All You Never Wanted

9. New Rules

Jake wasn't sure how long he spent locked in that bottle – it was always hard to keep track of time in there. But he did know that it was way more than the hour or two he'd planned on. Actually, he figured it was at least a day – maybe two. When he was finally released, Jake looked expectantly at her, trying not to sneer as he did. He just hoped that maybe she'd finally decided to make her wishes so he could get all of this over with.

"Sorry – I had to help my mom out." she told him.

But Jake got the distinct impression that the real reason he'd been stuck in that bottle for so long was because she'd simply forgotten about him. At least he wasn't surprised by that kind of thing anymore; he was just somewhat discouraged to realize that his hard-won, semi-normal life could be taken away from him so easily by some random girl. When she didn't say anything, Jake decided to take the opportunity himself.

"Will I be able to go to school tomorrow?" he asked.

He really didn't want to ask her for permission, but he did want to remind her that he was still a student. Maybe that would be enough to convince her not to keep him locked up anymore. And if not, he was probably going to have to think of some excuse that his friends would actually believe. That was, if he ever did get to go back and see any of them.

"Tomorrow's Sunday." that girl said, looking at him blankly. Then, realization set in and she really did look apologetic.

"Sorry." she mumbled, glancing down at the floor.

She was sorry? Jake didn't understand. If she was so sorry, why did she lock him up in the first place?

Still, what could he do about it? He might be incredibly frustrated by it, but there wasn't any action that he could realistically take. He could make her feel guilty, sure. But what would that accomplish? In his experience, that was more likely to get him locked up again than anything else. And the longer they locked him up instead of facing him, the worse it usually got. So, as much as it pained him, he would have to let it go. Besides, letting her know how he really felt was too dangerous at this point anyway.

"Monday, then?" he asked, trying to remain as impassive as he possibly could.

"Uh, Monday...yeah." she thought about it for a second and Jake suppressed a sigh. Clearly, he wasn't getting out of this as fast as he'd hoped.

"It's not that I don't want you to go...But I really don't want you to tell anyone about this." She sighed resignedly. "You get it, right?"

"Don't worry about that." Jake told her.

Of course, he was planning on telling Megan the instant he saw her, but he wasn't stupid enough to tell her that.

"I guess..." she said slowly, obviously thinking. "But first...I want to know how all this works."

"You make a wish, and I grant it." Jake shrugged, trying to sound bored. Good thing he had a lot of practice with that kind of thing.

"Well, obviously." she told him. "I mean, you're a genie, right?"

"I am." he said, giving a short nod before he could stop himself. He really hated the fact that he had to answer their questions honestly.

"So, how does it work, exactly? I mean, you grant wishes, I guess..." She trailed off, looking lost in thought. "That's so weird."

She shook herself before continuing. Then, she looked back up at him and asked, "So what are all the rules? I really need to know exactly how this works. So, tell me every single one. And don't leave even a single thing out."

Jake groaned inwardly. And then, he found himself telling her every single rule he had – even the ones he really hated, the ones he never mentioned if he could help it. He told her how she got three wishes, how he couldn't lie to her, how he'd absolutely have to do whatever she commanded him to do with no way to stop it.

When he was finally done, she didn't say anything for a minute. Instead, she stared out of the darkened window. When she did finally speak, she sounded thoughtful.

"You really have to do whatever I say?" she asked.

Jake nodded solemnly, trying very hard not to sneer; he really hated mentioning that. The only reason he'd actually said it – especially to her – was because of the way she'd asked about his rules in the first place.

"So...if you do go to school on Monday..." she started, obviously thinking out loud. She paused a minute before looking back at Jake.

"If you do go, you can't tell anyone anything that's happened since I took that bottle on Wednesday – or give anyone hints about the fact that I'm the one who took it."

"I promise." Jake said grudgingly.

He might not like it, but if it let him go back to school, he'd be willing to do it. At least that way he could actually see his friends again. He didn't exactly like the prospect of not telling Megan what happened, but if if he had to go along with it anyway, there wasn't any harm in pretending he was ok with the whole thing.

"And you definitely can't tell Megan" she said decisively. "Actually, I don't want you to talk to her at all."

"At all?" Jake asked, trying not to sound worried. That was definitely going to affect his plans.

"Yeah. Don't talk to her, don't text her, no notes – nothing. Just ignore her. Treat her like you're not a couple anymore, ok? Pretend like you don't even know her."

"If that's what you want."

"And you have to do it?" she asked skeptically.

Jake just nodded, jaw set. Well, this was going to make things a lot more difficult. He tried to look bored with her, but his mind was racing, trying to figure out how he was going to get out of this one. If he couldn't actually talk to Megan, how was he going to tell her where he was? How was he going to explain why none of this was really his fault? And why the whole school was about to think they'd broken up?