As Jake sat there in chemistry, he thought about what Megan and Jen had said. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Tara trying to blame all of what she’d done on Jen could actually work out fairly well for him.
Megan had been pretty upset to realize that one of her friends had stolen that bottle from her. And of course Jake could see why. But she seemed even more upset now that Tara had tried to worm her way out of any consequences.
Even better, Jen was incensed as well.
There was an excellent chance that Jen’s new focus might be on how not to be like Tara. That meant he probably wouldn’t have to worry about her quite as much as he’d initially thought. She might not like him an awful lot, but as long as he didn’t do anything too drastic, she’d probably let him do what he wanted. Or at least, she wouldn’t restrict him as much as Tara had. And if he could manage to get her to actually trust him, this could work out even better than he’d dared hope.
The final bell rang, and Megan and Greg went to their track and soccer practices, respectively. Jake actually planned on going out to see Megan’s practice again. It had been a while since he’d done that, and it really was a pretty good time to do his homework. He was fairly sure Jen wouldn’t mind – especially after her talk with Tara. Still, he hung back, waiting to talk to her alone.
“So what’s your plan for after school?” Jen asked. “I mean, what do you usually do?”
“...I was thinking I’d like to go to the track field,” Jake told her.
“Yeah, ok,” Jen nodded. “So when will you be home? I mean, it doesn’t really matter... But it’d be kind of nice to know.”
“I’m not sure.”
Jake hadn’t actually thought about it. He’d kind of been planning on going back to Jen’s house after Megan’s practice, but if he was allowed to be out late today, maybe he’d go to the library and grab a few books that he hadn’t read yet. Or maybe he’d go to Greg’s house. He’d almost forgotten how nice it was to have the ability to choose like that.
“Well, my mom’s not going to be home until after dark, so it doesn’t really matter to me,” Jen told him. “But if you’re going to be later than like eight, text me ok?”
“All right,” Jake agreed. He could barely believe she was giving him that kind of freedom. Tara must have really gotten under her skin for this to be happening.
“I just don’t want you appearing in the living room or something when my mom’s sitting there,” Jen added.
“I’d probably just go to your room anyway,” he said. At least, that’s what he’d usually done with Megan. “But I’ll text you before I do.”
“Thanks.”
Jake gave a short nod.
He walked out to the field where track practice took place and sat on the bleachers. As usual, no one was there. Really, almost no one ever came to watch. People went to their meets, he knew. But practice wasn’t nearly as popular. But that was fine with Jake – he didn’t really go out there to socialize anyway.
He had just settled himself on the bench, history book on the seat in front of him, when he saw someone coming up the bleachers. Jake didn’t even look up; it was probably just a parent, or a younger student who had to wait for their sibling to finish. Jake almost grinned to himself; he remembered when he used to have to wait for Megan like that. He might not have needed to sit here hoping for a ride home or whatever other students did, but he’d still liked to wait for her outside. It was better than her room, and definitely better than that bottle.
Whoever had come up the bleachers didn’t stop at the first or second row like Jake had assumed they would. Instead, they came right up to the one he was sitting on.
“Jake,” they sneered.
Jake froze. He knew that voice. And he’d been so sure that he’d never hear it again. So what was she doing here? Hadn’t she already done enough? He was surprised that she would even show her face – he’d have thought she’d be smart enough to leave well enough alone.
“Tara,” Jake said, glancing up. He did his best to seem disinterested.
“I talked to Megan today,” she said.
“I heard,” he replied, staring at her.
She looked a little unkempt, and more than a little worried – almost as worried as she had when she’d forced him to make everyone dislike his best friend.
“You’re looking… quite well.” He grinned in that way that always seemed to drive his masters crazy. He’d never thought he’d ever try to make one of them hate him on purpose, but this could actually be fun. She couldn’t do anything to him anymore, so why not enjoy it for once? This was such a rare opportunity for him.
“Oh, shut up,” she snapped. “What did you do?”
“What could you possibly be talking about?”
He tried to look sweet and innocent, but knew he didn’t succeed. The way Tara was suddenly scooting back an inch or two told Jake that his contempt was showing through.
“I lost that bottle yesterday – I’m guessing just after lunch,” she said.
“Well, it does seem that way.”
“Yeah – I know,” Tara snapped. “God, I wish you would just shut up for once.”
“Now, why would I do that?”
“Because I want to talk to you, that’s why.”
Jake actually laughed, more out of shock than anything else. He’d tried talking with her several times, but she hadn’t been interested. So now that things weren’t going her way, she wanted to talk? Maybe most of this could have been avoided if she’d simply done that in the first place.
“What could you possibly say that I’d be interested in?” he asked. He was almost curious.
“I just want to know why I’m suddenly moving to Alaska.”
“I think you already know the answer to that,” he told her.
“You know Jen took that bottle from me?” Tara asked. She sounded insulted by the very idea.
“I do,” he grinned. She looked pretty irritated – like he wasn’t listening to her properly. Jake decided to add, “I’m actually very aware of who has it at all times.”
“You didn’t even warn me!” she snapped. Jake snickered but didn’t say anything. So, Tara continued. “Jen knew, didn’t she?”
“It depends. Knew what?”
He was pretty sure he knew what she was asking, but he wanted to make her say it out loud. It was clearly making her more upset every time he acted obtuse, and that was turning out to be even better than just coming out and telling her all the things he’d wanted to say.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” she practically yelled. Jake had to try hard to keep from smirking. Tara took a deep breath, continuing. “So how long has Jen known about you? I mean, I seriously doubt you told her I took the bottle.”
“Of course I didn’t – you told me not to,” Jake said, pretending to be supportive. He could see her composure falling away bit by bit with every unhelpful comment he made.
“So how long has she known that you’re just a genie?” she glowered.
“Since the day she met me,” Jake beamed. He really didn’t like her saying genie out loud, but he didn’t let that bother him. Besides, there was no one around to hear them anyway; that was why she was out here confronting him in the first place.
“And you never even mentioned it to me?”
“Why would I ever tell you that?” he asked. Was she insane or just stupid?
“Because I was your master,” she told him.
“And you really think that means I would help you?” Jake couldn’t even hide his shock at that. Did she know nothing?
“Well, you did tell me that I could successfully sneak out of her house once I had that bottle in my hand,” Tara told him. Suddenly, he could almost see her point – he had been slightly helpful in the past. But it was way too late for that now.
“Is there a reason you’ve decided to come out here? Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” A thought struck Jake and he grinned. “Don’t you have cheerleading practice to attend?”
He knew full well that she hadn’t made the team; he’d seen to that. And even if she had, it wasn’t like she’d be on it long enough for it to really matter anyway.
“You know, I hate you so much,” she glared.
“I hear that more than you’d think,” he shrugged. If she thought that would upset him, she was sorely mistaken.
He made a point of turning back to his history book, getting ready to study. It was the same way he’d been dismissed by countless masters, and he knew exactly how she would take it.
“I bet you hear it all the time,” Tara snapped. Jake just laughed derisively.
“You know, you should really count yourself lucky,” he told her.
“Oh yeah?” she scowled. “I don’t see how moving to the middle of nowhere is exactly lucky.”
Jake decided that it was time to stop being nice to her. While he did like to watch her slowly unwind, he knew Megan’s track practice was going to end in a little less than ten minutes. And he didn’t want Tara to walk away without him telling her exactly how he felt. No more of this ‘Jake the high school student’. He needed to remind her of who he really was: ‘Jakob the jinn’.
“Because I could have done so much worse to you,” he told her coldly. He stopped grinning and started sneering instead.
“Really? I seriously doubt it,” she rolled her eyes.
“Of course I could have,” he told her. She didn’t seem very convinced, so he said, “You know why humans don’t like jinn, don’t you?”
“Because all you really do is lie?” she asked.
“I don’t lie,” he told her. “I don’t even have to.”
She furrowed her brows, thinking. But she also looked a little worried. Jakob was actually happy to see just how uncomfortable she looked.
“You know, my dad’s only on assignment for like six months,” she told him. But she wasn’t yelling like she had been just moments ago.
“Maybe,” Jakob shrugged, acting overly casual. “Unless he decides he really likes it up there.”
“He wouldn’t,” Tara said confidently.
“He might. And maybe he decides it’s good for his daughter. Maybe he thinks she should stay up there a little longer.”
“He’d never think that,” Tara said. She sounded confident, but he saw the look in her eyes.
“Well, his daughter does seem to be a little too concerned with material things,” he pointed out. “Like being the most popular girl in school.”
Tara seemed to be at a loss for words. Jakob just grinned at her, letting his hatred show through.
“If I were you, I’d just be glad that I was only going on a long trip. I can always do worse, if I choose.”
Truth be told, he couldn’t really do much to her anymore. He’d only done what he had as a part of a wish. Still, he really could have arranged it to be much more drastic.
The only reason he hadn’t was because of Megan. He figured that if she ever heard he’d made Tara disappear into the woods or get eaten by a bear, she wouldn’t exactly take it well. And now that he’d granted that wish, it was more or less over. Unless Jen wished for something that would let him do more to Tara, she was safe from him. But there was no reason to let her know that.
“I’m going to leave. And I suggest you do the same,” he told her. “Before I do something you’ll regret.”
Jakob packed up his belongings and headed back to the school. He walked through the doors. And as soon as they shut behind him, he disappeared back into Jen’s room.
ns216.73.216.98da2
and then Add to home screen.