Chapter 2: Friday Adventures
Friday February 19, 1999
Lawndale
1111 Glen Oaks Lane 4:30
Quinn awoke from a strange dream. 'I don't know what to make of that,' she thought. She tried to go back to sleep.

She soon found that she couldn't so she decided to go down to the kitchen for a healthy snack.
However she found that she was not the only one who was up. Daria was sitting at the table reading a book and drinking from a cup when she walked in.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Quinn asked.

"Something like that," Daria said.

Quinn grabbed some carrot sticks and poured some milk. She then sat down across from Daria and sighed.

"Something on your mind?" Daria asked.

"Huh?"

"You look deep in thought. You don't usually look like that."

"Funny," Quinn said, in her usual tone of voice. She then continued, more seriously. "It's this situation you know? It is going to change everything! The Fashion Club, the social dynamic at school, the guys whom I date, possibly even all of Lawndale itself. It is frightening. It is as you said, Daria. The very idea of Sandi with a genie is frightening! The only reason why things weren't worse yesterday is that Sandi hadn't realised the full potential, and that Jean's mischievousness is good natured," Quinn said.

"You are right. It is going to change everything. Especially if either Ms Li or Sandi's Mom find out," Daria said.

Quinn thought, and didn't like what she speculated (especially when she realised that Ms Li would use the genie to install more security measures for the school). "Dar-i-a! That is more frightening than with Sandi!"

"Exactly, that is one thing that you have to bring up with Stacy and Tiffany when they get here at breakfast. I will be talking to Jane around the same time. We could then meet at the school and discuss our decisions," Daria said.

"Dar-ia! If I mention the possibility of the genie falling into the hands of either the principal or Mrs Griffin, Stacy would faint, and then she would be basically a wreck!" Quinn said.

"Quinn, they need to be informed of that possibility, or your discussions may be for naught," Daria said.

Quinn was then in thought, for a moment and then spoke, "You are right, Daria, much as I hate to admit that. We may be late to school though." She was sure that calming Stacy down would take up much of their time.

"If you are running late, you can continue your discussion on the way to school," Daria suggested.

"I guess we had better and maybe Jeffy can give me a ride," Quinn said. They talked for another minute about the situation.


"But now I don't feel like going back to sleep!" Quinn said.

"Neither do I," Daria said.

"But what are we going to do for the next few hours?"

"The same way we used to spend the wee small hours together when we were younger," Daria said, as she stood up and went towards the living room.

"Video games? Sure, though I am mostly out of practice."

"Which console do you want to use? The SNES or the N64?"

"SNES?" Quinn asked, confused. She knew what N64 meant but 'SNES' had her confused.

"You know, the Super Nintendo," Daria said, as she pointed to where the system in question lay beneath the television and the VCR.

"Oh, it's an acronym! Duh, Quinn!" she murmured to herself. "Maybe the N64, but I am not sure what game," she continued.

"Ok," Daria said, she unplugged the SNES and plugged in the N64. She and Quinn then played Mario Kart 64.


324 Eichler Street 5:00
Stacy awoke trembling as she remembered the events of the day before. "It was just a dream," she said. She then realised, "or was it?" she grabbed her diary and read the most recent entry.
"So, it did happen!" She fainted back into her bed.

5 minutes later, Stacy came to. She remembered everything from the day before, from the incident at recess, to the conversation with Quinn's mom. She re-read the diary entry.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so she went down to the living room and took out the PlayStation. 'I haven't played this for a while. This will help me keep my mind off things until it's time to go to Quinn's,' she thought. She found Final Fantasy VII and put the disk into the system.


111 Howard Drive 5:30
Jane was in the kitchen, looking for an early breakfast, when her brother Trent entered after a night of practice with his band, Mystik Spiral.
"You are up early, Janie," he said.

"So are you," Jane countered.

"Practice ran late, or early," Trent said. He saw that his younger sister was in thought. "Something on your mind?" he asked.

"Oh, I told Tom about my 11th birthday," Jane said.

"Cool," Trent said, as he remembered that day.

"He thought so too. Anyway the problem is with the reason why I told him," Jane said. Trent waited. "You remember the family we bowled next to, right?"

"Yes, the daughter had anger issues," Trent said, wondering where Jane was going with this line of conversation.

"Yes. She is also the leader of the clique that Daria's sister is part of," Jane said.

"What are you getting at Janie?"

"Sandi was bowling next to Tom and I and she was bowling well. However I also remembered rumours that were going around school yesterday."

"Since when do you pay attention to rumours at school?"

"Not often, but hear this. An extra floor appeared on the top of the science block yesterday! And the teachers don't know how," Jane said.

Trent could see that that his younger sister was not pulling his leg.

"So you are saying that this girl is involved in some kind of magic?" Trent asked. He had seen much of Lawndale in his 22 years, and some of what he had seen couldn't be explained rationally...

"Exactly, Daria's sister and her not so tame pack of football players also mentioned a classroom full of water, when we passed them in the hall," Jane said.

"Something is definitely happening."

"Daria called late last night, she said that Quinn spilled the beans to her family. She mentioned a genie. She is coming over at 7:00 and then we are going to talk about the situation. It seemed like she was unwilling to trust the phone for some reason," Jane said.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah," Jane said, in thought about what Daria might be telling her when she came over.

Trent was concerned for his sister. "Maybe I can get the old Atari out of the Attic and we can play something? Something to do, if you can't get to sleep," he said. Sleep was never a difficulty for Trent, narcoleptic as he was (Indeed the difficulty was staying awake for long periods).

Jane briefly considered the idea. "That is a very good idea," she said. Trent went out to the stairs. 'Although I may be spoiled by the arcades and the Morgendorffers' Nintendo's,' she thought. She then went upstairs herself and waited for Trent near the bottom of the attic stairs.

Trent came down from the attic with a box with the 2600 system on the top of it. "Which game do you want to play first?" he asked.


Jane finished connecting the Atari to the television in her bedroom. "Let's see, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Trent! That is the worst game of all time! Why do we have it?"

"Hmm, I guess that is why Wind said that the store was almost full of them when he bought it," Trent said, referring to his and Jane's older brother.

"At least the first 2 are amongst the best games of all time," Jane said, putting the Pac-Man cartridge into the console. 'Of course Wind would get it,' she mused.

She and Trent took turns playing Pac-Man until Trent fell asleep and then Jane continued playing until Daria arrived.


631 Bernstein Avenue 6:00
Tiffany awoke and looked at her bedside clock. 'I may as well get up,' she thought. She remembered the events of the previous day, from Sandi's floating until her discussion with Quinn's mother. 'I hope Quinn and Stacy will know what to do,' she thought. She thought about the ways that Lawndale could change as a result of Sandi's finding a genie. All of the conclusions she reached frightened her.
'I still have an hour until I have to go to Quinn's,' she thought. She thought of a way to occupy her time. She then recalled the old Sega, that was down in the den. 'I haven't played anything since I started high school,' she thought.

Tiffany found the Sega Genesis where she remembered it to be and carefully plugged it in to the den's television. Certain that she had gotten the connections right she selected a game and plugged the cartridge in.

She was soon playing the game, sending the character all over the screen. "Sonic is fa-ast!" she said with her eyes on the blue hedgehog...


Varmittan Imperial Palace-Tree 6:30
"So it is a Genie!" the Varmittan Emperor exclaimed.

"Yes. The younger of the two human children was quite adamant about that!" Captain Jaywi said, as he tried to contain his excitement.

"I have read the archives, the previous mention of a genie in the 'Pennsylvania' region was in Oakwood, 30 years ago, 5 moon cycles before the humans made their first landing upon the moon," the Emperor said.

"What occurred?" Captain Jaywi asked, curious.

"There was some chaos prior to the genie disappearing in the third day of the incident. Prior to that there was a sighting 60 years ago in Middlebury, but the information from then is fragmentary," the Emperor said. Captain Jaywi knew why the information would be fragmentary, something to do with a War involving Europe...

The Emperor and the captain continued their discussion before the Emperor sent the Captain back to Glen Oaks Lane.


Tiffany looked at the clock as she switched off the Sega. 'Yikes! I have to be at Quinn's in 10 minutes!' she thought. Just as well her house was only 2 blocks from the Morgendorffers. She went up to her room, grabbed her handbag and came back downstairs. "Bye, Mommy," she said as she ran out the back door... She then went into the laneway.


324 Eichler Street 7:06
Stacy looked at the time. "Oh no! I have lost track of time!" she said. She then saved the game and then rushed upstairs to get changed.

5 minutes later she came down the stairs, turned off the PlayStation (and put it away) and then ran out the front door.


Daria met Tiffany at the door as she was going out. "See you at school, Quinni," Daria said.

"Quinni?" Tiffany asked.

"It is a nickname, like when Kevin calls his friend 'Mack-Daddy'," Daria said.

"Only not so annoying," Quinn said as she turned off the N64 and started walking over.

"Oh yeah, like when my name is short-tened to Tiff."

"'Ari', do you see Stacy?"

Daria glared at Quinn for a fraction of a second before stepping out of the door, past Tiffany and looking up and down the street for Stacy. "She is nowhere to be seen. Does she always lack punctuality?"

"In Middle School, she was all-ways, Tard-dy."

"She is usually the last to arrive at Fashion Club meetings," Quinn said.

"If I see her, I'll tell her that you are waiting," Daria said, as she set out for Jane's. Quinn watched her sister walk out to the sidewalk before turning back to Tiffany.

"Let's go wait in the kitchen, we will wait for five minutes and then start our discussion without her."

"I hope she gets here soo-on," Tiffany said as she closed the door.


512 Grandstaff Drive 7:20
Sandi awoke. 'Hard to believe that I released a mischievous genie yesterday,' she thought. She got out of bed, and walked to her door. She opened it and looked down the hall towards the guest bedroom, where Jean was supposedly sleeping. 'Maybe I should have had asked her whether she has to sleep or not,' she thought. She gathered her clothes and towel out of the closet and went to the bathroom.


Stacy was racing along in a tremendous hurry, indeed as she turned a corner she crashed into Daria. They both fell, with Stacy ending up on top of Daria.
"Stacy, Watch where you are going!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Stacy said, in apology, starting to hyperventilate as she got up. Daria also got to her feet.

"No big problem, just watch out. A car might be backing out. I also must say that Quinn and Tiffany are waiting. They may have already started without you."

"Oh no! I hope that they will fill me in on what they have discussed. Sometimes when I am late to a Fashion Club meeting, Sandi won't tell me what I have missed."

"I am sure that they will. Tiffany only got there 5 -10 minutes ago, at just about the same time that I left."

Stacy thought for a moment. "Good! Bye," Stacy said. She then ran off towards the Morgendorffers house.

Daria looked back at the hurrying Stacy. "I hope she doesn't crash into anyone else." She then continued towards Casa Lane (as Jane called her house).


Back at the Griffin's, Sam Griffin (the middle child) saw Sandi go into the bathroom. 'Time for some investigating,' he thought. He then tip-toed to Chris's door and looked inside. He saw that his brother was still asleep. 'Good, I can investigate without his annoying interference.'

He then went into Sandi's room...

He soon found what he was looking for, the emerald! 'What is so special about this stone, that Sandi is suddenly carrying it wherever she goes?' he thought. He gave it a rub, and then another. When Jean appeared out of thin air, sitting on Sandi's bed, he was frightened out of his wits!

"Eep!" He let out as he promptly fell to the floor.


Stacy narrowly avoided being hit by a car that was backing out as she ran along the Glen Oaks Lane sidewalk. "Watch where you are going!" the driver said.

"Sorry!" Stacy shouted back. She could now see the Morgendorffer residence up ahead.


When Sam came to, he could see Jean sitting at Sandi's computer. "You know, Sam, this 'internet' is very interesting. It is a veritable treasure trove of information from all around the world, where people can communicate without knowing each other's real names. Oh, I also gave your family a free 'broadband' connection rather than that rather slow 'dial up'" she said.

"So you are a genie?"

"Yes."

"Sandi found this and you are now granting her wishes?"

"She found it on Wednesday. I started granting her wishes yesterday, after she was scared in a similar manner to you."

"Really?" Sam asked. He thought about it. 'I remember Jean arriving on Wednesday, but I didn't actually see her until yesterday. I guess that the 'exchange student' cover was a wish by Sandi.'

"Yes. There was some chaos occurring at the High School as a result, but nothing too serious," Jean said.

"What sort of chaos?' Sam asked, now curious.

"Oh, pool water in classrooms, people floating in the air, time anomalies..." Jean said.

Sam was surprised. "Oh, I guess Sandi would do those things, if she had reason," he said.

"No, that was me being mischievous. I made Sandi float in the air and later filled her English classroom with water. Sandi wished for Voice Recognition software, and for better bowling skills," Jean said.

"I can believe that," Sam said, remembering most of the Griffin family bowling games where Sandi would get a low score compared to the rest of the family.

"So, do you wish for anything? You do have the emerald, anyone holding it has unlimited wishes."

Sam thought for a moment, he was sure of one thing. He didn't want Chris to share in whatever he wished up. "Ok, I wish for a scale model of this house made of LEGO."

"Granted," Jean said, with the usual gesture and sound. A large LEGO model of the Griffin residence appeared in the middle of the room.

"Cool!" Sam said as he looked at the LEGO model, looked very much like the house, the bricks having the same colours as the bricks and tiles of the house. He looked into the window that corresponded to Sandi's room. He could see a couple of LEGO people, dressed like him and Jean and a model of the model.

"Samuel Josiah Griffin!" Sandi had returned to the room. "What are you, like, doing in my room?" she asked, with her voice raised, though not quite shouting.

"Eep!"

"Jean! Did you tell him?" the look on Sandi's face implied that she knew what the answer was going to be, but wanted it anyway.

"Yes."

"Sam! Give me the Emerald!" Sandi said, she jumped over the LEGO model, and began wrestling with Sam for the emerald...

'This will be interesting,' Jean thought.


Stacy ran up to the Morgendorffers' front door and pounded on it. Quinn quickly opened the door. "Relax. Stacy; Tiff and I haven't discussed anything yet," she said.

"What is all that racket?" Jake asked as he came down the stairs.

'Oh my gosh! Did I wake him?' Stacy thought to herself. "Oh no! Did I wake you, Mr Morgendorffer?"

Jake could see Stacy's distress. "Don't worry. I was up. I have a meeting with a client at nine," he said.

"That's ok." Stacy said as she entered the house. "What have you been talking about?" she continued.

"Oh, we have been comparing Mario and Sonic, about how they are so heroic in defending the innocent from Bowser and Dr Robotnik," Quinn said, as she lead the way into the living room.

'Sounds cool, but don't the fans of those two series don't like each other?' Stacy thought. 'Cool! I hope you haven't been fighting..." she said.

"Why would we be fighting?" Quinn asked.

"I heard that Nintendo fans and Sega fans don't exactly get along," Stacy said.

That was news to Quinn. "Ok," she said as she entered the kitchen.


"First order of business, I need to tell you of a horrifying possibility. Two actually," Quinn said.

"What are these horrifying possibilities?" Stacy asked.

"Hor-riffying?"

"Either Sandi's Mom or Ms. Li could get their hands on the emerald!" Quinn said.

"Oh no!" Stacy said, as she hyperventilated yet again. She fainted onto the kitchen table.

"I knew this would happen," Quinn said, as she got up.

"Why bring it up?" Tiffany asked.

"Because we need to consider the possibility!" Quinn said, as she tried to revive Stacy.


Sandi managed to grab the emerald off Sam. "Ha! You little brat!" she said as she climbed onto the bed. Her hair was a mess, but she could see that Sam's pyjama top was torn.

"I won't tell anyone. Mom and Dad wouldn't believe it anyway and why would I tell Chris? He sucks!"

Sandi thought about the last sentiment. Why couldn't her brothers get along? Life would have been a lot easier if their sibling rivalry wasn't so intense. "That's good. Now, like, get out of here!"

"What about the LEGO model?" Sam asked. The LEGO in question disappeared. "What!" he continued.

"It is now in your room," Jean said.

"Good!" Sam said "I'll see you at breakfast," he said to his sister, as he went out of her room. Sandi closed the door.

"It is only a matter of time until the rest of your family finds out, Sandi. I suspect that it would be Chris next. I am sure that he would be more of a blabber than Sam," Jean said.

Sandi leaned against the door. "I shudder to think of what might happen if Mom found out!" she lamented.

Jean shuddered on the bed. "She would certainly change Lawndale for the worse!" she said.

'Good that she agrees with me on that!' Sandi thought. She considered her next action. She needed some way of keeping track of the wishes that were made. She then thought of such a way. She was still holding the emerald. "I wish that all of the wishes that have been, like, granted by you and this emerald since yesterday until further notice would be recorded somehow," She said.

"That's easy," Jean said, and granted the wish. A book appeared on Sandi's bed. Sandi went over and picked it up.

"Book of Granted Wishes," she read from the cover. She opened the book and saw a list of granted wishes starting from the second page.


List of Wishes granted on September 18, 1999

Sandi Griffin wishes for: Jean Jenner to be remembered by Tom, Linda, Sam and Chris Griffin as an exchange student.

Sandi Griffin wishes for: Jean Jenner to be in all relevant enrolment records at Lawndale High.

Sandi Griffin wishes for: All the computers at Lawndale High to have voice recognition software and the components necessary for that software to work

Sandi Griffin wishes for: Jean Jenner to know what to say to Principal Angela Li

Sandi Griffin wishes for: Herself to be let down by Jean!

Sandi Griffin wishes for: An extra floor on Lawndale High's Science Block

Sandi Griffin wishes for: Herself to be elsewhere in Lawndale High

Sandi Griffin wishes for: Herself to be in her next class

Sandi Griffin wishes for: The water in the classroom and the corridor outside to go back into the pool

Sandi Griffin wishes for: The people in and just outside of the Language Arts classroom would be dry, that their clothes, hair, books and stationary would be as if they had not been underwater.

Sandi Griffin wishes for: Time to slow down for a while

Sandi Griffin wishes for: Help with Ten Pin Bowling


List of Wishes granted (so far) on September 19, 1999

Sam Griffin wishes for: A LEGO model of the Griffin Residence

Sandi Griffin wishes for: A way of recording wishes made since September 18, 1999


"Cool," Sandi said. She put the book and the emerald next to the computer. Now I have to get ready again!" she said as she went out of the room. Jean sighed.


Quinn handed Stacy a piece of toast with strawberry jam on it. "You know that this has carbs, right?" she said.

"It is healthy, unlike cheese. Anyway, as I was saying earlier, we need to consider the possibility of Ms Li or Mrs Griffin gaining control of the emerald, and what we need to do then," Quinn said.

"But, Qui-inn, we haven't figured out what to do about Sand-di having the gen-nie yet!" Tiffany said.

"She has a point, Quinn," Stacy said.

"That is true," Quinn said. She then asked Stacy to recount their discussion from the previous afternoon.

"Of course," Stacy said, taking out a notebook.

'Good thing she has eidetic memory,' Quinn thought as Stacy began.


Daria arrived at Jane's house and knocked on the door. There was no answer. 'Maybe she is still asleep,' she thought. She knew that Jane wasn't a morning person, often requiring coffee to properly function. She found that the front door was unlocked. 'figures, Trent forgot to lock the door,' she thought.


Jane was on level 156 of Pac-Man when Daria entered her room. "Did you and Trent play games all night?" Daria asked.

A ghost got Jane's Pac-Man, bringing an end to the game. "Yo Amiga!" Jane said, getting up stiffly and ensuring that she didn't disturb the sleeping form of Trent 'not that it would wake him anyway,' she mused.
"Not all night, just the last hour and a half. I couldn't sleep and he had come back from practice with Mystik Spiral. He fell asleep, of course."

"Of course," Daria said. To say that Trent Lane fell asleep was practically a tautology.

"So, what is this about a Genie and what has it got to do with what happened at school yesterday?" Jane asked.

"Mom asked us about what happened at school and Quinn says that she wouldn't believe it," Daria said.

"And?"

"Mom then asked Quinn why wouldn't she believe it, and Quinn said that the events were totally fantastical, which they were," Daria began. She then repeated everything else that Quinn said (with more sardonic commentary).

Jane then told Daria about Tom and herself running into Sandi and Jean at the bowling alley and her 11th birthday present from Trent.


Sandi and Jean walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where Sam and Chris were already having their breakfast. Sandi could tell that Sam hadn't told Chris about the emerald. She then went and grabbed her box of low-carbohydrate cereal from the pantry. Jean put some toast into the toaster. "What is your plan?" She asked.

"We will go to school and, like, try to stay out of sight," Sandi said, wondering how it had come to that.

"Good plan," Jean said. She could see Linda come down the stairs.

"Good morning!" Linda said.


Lawndale Offices of Vitale, Davis, Horowitz, Rhiordan, Shrechter and Shrechter 8:00
Helen looked up from her piles of paperwork to see her boss, Eric Shrechter, walk into her office.
"Helen, you wanted to see me?" he asked.

"Yes, Eric. Something has come up regarding the High School, and I need some time off this afternoon to talk to some of the other parents about the issue," Helen said.

"What sort of issue?" Eric asked, wondering what had come up.

"That is confidential and on a need to know basis," Helen said strongly. She didn't want anyone else in the law firm to know about the genie.

"Can't your husband be there?" Eric asked.

"He could, and he may be, but I need to be there myself. I would like to know more about this issue first hand," Helen said.

Eric thought. "It depends on how busy we are today," he said, finally.

"Oh, alright," Helen said as Eric left the office. She immediately went back to work.


"...In conclusion we agree that Sandi having the genie is a bad thing and that we need to sleep on it," Stacy finished summarising the notes from their discussion at Tiffany's the previous afternoon.
"Very good, Stacy," Quinn said, encouragingly.

"So, your sister said that we need to consider the fact that Mrs Griffin or Ms Li may get the emerald?" Stacy asked.

"Cousin," Quinn corrected.

"Oh, Quinn, we know that Daria is your sister," Stacy said. 'If this isn't the time for this, there is otherwise no time,' she thought.

"We were just being polite about it," Tiffany added.

"Oh," Quinn said. 'Of course, there is an obvious resemblance, such as there is between Mom and Aunt Rita,' she thought. "Thanks. Anyway, Stace, you were saying?"

"So, Daria suggested that we need to consider the fact that Mrs. Griffin or Ms. Li may get the emerald?" Stacy asked.

"Yes," Quinn said.

"Right, which situation do we consider first, Mrs. Griffin or Ms. Li?" Stacy asked as she took down the notes.

Quinn thought about it for half a minute.

"Qui-inn?" Tiffany asked, wondering if she had dozed off.

"Most likely Ms. Li, because Sandi most likely will go to school today," Quinn said.

"Ok, so you think that Jeans mischievous nature will cause her genie nature to come to Ms Li's attention?" Stacy asked. 'A likely outcome!' she thought.

"Exactly," Quinn said, although she was sure that she wouldn't have had put it exactly the way that Stacy had.

"But there is no way to know what sort of events would happen as a result of Jean's mischief!" Stacy said, starting to hyperventilate again.

"I know, we may need to organise some sort of distraction," Quinn said.

"Bu-ut what sort of dis-traction?" Tiffany asked, confused. 'It would have to be a very good distraction,' she thought.

"I am sure Daria would have an idea," Quinn said.

"But what do you think?" Stacy asked. 'I am certain that she will come up with something. She does come up with many of ideas in the Fashion Club,' she thought.

Quinn thought and came up with an idea. 'It seems crazy, but it might just work,' she thought. She then told the other two.

"But are you sure that would work?" Stacy asked.

"It would have to, unless Daria and her art friend can think of something else," Quinn said. 'I am certain that Daria would help me improve the plan,' she thought.

"What if it doesn't work?" Tiffany asked.

"Then Ms. Li may find out," Quinn said.

"But it must work!" Stacy said.

"Relax, Stacy, we may come up with something else," Quinn said. 'Multiple plans, and contingency plans for all of them. Definitely Daria's territory or maybe of that tycoon guy on that cartoon about those living statues,' she thought.

They continued their discussion.


"Quite an interesting situation, it would be worthy of a Sick Sad World episode!" Jane said when Daria had finished her commentary.

"And most viewers would say 'what the hell are they thinking'," Daria said.

"'A genie in a Pennsylvanian suburban High School? Magic in the burbs, next on Sick Sad World!" Jane said, imitating the usual SSW announcer.

"It may work," Daria said, with a tiny smirk.

"Told ya," Jane said.

"Besides, we need to be going if we are going to meet Quinn, Stacy and Tiffany with sufficient time before homeroom," Daria said.

"Whose idea was that again?" Jane asked.

"Mine."

"And Quinn agreed?"

"Jane, if we're going to stop this problem before it gets out of control, we need all the help we can get!"

"True, but the fashion fiends?" Jane asked. 'Unless they're growing up somehow,' she thought.

"They aren't as dumb as they appear; at least Quinn and Stacy aren't," Daria said.

"I guess so," Jane said, unconvinced. Daria noticed the ET game cartridge where Jane had thrown it aside earlier. She picked it up.

"Isn't this the worst game of all time?"

"According to Trent, Wind bought it,"

"That sort of makes sense. Not only is he a failure at relationships, he is also a failure as a gamer," Daria said.

"Yeah," Jane said as she lead the way out of the room.

"Do you think it would be safe to leave Trent in your room?"

"He knows not to mess with my stuff."


Lawndale High School 8:40
After arriving early to school Anna Pearce was looking for Jean. She was curious to know why Jean was a genie and curious as to what the emerald could do...

"Anna? What are you doing?" Her friend, Lisbeth Siobhan 'Chipmunk' Ogden, asked as they appeared to be aimlessly wandering the school's corridors.

"There was a genie at school yesterday, and I am sure that it will be here today," Anna said.

"Maybe," Chipmunk (Chip for short) said. Whilst she had heard of the rumours the previous day and had seen the extra floor on the science block, she was sceptical.

"You were here yesterday," Anna said, as they entered the Industrial Arts Block.

"It is rather fantastical, even with that extra floor."

"Maybe if you went to the library with me after school, instead of going to Track training, you would have better deductive reasoning skills," Anna said.

Chip wasn't sure what Anna was talking about. "But I am good at it!" she said, referring to her position in the Track team.

"Oh sure," Anna said, in a teasing tone. Chip rolled her eyes.


Jeffy Brown's car pulled into the LHS student parking lot, close to the school. "Thanks for the ride, Jeffy," Quinn said.

"Anything for you, Quinn," Jeffy said, sincerely. Stacy and Tiffany got out of the back seat, Stacy remembered to lock the door, but Tiffany didn't.

"Do you know where to meet Daria and Jane?" Stacy asked.

As if on cue; Trent's Plymouth coupé, being driven by Jane, pulled in next to Jeffy's car. Jane turned off the engine and got out. Daria also got out.

"Oh," Stacy said.

"I see that taking Trent's car was a good idea," Jane said.

"Wasting time searching for them would not have been well spent," Daria said.

"Hi, Daria, have you and Jane come up with anything?" Quinn asked.


The Fashionable Trio plus Jeffy and the Amiga Outcasts filled each other in on their discussions as they walked towards the school.


Daria reached the door first. "That is a good idea, Quinn," she said. She was going to say something else (with a mixture of encouragement and sarcasm), but she was interrupted by Jane.

"Quite surprising that you would come up with it," she said.

"Well, Jane, this situation is quite shocking. As a result, I have started to re-evaluate what is important," Quinn said, seriously.

"Oh!" Jane said, at a loss for words at the (slight) change in Quinn.

Daria didn't know what to think about it either. She knew, however, that the changes in Quinn were slight. 'It is at least a few steps in the right direction,' she thought.

"But how are you going to set it into motion, Quinn?" Jeffy asked.

"We need to find a few others and talk to them about it. The bigger the distraction, the better," Quinn said.

"The question is; who would be suitable?" Jane said.

"Andrea, Jodie, Mack, and though I loath to admit it, Upchuck," Daria said.

"Upchuck? Really? Eeeeww!" Quinn said.

"There are brains in our grade who would do it better than Upchuck!" Stacy offered.

"Ok, Upchuck as a last resort. That leaves the other 3, and those other 'brains' that Stacy mentioned," Daria said.

The group turned a corner, heading towards the HSIE block.

"Now to find one of those people, preferably Jodie and Mack," Jane said.

"Joey and Jamie can help as well!" Jeffy said, as he trailed behind. 'They aren't as dumb as you think either,' he thought.


Whilst Anna and Chip were passing through the Industrial Arts block and the Amiga Outcasts, Fashionable Trio and Jeffy were discussing whom would help them in their planned distraction of Ms. Li from Jean's nature, Elias exited the library on his own search for Jean. He was sure that she needed a friend. He also wanted to keep an eye on Sandi, to ensure that she wouldn't make any wishes that would change Lawndale any further.


Anna and Chip entered the Science Block.

"Anna, don't tell me you are doing what I think you are doing!" Chip said, in a slightly agitated tone.

"Chip, the genie may be hiding up there," Anna protested.

"That wouldn't matter if whomever has whatever is standing in for a lamp is not also there," Chip countered.

"I am still going up there," Anna said, as if daring Chip to deny her the exploratory opportunity. "Besides, I heard that it was Sandi Griffin," she continued.

'The president of the Fashion Clique?' Chip thought. "You don't know what is up there," she said, responding to Anna's previous comment, as they came to one of the flights of stairs to the second floor.

"I know. Think of it as an opportunity to explore," Anna said, as she started going up the stairs.

'It is a good thing that she is a member of the Orienteering Club.' Chip thought as she followed her upwards.


Two minutes later, the two seniors opened a door marked Roof into a corridor much like all other corridors in the school. There were only minor differences. The floors, walls and ceilings looked the same. The Linoleum, the lockers and the lights were of the same colour. The doors were also the same colour. However something felt off (at least to Chip, if not to Anna).

"So far, it looks like anywhere else in the school," Anna said, her voice showing a slight disappointment.

"But anything could be waiting in the classrooms," Chip countered, with a slight edge of fear in her voice.

"Spoilsport!" Anna said, picking up on Chip's fear. She led the way to a nearby door. It was unlocked. Anna slowly opened it. The science lab inside looked similar to the labs on the floors below, except that it had cruder looking instruments, inkwells in most of the desks and metal chairs.

"It looks more like something out of a Frankenstein movie than a high school science lab," Chip said.

"It's not that bad," Anna said as she stepped into the slightly Frankenstein-ish science classroom.

"Maybe not," Chip conceded. They looked around that room before moving on to the next room.


"So you are saying that the rumours yesterday were true, that there is a genie, that Sandi Griffin is involved and that you want my help in setting up a distraction so that Ms. Li doesn't find out?" Jodie Landon asked, incredulously.

"Yes," Daria said.

"What she said," Jane said.

"It doesn't make any sense," Jodie objected.

"Believe me, the last day has been rather strange, but the events happened!" Quinn said. 'Of course, most of the people did not see what happened for themselves, but that doesn't mean that they didn't hear about it," Quinn said.

"I remember everything," Stacy said.

"My imagina-ation is not tha-at active," Tiffany said. She knew that her imagination was not that active 'If I did have a more active imagination, I would have been able to help more with the discussion at Quinn's,' she thought.

Jodie sighed. "If it were anyone else telling me this, Daria, I wouldn't have believed it, even with that extra floor. I mean that could be a scheme of Li's accomplished via smoke and mirrors, right?"

"Not really," Jeffy said.

"Anyway, I'm in," Jodie said, ignoring Jeffy.

"If Jodie is in, I'm in," her boyfriend, Michael 'Mack' Mackenzie, said.

"That's great!" Quinn said in celebration.

"The question is; how are eight people going to distract the principal when a genie is potentially causing chaos?" Jodie asked. 'Eight people can only do so much in the face of such chaos,' she thought.

"We are going to need more people," Quinn said. 'But who else would want to help us?" she thought.

"Like Andrea, and some Sophomore Brains," Daria said.

"That would be a good start, but what about Upchuck?" Jodie asked.

She was about to say something more when she was interrupted by a synchronised "Eeeeww!" from the Fashionable Trio.

"He is good with magic tricks, He could possibly use smoke and mirrors to hide the genie's antics," Jodie said. 'Once one looks past his ultrasuave act he is actually a good person,' she thought.

"I thought he gave up that hobby when he started acting all ultra-suave," Jane said.

"Believe me, he hasn't," Mack said.

"If we find Upchuck, we will talk to him. As it is, we are running out of time. We need to start an interim plan now," Daria said. 'We are running out of time. There are less than ten minutes until homeroom,' she thought.

Quinn glanced at her watch, "Yikes! You're right!" she said. They began discussing an interim plan.


At the same time as Chip and Anna entering the Science Block and Daria et al talking to Jodie and Mack, Brooke was looking for Sandi between the Library and the Arts/Music block. She then heard Andrea saying "Be careful Sandi!" Brooke looked and saw that Torii was already moving in on Sandi.


"Be careful Sandi," Andrea said.

"I know I have to be careful!" Sandi said.

"There you are Sandi!" Torii said. "This time your time trick won't work!" she continued. 'Bring it on!' she thought, readying herself for what might come next.

"And why is that?" Sandi asked, glaring at Torii. Torii charged, grabbing the emerald. She and Sandi then struggled. Sandi grabbed Torii's hair. Torii then also grabbed Sandi's hair. Sandi used her other hand to try to wrestle Torii's hand off the emerald. This went on for a minute before Torii decided to wish Sandi somewhere else. By this time a large crowd had gathered, including Jean, Andrea (both hoping that Sandi would beat Torii back), Brooke, Ted, Joey and Jamie.

"I wish that Sandi would be elsewhere!" Torii said. 'Now, I have the emerald!' Torii thought, gloating.

"No!" Sandi said before she vanished, leaving Torii holding the emerald.

"Where did she go, Torii Jericho?" Andrea asked.

"Why don't you ask the genie, Hecuba!" Torii said. She purposely wasn't on a first name basis with unpopular teens to spite them.

"She is still in the school!" Jean said, to Andrea. At Joey's glare she said "She's not in the pool though."

"Good," Joey said.

Torii looked at the extra floor on the science block. 'No, I'll leave that there. There may be no telling what useful nick-knacks may be in there,' she thought. She came up with a wish. "I wish for bright streamers in the school colours hanging off the side of the library," she said. 'That will brighten this school up!' she thought.

Jean grumbled but granted the wish anyway. Bright blue and yellow streamers appeared, with the usual sound, hanging off the library building.


Elias was outside the cafeteria when Sandi appeared next to him. "Elias, I, like, need your help!" she said, with reluctance.

"Someone else has the emerald?" he asked.

"Torii Jericho!" she said. Elias' eyes widened.

"Let's go," he said. 'She would be worse than Sandi!' he thought. He ran off towards the quad, Sandi followed close behind him.


Torii was still deciding what to wish next when she saw Elias and Sandi enter the quad and run towards the crowd. She grabbed the emerald. "Oh no you don't!" Andrea said, growling. She leapt towards Torii. Torii put herself into a defensive stance, but that was no defence against 145 pounds of Goth Chick moving towards her at 10 miles per hour.

Andrea crashed into Torii, preventing her from making a wish, and knocking her over. "You are going to give the emerald back to Sandi!" she said, as she grabbed the emerald herself.

"Why don't you want it for yourself?" Torii asked, through gritted teeth.

"It is too big a responsibility, for any one person, especially a person like me," Andrea said. She saw that Sandi was now approaching the two. "I wish that Sandi would have the emerald back."

The emerald disappeared from around Torii's neck and appeared around Sandi's neck. Andrea got off Torii and looked at Sandi in the eyes. "I hope you realize what a burden having a genie at your command is," she said.

Sandi was at a loss for words as the bell rang. She did not know what to say in response to Andrea's statement.

She then wished herself to homeroom.


Anna and Chip heard the bell ring as they exited the third laboratory (which definitely had Frankenstein qualities). "We can come back at recess," Anna said.

"Possibly," Chip said as they went back towards the stairs down to the normal part of the science block.


Daria, Quinn and the others heard the bell ring. "At least we have a basic plan," Quinn said. ' I hope it works!' she thought.

"That we do have, Quinn. That we do," Jane said.

"Hopefully we won't need to put it to the test," Jodie said.

"Murphy's law may come into play," Daria said.

"I hope not," Jodie said. They then dispersed to their different homerooms, after agreeing to meet at Recess.


20 minutes later, Ms Li was handed the incident report about the 'fight' between Andrea and Torii.

"That sort of behaviour is definitely not the sort of behaviour that Lawndale High students should be behaving in!" she exclaimed (pronouncing the school's name in her usual manner), after she read it.


"Ms. Haley-Andrea Hecuba and Ms. Victoria Jericho, report to the Principal's office immediately!"

Torii knew that she was in trouble if the principal used her full name. She certainly didn't see any teachers during her confrontation with Sandi or with Andrea, but someone must have been there. She exited the economics class with trepidation (after grabbing a hall pass from Mrs. Bennett). 'Hecuba will take the fall, no matter what she says,' she thought.

Quinn and Jeffy looked at each other as Torii exited the room. Did this have something to do with the events related to the genie? Or was it separate? Neither were sure, so they decided to stay put.


"Ms. Haley-Andrea Hecuba and Ms. Victoria Jericho, report to the Principal's office immediately!"

'What is it now? I thought no staff was present when I was grabbing the emerald off that 'Popular Girl' Torii," Andrea thought. She also didn't like the fact that the principal used her first name. 'Haley is no name for a Goth like me,' she thought as she walked up to Mr DeMartino's desk.

Mr DeMartino handed her a hall pass. "Whatever it is Ms Hecuba, come back ASAP!" he said.

"Whatever!" she said as she left the room.

Daria, Jane, Jodie and Mack looked at each other as Andrea left the classroom. They were wondering whether Ms. Li's call to the office had anything to do with recent events. None of them were sure, so they didn't follow Andrea.


"Ms. Haley-Andrea Hecuba and Ms. Victoria Jericho, report to the Principal's office immediately!"

Stacy looked up from her work as she heard Ms. Li's announcement. 'Does this have something to do with the genie?' she thought. She looked at Tiffany, whom was looking at her textbook with a perplexed expression. It appeared that Tiffany hadn't paid the announcement any notice. She also noticed that Sandi (whom was sitting on the other side of Tiffany) had tensed up when the announcement was made. She also glanced at Jean. The genie however appeared to be engrossed in the work.
But Sandi's reaction made Stacy think. 'I have to check it out!' she thought. She got up and walked to the front. "Mr. Crown, I need to go to the bathroom," she said. The teacher absentmindedly handed her hall pass without looking at her, and continued reviewing his lesson plan. She quickly exited the classroom.

'What is Stacy up to?' Sandi thought as she saw her exit the classroom. She went back to the work.


Stacy slowly edged along the corridor, and ducked into an adjacent corridor when she saw Torii turn a corner into the corridor. 'Ok, there's the Popularity Meter Girl, but where's the Goth Chick,' she thought. She followed Torii quietly.


Andrea reached the principal's office first.

"Take a seat, Ms. Hecuba," Ms. Li said.

Andrea crossed her arms and stared at the Principal in defiance.

"You will take a seat. Your actions this morning quite possibly have tarnished the good name of Lawndale High," Ms Li, putting more reverence into the pronunciation of the school's name than usual.

"Why do you have to do that?" Andrea asked, referring to Ms. Li's pronunciation.

"It shows school spirit! Now sit down, before Ms. Jericho arrives," Ms Li said.

Andrea reluctantly took a seat. "Now, Ms. Hecuba, why did you attack Ms. Jericho?"

Andrea remained silent.

"I need an answer, Ms. Hecuba," Ms. Li said, whilst staring Andrea in the eyes. Andrea stared back for a few seconds before responding.

"The Fifth," she said. Telling the Principal the truth would be a very bad idea. 'I have no idea of what would happen if she gets a hold of that emerald!' she thought.

"You are not getting away that easily, Ms. Hecuba," the Principal said. She placed a thick folder on the desk. "This is your permanent record. Do you want me to go through it?"

Andrea just sat back and glared at the Principal, as if saying 'bring it on.'

"Fine, I will read your misdemeanours to you in front of Ms. Jericho."

Andrea raised an eyebrow. 'She has to be bluffing. There is no legal way she can do that!' she thought.

"And I'll read hers to her in front of you," Ms. Li continued.

'Still would be a bluff. But if it is not a bluff, it is the price to pay for her not knowing about the genie,' Andrea thought.

Torii then entered the office. "What is this about, Ms. Li?" she asked.

"You and Ms. Hecuba were involved in an altercation shortly before Homeroom. Why were you fighting?" The principal asked.


Stacy tip-toed up to the office door and then began to peek through the keyhole.


"You can't do that. Permanent records are meant to be private!" Torii said.

"What is discussed here now, will not leave this room," Ms. Li said.

Torii looked at Andrea. "I will not say anything if you won't," she said, whilst winking one eye after the other.

Andrea got the message "Deal," she said.

"Ms Jericho, I have never known you to pass up such an opportunity for gossip. You must be hiding something!" Ms. Li said.

"I'm not hiding anything!" Torii said.

"Neither am I," Andrea added.

"It is clear that you are hiding something. I'm hooking you up to the polygraph machine!" Ms. Li said.


"Oh no!" Stacy said, as she heard Ms. Li's threat to the other teens.


5 minutes later, Ms. Li had hooked Andrea up to the polygraph machine that she had spent school funds on (shortly before the previous year's collapse of the library roof).

"Now, why were you fighting with Ms Jericho before Homeroom?"


"Like, I need a reason to fight!" Andrea said, her voice deadpan and reminding Ms. Li of someone else.

'I see she has been observing Ms. Morgendorffer in class,' Ms. Li thought as the polygraph needle continued to plot a straight line.

"Was there a particular reason why you were fighting this morning?"

"No!" Andrea said.

The polygraph needle went haywire.

'Yes!' "Ah-ha! We are getting somewhere! Does the reason have anything to do with an earlier confrontation between Ms. Jericho and Ms. Griffin?"

"No!"

The polygraph needle, again went haywire...

Some thought's connected in Ms. Li's brain. "Does it have anything to do with those crazy rumours from yesterday?" the principal asked.

"No!" Andrea said.

The polygraph needle once more went haywire. But Ms. Li was not paying any attention to it because Stacy had chosen that moment to burst into the office.

"Ms. Rowe! What is the meaning of this?" Ms. Li asked. 'This had better be important!' she thought.

Stacy was panting, and her hysterical nature was in full control. "There are vampires! In the Science Block! They are coming down from the new floor!" she said.

"Vampires? Really, Ms Rowe, you must be watching too much of that Buffy show! There are no such things as vampires!"

"But they have fangs and everything!" Stacy shouted.

"Then lead me to them," Ms. Li said, sensing something fishy.

"Oh no! I am not going back there!" Stacy said. She then appeared to faint.

"I guess I will have to check it for myself! Ms. Hecuba, stay where you are. Ms. Jericho, look after Ms. Rowe!" the principal said. 'I am sure that they will be here when I get back,' she thought as she quickly exited the office.


After the Principal was gone Andrea disconnected herself from the polygraph machine with disgust.

Torii shook Stacy. "Are you ok, Stacy?" she asked.

Stacy sat up. "I didn't think that would work!" she said.

"You mean that there aren't vampires in the Science Block?" Andrea asked.

"No, I doubt Sandi would wish for any, or that Jean would create any without someone wishing for them," Stacy said.

"Lawndale is stuffed up enough as it is without a Hellmouth to make it worse," Andrea said.

"Of course you would have to watch that show too, Hecuba," Torii said. 'But not really surprising,' she thought.

"Better than watching any of the other crap on TV," Andrea mumbled. Torii decided not to reply to that.

"We had better get scarce before Ms Li get's back," Andrea said.

"Oh yeah! I better get back to class," Stacy said. She quickly left the principal's office.

"I will be in the Library," Andrea said, as she too, left.

"I'll go onto the roof,' Torii thought.


Ms. Li entered the Science Block from the quad. "Seems oddly quiet," she said. She quickly went to the stairs and went up to the second level. It was also quiet. She walked to the next stairs, those that now lead up to the third level, rather than the roof.


Stacy returned to the classroom.
"You took your time, Stacy," Sandi said, when Stacy had given the hall pass back to the teacher, and was approaching her seat.

"Sometimes, it takes a lot of time!" Stacy said.

"Stacy, Eeewww!" Tiffany said.

"Sorry!" Stacy said, as apology.

'She must have been up to something!' Sandi thought. 'But what?'


Andrea entered the library, from the second level footbridge that lead from above the cafeteria. 'The Principal won't think to look for me here!' she thought. She then went to the fiction section.


Torii emerged onto the roof, above the office/cafeteria/hall block. 'I will stay up here until recess. But what will I do for that amount of time?" she pondered. She walked over behind the water tank shack.


Ms. Li emerged from the stairwell into the corridor in the new floor of the science block. It felt 'off' but there was a distinct lack of vampires.
"Ms. Rowe! You will answer for this!" she said as she turned around. 'Maybe she thought that there were vampires, but that is no excuse!' she thought.


Ms. Li arrived back at the office to find it empty. "Great, where have they gone now? I hope they are in class! There is definitely something going on here!"


"Ms. Haley-Andrea Hecuba, Ms. Victoria Jericho and Ms. Anastasia Rowe, report to the principal's office!"

"Oh no!" Stacy said.

"Like, what were you up to earlier?" Sandi asked.

"You don't want Ms. Li finding out about Jean, do you?" Stacy asked.

"Of course not!" Sandi said.

"Well, Andrea and Torii were called to the office about a fight, that involved you, this morning," Stacy said.

"Oh!" Sandi said.

"Yeah, Quinn, Tiffany, a few others and I put together a plan to distract her if events went out of control," Stacy said.

"I can believe that," Sandi said.

"I got curious about Torii and Andrea being called to the office at the same time. Our plan would have been for naught if Ms. Li found out from either of them," Stacy said.

"Ok, Stacy," Tiffany said.

"Aren't you, like, going to the Office, Stacy?"Sandi asked.

"Mr. Crown hasn't taken any notice," Stacy said.

"No, but Ms. Li may come here!" Sandi said.

"Oh no!" Stacy said, distressed.

"You can ma-ake a wish Sand-di," Tiffany said, not so oblivious for a change.

"Good point," Sandi said. She grabbed the emerald. "I wish that Ms Li will, like, forget about Stacy, Torii, that Goth Chick and myself."

There was an absence of the wish granting sound.

"Jean!?" Sandi said.

The genie looked Sandi in the eyes. "I cannot remove information from a human brain, Sandi. You will have to wish something else," she said.

"Like what?" Sandi asked, glaring back (a glare that would have elicited an 'Eep!' if it had been directed at Stacy).

"That she would get lost whilst attempting to find Stacy, Torii or Andrea," Jean suggested.

"That she would fa-all asleep," Tiffany said.

"Or that the spy equipment in her office would fail," Stacy said.

Sandi thought for a few moments. "Ok, I wish that all those things would happen."

"You have to say what you want to happen, Sandi," Jean said.

"Fine. I, Sandi Griffin, wish that that, first: Principal Angela Li would, like, fall asleep. Second: That all the equipment in the Lawndale High School Principal's Office would, like, fail. And Third: That said Principal would, like, get lost whilst attempting to search for Stacy Rowe, Torii Jericho and/or Andrea Hecuba."

The wish granting sound was heard.


Ms Li was waiting for the 3 miscreants (Andrea, Torii and Stacy) when knockout gas appeared in the office. "What!" she said, as she lost consciousness. At the same time all the equipment in the office failed. (Wires broke, the light bulbs blew, the computer's Windows produced a Blue Screen of Death, and the hard drive gave up the ghost, the security screens shorted out, the circuit breaker covering the office tripped, etc.)


"Wish granted," Jean said.

"Good," Sandi said, she then went back to her work.


Daria and Quinn approached the principal's office. They had heard Stacy being called to the office and had left their respective classes. They had met outside the Cafeteria.

"Quinn, wait. You don't want her to see you," Daria said.

"Good idea, Daria," Quinn said.

They cautiously approached the office. As they approached the office they smelt something.

"Eeewww! What's that?"

"Knockout gas," Daria said, covering her nose.

"How would you know?" Quinn asked, backing off from the door.

"Research for Melody Powers," Daria said as she followed her sister.

"Okay..." Quinn said, recognising the name as a creation of Daria's for her writing.

"Someone must have wished for that. It is not likely that Ms. Li would just play around with that stuff," Daria said.

"I guess. But who?" Quinn asked.

"No idea, at least no immediate idea," Daria said, after some thought. There were many students in the school that she thought would want to knock out the Principal, Sandi was only one of them, but it wouldn't make sense to blame any person without any more proof.

"What do we do now?" Quinn asked.

"Go back to class. Ms. Li will wake up in a few hours, rather groggy, but mostly ok," Daria said. She was sure that the principal wouldn't be adversely affected in the immediate future.

"Ok," Quinn said. They both went back to class.


At the beginning of Recess, Sandi ran out of the music classroom into the quad.

'Everyone is after me and the emerald!' she thought. She grabbed the emerald and said; "I wish that I will time-warp forwards to the end of recess."

Sandi disappeared forwards 25 minutes, but the emerald didn't! It fell to the ground.