As Megan sat down with Jake and Jen in the library, she had to admit she was more than a little nervous. Sure, it was pretty clear that Jake wasn't actually mad at her for losing that bottle, but this was still going to be their first actual conversation since that had happened. She knew she'd talked to him in the hall just an hour ago, but she didn't count that. How could she really call that a conversation when he did nothing but just stand there?
And even just the though of that conversation made her think about that kiss all over again. It made it even harder to come up with what to say to him. She just hoped she could keep it together in front of Jen – and Jake – especially since now that science was over there was a chance that Jen might actually ask Megan what was going on.
Nobody said anything for a minute. Megan had kind of hoped that Jake would start talking – telling them where he was and how to find him maybe. But of course, he didn't. Megan was kind of disappointed, but not surprised. When was the last time he ever made things easy for her?
"So, you want us to find you, right?" Megan asked hesitantly when no one else spoke up.
Jake just stared at her. He managed to look shocked at the question, and Megan suddenly felt a little bad about even asking. But it was a legitimate question, wasn't it? Especially since she'd spent several days being pretty sure he didn't actually even like her at all.
Megan figured she knew the answer just from seeing his face, but she also kind of wanted to hear it out loud. But of course Jake didn't answer her; he was still technically ignoring her.
"So do you?" Jen asked, sounding impatient.
"Of course." Jake said. Then he added, "Actually, the sooner, the better."
"Yeah? Why's that?" Jen asked.
Jake shrugged. It took him a minute before he answered.
"I just don't think this will go all that well." he said.
"Why not?" Megan asked. She was starting to feel bad about losing that bottle all over again.
Jake turned and looked at Jen, as if Megan hadn't said anything at all.
"Trust me." he told her. "I've been doing this for a long time."
"Yeah – trust you." Jen mumbled, and Megan thought she saw her roll her eyes.
"Jen!" Megan snapped. She was surprised in spite of herself. She knew that Jake and Jen didn't exactly get along, but couldn't Jen keep those kinds of thoughts to herself? This was serious after all.
"Sorry." Jen mumbled. She didn't sound all that sorry, but at least it looked like she understood Megan's train of thought. Then she added, "But he did kind of set himself up for it."
Megan didn't find it all that funny, but Jake had a kind of grin on his face.
"I do see your point." he told Jen, shrugging.
"See?" Jen asked, turning back to Megan and looking vindicated.
"Whatever." Megan grumbled. Then sighing in frustration, she asked, "Can we get back to the topic at hand?"
"Fine." Jen said. Then turning back to Jake, she asked, "So who took the bottle?"
"I can't tell you that."
"How can you not tell us?" Megan was incredulous.
"It's not like I don't want to." he told Jen. He tried to hide it, but Megan could tell he was frustrated.
"Well then, what do they look like?" Megan asked.
Jake hesitated a minute. When he didn't answer, Jen spoke up.
"Megan wants to know what they look like." Jen repeated, for Jake's benefit. Jake just stared at her for a second.
"I know." Jake told her. "I can hear her."
"Yeah – just not allowed to talk to me or acknowledge me." Megan mumbled.
"If you get me out of this, I'll do whatever you want." he told Jen. He glanced at Megan before looking back at Jen. "Both of you."
He didn't exactly look happy about offering that, and Megan found herself feeling sorry for him all over again.
"So? Can you give us some sort of hint at least?" Jen asked.
"...I can't – I'm sorry." he said finally, shaking his head. "I really wish I could."
"Your new master stopping you from doing that too?" Megan asked, trying not to snap at him. She knew it wasn't really his fault, but it was still pretty discouraging.
Megan thought she saw him cringe just a little when she said the word master and immediately found herself wondering if he felt that way about all his masters. But instead of focusing on that, Megan decided to look at a slightly different problem.
"So why can't you tell us?" she asked. "I mean, it's just me and Jen – they'll never know."
"Doesn't matter." Jake told Jen. Megan suppressed a sigh; she was really getting sick of him ignoring her like this.
"And why is that?" Megan asked, shifting in her seat.
Jake didn't answer right away. He looked at Megan for a minute. It was the same look he got when he was helping her with her homework – the one that said she should already know the answer. She really hated that look. She decided not to answer him. Whatever she did say would probably be wrong anyway. Instead, she just stared back at him. He continued to stare at her, and Megan finally broke.
"How am I supposed to know?" she asked. She didn't know what kind of deals he'd struck with his new master to get to come back to school; all she'd ever done was make him do a paper for her.
"Well?" Jen asked, turning back to Jake. He sighed and set his jaw before answering.
"It's just...part of the deal I've made." he said finally. It looked almost painful to say, and Megan wondered if he was telling the truth.
"Really?" Jen seemed surprised.
Megan thought about it. Did she ever force him into any deals like that? She was pretty sure she hadn't – even when she was really mad. She looked up at Jake, wondering. But he just shrugged.
"Well, this sounds impossible." Megan announced setting her head in her hands.
"Not impossible – just difficult." Jen told her.
Megan was glad at least one of them was optimistic about all this. Jen turned back to Jake, "So what can you tell us?"
"Not much." he shrugged.
Megan saw his shoulders slump just a fraction before he picked himself back up. And when he looked back at her and Jen, he was looking incredibly calm – almost detached.
"Oh, don't look like that." she told him.
He just looked at her, furrowing his brows.
"You only look super calm like that when things are really bad."
Despite everything that was going on, Jake actually started grinning.
"She's very perceptive." Jake told Jen.
"Yeah, well, I've had plenty of time to watch you in action." Megan informed him.
"So are you two back together?" Jen asked.
"What?" Megan asked, surprised.
"I mean, the way you two have been looking at each other – first in science, and especially now." Jen said.
Megan just stared at Jen; she'd sort of forgotten about how they'd been acting in science. But was she really staring at him worse now than she had been in science? She guessed she must not be as subtle as she'd thought.
"Not officially." Jake told her, before Megan had time to say anything. She tried to hide it, but she was shocked. Didn't he just kiss her not even two hours ago?
Well, she guessed his new master would want to keep a close eye on him. And as much as it annoyed Megan, she couldn't really blame them. After all, she'd felt a similar way when she first met Jake. But whoever it was, they would see – Jake would act just like he was supposed to, and then everything would go back to normal. But for now, they probably should keep their plans quiet.
"Just keep it between our friends." Megan told Jen, nodding.
Jake's eyes got real wide, and he looked kind of horrified.
"What's wrong with that?" Megan was confused. Jake turned back to Jen.
"Please don't tell anyone – especially your friends."
"Why not? They won't tell anyone." Megan said, trying not to be insulted.
Jake just looked at Jen, ignoring Megan as usual.
"They are pretty discreet." Jen told him after a minute.
"Doesn't matter." Jake said, looking incredibly serious. "Promise."
"Fine – we promise." Megan said grudgingly. She didn't know what the big deal was, but she'd never seen him actually look that worried before. Megan couldn't help but wonder what she was missing.
Jen just nodded. Megan breathed a reluctant sigh at that.
They seemed to settle into a sort of silence, and Megan was almost relieved. Then, a thought struck her.
"So can I ask you about my wishes?"
Jake gave a kind of shrug that Megan guessed was for her.
"So apparently you're not my boyfriend anymore...and it looks like I'm not as popular either..." Megan started, working her way up to it. She hesitated a minute before taking a deep breath and letting her question come out in a rush. "So does that mean my wishes only last as long as you're my genie?"
Jen looked at Megan, her eyes widening.
"That's true – I hadn't thought of that." Jen admitted. Then she turned to Jake. "Is that how it works?"
"Not usually." Jake admitted.
"So do you want to explain it then?" Jen asked. She sounded annoyed. Normally, Megan wouldn't have liked Jen talking to him like that, but at this point Megan was pretty annoyed with him herself. Why couldn't he ever just be direct?
Jake sighed.
"Normally, any wish someone makes stays that way – even if they don't want it anymore." Jake grinned nostalgically.
"So what's so different with me?" Megan asked. She found herself wondering if it was because of something she'd done.
Jen repeated Megan's question, and Jake gave her a look.
"The only thing that can change a wish is another wish." he told them.
"So someone wished Megan wouldn't be popular anymore?" Jen asked. "Why?"
Jake just shrugged. He looked vaguely apologetic for a second before Megan saw panic flash across his face. "Sorry, I have to go."
"Wait – you can't go now!" Megan told him. How was she supposed to find him if he didn't actually tell her anything?
"I have to. I'm sorry." he said. Then, he got up and hurried out the door.
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