Nobody Likes Megan McGowen

7. Jen and the Jinn

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.