Atta Boy

It was often he found himself lost in thought. That afternoon he sat on the warm sidewalk chewing on a wooden popsicle stick, his lips stained red from the cherry ice pop he'd finished long ago. Early summer, the air was cool but the sun was hot, and the breeze perfectly punctuated each fleeting moment. When birds passed overhead, they seemed to glide on the wind, basking their iridescent wings in the plentiful sunlight. A bush next to Carter blossoming with bunches of purple flowers buzzed with honey bees, pollinating the buds of the fresh plant. He stared off at the light blue sky, the cherry aftertaste completely gone by then. He was left with a dull, earthy wooden flavor left behind by the popsicle stick. Pulling the stick from his teeth he looked at it in the light, covered in bite marks. The wind blew, another moment passed, and he sighed, the same thought he always pondered once again blinking in his head like a road work sign on his way to work. Every day he wondered if he could escape it, and then it showed up again. Brushing his hands off on the thighs of his jeans, he stood, startled when he noticed a guy about his age was standing behind him on the sidewalk silently.

"Christ. You scared me," Carter chuckled, noting how odd the guy looked. He had on a pair of glittering rose gold pants made of some kind of latex, a white wife-beater tank, and a collared shirt that looked to be designer draped lazily over the top. It was loudly patterned, and none of the colors really seemed to mesh. It only grew worse the longer he looked, noticing the excessive amount of chains around the boy's neck, as well as the spotless Jordan sneakers on his feet. Gay, probably, Carter said to himself, trying his best to side step the boy to head back home.

"I'm not gay," the boy said then, causing Carter to completely stop in his tracks, turning back around to look at the other with a sheepish look on his face.

"I didn't say that," Carter defended halfheartedly, a bit creeped out that the boy had seemingly read his mind.

"You thought it," the boy grinned mischievously, running a hand back through his silver hair. Carter, not sure how to respond, and now even more disconcerted than before, started away but noticed after a moment he simply wasn't moving. When he realized the boy was holding him in place without even touching him, he started to panic, and tried to jerk his feet forward. When he did, the boy released him and Carter fell to the sidewalk with a thud, which caused the other boy to chuckle.

"Who the fuck are you?" Carter snapped, picking himself up and brushing off his hands, his eyes darkening with anger.

"You can call me Levi," the boy smiled, pulling a lollipop out of his pants pocket. He pulled off the wrapping and popped it into his mouth.

"Levi, please fuck off," Carter grunted, again turning toward home.

"Hey," Levi called as he let Carter walk off, "Don't you wanna y'know..."

Carter stopped dead in his tracks, once again face to face with that big, stupid, always blinking road sign in his mind. He realized then that he could hear Levi's smooth tone speaking to him in his head.

"Yeah, that. I can help with that," Levi's voice called, his tone nearly winking at the other boy.

"What are you trying to say?" Carter asked then, turning back to Levi, who stood a little ways away down the sidewalk.

"I can get you laid, that's what I'm trying to say."

Levi pulled the sucker out of his mouth, shrugging his shoulders as if to illustrate that it would be easy work. Carter scoffed at his confidence, shaking his head doubtfully. The flower bushes lining the sidewalk still buzzed with insects, filling the extra silence.

"I'm not gay, bro."

"Jesus-" Levi said snippily, gesturing with his candy in his hand still, "I'm a genie, you ass. Specifically, a sex genie."

Carter started blankly at the boy, his eye brows furrowed. He didn't for one second believe what the boy was saying, in fact he was trying to come up with some kind of translation for what Levi was saying. Could it be slang he wasn't familiar with? But then again, he supposed that would support Levi's ability to hold him in place. But then again... hypnotists got people to do stuff like that all the time...

"Hypnotists are phonies," Levi remarked calmly, once again proving he could quite literally read the boy's mind. He crunched into his lollipop, chewing the remainder of the candy as he watched (and listened to) Carter think the situation over.

"Why me?" Carter questioned then, looking down at himself. He straightened his dirty Guns N Roses t-shirt, frowning at his ill-fitting jeans. His brown hair was unwashed and fuzzy, his glasses taped on one side to stay positioned on the bridge of his nose. Where he didn't have freckles, he had budding acne, and his height was nothing special to the average girl his age. As far as having things going for him, all he could think of was his rock solid 4.0 GPA.

"You obviously need my help," Levi admitted, stretching his lips into a line that said 'just being honest.' He went on, smiling, trying to win back Carter's favor: "And I just happened to be in the area."

"You just happened to be in Butt-Fuck-Egypt Pennsylvania?" Carter asked then, completely unamused and still unsure what to make of the entire thing. His analytical side told him there was no way genies really existed, but his hormonal side sort of hoped Levi could deliver on his promise.

"Doesn't matter why I'm here or why I chose you," Levi shrugged, putting an arm over Carter's shoulders chummily, "What matters is I'm here to help."

Carter pushed up his glasses and shifted uncomfortably under the boy's touch, biting the inside of his cheek. His mind began to wander again, that stupid blinking sign being replaced by the silhouette of a person. A name popped into his mind.

"Kennedy?" Levi raised a suggestive eyebrow, nudging Carter as the boy blushed.

"She's in my gym class," Carter admitted, trying to hide his embarrassment. The girl was a year older than him, a senior. She was thin, but had curves and always wore the smallest navy blue shorts with the waistband rolled over. Her black hair fell down her back in wavy tendrils, flowing all around her face, accentuating her piercing blue eyes. Carter could almost see her in his mind, jogging across the gym floor, full chest bouncing endlessly as she ran toward the volleyball net. Her pink lips, her rosy cheeks, her friendly laugh...

"Yo, relax," Levi warned playfully, gesturing to the molehill forming in Carter's pants at the mere thought of the girl. Carter felt his entire face heat up, staring down at his shoes as he tried to calm his thoughts.

"Alright, you wanna have sex with Kennedy, got it." Levi snapped his fingers and suddenly the girl was standing between them, completely naked. As her 18 year old body stood completely nude, reflecting the sun, a car drove down the street and nearly ran right off the road, the sound of horns erupting from multiple places. Carter instinctually wrapped himself around her bare body, blushing at their proximity, as Levi made another face of confusion. He was puzzled as to why Carter didn't seem very thrilled.

"What's the issue?"

Kennedy, eyes glazed, slumped in Carter's arms like a doll and he held her helplessly.

"She's not even responsive... and where are her clothes?" Carter huffed, trying to usher the girl behind one of the bushes nearby. Levi tapped his index finger on his chin, thinking.

"The whole teleportation part is a little finicky... sometimes things don't travel well," Levi said, rubbing at the back of his neck bashfully. With a quick wave of his hand the girl disappeared once more. "If you can take me to her house, she'll be as she usually is."

Carter, still reeling from the embarrassment of seeing Kennedy completely naked, closed his eyes and sucked in a long, deep breath. He debated telling Levi their deal was off, but a large part of him wondered if he would ever be able to get a chance like this with a girl again. He decided to hang in. At least for a little while longer.

"Atta boy," Levi grinned again, flashing a twinkling smile, the gems on his teeth glittering in the sun. The two started toward Kennedy's home, a house the boy knew well as it was along his own bus route. But Carter couldn't keep himself from being curious about Levi.

"So, can other people see you, too?" Carter began, wondering if the other people on the street could see the boy (and his get-up) too.

"Yeah, I'm a genie not a ghost," Levi snickered, walking alongside the boy with a swagger in his step. Carter had to admit he found the boy's aura to be charming, and envied the way he was able to carry himself.

"Why a sex genie?" Carter asked then.

"Why not? Everyone has a sexual fantasy. No shortage of clientele."

"What about asexual people?" the boy interjected, smiling for the first time during their interaction. Genuinely smiling.

"You got me there," Levi admitted, smiling back at the other as to return the favor. Carter felt a shred of pride, almost as though the two of them could be friends. He didn't have very many of those, especially not people who looked like Levi.

"How do you do your magic?"

"I just do."

"Show me."

Levi waved his hand and a bush along the sidewalk shifted. The purple flowers were suddenly yellow. Carter blinked, as if they might change back before his eyes, but they remained the same. He was beginning to get used to the boy's abilities, but still wondered to what lengths his powers reached. Levi seemed hesitant to go on, but did anyway.

"The only thing is, I have to have this jacket on," Levi explained, gesturing to the fancy over-shirt he had on, the collar popped.

"Really?" Carter cocked his head to the side. Funny how it all hinged on a douche-y piece of clothing.

"Yep," the boy confirmed, his face souring slightly as he heard Carter's inner opinion of his fashion sense, "but don't go spreading that around."

Carter smirked, "My lips are sealed."

Their conversation slowed and as they walked Carter came to a halt, staring up at a big, blue mansion in front of them. Out on the lawn, lying in a black two-piece swimsuit on a lounge chair, was Kennedy herself. Her skin, tan and wet, glistened in the sun. She had headphones on and her hair pulled up into a bun on top of her head.

"Wow..." Levi bit his bottom lip, gazing over at the girl with interest, "I can see why you chose her."

Carter elbowed him in the ribs promptly before yanking both of them down into the bushes in front of her house. No way he was about to get caught staring at her from the sidewalk like some creep.

"We're a little bit past creep, don't you think? You're about to have genie induced sex with her," Levi chuckled, only making matters worse. Carter felt his blush return and stared down once again at his sneakers, willing the entire world to open up and swallow him whole.

"Maybe this is a bad idea..."

"No! Listen, just go talk to her and I'll make it organic I swear," Levi smiled, putting his pinkie out to the boy, "Promise."

Carter, suddenly sweating, peeked over the bushes at the girl, and then spitefully dashed past the boy's pinkie and toward Kennedy. Before he knew it he was standing at her side, touching her lightly on the shoulder. Her eyes popped open and she looked up at the boy in confusion, pulling down her headphones to rest around her neck.

"Carter?"

He thought he might nearly faint just hearing his name fall from her lips. Carter quickly imaged his ancient neighbor Miss Willard. Her wrinkly skin, her lazy eye, her skeleton fingers. She always worked when he needed some anti-boner inspiration. He felt his heart rate calm, but only for a quick moment.

"Yeah... hi," he said, trying to think of something to say. He looked back at the bushes over his shoulder and saw Levi beaming, holding up an encouraging thumbs up. This only made his anxiety worse, and his sweating increase in volume.

"Your project for the science fair was so cool," the girl said then, sitting up on her lounge chair, kicking her legs over the side to face the boy. He swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to form words, but his mind was hazy with every hormone in the book.

"You... you think so?" Carter stuttered out, blushing once again. Kennedy smiled, nodding reassuringly.

"Yeah... I should have said something... before the school year ended but... I just... didn't know how to talk to you," Kennedy blushed too, and Carter could feel his entire body tense up. He got the urge to turn back and give Levi a thankful smile, appreciative of how organic all of this seemed, but his eyes were glued to the girl. Little did he know...

Meanwhile, Levi sat on the sidewalk staring out at the passing cars, completely slacking. It was times like these, where he found himself a little bored of the genie gig. Everyone wanted their sex organic. Everyone wanted realism. He rolled his eyes, sighing as he checked over his shoulder at Carter and the girl, who's conversation seemed barely even started.

A minute later he heard a dog padding it's way down the street and turned his head, noticing as a huge Rottweiler broke away from it's owner and came barreling toward him. Just his luck, he supposed he deserved it for not paying attention. He tried to get up and out of it's way, but didn't move fast enough. By the time Levi stood up the dog was right in front of him, staring him down, growling lowly.

"Hey buddy," Levi said shakily, trying to seem confident in his stance. But the dog could see right through him, and almost immediately lunged for his arm. He yelped and tried to wrestle out of the dog's mouth, but failed, flailing his body left and right without gaining any distance. He could feel it's teeth wrapped up completely in his jacket, tearing the fabric as it tried to get to Levi. The entire scene was full of panic and strife, each passerby seeming more and more concerned by the display.

By the time the boy finally broke free from the animal's grasp, the dog took the jacket with it. He tried chasing after the animal, panic-stricken, and then remembered Carter. He scurried back toward the house, crouching behind the same bushes he and the boy had originally arrived at, feeling guilty for leaving Carter to his own devices for so long. Nursing the bite wound on his arm, he peeked up over the bushes and nearly gasped at what he saw.

Kennedy and Carter sat on the lounge chair talking and smiling. As he sat watching, he even saw the girl laugh, touching the boy's arm in the process. He thought he'd seen Carter's genuine smile before... but he'd been wrong. The way the boy beamed as he sat next to the girl was completely different. Warmer... wider. Levi stood and started down the sidewalk, smiling to himself, an air of satisfaction about him even as he bled from his forearm.

Atta boy, Carter. Atta boy.