All You Never Wanted

8. Power Change

As Jake was summoned out of the middle of the stairwell and to wherever his new master was, he closed his eyes like he always did.

It made the sudden change a lot easier to handle. When he didn't, he had a tendency to feel lightheaded, and he needed to have his wits about him as much as possible when facing someone new. He needed to figure out who they were, what they wanted, and how to keep ahead of them – and do all of that as fast as possible. Besides, he couldn't stand to have these meetings while looking disoriented or weak.

As usual, Jake's head was down when he appeared; it gave him time to get his bearings and to steel himself before he faced whoever was standing in front of him.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was that he was back in his jinn clothing, but he tried to ignore that; it's what always happened when he got someone new in charge. Besides, he'd really rather ignore those horrible clothes anyway.

The second thing he saw was the beige carpet and a bedpost that looked familiar. And when he saw that faint stain on the floor, he knew where he was – Megan's room. Well, that was something at least. Now to find out who had broken in here and what they wanted.

Jake finally raised his head, trying not to look anything other than indifferent. He'd learned a long time ago that this was the best way to deal with these new meetings; anything else showed weakness. And that was always punished. He saw Megan's room, just the way she'd left it this morning. But of course, the person standing there holding that bottle wasn't Megan at all.

"Jake?"

She looked shocked, and Jake couldn't say he blamed her; he was pretty sure he was just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

Jake didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it obviously wasn't him. He didn't say anything; there didn't seem to be much to say. He'd never had someone get to know him as a person before being in charge, and he wasn't quite sure how to react. His first thought was to act like he always did: somewhat distant, aloof – like the that jinn he was. But another part of him wondered if that was such a good idea. She already knew him; maybe he shouldn't do anything that would let her think of him as less than human. That would be a step backwards at this point.

When he didn't say anything right away, she spoke up.

"...So you're the one behind all this?" She sounded almost upset, like he'd somehow tricked her personally.

"All this?" he asked.

He was pretty sure he knew what she meant, but he didn't see the need to give anything away if she didn't already know it. Better to act like he was above such things. Or, if he could manage it, it was usually best to pretend to simply not understand. Like he was innocent.

"Everything that's been happening around here lately..." she trailed off, as if thinking. "Like how Megan's suddenly the most popular kid in school by far."

Jake didn't say anything; he never disclosed wishes like that. But she took his silence for the confirmation that it was.

"You know, I've been thinking about that for a while – I just couldn't put my finger on it. I mean, I like Megan and all – she's great, of course. But it was just super random. And since when was she so popular anyway? And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that something was weird. I mean, it used to be me. That's why I came over here – to see what was going on. I mean, do you even remember that time when we were all out together..."

As Jake listened to her, he couldn't help but be a little bit disgusted with himself. It had never occurred to him to arrange that wish so that the rest of the kids at Megan's school wouldn't ever be suspicious of it. But then again, he never thought it would end up affecting his own life.