Megan, Jen, and Jake stood in the middle of Tara’s room. Jake was looking back and forth between Megan and Jen but not saying anything.
When he’d first appeared in front of them, he’d seemed a little nervous. But once he’d realized that it was Megan and Jen standing there and not Tara, the look of relief had been palpable. He’d actually kissed Megan right there in front of Jen – in the middle of Tara’s room. But when it finally dawned on him that Jen was the one holding the bottle, he’d stopped short. Now, he was just staring at both of them, clearly trying to figure out why Megan had let Jen pick up that bottle instead of grabbing it herself.
Megan didn’t have time to give an explanation. As soon as Jake had let go of Megan, Jen started talking.
“We have to get out of here now,” she told Megan and Jake. But Jake didn’t move.
“Why do you have that?” he asked Jen, staring down at the blue bottle in her hand.
“Because we found it in the closet – just a few minutes before we texted you,” Jen said tersely. “Look, we’ll explain everything you want to know, but Tara could be here any minute. We have to get out of here before she sees us.”
“So what if she does?” Jake asked.
He looked like he might actually enjoy the opportunity to confront Tara now that she wasn’t in charge anymore. Megan tried not to think about exactly why he might be looking forward to it, especially when he had a look on his face that was just a bit unnerving.
Megan quickly brushed all of those thoughts aside. Jen was right – they needed to get out of there fast. Megan decided she would have to jump in.
“And if she calls the cops on us? For breaking in?” she asked Jake.
“She wouldn’t do that,” Jake said confidently.
“Yeah? Why not?”
“She’d get in trouble too. For stealing that from you in the first place,” Jake said, nodding at the bottle still in Jen’s hand. But Megan could see he had his doubts.
“There’s not actually any proof she did that, you know,” Jen pointed out.
“Besides, do you really want her to know we have it?” Megan asked. “Then she could just steal it back – again.”
“No, she couldn’t,” Jake replied instantly.
“Really?” Megan was about to ask why that would be, when she heard the front door slam. Someone was in the house.
Megan looked at her friends. Jen’s eyes were huge. And maybe it was just Megan’s imagination, but she thought that even Jake was looking a little concerned. Clearly, he hadn’t really thought Tara would come home so fast.
“What do we do?” Megan asked. She knew who it had to be. Her mind started running through all the ways she’d be getting in trouble for this. How were they ever going to explain what they were doing here?
“Wish?” Jen asked. Megan started nodding – it was the only way she could see that they’d be able to get out of this. But Jake was shaking his head.
“Don’t wish. It might be nothing,” he told them. “But do hide.”
Megan ran immediately towards the closet. Jen and Jake were right behind her. They slid the wooden doors shut as they heard someone stomping down the hall. A few seconds later, someone came in the room.
The closet was crowded and not exactly comfortable, but Megan didn’t dare move. And now that someone was in the room with them, Megan barely even dared to breathe.
“Jake?” a voice called out. It was Tara, of course. And she sounded furious. “Jake where are you? I need to talk to you right now.”
Megan glanced over at Jake. His eyes were shining and his jaw was set. A kind of disturbing smile was spreading itself slowly across his face. He started to reach his hand towards the closet door, but Megan put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.
He looked over at her in surprise, as if he’d completely forgotten she was there. At least that look in his eye was gone now. Megan had to admit, it had made her pretty uncomfortable. She knew it meant he was running through all the possibilities of what he would say or do to Tara. And while she could kind of understand why he might want to get even with her, she also couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever had those kind of thoughts about her. She just hoped Jen hadn’t seen it.
“You better be here,” Tara snapped. But Megan also thought she heard a trace of worry in her voice now.
Megan looked at Jake, wondering what to do. Suddenly, she had an idea. She leaned in and whispered really quietly, directly into his ear.
“Remember when we snuck into my room that one time?” she asked. Then, she pulled away to see his response.
He looked at her quizzically for a minute, thinking. Then, his eyes widened and he nodded. He rubbed his fingers together, and a hint of blue smoke appeared for just a second. Megan guessed that was his way of saying ‘magic’, so she nodded.
Still, Jake hesitated. What could he be waiting for? By now, Tara was making her way towards the closet, no doubt to check on that bottle.
Jake slid his eyes in Jen’s direction, looking doubtful. Was this really a time for him to worry about what Jen thought? Megan scoffed to herself. This was an emergency.
Jake waved his hand just before Tara got to the door.
Megan breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that they’d magically disappear from here and end up somewhere safe – her room, maybe. But nothing happened. Instead, Tara reached the door and pulled on it.
It didn’t budge. She tried again – same result.
“Are you serious? Jake, I’m going to kill you!” Tara said. And now, she was starting to sound panicked. Megan actually almost felt sorry for her. Still, she had more important things to worry about than Tara’s feelings.
She glanced at Jake and pointed at the door, raising her eyebrows at him. She was glad that he’d bought them a few extra minutes, but really, did he think that was all he needed to do? He had to know that this was a temporary solution at best. Jake stared at her for way too long before shrugging and turning to Jen.
Megan saw him lean over and whisper something to Jen. Jen nodded, looking more than a little worried. Then, Jake wrapped one arm around Megan and one around Jen. He pulled them both close to him.
Megan felt a tingling sensation in her limbs, then a lightheadedness. Her stomach lurched, and the whole room seemed to dissolve around her. The last thing she saw was Tara finally managing to open the closet door.
ns216.73.216.240da2
and then Add to home screen.