You reach up and push a strand of hair behind your ear, using the movement to surreptitiously glance around to see if someone was watching you. You're not exactly an attention-grabbing girl, so none of the guys were ogling you, as they had the tendency to do with the cheerleaders or the "in" crowd. In fact, other than a few students who were in zombie mode, sleeping with their eyes open, most were either looking down at their notes or up at the chalkboard.
Satisfied that if it is a prank, no one in this class is in on it, you read through the note once more. The fact that it is addressed to you makes you suspicious, but if it truly is something unnatural, then having a note that knew what you just wished didn't seem that far-fetched. Glad to have something to take your mind off the lesson, you begin to daydream about what sort of wish you would make. The cliche wishes of a million dollars or a boyfriend or a better-looking body pop into your head, but they feel unoriginal to you. Anyway, wishes like those always seemed to end in trouble for the one who made the wish, even if no one in the world noticed the changes. Better to make a wish that would leave no visible traces or evidence, and would let you have fun without losing the shelter of your hum-drum life. After all, even though you are a teenager, you've always been rather practical, sometimes too practical for your own good.
You sometimes wish to yourself that you could be a little wilder, act a little crazier, and not care about the consequences. You envy your classmates, and others who seem to flirt with danger and live with abandon, and always seem to be able to wiggle out of the punishment. Maybe if you were them, you could do that too...but you're not, you're simple, plain, practical you. Even though nothing particularly exciting happens to you, you are still aware that you have a good life, probably a much better life than most people in the world. Nevertheless, that niggling feeling that you are missing out nags at you.
If I could be one of them... you think to yourself, looking at the more popular kids in class, then shake your head. You just don't want to deal with their baggage, even though you envy them their fun. But...what if you could have your cake, and eat it too? A crazy thought pops into your head, and as you begin to turn it over and over, it becomes even more tempting.
After wasting nearly a half an hour of class coming up with ways to edit and finesse your wish, you finally think you have it down. It's going to be long, but if it works, you could be in for the time of your life...and many others as well. Picking up your pencil you begin to scribble furiously, trying to get in all the details before you forget something.
I wish I could project my consciousness into the bodies of other beings and have the ability to fully control their bodies as I wished. I would have the choice to possess them when I made direct eye contact with them. I would be able to feel everything they feel while I possessed them, and I would have access to their memories but would not be controlled by them. I would be able to either proactively control them when I wished or passively watch them act. No one, including the being I possessed, would have any awareness of the fact that I was possessing them, and would lose all memory of their actions during the time they were possessed, but would not worry about what happened while they were possessed. While possessing another being, I would still have some awareness of my original body, but would not need to split my consciousness to be aware of it. My original body would just act like it normally would if I were in it, and I would be able to see and feel and remember everything my original body went through. I would be able to end the possession whenever I wished, no matter when or how far I am from my original body.
Re-reading the wish, you feel fairly certain you have accomodated all possible eventualities. Nodding to yourself, then half-laughing at your own seriousness, you add one last line to the note.
This is my wish. Please make it come true.
Catching yourself smiling, you take a quick glance around to ensure no one is snickering at you behind your back. Nothing has changed, not even the teacher's droning, so you let out a small sigh of relief and fold the note, returning it to its place in your book. Sitting back in your chair, you wonder what it would be really like if the wish came true. Looking out the window absently, you spot a small bird on the branch of the tree outside. Staring blankly at it, you catch it looking at you, and wish to yourself you could fly away with it.
Without warning, you suddenly have a sensation akin to an out of body experience. You are looking at yourself through the classroom window, sitting in class, but you can also see the schoolyard and the road beyond through the leaves of the tree. Before you can make sense of what is going on, you have an overwhelming sense of vertigo as you watch the ground drop away beneath you. The wind ruffles through your hair...no...feathers! You are carried aloft by the rapid beat of wings, and you can see your town spread out beneath you. Wait, did that wish just... you think to yourself incredulously.
Not sure if you're just dreaming, you decide to see how much control you actually have. Slowly, you concentrate, and envision your consciousness spreading throughout the bird's body...first head, then feet, then - deciding to go for broke - you reach into the wings. A bit unsure, you flap your wings once, then again. Although it is a bit clumsy, you can do it! Vaguely, you understand how flight works, as you have done it before...no...the bird has done it before...you must be accessing the bird's memories!
Excited and giddy, you fail to pay attention to your surroundings, now that you are in full control of the gliding bird. A sudden updraft catches you off guard, and you find yourself tumbling, your meager comprehension of flight not enough to right yourself. In confused terror, you close the bird's eyes and frantically will yourself to break contact and return to your own body.
You gasp and sit up suddenly in your chair, causing the desk to jerk slightly. For a moment, you are lost, although you somehow remember spending the last five minutes in the classroom, even though you were also in the sky. You look blankly at the notes which you had just taken.
"Ahem." You hear an irritated cough from the front as the teacher glowers at you, assuming your twitch was the result of waking up from a nap. A few of the "in" crowd giggle softly at your discomfiture, and you cringe under the teacher's glare. Although embarrassed, a strange idea suddenly pops into your head, and before you can talk yourself out of it, you look directly into the teachers eyes and will yourself to take control.
Just like last time, you are looking at yourself, but this time from the front of the classroom. You glance around the classroom, but none of the students seem to notice anything amiss. Looking down, you see the teacher's notes before you on the podium. You catch yourself before your smile, then assume the teacher's grumpy look.
"Since it's nearly time for the bell to ring," you say, a bit weirded out at the fact that it was coming out in the teacher's voice. "Let's dismiss class a little early."
The students are a little slow to react, since that teacher in particular never ended class early, so you move over to the desk and pretend to shuffle papers. The teacher's old and achy body is feeling strange, but you can't release him until the students get out of class, or else he might start up again. Finally convinced class is over, the students hurriedly pack up their supplies and bolt for the door. Carefully watching out of the corner of your eye, you see your own body leave as well, and when you try, you feel like you can see through your original body's eyes as well as those of the teacher, although it is a bit disconcerting.
As the last student leaves the classroom, you (in the teacher's body) drop into a chair. It worked! It actually worked! You can't believe it, but it's true. Catching yourself before you let out a giggle, which you look truly strange if anyone saw the old teacher, you think about what to do next. Your original body still has classes, but it could do those on autopilot. In the meanwhile, your consciousness could jump back and forth, riding with others or taking control of them as you wished.
Should you stay with the teacher? While he's boring, riding along with him would let you see his teaching materials, and maybe you could even find the answers to the next test! You don't have to stick with him, though. You could jump back to your body and pick someone or something else to have fun with.