When Megan got home, she headed up to her room, dragging her shopping bags behind her. She’d planned on throwing them on her bed and going through them later, but as soon as she walked through the door she realized that wasn’t going to happen; the genie was lounging on her bed, reading a book. Megan didn’t like how comfortable he seemed to be getting in her room.
“Having fun?” she asked a little sharply, setting her bags down on the floor.
She knew she told him he didn’t have to stay in the bottle all the time, but this was still her room. And that was definitely her bed.
“I was just reading.” he said casually, closing the book.
“Yeah.” Megan had seen that – he was propped up on her pillows, looking like he owned the place. Except for the fact that almost everything in the room was pink, she would have sworn it was his.
“Why don’t you ever go to the library or something?” she asked, suddenly uncomfortable. She didn’t like the idea of having what basically amounted to a strange guy in her room – especially when she wasn’t there.
“What for?” he asked. Like the thought had never occurred to him.
“For entertainment. You know, get some of your own books or something?”
She was pretty sure her books weren’t exactly the kind of thing he would have normally chosen to read, especially not the one he’d managed to pick up.
“What? You don’t think I read romance stories?” he asked, grinning wickedly.
“No.” she told him flatly.
She wasn’t even sure she read romance stories. The one he was currently holding had been a hand-me-down from an old aunt. Megan could never even get through the first couple of chapters.
“You’re right – they’re too sappy for me. Too much like fairy tales.”
Megan looked at him in surprise. She would have thought that if anybody liked those, it’d be someone like him.
“I would have thought those would be right up your alley.” she said without really thinking.
“Why?”
“Well, because...you know...” Megan started lamely.
He’d sounded a little defensive, and it took her by surprise. He raised an eyebrow expectantly, and she suddenly found it incredibly hard to say that it was because he was practically a fairy tale character himself. But it looked like he knew what she was thinking without her having to actually say it out loud.
“Actually, that’s part of why I don’t really like those kinds of stories – too unrealistic. Happily ever after?” he looked disgusted by the very idea. “Unless we’re talking about Grimm’s fairy tales. Now those I like.”
“Well, that figures.” Megan mumbled to herself.
She turned and started going through her bags, absentmindedly hanging up her new clothes.
“Shopping trip?” the genie asked.
He looked more interested than Megan thought was probably normal, especially for a guy. He leaned forward, trying to see what she’d bought.
“Yeah.” Megan said, not bothering to take her attention away from the closet. She never realized she had so many clothes before! Half of these things she hadn’t even worn in years.
“You know, if you wanted new clothes, I could have helped you with that.”
“Really?” Megan asked incredulously, turning around to face him.
Seemed like a stupid thing to wish for when she could just as easily get them herself. Sure, she had to suffer through an entire afternoon at the mall, but there was no way she’d ever tell him how miserable that made her.
“Ok, fine.” He held his hands up in surrender, but he still had an impish grin on his face.
“Besides, it was more of a chance to hang out with my friends than anything else.” she shrugged.
“So how is that working out for you? Everything alright?” the genie asked.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
She had friends who actually wanted to do things with her. Megan would have been proud of herself if it hadn’t been for that self-satisfied tone in his voice.
“I guess I owe you a thank you.” she added grudgingly.
“You don’t owe me anything.” he said.
“Oh, please.” Megan rolled her eyes. She was perfectly aware that her current success in life was due to him.
“So you’re happy?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Sure, it was a little weird that everyone acted like whatever she did was a stroke of genius, but she was slowly getting used to that. She just had to ignore the fact that it was kind of a pain and focus on the positive part. People actually cared about her now – wasn’t that what she’d always wanted?
“I guess I’d just be a little...worried.”
He shrugged, like he must have been overreacting. He turned back to his book, but thought better of it. Apparently, he was even less into romance stories than Megan was.
“Yeah? Why’s that?” Megan narrowed her eyes.
“I guess I wouldn’t be sure if they really liked me or not.” he told her. “But it’s good that you don’t worry about those kinds of things.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She tried to sound nonchalant, but maybe asking him about this wasn’t such a good idea.
“Well, it was your wish that got them all talking to you in the first place, right?”
“So?” she asked slowly. She wanted to stare down at her shoes, but she forced herself to make eye contact while she waited for his response.
“Eh, it’s probably nothing.”
“No – say it.”
If there was something going on, Megan wanted to know. Not knowing what he was thinking had to be worse than knowing. Right?
“I guess I’d just be worried that they liked me because they had to, not because they actually did – especially if the first time hanging out together was so they could fix me up.” he told her.
“Whatever.” Megan said, turning quickly.
She pretended to inspect the clothes she’d hung so he wouldn’t see the shock on her face. Maybe it really would have been better not to know what he was thinking.
She tried to rationalize it away, to pretend that he was just saying things like that to mess with her head. Besides, she’d been hanging out with those girls for almost two weeks now, and no one had ever mentioned that she was anything less than perfect. If they really had a problem with her, they would have mentioned it, right?
But deep down, she knew there was a very good chance he was right. Maybe her friends really did only like her because she was popular. Megan took a deep breath and set her jaw, forcing those thoughts aside. She pretended like he hadn’t gotten to her, but in her heart she was afraid they both knew he had.
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Megan sat down at an empty table at lunch, not quite able to forget what the genie had said to her last night. She didn’t want to be paranoid or anything, but it was amazing how easily he could get into her head. She wanted to just ignore everything that came out of his mouth, but she couldn’t do that. After all, he was the one person who knew exactly how far down the food chain Megan had been. If anybody would know how people here really felt about her, it’d be him.
Megan shook herself, trying to put all those thoughts out of her mind. She’d been over all this before, and it was starting to give her a headache. Besides, it was probably nothing anyway. Of course he could get into her head; he’d probably been doing it to people for years. Really, it was best if Megan just ignored him. Her life was pretty good right now, and she really didn’t need to start second-guessing it.
“So guess what happened to me after you left last night.” Jen said loudly, causing Megan to jump.
“What?” Megan asked, finally managing to tear herself away from her own thoughts as she noticed Jen’s beaming face.
“Greg asked me out!”
“Really? That’s great!” Megan told her. Looked like meeting up with him and Kurt had been even luckier than Megan realized.
“I really need to thank that genie of yours.” Jen said.
“Yeah...So when are you going out?” Megan asked, not wanting to talk about the genie.
“This Saturday.” Jen grinned.
“I’m really happy for you.” Megan said. And she was glad to realize that even with all weird stuff that had been going on in her life lately, she could honestly say that. At least this whole thing seemed to be working out for one of us, Megan thought darkly.
“Thanks! You know, I think I’m going to wear my pink top – you know the one with the buttons on the sleeve? What do you think?”
Megan shrugged. Fashion was never really her thing. And her little trip to the mall had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
“You should ask Danielle.” Megan said.
“Good idea.”
“Maybe she’ll make you buy a new closetful of clothes.” Megan grinned at the thought.
“I doubt it.” Jen said, returning the look. “Unlike you, I actually have some idea of what I’m doing.”
“Oh, thanks.” Megan rolled her eyes.
“Any time. Besides, it’s just one date – I bet I have something in my closet she’ll approve of.”
“You’re going to take her to your house?” Megan asked. It was one thing to hang out with these girls, but actually inviting any of them over seemed to take it to a whole new level.
“Sure, why not? We’re friends now, right?” Jen’s face clouded slightly as she added, “It will be kind of weird to have her there though.”
She sat there a minute, thinking. Megan searched for something supportive to say. She was just about to suggest that maybe Jen could bring her clothes to school instead when Jen brightened.
“I don’t know why I’m so nervous about having her over. I mean, she’s super popular, but so what? We’re in the same group now.”
“Yeah...” Megan mumbled vaguely.
“You know, this whole popularity thing is so easy – I mean, I was skeptical at first, but it’s working out pretty great so far.”
“Why were you skeptical?” Why was everyone who knew about that wish so surprised by its success?
“Well, ’cause these things are never supposed to work out, right? But it looks like you did ok with this one. Maybe you should finally start thinking up what your next one’ll be.”
“Yeah.” Megan nodded absentmindedly. But her thoughts drifted right back to that conversation she’d had just last night. A tray landed next to Megan with a thunk.
“What are you girls talking about?” Danielle asked brightly.
“Danielle! Perfect!” Jen grinned.
“What’s up?”
“I need some advice on what to wear this weekend.”
“What’s the occasion?”
“A date with Greg.”
“I knew he’d ask you.” Danielle nodded knowingly. “Especially the way he was talking to you before we left.”
The rest of the group had similar reactions when they heard, and the conversation quickly turned to what Jen should wear and what she should do.
As Megan sat there trying to look interested, a thought suddenly stuck her: it didn’t matter anymore whether Megan was unhappy with that wish or not. If there was a chance that it could ruin Jen’s ability to go out with Greg, there was no way for Megan to change it. How could she risk doing that to her best – and possibly only real – friend? So she made up her mind; she was just going to have to be a lot more careful about her wishes from now on.
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