Books Glorious Books

“I wish–” Tristan starts. I throw up my hand with my finger raised to shush him.

“STOP! Enough with the pointless wishes. You are being a shit friend and taking advantage of me and I’m tired of it.” I huff. “Michaela is right, pull your big boy pants up. Think it through and get it done in one fucking wish or don’t, but you get one more wish. Nothing more. Otherwise, you will keep asking for stuff you are going to regret.”

“How do I get rid of the wishes I don’t want?” Tristan asks.

“You don’t. It doesn’t work that way. You can’t just take back the things you say. They can’t be unsaid.” I sigh, examining my salad. It’s swimming in ranch dressing and inedible. 

I don’t even like ranch dressing.

Tristan looks up at the ceiling, doing some mental gymnastics. “There are about seventy-two wishes I need to rescind.”

I nod. “Yes. Although, I count ninety-eight.” I reconsider my sandwich before picking it up and taking a bite of the ham and cheese. 

A group of girls Thea’s age are being seated nearby and their eyes are glued to us. This is one of the things that makes me uncomfortable. I’ve recently turned nineteen. Thea’s a few months shy of turning seventeen. It gives Gabe a lot of ammunition to give me shit, and when girls her age give me attention, I feel like a total creeper. I feel like I’m doing something wrong. 

At the moment, these girls are looking at Tristan and I like we are on the menu. 

“I only made ninety-nine,” Tristan pouts. “Why are you picking on me?”

“I’m not. All but the last one were garbage. But it’s not like you can take out the trash, so it’s just too bad that they are all out there waiting to come true now.” I say, looking away from the other table and focusing on Tristan.

“They were?” He looks at me quizzically. “You really think they were rubbish?”

I suck on my bottom lip and nod. “Yeah. The only one that is meaningful and has any shot of working at all in your favor, is the last one. All the others are complete crap. You opened up the game to so many other guys with about fifty of your wishes, and thirty of them are really all about your ego. I mean, she does talk to you–”