Genie

Act 1~ Chapter 2~ A Genie in a Lamp

He went and plopped on his bed, pulling Titus Andronicus from the back of his jeans. He set it on his bedside table, and pulled the bag up to his chest.

He slowly pulled out the lamp from the bag, tossing the trash off of his bed. He turned the lamp over in his hands again and noticed that Percy had left a noticeable dent in the side of it.

Jace had heard, or at least had seen Aladdin, that supposedly if you rubbed a magic lamp then a Genie would come out of it. But this wasn't really a magical lamp, was it?

Taking a chance, he rubbed the side of the lamp and watched the spout of the lamp expectantly. A few seconds passed and Jace ventured to try again. Again nothing happened and Jace gave an exasperated sigh.  Yes, he's seventeen years old and he was a firm believer that magic was real he might have noticed by now, but somewhere deep inside of himself still hoped.  Maybe magic could be real.  But most likely not.  And that absurdity of the concept that out of thousands of golden, oil lamps in thousands of antique shops, or thrift stores, or museums, that he, Jace Tempal could stumble across an oil lamp with a magical genie inside of it, made Jace chuckle to himself halfheartedly.  It was stupid.

"How may I serve you?" 

  She stood sternly in the corner, rigid, her arms straight down at her sides. Her hair was long, straight, and brown, the length of it reaching to just above her butt. She had deep, dark eyes, that almost appeared black and had a slight upturn at the corners.  The color of her skin was a clear, beautiful, brown skin.  Her nose was slightly overturned at the end, and her cheek bones prominent but not overpowering.  She wore a pair of high waisted brown jeans and a loose fitting shirt that didn't belong in the era they were currently in.

Jace sat, terrified of the fact that he had no idea where she came from and that she was dressed like she stepped right out of the seventies.

"Who are you?" Jace scrambled out of his bed, distancing himself from her as best as he could. "How did you get in here?"

The girl stared at him but didn't seemed phased by his demands, only blank with a hint of exasperation. "I come when you call."

"What?" Jace was searching for anything to defend himself with, not sure how sane this weirdo was. He reached to Titus Andronicus on the bedside table, holding it up behind his head, ready to throw it if necessary.

"My only duty is to serve your every command." She bowed her head forward, slowly, never relinquishing eye contact.

"Why?"

"You're my new master."

Jace took several steps backyard, inching his way toward the exit. "What the bloody hell are you talking about? And how the hell did you get into my room?  Also, this is 2013, we don't do that kind of thing anymore!"

"I came from the lamp," she pointed to the oil lamp on Jace's bed. "I'm your Genie."

Jace paused, his mouth falling agape, and his novel tumbling from his fingers. "My what?"

She stood, her left arm crossing over her stomach so that her left hand could grab her right elbow. She just continued to stare forward, her eyes never wavering from his. "Genie."

Jace straightened himself, squinting at her then pulling back and squinting again. "Are you insane?"

In response, she returned his weird gaze and crossed her arms fully. "No."

"You're not insane and you believe that you're a Genie? Likely story," Jace quipped, turning to head through his door.

"You get three wishes, no more, no less." She seemed to recite this like a mantra of some sort.