Jake had been talking to Megan in class for almost two full days before he pulled her aside after chemistry.
"Would you be interested in going out somewhere this weekend? Along with Greg and Jen?"
Megan couldn't help but notice that he seemed a little formal. Not that she was really all that surprised – he still grinned at her in that fairly wicked way of his, but ever since he'd been allowed to talk to her, he hadn't actually said much. Megan was pretty sure he still liked her, and she didn't even think he was all that mad at her for losing that bottle. But he still seemed to be acting a little distant towards her. Megan had been trying not to let it get to her, but it was getting harder every day.
Still, Megan didn't ask. There were only two reasons she could think of for why he'd be like that. And since she'd mostly ruled out the first one, it meant it probably had to do with how he was being treated at home – wherever that was now.
Megan tried to ignore it, but she couldn't help noticing how he seemed just a little too aloof – almost detached. But if he was allowed to go out with her, maybe it was a sign that he was finally getting treated better. And as much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, Megan was too afraid to hear the answer to that anyway.
"That would be great." Megan grinned at him. And she was glad to see that he looked relieved.
"So how'd you get your new master to let you come out with me anyway?" Megan asked. She was really glad that whoever it was was loosening up on him, but she was still surprised; it was only a few days ago that he wasn't even allowed to talk to her.
Jake hesitated a second. She saw something flash across his face. Then, he shrugged, looking overly casual.
"I just had to ask the right way." he said. Megan just stared at him a second.
"Ask how?" She folded her arms over her chest; she didn't like the way he was acting.
She knew he never really liked to tell her what was going on, but he was going to have to do a lot better than this. Jake must have seen the look on her face because he relented.
"I asked if I could go out with Greg." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but Megan could see that he felt at least a little bit bad about it.
"So whoever it is just flat-out doesn't know I'm coming?" Megan asked. So much for her idea that he was being treated better; it turned out, he was just acting more like the sneaky genie she'd seen when she first let him out of the bottle. She didn't really see how that was an improvement. It actually looked like a step backwards to her.
"...Not exactly." Jake said, looking a little sheepish. Megan sighed.
"Well, it's better than nothing, I guess." she told him. And if it was the only way she'd be able to hang out with him, she guessed she'd have to just learn to live with it.
So on Sunday night, Megan got a ride to the theater with Jen. Of course, this was the first time Megan would actually be able to hang out with Jake outside of school since all of this started, and she was more excited than she really wanted to admit – especially to Jen. But she'd gotten dressed early, making herself look as nice as she could possibly be without overdoing it.
She was pretty sure that Jen had convinced herself that she'd need to redress Megan when she got there, but Megan was glad to see that that didn't end up being the case. Jen was obviously surprised when she'd walked into Megan's room.
"What?" Megan asked.
"You look nice." Jen shrugged.
"Thanks." Megan rolled her eyes. She pretended Jen's lack of faith annoyed her – and most other days, it probably would have. But she was nervous enough about finally seeing Jake again that she was secretly glad to have Jen's approval.
Since Jen didn't have to fix Megan's outfit, they were able to head out a lot faster than Jen had planned. They got to the movies almost half an hour early.
The two of them waited for Jake and Greg in the lobby, and Megan got more and more nervous with every minute that passed. It had been over two weeks since she had stopped being Jake's master. She never would have thought she'd miss him so fast – or that she'd be so nervous to hang out with him again.
"Do I look alright?" she asked, turning to Jen.
"You know you do – I told you that back at your house."
"Yeah...I know..." Megan trailed off.
"You look fine. Don't worry."
"I can't help it. You think he still likes me, right?" Megan found herself asking.
She was pretty sure she knew the answer, but she still couldn't help remembering how he seemed so disinterested in her so much of the time lately.
"If he's coming to hang out with you when you can't force him to, then yeah – he probably does." Jen rolled her eyes.
Megan decided to ignore her tone. Instead, she focused on watching the people coming in through the doors. She hoped Jake and Greg would get here soon – the longer she had to wait, the more nervous she became. At five minutes past seven, Megan started to get really worried. Maybe they weren't going to show up. Maybe Jake had decided he really didn't want to hang out with Megan after all. It seemed to take forever and she'd half convinced herself that they were going to be stood up, when Megan finally saw them.
"Look – there they are!" Megan said a little more excitedly than she'd meant to.
Greg turned instantly as soon as she said it, like he'd heard her all the way across the room. Megan didn't think she'd been that loud.
Jake turned, following Greg's line of sight. He grinned as soon as he saw her, heading right over.
"Megan!" he said, still grinning.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him look so happy. Maybe that really did mean she should stop wondering if he actually liked her or not.
She hugged him, and he leaned down to kiss her. Megan's stomach did a flip – almost like the first time he'd kissed her.
"I'm so glad to see you." he whispered quietly.
As he pulled away, Megan looked at him closely. Did he look a little pale? Suddenly, Megan wondered how he was being treated. Maybe she was going to have to step up her efforts to find him.
Jen cleared her throat.
Megan looked over guiltily. It wasn't until that moment that she realized she'd never actually told Jen about her first kiss. Megan would have really liked to tell her about it in private. That way, she could explain it, make sure Jen didn't put a negative spin on it. But she could see from Jen's face that it was too late now.
"So is this something you do now?" Jen asked.
Megan knew Jen was trying to be diplomatic, but all her suspicions about Jake were back. Megan sighed; she wondered if Jen would ever get to the point where she actually trusted Jake.
"Well...once or twice." Megan admitted. Jen's eyes got wide.
"So you've done this more than once?" Jen asked.
Megan struggled for something to say.
"What's the big deal?" Greg asked. "They're dating, aren't they? So who cares if they kiss?"
Everyone seemed to freeze for a minute. Megan couldn't think of anything to say. Even Jen seemed to struggle. Megan was surprised to realize that Jake was actually the one to come up with an excuse.
"We just need to be careful for a little while." Jake told him, shrugging.
"Yeah, but why?" Greg asked. "What's with all this secrecy lately?"
"Megan's not allowed to date Jake right now." Jen said, before either Megan or Jake had a chance to say anything.
"Jen!" Megan couldn't believe it. Why would Jen tell Greg that?
"Really? How come?" Greg asked, obviously surprised.
"She's...not doing that well in school." Jen admitted.
Megan's eyes went wide – she couldn't believe Jen had just sold her out like that! At least Jen had the decency to look embarrassed as she said it. Jake, on the other hand, just started smirking.
"She needs to get her grades up." Jake confirmed, looking more excited than Megan really would have liked to see.
Megan didn't even bother to say anything. She just set her jaw, deciding to take it. Besides, this was probably better – at least it wouldn't make Jake look weird. And she did have to admit, it was pretty believable.
Greg stared at her a minute, thinking.
"So that's all it is?" he asked finally. When everyone nodded, Greg slowly started nodding too.
"If that's it..." Greg trailed off. Then he added, "Ok. Well, I hope you get everything under control soon."
"Yeah, thanks." Megan said. She knew he was just trying to be supportive, but it was pretty annoying – especially with the way Jake was staring at her like that. His eyes were shining just a little bit too much for her liking.
"Don't worry, I have faith in her." Jake told him.
Greg seemed to accept that answer, and Megan was glad that that was over. The group walked through the lobby and into the theater.
They found an empty row near the back. As the lights dimmed, Megan reached over to grab Jake's hand.
It was hard to see in the dark, and Megan ended up grabbing him more by the wrist than the hand. She felt something hard under his sleeve, and she pulled it up just a bit to see what it was. In the dim light coming from the front of the room, she saw a flash of silver. Jake took a sharp breath and moved his arm like he was going to jerk it away. He quickly reached over and pulled his sleeve back down with his other hand.
Megan wasn't sure if he was trying to hide it from her, but of course she already knew what it was. Underneath his sleeve he was wearing that silver cuff of his. But she already knew about those – why would he be so worried about them? She wondered if maybe he was trying to hide them from Greg.
"Sorry." he told her, looking a little apologetic. Then he reached over and took her hand. Megan pulled on his arm, signaling him to lean over.
"Why are you wearing those?" she asked quietly. He never kept those cuffs on – unless he was wearing all of his genie clothes. Actually, Megan got the distinct impression that he hated those things. So why the sudden change? Jake glanced over at Jen and Greg before answering.
"Wouldn't want me to forget my place, would we?" he told her.
"Your new...person? They're making you?" Megan asked after a minute. Somehow, that seemed unnecessarily mean. Jake just nodded.
"Since when?"
"Few days ago." Jake shrugged. After a minute he mumbled, "It's not that bad." But he was still pulling at his sleeve self-consciously.
After the movie, Greg suggested they grab something to eat. It sounded good to Megan, but she looked over at Jake before answering.
"You have a specific time you need to be home by?" she asked as casually as she could.
"Not tonight." Jake grinned, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Apparently I can do whatever I want this weekend."
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