Nobody Likes Megan McGowen

3. Ben and Drew and Pizza

Megan got off the bus that first day after her wish, backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Anybody home?" she called as she walked in the front door. Silence. It was just what Megan expected, really; both her parents should still be at work. Her brother Drew had soccer practice after school, and Ben was in college on the other side of town – he didn't even get home until almost five most days. Still, Megan had wanted to make absolutely sure no one was home before she went up to her room.

Her desk still had that strange blue bottle on it. She walked over, grabbed it off the desk, and carefully pulled the cork out – she was just glad she hadn't wedged it in as tight as whoever had it before. Seconds later, that genie was standing in her bedroom.

"How was school?" he asked.

He tried to say it like he couldn't care less, but Megan saw that look in his eye when he asked it; she was pretty sure he was curious.

"It was way different than it usually is." Megan told him.

She'd planned on saying it real casual, like maybe her social status just naturally changed like that every day. But she couldn't stop the excitement from showing through. Megan tried to hide her grin; school was going to be so much easier now!

"I'm glad you liked it." he told her. Megan couldn't tell if he was just saying that or not. He was polite enough, but disinterested.

"So, thanks, I guess." she mumbled, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"Did you have a second wish?" the genie asked politely, ignoring Megan's feeble attempts to be nice.

"Um, not yet." Megan said.

He sure seemed to be pressuring her about it – she wondered if most people just made three wishes right in a row.

"You don't have a request?" he asked again, surprised. It was the first real emotion he'd shown since she'd met him.

"No. Why? Is there a time limit on this or something?" she asked.

"No time limit." he told her, shrugging.

"Then why do you keep asking?"

"I'm just trying to understand why I'm here." he said cautiously. "I mean, if you don't have a wish or anything, it just seems a little odd..." he trailed off.

"What? No one's ever just let you out for no real reason?" she asked. It couldn't be that weird.

"Not really, no." he shrugged again. Now it was her turn to be surprised.

"Why not?" she asked before she could stop herself.

But she didn't need to wait for his response to know the answer; he wasn't really a person – she was willing to bet no one thought enough about him to do it. It was almost enough to make her feel sorry for him. But that was his job, wasn't it? It might not be a great job, but it was what he did.

"Megan! Are you home?" someone called from the hallway. Ben. He knocked on her door, and Megan's eyes got real wide. The doorknob started to turn, and Megan looked frantically at the genie.

"Go – hide!" she whispered to him, motioning him to go back to the bottle.

He nodded and disappeared just as Ben opened the door.

"Who're you talking to?" Ben asked.

"No one." Megan said quickly. "I was just on the phone." she added.

"With who?" he narrowed his eyes, obviously not believing her.

"Jen?" It came out as kind of a question. Megan decided to change the subject. "What are you doing home so early anyway?"