Zacktastic by Courtney Sheinmel Read Free Book Online

work—four whole years younger than I was—and this is a job that demands some maturity. You’re going to learn a lot about people by what they wish for, sometimes more than they even know about themselves. I know you’re a good kid, Zack, a smart kid, and this all needs to be handled with the utmost care. But we’ll talk about all of this,I promise. Meantime, in the next few weeks, strange things may start to happen. As your powers begin to emerge, you may feel a bit like a spark plug. You’re a current of energy, and you don’t know how to control it yet. You have to be careful, and—”
    â€œWhen can I start making the magic happen?”
    â€œAll in due time, Zack. All in due time. But here’s something I need to tell you now, and I can’t say it strongly enough: You need to hang on to that bottle. You don’t want it to end up in the wrong hands. That would be bad—very bad indeed.”
    â€œUh-huh,” I say.
    â€œUnfortunately, there are evil forces in the world,” he goes on. “I’ve done my best to keep this world safe from them. But you can never be too careful.” Uncle Max pauses. “Zack, are you listening to me?”
    â€œYup. Bottle, evil forces, be careful.”
    â€œA little bit of distance can go a long way. Remember that.”
    â€œI’ll remember,” I say. “But wait—how am I supposed to keep my eyes on the bottle if I’m sucked up into it and spit out a different one? If they’re portals, like you said.”
    â€œWe call it sides of the bottle,” Uncle Max explains. “You look out for this bottle when you’re here, on this side. When you’re called away to the other side on genie business, there’ll be another bottle for you to keep a close eye on. It’ll be your ticket home, too.”
    â€œQuinn’s not going to believe this,” I say.
    â€œYou can’t tell Quinn about this,” Uncle Max says.
    â€œOh, come on, please ,” I say. “Just a little bit. Or maybe I could do some sort of trick in front of her. You know, to prove it.”
    Quinn thinks she’s so much cooler than I am. This will certainly show her!
    â€œNo, I mean you can’t tell her,” Uncle Maxsays. “You’re physically unable to. If you try telling anyone outside the genie world, the words that come out of your mouth won’t make any sense. You’ll just sound a bit strange until you change topics.”
    â€œHow can I even be sure you’re telling me the truth about that? Maybe you don’t want me to tell Quinn, so you’re telling me lie number three.”
    â€œYou don’t believe me?” Uncle Max asks. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He leaves me on the back porch and goes inside. A minute later he’s back with a phone in his hand. “Here. Your sister is on the line for you.”
    I press it to my ear. “Uh, hi, Quinn.”
    â€œThis better be important, Zack. Madeline and I are in the middle of doing spa treatments.”
    â€œIt is,” I promise. I pause to take a really deep breath in, and then I exhale out.
    â€œGross, I heard that!” Quinn shouts.
    â€œWhat’s gross about breathing?” I ask,but then I change my mind. “Never mind. I have something to tell you. Something crazy. Something amazing. Something crazmazing! ”
    Crazmazing . Adjective. When something is crazy and amazing at the same time.
    â€œUgh,” Quinn says. “Just spit it out. And use actual words that exist in actual dictionaries, please.”
    â€œOkay. I know you’re not going to believe this. But I’m a genie.”
    â€œI’m not going to believe what?”
    â€œI’m a genie,” I repeat.
    For a couple of seconds there’s just silence. And then Quinn starts yelling: “Zachary Noah Cooley, I told you to use real words! But if you’re just going to