Meanwhile Jon had been sitting in his room wondering what his wish had done when his dad had called up asking him to take out the trash. Jon had groaned, but had complied, collecting the garbage bags that had been placed by the back door and taking them out to the bins in the alley behind his house. He’d just been putting the lid back on when someone ran into him and both of them went sprawling.
“Derek?” asked Jon, recognising him from school. While they weren’t friends as such, they did know each other in passing and Jon was one of the few that didn’t torment Derek. “What’s the rush?”
“B-bullies,” wheezed Derek, “Chasing-“
Jon cut him off with a nod as the two clambered to their feet, the sounds of running feet growing closer.
“In here,” said Jon, taking Derek by the arm and pulling him through the gate into Jon’s back yard. Unfortunately for Jon, Derek was wearing a tee-shirt, leaving his arm exposed and as they made skin contact, Jon felt a tingling sensation, but was too preoccupied to pay it heed. The two stood in silence, leaning against the fence, listening as the sound of the bullies grew closer and ran right past them.
The footsteps receded into the distance and both boys let out a sigh of relief as they stopped holding their breaths. Derek reached out to open the gate, but Jon placed a hand on it to stop him.
“Might be better to leave by the front way to be safe,” he smiled.
Derek nodded, but paused; was there something different about Jon?
