After that disastrous conversation with Megan, Jake was sentenced back to the bottle. He hoped it'd give Megan a chance to rethink things, but he wasn't counting on it. And as soon as he was back inside, the cork came crashing down overhead.
Jake took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Ok, so she was really mad. But he'd made plenty of people mad before. Sure, this time he'd kind of done it on accident, but he was still pretty hopeful it would blow over soon. Maybe he'd have to wait it out for a day or two, but he doubted it'd be longer than that, especially since he went to school with her now. Megan might be kind of oblivious to what he was up to most of the time, but she'd remember school. And when people asked where he was, she'd have to let him out, right? At least, he hoped someone would ask where he was.
He tried to put it out of his mind, but he knew all too well that there had been plenty of times when no one cared where he'd gone to. He could only hope that his having friends this time would keep that from happening. Good thing their friends all thought they were dating; if anyone would know where he was, it should be his girlfriend. And maybe their asking would help convince her that he didn't need to stay in here for weeks.
He knew all of this started with that ridiculous second wish. Why had he done it? He would never admit it to anyone, but it had actually been kind of an accident. Not that he didn't mean to have it happen; he most definitely did. But it was possibly the first time he'd ever done something like that without really worrying about the consequences. It was sort of like an itch he'd scratched without consciously thinking about it. He ran over it in his mind for what must have been the hundredth time. He'd been sitting at the table at lunch, talking to Greg, Kurt, and Drew, just like every other day since he'd started going to her school.
"Can you believe Drew missed that pass?" Greg grinned knowingly.
"Well, I wouldn't have messed up if Kurt wasn't screwing around downfield!" Drew retorted.
"What? Loretto girls are so hot!" Kurt told them.
"Not so hot that you should be messing up like that." Drew muttered.
"You think she'd still be impressed when you end up being on the losing team?" Jake asked.
As he laughed at Kurt, Jake felt a kind of tingling that briefly swept through him; Megan had said something that could qualify as a wish. And even though he was sitting just a little too far away to hear it, he knew what it was anyway – and he knew just what to do about it. He waved his hand, like maybe he was shooing away a piece of dust. It was done before Kurt even had time to respond.
"Of course – who wouldn't be impressed by me?" Kurt told him, unaware of what Jake had just done.
"Of course you'd think that." Greg rolled his eyes.
"Well, you have to admire that kind of confidence." Jake told him.
"Can I talk to you a second?" Megan asked.
Jake looked up. She looked mad – furious, actually. Jake thought quickly, trying to remember what he'd done.
"Oooh, someone's upset." Kurt looked like he was settling in for some fun.
Jake grinned at him, glad that his friends appreciated making Megan mad almost as much as he did. He stood up and followed her outside. It wasn't until they'd left the cafeteria that Jake remembered what he'd done.
His eyes widened, but he tried not to show his sudden worry. Oh, she was going to be really mad at him for this one.
He knew she'd be upset about it sure. But he'd wasted people's wishes before. Actually, it was almost a hobby of his; if he didn't get any, why should they? Especially when they wasted his magic on such frivolous stuff and then left him stuck in a bottle like some thing that wasn't even worth considering. So, he tried to make their wishes come out as awkwardly as possible.
There were some that were worded so that it was almost impossible for him to mess them up. But more often than not, there was some wiggle room. And then, when he was very lucky, there'd be a wish like her second one – something that just kind of came out. They both knew it wasn't a real wish; she probably didn't even care if she had a boyfriend or not. And since she hadn't actually said the words herself, he didn't even have to grant it. But he chose to anyway. The opportunity was too good to pass up; he waited for moments like that.
Even still, he hadn't actually meant to do that to her. Anybody else and he would have jumped at the chance without hesitation. But she was different. He would never have believed it when he first met her, but she was. She let him go to school, and he could even have his own friends. She actually let him do things without her standing right there watching his every move. She let him do enough things on his own that he was finally starting to feel like a normal person again, instead of a wish-granting servant. So maybe he got a little cocky, stopped over-thinking everything for once.
And even though it didn't technically count as one of her wishes, he hadn't actually told her that. She'd assumed it did, and that was enough for him. He might have liked her, but that still didn't mean he could afford to let her know he'd made a mistake – that kind of admission was always taken out on him. He shuddered when he remembered the last time. He'd still have those scars if he couldn't get rid of things like that now – it was pretty much the only advantage to being him these days. So now, he just played those kinds of mistakes off, like it was all part of his game. And it worked. Megan might have been furious, but he'd gotten off lightly. He knew all too well what could happen if they ever really got mad at him.
Even though it had been a mistake, it actually ended up working out surprisingly well. Or at least, it almost worked out well. He remembered that night at Greg's house. Maybe it was relief over the fact that she actually wasn't hurt, but she looked at him like he was actually a real person. It was the first time he'd ever had someone in charge look at him like that. But the look only lasted a minute before she was dragging him towards their friends, his hand in hers. And of course the one time he let his guard down, her best friend had been there to watch it all happen. Jen pulled him aside before rounding on him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Jen asked him. Saying she looked livid would have been an understatement.
"We were just–" he started. But she didn't give him a chance to finish.
"Oh, don't give me that." she told him. "I see how you were looking at Megan – all lovestruck or whatever. What are you trying to pull?"
"And why would you assume I'm trying to pull anything?" he asked coldly.
He hated the accusation that he'd been looking overly fondly at one of his masters. He should never be that transparent. It could only lead to trouble – especially if it wasn't reciprocated.
"You think you're so clever, but we both know what you're up to."
"Really? What's that?" Jake asked, narrowing his eyes.
Jen didn't know half as much as she thought she did, and he really didn't like her tone. Besides, she wasn't the one in charge; her opinion didn't matter.
"You're just using her." Jen snapped. "That's all you do."
"That's not true." Jake started.
"Please." Jen rolled her eyes. "I don't know how you fooled her, but I don't believe for a second that you care about her at all. So if I see you trying to suck up to her again, I'll make sure you live to regret it."
Jake resisted the urge to point out that it was Megan who'd started it; Jen would only think that proved her point. Not that she waited for a response anyway. Instead, she stormed off, back to her friends, leaving Jake standing there alone.
He knew he shouldn't have pushed it at the theater, especially after that. But Megan didn't seem to mind, and couldn't she make her own decisions? He smiled ruefully to himself as he stared at the bottle sides that surrounded him. Maybe she did make her decision after all.
It seemed like he was in there forever – definitely longer than the day or so he'd thought he'd have to endure. He must have misread her; he didn't think she was the kind to take it out on him this bad. Maybe she didn't care about him quite as much as he thought.
Jakob was actually disappointed; he couldn't remember ever misreading a situation so drastically before. Well, he'd have to remember this. And when he thought about what Jen had said to him, he could see just how out of hand this whole thing had gotten. If he ever got out of here again, he'd have to be a lot more careful.
As much as it pained him to admit it, Jen was right; no more of this thinking that maybe he could have a normal life for once – just look at all the trouble that kind of thinking had caused him. No, as bad as it was, things were still much better before all of this.
On what he figured had to be the fourth – or maybe fifth – day, a shadow fell over the bottle, and he raised his head automatically. Looked like someone was there. Megan, he knew – who else would it be? She grabbed the neck of the bottle with one hand, severely limiting the small amount of light that did manage to find its way in from the outside. Good thing he knew how to make it light in here on his own.
There was a loud squeaking sound from up above. He covered his ears, trying to figure out what it was.
As he stared upwards, he saw a bit of the cork – about the size of a pinhead – pushing itself down.
Suddenly, his heart started to beat faster. That had to mean it was breaking up. All he could do was hope that whatever it was broke through to the other side. If that happened, he'd be able to come and go as he pleased – at least, until someone else found a stopper for it. But just as he was planning what exactly he'd do when he finally escaped, that center section of cork stopped moving. It looked like it really wasn't going to be breaking apart after all.
"Of course." Jakob muttered to himself. Did anything ever go his way?
Just as Jakob was resigning himself to the fact that he'd have to stay here a while longer, the cork moved up just a fraction. Jakob almost thought he was imagining it. Then, it did it again. Finally, Megan gave one last tug and the cork came flying out.
The bottle jerked downward with the force, but Jakob didn't care – he was finally free. He was out of there before Megan even had time to set it back on the table.
"Jake!" she said, relief flooding her face.
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