This is the fifth part in a series, so if you haven’t done so already, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV before continuing.
Eliza’s world went dark as two hands were placed over her eyes from behind. “Hi, Angela,” Eliza said without moving.
She was permitted to see again as Angela pulled her hands away and sat down next to her at the lunch table. “How do you always know?”
“I have eyes in the back of my head.”
“Very funny. Anyway, I got the latest copy of EW and was wondering if you want to look over it with me. At the very least, it’ll help keep our minds off the fact we haven’t heard back from any colleges yet.”
“It’s only been a few weeks. I don’t think anyone has heard back yet, unless they applied early decision or early action. Personally, I’m just trying to enjoy the fact that I don’t have to worry about sending out any more applications.”
“Good for you. I am a ball of stress. So I am going to look at glossy, photoshopped pictures of gorgeous people I’ve never met and judge them.” Angela flipped open the magazine and bent her head over it as though she were going to be graded on its contents.
Eliza grinned and scooted her chair closer to Angela’s so she could look over her friend’s shoulder. Her attention was quickly drawn to a story about a certain celebrity buying cars for all his employees as a Christmas bonus. “See, now that’s what people who have stupid amounts of money should do,” Eliza said, pointing to the story. “Share the wealth a little. If you make tens of millions of dollars a year, I should certainly hope you buy a car for everyone you know. And maybe a house.”
“But that’s how rich people end up going bankrupt. People start coming out of the woodwork to ask them for stuff, and those who don’t learn to say no end up giving away their entire fortune.”
“Did you know that happiness actually decreases when people start making more than $75,000 a year?”
“Yeah, everyone’s heard about that study,” said Angela. “I wouldn’t be surprised if employers have started using it as an excuse to not pay anyone more than that.”
“Ugh, I hadn’t thought of that. I was just going to mention I heard about some athlete who read the study, so he’s decided that he and his family are only going to live on $75,000 a year, and that way his fortune will last him the rest of his life.”
“See, that’s what everyone should do.”
“I know, right? Instead they all see their neighbors getting more ridiculously expensive stuff and then they want it, and they use it to justify their outrageous spending.”
“Good to know the game of keeping up with the Joneses never ends, huh?”
Eliza groaned. “Of course it doesn’t, because there will always be somebody who earns and spends more. Trying to make it into a competition just sounds exhausting.”
To be continued…
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