to Burton, where her school was. Her family was well-off enough to afford a big school like Newton High, but she was adamant about being with Sam.
Rose was, of course, beside her, and Sam sat alone in the back. He was not sure why these girls were behaving like this today, usually he's the center of the attention. He pulled out his phone and was about to open his note app to write code for the drone app when a slender hand grabbed it forward.
"No phones are allowed, damn!! Your phone is broken, how about we get you a new phone? You've money."
Rose had looked at the broken phone in Sam's hand for a while now, she was also the one who noticed there were many hundred-dollar bills in his wallet, so she thought it was appropriate for him to get one.
"No, I don't need a new phone, this one works."
"Come on, old man, you really need a new phone. As you said earlier, you are going to the college, you can't take this garbage with you."
Sam was about to argue, but he realized he really had had a crappy phone for the past three years, and it was not a bad idea to change the phone for once, he got money anyway.
"Alright, but we can't go overboard. What phones do you guys use?"
"I have this, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and Clara has the 16 Pro Max."
Rose showed her phone, it was just like her—very clean and silver in color. Then she picked out Clara's 15 Pro Max, it was as he expected, glittered with stickers and stuff he didn't even know existed.
"I don't like iPhones. Sorry for being lame. I actually researched a while back. I think I will go with a Google phone."
Sam didn't like restrictions and overpriced things, sure, they might give status and stuff, but he never needed to prove himself. A Google phone, on the other hand, will help him make another app more efficiently.
"Well, we never thought you would get an iPhone, but Google? The camera is not good.
Clara wrinkled her nose, the same way she did when she saw cereal for breakfast. She clearly didn't like the idea of Sam using a phone brand she'd never even considered.
"I don't need a camera, I just need something that helps me—and lets my mom's anxiety rest whenever she calls."
Rose nodded her head, while Clara remembered those TikTok reels where girls would rate a boy 10, but not having an iPhone would make him 1, and then how a gay is not even a gay if he doesn't have an iPhone.
"You're a perfect ten—and definitely not gay."
"Look ahead, idiot!"
Clara turned her head towards Sam to say things, which, even with Sam's intelligence, he was not sure what the hell that was about.