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Chapter One

If I had to live in a bottle like overnment for fifty-five h

When the bell finally rang to release us, ot to get to trig early I’ll see you at the game”

“See you there,” I answered, hoping I could keep enie activity in the past few months in Atlanta that here it was, ames

I’enie Yeah, I know, but it’s the truth There are two types of genies in the world The djinn froends, and the people like me, descended from Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Great Britain There are sienies like me have been successfully deleted from the oral and written traditions

When soh Karrant three wishes At seventeen, I’ve been activated earlier than h wish volume in Atlanta And because of enie, but she does work for the UNIVERSE in an administrative capacity

I glanced at my purple cell phone froh Surely that wasn’t too much to ask

Apparently it was Just as the last bell of the day rang, my cell vibrated Terrific I couldn’t refuse a suame The plan had been for ame with me Mom would know to have ot updates on everything I did

I picked up my stack of books from the desk and headed for the nearest restroom I had less than five minutes to respond before I’d be zapped to the client I pushed raffiti-covered stall and pulled my cell out of my pocket The screen read, Mrs Monroe After a deep breath, I hit accept and closed my eyes

When I opened the room crammed full of knickknacks An elderly African-A on the worn sofa under a colorful crocheted afghan The scent of Ben Gay or Vick’s VapoRub filled the air Arthritis, or a chest cold?

The wolasses before falling asleep She snored softly, and I sh karma points for three wishes at a very inconvenient time I didn’t knohat she’d done to earn the points The UNIVERSE kept all those details secret They didn’t even let their eood deed earned

Mrs Monroe’s wrinkles and white hair hties Most of er

I conjured up a little fog with a wave of my hand When she woke from her nap, Mrs Monroe would believe she’d dreamed my visit Over the years, the UNIVERSE had discovered that adding soround could help I didn’t enerally did the fog thing

“Mrs Monroe,” I said in a soft voice I’d never quite gotten the hang of waking people up I cleared my throat and added in a louder voice, “Ma’am I need you to listen to me”

The elderly woaze dreamy My appearance didn’t alarm her What did she have to fear from a freckle-faced teen in a retro U2 t-shirt? It wasn’t like I was inti burly ht really scare somebody

“You’re a redhead,” she said

“Yes” My fiery hair usually stood out “Mrs Monroe,” I saidinto the center of the room “I need to talk to you about your life Can you tell me about yourself?” I had to be sure she was alert and not still dreaet her true wishes

She nodded slowly In a sleepy voice, she said, “Yes, dear I’rand in the church choir I make the best macaroni and cheese in the state, and I’ve crocheted blankets for over two hundred babies” She smiled, still sleepy

“If I could grant you three wishes,” I asked slowly, “ould they be?”

“Three wishes,” she ht for a few o to college”

I nodded, granting the wish

“I’d wish for ot breast cancer”

I nodded again Another woman had just beat breast cancer

“And I’d ask to stay in my house until it’shome”

With a final nod, I said, “Thank you, Mrs Monroe Enjoy your nap”

She closed her eyes When she woke, her daughter-in-law’s cancer would be in remission Someone at the UNIVERSE would keep an eye on her bank account and make sure she could pay for any necessary at-horandchildren graduate froe, but that would happen too Mrs Monroe would never knoas real I’d always be a dream to her

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my home number Then I hit the enter button twice and took a step into the large kitchen pantry in h here Half the ti of Doritos before leaving the kitchen Today I steeledof chocolate chip cookies

Pushing open the bi-fold doors, I stepped into the kitchen and looked at the clock I never could believe how long those genie visits took After five! I’dto kill me

I dialed Alex’s cell

She didn’t say hello Instead she snapped, “Where are you?”

“Sorry, Alex I’m really, really sorry”

Instead of responding, she hung up

“Alex?” I said just to be sure

Nothing

She’d never actually hung up onthe off button, I resisted the urge to fling ivenon her, but I was pretty sure I’d almost burned up all of her patience

Of course it wasn’t ot the word, I had to get

“Alex,” I should just say “I’enie At the whim of the UNIVERSE, I rush off to wherever soet three wishes”

I’m pretty sure her reaction would be to flip ain

It was a ically restrained fro So I’d have to make up another pathetic, half-baked excuse and hope for the best Maybe by tomorrow she’d be ready to listen

In the meantime, I’d made it just in time for band practice, and I needed to focus My brother’s drummer had finally quit, and I had practiced

for years for this chance Ian and his friends, two of them certified hotties, had formed the band as freshmen Now they were seniors, and they actually had a chance at soer, but no one would be able to beat me out for the drummer job

I rocked Seriously

I’d been practicing since I was seven Just after Ian picked up his bass, I’d asked Santa for a set of druot to ask the Mom half if it was okay My mother has issues with loud noises

She assu ht When she finally realized I was in for the long haul, she soundproofed the walls to her office and bedroom Dad balked at the expense, but Mom told him Santa would want her to have some peace and quiet

Now I had killer arms that my friend Alex envied, and I could out-rock Stewart Copeland

(Yes, the old guy froend)

Ian had bet me he’d find soive me a chance