Power

Called

I wake to the sound of a car revving its engine then speeding away down the street. Apparently the person driving didn't take into consideration that many people are still asleep at 6:30 in the morning and they would not like to be awoken. 

My eyes burn as I try to force them open. It takes me a few seconds to clear my eyes. I grab my phone and unplug the charging cord. Turning the brightness to the lowest setting possible, I check twitter then finally find the energy to peel myself off the bed. My body aches as I get up. I stumble around the room as my legs find the strength to carry my weight.  After staring at my closet for awhile, I gather my clothes and I began to get ready.

Once I was done, I grabbed my bag and headed outside. The sun was barely rising so it created shades of pink and orange across the sky. A flock of birds crept into my line of sight and flew overhead in a orderly and unique fashion. 

Students parked their cars down my street and headed towards the school. Luckily my walk to school only takes about 4 minuets even when I'm dragging myself there. There were many cars full of people on their way to work. I tried my best to look busy and not care if I saw someone looking at me. I never really liked walking to school. Yeah, the exercise is good for you but I'd prefer not to awkwardly stand at the cross walk and draw attention to myself. Or at least that's what I though I was doing.

When I finally got to school, I quickly walked to my class and sat at my seat. I was always the first one to class, some times even getting there before the teacher. I twirled my pendent necklace in my hand, examining the curves and edges to it. It was cold to the touch, most likely from the cold walk over here. The necklace had a lot of meaning to it. My best friend Melody had giving it to me when we were 12. 16 now, we had had our ups and our down, but we were still friend on some level. 

Melody and I meet through school. We had classes together and we shared interests like reading and writing. When high school hit, a few things changed. We didn't spend as much time together as we used to. We still talked but only when we had time. Things got worse as freshman year continued. Melody and I hardly talked. She spent most of her time alone in the library. I would only occasionally see her in the hallway. A lot of the time, I wouldn't even see her at all. During the summer into our sophomore year I got an unexpected call from her asking if I would like to come over to her house. Hesitant at first, I decided I wanted to rekindle that friendship that we once had and I accepted. 

Her appearance had completely changed. Her hair grew long and she seemed to wear more make up than she ever had before.  She didn't wear her glasses anymore. Her spirt had changed too. She was more joyful they she had ever been. She invited me inside and quickly closed the door. "I'm so happy you're here Sarah," she exclaimed as she grabbed me tight and gave me a hug. 

We sat on the couch and exchanged questions to one another. Something about this felt so odd. It was almost as if I was meeting a completely new person. After a while of talking, she finally confessed. "I'm really glad your here Sarah but there is something that I really need your help with. You are the only person that I know that can help. I thought this would be a great thing that the two of us could bond over." I knew it was odd that she had invited me over after so long of us not talking. I didn't want to upset her. I wanted us to go back to the way we were when we were in middle school. I told her I would try to keep an open mind. She smiled, ran off to her room, and brought back a book.

"Okay," she said," I know this may look weird but hear me out. I've been doing something and it's really changed my life. I feel so free now and I'm not sad like I used to be. I know that if you just keep an open mind, you'll like it to."

She sat back down on the couch and opened the book. The first thing I saw were symbols of all shapes and sizes and I had taken enough Saturday Bible classes to know that they weren't good. "Okay, okay. They aren't what you think they are," she protested. 

"Yeah? Well they sure do look like what I think they are! Why are you messing with this stuff Mel? This isn't good! This is dangerous," I yelled at her, hoping to shake some common sense into her.

"They aren't bad Sarah! They deal with nature. Now please just look at this book and then you can say whatever you want about it."

Her eyes looked hurt as though she expected me to quickly agree to whatever she asked. I really wanted to rekindle this friendship but did I really want to get into all of this pagan stuff? A spark of curiosity grew in me. I had never really learnt about any other religion or practice other than my own. Melody looked happy and if this was what was making her happy, then what's the problem? Would this make me happy too? Something that could cause joy in someone couldn't be wrong, right?

"Fine," I said as I grabbed the book from her hand. "But I don't promise you anything. If I don't like it I will give it back to you right away. I don't want anything to do with this if it includes evil or anything that could haunt me."

" Okay, I get it," she replied. She seemed more confident and her spirit lightened up.

I sat back in the couch and wondered what I had just gotten myself into.