Megan tried to talk to Jen the next day at school, but she didn’t get much of a chance. She sat down at a table in the front of the cafeteria, glad Jen was only a minute or so behind her.
“How’s your day been so far?” Megan asked. She was trying to be subtle, but she didn’t want to waste any time; their new friends could turn up any minute.
“Fine.” Jen shrugged. “I mean, it’s still school, so it’s not that great.”
“Classes ok? Teachers?” Megan pressed, stealing a quick glance at the cafeteria doors. So far, so good.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t they be?” Jen chewed on her lip for a minute. “Honestly, the only thing weird lately’s been lunch.”
“I’m sorry.” Megan said quickly.
She knew she shouldn’t have brought it up. Things were going just fine before; Jen was happy. Now, all Megan had done was bring attention to the fact that Jen didn’t really belong in this group. It was bad enough that Megan knew the truth, but did she really have to spoil it for her friend too? Why couldn’t she have just kept her big mouth shut for once?
“Why are you sorry?” Jen asked, peering at Megan through narrowed eyes. “It’s not like it’s your fault or anything, you know?”
Megan knew it was just a rhetorical question, but she suddenly found herself trying to stifle a nervous laughter. Jen started looking at her a little too closely, and Megan felt like she had to rush to come up with some kind of excuse.
“I mean, maybe I’ve been acting a little weird the past couple days.” she said hurriedly. It sounded like Jen might not have noticed what was going on until Megan started calling attention to it. Did that mean Megan had just walked into an admission when she didn’t need to?
“No, it’s not you.” Jen told her, bringing Megan out of her mild panic attack. “I just meant that the whole thing’s kind of weird.”
“Weird how?” Megan asked slowly, not sure she really she wanted to know.
“I’m not sure. But every day I sit here with you guys and I just feel like something’s not right. You know?”
“Yeah…”
Megan knew exactly what Jen was saying; she felt the same way every time someone mentioned some great vacation they’d apparently all spent together. The only difference was the fact that Megan actually knew why everything was so weird.
Megan realized she was going to have to explain what was really going on. After all, Jen had been her friend since third grade – if anyone deserved an explanation, it was the girl who’d stuck by loser Megan for all these years.
“Jen, actually–” Megan started. But she didn’t get the chance to finish.
“Hey girls!” Tara exclaimed, sitting down beside Megan.
“Hey, Tara.” Megan said absentmindedly.
It was amazing – Megan had been friends with Tara and her group for less than a week, but she was already getting used to it. Maybe it was due to the fact that pretty much the whole school had spent the last four days treating her like a queen, but Tara and her friends didn’t intimidate Megan nearly as much as they had that first day. Actually, she caught herself wondering why she’d ever been nervous around these girls before.
Megan was sorry she didn’t get a chance to finish her conversation with Jen, but she tried to tell herself it was for the best. And she would have really believed that too – except for random comments being made that caused Jen endless confusion.
Ever since the popular girls had suddenly started acting like they were all best friends, Jen had been a little off. At least twice a day, she’d get this weird look on her face and kind of stare off into space. She looked like maybe she was going to have a stroke or something. So Megan made a promise to herself; she would talk to Jen about it in last period, just to make sure. Then, if she really needed to, she’d figure out a way to tell Jen what she’d done.
During science, once the teacher finally got to writing on the whiteboard, Megan casually scribbled out a note. She pretended like she was writing down what Ms. Harle said, but really she knew there was no point. Jen would take good enough notes that Megan could just copy them, and if she paid even a little attention, she wouldn’t be too lost when it came time for the test. Besides, she’d already learned that she was practically guaranteed an A in whatever class she was in, so why bother paying attention? And this whole thing with Jen was way more important.
Are you ok? Megan wrote. She flipped her paper casually across the lab table so Jen could read it.
Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? Jen asked.
What did you notice was weird at lunch?
Megan figured there was no point in beating around the bush. Jen stared at the paper for a minute, and Megan could see she was thinking. Finally she scribbled something down and slid it back to Megan.
Nothing. I just keep forgetting why Tara and them are friends with us, she’d written.
Because they like us, Megan wrote back.
Still, she felt a little guilty even writing the words out. Of course she knew why Jen couldn’t remember it: there was no actual reason. She almost felt bad that she didn’t write the truth down then and there. But it seemed like something she couldn’t really put down in a note; it needed to be said out loud.
I guess, Jen told her.
Megan gave a short nod, realizing she couldn’t keep this from her friend any longer than she already had. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to casually mention that she’d found a genie.
The bell rang, and Jen got up out of her seat. And as much as Megan wanted to just let Jen leave, she knew she couldn’t do that. If she didn’t do this now, she probably never would. She reached out and grabbed Jen by the sleeve.
“Jen, can I talk to you for a second?” Megan asked as the classroom emptied out.
“Sure, what’s up?”
en looked at her expectantly, but Megan waited until every last kid was safely out of earshot before getting down to business.
“Are you ok?” she asked finally.
“Things have just seemed kind of...odd lately.” Jen admitted after a minute. “I mean like yesterday – Karen asked me if I remembered Stacey’s party last year. And I told her of course. But then I got to thinking about it, and we never went – we weren’t even invited.”
“Yeah...” Megan said slowly.
“It’s like all our friends are acting like they’ve known us for years, but I don’t remember ever actually hanging out with any of them.” Jen continued on, oblivious to Megan’s growing discomfort. “It just seems like something’s off about this whole thing, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Megan said. “Actually, I think I need to talk to you about that.”
“Why?”
“It’s ’cause of me.” Megan told her, looking down at her sneakers.
Jen didn’t say anything, so Megan continued.
“I found this bottle a couple days ago, and I opened it. And there was this genie–”
“Wait, what?” Jen cut her off. She looked like she thought Megan was insane.
“I know – it sounds really weird–”
“No, that’s beyond weird.” Jen told her. “That’s actually crazy talk – I think people have been institutionalized for less.”
“I know.” Megan admitted.
It looked like Jen was going to cut her off again, so Megan spoke quickly before she got the chance.
“I can prove it.” she said.
“How?” Jen asked, folding her arms over her chest.
“Wanna meet him?” Megan asked. She hadn’t really wanted to do it, but it was the only way she could figure to prove she wasn’t a lunatic.
“Are you serious?”
Jen raised her eyebrows, but she still looked more than a little skeptical. Megan got the feeling that Jen was having a hard time believing that Megan would actually be trying to prove this story was true.
“Yeah. Come over tomorrow after school – I’ll show you.” Then Jen would see.
“Why not tonight?” she challenged.
“I guess...” Megan trailed off.
She’d been kind of hoping to hang out with Ben tonight, but that was ok. And if she told her parents that Jen had come over to do homework, they would believe that. They’d probably be so happy Megan was caring enough to get help that they wouldn’t even care how long Jen stayed.
“What? You thinking about backing out?” Jen asked, misreading Megan’s silence.
“Nope – not at all.” Megan told her. “As long as you’re ok riding the bus home with me.”
“We can take my car.” Jen told her.
“Oh, yeah.” Somehow, Megan had forgotten that Jen actually owned a car. “Meet me in the parking lot after school, ok?”
“Fine.” Jen told her. But Megan got the distinct impression that she only agreed just to prove how wrong Megan was.
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