Megan went out to the track field, thinking about everything that Jake had said – and what he hadn't. She really wished he would just be more direct for once in his life. But of course, that was too much to hope for.
Practice was just getting started, so Megan casually slipped into the group, ready to start warm-up. She decided to just put everything else out of her mind – Jake's new master, the movies this past weekend – everything. She could deal with it all once practice was over. But for now, she just wanted to enjoy being a normal girl on a normal track team, without any of the complications having a genie in her life had brought her.
She concentrated on her sets, trying to block absolutely everything else out. She still couldn't believe she'd actually joined the track team. It had sort of been a mistake. She'd been talking to Jen about how she'd been thinking of running away – before Jake had made her so incredibly popular, of course. And Megan's new friends had heard her and somehow, the next thing Megan knew, she was getting dragged to track tryouts with Karen. Megan might have secretly kind of wanted to go to track tryouts, but she probably wouldn't have gone through with it without Karen.
Megan had only been running a few minutes, but she was already starting to feel better. She might not have been very into track when she first started, but she had to admit it had really grown on her. She wasn't the best on the team by a long shot, but she was at least comfortably in the middle. It was really nice to be at least average in something, especially since she was so miserable at school.
Practice went by surprisingly fast, and when it was over, Megan was actually feeling pretty great. She always did feel better after a little exercise. Suddenly, her problems didn't seem quite so terrible. She headed out towards the parking lot to wait for Ben to pick her up. But before she got too far away, Coach Danby called out to her.
"McGowen!"
Megan stopped and turned around. As soon as Megan made eye contact, Coach Danby waved her towards the locker rooms.
As the rest of the students walked away, the coach told Megan what was on her mind.
"Megan, I've just gotten the latest reports from the teachers." she started.
"You did?" Megan asked. She hated to admit that she wasn't entirely sure what Coach was talking about.
"As I'm sure you know, you need to maintain a certain GPA in order to be on any sports teams at this school."
"I do?" Megan asked, starting to get worried. She already knew that she wasn't doing great, but why was Coach Danby mentioning it to her? That couldn't be good.
"At least a 2.0." Coach nodded solemnly. Megan's heart skipped a beat. Did she really not even have a 2.0? She knew she had been on a bit of a downhill slide lately, but she'd thought she was doing better than that.
"What happens if I don't?" Megan asked, already dreading the answer.
"Well, then you wouldn't be able to participate in track until you got it up."
"So...I'm off the team?" Megan could hardly believe it. How could this be happening to her?
"Not yet."
Megan breathed a sigh of relief – it wasn't all over yet.
"So what do I do?"
"Well, grades come out officially the week after next. If you can get everything up to a 2.0 by then – and with no failing grades – then you'll be ok."
Megan nodded, feeling relieved. Then, a thought struck her.
"How many classes do I have to worry about?" She was pretty sure it was just math, but something in the way Coach said it made Megan wonder. Coach Danby flipped though a few papers on her clipboard before answering.
"It looks like math." Coach started.
Megan nodded glumly; she already knew she was having problems in that. But when Coach Danby continued, Megan's heart sank even further.
"...And history and Spanish." Coach said. She finished off with, "And keep an eye on chemistry. You're fine there, but borderline."
"Really?" Megan asked. So what was she doing good in? English?
"Unfortunately." Coach Danby said, looking grim. "I'm going to really need you to get those grades up – especially if you want to come to the Walnut Creek meet. Ok?"
"Ok." Megan nodded. She wanted to say something – to defend herself maybe. But there didn't seem to be anything to say. So instead, she made her way back to the parking lot to wait for Ben. As she sat there on the cold concrete bench, she couldn't help but wonder what she was supposed to do.
At least Jake was talking to her now. It might not be much, but at least it was something. And maybe he could help her out. The next time she talked to him, she'd have to ask.
And that's exactly what she did. She felt a little bad about it, but that didn't really matter – she was sure she'd feel even worse if she got kicked off the track team. So when she saw Jake sitting down in science without Greg or Jen, she knew this was her best opportunity.
"Hi, Jake..." she started, trying to get in a little bit of polite conversation before she asked him what she really needed to know.
"Hi..." he replied, narrowing his eyes just a bit.
"So how have you been?" she asked.
"Is something on your mind?" he asked her instead.
Megan tried not to be annoyed. Was she really that obvious? But she didn't have time to worry about it – Jen and Greg could come through that door any minute. So as much as she hated to do it, it was probably better to just get it over with and ask Jake.
"So if you're talking to me now..." Megan trailed off. Suddenly, she felt a little bad about asking him. He was having a hard enough time right now – he didn't need to worry about her problems too.
"What?" Jake asked. Megan hesitated a second before finally answering.
"If you're talking to me now, can you please help me with my homework again? Please?" she added again when she saw the look on Jake's face.
He seemed kind of shocked. Maybe she should have waited a day or two before bringing it up with him, but she really needed to get this fixed as soon as possible – especially with what Coach Danby had said. She really didn't want to get kicked off the track team the week after next. Then, the whole school would know exactly how bad she was at all of her classes.
Jake didn't respond right away, and Megan started to get nervous.
"Jake?" she asked slowly.
"Is that why you want to talk to me?" he asked, and it wasn't exactly hard to see how offended he was.
"Of course not!" Megan told him indignantly. "I want you to talk to me because I'm your friend. But I am also getting ready to get kicked off the track team." And Megan didn't think she even had to point out how embarrassing that would be.
"Really?" Jake asked. And now, he seemed surprised.
"...I need a 2.0." Megan said, glancing down at the floor. She might have been too annoyed at him to be embarrassed a minute ago, but now that she had to explain it to him, she could feel her cheeks starting to burn. She knew that Jake of all people knew just how bad she was at school, but it was still really painful to actually admit out loud.
"And if you don't, you get kicked off the team?" Jake asked.
Megan nodded glumly. Jake considered it a minute before brightening. Megan didn't like the sudden look of glee on his face, and she had to try really hard not to be offended. She remembered seeing that look before – back before she knew him, and definitely before she trusted him. So why was he suddenly looking like that? But as soon as she saw it, the look was gone. Still, Megan wasn't about to let it go.
"Something I should know about?" she asked, trying not to snap.
"No, why?" Jake asked. Somehow, he managed to look annoyed, which only served to bother her even more.
"So why'd you look so happy that I'm going to get kicked off the team?"
"I wasn't happy about that."
"Yes you were – I saw that look." Actually, Megan would have said he was excited – maybe even overjoyed.
"Oh..." A light seemed to go off in his head. "I was thinking about...missed opportunities – with other humans, not you." he added quickly.
Megan eyed him a minute, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. Finally, she turned back to the subject at hand.
"So will you help me or not?" she asked.
Jake thought about it longer than Megan would have liked. Finally, he spoke up.
"If I can." he told her. But he didn't sound very confident.
"Are you not allowed to help me?" Megan asked, trying not to snap. But she wasn't particularly successful. She'd been pretty sure that now that he was allowed to talk to her, that of course he'd be allowed to help her. Or maybe he just didn't want to?
"My – the person in charge..." Jake sneered, "doesn't really want me to associate with you."
"Why would they care?" Megan asked.
Jake just shrugged.
"Fine." Megan sighed. So she was going to have to figure out a way to do this on her own – if she could. But she knew her best chance was to find Jake soon if she wanted to keep from failing her classes and getting kicked off the track team – not to mention save Jake from whoever had taken that stupid bottle.
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