Y is for You Win!

Note: Y and Z take place a few years after graduation!

Beck shivered and drew his coat tighter around his shoulders as he walked to the convenience store across the street from his job. He worked as an actor, like he always dreamed, but unfortunately he only appeared in small-time commercials.

Since graduating Hollywood Arts, he'd appeared as an excited attorney in a commercial for a lawyer's office on cable TV, a guy in a doctor's office who chewed Dentyne Ice, a sleeping employee in a Van Cleef's Rubber Factory ad, and his biggest claim to fame, the new Peppi Cola guy.

The pay wasn't great, and his hours were long. As Beck chose an energy drink from one of the shelves in the mini mart, he caught reflection of himself in the glass. His dark hair had grown longer and there was a shading of stubble along his jaw line. He looked as good as in high school, maybe better, but he didn't even have a steady girlfriend. Women came up to him all the time to flirt, but his relationships never went anywhere. He spent too much time at work to keep a girl happy, but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't quit, he needed the money.

Beck brought his drink to the counter where a blonde girl around his age was snapping her gum. Beck thought he recognized her from high school. Wasn't she the teenager from Karaoke Dokie? He smiled. He loved the ghosts from his past.

"Two ninety," she said, not looking up. "And we're having a sale on scratch tickets, two for one."

"Okay," Beck said. "I'll take two, then."

He didn't gamble, but may as well start. It wasn't like there was anything else going on in his life. Beck took the tickets and his drink, and handed her the cash, then walked back out to his car. He looked down at the scratch tickets. It was sad to think that people got hooked on these things…

He took a coin out of the ash tray and started to scratch. His winning numbers were seven and three. Beck brought the worn penny to the card and started to scratch. Four. Eleven. Six.

Seven! There was a seven! Beck scratched it hopefully, but there was another number next to it. Crap, not seven. Seventy. He continued to scratch, feeling quite silly for getting excited over one of these things. Nobody ever won.

He discarded the scratch ticket, the void patch telling him he didn't win, and then went onto the next card. He scratched and thought…Winning numbers were four and eight…Three…Seven…What was he doing for dinner? Maybe he'd stop somewhere, or order take out. Again. Five…Nine…Maybe that chicken place that just opened. Yeah, that's what he'd do. He liked chicken…Twelve. One. Four. Or maybe he'd-Wait.

Beck looked back at the tiny number four, and then scratched at it again. Yes, it was a plain four. And underneath it were the words "you win!"

Beck smiled happily and checked his prize, expecting maybe twenty bucks, tops. He froze and dropped the card. Jackpot? The card was titled Jackpot? Had he really just won ten million dollars?

Unsure, Beck took his card back into the store where the blonde girl was changing shifts with a tall dark woman.

"Um, I think I might have won?" Beck said, feeling like he was in a dream.

"Oh sure, sweetie, come up here," the lady took his card and glanced down at it, before her eyes widened. "Oh. My. God."

That night, Beck saw himself on the local news.

Jackpot Millionaire from Los Angeles.

Small time actor wins big time cash.

Beck grinned, seeing his surprised face on the screen. This was amazing. He picked up his cell phone, dialed his work place, and left a message that he was quitting. Next, he'd call his old friends from high school up and re-connect with them now that h had the time. Afterwards, he'd find a girl and settle down and start a family. Maybe he'd even look for another job, a better paying one with fewer hours now that he'd been on the news. His name would be more known, right?

Beck smiled once more. His life was starting to turn around.

Note: Aw, yay for Beck! Haha, so next chapter also takes place in the future also like at the end of all my alphabet stories. In case you don't know, I've done ABCat, HIJade, ABeckC (obviously!) and next is going to be AndreBC. Haha, these titles are a little ridiculous. Anyway, keep an eye out for the story because I'm posting it soon! Review, 143!