Genie

Act 1~ Chapter 2~ A Genie in a Lamp

Jace took the opportunity to gather his things back in his bag. As he reached for the train, the toy seemed to be in perfect order once again but he didn't take any time to question it, throwing it in the bag and grabbing the still partially wrapped lamp as well. He reached for his book when he noticed the paws of a dog right next to it. He cautiously glanced up to see the Pitbull standing there, panting. Jace braced himself for the dog to attack him, shutting his eyes tightly, but instead the Pitbull licked him on the cheek. When Jace opened his eyes, the dog was gone and so were Percy and his friends.

Jace, deciding that now was not an ideal time for questions, finally gathered everything together and mounted his skateboard, taking off toward home.

He pounded the ground with his right foot, hurrying to get to the safety of his home as fast as possible.

"Jace!" The sudden call for him caused him to skid to a halt. Standing across the street was Carson with his arm firmly wrapped around Alice's waist.

Carson is about 6"0 feet tall with fiery red hair and emerald green eyes. He wore a clean, off brand, Polo shirt and a pair of pressed khaki's. His eyebrows were furrowed and mouth slightly turned down.

Alice was standing next to him, her brown hair in soft curls, her eyes framed by eyeliner. She wore a purple dress that reached the top of her knees.

Jace could only assume that they were going on a date somewhere, and mentally scowled.

"Yeah?' Jace asked, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Are you alright?" Carson sounded genuinely worried, though Jace would've preferred for him to not pay any mind.

"Yeah." Jace then continued on his way to the house, trying the flush all of the jealous thoughts out of his head.

Before too long, he could spot the old building ahead and felt himself smiling despite his anger.

It was an old house, but it was nice. It had two stories and an attic. It had enough rooms for everyone, even though some of the boys had to share. It was quaint and had a nice front and backyard.

Jace glided up to the side, screen door, picking up his skateboard and heading inside. Jace was bombarded with a cacophony.

"Jace's home!" One of the boy called out and then there was a stampede of boys that rushed up to him, trying to tackle him. Jace laughed, holding the bag high so that they couldn't steal it from him. The boys around him were Nigel, Stephan, Lyle, Lee, Vernon, Cameron, and Stuart. They were all asking him questions and reaching for his bag and climbing all over him.

Jace then reached into the bag and pulled out the train, then handing the boys the train.

"Thank you!" The boys yelled, and all of them followed Nigel who was carrying the train, leaving the living room in almost quiet. Little Glen was sitting on the couch, his eyes glued to the television. Jace went over to the little guy and gave him a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

Then Jace stole away up the stairs. Jace's room was in the attic, which is exactly what he wanted. The attic wasn't super nice or anything but it had a little more room than the other rooms and was a little farther disconnected to the rest of the family. It wasn't like he wanted to be far away from them but a little space is nice at times, especially since the boys tended to be rather loud. Unfortunately, Jace had to climb two flights of stairs and a ladder to get to his room but it was a sacrifice that he decided to make.

He pushed open the small trapdoor and crawled into his room.

It was a small room but cozy none the less. He had a bed in the center of it with a dresser in the corner. He had a rack with hangers for a makeshift closet. But next to his dresser, the rest of the wall was dedicated to a large pile of book. The books ranged so widely that it was a wonder that he was able to organize them in anyway. But he did have them organized. It started from the left and went right. The left were all of the books that he enjoyed but weren't his favorites. Then the books progressively, in his opinion, got better the closer to the right they were. At the far right was a pile of about four books and these were Jace's all time favorite books. These consisted of A Tale of Two Cities, The Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, and Peter Pan. Out of the four books, Peter Pan was the most beat up, partially because he had had it the longest and mostly because he had read it the most times.