Megan had hoped she’d get used to this wish – especially now that she was stuck with it, but the next few days were just as weird. Any time Megan answered even the most basic question, someone told her how great she was. At least it was coming from students as much as teachers; it made Megan feel like just a little bit less of a suck-up. But nothing could make her feel better when she got an answer wrong and everyone was still impressed by her. It really made her think about wishing to be smarter. That way, she’d at least deserve some of that praise. As it stood, all it did was remind Megan how it was all fake – none of these people really cared about her.
So Wednesday morning, Megan decided not to go to school. She hadn’t told her mom, or pretended to be sick – she just decided not to go. Maybe a day off would help her relax, give her a chance to stop worrying for once. Besides, it wasn’t like she’d been in trouble yet at school anyway – no matter what she did, everyone always seemed to adore her. So this seemed like as good a time as any to test out whether or not she could actually get in trouble at school anymore. If she couldn’t get in trouble for ditching, there was probably nothing she could get in trouble for.
She lied in bed until she was sure no one else was home. Then, she went downstairs and made herself a bowl of cereal. But by ten, she was bored. The only things on TV were weird soap operas and little kids’ shows, and Megan didn’t think she’d be able to stand watching any more of the apparent Sesame Street marathon that was going on. Instead, she went up to her room, thinking maybe she could get some entertainment out of that genie. She didn’t really want to talk to him – especially since their last conversation hadn’t exactly gone as planned, but she was pretty desperate and didn’t know what else to do with her time.
“I’m bored.” she told him when he appeared. He glanced at the clock on her dresser.
“Shouldn’t you be at school?” he asked disinterestedly.
“I’m taking the day off.” Megan shrugged. Not that it was really any of his business anyway.
“Just like that?”
“Sure, why not?” she asked defensively. He just grinned in a way Megan wasn’t sure she liked.
“I wouldn’t have thought you’d be the kind to do something like that.” he told her simply.
“Well, I’m pretty sure I won’t get in trouble for it.” She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Unless you change something without telling me...You wouldn’t do that, would you?”
“Not without telling you.”
“Well, good.” At least that was something.
“Seems like you’re already used to that first wish.” he said, almost to himself.
Megan shrugged. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to it – especially not the way he’d set it up. But there was no way she’d give him the satisfaction of ever admitting that. Or how it was actually a little more stressful than she would have thought. She wondered if there might be a way out of it.
“Remember how you said you couldn’t lie to me?” she asked the genie as casually as she could. He was instantly suspicious, but he tried to act like he was above it all.
“I did. Why?”
“Just wondering.” she told him.
She could tell she’d made him worried, and that was almost enough for her to drop the subject right there. He’d been so smug ever since she’d met him, acting like he didn’t care about any of this. But now, he was actually looking like this might not be going according to plan. Megan grinned to herself; now maybe his plan would be messed up. So why shouldn’t she let him sweat it out a bit?
“Why are you asking?” the genie tried again, pulling Megan from her train of thought. Megan grinned to herself at the note of concern in his voice.
“Can you make someone smarter than you?” she asked finally. As nice as it was to see him squirm like that, she really did need the question answered.
“What do you mean?” he asked slowly.
“If I wished to be smarter, how much smarter would I be? Would I be just barely smarter than I am now? Like, a D+ student instead of straight Ds? Or could you make it so I was actually smarter than you?” Now it was time to see if he really could lie to her.
He hesitated a minute, thinking.
“I’m not sure.” he said finally.
“How can you not be sure?” Surely he knew what he could and couldn’t do.
“No one’s ever asked for that before.”
“What? No one’s ever asked to be the smartest human being on the planet or anything?” Somehow, Megan found that hard to believe.
“Wouldn’t necessarily make them smarter than me, would it?” he grinned. Megan tried not to roll her eyes.
“I mean, probably not smarter than me.” he said finally. “Maybe equal though.”
“Thanks.” Megan said, nodding.
She had to admit she was disappointed in the genie’s answer, but she didn’t dare show him that. Of course she’d been hoping he’d say yes. But then, how could you make someone smarter than you were? He’d probably need to be smart enough to figure out how to do it in the first place. Suddenly, Megan wondered just how smart he really was. It was weird to think that someone who probably wasn’t even a real person could be that much smarter than her.
“Why do you ask?” he wanted to know.
Megan grinned – it looked like she really bothered him with that question. Maybe all she had to do was ask random, cryptic questions to get even with him for his horrible wish-granting skills.
“I was just thinking about my second wish.” she said as casually as she could. She could see him straighten just a little.
“Did you have something in mind?” he asked.
“I did. But it looks like you couldn’t do it anyway.” she shrugged. She turned away so he wouldn’t see her trying to hide her grin.
“I can do almost anything.” he told her helpfully.
“Apparently not this.” she said neutrally. “Maybe it’s one of your rules.”
“I didn’t make the rules.”
He sounded unhappy that he even had rules at all. Megan suppressed a shudder; if he didn’t have any rules, she could only imagine the trouble she could be in.
“So who did?”
“Someone a long time ago.” he said. Megan thought she saw a scowl pass across his face for a split second.
She must have looked worried because soon as he saw her face, his own expression changed. The anger immediately left his eyes, replaced by a dull resignation.
“That was a long time ago – nothing to worry about now...So, you were wishing to be smarter?” he asked, sounding almost sympathetic. “I could do that, if you’d like.”
“You couldn’t make me smart enough for it to be worth it.” She’d rather be stuck as popular, slightly stupid Megan.
“You wanted to be smarter than me.” he nodded. “Any reason why?”
“Really?” Was he serious?
“Alright – I can see why.” he told her, grinning. “So, no second wish then?”
“Not yet. Why do you care anyway?”
“I’m only here to help.”
He gave a kind of grudging bow, but Megan shook her head – that didn’t answer her question.
“Yeah – no kidding. But why do you care?” she asked again.
“Most people don’t wait that long in between.” he shrugged.
“Is waiting that bad?” Megan wondered. “I mean, all you have to do is grant my wishes, hang out when I don’t need you, and you can do...whatever it is you do in the meantime. Ok?”
“Whatever I want?” He eyed her for a minute.
“Yeah.” she told him, trying not to snap.
He was really starting to get on her nerves. Sure, she wasn’t exactly bending over to make him happy, but did he really have so little faith in her that he thought she’d just sit there and lie to him? She put her head in her hands for a minute. The whole reason she’d stayed home in the first place was do something that wouldn’t stress her out, and this conversation wasn’t exactly helping. She needed to go somewhere she could relax.
“Come on – let’s go to the mall.” she told him.
“The mall?” he asked, raising his eyebrows dubiously.
“Sure, why not? If I’m going to have a day off, I want to do something fun – so let’s go. I haven’t been to the arcade in a while.”
“You want me to go with you?” he asked slowly.
“Sure, may as well.”
It’d be more fun than going by herself, even though he looked like the kind of guy who wouldn’t have fun unless he was forced. But it was probably better than sitting around here all day, and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t tease her about going like Drew did. She stared at him a second longer, brows furrowed. He was still dressed in his blue pants. Well, there was no way she’d be seen with him if he was wearing those.
“If you’re coming, put on something else – I’m not taking you anywhere looking like that.”
The genie just grinned.
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