Why do we have to take this class anyway? “Magic & Mystery,” I mean does it sound like an educational course? I’ve been at the top of my class all through high school with exceptional grades, working my a** off. At this very moment I could be curing cancer and yet I’m sitting here with this crazy teacher who looks liked she is a witch who jumped right out of a Disney movie. The worst part about it is I have to sit in the same room as Mark for forty minutes.

How did I get stuck with such a roommate? Him and his red Porsche and stupid six-pack, he isn’t even remotely intelligent. I don’t even know why he got into this school. With his work ethic, I’m sure he barely passed high school. With all his money, he could have anything he wants. The past year I’ve had to work five days a week just so my mom and I could eat. The worst part is that Mark and his stupid snobby friends won’t mind their own damn business. I try to ignore their obnoxious remarks, but when they started talking about my family, I snapped. Now I have a black eye and a bruised rib cage.

I’m sitting at my desk staring at the clock, trying to ignore the laughter coming from Mark and his friends while they stare directly at me. I just want to slit that guy’s throat.

There’s only five minutes left, and our teacher explains to us our first assignment. At the end of each class, everyone is required to fold up a small piece of paper with our most passionate desire on it. She told us to take the project seriously, what is this kindergarten? We have to drop it into a box she had on her desk. Why she spent time to make that box so eerie looking I don’t know. This task just proves how pointless this course is.

What was I going to wish for? She told us they would be anonymous. I could wish for world peace or something, but I decide to write something with a lot less significance. The bell rang. I drop the wish into the weird box and gather my stuff.

I run out of class avoiding my enemies. They chase me all the way to my dorm where I had time to quickly lock the door. I put on my iPod, my prize from winning my high school science fair, to block out all the remarks that are being screamed on the other side of the door. If only the walls were soundproof.

I lay down continuing to listen to my music. My favorite song starts to play, but I realize something is odd. Not necessarily wrong, but different. The music sounds clearer, better. The usual buzz I used to hear from my crappy headphones is gone. I take them out of my ears to find a new expensive pair of Bose buds. No, it can’t be. Mark must have accidentally used my iPod and put in his headphones, but he doesn’t have buds. I try to think of a reasonable explanation, but I couldn’t deny that I had wished for new headphones earlier that day in magic & mystery class.

I go through the day trying to concentrate, but all I can think about is how my wish came true. I am going crazy. Tomorrow I’m going to wish for something else, and when it doesn’t come true, I can give my mind some rest.

It’s the second day of my magic & mystery class. I spend the entire period thinking about the wish I am going to make. I need something simple, something ordinary, but something that could not be a mistake. I had a perfect idea.

The class finally ends, and I drop my wish into the box and ran back to my dorm. I quickly look out the window and see a black BMW parked in my spot. I can’t believe it. Anyone could have accidentally parked in my spot, it’s not like it is ever used anyway. The last part of my wish was the license plate number. If the plate read “042590,” my birthday, then that box was somehow real. I went outside to read the plates and found myself amazed. How could this be happening? Is this a dream? Could it possibly be a coincidence?

I step into the beautiful new car to find a set of keys sitting on the passenger seat. The BMW was brand new, and it was mine. I sit there thinking while time passes. Imagine what I can do with this power? Will it expire? Is it only me whose wishes become reality? Can I help the world?

I am finished contemplating, so I walk out of the car and realize it had gotten dark. I rush to my math lecture, how could I have let so much time go by? When it had finished, I returned to my room. I had to look out the window one last time to insure that it wasn’t my imagination. The car was still there, but the sides were dented, the windows smashed, and the doors graffitied. I went down to find a note on the passenger seat that read “Nice car- Sincerely, Mark and friends.”

What jerks. What selfish, egoistic, self-centered jerks. At that moment, I could have taken a gun and shot them all, myself. I would be doing the world a favor. I suddenly had a great idea for tomorrow’s wish.

The next day finally arrived after one sleepless night. I was feeling guilty. Not guilty because I wanted to kill Mark, he deserved that, but guilty because I knew what I was planning to do was wrong. The problem was that it didn’t bother me the least. I was so convinced it was a way of helping the world.

Magic & mystery class went by slowly, but when the bell finally ran, I was the first to run up with my wish. “I wish that at midnight tonight a knife will pierce Mark in the chest.” I dropped it in the box quickly and sprinted out of class, not even watching the paper fall in.

The day went by as such a blur, until I found myself back at my room at 11 pm. I did not want to be blamed for the death that was going to occur, so I took my sheets and decided to crash in the empty room down the hall. When Mark gave his usual rude remark as I left, I only laughed.

I sat in bed so content with myself. I stared at the clock until it struck 12. I felt so accomplished, and I found myself smiling immensely. Within seconds, my smile turned into screams of pain. I looked down to find blood running down my body, and a knife through my chest. I had no idea what went wrong.

I was unaware that earlier that day, my wish had not fallen completely in, and that Mark found it protruding from the box. He read the wish, recognized my handwriting, and furiously changed the “Mark” to “Seth.” Not aware that the wish would come true, he dropped the altered piece of paper back into the box. When Mark heard the screams, he came running to the end of the hall. I looked up to see him frozen in shock as I continued to bleed.