When Megan appeared in her room with Jen and Jake, she was surprisingly dizzy. She didn’t remember it being that bad last time. But when she asked Jake about it, he just shrugged.
“This was a farther trip,” he told her.
“I’m going to be sick,” Jen said, staggering over to the bed and laying down. Megan just sat down on the floor, giving Jen the whole bed to herself.
“You seem to be doing pretty well,” Jen told Jake. She opened one eye to stare at him, but kept her head planted firmly on the pillow.
“I am,” Jake told her, shrugging.
“And why’s that?”
“It doesn’t affect me nearly as much as…” he trailed off.
Megan noticed that he was treating Jen exactly the same way as he’d treated Megan when they’d first met. Megan almost thought he could be nervous. Before she’d lost that bottle, she would have said he didn’t even know how to be nervous. But after watching him the past few weeks, she realized that she’d been wrong. Was that why he was acting like that? Did he really think that Jen could end up being as bad as Tara?
“Jake? Are you ok?” Megan asked. She would have thought he’d be happier to not be under Tara anymore.
“I’m fine,” he told her.
But there wasn’t much emotion in it. He must have realized that, though, because he seemed to put a little more effort into it when he added, “Thank you.”
Megan noticed that the ‘thank you’ was addressed to her much more than to Jen.
Still, there was something wrong with it – he seemed to be just telling Megan what he thought she wanted to hear. With a shock she realized that of course that was what he was doing. Tara might not be in charge anymore, but neither was Megan. It was Jen that he couldn’t lie to now. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to let Jen have the bottle after all.
Now that they were back, safe and sound in Megan’s room, she finally had time to reconsider that decision.
When Jen had first realized Tara was the one who’d stolen the bottle, she’d wasted no time in grabbing Megan and heading over to Tara’s house to steal it right back. They’d parked Jen’s car a few houses down. Then, they’d casually strolled up to Tara’s door, found the spare key, and let themselves in.
They’d made their way quickly up to Tara’s room. Megan had been there a time or two before, so she knew right where to go. She’d been sort of hoping that Tara would have left the bottle out in plain view like Megan herself had done, but of course Tara was smarter than that. And really, Tara of all people would know just how easily it could vanish.
When Megan finally saw the bottle, relief flooded through her. Now, she would finally be able to get Jake back, and things could go back to the way they were.
Megan was about to grab that bottle and take charge once again, but Jen stopped her.
“Wait – don’t touch it!” Jen practically yelled. Megan froze.
“What? Why not?” she asked.
Surely whatever Jen wanted could wait thirty seconds. Megan would have just grabbed the bottle and dealt with whatever Jen was so worried about later, but she didn’t. Jen looked concerned enough that Megan thought she should probably hear her friend out.
“Jake’s still at school” Jen pointed out.
“Yeah… so?” Megan asked.
“So what happens when we take that? He just disappears out of the middle of class? How’s that going to look?”
Megan’s eyes widened – she hadn’t even thought of that. She had to admit, it looked like it was a good thing she’d listened to Jen after all. She glanced at her phone. There were still almost forty minutes before English would let out. That was clearly too long to wait, especially since she had no idea if Tara was on her way over to double-check on that bottle – or to punish Jake for wasting her final wish.
After only a second or two of thinking, Jen asked Megan if they could just text Jake – to get him out of class or something. Megan thought that was a very good idea. But as they waited for Jake to tell them that he was somewhere out of sight, somewhere safe enough to be summoned back to that bottle, Jen had one more thing she wanted to talk to Megan about.
“You already lost the bottle once…” Jen started.
“Yeah, I know,” Megan had been kicking herself every day since. She really didn’t need anyone pointing it out to her.
“I mean… can you actually have it again?”
Megan stopped short. She had no idea. How had it never even occurred to her to ask? What if she couldn’t have a genie back again once she’d lost him? Did that mean that all of this had been for nothing? Megan tried to focus, but all she could think about was how she was running out of time. She never had been particularly good at thinking on her feet. So what was she supposed to do? Well, whatever it was, Megan knew she had to make a decision – and fast.
“You keep it,” Megan told Jen. It was probably the hardest thing Megan had ever said in her whole life.
“What?” Jen seemed surprised. Actually, she looked like she thought Megan might be crazy.
“What if you’re right? What if I can’t get him back? You have to do it,” Megan pleaded. “Just… don’t be like Tara, ok? Promise?”
“How could you ever think I’d be that bad?” Jen asked, sounding insulted.
But Megan knew that Jen didn’t particularly like Jake – and definitely didn’t trust him. Besides, even though Megan might have liked to believe that Jen would never treat Jake bad, she had to admit, she never saw it coming from Tara either.
Megan didn’t respond right away, so Jen spoke up.
“I promise,” she said. Apparently Megan still didn’t look convinced because she added, “I swear.”
It was about as much as Megan could hope for, so she nodded.
“Ok,” she said, slowly.
She tried to sound confident, but it hadn’t really come out that way. Apparently Jen agreed, because she just sighed and looked at Megan.
“He is your boyfriend,” Jen pointed out. “Or – was. Before Tara. Whatever. So basically, she made you break up with your boyfriend, made me hate mine, and made Stacey break up with hers. Not to mention the fact that she made you get super close to repeating junior year, and Greg might be getting kicked off the soccer team. So yeah, I think I can do better than that.”
“That’s true,” Megan said. Really, it might actually be hard for Jen to do worse. Megan stepped away from the closet, making room for Jen herself to go and get that bottle. Then, they waited for Jake to text Megan that he was ready. Once they got the message, Megan nodded at Jen.
“Ok – go,” she said.
“So what do I do?” Jen asked. Megan thought about it a moment. She had to admit, she wasn’t completely sure.
“Well, when I firstdid it, I just grabbed the bottle and pulled the cork out,” Megan said, thinking back.
Jen grabbed the bottle off of the closet shelf.
“There’s no cork,” she told Megan.
“Really?” Megan asked, leaning over. Jen was right. “Huh.”
“So then...?”
“Well, the bottle’s yours now, right?” Megan started slowly.
“I guess… sure.”
“Then, just call for Jake,” That’s what Megan always did whenever she wanted to talk to him, wasn’t it?
“What – just say ’Hey, Jake. Come here,’ or something?” Jen looked skeptical.
“Yeah, kind of…” Megan started.
Jen just stared at her in disbelief for a second. But before Jen even had time to say the words – officially, at least – a cloud of blue smoke started appearing in the room. Unlike when Megan had first opened that bottle and summoned a genie, this time the smoke didn’t come from the bottle. Instead, it seemed to sort of appear in the middle of the room, not even three feet from where Megan and Jen were standing. Megan figured it was because this time when he got a new master, he hadn’t actually been in the bottle.
The smoke solidified, and Jake was standing there in the middle of the room, head down and dressed like a genie. Jen exchanged a glance with Megan, but didn’t say anything. Finally, Jake looked up at them disinterestedly.
It seemed to take a minute for him to recognize them. Megan wasn’t completely sure what he had been expecting, but it clearly wasn’t her. She tried not to be insulted by that – especially since once he did register that she was standing in front of him, his mood seemed to change considerably.
“Oh – it’s you!” he said.
He took two quick steps towards her, and wrapped her in a hug. Megan tried not to be shocked at the sudden display. The next thing she knew, he was kissing her.
“I’m so glad to see you,” he told her quietly.
ns216.73.216.10da2
and then Add to home screen.