Mind over Matter (on hold)

Chapter 3

There was a brief silence, which was broken by Melanie; "Hey guys, if you could be granted one superpower, what would you pick and how would you use it?".
"I dunno" said Arden, "maybe to fly, so I wouldn't have to take the school bus every day and never worry about being late again." She said, staring at the partly sunny sky with a dreamy smile.

"Good one, what about you, Soph?" Melanie asked.

"I'm not really sure." Sophia answered, "maybe to be a wizard or something, that would be cool."

Arden thought for a moment, "Yeah, it would be. And what would you do with your new powers? O mighty master." She answered sarcastically. "I mean, just think of the possibilities!"
Sophia thought. "I don't know!" She thought to herself. "Maybe I could help the poor or something. After all, I'd be very powerful with few limits."

"Y'know what?" She said after a while, "If I had those powers, I would change the entire, damned up world for the better!" Sophia declared, with a tone of voice packed with sincerely. "I mean, look at this world; since when is it cool to get pregnant at sixteen? Or to pierce a ring through your nose? Or through your tongue? Something happened to the world, something completely messed it up! And I intend to clean up that mess!". Sophia found herself standing up, in a victorious superhero kind of pose. She quickly sat back on the stairs, hoping no one but Arden and Melanie saw her.

"That actually sounds awesome" Melanie said, "I wish magic was real!". She knew it sounded childish, to wish magic was real, but as long as she was with her friend, she. Could be as silly as she wanted.
"It could've been real." Sophia said, "I mean, considering how there were many claims of sorcery and witches in the Middle Ages, it could have been real."
"Then what happened to magic? Did wizards go extinct or something?!" Arden exclaimed sarcastically.

Just as Arden finished that question, Sophia heard a laugh. It was a faint laugh, but it was definitely a laugh. Within seconds the one laugh increased to a faint wave of laughing.
"Do you hear that, guys?" Sophia asked. The moment she asked that question, the laughing, followed by a gasp, stopped.
"Hear what?" Melanie and Arden said simultaneously.

"That laughing." She answered, "I could've sworn I heard laughing!"

"I didn't hear anything." Arden said. "Me neither" said Melanie.
Just then the bell rang, everyone rushed to their classes.
"Strange." Sophia thought, "Where was that voice from?!". Sophia couldn't stop wondering for the rest of the day.
It was almost as though it came from inside her head.
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"I just don't get it," Sophia said to Arden and Melanie on the bus, "where did that laugh come from?!"
"Well, from which direction did you hear it?" Melanie asked.
"I'm not sure, It seemed to come from inside my head." Sophia replied.
"Weird..." Arden said.
"Yeah. And what's weirder is that the moment I asked you guys if you heard it, it stopped."
"God, that's creepy!" Melanie said, flabbergasted.
It was all any of them could think about it. They knew that everyone hears a voice inside their head, usually giving advice, but the never heard about a voice in someone's head laughing. Neither one of the girls spoke for the rest of the ride. Each one wondering to her self what happened, trying to solve a mystery with a lack of clues.
"Who knows?" Said Melanie, after a long, dull silence. "I say we think about it and tell each other our conclusions tomorrow."
"Good idea, Mel. Let's play detective!" Said Arden sarcastically. "But fine, it's all we can do. I say go for it."
The bus slowed down, and arrived at Melanie's stop.
"Bye, guys!" She called as she walked out.
"Bye!" Sophia and Arden said simultaneously.
"Remember!" Melanie called, "Think about it!"
The bus rode on along the bumpy road, finally reaching Sophia's and Arden's stop.
"Okay, I'll see ya tomorrow, Soph." Said Arden as they got off.
"Yeah, bye Arden." Sophia replied. She turned to walk away, but stopped when she heard Arden say;
"Are you actually gonna think about what happened there?"
"Why not? Aren't you?" She replied.
"Well..."
"Please do it, I know the idea of a strange, laughing voice in your head kinda creeps you out, but let's keep Mel happy. You know how much she loves things like this, so let's let her have fun, ok?" Sophia said, trying her best to convince Arden. But to be perfectly honest, she wanted to do it even more than Melanie did.
"Fine." Arden said reluctantly.
"You don't have to think deeply about it, just think of it as solving a mystery."
"Okay. Bye Soph." Arden said with a wave.
"Bye." She said, waving back.
She turned away and started towards home. She knew it would be very long walk, like it always was and she usually complained about, but all she could really think of was what happened with the voices in her head.
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"Do you really think she's worthy?" Said another voice in her head, but not her usual one. This voice was, unlike the usual voice in her head, very excited and energetic. But it still sounded very faint, "she may have us, and she may have heard us, but she's still only human."
"That's beside the point!" Said another, different voice. A voice of an old man, "the master has found her worthy, and worthy she is. Do you dare defy the master?"
"Not at all" said the first voice, "but you know I don't want to cooperate in this any more than you do!"
Sophia turned, but she only saw an empty street.
"Is anyone there?" She asked, hoping to make some sense out of the mysterious voices.
But there was nothing but silence.
She walked on. Just then, the voices started again;
"Alright, I'm convinced, she's worthy. She can definitely can hear us." Said the first voice again, "when will she find out?"
The second voice answered, "The moment she gets home, which is very soon..."
Sure enough, her home was visible from where she was. She'd be there in about a minute.
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Sophia opened the back door and walked in. "Hello, honey." Her mom said as she walked into the kitchen. "How was your day?"
"Same old, same old." She replied, which was the truth, "I'm going to my room, see ya later."

"What about lunch?" Her mom asked, "you know it's important to eat three meals a day. Besides, I made your favorite- hot dogs, baked potato, and green beans."

Sophia couldn't help but smile at the thought of her favorite lunch. "Okay, I'll eat lunch, but not a big one because I've got stuff to do." She said as she sat down.
Sophia ate a quick lunch, and then rushed up the stairs to her room, colliding into her brother Alex.

"Hey Alex," Sophia said, hoping he was in a good mood so he wouldn't taunt her, "had a good day?"

"Yeah, it was cool," he replied in a flat but peaceful tone. Sophia heaved a sigh of relief. "And yours?"

"Fine, thank you." She replied, "I've got to go, see ya!"

"Later."

She rushed to her room, and quickly closed the door. The time of day when Sophia got home from school and went to her room was the time of day she always waits for. It was the perfect time for her to do her favorite thing in the world- be alone with her thoughts and opinions.
She fell on her bed, tired but happy. But when she fell, she hit her head on something that wasn't there before. She turned around to find a pretty big box with an envelope on it. She looked at the box, then at the envelope. There was no return address, just her name- Sophia, written in deep blue ink. On the top right corner was a small emblem, printed in purple ink, which looked like an owl spreading its wings behind a big letter "M".