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?
أنت تقرأ
All You Never Wanted
قصص المراهقينTwo months ago, Megan found a genie. Things were going great - until that bottle was stolen out of her room. Now, Megan's wishes aren't working, and she's not sure what's going on. Megan realizes that she's going to have to fix this or run the risk...
