Chapter 1

Rapid breathing, trembling hands and blurred vision, that's how the short girl with the wavy, somewhat frizzy hair was. She was walking down the large school corridor, looking at the walls painted in a lifeless color that made the environment apathetic compared to the energetic teenagers who walked through it. She was hugging the books that didn't fit in her bag, her gait making her look like a scared little animal in a sea of danger.Zara was trying and, for her, her attempt was more than worthwhile, but being forced to spend half the year with humans didn't seem like a very good idea. She felt uncomfortable among the Americans, it was hard for her to be in a place so far away and with a culture so different from her own, it was the human world, and it sounded scary. There were no others like her, there weren't even humans who knew her skills or shared her customs, she was among complete strangers.Leaving her world and traveling to the state of New York was easy for Zara, however, arriving in Corning, a small town in the interior of the state, and realizing that she would actually have to blend in among the humans, was a shock. Now, walking scared to her locker, seeing all the teenagers with clothes, words and behavior so different from what she was used to, made her panic.Zara was used to big palaces, shiny, rich buildings, so it wasn't strange for her to see someone floating here and there, making a carom tree grow, playing the sitar while others danced and sang the adventures of the ancients, of her father. But there, nothing was familiar. The Americans sounded to her like the unexplored, their clothes seemed dull, colorless, there wasn't much jewelry, not so much glitter, they were strange and very tight to the body, the little she saw of the food seemed very strange, everything seemed to come out of a can or oil, it didn't seem so natural to her.Humans had always been strange to her, at least those who didn't live among the Jinns, but there was nothing she could do about it, after all, she was condemned to serve them until one of them was kind enough to free her from her eternal prison. But who would if she couldn't even turn a monkey into a camel?"It's past time you learned," said her father, as he sent her packing and instructed her on how to store her lamp.Ah! Her lamp, her home and eternal prison, unless she was freed."Watch it, weirdo!" complained a girl on whom the young brunette had tripped."Sorry..." she whispered, with real guilt, practically running away.Zara had only been in Corning for three months. There was no one with her, no one to supervise her or tell her what to do, and that terrified her. That's why it took her so long to get into school. She chose the one that seemed the best option, a public school that only served high school students, located in an upscale neighborhood of the city, where there were many students and she could easily go unnoticed. Now, that seemed like a bad idea to her, everyone looked at her as if she were from another world, the difference between the little frightened girl and the imposing and intimidating students was remarkable.She hurriedly opened the cupboard while thinking about how she had got herself into such trouble, but soon cleared up this doubt, being accused by her own thoughts: "Maybe it's because I turned my father's master's son into a guinea pig, or because I destroyed that bridge a few days ago.... But there was also that time when...", and so she continued to list all the disastrous events that have always surrounded her life."Check it out! They said she looked like a scared bushworm." Zara jumped back a little as soon as she heard the woman's voice.She raised her eyes and stared at the girl in front of her. Almost six feet tall, with blonde hair, a thin nose, extremely cunning green eyes and a smile that made her shiver from head to toe. "Come on Zara, you can turn her into a cockroach if you want... Don't tremble with fear, you coward!" she accused, trying to keep an upright posture."This is Chloe and Ananda, I'm Emillya Cowen, but everyone calls me Emmy." The blonde, who Zara now knew was Emillya, looked her up and down and raised her eyebrows, glancing at two girls standing next to her, whom Zara only noticed at that moment. "Well... Not all of them.""So, what's your name? " asked another Chloe, who had thick, curly hair, her skin was black and seemed to emanate a certain beautiful glow, Zara remembered one of the few friends she'd had in her life, Chloe looked like her, but much less friendly. " You don't speak, do you?"I..." she began, her voice shaking. She hated feeling pressured or coerced into action, even though she could only do most things under pressure. "I'm Zahara Grant…""Zahara? What kind of name is that?" scoffed Ananda, raising her eyebrows and glaring at Zara, running her right hand through her dark hair and turning her gaze to Emillya.She couldn't understand all those looks, let alone the contemptuous way they treated her. She knew that humans behaved differently from time to time, but they didn't even know her, so why were they treating her like this? The jinn understood the contempt she received from her people, after all, it was shameful, she understood that.

'But am I so bad that those who don't even know me notice it at first glance?' she asked herself, sighing and returning her attention to the girls in front of her when Emilly snapped her fingers close to her face.

"Did you hear me, girl? Well, it doesn't matter, I just came to find out who you were, it's not often we get newcomers, especially in the middle of their final year." The blonde's tone of disappointment left Zara a little discouraged; after all, she had thought about making friends. "You know how it is, small town, I'm the mayor's daughter, I need to be up to date. Anyway, we'll bump into each other, girl."Obviously, that was the strangest appearance Zara had seen in her two hundred years of life. Just as she appeared, the girl left, out of nowhere, taking her two friends with her and leaving the girl behind.Although she felt intimidated and tried to hide, Zara knew that her Arab features would attract attention in the midst of a bunch of curious and skittish Americans. Her dark skin was a perfect shade of caramel, her lips were well"drawn and medium"thick, and her eyes were a beautiful shade of amber, hidden behind large glasses that helped her see well.Why was she wearing them? Although she knew she could, Zara never managed to cure her short"sightedness with magic. At best, she got temporary relief and even some worsening, all due to her poor magical aptitude and clumsy ways. She remembered everyone making fun of her at the big gatherings: "Look, there goes the daughter of the mighty Ifrit, she can't even get rid of her nearsightedness", "Poor father, he fell in love with a human who could barely give him a respectable offspring... Geniuses should run away from love, once they've been snared, they end up covered in shame"."But what's my fault?" he grumbled, entering the room and sitting down in the chair furthest from him, at the very back. "Not everyone is perfect."The girl watched as a middle-aged woman entered the room, carrying several books and ready to begin a tedious history lesson. Zahara knew that it wouldn't be of any use to her; geniuses don't develop in the same way as humans, nor do they practice the same activities as them. However, her half"human side gave her the appearance of a 17"year"old girl most of the time, even in her "genie form", as she used to call her natural appearance, she had human features, but much prettier ones in her opinion.She knew that, although she would never admit it, her father was ashamed of her. She never managed to execute a single wish without creating a huge fuss or perfectly, she always expected the worst possible results and this saddened her father, who had always been an extremely powerful and respectable creature.No one ever knew why, they blamed her human half for all this lack of ability. From a very young age, she was underestimated and, as the years went by, Ifrit noticed that his daughter hadn't inherited his strong and intimidating temperament; unlike him, he knew that she was a fragile and sensitive creature. That's why he saw that his daughter's failures were due to her inability to trust herself, at least that's what he believed. Ifrit always blamed himself for the death of Dandara, his eternal love, but he tried to keep her memory alive for his daughter, even though the two had never lived together and it was painful for him.Zara admired her father's efforts, his constant understanding, his affection and kind words, but she felt that he was a great burden to carry. So she agreed to go to another continent and try to get some control over her magic on her own. She promised herself that she would only return home when she had fulfilled at least seven perfect medium wishes, since simple things didn't count, according to rules she had invented herself."Miss Grant, can you hear me?" asked the teacher, sounding rather rude to the girl, who had been lost in thought seconds ago."I'm sorry, teacher, what did you say?" she asked, trying to sound as kind as possible, trying to placate the woman's bad mood."Get up and introduce yourself," the teacher demanded, making the brunette shiver slightly.Zara looked around for ways to object, but Mrs. Mirts' unyielding gaze made her give up. Rising from her chair, she walked to the front of the room, stopping next to the teacher. Zahara looked straight ahead and slowly opened her lips, feeling her voice falter and her hands sweat."I... I'm Zhara Gran..." But before she could finish speaking, the door suddenly opened.Her golden eyes followed the noises and she saw a group of boys enter, laughing loudly and pushing each other wearing team uniforms, one of them even had a ball in his hand, which seemed very strange to her, after all, who takes a ball to class?Mrs. Mirts hissed twice, hoping it would shut them up, but it was to no avail. Taking advantage of the slight confusion, the girl ran back to her chair and sat down, curling up in her seat and hoping that everyone would forget about her, at least for the time being.