Interpersonal Struggles

Just shut up and clean, Maid. Just shut up and clean.

Be a good maid and do as your Master commands.

Obey Master.

While those words could easily be out of the bastard's mouth, Jessica's mind had already beaten them to the punch. With the past few days of experience, she knew better than to ignore her own inner desires and nature when it came to her childhood companion.

Especially when he didn't have the patience anymore.

Simon was not in the mood to go through another back-and-forth of the Edwards versus Scott slugfest.

For the dorkish boy that both the younger Jessica and then younger Kevin could drag around and put up to their antics, once he finally put his foot down, neither Queen nor Outcast could do anything but back up.

As usual, Kevin was beside himself in being the victim, much to the cheerleader's chagrin. He complained to Simon that his friend had no right to jerk him around or go behind his back and let his girlfriend loose on the other women in the house. The genie kept her mouth shut for as long as she could, and the amulet dangled in front of her tauntingly to be used again. All she had to do was use it, and he'd stop being such a headache, but then she'd give Simon a migraine.

For her Master's part, Jessica could tell this was all part of the same juggling act. She couldn't make Simon forget about his friendship with Kevin. His loyalty toward both teens made it more difficult than it had to be.

That said, Jessica was confident she would always win that fight. Simon was hers, after all.

So, in the meantime, she stayed out of the way and decided to make herself useful. If she was dressed as a Sexy Maid by her boyfriend, she might as well play the part for him. With that, the genie was able to leave the room on the condition she cleaned up the messes left in the living room and then put herself to work in the kitchen. The Queen of Eastlake made sure her Master could fully observe the progress she made in washing the dishes, cleaning the counters, and playfully brushing herself against him. Always the tease, Jessica made sure to give her boyfriend plenty of distracting views as he dealt with Kevin from behind the pervert's back.

Unfortunately, role-playing with her Master would've been infinitely easier if Kevin wasn't still in the room with them. Jessica would have less of an issue with embarrassment if her nemesis wasn't aware of her. Although the genie reminded herself, that made it easier for her to taunt and **** the nerd **** to see her all over his best friend as payback.

Jessica approached her Owner again, face flustered as she purposefully curtsied again, her cleavage perked forward in Simon's face. Stephanie had taught her how to perform the move when she was little, but in their new relationship, her **** Stepmother was quick to demonstrate how to be a "proper" maid through descriptions and text messages.

"Master, I cleaned the counters. The kitchen is finished. May I sit on your lap now?"

The genie sounded as bubbly and pleasant as possible, easy enough when her Master was beside her. Simon made it so easy for her to be a faithful servant, and his occasional uncontrolled blush made his boyish face look so cute and innocent when trying to remain collected. He was so aroused but also shared in her discomfort as Kevin watched them both,

"Did you finish cleaning up the living room, Jess?"

"Mmhm! Mhm!" the genie nodded brightly and declared her work,

"I washed all the glass and wiped the carpet spots up exactly as you told me to, Master! I even found the vacuum and dusted as well! Everything is shiny and clean, as you asked!"

Simon managed to smile,

"Thanks for doing that, Jess."

The blonde giggled and smiled brightly at the praise and the absorption of his feeling of gratitude. The cheer captain didn't have to clean up her mess; she was a rich girl who barely did any chores, but Simon felt it would be right.

It also got her out of the room and away from Kevin. Which was also a bonus.

Oddly enough, however, the genie found performing such tasks strangely therapeutic. A fact Jessica shared once doing the dishes with Simon after one of the dinners she had insisted on.

"Now you should have her go upstairs and scrub all the other sex toys clean. Especially with her tongue again," Kevin mumbled.

Jessica quickly puffed her cheeks in protest and glared at the perverted nerd again. Cleaning up the mess in the main room, kitchen, and living room was already bad enough. The insinuation wasn't helpful. She wasn't going to give anything he claimed to be his – especially when the bastard fucked them - any bath or cleaning.

Unless they switched loyalties to the real Master, the genie mused.

At that point, Simon sighed and pointed to the spot directed next to him,

"Just stand right here next to me for now, Jess."

She nodded and quickly bowed her head,

"Yes, Master…."

The blonde moved herself to stand at attention next to Simon's knees, her hands folded across one another atop the front of her apron. Her Master's instructions were brief, and it wasn't as safe as being in his lap, but the familiar feeling of his hand stroking her ass from under the counter made it far more bearable. It was reassuring, a soothing series of strokes that calmed her. Jessica missed the feeling of security from her dorky boyfriend's possessive touches. Simon's annoyance was still present even now. Compared to the tension in the present, Jessica actually found cleaning up Kevin's sex mansion more bearable than actually having to explain what had happened to their teachers.

The nerd sighed as the genie returned to his presence. Kevin shook his head and turned his attention from Simon and back to her as the story was finished. The bastard sighed and grudgingly spoke to her after another lengthy back-and-forth conversation she had done her best to remain out of,

"You're full of far more surprises than I thought, genie. I'll grant you that."

His focus turned back to their mutual childhood friend as Kevin remained still somewhat confused,

"So, I'm going to see if I have this right. All of the shit that happened in the living room because she was 'training'?"

The outcast skeptically waited as Simon nodded, and then he followed up again,

"And this training involves her getting in touch with her magical, genie sex senses. So your girlfriend gave into her magical servant instincts to wake them up. Then that she 'felt' these magical sex senses tell her what to do, and because of that, she changed Peralez into the perfect member of the cheerleading sluts?"

The awkward dork rubbed the back of his head and nodded,

"I wouldn't put it that way completely, but yeah, something similar to that."

Jessica's eyes narrowed as she pouted and reminded the pervert of a fact she felt needed to be said,

"You're the one turning everyone into sluts…."

Kevin's face fell flat, and the nerd scowled immediately,

"So says the genie who ate out her biology teacher, transformed her cheer coach into our classmate, confessed to her parents having a harem, and has been trying to get fucked by her Master the last hour and a half. Nice try."

God, he was such an asshole!

The genie growled and clenched her fists with a glare but was suddenly cut off.

"Jess," Simon interrupted their feud once more with a smile on his face and a squeeze of her bum.

Immediately, her hostile intentions ceased as she focused on her boyfriend's idea,

"Maybe instead of you guys arguing over that, Kevin should listen to you explain your point of view. What made you decide on the changes you made? You can be honest. I'm interested in hearing you describe it again as well. What made you do what you did with Peralez?"

Simon then glared back at his male best friend,

"And you can listen to what she has to say without interrupting."

The dorky teen then returned to smiling at her. The blonde stared at her Master as he remained a source of encouragement, the emotions toward her the same as ever. The genie became bashful as she held her arms close to the white brassier of her uniform,

"Well, I mean, part of it was because of what you said. After she snapped at me, you didn't think she should be my coach anymore. After my last few interactions with her and how she's behaved toward me, I agreed with that. Then I sort of…read the room in a weird way. I can't exactly explain it."

She tugged at her uniform as she felt her face heat up; her eyes darted to the floor,

"At first, I wondered about changing her back. Kevin changed a lot about her background and life, and it would affect more and more people slowly if I didn't stop it right away. The magic on her was cracking open like a sheet of thin ice. I could see unbound magic leaking out from its bindings the longer she remained changed and everything adapting, crawling at a snail's pace; it was dangerous. I felt something tell me that was wrong. I didn't want to leave her as she was. I couldn't. So, once I sensed and saw it fully, I just saw how the magic had changed her, molded her, and the way it was connected to Kevin."

Her emerald eyes looked up at her Master in particular as she twirled and fidgeted with her fingers,

"I-It was different from the others. The Myers and Mrs. Cooper had these threads and strings connected to the amulet. With Coach, though, something there was that just - I don't know – bound her to him. It was like this golden chain - Something strong, emotional, powerful. I couldn't break it, so I felt like doing the idea Kevin had for Mr. Myers and Brad to make her former life completely different from the current one. So I just kinda, sorta, split it off? Everyone else believes the real Peralez went home on leave, and with her old life all put back, the magic was more condensed and concentrated for whatever I used it for. After that, I focused on all the desires of what to do with her in front of me."

Fully convinced her face had become red as a tomato, the genie sighed and inhaled deep breaths to get around her nerves,

"Then I started sensing these feelings, desires, whispers, almost like they were dreams or something that was tethered between Peralez, the amulet, Kevin, myself, and you, Master. I let them all flow together and sort of used them to remake her into what I felt would be best. Then I tried to rework and make a backstory for her – honestly, that's not my thing. That's more your thing, Master. I wanted to do what you would do. When I was done, she was – well?"

The blonde Maid squeezed and rubbed her arm. Her eyes looked up at her Master as her head remained pointed shyly downward,

"Like that…I fully remade Natalie Peralez into Natalia Peralez, the Foreign Exchange Cheerleader. She should remember who she was, but no one else will except whoever's in the house. That's why Kevin has new memories and old memories of her."

Simon was more understanding. Her Master nodded, absorbed every word, and felt curious about everything Jessica had explained to him in the last hour.

Kevin, on the other hand, scoffed and nearly laughed in disbelief,

"My god, you really are a fucking chaotic being at heart, aren't you?"

The genie frowned again as the outcast seemingly deflected her answer again, discounted her, and belittled her - AGAIN.

Immediately ignoring the cheerleader as he pressed his hands against the counter and sighed toward her Master. He had fully discounted her for his friend,

"Okay, you saw an opportunity to train her because I had the perfect environment. I have a fucking hive of hedonism created by her magic infused into this thing around my neck, with my sluts, so it made it easier for her to detect when she let her inner genie loose."

Kevin pulled at the chain of the medallion with his thumb to reveal it over his shirt and pull it back down. He quickly scowled again,

"I still don't like the fact you didn't think to ask me first. I mean, I get it. How you feel now like you don't have to care what other people around you think now that you own her. Knowing your brain, you just blocked out fucking caring how other people are supposed to be treated because you no longer need to, especially if they're in your way. There's not much I can fucking do to stop you, Simon. You can walk in and take whatever you fucking want, even though you had to ask for it before. Hell! I'm sure it's a much easier thing for you now, given how you're wired!"

Jessica felt the pit in her Master's stomach drop as he frowned at Kevin's outburst. From the genie's perspective, Kevin was deflecting his own behavior onto Simon. He was the one who didn't care about other people when he upended their lives to satisfy his fantasies. Simon wasn't out to ruin lives for his own pleasure. The perverted outcast pressed his hands together over his face and groaned. The dark-haired teen looked at the ceiling in thought. Simon was aware of his lack of awareness; he did care, but he learned to act a certain way to get through to his friends or others. Jessica sympathized with that after her experiences in popularity.

"Simon, if it were anyone else, I'd be within my right to back out of whatever shit deal we made just now. I would swear almighty vengeance and break any deal I made. If you were anyone else, I would kick you the fuck out of this house or get back at you by double-crossing you. If it were ANYONE ELSE, I'd be making sure this genie fell into my lap so I can make sure she'd never, ever be able to forget her place again!"

Jessica felt her face pale, and her eyes widened as she saw Kevin's anger and glare at her. Her knees buckled briefly, but then she watched his head, arms, and shoulders slump. The perverted teen sighed as he faced her Master again,

"…but no, you're you. Of fucking course, it had to be you, Simon."

Kevin huffed as Jessica narrowed her eyes. She did not come here and put herself through more crap just for Kevin to shit all over her Master's requests. In a given second, she'd snap the phrase that paid and make the perverted weasel keep his word. Instead, she watched the bastard's hand point at her once again as he continued to face his friend,

"But, given the world and everything is at stake – what I know you'll do if I don't - I'm willing to keep our agreement if your genie does one thing for me."

Kevin held his finger to Simon's face as the blonde almost scoffed in disbelief.

He couldn't be serious, Jessica thought.

The outrage began to build ever more inside her as she clenched her fists. After everything, and even now, Kevin Scott was still making fucking demands of them? He wasn't in a position to demand that! After the **** of her birthday, their confrontation at school, that stupid fucking game they played so the arrogant bastard could see if he could actually break her. He had his chances, and he was given more leeway than any fucking bastard prick like him should've been allowed. Jessica was not having it,

"Fuck that, Master! I think you've enabled him long enough! I….”

It was the bluntness of Kevin's demand that cut her off,

"I want Jessica to ask me to help you."

The genie suddenly went silent as the feeling of surprise between Master and **** was mutual. It wasn't just the first time in what felt like an eternity that Kevin had actually called her by her name; it was what he asked.

He wanted her to ask him to help Master?

Simon's head tilted off to the side as his eyes widened. The awkward teen was also in the middle of processing the demand and wanted to figure out what it entailed,

"Kev, I don't think more mind games between you two are really going to."

The glasses-wearing teen scowled while holding up his hand to interrupt his friend. Kevin remained blunt as he looked at both of his classmates,

"Nope! No games, No more tricks, No more acts. You two have pulled enough on me, and I've already got myself burned for trying to pull one over on you. Seeing your rage be given magic powers lashed out at me, and anyone in your way is enough. I'm well aware you could've gone a different way with me at the start. I'm tired of this bullshit, so I'll make myself clear this time."

Jessica froze as she felt the dark glare pierce right into her, causing the familiar feeling of fright she experienced toward him since he appeared in his closet that evening. The reminder of the barrage of taunts, the way he constantly reminded her what she wasn't, the delight he had in putting her down after all these years of his perverted attempts.

"I want you to genuinely ask me for my help. I want you to tell me the truth while you do it."

Kevin remained a dark presence as he stared intensely, a long-repressed flood of emotions equaled only by the seriousness of the nerd's demeanor,

"All my life, Edwards, you've been seen as an angel and the golden girl by almost everyone around us. Everyone knows who you are, the Queen of Eastlake High School, the personification of School Pride - and like everyone 'beneath' you all these years, you've treated them, but most of all, me - like Utter Shit."

The genie's eyes winced as she was unable to look away as he continued to let his words beat her with the cold, hard truth in his dark eyes,

"You were born with everything: Wealth, Looks, Talent, and never had to lift a finger in your life. All you put effort into was meeting the expectations everyone has for you as the Symbol. Because of that, I figured out you may have had all that; you lacked an actual soul."

Jessica's eyes widened as she clenched her dress harder. Simon's own face hardened as Kevin continued,

"You've treated so many people like you were better than everyone else, acted like it while the whole time you weren't, and you knew it. You've craved validation like no one else, even as a spoiled brat who could have whatever you wanted. It was never enough. You needed people to accept you; if they threatened your precious status in any way or refused your demands, you knocked them down. All it took was a whisper from your fellow bitches - even if it wasn't even true - you'd make sure their lives would be hell. How many times have you tortured your Master because Stephenson wound you up? You used to **** your precious boyfriend, my best friend, because you got too close rounding a corner. It took even less than that for me to get your wrath. I meant what I said on your birthday. You know you aren't human now. Whatever denials you still have are hopeless."

Jessica winced again as she shrunk her shoulders and felt Kevin point between them again,

"Even if you're not, I'm not giving you any excuses. It's time for you to fucking talk to me like an actual person for once. I want you to spell out why you want me to help my friend – TO ME. Because from where I stand, Simon will end the world and possibly our existence because of you, genie. He brought your Mom back to learn more about you, and he's endangering everyone because you now want to rescue her from whatever fucking demon enslaved her and took her from you. Everything that has happened between us is because of what you really are. The shit you put me through my whole fucking life included."

The genie remained silent as Kevin walked closer and stood tall,

"So, yeah, I want you to ask me for my help and fucking mean it, Edwards. I don't care if you fall to your knees and fucking beg or not as long as it's the truth. I don't care if you have to swear and curse. I want you to be as honest as if Simon wished you not to lie to me instead of himself. No more hiding, no more acting. You need to realize I won't accept anything less than that. As if you have the sliver of a clue that the fate of the fucking world is at stake over your heritage. Because from where I'm standing, it is. Your Master's plan depends on you asking for my help and what I can offer him. He needs you to do it. So no more games, be honest and fucking ask me for real, Jessica."

The genie lowered her head as she grimaced at the words. Her name on his lips made it feel all the more terrifying. Her anger was now flooded away and replaced by total anxiety. Kevin was serious. For the first time since the night of her birthday, she remembered how the thought of him could utterly terrify her. When he had nothing left to lose. The taunt that she had never been human the whole time she and her clique taunted both young men in front of her with the same idea.

She clenched up; her body trembled as her face scrunched. He knew how **** this made her, how it exposed her.

"Jess, you don't…."

The blonde cut him off. Jessica shook her head and stepped out of the safety of her Master's hand on her ass. He wanted to tell her she didn't have to if she didn't want to, but the genie felt it as a response.

No. No, she had to.

Even if she didn't want to. She'd have to try. Kevin wouldn't be satisfied otherwise, and how he said it made it clear that her Master needed what he had. As much as she had always had things revolve around her, Jessica felt inside this was about more than her. So she moved herself forward and attempted to get the first words from her throat,

“I…I really….”

Her mouth struggled with the words as she walked to the other side of the counter and kept her head lowered and eyes at her feet. Her hands clenched the maid uniform tightly as the dark shadow of the twisted young man looked down on her.

The scariest realization was that this was almost the same as being in her father's office. Kevin's shadow was the same as the man who gave his daughter her name. The echo of meeting with her father and realizing that he was like Kevin, meaning she and her enemy were more alike than she knew. The genie's body began to shake as she twisted the skirt of her black and white uniform,

“I…I hate you….”

The lump in her throat made it hard to say anything beyond that, but she attempted to swallow it down hard and push through. Master depended on her. Kevin would only help Simon if she did this. If she did this for Simon, that made it easier to swallow.

Do it for Master.

For Master.

Kevin's eyes and face were frozen after the initial admission, but the cheerleader struggled onward.

"I hate you, Kevin…I think you're a perverted asshole. As long as I can remember, we hated each other. When I was younger, I hated seeing you together with Simon. I didn't like the fact it wasn't me. I wanted it to be me. I don't understand or remember why I didn't stop you, and I always thought you were a bad influence. You got worse when we grew up and never learned to leave my friends or teammates alone. I didn't want to listen to everyone else. To me, you're a selfish, bitter, power-hungry psycho with a victim-complex. And it was always easy to knock you down a peg without feeling guilty because of what you did at school. You weren't sympathetic. I didn't believe you were. I still don't."

Kevin seemed unamused as his arms crossed without her looking at his face. The genie flinched as a result as she realized the words coming out of her mouth,

"Master was right when he told you what would happen if you took my ring. You would use my powers to get **** on everyone and everything. Every time you tell me and act on it in one way or another, I knew you wouldn't be able to stop. Knowing what I know now, you would have twisted everyone to get back at me or indulge in what you thought you deserved. Even Master. Since that night, I've been terrified of you. What you would do to me. I knew you'd destroy us all in the process just to get **** on me. But….”

Her teeth gnashed together as the grip on her uniform threatened to rip the seams apart as she trembled,

"Even a creep, a bastard like you. Someone I hate, you…In the end, you weren't wrong about me. What you said to Simon and to me. About me being Mistress Frankenstein? Because I thought you were a Monster, I helped make you into a monster."

The blonde trembled as her voice cracked, and she looked away from him,

"But more than that was what you said on my birthday. You were right. I'm not human. I was never human…the whole fucking time…even as I treated other people, I…I realized how awfully I've treated people…because I was so fucking scared of not being normal. People just used me, my own friends…my family…."

By now, she felt utterly ****, exposed to the point her whole body quaked with tremors. She may as well be naked again in front of all her teammates. The exposure to someone like him was never going to be wholly conquered unless she followed through,

"What the fuck do you even want me to say to you at this point? What's left between us that we don't know now? Isn't it enough? Didn't you get it all out humiliating me this week? Wasn't attempting to make my teammates and classmates turn against me, having the teachers go after me enough for you? Even before you did anything, I found out how many people have been manipulating me my whole life, using me, and that I was already being used the way you said I deserved…."

Her own hands clenched further in tightness as her body trembled,

"Why do we have to keep doing this? What's so important about making me admit what I am? If you want me to keep saying it until you get it through your demented skull, fine, I'll say it…."

Her eyes held tears back as Jessica was determined not to cry again. Kevin wouldn't make her cry again, but she would remain defiant, even when sniffling.

"You won, Kevin! You were right about me, okay? You were right! When you were taunting me about wanting to be a good genie for Master in the doorway before Simon fought Brad? I wasn't bullshitting you when I confessed it those other times, even when Simon was asking me to put on an act! I tried to deny it, but I can't do it anymore!"

The words finally spilled out of her freely now,

"You're right. I do want to obey my Master and serve him. I would do anything for Master, but that's not because he happens to be my Master! It's the same thing that you just said about yourself, Kevin. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be saying these things! I'd have to be **** to say and do any of this if it was about anyone else but Master!"

The blonde Maid's hand shot out and pointed at the quiet teenager watching his friends go back and forth from the counter,

"I say and do this because of who Master is - who Simon is! Master means everything to me because I…I…."

She gulped again as her body suddenly released all its tension and moved to stand in a firm yet attentive pose,

"I love him. I love Master."

The genie's emerald eyes were **** as she clutched her hand over her heart. She remembered the conversation with her Mother the night before,

"I'm doing this because I'm in love with Simon! Don't you get it yet? I love Simon so much I know that I recognized him as my Master and declared it to his face! I'm so sure of it that even in my dreams, I'm his ****! I'm not afraid to say it anymore! I am the Genie of Simon Harris! He is my Master; I, Jessica Edwards, am his ****, and I love him! I love my Master more than you can barely hope to comprehend!"

Her pride swelling in her own sense of identity, Jessica felt her resolve rise with it,

"That may be easy to dismiss for you because of how I acted before, Kevin, but it's not for me! Master may not have told you, but I wouldn't just be an outcast at school if things were still how they used to be! It isn't just Tiffany, my squad, my ex, or my friends who are hostile to our relationship! My own kind would despise me if I told them how I feel!"

The genie's eyes were pleading even as her face twisted as she let the words out,

"My Mother says it's forbidden among genies to love their Masters. She flipped out like I was turning into a demon when I confessed it to her! I terrified her! She really did want to hurt Master because she's terrified of the control that I'm giving him freely. My choice! That's not even the worst thing for her. Not even close."

Jessica found it harder and harder to hold her tears back and briefly rubbed her eyes as she continued, voice cracking,

"Do you want to know why my Mom did what she did, Kevin? Why leaving me a fucking ring on my birthday and leaving me alone was the better option? She told me all these things genie have to go through. What it's really like to be and grow up as a genie, and what the Masters are really like? It's so fucked up for her. Right now, she's being punished and humiliated by her sisters and Master daily for loving me and wanting to be my Mom! For Being My Mom! Because genies aren't allowed to have Mothers or any sort of familial bonds aside from their sisters! Do you know what I learned this week? Tiffany, one of my closest friends, turned on me and tried to destroy me - not because of you or your stupid clone – but because I love Simon and accept him as my Master. Then I learned my Mother is a **** being tortured because she loved me as her daughter!"

Jessica was now actively fighting back her own tears and rubbed her eyes with her arms as she stood firm as Simon rushed to stand.

Immediately, the genie shook her head and sniffled, a hand up to hold him back, and then tugged onto the frills of her uniform as she stared up at Kevin with the same spark she mustered. The perverted teenager's eyes widened in shock and surprise,

"I've accepted the fact that I can't change what I am - what I was born as. I can't do anything about that except try to become a better genie before everyone else I care about is put in danger. So I'll do it! I'll become the perfect genie, just like how I became the Queen of Eastlake High! I'll become who I was meant to be. Whether that's as my Master's Eternal **** or his Empress Genie of the fucking universe, I'll do whatever it takes to stay together with Simon and my family in this world! To save my Mother and bring her back! I'll protect everyone. I'll even protect you, too!"

Then, her resistance and defiance rose again. Her energy spiked as she glared at Kevin and approached him,

"You, though? What excuse don't you have ready? Hating me? Seeing me suffer? I'm a **** to your best friend, and he's asking you to help him save the world, Kevin! Do you not get in using you to test my magic? He also granted you what you desired? In one wish, he gave more power than any other human or mortal can dream of, even as limited as that now is! Master cares about you, and even with how much I dislike you, he insists on looking out for you! I want to be angry at him for it, but I admire his loyalty to both of us! I've had a front-row seat to every moment and learned through them. You became Master's friend after I was taken from him, and I accept that you are his friend, even now. If that is how Master wishes it, then I will follow. I'll help him fulfill his every need; your friend needs you right now. The least you could do is lift a finger to help him, Kevin!"

The genie shook her head and groaned in frustration; she stomped her heel on the floor,

"If Master says he needs your help, then I'll do what I need to do like I am now. So fine, if you want me to bow on the floor? I'll do it. Embarrass and **** myself further? I'll humiliate myself in front of the whole school again with a smile on my face if that'll make you help him! _Except, I shouldn't even have to because you're his best friend, dumbass! He would help you if you asked, wouldn't he? That's who he is!_ If you were Sammy, I'd do anything for you in a heartbeat because she's my best friend! Master and I did that for each other when we were little! That's what friends do! You're still human even if I'm not, aren't you?"

Jessica huffed and swung her fists to the ground,

"Look, you're right, I'm tired of this, too! I don't want to keep fighting each other anymore! We're both Simon's childhood friends, so fucking tell me what you want me to do, what'll make him happy! I'll do it, okay? As long as it's for Master, as long as I'm doing it for Master, I don't care what it is! I'll do anything to help Master! So, please…Please, stop with these endless hurdles of bullshit and help him like you said you would!"

The young genie clenched her fists so tight that the boy flinched when she stepped forward and glared right into his fearful eyes.

"Please, Kevin, I don't want to lose him or anyone else. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything, okay? No matter how much you want to deny it, I really don't want to be a bitch anymore! I'll stop, like I said! Despite what you think of me, please don't back out of your deal! Please help my Master save my Mom!"

What the fuck was this?

Where was the feeling of perverse glee? Where was the sense that he'd finally won? For fuck's sake, Jessica Edwards was practically begging for his help like he always wanted while dressed as a sexualized French maid!

She had been just as angry and bitter about it, resentful in defeat, but in the end, she broke open and told the truth.

The genie **** even offered to further humiliate herself if that was what it took to get him to help Simon. The determination was unwavering, even if she was uncomfortable and **** throughout.

The minute she stepped forward toward him, the terror Kevin had known from experience returned. He knew it from the bitch well. The feeling that she had power over him and would smash him back into the mud and earth with it at any given moment. For that brief amount of time these last two weeks, he had become so used to seeing her terrified, dehumanized. Again, the resentment returned as if he were still a pathetic, scrawny, weak boy used to seeing her as the top bitch. Hearing Jessica become so passionate made him squirm when he got the honest version.

He finally understood why the younger version of Simon was so upset when he wanted to play with his other friend. Hell. How could he not?

Jessica Edwards, Head Cheerleader, Would-Be Prom Queen, Blonde Bombshell, Bitch Queen of High School, and inept genie, was over the fucking moon for Simon Harris.

Fuck that. The witch that turned out to be the long-lost best friend he knew about straight out admitted to being in love with the dork.

A strange sensation twisted inside Kevin's stomach. It made him twitch in pain as he growled at the way she continued to look up at him. She looked so goddamn childish, yet the earnest feeling and her upset state was overwhelming. At that moment, he could've demanded anything from her. Jessica would do it as long as it was for Simon, but it wasn't what he expected.

He felt guilty.

Jessica Edwards, was making him feel guilty? HIM?

The most popular, richest girl in town openly admitted to being in love with and subservient to his best friend. She really would do whatever was needed for Simon. Hell, given the way she was wired, he had fucking underestimated the extent of how determined the Queen of Eastlake would double down.

In the end, she had pleaded; she asked him as he wanted her to, but in doing so, she asked in a way that was as stubborn and defiant as ever.

That was a start, but still, seeing how she glared was painful. She was genuine the whole time to the point that she nearly broke down crying.

Why'd he have to be such a fucking hypocrite?

Expectations. If Kevin hadn't fallen into his word trap, he'd realize that his expectations had gotten him into as many problems as the genie's had. His dark eyes softened, and he groaned out defensively,

"Ah, fuck… don't look at me like that, Edwards. That won't work on me…."

Simon clearly had picked a side. If anything, he had never looked away from his genie as she had gone forward. He didn't need her to do it, but she did it anyway. There was a reinforced sense of resolve in his friend's eyes after his **** finished her declaration. Jessica had opened up, and clearly, the Maid had a long fucking from her boyfriend in her future.

Angering him wasn't going to solve anything, but the Master clearly couldn't stay silent,

"Seems like it is. Don't act like it's not."

Kevin quickly snapped a finger at his friend staring at him from the other side of the counter. The proud smirk plastered on his face as if he knew because, of course, he knew that his **** would do this to him. Because Simon knew Jessica, and he knew Kevin, which only made the headache the outcast felt grow in strength,

"You! Not helping! Fuck…Fuck, GODDAMINT!"

The nerd rubbed his face in frustration as the feeling of rage built up again, his eyes avoiding the bitch like the plague.

Finally, he had what he wanted; she was even dressed as a sexual servant, for Christ's sake! Why would this feel terrible? How dare she ruin this for him!

Kevin quickly swung for the mental safety valve that went off as he knew there was no avoiding the decision,

"Fine! Goddamnit, fine! I'll help your Master!"

He pulled his hand away from his face to reveal its flustered state and then pointed a finger in her face. She would not take this moment away from him again,

"But I want you to know this, genie! No matter what happens now, I won't ever make you forget your place. I'm not falling for any more of yours or your Master's tricks! I will make you aware of what you really are for as long as you and I share this same rock together."

The sadistic flame began to feel oxygen burn again as he glared and towered over her,

"You will continue to ****, humiliate, and prostrate yourself before your Master whenever I'm around you. I want to make sure you get it through that thick blonde head of yours that you are a ****. Once I'm satisfied that you know your place with your Master, then I might – MIGHT - be willing to entertain conversation with you, Edwards! I want your submission as property to be complete and without question!"

The dark grin returned to his face, confident that Edwards would openly refuse such an offer. The blank stare on the genie's face was enough to make him want to laugh.

But his jaw went agape when the blonde slut suddenly tilted her head off to the side like their childhood friend. Even with the appearance of a pink flush in her cheeks, the genie blank with curious eyes,

"Uh, is, um…that it?"

Kevin felt his shoulders slump as his jaw fell open at the sheer deadpanned and underwhelmed reaction his mortal nemesis gave him. No way. No goddamn way! Almost immediately after she replied, his arms began to flail around him,

"What do you mean, 'is that it!'?"

The Jessica Edwards he knew, the Queen Bitch that she was would've been despondent at such a demand! She couldn't live with the idea of being lesser!

Instead, the genie maid twirled a finger in her blonde hair and rolled her eyes with an innocent look,

"I mean, don't get the wrong idea. It's embarrassing having to do it in front of you, but haven't you had Master show you how in control of me he is lots of times? In front of the school twice, before and after your amulet? My School Girl outfit? My Cheerleader Uniform? This one? You even saw how he had me change my clothes…Mrs. Cooper was wearing one of the uniforms he made for me from the wish he made in front of you...you even watched me pleasure her…."

Kevin's shoulders slumped as he scoffed, mouth wide open in disbelief.

She was fucking impossible.

Jessica's face remained slightly flushed, as the innocent gaze remained,

"I mean, yeah, I'm not happy or comfortable yet about doing things like that in front of you, but I'm getting better at it. And like when we were in the other room with everyone earlier, you're usually…."

Oh no! Kevin wasn't having this, so he would go directly to the source. The nerd didn't even wait to interrupt or discount the blonde as he pointed directly toward her and despondently glared at his giant dork of a best friend with a voice of disbelief,

"Seriously, what the fuck did you do to her? I have to know!"

Simon's response was to, as usual, laugh nervously with a damned innocent smile on his face,

"Kev, c'mon! I didn't have to **** her or break her in. You heard her! It's the truth! How many times do I have to say it?"

He didn't believe him. Kevin shook his head in denial at the behavior of his nemesis at his best friend,

"Oh, don't give me that bullshit! Jessica Edwards wouldn't be caught dead doing half this shit even a week ago! How the fuck are you two so at ease about all this? You had to beat me in a game of perversion at the school; you saw what I've done to our teachers, your ex-boyfriend, and his family, and you're not even batting an eye! How're you able to handle all of this!"

The awkward dork only tilted his head in confusion and then looked at his girlfriend as she looked back. The **** huffed and began to pout as she walked back toward her Master. Simon sighed and slumped his shoulders. His nervous tick returned when he started to scratch the back of his head, and he looked at the ceiling, slightly embarrassed, before looking back at Kevin,

"I mean, we kind of had to learn it from you, dude. Once we knew what we were up against and what we were facing. We decided to take a page out of your book."

Say what?

"Me? Wait, ME!?! What the fuck do you mean, ME!?!"

Kevin felt like he was about to have a heart attack as the blonde finally had enough of standing next to him. The maid slut quickly let out another huff and strolled over to hop back into her Master's lap. After she wiggled her ass into his crotch, the genie wrapped her arms around Simon's neck and kicked her black heels up as she waited. Then, Kevin watched as her Master wrapped an arm instinctively around the genie's waist. When his friend finally looked back at him, his more serious demeanor reappeared,

"It's what we've learned and what you said before. Masters don't have the same sense of morality we were brought up with, Kevin. They have genies to grant whatever they desire, so they don't care what boundaries we have or what is right or wrong. They only care about having the power to do what they desire with it. Jess and I have been pushing boundaries on purpose because we both know that if we're threatened by them, they'll only care about exploiting our morals like you would or tried to do. Hell! It's the even same with genies themselves! Even if they have some sense of structure, they're not mortal. Jess's Mom attempted to explain everything she could, proving that to us in the process. They don't have the same questions, ethics, or concepts we have. We've been adjusting to that to get through this because of what we're up against. There's a lot more grey out there with the black & white than we realized."

The perverted nerd remained stunned by Simon's reply as the genie interjected.

"You could learn a thing or two if you didn't want to rush to get **** or put your dick in everything, Kevin. Master isn't as short-sighted or selfish as you, so you should know he can strategize and look for every advantage. Every time you've opened your mouth to say something, he's taken it and run circles around you," Jessica proudly declared as she held her nose up toward the nerd.

A prideful smile, the same annoying braggadocio that came from being a spoiled brat and the most popular girl in school followed,

"If you were really his best friend of all time, you'd remind yourself – again - Master goes out of his way to be loyal to those he cares about! He's willing to do what he needs to do to protect those he cares about most and push himself to do what he needs to do without losing what makes him special. That's how Master taught me how to accept being a genie and still be myself! That's why I'll do whatever is necessary as his genie! He's my Master because he's the Best! Everything I have belongs to him!"

Kevin felt his eye twitch as the **** stuck her tongue out tauntingly and pressed her breasts against her Master's scalp; she began to scratch the back of his head,

"I'll do anything Master desires, Kevin! As Simon's genie, his wish is my command!"

Simon sighed as his body relaxed at the back of his head getting scratched, and the genie hummed happily, satisfied she had beaten the nerd at his own game. Kevin felt his face fall flat as he realized that the air had been punctured from the balloon that was torturing Jessica Edwards. She was okay with doing whatever Simon desired; the way Simon put it, overcoming human morality was becoming simpler for her.

A devious smile formed on the outcast's face as he realized what must've happened, and the texts from the past week,

"Do those include fucking Miss Littlewood?"

Kevin smirked as the genie quickly fell silent.

That was fast.

Both Master and Maid were quick to stop and turn their eyes to him, making him cackle. Oh, yes. The two of them had been busy, hadn't they?

Jessica became flustered and stubborn again,

"S-So? Y-You're one to talk!"

Kevin cackled as he shook his head and held out his arms,

"Yeah, but I'm not supposed to be the good guy. C'mon, genie, you said it yourself. You'll do anything for Simon. Even fuck your own teacher! It was part of the game; I made her flirt and tease you. I knew Littlewood was always your favorite, but I mean, hot damn! I wish I was in Simon's shoes. Instead of stopping her, you go and sleep with her without the need to. Look, I get it. Who am I to hold that against you, given my track record? However, you can't exactly fault me for doing the same thing now without being a total hypocrite again, can you, Maid?"

Kevin felt his smugness grow as he sighed and shrugged,

"Of course, that whole game's point was keeping me from getting to Sam. I can definitely understand why. I tried to bend the rules to get the one I desired most, but I should've known better, bragging it to my best friend's face. I got burned and deserved it. Simon would go far to protect his sister and teach me a lesson about going too far or crazy - even using me as a guinea pig to test your magic's power - that's fair. You, on the other hand? I'm beginning to think you were extra motivated to protect her, weren't you, ****?"

The genie glared as Kevin chuckled,

"Sam's one flaw is being your best friend, so I can forgive her for that. If you are attracted to Littlewood, it wouldn't be a stretch if that went to Sam, too. Think Sam is awesome is something we all share in common. Look at that! Those are just two of the people you actually like, though, Edwards. It'd be a failure not to mention how you handled finally getting backstabbed by Stephenson."

The perverted, dark-haired, muscular nerd smiled as he held up a finger,

"No, wait, don't tell me - lemme guess - you have ideas for her, too, didn't you? Don't tell me that Jessica Edwards has secret fantasies to atone for her Master's **** for all these years? Honestly, genie? Full disclosure: I'd be rather impressed if you did."

Her face became flushed, and she began to spit and stutter in protest, clearly outraged but also panicked,

"N-No! No, I don't! You creepo!"

Oh, she sucked at this. If anything, it made him laugh seeing the clear admission through her denial,

"Oh god, look at you! You're lying, genie! You've become worse at hiding this."

The blonde anxiously snapped back,

"Sh-Shut up, or I'll take your mouth again! I mean it…."

The flustered state of her face and her further grip on Simon made Kevin grin all the more darkly,

"Oh, come now, Jessica. Let's not resort to name-calling again! I'm not one to judge pleasures of the flesh. You and your Master have been as busy as I was. You don't have to deny it anymore. It's written all over your face. Didn't you even confess as much a few minutes ago? You. Would Do. Anything. For your Master? If you were actually serious about atonement for your crimes, wouldn't that be the first place you want to start?"

The arousal started to mix in her eyes; the pure disgust toward the nerd was never more apparent, but Kevin didn't have to care about that. He'd just have to keep scratching at that itch inside her that he knew existed.

"It's fun frustrating me, isn't it, Edwards? Every single action of submission to Simon in front of me makes it all the more exciting, right? Showing me who you really are? I don't deserve it, so you're angry, but you also want it even more. Because no one else can have you but your Owner, can they? The more possessive of you Simon becomes, the more you want him to taunt me with it."

The dark glint in his eye and the humored growl in his throat made it easy for the rabbit to jump on her Owner's lap for safety when Kevin slammed the hands into the counter,

"Don't be shy now, pet. Who am I to judge? After all, if I can guess what you would do, then you can probably guess what I would do now, right?"

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck you…FUCK YOU, KEVIN!'

Simon saw Jessica's embarrassment grow as she quickly shielded her face from Kevin's view. The stiff tension of her teeth gnawing her lip, the flushed state of her face, the tightness of her hold against him. The genie hadn't even realized that by turning her back to Kevin, she'd pressed her boyfriend's face straight into her cleavage, hands clenched against his scalp.

And that her hips were grinding against his crotch under that maid outfit.

Unfortunately, the blonde's strength was getting the better of her as Simon's arms failed to pull her off. In an effort to get her attention, he thought as hard as he could at the distracted cheerleader's brain while his hands firmly latched and gripped both cheeks of her ass,

'Jess! Can't breathe!'

"Ah!"

The blonde gasped in pleasure and arched back. Jessica's hands finally loosened and fell from his scalp as Simon watched his girlfriend arch backward onto the counter. As her aroused emerald eyes looked at his face, she quickly snapped from her sudden daze and went back into panic mode.

The Maid's knees quickly seated and propped herself on the island counter as she began to examine her boyfriend,

"Ah, Master, I'm sorry! Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!"

As she rubbed and straightened the shoulders of his shirt, Kevin began to cackle in delighted amusement. Simon sighed as his friend continued to sneer at his girlfriend,

"Look at her, Simon! Jesus! Even with the power you gave her, she's still so easily terrified of the truth staring her in the face when it's revealed or exposed!"

Unlike Jessica's panicked response, the awkward teen remained annoyed while he rolled his eyes. Was Kevin still determined to keep on doing this even now? They should've been at least past this point.

"Okay, Kev. You made your point. We've all had our moment to get in our last stabs and bridge the divide. Give it a rest and knock it down a peg."

His friend raised an eyebrow and threw open his arms,

"Aw, c'mon, Simon! I know she's your property, but let me get at least a few of my makeup jabs in! I mean, they aren't even lies at this point, are they? I'm just teasing. It's not meant to be personal, buddy."

The blonde Maid's head swiveled quickly to snap at the nerd while Simon was hit in the face with a swift brush of golden locks.

"It's still personal to me, asshole!"

Jessica scoffed as she adjusted her uniform and unknowingly placed her ass in the auburn-haired Master's face so that she could point accusingly at Kevin,

"Should we get back to the part where I even gave you a brand fucking new girlfriend without even trying with your stupid amulet! I finally have an edge over you again, and you're still bullying me? What do you think will happen to you when I learn how to properly use my own magic! Do you know how many ideas Master had about dealing with you that I can pick from?"

Kevin floundered as he looked as if a knot was stuck in his throat briefly. The brief glow of the amulet made it clear Jessica was out of patience. The nerd briefly panicked, struggled, and then stuttered back an equally defiant response,

"Y-You couldn't get yourself out of your own binding! _How's your Mom supposed to train you if you're still too terrified to be humiliated! You think I'm bad to be degraded in front of how will you be able to handle what her Owner will do to you! _You're still so proud of yourself that you can't afford to get embarrassed with the truth!"

"I am not!"

"Sounds like you're trying not to let go of some idea that you have some sliver of control of yourself, genie! Remember what you're wearing and where you are!"

"Guys…turn it down...."

Again, Simon tried to interrupt them both but watched as Kevin scoffed. His friend moved around the genie to talk to the awkward teen face to face, changing the tone of his voice to sound more reasonable,

"Look, Simon, I'm really just trying to make the point to her. You said it yourself. The Masters don't have the same sense of morality as we do, and I know with that ring on your damned finger, you could make everyone on the planet believe what's right and what's wrong, and no one would even know the difference. Fuck, even I wouldn't know, and knowing that freaks me the fuck out.

That's what you were trying to tell me, right? It's about Power. God-like Power. And those with the power of Gods don't have to care about anything unless it sates their appetites. You set yourself on this path, and while I fucking think you've lost your shit, I'm not in a position to let you go this alone either."

Simon looked at the ring when Kevin pointed to it, his friend leaning over in his face as his words caused him to think. The teenager watched the perverted outcast then pointed in the cheerleader's face,

"Which means you deserve less slack, Edwards. All of us are here now because of you and what you are. Even if I hadn't been in your room that night, it doesn't change the fact you are an enslaved genie. If I can't have fucking **** on you for the terrible fucking human you turned into and how you fucked with my life, then I'm going to damn well make sure you don't forget your place! If it's what will wake your genie brain up, I'll make sure to piss on any sense of morality you still have if it gets in the way of your obedience training. You can't afford any more slip-ups! If you are really going through with this as strongly as you feel, then you can't afford to be a weak-willed slut like the others at school I mess with! My best friend is your Master, and he's doing all this for you. So, you will remember that, or I will sick Myers, her lackeys, and half the school on you again to parade you across the entire campus, begging for his cock over the intercom until you can sprout magical dildos from your ass on command! You need to get a lot better at being an obedient slut so you can be a better genie, like you claim. Got it?"

The aura around Kevin was dark, angered, bitter, and all the other usual emotions of disgust that came to Jessica. Yet, halfway through, Simon started to smirk, amused that Kevin Scott cared about what happened to those around him in between all the threats and the usual sneers.

Still adorably dressed in her uniform, Jessica said nothing out of surprised intimidation. The genie flinched under the threat, blushed at the contents, and hurriedly nodded so he could quickly get out of the way again. It must've slipped her mind that she was in control of the amulet above him just by **** in the statement alone.

Of course, it wasn't Kevin arousing her. It was the idea of being paraded begging for her childhood companion's cock across Eastlake that only got stuck in her head.

It took a moment for the genie's brain to click,

'Is he? Actually trying to encourage me to work harder?'

Simon then thought about the last statement his girlfriend had made before Kevin's latest tangent, and his eyes went up in his head to think.

Jess wouldn't stop fighting back against what she saw as a slight, and Kevin wouldn't stop pushing her until he saw with his own eyes that the genie meant what she said.

In truth, the Master was pretty much done with them arguing for the day. If they were going to keep circling, he'd have to do something drastic.

When the genie and perverted nerd noticed Simon's face, it was too late.

"Oh boy…."

"Startup mode…."

Jessica's face quickly turned on a swivel in surprise as she asked Kevin with some surprise,

"Wait, you call it that, too?"

"Pfft. Try seeing it with the Windows boot-up music in your head...."

Oh. The thought quickly took form as the awkward teenager finally put it together in his head and looked at his two childhood friends. They both looked at each other, surprised, the same anxiety in their eyes when Simon finally spoke,

“Let’s go check on Peralez.”