Paxton stared at the clock on the wall with anxious intensity, willing time to move both faster and slower at the same time. Today was the day he was finally going to face his fears by asking Emily White out on a date, and he was a nervous wreck. He barely even spoke to the regular girls in his grade, but now here he was, trying to win the attention of the most popular one in school. It was a stupidly bold move, but it was his last chance to try. It was their senior year. They would all be graduating in a matter of months, and Emily might not be single again until after they moved on to college. He couldn’t pass up this window of opportunity.

The clock struck noon and the class was dismissed. Paxton felt a flutter of excitement —or perhaps it was dread?— in the pit of his stomach as he collected his books and headed for the door. Dozens of questions flitted through his mind. What would Emily say? What if she turned him down? Would she even recognize him? They had three classes together, but she always seemed to forget the faces of anyone who wasn’t part of her clique. She might not even remember his first name.

“Hey, Pax,” a voice said from behind him, distracting him from his thoughts. He turned around to see his friend, Zachary Scott, standing there with a hand raised in greeting. Among all of the students in Paxton’s grade, Zach was the only one who really talked with him. In fact, the boy talked so much that Paxton had a hard time getting rid of him sometimes. He still didn’t understand why Zach was so drawn to hanging around him. He was more popular than Paxton was, being socially active and sporty, and yet he preferred his company over the other jocks at the school.

“Hey, Zach,” Paxton nodded at him and kept walking. Part of him hoped that the boy would just continue on his way, too, since he didn’t have time to stay and talk. He had to find Emily before the end of their lunch break. The passing periods in between their classes were too short for him to look for her, and she went to cheerleading practice right after school ended. The lunch hour was the only time he even had a shot at asking her.

Unfortunately, Zach wasn’t so easily shaken off.

“Where are you headed in such a hurry?” Zach said, moving to stand in front of him.

“The cafeteria,” Paxton replied vaguely as he attempted to step around his friend.

“Relax,” Zach rolled his eyes. “The food’s not going anywhere. You have plenty of time.” He smirked when another thought seemed to come to him. “Or… are you going there for another reason?” He laughed as Paxton shot him an indignant look. “Don’t think I haven’t heard the rumors, Pax. News spreads like wildfire whenever Emily’s single again, and I’ve seen the way you look at her. It’s obvious that siren’s got you snared with her song.”

“Just let me through,” Paxton said noncommittally.

“Honestly, man,” Zach sighed, stepping in front of Paxton when he tried to move around him again. “I don’t see why you bother. She’s so shallow. She just uses guys and throws ‘em away when she’s done. Why would you want to get involved with that?”

“She’s the hottest girl in school. Besides, I think you’re not giving her enough credit. I think there’s more to her than meets the eye.”

“I think you’re giving her too much credit. You haven’t even talked to her before. I tried it once, and it wasn’t one of my better decisions in life. Trust me; you’re better off with someone like Madison or Riley. Riley’s pretty cute. How about you forget this pointless mission of yours and go ask her out?”

“Don’t waste your breath, Zach. I’m going to do this. I’ve waited three years, and I am not going to pass up this chance.”

“Fine, fine,” Zach shook his head. “Just don’t get your hopes up, friend. No offense, but she doesn’t look twice at guys like you, let alone date them.” On that positive note, he let Paxton go and continued on down the hallway.

Paxton scoffed and kept walking towards the cafeteria. What did Zach know? He could have his pick of any of the girls in the school. He didn’t know what it was like to be one of the average students, who were lucky to even talk to a popular girl like Emily. Now, Paxton finally had a chance to land a gorgeous girlfriend before he graduated from high school. He just couldn’t let this opportunity slip by while it was available. Zach didn’t understand that.

When he reached the cafeteria, Paxton did a quick sweep of the room for Emily. He found her at a table with a group of girls from the cheerleading squad, along with a couple of guys that he recognized as members of the lacrosse team. He hesitated by the doorway. He knew he shouldn’t have expected Emily to sit alone, but now he had to face the added pressure of an audience when he asked her out. On top of that, the students who would be watching him were all popular, too.

Wonderful.

Paxton swallowed the lump in his throat and made his way towards the table. A few of the other girls glanced his way, but they quickly lost interest and went back to their conversation with Emily. The group only turned towards him again when he stopped and stood beside their table. A few of them smirked knowingly at Emily, guessing Paxton’s intentions before he even said a word. Their smug expressions seemed to say: “Oh look, here comes the next reject.”

Then Emily turned to face him, and Paxton lost himself in the depths of her eyes. He found himself staring at her so intently that he almost missed her question: “Yes? Can I help you?”

“Um,” Paxton said, using one of his best oh-so-charming and witty one-liners.

“‘Um’ what?” Emily quirked a perfectly manicured brow at him.

“I-I was wondering if you might want to go catch a movie with me sometime.”

“Sure.”

“Wait… really?” Paxton’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Of course not,” Emily rolled her eyes and the other girls broke out in hysterical giggles. A smile tugged at the corner of her lip as well. She was clearly enjoying herself. “I just love seeing the looks on the faces of guys like you when you think you have a shot at going out with me. I mean, come on. Do I look like the type of girl to date a guy who wears glasses? It would take an act of magic for a nobody like you to get a somebody like me to even consider you for a boyfriend. Go find someone in your own league.” She waved a hand, casually dismissing him, and went back to her conversation with the others as if he had never said a word.

Paxton left the cafeteria in defeat, his chest tight with anger and embarrassment. He should have just set his pride aside and taken Zach’s advice. No matter how badly he wanted to win her over, Emily would never feel the same way about him. And why should she? There were plenty of guys at the school who were better suited for her than him. He was just another forgettable face in the classroom: a nobody. He sighed. Why did he think she would ever say yes to a date with him? It had been a stupid idea to even bother asking her in the first place.

--

The rest of the school day passed by in a blur. Paxton hardly paid attention to the lectures in his afternoon classes. He just wanted to go home and forget about the scene in the cafeteria. So when the final bell rang to dismiss the students, he went straight to his car and headed off campus. Unfortunately, it seemed as if fate itself was against him, because the route he took to get home from the school was blocked off for construction. He was forced to take a long detour through an old, rundown section of the city, affectionately known as “the slums” by those who didn’t live in it.

Paxton slowed his car to a sluggish fifteen miles-per-hour, as the roads were severely neglected in the slums. They were filled with treacherous potholes and bumps that could blow out a tire if he hit one too roughly. Paxton’s day had already gone poorly enough. He didn’t want to have to deal with fixing a flat on top of everything else that had happened.

As he drove along the sun-bleached old road, Paxton let his eyes wander along the buildings that lined the streets. There were many odd shops that he had never seen in his part of town, but one of them caught his eye in particular. It was a little store that was almost completely hidden in the corner between a pet shop and an out-of-business Mongolian restaurant. He had almost missed it as he went by, but the faded sign above the door made him slow down and take a second look.



Emily’s words echoed in the back of Paxton’s mind: It would take an act of magic for a nobody like you to get a somebody like me to even consider you for a boyfriend. He glanced at the store and then shook his head. It was completely ridiculous that he would even consider such a thing, but then again… he did have some time to kill, and there was no harm in browsing. It wasn’t like he was actually going to buy anything from the strange little shop.

Paxton pulled into the parking lot and got out of his car. He walked up to the entrance of the magic shop. There were no windows and the door was closed, but there was a sign nailed to it that read: ‘always open.’ He reached for the handle and, sure enough, it was unlocked. He turned it and stepped inside.

The interior was almost completely dark. For a moment, Paxton was worried that the sign was a hoax and the store really was closed. However, he relaxed when he saw a few lanterns flickering in the back of the room. He decided that the darkness must just be part of the creepy ambiance of the magic shop, so he put it out of his mind and went to browse the merchandise in the shelves that lined the walls.

There were hundreds of strange looking devices that Paxton had neither seen nor heard of before. He couldn’t even begin to guess what their purposes were. On the top of one shelf, he found something that made him smile, though. There was a dusty top-hat like the ones he had seen in cheesy magic shows as a young child. He reached up and took it down, peering inside to see if there was a rabbit. Of course, the hat was empty, so he put it back. This magic shop was a joke, just like he had expected it to be.

Paxton was about to head for the door when he saw something in the corner of his eye that made him turn around again. A golden handle poked out from behind a cluster of black boxes on one of the shelves in the back of the room. He stepped over to it curiously and picked it up, discovering that the handle was attached to an Arabian oil lamp. It was heavy and looked like it was made of solid gold. The lamp had to be worth a small fortune, but when Paxton turned it over to see the price tag on the bottom, it only read twenty-five dollars. His eyes widened in disbelief. What a steal! There was no way he could pass this up. He took the lamp to the desk at the back of the room, but the store owner was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a piece of paper taped to the top of the table:



Paxton rolled his eyes as he fished in his pocket for his wallet. The owner was a foolishly trusting person to leave his shop unattended like this, especially when he was selling something as valuable as a solid gold lamp. Adding a fake ‘curse’ wasn’t going to stop a thief from taking something. Luckily for the owner, Paxton was not a thief. He dropped the twenty-five dollars into the box as the note had instructed and left the shop with the gold lamp.

--

Back at his house, Paxton dumped his book bag on his bed and sat down at his desk with the lamp. He turned it over in his hands, inspecting it for blemishes. In spite of its age, it looked brand new. He wondered how much money he could make by selling the lamp. It was definitely worth a few thousand dollars at the least. And who knew? Maybe if he became rich, Emily would be willing to go on that date with him. The thought made him smile.

“Oh?” Paxton narrowed his eyes, spotting a small black mark on the side of the lamp. It appeared that it was just a smudge, so he licked a thumb and rubbed it off. He set it down of the desk and grinned, “There. Good as new.”

Despite its outer beauty, the inside of Mirajane's lamp was like an endless black void: extending endlessly in every direction and making everything seem dark and dreary. To save herself from going mad, the genie had long ago set up a small house for herself in the darkness: a quaint little mansion full of big, fluffy couches, ornately carved tables, a very poofy bed that felt like a cloud, and all manner of curious odds and ends from times long past. It was a very cheery place, and even had a small garden outside, which Mira tended regularly.

It was also the loneliest house in all of creation.

Mirajane sighed as she lay atop her poofy bed, staring at the mural of space she'd conjured on her ceiling. With a wave of her hand, a long mirror magically lifted from the floor and floated up above her, until her own reflection was looking down at her. Her long, brown hair fell in waves down to her lower back. Her eyes, an emerald green, glowed from her pale face (she didn't get nearly as much sun as she wished she could). Her outfit - an old Arabian belly-dancer's outfit that she'd taken a liking to - lay across her form, the enchanted cloth both spotless and unwrinkled. She sighed again, then looked her reflection in the eye.

Well, my dear, what shall we do today? she thought. Shall we continue our quest to find out whether this accursed blackness really does have an end? Put on some music and dance? Play cards? As ever, her reflection had no more ideas than she did, and with a shake of her head, she returned the mirror to its original place.

Suddenly, however, a low rumble sounded across her entire house. She sat up, surprised by its sudden appearance, then sighed yet again - sighing was her habit. "Well, I suppose that answers that question..." she muttered. The rumbling meant that some human had found her lamp once again. Wonderful, she thought. A new human to order me about and discard me when they are finished. How wonderful. Still, the curse that was her fate would not allow her to put it off much longer. She rose from her bed and, with a spin, disappeared.

Exiting the lamp was unlike any other experience. Her body turned to a purple mist, and she was pulled out the small hole that served as the lip of the lamp itself. When she finally broke through, her waist and everything above it reformed into a solid figure. Her legs, however, remained as mist, and were bound to the inside of her golden prison. Temporarily blinded by the sudden light around her, she squeezed her eyes shut. Then, slowly opening them, she finally beheld the world around her... and the face of her new master.

Ugh.

He was a shoddy-looking little brat, likely not even a full adult yet. She could already tell this was going to be a... less than enjoyable period of servitude.

But it got her out of the stupid lamp, so she'd shut up and deal with it.

"Greetings," she said, giving the boy a formal bow. "I am Mirajane, Genie of this lamp. And you, young boy, are my HACKPTHACK!" Suddenly, she started hacking and coughing; it had been so long since she'd last spoken so loudly, and her throat had not been prepared for it. She conjured a glass of water and gulped it down, taking a few steadying breaths before speaking again. "Bleh... Well, that was fun. Alright, kid, let's try again. I am Mirajane, and you are now my master." She placed a hand on her hip and looked at him impatiently. "So, long story short, you get three wishes. What do you want?"

“Whoa,” Paxton nearly fell out of his chair when the lamp started spewing a purple gas. His first thought was that he had somehow accidently released a hidden toxin from inside of it. But that didn’t make sense. He hadn’t knocked it around that much, and he definitely hadn’t opened it. His second thought was even less rational than the first: What if someone switched the price tag out and the lamp had cost more than twenty-five dollars and this purple vapor was the resulting curse from not paying enough for it when he left the shop? He shook his head. Ridiculous. Curses didn’t exist… But if it wasn’t a curse, then what was this strange gas?

Suddenly, the purple vapor began to take shape. Paxton gaped in bewilderment as it turned into… a girl. He closed his mouth and shook his head. This was crazy. He had to be dreaming. Genies didn’t exist; they were just mythical beings from fairytales and old movies. There was no way he could have stumbled across one in real life. He pinched the back of his hand and winced. Nope, this wasn’t a dream. There really was a legless belly dancer in his bedroom.

“Greetings,” the girl bowed to him. “I am Mirajane, Genie of this lamp. And you, young boy, are my—” She suddenly broke into a fit of coughing. Paxton’s eyes widened in disbelief as she summoned a glass of water from out of nowhere and drank it down. “Bleh... Well, that was fun. Alright, kid, let’s try again. I am Mirajane, and you are now my master. So, long story short, you get three wishes. What do you want?”

Three wishes? It was just like the storybooks Paxton had read as a child. He wondered if he could wish for more wishes, but wasn’t there a rule against that or something? Were there any other rules he needed to know about? He hadn’t heard of other rules in the books and movies, but maybe genies were different in real life. Man, he never expected that he would ever think about questions like these. It was all still so surreal.

Paxton blinked, realizing that the genie girl was still waiting for him to respond, “Uh, hi.” There he went again, springing those lady-killing one-liners. He cleared his throat, “So… you’re a genie.” Way to go, Captain Obvious. His mind reeled as he searched in vain for something to say. Would it be better to ask for something small as a warm-up wish? But he only had three wishes, so that would just waste one of them. He could usually make a list of all the things he would change about his life. Why was it so hard to think of those same things when he could actually do something about them?

“Um…” Paxton said, stalling for time. “This is probably a stupid question, but can I wish for more wishes?”

"No." Her reply was short, curt, and rather annoyed. Typical. Offer a human three magic wishes, and he instantly wants more. "You get three wishes, kid. Just like everybody else." She gave the kid a look-over. He seemed twitchy, to say the least: stumbling over his words and looking at her with wide, bugging-out eyes. His clothing was weird, too, although the last time she'd seen the light of day was... when was it? 1950? Either way, it had been a while. With a sigh, she shook her head.

"Alright, kid, let me explain the rules. You get three wishes: one, two, three." She counted off on her fingers to emphasize the point. "After that, I go bye-bye." Though certainly not by choice, she muttered internally. "As for what you can wish for, just about anything works. The exceptions are that I can't bring people back from the dead, I can't make people fall in love with you, and I can't kill anybody - either directly or indirectly." One human had once wished for the rope holding up a piano to snap right as someone else was about to walk under it. A completely-coincidental-and-not-conjured-by-Mirajane-at-all lightning bolt had discouraged him from doing so ever again.

"Otherwise, I'm at your command." She gave another bow, stiff and formal. She hated having to serve humans, and she had no intention of hiding that fact. "Any questions... master?"

“No,” Paxton mumbled. “No more questions.” His first one seemed to have already irritated the genie. Typical. He couldn’t say three words to a girl without offending her somehow. Though, he supposed she probably got asked that question a lot. Who wouldn’t want more wishes if one had the opportunity to have them? Not that he was ungrateful for the three that the girl was willing to bestow upon him. Being able to change anything about his life was a dream come true. Now, if only he could just stop wasting time and think of something to ask for.

Of course, the first request to pop into his mind was for the genie to make Emily White love him, but she had already said she couldn’t do that. Still, that was what he wanted, so he just had to find a way to get around the rule. What else could he wish for that would indirectly make Emily like him? She had a thing for jocks, so maybe he could try wishing to be the star player on the lacrosse team. If that didn’t work, he still had two more wishes that he could use to try other methods of winning her over. Besides, even if none of the wishes landed him with Emily, he would still be better off than he was before: popular and sporty, just like Zach. He nodded to himself. It wasn’t a bad plan.

“Okay,” Paxton looked up at Mirajane, finally deciding on his first request. Now, he just had to cross his fingers and hope it would be enough to win a date with Emily. “I wish I was the best player on my school’s lacrosse team.”

Mirajane gave a mischievous smirk. "Done," she told him. With a snap of her fingers, a puff of smoke surrounded Paxton. When he came out, she nodded her head. "Congratulations. You are now the greatest lacrosse player on the team." With a sarcastic enthusiasm, she snapped her fingers again, causing confetti and the sound of applause to appear. They vanished a moment later. Jeez, she hoped the kid wasn't that quick to get his wishes over with. She wanted to spend some more time outside the lamp before she had to get stuffed back in. "Care to go see it for yourself?" she asked, hoping to drag things out as long as possible.

What she didn't tell Paxton, of course, was that she had given him his wish in a... more roundabout fashion. Oh, she'd fulfilled the terms perfectly: the kid was now the best player on his team. In fact, he was now the best player in the school. Because now, he was the only one that could play anymore. All the other lacrosse players suddenly found themselves... significantly lacking in their talent for sports. She hadn't given Paxton any additional skill; she merely took the skill from everyone else. But why tell him that and spoil the surprise?

Paxton wasn’t sure he liked the expression on Mirajane’s face when she granted his wish… or when she claimed to grant his wish. There was a showy puff of smoke and even some festive confetti, but he didn’t feel any different. He was still as lanky and unmuscular as before, and he definitely didn’t feel like he could beat anyone in a game of table tennis, let alone a physically demanding sport like lacrosse. He looked up at the genie skeptically. Had she tricked him? It was true that she didn’t seem particularly happy to serve him, but that was her job, wasn’t it? As a genie, she was supposed to grant the wishes of the person who found her lamp. That was how it worked in all of the storybooks, so maybe the lack of a revelation was just part of the magic.

“Care to go see it for yourself?” Mirajane asked.

“Well, yeah,” Paxton said, glancing at the digital clock on his desk. “But it’s almost six o’clock. By the time I get back to the school, practice will be over. I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.” He got up from his desk chair and moved to sit more comfortably on his bed. “Earth must be pretty boring for you compared to a magical lamp, but if you’re not in a hurry, I think I’ll hold off on those other two wishes. I want to see how this one turns out first.” What he didn’t say was that he wanted to see if the first wish would be enough to win Emily over. If it was, then he could use the other two for more personal things; but if it wasn’t, then he would have to use the next one to try another angle at stealing Emily’s heart.

“So,” Paxton said, looking up at the floating genie on his desk. “Do you go back in there until I call you again, or what?” He pointed at the lamp to indicate what he was talking about.

Had Mirajane unleashed the whirling thunderstorm of anger and frustration - with an utter hatred of her lot in life - that broke when Paxton said "until I call you again" - as though she were just some thing for him to tingle a little bell and summon like a dog - she surely would have blown up a building. Maybe the neighborhood. Maybe the whole city. Magic was quite powerful, after all.

Instead, however, she merely wore her usual mask of patient tolerance and general displeasure. "I may do whichever you wish, master," she informed him. Oh, how she utterly despised the term "master"! "However, if you do not object, I will remain outside of it for now, though I remain bound to it as always. It's very dark in there, and I just spent..." Actually, she had no idea how long she'd been in there. "...a very long time inside it," she finished. "I would rather take the opportunity to stretch and enjoy daylight again." Or candlelight. Or a flashlight. Heck, she'd enjoy just about anything she didn't have to conjure for herself.

"Now, I shall return in a moment. Simply alert me if you require my attention," she told him. She floated up toward the roof, and suddenly phased right through it (though a thin trail of smoke still tied her to the lamp) to float all the way up to the roof of the building. She wanted to see how the world had changed, even if it was only a short glance from far off.

It was still more than she'd ever get to experience in the lamp.

Paxton nodded as Mirajane explained that she would prefer to stay outside of her lamp house while she could. Apparently it wasn’t as great of a place as he had thought it was, but if she didn’t like living in it, why did she seem so annoyed when he summoned her? The genie’s actions seemed to contradict what she said. If the inside of the lamp really was such a dark and dull place, he would have expected her to be rejoicing that she was free again, not wrinkling her nose whenever her new master said a word to her.

“Now, I shall return in a moment.” Mirajane said. “Simply alert me if you require my attention.” With that, she ascended right through the roof of Paxton’s bedroom. He opened his mouth to call after her, initially jumping to the conclusion that she was ditching him to run away, and then closed it again when he caught sight of the vaporous trail that followed after the genie. He had forgotten: She was still bound to the lamp and couldn’t leave even if she wanted to. Now that he thought about it, maybe that was why she was so bitter. In a sense, Mirajane was a slave to whoever picked up the lamp. That was a sad existence. He made a mental note to be nicer to her in the future.

With the genie gone, Paxton got up from his bed and walked down to the bathroom across the hallway. He looked into the mirror and frowned at the reflection that stared back at him. He looked exactly the same as before: messy black hair, wide rimmed glass perched on the bridge of his nose, and a noticeably pathetic lack of muscles. He had been gypped after all.

Paxton marched irritably back to his room. Mirajane had said to alert her if he wanted anything, but she had conveniently forgotten to mention how he could do that. He sighed and flopped down on his bed, staring at the trail of smoke that led up through the roof of his bedroom. He would just have to wait until she came back.

Mirajane turned the smoke beneath her into her own legs and feet (though a thin trail remained tied around her ankles, still binding her to the lamp) and sat down. The sun was setting now, but it was still bright enough to see outside. Leaning back against the roof, she looked out into the world around her and sighed, taking in the sights and sounds she could now experience. Large metal boxes were using rolling around on the ground, releasing an odd-smelling vapor from behind them as they went. Large metal buildings, some taller than even the ancient palaces, were standing proudly together. In fact, looking up, she even saw a large metal bird flying across the sky. A brief inspection with her magic revealed that there were even humans inside, controlling the beast from within.

"Metal and movement," she said to herself. "So that's what humanity's been up to since last time I was out." Another sad part of being a genie was that she never got to enjoy the big moments in humanity's history with anyone; she simply popped out, saw what had already happened, and disappeared again when her masters finished their wishes. Suddenly, a little bird fluttered down and landed on the roof beside her, regarding her curiously before singing a little song and hopping about the shingles.

Mirajane smiled. Pursing her lips, she began to whistle a sound almost identical to the bird's. The little creature hopped toward her again, and she held out her finger, upon which the little bird took roost. The little bird would chirp, and she would whistle along. Together, they sang a wonderful duet while watching the sun set. Their song completed, the bird twitched its little head twice, then flew off into the distance. She watched him go, still smiling, until he was but a speck on the horizon, which soon disappeared.

Animals. Mira truly loved playing with animals. They never expected anything of her, never demanded she grant their wishes, and - thanks to her magic, admittedly - never fled in fear or tried to attack her for a meal. And it had been so long since she'd last had a bird sing with her, so the event was a very happy and fun one. Things like this - little moments in life that held no grand purpose or place, but merely existed to bring a bit of light into life - were why she hated her lamp: it was a cold, empty, isolated prison. She would have kept a pet, but one thing she couldn't do was create life; she could only make a pale imitation, which faded away the moment she lost focus on it.

A few moments later, she sighed and stood to her feet. She could sense the human waiting for her below - one of the abilities of a genie bound to a master. Giving one last silent farewell to the world around her - with hopes of seeing it again soon - her legs disappeared and she sank back down into the home below.

"I have returned," she announced. Though her tone was still bitter, the time above had helped her to relax some, so it wasn't nearly as biting as it had been. "Have you need of me?"

Lying on the bed by himself, Paxton plenty of time to think, and thinking just made him more confused. No matter how he looked at it, the fact that he found a magic lamp just didn’t seem real… And the fact that his “all-powerful genie” didn’t grant his wish wasn’t helping the matter, either. If he hadn’t seen Mirajane perform magic in front of his own two eyes, he would have believed this was all just some elaborate prank. Unfortunately, it appeared that he was just unlucky enough to find the most stubborn genie in the world.

Out of the corner of his eye, Paxton saw the smoke trail begin to move. He sat up and watched it until Mirajane floated back down through his ceiling. She looked less irritable than before, though he wasn’t sure why. There was nothing interesting on the roof, and he didn’t even have a good view from his house. Well, from what the genie had said about the lamp, he supposed any view was better than the one she lived with.

“I have returned,” Mirajane said obviously. “Have you need of me?”

“Yeah, I have need of you,” Paxton muttered, suddenly remembering his annoyance with her. “You didn’t do anything. I look exactly the same as I did before.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but I’m not that stupid. I would be able to tell if something changed, so what’s the deal?”

Mira raised an eyebrow and placed an impatient hand on her hip. "Well, master, what you wished for was to be, and I quote: 'the best player on your school’s lacrosse team'. And I made it so. The reason you don't see anything is because you have yet to try it out for yourself." She suddenly smirked. "Or is it that, when you made your wish, you expected me to make you some big, strong, overly-muscular man with perfect hair and a cleft chin?" She chuckled to herself, then shook her head. "You've gotten exactly what you wished for, master; no more and no less."

She thought for a moment. "If this is a 'school' team, then they play on a school day, correct?" Her understanding of human society was still sadly underdeveloped, but she thought she had at least that part correct. "Then let us make a deal. The next time you go to school, investigate. Play your game of lacrosse, and see if I have slighted you. If you feel that I have not fulfilled your wish to the letter, then I shall undo the magic and return you to three wishes. Sound fair?"

Paxton flushed slightly when Mirajane accused him of actually wishing to have been endowed with the physical appearance of a bodybuilder. The taunt hadn’t been completely off-the-mark. When he made his wish, he had expected to see a change in his appearance, though not quite that extreme. But how else would she have been able to make him the best lacrosse player in his school? She could have supplied him with the natural talent he lacked, but he still wouldn’t be able to stand up against the huge guys that were already on the team. The way he was now, any one of them could easily bowl him over.

He eyed the genie skeptically. She seemed perfectly confident that she had fulfilled his wish, and she was even amused that he doubted her. He supposed he could wait until tomorrow to see the results of the magic. The deal that she offered wasn’t a bad one: If he felt like she cheated him, then he could take it back and have a do-over. It was a win-win situation.

“Fine,” Paxton sighed and lay down on the bed again, staring up at the fan on his ceiling. “It’s a deal.” He glanced at the clock on his desk again. It was getting close to seven and he hadn’t eaten dinner yet. His eyes flicked back to Mirajane, and he wondered when kind of food genies ate. Did they even eat? He still had so many questions.

“I’m gonna grab some dinner,” he announced, getting up from the bed. “Do you want anything?”

"I would," she answered, giving a polite nod in deference to the offer. Genies did in fact eat and drink like anyone else. Usually, however, they simply conjured their food into existence. Convenient, but it killed the flavoring. "However," she warned him (she didn't want to, but it was one of her duties as a genie), "in order to eat, I must become tangible, meaning anyone will be able to see and hear me." She lifted an eyebrow slightly - she wanted to see how he'd respond to this one. "Shall I accompany you to your kitchen, where others might see me, or simply wait here alone, where none will?"

The genie could take on a tangible form? Paxton wasn’t sure why he was surprised by this, but now that he thought about it, it made sense that Mirajane would be able to use her magic on herself as well as on the master of her lamp. He offhandedly wondered if there was anything else she could do that she hadn’t mentioned to him yet.

“Um, I think you should stay up here,” Paxton answered her question. “And… try not to make any noise.” It would be bad news if one of his parents or his younger sister overheard Mirajane. Naturally, they would jump to the wrong conclusion if they discovered a girl in his bedroom, and he wouldn’t be able to explain her presence to them without sounding like a liar or a complete nutcase. It wasn’t like he could just say: ‘This is my new genie. She’s here to grant my every wish.’

Wow… That sounded like a creepy fetish, Paxton winced at the thought. Yeah, that settled it. Mirajane definitely had to stay hidden in his room. “I’ll be right back.” He headed for the door, closing it securely behind him, and walked down the stairs, making his way to the kitchen. Once there, he raided the fridge for the leftovers from last night’s dinner: cold fish with rice. He piled the food onto two plates. It wasn’t a five-star meal, by any means. He hoped Mirajane wasn’t picky.

“Come on, Pax,” he heard the sarcastic voice of his sister, Jaelyn, behind him. The girl stood with her arms crossed, “Save some for the rest of us, you pig.”

“I’m bigger than you, Jay,” Paxton rolled his eyes and slammed the fridge door closed with his shoulder. “I have a bigger appetite, too.” He picked up the plates of food and headed back for the stairs. “Don’t worry. There’s still enough left for you if you’re hungry.”

“Don’t blame me when you get fat,” Jaelyn called irritably after him. Thankfully, she didn’t press the matter, and Paxton was able to escape back to his bedroom without further interruption.

“Room service,” he said as he opened the door and stepped inside.

Even as the human left the room, Mirajane let out a long, disappointed sigh. "Typical," she said aloud to no one. "Oh no, Mirajane, you have to stay here. Can't let anyone see you, now can we? No, that would mean I'd have to share you with somebody. No, you have to grant my wishes, not everyone else's. See the world? Live your life? Live any life? No no, Mirajane, you still have wishes to grant!" She conjured a small pillow and then punched it across the room. It disappeared on impact. With a "tch!", she sank down to sit atop her lamp, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

When he finally returned, she floated down to the floor. Once the door was shut, her smoky tail again turned into solid legs, and she held out her hand expectantly. She might be a servant, but she was no one's dog.

Paxton stopped in the doorway. When she was still half ghost, he hadn’t thought much about Mirajane’s appearance, but now that she looked more… well… human, she was actually kind of attractive. She had a pretty face, and her figure wasn’t hard on the eyes either. If she had been a girl at his school instead of a mystic genie, she definitely would have fallen right into the popular crowd with Emily White.

He blinked, realizing that he was staring at her, and quickly handed over one of the plates of food, “Here. It’s nothing special; just last night’s leftovers.” He closed the door, locking it behind him in case his nosy sister tried to make a reappearance, and walked over to his desk to sit down with his own dinner.

“So,” Paxton said slowly, uncertain of what else he could say to the genie. He still had so many questions, but he didn’t want to be a pest. She seemed to hate him enough as it was, and he was trying hard to keep her opinion of him from falling any lower. He frowned. Come to think of it, he hadn’t even introduced himself to her yet.

He turned back to Mirajane, “In case you were wondering, my name is Paxton.” He shrugged. “My friends just call me Pax, but you can call me whichever you prefer.”

"Paxton," she repeated, trying out the name for herself. Since Paxton was sitting at the desk, she contented herself with sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding the plate in one hand while eating with the other. Whatever it was, it tasted much better than her usual "food". She conjured a glass of water for herself, then took a small sip. "Well, thank you for finally telling me your name." She would have said it was nice to meet him, but frankly, it wasn't. She still didn't like humans, and thus far, Paxton had done nothing to endear himself to her. In fact, quite the opposite.

"Thank you for the meal," she added, though it was very stiff and formal. She didn't mind that it was leftovers; anything was better than conjured foods. She did, however, mind that she had to eat it up here, in silence, behind a locked door, and hidden from the world around her. She didn't want revenge against humans or any silly thing like that; they hadn't been the ones to put her in the cursed lamp. She simply wanted freedom - more than anything in the world, she wanted to be free.

Several of her previous masters had promised to set her free before. Obviously, however, greed had changed their minds. She doubted Paxton would be any different.

Even after Paxton shared his name with the genie, she still wasn’t impressed. He lapsed into silence as he finished his food, merely nodding when Mirajane thanked him for the meal. Was there anything he could do that didn’t annoy her? It seemed like she was irritated simply because he existed, even though he was trying his best to get on her good side. He shook his head. It was just his luck that he would find a genie who hated him even more than his peers at school.

After he finished his dinner, Paxton collected the two plates and headed for the door, “I’m going to take these down to the kitchen. I’ll be back in a moment.” He slipped through the door, closing it behind him, and went down the stairs to drop off the plates in the sink. Fortunately, it was Jaelyn’s night to wash dishes, so he didn’t have to abandon Mirajane for too long. He hurried back to his room before his sister would have a chance to stop him again.

“Okay,” Paxton said as he locked the door again. “Now that that’s done, I shouldn’t have to leave again.” He somehow doubted Mirajane would care even if he did. He crossed the room to sit on his bed again, leaning back on his hands as he contemplated what else there was to do that night. He didn’t have any homework that was due anytime soon and it was Jaelyn’s chore day, so it looked like there was nothing. Normally, he would have just gone to bed early on days like these to try and catch up on sleep, but now he had a guest to entertain.

Thinking about sleep just led him to another question: Did Mirajane ever go back inside her lamp during the time she had been summoned? It would be kind of strange if she just stayed in his room throughout the night. In fact, she would be the only girl Paxton had ever had in his room this late. He bit back a sarcastic laugh. Who would have thought that first would go to a genie?

He was tempted to ask Mirajane directly if she went back inside the lamp at night, but he couldn’t think of a way to say it without sounding like he wanted to get rid of her or keep her cooped up, so he discarded the idea. Perhaps he could figure out the answer with a more roundabout question.

“It’s getting late,” Paxton said, turning back to the genie. “Do you want me to find you a sleeping bag or something? I’d offer you the bed, but it would be strange if someone came in and saw me on the floor for no reason—assuming they can’t see you, of course.” He paused as another thought came to him. “Or… do you prefer to stay in the tangible form?—Not that I have a problem with it! I would just have to find you somewhere less obvious to sleep in case someone comes in here in the morning. Maybe the far side of the bed?”

Mira said nothing as Paxton declared he'd be leaving, nor did she greet him when he returned. As he sat silently on the bed, she sat silently on the floor, sitting on her knees with her eyes closed. Silence, to her, was like an old acquaintance who, though she ever tried to be rid of, always seemed to come back. And yet, ironically, she was now so akin to silence that its presence could, at times, even be comforting.

So when Paxton spoke again, her eyes opened, a spark of annoyance within them. He offered her a place to sleep - even offering a portion of his own bed. A part of Mirajane's chest suddenly felt very pained, and she sighed, closed her eyes, and stood up.

"Master." She addressed him with a very cold, neutral expression, almost like a machine. "I have a place to sleep in my home. Unless you deem it unfit, I shall sleep there for the evening; so long as I am bound to a master, I may enter and leave it as I please." She opened her eyes now, and fixed him with a harsh, emotionless stare. "If you require me within the evening, simply rub the lamp again. Such is how you may summon me at any time, regardless of where I am." She gave a low bow as her legs again became a tail, steadily withdrawing into the lamp. "Goodnight, Master." With that, she slipped inside and disappeared.

Back in her home in the void, she appeared above her fluffy bed and fell down on top of it. Her emotionless mask fell from her face then, revealing a very pained pair of eyes that spoke of brokenness and sorrow. Humans... She truly wanted to appreciate the kind offer, truly wanted to give a youth like Paxton a chance... but the promises of kindness and freedom had been broken so many times before, she knew she wouldn't be able to bear it if they were broken again. So she kept her distance, silencing her emotions and closing off her heart. Besides, what would Paxton care if she never thought well of him? He, like all other humans, would find someone to love, go on to live a wonderful life, and would eventually forget about Mira completely. Mira sighed; she knew she shouldn't be this negative, knew that everyone was different.

Even so, a broken heart left terrible scars.