Wishful Thinking (17 page)

“Yeah, well, that's nothing compared to how they get if you don't submit your M457-B6 by the end of the fiscal year, but don't get me started on that, or we'll be here all night. Anyway, where was I?” He blinked as he pulled a large handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped down his wide orange brow.

“You were saying it wasn't too late for me to reverse this whole djinn thing. Are you serious?”

“Of course I am. I mean, yes, the council requires that a djinn pass his or her powers on, but djinns in training are required by law to have a one-week opt-out clause. All a person needs to do is take a Reversal Pill, which my store happens to sell for the ‘Why don't you just rob me?' price of forty-two dollars, including pigeon delivery and a variety of flavors. Once the pill is taken, the powers will pass over to the Djinn Council, and they will hand them on to a suitable recipient.”

“And what happens to me?”

“Your life goes back to the way it was. Actually, it literally goes back to the way it was, so it will be like this whole week has never happened.”

Sophie felt her mouth go dry. “As in no embarrassing conversations with Jonathan Tait? No acting weirdly and freaking my mom out so much that she becomes even more adamant about selling the house than she already is?”

Rufus looked at her blankly. “I guess not. You will wake up and go back to the day you put the ring on, except this time you won't put the ring on and your life will return to normal.”

Unbelievable.

Like it was 100 percent unbelievable. And more importantly, it was the answer she had been looking for. Then she narrowed her eyes and studied Rufus's face. “If all of this is true, then why on earth didn't Malik say anything?”

“Well, it's hard to tell.” Rufus shrugged. “I mean, Malik hasn't always had the best memory, so it might've just slipped his mind. Of course, the more obvious reason is that if you keep his powers, then he gets to stay in noncorporeal form and hang out with everyone, but if the powers revert to the Djinn Council, then. . . ” Rufus paused for a moment and wiped his brow for a second time.

“Then what?” Sophie demanded in an urgent voice as she glanced at her watch. Fifty-two minutes to go.

“Then nothing,” Rufus told her. “Malik would simply cease to exist.”

T
WENTY-THREE MINUTES LATER, SOPHIE STARED AT the small turquoise pill that the pigeon had delivered about three seconds after Rufus the Furious had departed. According to the djinn, all she had to do was swallow it before it was time to do the final cleanse of her djinn ring, and presto! her life would return to Sunday at Mr. Rivers's house with bratty Ryan the biter. Yet despite all of this, she still hadn't taken it. Finally, Sophie clapped her hands, and a second later Malik was in front of her.

“Thank goodness you called. I've got news,” he said the minute he appeared, though this time he didn't look like Zac Efron; he was now the spitting image of Eddie Henry, the bass player from Neanderthal Joe. Sophie widened her eyes, and Malik grinned. “Oh, do you like it? I've been working on it ever since you got RWD. I thought it might cheer you up a bit,” he said as he did a very uncool bow that was nothing like Eddie.

Sophie felt herself giggling, but before she could answer him, Malik caught sight of the pill in her hand and his shoulders immediately dropped.

“Oh, I see you've got a Reversal Pill. Nice color. Apparently, the turquoise one tastes best.”

Sophie, who hadn't quite been sure how to start the whole “You're going to die for real this time” conversation, felt a little taken aback. “You're not mad at me?”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “There was a chance it would happen, and while I suppose I wish you'd taken to the whole djinn thing—especially since your powers and abilities really are quite extraordinary—I can't blame you for not wanting to do it.”

“So why did you lie to me and say there was no way to reverse it?”

“What was rule number one I told you about being a djinn?” he demanded, but when Sophie scratched her head, he rolled his eyes. “Never trust another djinn. Or a djinn ghost, for that matter, because we're all liars. Anyway, how did you find out? Don't tell me that you learned how to read djinnese?” he said as he glanced over to the large leather-bound book that was still sitting on the computer table.

Sophie didn't even know there was a language called djinnese, and so she quickly shook her head.

“Rufus came around looking for you. Apparently, they forgot to send you your free steak knives with your last purchase.”

“Steak knives?” Malik widened his Eddie Henry eyes in excitement as he caught sight of them. He rushed over and inspected them for a moment before letting out a low whistle. “Very nice. Oh, and look at the blade. I bet they would slice through an eye fillet like it was a. . . well, I suppose that doesn't matter now, but you've got to admit that, as far as steak knives go, these are good ones.”

Sophie gulped as she studied the pill in her hand. This wasn't quite going as planned. “But you understand why I have to do this, right? I mean, it's not like I hate you or anything. In fact, apart from your habit of being crazy, you're sort of cool as far as djinn guides go.”

“Is this going to be one of those things when you start to cry?” Malik dragged his attention away from the steak knives. “Because I do believe that I've warned you before that crying girls aren't really my specialty.”

“Okay.” Sophie clamped down on her tongue to stop herself from getting all sniffly. “S-so how do you want to do this thing? W-would you like one final look at YouTube? Or some Cheetos? Because I wouldn't mind.”

For a moment Malik looked at the computer monitor before regretfully shaking his head. “Better not. That thing is a black hole of time, and I guess if you're going to do this, you need to do it soon. Perhaps we could just sit quietly? Oh, and if it's any consolation, I've heard it doesn't hurt much,” he said in a bright voice, which was at odds with his Adam's apple, which was bobbing up and down in his neck.

Sophie's heart started to pound as she watched him sit cross-legged on the floor, still clutching at the steak knives like they were a bag of diamond-encrusted Cheetos. She went to join him, but as she did so, her elbow hit the small silver box that her dad had given her for her seventh birthday, just weeks before he disappeared.

She grabbed it before it hit the carpet and cradled it carefully in her hands as she felt her resolve thicken. Yes, it sucked, what was about to happen to Malik, but there was no way she could pass up this chance to go back to her normal life and to try again to convince her mom not to sell the house—this time without all the crazy antics to accompany her efforts.

“Where did you get that?” Malik suddenly cut into her thoughts as he stared at the box.

“What do you mean?”

“That box. Why do you have a djinn safe-deposit box in your bedroom? And more importantly, why have I never seen it before?”

“Probably because you couldn't eat it,” Sophie retorted. “And why wouldn't I have it in here? My dad gave it to me for a birthday present.”

“Your dad? But why would he have a—” Malik started to say before widening his eyes. “Can I see what your dad looks like?”

“Malik.” Sophie looked at her watch. “I really don't. . . okay, fine,” she relented as she caught his determined stare—the last time she had seen it was when he had nagged her to teach him how to download songs from iTunes. She reached over to a small silver-framed photo of her dad and passed it to Malik. It had been taken after a family trip to Disneyland, and even though her dad still had his goofy ears on, he looked reassuringly familiar.

“Of course!” Malik suddenly nodded his head in understanding before he began to mutter to himself. “It's so obvious. I mean, all that power she had. How did I not figure it out? Honestly, Malik, sometimes I worry about you.”

“Malik? What's going on? Why are you talking to yourself like that? Are you trying to say that you know my dad?”

“Well, I wouldn't say that ‘I know him,' know him. But of course I've heard of him. Who hasn't? Especially after what happened in Prussia. Tariq the Awesome is a legend.”

“Tariq? My dad's name isn't Tariq, it's Terry. And how on earth could you know him when you're a djinn, and he's a—” Sophie paused for a minute and felt her head start to spin. She wasn't sure how long it took before she finally regained the power of speech. But finally, she managed to croak, “Are you telling me that my dad's a djinn?”

“Isn't that what I just said?” Malik demanded. “Honestly, Sophie, you really need to keep up.”

However, Sophie hardly heard as she tried to process what Malik was saying. Her father was a djinn. Like her. Suddenly, she froze as she thought of all the stories he used to tell. And how she knew what RWD stood for. She had grown up learning all about djinns, without even realizing it.

That's why her magic was so good. Not just because of Malik's power, but because she already had djinn blood. Like her dad. Which also meant that her dad could do magic, he could fly, and he could. . . 
live forever.

Sophie felt the blood pound in her temples as she turned back to Malik.

“If my dad's a djinn, then he must still be alive! Does that mean you know where he is?”

“Sorry.” Malik shook his head. “Like I said, I don't know him personally.”

“But you could ask around, right?” Sophie jumped to her feet and started to frantically look around. “I mean, one of your djinn friends might know him. They might know what has happened to him.”

“Well, the best place to start is actually in that box you have.” Malik nodded at it. “I mean, he probably left it for you on purpose, since those things are designed to carry everyone's deepest, darkest secrets. Plus, they are really good for hiding stolen goods and—”

“This?” Sophie cut him off as she held it up. “Are you saying that the answers to what happened to my dad could be in this thing? But it doesn't even open. It never has. Not even when Meg thought it would be funny to drop it out the window.”

“That's why they're called safe-deposit boxes,” Malik explained. “Because the only way they can be opened is if you take them to some dusty vault at the Djinn Council and use a specially designed key.”

“Okay, then, so let's do that.” Sophie eagerly nodded as the excitement started to thump through her body. “Let's do that right now. You can take me, right?”

“Actually.” Malik gave a polite cough as he nodded at the turquoise pill that was now sitting on the nightstand. “In a few minutes I'm not going to exist, and you're just going to be a normal girl who will have forgotten all about this.”

“What?” Sophie's hope went screeching to an abrupt halt. “Are you saying that if I'm not a djinn, then I'll never be able to get the key to this box and find out what happened to my dad?”

“I'm saying that you won't even remember what the box means. And if by a small chance you do, it won't matter anyway, since the only way you can go to the Djinn Council and open it is if you're a—”

“A djinn?” Sophie finished off in horror as Malik nodded.

“I'm afraid so. Remember I told you they were a pack of old women? Well, this is yet another example of their many stupid rules that make no sense. I'm sorry, Sophie, I wish I had better. . . and hey, what are you doing? That thing won't work if you crush it like that.”

“I don't want it to work,” Sophie informed him as she used the corner of the box to smash the pill into turquoise powder.

“Are you saying that you're not going to take it?”

“Yes, that's what I'm saying,” Sophie agreed as she finished crushing the pill and then slipped off the rhinestone studded apple ring so she could cleanse it. Funny—it had caused her so much trouble, but now it might be the one thing to grant her greatest wish. Finding out where her dad had gone.

S
OPHIE, MAY I COME IN?” HER MOM POKED HER head into the bedroom the following Saturday, which in turn almost caused Sophie to take her eye out with the mascara wand she had in her hand. She had been undecided whether or not to wear makeup to the concert, but after that near-fatality she decided that it must be the Universe giving her a sign to stick to lip gloss and some body glitter. She screwed the cap on and turned around to face her mom.

“Jonathan's brother is coming around to get me in ten minutes,” she reminded her mom before double-checking her hair—still flat and blond and doing what it always did, more's the pity. And while she was more than a little tempted to give it a bit of a zap with her djinn magic, after everything that had happened last week, she had decided that Malik was right. Rule number one about being a djinn was knowing when to use your magic and knowing when just to use hair product. She had even written it down.

“I promise it won't take long,” her mom assured her as she walked in and sat down on the corner of the bed. “Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I know you haven't been happy with me this week.”

“Yes, well, just because Meg will sell her soul for a box of Coco Pops doesn't mean I will,” Sophie retorted as some of her happy mood disappeared. Ever since she had cleansed her djinn ring for the final time on Monday night, her life had started to improve. Malik had helped her compose a letter to the Djinn Council to talk to them about getting the key for her dad's box, and even better, Jonathan Tait had totally believed her that her whole “I'm a djinn” speech was actually a result of having played The Sims for five hours straight. She felt bad about lying to him, but there was no way she was ready for him to know the truth about her. Especially if she was moving to Montana and was never going to see him again. Which brought her to the downside of everything, since despite all her efforts, the one thing that Sophie hadn't been able to figure was how to stop her mom from selling the house.

“I know,” her mom agreed. “In fact, you've made your feelings on the matter very clear.”

“So what's this about then?” Sophie sniffed before realizing that Malik's large leather-bound djinn book was next to the computer. Oh, yeah, that was the other thing she hadn't managed to fix. Malik's ability to make a mess. She casually picked up her favorite cardigan and draped it over the book.

“Well, I've been speaking to MG about the move, and—”

“What? Let me guess, MG thinks we should move tomorrow because it's stupid to wait until the end of term like you promised?” Sophie finished hiding the book and then folded her arms.

“Actually, MG thinks that perhaps I've been so busy looking for a quick fix to my problems that I was ignoring the fact that changing my location won't change what's really wrong. I mean, yes, the money is a worry, but there are other ways to earn more money, which is why I've started talking to some of the stores who used to sell my pottery. Anyway, I've managed to get a few commissions. So while I might be a bit busier after work, we should be better off. I've even spoken to the bank, and they're convinced that I can keep up my repayments.”

“What?” Sophie stared at her blankly for a moment. After all, her stomach didn't hurt, so she knew it wasn't RWD, and she certainly hadn't tried to influence her mom's decision with magic (only because she didn't know how). “A-are you messing with me?”

Her mom shook her head and started to smile. I called the real estate agent today. When I signed the contract, I asked him to put in a three-day cooling-off period, and so I told him that I'd changed my mind.”

But Sophie didn't hear anything else as she launched herself at her mom in a gigantic hug.

“So can you forgive me for putting you through that?” her mom asked as she finally disentangled herself.

“Can you forgive me for being so bratty?” Sophie countered. “I mean, I knew you weren't doing it on purpose, but I just couldn't imagine living anywhere but here.”

“You were just doing what you believed in.” Her mom gave her another hug. “And actually, never have you reminded me more of your father than at this moment.”

Sophie glanced over to the small silver box that was sitting next to her bed. She longed to tell her mom everything that was going on, but she realized that right now wasn't the time. Instead, she just gulped as something else occurred to her.

Despite doing an extensive search on the Internet, Harvey never had been able to find any reference to a story about a foolish djinn and the equally foolish human girl who had fallen in love with each other. Which had gotten her thinking.

“Mom,” she suddenly asked, “how did you and dad first meet?”

“At college,” her mom said in surprise. “You know that.”

“Yes, but I mean the first time,” Sophie clarified, and she was surprised to see a small half smile on her mom's lips.

“Oh. Well, it was rather strange really. I was in this antiques store looking for a present for your grandmother. You know she likes to collect teaspoons. Anyway, I saw this bottle—it was blue and very old, and for some reason I felt really drawn to it.
Now this next bit is going to sound crazy.
Somehow, I dropped the bottle, and then, almost out of nowhere, your father appeared. Now I realize he must've walked up behind me and given me a scare, and that's how I dropped it in the first place. Well, I took one look at him and fell instantly in love. He was such a romantic, he immediately asked me to make a wish, and so—”

“You wished that he would never leave,” Sophie finished off, and her mom, who had been dabbing her eyes, suddenly gave her a watery smile.

“Yes, so I guess I have told you that story already. Anyway.” Her mom suddenly got to her feet, as if trying to push aside some memories. “You've got a concert to go to. I just wanted to let you know the good news before you went.”

“Thanks, Mom. Really.” Sophie dabbed at her own eyes, extra pleased that she hadn't bothered with the mascara, because from what she'd read, her face would now be resembling that of a panda bear. Then she shot her mom a shy smile. “And by the way, I guess I owe MG an apology. I might've said her name in vain a few times.”

“You don't owe her anything. But if you like, I'll tell her you said hi.” Her mom grinned. “I'm logging on with her tonight. She has a cooking problem that she wants some help with.”

“Really?” Sophie looked at her in surprise since she couldn't imagine anyone asking her mom a cooking question unless it involved the words
“charcoal”
and
“a lot.”

“Ironic, isn't it? But apparently she has this thing for Cheetos, and she wants to know if I have any recipes for her.”

“Cheetos? Did you say Cheetos?”

“I know, weird. I did find one recipe where you can crush them and then use them to coat chicken, but between you and me, I can't imagine it tasting any good.”

But Sophie hardly heard as her brain tried to process what she was hearing. Her mom's new friend liked to spend a lot of time on the computer and was partial to Cheetos?

Oh, he had to be joking.

Sophie clapped her hands.

“Is everything okay?” Her mom looked at her oddly. “Why are you clapping your hands?”

“Oh, er, just getting in the mood for the concert,” Sophie improvised as Malik appeared over by her closet and did a little half wave at her mom (who, thankfully, couldn't see it). “And speaking of which, I really need to finish getting ready.”

“Of course,” her mom said, and walked out of the room. The minute she was gone, Sophie turned to where Malik was standing.

“You? You were MG?”

“Malik the Ghost, at your service.” Malik dropped into a deep bow, and then he clicked his fingers. Suddenly Zac Efron was gone and a woman with dark hair and an overly bright smile was standing in front of her, wearing what looked like one of her mom's old pottery tops. Sophie continued to stare at him.

“But I don't understand. How? And why? And how all over again?

“You made me promise to stop your mom from selling the house, and when the haunting thing didn't work out, I figured I needed to do something I was more suited to.” Malik shrugged, his voice still sounding totally the same, despite the fact he was now a woman.

“Since when have you been suited to talking to my mom on the Internet?” Sophie continued to stare at him in. . . well, actually, there were no words for what she was feeling. Though
“ewh”
would probably come close.

“Hey, I'll have you know that I'm a very sociable fellow. And I actually tried to tell you I was making progress on it the other day, but then you were too busy trying to decide whether to take the turquoise pill.”

“But that's just so. . . wrong.” Sophie shuddered.

“Why? Your mom's a nice lady. In fact, she's a very nice lady. I like her a lot, so trust me, it wasn't hard to talk to her. And by the way, you know you should really try to stop acting so secretive because she really worries about that.”

“What, you mean like I should just pretend that I'm not a djinn and that my ghostly djinn guide isn't sitting up on my computer chatting up my mom?”

“Exactly,” Malik agreed in a happy voice before he started to frown. “But don't worry. Now that I know your dad is Tariq the Awesome, I will step aside.”

“Step aside?” Sophie widened her eyes. Could this conversation get any grosser? Wait, don't answer that.

“That's right.” Malik nodded as he smoothed down his T-shirt. Then he clicked his fingers, and he was Zac Efron again. “You've got nothing to worry about. Besides, I'm probably too young for her anyway.”

Sophie's eyes widened some more. “Malik, you might look like Zac on the outside, but on the inside, you're two thousand years old. My mom's thirty-seven. Then there is the fact that she thinks you're
a woman
.”

“Hey, she's just had four years of grieving. I didn't want to scare her off,” Malik protested. “But there was a connection there. I could feel it. And didn't you think that her eyes lit up ever so slightly whenever she mentioned my name?”

“And let's not forget that you're a ghost as well.” Sophie ignored his question due to the fact that the whole conversation was just wrong.

“There's no reason to get snippety.” Malik poked his chin into the air and sniffed. “Besides, I think you're missing the fact that I managed to stop her from selling the house.”

“You did,” Sophie was forced to concede as she tried to stop herself from mentally shuddering.
But ewh.
She took another moment and tried to find the positive angle. “And I suppose the important thing to remember is that you helped her get her pottery mojo back, so thank you for that. I really appreciate it.”

“Oh, it's nothing.” Malik waved off her thanks. “I just happened to read somewhere in Rufus's book that you should always try to make your djinn student's life as uncomplicated as possible, and this one seemed like an easy fix.”

“Well, I am really grateful. I thought I was Montana bound for sure.”

“Again, it's my pleasure. And you know, it's not that I wish Tariq ill, but if we happen to find out that he's—”

“No.” Sophie shook her head.

“But you don't know what I was going to say,” Malik protested.

“True, but there is nothing you can say to make me think my mom would date a two-thousand-year-old djinn ghost,” Sophie assured him. “Besides, I'm going to find my dad and bring him home to us.”

“Okay, well, you can't blame me for trying.” Malik gave a shrug of his shoulders. “And speaking of which, it's been a very trying day, so would you mind zapping me up some Cheetos before you go to that concert of yours?”

For a moment Sophie just stared at him before she heard a car pull up outside. She darted to the window and saw that it was Jonathan Tait and his brother. Harvey and Kara were already in the back. Sophie immediately grabbed her jacket and her bag, pausing only to check that her ticket was still in there. Then she turned to Malik, conjured up three bags of Cheetos and a tube of Pringles (just to mix it up), and then raced down the stairs to try to reach the front door before her mom got there. On the way down, Mr. Jaws hissed at her before Meg told him to shut up because it was the part where the great white attacked a whale.

Sophie grinned as she opened the door. Okay, so her life hadn't turned out quite the way she'd planned (especially the part where her ghostly djinn guide was crushing on her mom), but thankfully she was a positive thinker, which meant as far as she could tell, life was still pretty good.