<h4>Chapter 72 - Superbowl</h4>


    Terrance came up to me. "Thanks, bro. I can''t believe I''m actually going to watch the Super Bowl at the stadium!"


    Terrance was 1.80 meters tall and weighed 130 kilos. A giant—even among the 12th graders. And yet, he was in our grade, 9th. (Though not in our ss.)


    He''s not exactly the brightest mind, to say the least. But he''s someone I can actually talk to about football—American football, to be clear—and he really knows his stuff.


    "How''s it been, being the linebacker for our school?" I asked.


    "It''s been awesome, man. The upperssmen are cool too," he said with a big grin.


    "Nice." I thought to myself, <i>you''re like a giant bear. No sane person would pick a fight with that.</i>


    "Hey, I gotta go. The detention, you know..."


    "I told you that wasn''t necessary..."


    "Nah, it''s all good, bro," he said and walked off.


    He got in trouble two months ago. He saw two boys were talking trash about me. He beat them to a pulp. I never asked him to do that, and I didn''t give him anything before or after. He just said, <i>"That''s what friends do."</i> That was it.


    So yeah, when the tickets for the Super Bowl came in and I saw I had a whole VIP suite to myself, I didn''t even hesitate. I sent him a message right away: <i>"Wanna join me in the stadium box?"</i>


    He sent back fifteen messages, 45 misspelled words, and something about bringing hot dogs. That''s Terrance.


    But I knew he''d be grinning the whole game. And honestly? I was happy to have him there.


    A little whileter, I ran into Carly, Sam, and Freddie in the hallway between sses. We greeted each other like usual.


    I nced at Carly and Freddie. "Are you sure you don''t want toe?"


    Freddie shrugged. "My mom thinks football is too violent. She doesn''t even let me watch it sometimes."


    Sam, already wearing a NY Giants jersey and smirking, looked at him mockingly. "Oh you, momma''s boy."


    "I''m not a momma''s boy!" Freddie snapped.


    "You kinda are," Sam teased. "You want me to call her and ask permission right now?"


    "Don''t you dare!"


    And just like that, they started bickering again.


    I turned to Carly. "Are you sure you don''t want toe? If it''s about the money—after <i>Paranormal Activity</i> is released, you can pay me back."


    Carly looked a bit conflicted. She murmured, "I''m watching with my brother."


    "He cane too," I said with a shrug. "Spencer''s a funny guy."


    That made her smile. I could tell she was seriously thinking about it now.


    Then I turned to Sam, raising an eyebrow. "You chose the Giants?"


    She crossed her arms proudly. "Born to win, baby."


    Freddie groaned. "You only picked them because the uniforms are blue."


    "And because they''re gonna crush it. Unlike your delicate little feelings." She grinned.


    Here we go again. I just shook my head and kept walking.


    <i>And Sam, you''re wrong,</i> I thought. <i>Because they will be destroyed.</i>


    —


    A few dayster, we were all on the ne.


    Everyone was there: me, Charlie, n, Terrance, Sam, Parker (our school''s quarterback, currently in 11th grade—and easily the most popr guy there), Regina, Cher Horowitz (Regina''s frenemy), Pepper, Grandpa on my mom''s side, Carly, Spencer, and Freddie.


    Carly had ended up saying yes. She said it was too good to pass up. Freddie was easier to convince—once Carly agreed, he didn''t want to be left out. The real challenge was convincing his mom.


    But somehow, we did it.


    Regina offered to pay for her and her friend''s share, but I told her it wasn''t necessary. She smiled and said, in that case, she''d make sure we got to talk to one of the Ravens yers. (Her dad seems pretty well connected.)


    I was sitting next to Pepper.


    She leaned closer and said, "We''re preparing to shoot the two movies you picked. I already bought the scripts for <i>Brokeback Mountain</i> and <i>My Big Fat Greek Wedding.</i> The first one might stir some controversy with the public, though."


    <i>I nodded, listening carefully. Pepper got me a bunch of scripts from the Writers Guild</i>


    "And the third one—<i>Lost in Trantion</i>—they''re working off your draft. Maybe we''ll be ready by March or April," she added.


    That was faster than I expected. And exactly what I needed to hear.


    Pepper continued, "And <i>Paranormal Activity</i>—if we don''t take it to any festivals, we could release it byte March. But I''ll need a few favors in return to make that happen."


    "Do whatever you think is best," I said. "I don''t know much about that side of things."


    I nced at her with a smirk. "You''re all in."


    Pepper smirked back. "I''d be all in even if you didn''t impress me. I don''t do half-assed work."


    She leaned in slightly. "But winning 42.5 million in a month—50 million minus the 7.5 million loan—and having another 60 million in the pot today... yeah, that gave me a bit more incentive."


    <i>Yeah,</i> we already cashed out 50 million dors after tax. And there are still more toe.


    I smiled and shrugged. "If I go wrong in this game, and all the movies go wrong, we still have around 15 million to y with. And that''s assuming we pay off the loan right now."


    Pepper murmured, "With my 10%, 1.5 million is basically my sry for an entire year when I was a Warner director. And something tells me these movies won''t go wrong."


    Then, I heard two voices bickering from a few seats ahead. Obviously, Sam and Freddie.


    I sighed. "Who the hell let those two sit together?"


    <i>------</i>


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