I couldn't sleep that night.
Michael still hadn't come back, and I'd realized about half an hour after he left that he didn't even have a phone to text me with. I didn't want to text Ashton or Calum or Luke, and there was no one else I could talk to about anything.
So I spent the whole night staring at the ceiling with silent tears running down my face.
I didn't go to school the next day, either.
"Karina, you're going to be late!" I heard my dad call from upstairs after my long, sleepless night. "Why aren't you up here?"
"I'm not feeling well, Dad!" I called back weakly, exhausted but unable to let my eyes close. "I think I'm going to stay home today. Can you call in for me?"
I could hear him sigh from the top of the stairs, but the quiet beeps from his phone suggested that he was doing as I asked.
I leaned back on my headboard, wishing that sleep would finally consume me, but it did no such thing. I was stuck laying in bed, near delirious, unable to do anything about it.
Now was the time I started to feel really lonely.
I turned on my TV, unable to think of anything else to do.
It didn't help any.
For whatever reason, Green Day was performing live.
It wasn't too recent. It was their performance on Saturday Night Live from 1994, something I'd watched hundreds of times, so I was familiar with it.
It only made me think of Michael.
I groaned, sliding down into my pillows even more.
"Why does the universe hate me?" I asked no one, pulling a pillow over my face. "I didn't mean to do anything, I promise!"
"Kay, I'm leaving for work now," Dad called down. "Patricia will be here at three to check in on you. Love you."
"You too, Dad," I replied, probably too quietly for him to actually hear me.
I rolled over, grabbing my phone and going to my music, pressing shuffle.
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" started playing.
Not a song I needed to hear right now.
I turned it off, along with the TV, before getting up and pacing the floor.
I felt like shit, and I didn't know what I was supposed to do about anything.
I wasn't going to wish everything back to normal and lose Michael and risk hurting my friends.
I wasn't going to go to school and face my mistakes, like I should.
I was going to stay home and mope, like a coward.
I could practically hear Shannon's voice in my ear as I thought this.
"You are a coward, Karina. This is why I left you. God, you're such an idiot. Just take a risk for once in your stupid life."
"I can't take a risk for this," I said out loud. "I can't. I'm not trying to be a coward; I just don't know what I'm supposed to do."
"Stop listening to her," a voice said suddenly from my right.
I looked over to see my purple-haired genie standing on my nightstand, right next to his lamp. I nearly screamed before leaping forward to hug him.
"I missed you so much, Michael," I murmured, my mouth close to his ear. "It's been awful."
"I know," he replied quietly. "I'm sorry, Karina. I was just...I was being a jackass. You needed someone with you to help deal with all that shit, and I left. I was a jerk, and I'm really sorry. I never meant to say all the stuff I said yesterday. I'm here to help you; I can't be selfish and talk about my past. It was stupid of me."
"You don't need to apologize so much," I said. "I was stupid, too. I should have thought my- well, you know- out more. I was too overexcited. I might have ruined some of my best friend's lives. I didn't mean for any of it to happen the way it happened. And now I'm too cowardly to go to school to confront my mistake. Just so you know, I'm not going to fix this with my last wi- yeah...I don't want to lose you. You're my friend. I'm not just going to kick you out of my life. I'd hate myself. Forever..."
"About that," he said suddenly, helping me down onto my bed. "I haven't told you something about how the magic works."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Michael...?"
"When you make your last wish," he started slowly, "it's granted, and then...I disappear. But it's more than just that. I leave and...you forget I ever existed."
My eyes grew wide.
"No," I whispered. "No, I could never forget about you."
"It isn't a choice you or I have," he replied. "I wish I could do something about it, but it happens every time. It was difficult for me to figure out, but sometimes my lamp doesn't travel too far from its last spot. I see my past holders and they see me but they don't recognize me. It's the worst feeling in the world, Karina. It's going to happen to you, too, and I hate knowing that. I didn't want you to know, so it wouldn't hurt you as much, but I realize now that it wouldn't matter for you, anyway. It's just me being selfish. I was trying to spare my own feelings."
"Stop that," I said, trying to force back the tears I could feel building in my eyes. "I feel shitty enough already. I just...I won't use the last one. Then you won't have to go through me forgetting you!"
"You can't get out of it that easily," he said, shaking his head. "I wish you could, but everyone slips up and says 'I wish' by accident at some point. It's either that or you need to use it. You can't escape using it, no matter how hard you try. Everyone disappears at some point. It's just the inevitable."
I dropped my gaze from his face to my feet.
"So...I'm going to lose you no matter what?" I murmured.
He sighed before pulling me back into a hug.
"Try to stay positive, Kay," he said. "It's okay. It isn't happening yet, unless you slip up or you want it to. It's okay."
My phone began to buzz on the bed next to me.
I sniffed before pulling out of the hug to answer it.
"Hello?" I asked, sounding congested from my mini-cry.
"Where are you?" It was Ashton. "Luke and Cal both came to talk to me when they got to school. They came at the same time and when they saw each other they started blushing. Blushing! They walked away two seconds after that, so I didn't get anything out of them. I kind of need your help right now."
"I'm home sick," I replied. "I didn't sleep at all last night, and it's kind of related to that. Umm...how am I supposed to put this?"
I looked over at Michael, knowing he could hear what was happening. He shrugged, a look of guilt creeping onto his face. I sent him a sympathetic look in an attempt to make him feel better, probably not doing a very good job of it.
"Kay? What happened?" Ashton asked, reminding me that he was on the line still.
"Can I just say it has something to do with Michael?" I said, ready for a scolding before it even happened.
"Karina...what did you do?"
I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get out of this with such a vague answer.
"I used my second wish yesterday," I said, glancing at Michael to make sure I wasn't misusing the term. He nodded for me to go on. "I...I think I accidentally made Calum and Luke like each other...in more than a friendly way."
I could picture Ashton's eyes widening.
"Karina! I can't believe...why would you do that?"
"I didn't mean to!" I said defensively. "I just wanted Calum to stop being a jackass to Luke and I didn't want Luke to be all upset about what happened over the weekend and I rushed into it and...it was stupid, I know. I didn't think it out enough."
"I can tell that much," Ashton replied quietly. "But...now you only have one left, right?"
I swallowed. "I'd rather we avoid that subject. Maybe another time, when Michael isn't right next to me and I didn't just cry about what happens when I use it up."
"Alright."
There was a moment of awkward silence before I asked, "Why aren't you in class right now?"
"I have a free period," he reminded me. "Both of us do on F cycle days. I'm at the Starbucks a few blocks away from school."
"How'd you get there?" I questioned.
"Luke brought me. He has a free period, too. You're really out of it today, Karina."
"Where is he?" I said, ignoring the criticism.
"Waiting in line for his overly-complicated white girl drink order and my green tea."
I rolled my eyes. "Can I meet you there? Will I have enough time to?"
"I thought you were home sick because you didn't sleep last night," he said. "I don't think it would be a very good idea to drive in your current condition."
"I'll just have Michael drive," I said as my genie sighed but nodded by my side. "We need to talk in person, even better if Luke is there. Can you get him to order me a hot chocolate and a blueberry scone?"
There was hesitation on the other side of the line, but Ashton gave in. "Fine. Be careful, though. It wouldn't be good if your dad found out you faked being sick then met with me and Luke while you were skipping school. Just be careful."
"Technically speaking, I wasn't faking it," I murmured.
"What?"
"Nothing," I said. "I'll see you in a few minutes. Bye, Ash."
"See you soon."
I hung up first, pushing myself off of my bed. My muscles felt sore all over for some weird reason, but I chose not to bring it up. I didn't want Michael worrying about me going out.
"Are you sure you're feeling up to this?" he asked, sitting on my bed with his knees pulled up to his chin, hugging his legs. "I don't want you leaving home if you feel like you're going to pass out."
"I'm not going to pass out, Michael," I said, running a brush through my hair and yanking it through the knots. "I'm fine."
He said something under his breath that I couldn't quite hear, but I chose to ignore it.
I got dressed before I pulled Michael off of my bed. We drove to the Starbucks, and I immediately spotted Ashton and his walker in the window when we arrived. I waved as Michael and I exited the car, and Ashton noticed and waved back.
"Luke and I have to be back to school in, like, twenty minutes, so we can't talk long," Ashton told me as Michael and I sat down at the small table. Luke was just walking over, looking a little nervous.
"Hey, Karina. Hi...Michael?" Luke said as he sat down. The genie nodded in confirmation, making Luke smile ever-so-slightly. "How is everything? Other than staying home sick, I mean."
"It's fine, nothing contagious, just so you know," I assured him. "Just couldn't sleep at all last night and I feel slightly delusional, so I decided not to go today. Nothing to worry about."
"I've never heard of you having insomnia, like, ever," Luke said slowly. "You were always the first one to fall asleep when we were younger. You'd sleep through anything."
"It might just be the sudden return to school," I said, not wanting to say the real reason I hadn't slept. "Last week was kind of a long one. I had a bunch of homework yesterday and I got kind of stressed."
Luke nodded, though I could tell he wasn't completely convinced.
"Are you feeling any better about what you were texting me about yesterday?" I asked him quietly, changing the subject.
Luke's eyes quickly turned to the ground, glancing at Michael for a split second before doing so.
"I saw him this morning...he seemed just as nervous as I was," he said. "I don't know why."
"What if he...likes you back?" Ashton suggested not-so-subtly.
Luke's eyes shot up towards him in surprise. "That's impossible. He's always been a dick to me. He can't...he doesn't like me in that way. He doesn't like me at all."
"Things can change, Luke," I said gently. "I think you should try to talk to him when you get back to school. Do you have any classes with him?"
"One," he mumbled. "Next period."
"I'm in the same class," Ashton piped up. "I can be your back-up, if you want it."
Luke sent him a shaky smile. "Do you guys really think I should do this? I'm just worried..."
"Don't think about the negative," Michael said suddenly, reminding us of his presence. "Focus on the positive. You're going to talk to him and you're going to be fine. There's nothing to worry about."
Luke's confidence seemed to triple out of nowhere.
"Yeah," he said, speaking a little bit louder than before. "Yeah, I'm going to be fine. I'm going to talk to Calum and I'm going to be fine. Thanks, Michael."
The genie sent a curt nod as he took a bite of my untouched scone. He seemed to have a slight pulsing purple glow around him, something I hadn't seen in a while.
"Do you want to get back to school yet?" Ashton asked Luke. "We've still got about ten minutes before the bell rings."
"Yeah," Luke replied, standing up. "I want to figure out what I'm going to say. See you, Kay. Thanks, Michael."
Michael sent another short nod as Luke helped Ashton up and guided him and his walker quickly outside to his car. They pulled out of the parking lot just a little too fast before driving away, back to school.
"That was nice of you," I acknowledged, taking a sip of my now lukewarm hot chocolate.
Michael shrugged. "It was nothing. It was my magic that made him realize he liked Calum in the first place. Might as well give him a little push."
"Wait, what do you mean 'realize he liked Calum'?" I asked, leaning forward. "That doesn't make any sense. They hated each other before I made my wish."
"My magic doesn't work miracles," he said. "It gives things that extra push. Subconsciously, they liked each other. They just didn't realize it until you made your wish. It was like that with Ashton, too. His nerves were healing really slowly, and I just sped up the process. Simple as that."
"That still doesn't make sense, though," I said. "You've made pizza appear from thin air."
"See, that's different," he laughed. "That's just freebee magic. When it comes to actual wish-granting magic, it's more complicated. You're probably too tired to understand it all right now. You should go home and get some sleep."
"I'm not that tired," I said, stifling a yawn.
Michael roller his eyes. "Whatever you say, Kay. I'm getting you home. Don't want anyone coming home to find your car missing along with you."
I found myself nodding as he led me back to the car. He helped me into the passenger seat before taking his spot to my left on the driver's side.
As I drifted off to sleep on the drive home, I didn't even realize that I never found out where he had disappeared to the night before.
• • •
Hola, meatballs!
So I've decided I'm putting most of my focus on this, and I've put Power-Fall on hold for a while. It isn't gone forever, but it's on hold because I'm not really getting that much inspiration for it right now. If you're into the Superhero series, worry not; 'twill be back soon.
For the record, I'm very tired right now and I have school tomorrow, but I wanted to finish this because I would usually write during my study period, but my laptop is being crappy and not saving the stuff I write on the Wattpad website so I can only write on my phone right now.
I'm going to test it out again tomorrow to see if it works any better, but if it doesn't then I'll just start writing the next chapter when I get home from school tomorrow.
This is probably stuff you don't care about, but whatever.
-Catherine