Jen came over after school like she said. After closing her bedroom door behind them, Megan turned to her dresser. The bottle was sitting there like always.
“Now, don’t freak out, ok?” Megan told her friend.
“Oh, trust me – I won’t.” Jen said flatly.
That’s because you don’t believe me – yet, Megan thought. She could only imagine what Jen would think in a few minutes. Nervously, Megan grabbed the bottle off the dresser and opened it.
As soon as she pulled the cork out of the bottle, there was that plume of blue smoke Megan had come to expect. It only took a few seconds to coalesce, and the genie appeared before her. When he saw Jen standing there next to her, he looked at Megan a little quizzically, but didn’t say anything.
“Are you serious?” Jen practically shouted. She took a step backwards, looking a little pale.
“Shhh!” Megan hissed, motioning her friend to keep it down. “You promised not to freak out!”
“That’s ’cause I thought you were lying... Or crazy.” Jen told her. Like Megan didn’t know; the look on Jen’s face said that should have been obvious.
“Your confidence in me is just overwhelming.” Megan muttered. She thought she heard the genie snicker, but she chose to ignore it.
After several seconds of just staring at him, Jen finally asked, “Is he real?”
“Of course he’s real.” Megan told her, rolling her eyes.
Jen still didn’t look convinced. Cautiously, she walked up to the genie and poked him in the shoulder.
“He is real.” she said, eyes wide.
“I just told you that.”
“So he’s the reason we’re suddenly so popular?” Jen asked, eyes never leaving him.
“Yeah.” Megan told her, nodding.
“Well, thanks.” Jen said, addressing the boy standing there for the first time.
“Only here to help.” he told her a little flatly, and Megan was secretly glad to see that she wasn’t the only one he treated like that.
When he spoke, Jen jumped. The genie tried to remain neutral, but Megan saw a smile flicker across his face.
Jen turned back towards Megan, and Megan caught herself wondering if the genie was making Jen uncomfortable.
“He’s tall.” Jen told her.
“Uh, yeah.” Megan agreed slowly.
“It’s just, I thought he’d be shorter.”
“You thought he didn’t exist.” Megan pointed out.
“Well, yeah. But I mean, if he did exist...” Jen trailed off. “How tall is he anyway?”
“How should I know?” Megan asked. She looked over at the genie, waiting for his response.
“About six-two.” he said after a minute. Jen nodded.
“He’s cute too.” she announced.
“What?” Megan just stared at her. Somehow, she got the feeling that wasn’t something they should be telling him.
“What?” Jen shrugged. Then, correctly reading Megan’s face, added, “I’m pretty sure he knows that anyway.”
Megan just sighed, trying to keep the pained expression on her face to a minimum.
“So, does your mom know about him?”
“Uh, what?” Megan just stared at her in surprise.
“Does you mom know about the guy you’ve been keeping in your bedroom?” Jen started snickering at the thought, and Megan could feel herself turning bright red.
“No, somehow I forgot to mention it to her.” Megan told her.
“Oh? Just slipped your mind?”
“Oh, shut up.” Megan said. Jen just grinned.
“So can I be there when you tell her?” Jen asked, unfazed.
“Of course.” Megan rolled her eyes.
“Really?” Jen actually looked surprised. “When are you going to tell her?”
“Actually, I think I’m gonna go ahead and just never mention it.” Did Jen really think Megan was that dumb?
“But I really wanted to see the look on her face.” Jen said. She tried to look disappointed, but she couldn’t quite smother her grin.
“Yeah, well maybe next time.”
“So what else did you wish for anyway?” Jen asked, abruptly changing the subject.
“Well, nothing yet. Just to be popular.”
Megan shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. It sounded so shallow to actually say out loud. Somehow, admitting it was even worse than the thought of telling her mom that she’d found a genie who was now living in her room.
“That’s it? You’ve had him for like two whole weeks already!”
“How do you know?” Megan asked. It wasn’t like Jen had been there when Megan wished it or anything.
“Because that’s how long we’ve been popular.” Jen sounded exasperated. “I can do math.”
“Well, I kind of wanted to see how my first wish turned out.” Megan said a little defensively.
“And how is it so far?”
“Weirder than you’d think.” Megan said finally.
She was pretty sure she heard the genie snicker quietly to himself across the room, but she pretended not to notice. Again.
“Why’s that?” Jen wanted to know.
“Mostly because no matter how stupid I act, I never seem to get in trouble.”
Actually, she was on the verge of seeing just how much she could get away with, but she thought she’d keep that little fact to herself for now. If Jen ever found out about that, she’d be trying to get Megan suspended on an almost daily basis.
“Oh, sounds terrible.” Jen rolled her eyes. The genie gave Jen a short nod of approval.
“Don’t encourage him.” Megan told her. Jen just laughed.
“So why are we both popular?” Jen asked suddenly.
“What?” Megan asked. “Because I wished it.” Wasn’t Jen paying attention?
“Yeah, you wished for you to be popular, right? What about me?”
Megan just stared at her, trying to figure out where Jen was going with this. When it became obvious that Megan wouldn’t be responding any time soon, Jen turned to the genie still waiting there patiently.
“Why both of us and not just her?” she asked him.
“Because I’m such a nice guy?” the genie tried, giving a smile that looked almost genuine.
“Really? That’s the story you’re going with?” Jen asked, clearly unimpressed.
“Alright, fine – she wished it that way.” he shrugged.
“Really?” Jen looked back at Megan, surprise on her face. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Megan said slowly, not taking her eyes off the genie. Didn’t he tell her that he couldn’t lie? So what was that about? And why was he lying to make her look better?
She really wanted to ask him, but she was smart enough to realize that it’d be better to wait until after Jen left. Especially since asking now would mean admitting that she hadn’t actually considered her friend at all when she made that wish.
Jen stayed for dinner. It wasn’t that great of a meal, just some frozen lasagna Ben had found in the freezer. Normally Megan would have been more than happy for her to stay that long, but ever since the genie made that comment, she’d wanted to ask him what he thought he was doing.
As soon as Jen was out the door, Megan went back up to her room, telling her brothers that she had homework to do. Of course it was true, but that didn’t mean she’d be doing it right now – that’s what homeroom was for.
She grabbed the bottle off her dresser, flopped onto her bed, and opened it up. As usual, he appeared in the middle of the room.
“Sit down.” she told him, motioning to her desk chair.
She hoped if he wasn’t standing all the time, he wouldn’t be so formal. Maybe it would help loosen him up – get him to be a little nicer.
He didn’t look like he really wanted to sit, but he did anyway, perching himself on the edge of the chair. Good enough, Megan decided.
“I thought you said you can’t lie.” she told him. He seemed confused for a minute. Then, a look of realization passed over his face.
“What I said to your friend.” he nodded, a grin flashing across his face at the memory.
“Exactly. So what was that?”
“Well, I can’t lie to you.” he told her. “But your friends, family...everyone else is fair game.” He grinned a little more wickedly than she would have liked to see.
“Oh, well that’s great.”
She’d have to remember that. And just hope he didn’t start lying in a way that would make everything even more complicated.
“So why did you lie to her?” she asked. “And why did you make her popular in the first place?”
It didn’t really seem like something he would do. And the idea that he was such a nice guy had only made her all the more suspicious.
“She was probably going to be popular anyway.” he shrugged. “I mean, she was best friends with the most popular girl in school. So, may as well get it out of the way at the same time.”
“But why was she the only person in the group who kind of realized something wasn’t right?”
“You knew something wasn’t right.” he pointed out.
“But that’s ’cause I’m the one who made the wish though, right?”
“Well, yeah.” he admitted.
“Do you always have to be so difficult?” she asked.
“I don’t have to be–” he started. He must have seen the look on her face though, because he stopped mid-sentence. “Sorry.”
“So why was that? Was it just a mistake? Was it too big a wish?”
Megan didn’t really want to hear it, but she knew she face the possibility that making her popular had strained even the laws of magic. Maybe he’d messed things up just trying to get people to like her. The genie just looked insulted at the very idea.
“No it wasn’t a mistake.” he scowled. “And making you popular wasn’t exactly difficult.”
Megan’s eyes widened – it looked like she hit a nerve with that; he was too upset at her questioning his competence to even bother to act above it all or to insult her. She knew if he’d been thinking clearly, he never would have told her making her popular had been anything less than a miracle.
“So why’d you do it then?” she asked.
For the first time, he looked like maybe he thought he’d said too much.
“Well, it was easier.” he said slowly. “Also...insurance. After your wishes, if she started to find out, maybe I wouldn’t have to wait around so long this time.”
Megan found herself nodding. It did make sense – she knew she’d hate to wait around forever like that for someone to find her.
“She’s pretty smart.” the genie said, cutting into Megan’s thoughts. “I’d have thought it would take her longer to figure it out. And to ask that question.”
“Yeah.” Megan said.
She was a little jealous that he was so ready to compliment Jen and so quick to make her life miserable. After all, he was Megan’s genie – shouldn’t it be the other way around? Still, it did give Megan an idea; she probably should confide in Jen a little more, especially before she made any more wishes.
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