"So now can I go play duckball?" Jonah asks. "Prince is being good. Look."

I glance down at Prince. He's napping. I yawn again. I wish I could take a nap.

I look over at the game. It does actually look like fun. "Okay, fine. Go ahead."

"Yay!" Jonah says, and runs over to Aladdin.

"I can play, right?" Jonah asks him.

Aladdin smiles. "Sure. But I'm pretty good, so watch out," he says, and whams the ball at Jonah. But not that hard, I notice.

Awww, Aladdin really is a nice guy.

Jonah catches the ball and throws it at a boy. The ball bounces off his leg and hits a girl in the stomach.

The girl doubles over and at first I think she's hurt, but she's laughing. "Guess I'm out," she says, and tosses me a ball.

Oh, why not? I AM pretty good at dodgeball. I just hate the getting-hit-with-the-ball part.

"Try to get me!" Aladdin calls to me, grinning. I grin back and throw the ball as hard as I can and --

Oops. The ball hits him right in the face.

GULP. His nose is bleeding!

Oh, NO!

"I am SO sorry!" I say, rushing over to him. "Are you okay?"

Jonah runs over to us, too, looking worried.

The rest of the kids stop playing and gather around.

"I'll be okay," Aladdin says, covering his nose with his hand. But he doesn't look that okay. "I'll just run home for an ice pack. You guys keep playing!"

The rest of the kids start the game again, but Jonah and I head back over to the stone wall, watching as Aladdin dashes off down the road.

"I feel terrible," I say. I started off wanting to help Maryrose and now I've ended up HURTING Aladdin!

---

Excerpted from Genie in a Bottle by Sarah Mlynowski
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.