Skip To After-School

For the first time in months, Chris was able to focus entirely on his work and not worry about his daughter at all. Sure, he still thought about her - how she was doing at school, how his latest wish was affecting her, and what other wishes he could make in order to help her out - but it was more like idle daydreaming instead of the constant buzz of anxiety. It was a small blessing, but a blessing nonetheless.

And the blessings kept coming, for when Chris returned home after work, he found his daughter - still as happy and healthy as he had wished her - busily preparing dinner in the kitchen.

"You know," Chris said while setting down his briefcase. Shay hadn't noticed his effort, almost jumping out of her socks from the surprise. "I never minded making dinner all this time, and I still don't." Whatever she was making did smell good, though; selfish as it might be, Shay's cooking was another thing Chris had missed. "I'd much rather you focus on you schoolwork than worry about stuff like this."

"Dad, it's okay." Shay gently chided, head swiveling between her father and the stovetop. "I mean, I can't say I don't feel a little guilty about all the extra work you did while I was, well... like that. But I also did miss cooking." The two shared a smile, loving but fragile, a silent understanding at how things had changed since Becca's ****, and that even with Shay coming back out of her shell, such a good change still had a growing pains attached to it.

"And don't tell me that I should focus on my homework." Shay cut Chris off before the later could speak up again. "I'll have you know that I actually don't have any tonight."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really! I can't believe it either, honestly." Shay gave another smile before returning to her cooking, happily humming to herself as she worked. Chris was just taken aback by it all. Twenty-four hours ago, his daughter was disheveled and distraught, almost crying just by the mere thought of having to converse with him. He looked down at the ring in awe. If he ever saw that strange woman again, he would have to thank her dearly.

"It seems you had a real good day at school, then." Caught up in his reverie, Chris almost forget about the wish he made this morning. He still couldn't quite believe he had a magic wishing ring, but the results were too hard to ignore, despite his skepticism.

"Weirdly so, yeah." Shay said while making her cheese saw for her macaroni. "It was almost spooky how good it was. First, it was raining all day except for when I had to walk to and from school." Chris tried to appear as disbelieving as possible. "Seriously! It was pouring when I left this morning, but it stopped almost the moment I stepped outside, then started right up when I got to school. I also found a hundred dollar bill in the parking lot, totally dry and pristine despite the weather, with no one around to claim it."

"Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good day." Chris said, taking a seat at the kitchen's island, fully engrossed by his daughter in the moment.

"Oh, but it doesn't stop there. Obviously there's the no homework thing, but I ended up acing that bio test I totally thought I flunked - somehow! I barely had the motivation to glance at my textbooks most days, let alone actually study. Then, during lunch, the drama club was doing a raffle to raise money for...something. I dunno. A trip or new equipment or - not important, sorry. Anyways, all the prizes were donated by local businesses, so, last minute, I bought one ticket. Just one... and I ended up winning the top prize! It was, like, five-hundred dollars in gift cards, but still! There's one for a coffee shop, Gamestop, the movie theatre, even that little nail salon by your favourite deli."

"That's... amazing!" Chris was genuinely blown away by the series of events that had happened. That had happened via his desires, fueling the ring. He was still unsure about just what it was. Magic? Advanced technology? Did Clarke's third law apply here? And then there was his itch to keep using it; a small, but noticeable buzz in the back of his head. He was perfectly content with how things had turned out, so maybe he should quit while he was ahead?

Buzz-buzz

Or was there more he could do? After all, it was a wish-granting ring. What else could it do? What else could Chris conjure up for himself and his daughter?

While Shay was finishing dinner, Chris got changed and cleaned himself up before returning to the kitchen, having exchanged his suit for more casual clothing. Shay, too, had changed out of her sweater and jeans meant for the grey, rainy January day into her preferred attire (Chris had once heard a friend of hers describe it at "indie chick geek chic", whatever that meant). Black thigh-high stockings clung to her long, lithe legs, the hem ending in two little peaks meant to simulate cat ears, with cartoon cat faces draw below them to fully illustrate the point. They were paired with cut-off jean shorts in order to maximize the amount of the stocking shown-off, with only a small bit of supple white thigh between the two articles. Shay also wore a long-sleeved shirt, a size or two too big, hanging loosely on her chest, with the sleeves swallowing her hands when they weren't rolled up. To keep her warm, even indoors, she wore a loose toque over her blonde locks, decorated with various colourful buttons Chris knew referenced her favourite books, movies, tv-shows, anime, and video games. She had even taken out her contacts, wearing square-framed glasses for the first time in... Chris couldn't even remember. Since before Becca's passing at least.

And so, father and daughter enjoyed a home cook meal together, chatting all the while. Again, the mundanity of it all was a luxury in the mind of Chris Harper. He had sorely missed this. This stability, this pleasantness. It was like a dream come true. Hell, in a way, it was.

"So... I guess you'll have a great time on the weekend." Chris brought up over the course of the meal. "I mean, all those gift cards, sounds like you and the girls can have a lot of fun with those. Jasmine and Roxy and Sabrina..." Chris was just making casual conversation, trying to be supportive to his daughter, but then he saw her face. The elongated, flat lips, halfway between grimace and pout, followed by her biting on her lower lips, eyes sad and downcast.

"I would love to, but..."

"But...?"

Shay shifted uncomfortably. "...I did sorta spend almost a whole year hiding in my room. And I wasn't just hiding from you. And it wasn't just you trying to help me out. The girls spent a lot of time and effort to no response. I just turtled even harder. I haven't spoken to some of them in three months or so. I don't even know if we're friends anymore." Chris' heart sank. Shay had known some of those girls since she was a little girl. They had been friends for almost a decade. "Plus, even without all that, Jasmine and a few others are a year older, right? They're probably busy with college and the real world. Why would they want to hangout with some dumb high-schoolers?" Forcing herself to smile, Shay attempted a flippant shrug. "But, whatever, I can still have fun by myself. We can still have fun together. It's been a long time since we hung-out, dad, just the two of us. Oh! We should do something tonight. Play a game, put on a movie; what're you feeling?"

Steering the conversation away from her possibly broken friendships, Shay bussed the table and began to clean up, hurriedly listing off all the activities she and Chris could do tonight and over the weekend, Chris listening half-heartedly, more focused on his ring.

Buzz-buzz

Well, he gave his daughter her health and happiness back, gave her a great day at school. Maybe he could help repair those friendships? Maybe he could do all sorts of things...