Megan walked in the door after track that afternoon, trying not to look as dejected as she felt. She'd been hoping that track would take her mind off her problems. And it did – until it was over. As she walked out to the parking lot to wait for Ben, she glanced casually over at the bleachers, to where Jake used to sit, waiting for her. And seeing them empty reminded Megan all over again that he was missing. Ben tried to ask her what was wrong, but Megan really didn't feel like talking. Instead, they drove home in near silence.
When they finally got home, Megan flopped down face-first on the couch. She tried doing some homework, but she was even less excited about it than usual, and she just couldn't concentrate. She spent almost two hours working on her math homework, and she was still only half done. So instead of spending more time on what was starting to look like a lost cause anyway, she got out those now-familiar lists of hers with all her classmates' names.
Jen knew a couple of kids on them from other classes, and she'd been able to confirm that about ten of them really had been at school when Jake's bottle was taken. Megan dutifully checked the list Jen had given her and crossed those names off her own. But she still had way too many people left to eliminate – and how was she even supposed to do that? Megan was still staring at those lists when her mom walked in the door.
"Hi, honey." Megan's mom said when she saw her.
Megan looked up, surprised; she didn't realize she'd been sitting there that long.
"Hi, mom." Megan said.
"How was school today?"
"It was ok."
Megan tried to sound happy, but she didn't think she did a very good job. Her mom must have thought the same thing, because she came over to the couch and sat down next to Megan.
"Is everything alright? You seem like you've been a little down the past couple of days."
"I'm ok. Just tired." Megan told her.
She was about to go back to looking over her lists, or maybe even finishing her homework, when a thought struck her. Slowly, she turned back to her mom.
"Hey, mom?" Megan asked as casually as she could.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" her mom asked. Apparently, Megan wasn't as calm as she'd hoped.
"Have you seen a blue bottle around?"
"A blue bottle?"
"Yeah. I had it in my room, and now it's missing."
"Oh – that one on your desk?" her mom asked after a minute.
"Yeah! Did you see it?"
Megan was already starting to feel relieved. Her mom must have just moved it somewhere. She would tell Megan where it was, and Megan would be able to get Jake back after all.
"I haven't seen it since I put your laundry on your bed last week." Her mom shook her head, and Megan's heart fell.
"Really?" Megan asked, trying her best not to pout.
"Are you sure you didn't just misplace it?"
"Yeah – I looked everywhere."
Megan squirmed, remembering how she and Jen had snuck into her mom's room just a few days ago.
"Well, I'll keep my eye out." her mom said.
"Yeah – ok." Megan replied, even though she was pretty sure that it was too late for that.
"You can always get another one." her mom said, trying to cheer her up. "They always have old things like that down at the flea market."
"Yeah..." Megan mumbled dejectedly. But how could she possibly explain why she needed that particular one?
There didn't seem to be much to say, and Megan found herself lapsing into a thoughtful silence. It was true that Megan's mom wasn't any help, but Megan really should have expected that; it was only desperation that had even made her ask in the first place. Unfortunately, it looked like this was going to be one of those problems that Megan had to figure out on her own.
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Megan spent the entire weekend going over and over her lists; she really didn't even want to go out with her friends on Saturday night. But she'd already promised them, and it wasn't like she could actually do anything about Jake's being missing anyway. All she could really do was just hope he managed to give her some kind of hint – maybe show up somewhere, or give her some kind of message. If he didn't, she might have to get used to the fact that he really could be gone forever. She had to admit, it was starting to look like a definite possibility.
The only thing that made the trip even slightly worthwhile for Megan was the fact that Danielle really did wear that new skirt of hers. And Megan might not have been paying a ton of attention to the description at lunch, but it sure seemed to match. At least that meant her friends were innocent, and she could start focusing on the rest of the school.
Monday morning, Megan sat down in class, trying not to eye the kids around her suspiciously. But she couldn't help wondering if one of them was a thief who had stolen that bottle and basically kidnapped Jake in the process.
She didn't actually expect him to show up to class today. After all, he hadn't been there Thursday or Friday last week, and why would that change now? So when he actually walked into first period just before the bell rang, Megan could hardly believe it. She jumped out of her chair and practically ran over to him.
"I'm so glad you're here!" she told him excitedly.
Even if he did want to stay with whoever had him now, at least she'd still see him at school; things might not actually be that bad after all. "I thought I might never see you again – so what happened – where were you?"
She knew she was talking a little fast, but she couldn't help it; she'd spent almost five days working herself up and wondering just what had happened. And now that she knew he was safe – and actually coming back to school – she was just so relieved. She stared at him for a minute before it occurred to her that he didn't look nearly as happy to see her.
He looked at her apologetically for a minute before sliding his eyes away towards the ground. Then, he moved around her and took his seat on the other side of the room. Megan just turned, watching him walk away and not quite being able to believe that that had really happened.
What was that about? She hadn't seen him in days, hadn't heard a thing from him all weekend, and now he wasn't even going to tell her what was going on? She didn't think she was being unreasonable here or anything. She might not be his master anymore, but they were still friends, right? They were still pretend-dating, weren't they?
The bell rang, signaling the start of class, so Megan walked slowly back to her seat. She tried to get Jake's attention all throughout class, but he didn't so much as glance her way even once. She tried not to let it bother her, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was because she wasn't his master anymore. Did he figure that meant he didn't have to worry about being nice to her? Maybe it meant that he really didn't care about her after all. She tried not to let it get to her, but she couldn't figure out why else he'd be completely ignoring her like that.
She'd kind of hoped he'd be better in math. Maybe he was just acting all weird because he'd been away for a couple days. After all, he acted kind of like that after she'd locked him up for a few days herself. Maybe after a class or two, he'd loosen back up. But he was just as weird in math. Actually, Megan would have to say he was even worse in math than he was in history; he just stared down at his desk, looking like he was trying his best to be invisible. What was going on here?
Of course Spanish was a complete change for him. He met up with Greg, just like always. Something about having a friend who didn't ever treat him like a genie seemed to really help calm him down because as soon as he walked into the room, he looked like he always did – Megan wouldn't have even known anything was wrong if she hadn't seen how he'd been acting all morning. In fact, except for the way he was still completely ignoring her, everything seemed perfectly normal with him.
As soon as class was over, Megan went up to Jake and Greg. Jake casually excused himself. It was so smooth, Megan wouldn't have thought anything of it if he hadn't been acting like that since he showed up this morning. At least she'd been half-expecting it; that made it hurt her feelings slightly less. And she actually wanted to talk to Greg anyway. If she wasn't getting any answers out of Jake, maybe Greg would tell her what was going on.
Of course, Jake wouldn't have told Greg everything – what could he really say that wouldn't let Greg know what he really was? But he might have told Greg why he suddenly didn't seem to want anything to do with her anymore.
Greg wasn't really paying attention to her, but Megan decided not to let that bother her. She might not be quite as popular as she was when Jake was her genie, but she still had to be pretty popular, right? And besides, she was his girlfriend's best friend and his friend's girlfriend – he'd talk to her for sure.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked when he didn't say anything.
"Sure, I guess." He shrugged in a way that said if you have to.
Megan tried to ignore the fact that he was being more than a little distant with her. First Jake, and now Greg. Had she done something to make everybody hate her? Or did her wish stop working as soon as Jake had a new master? That might be something worth checking out at lunch, she thought to herself. But right now, she had to ask Greg what was going on.
"I just wanted to know what was up with Jake." she said finally.
"Why do you care?" Greg asked. Megan couldn't tell if he was annoyed or confused.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Why wouldn't she care?
"Well, I mean, he's fine."
"Really? I tried to talk to him, but he's kind of avoiding me."
"Well, what did you expect?" Greg looked at her blankly.
So, he did know something. Megan couldn't help but wonder what it was – there was no way it was the truth.
"...What are you talking about?" Megan asked slowly, when Greg didn't seem like he'd be continuing on his own any time soon.
"Well, usually when you break up with someone, they don't really talk to you anymore..." Greg told her. He was looking at her like she'd lost her mind.
"I broke up with him?" Megan asked. Since when?
"Yeah. Friday – remember?"
"Friday?" But that didn't make any sense.
"Yeah. Friday." he repeated. And now he was looking concerned. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah – fine." Megan said numbly. "I gotta go. Thanks."
She left, heading for the cafeteria before Greg had time to say anything else.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTzg4z6UhT
