• Chapter 1“Karlie!” My best friend, Mora, called, waving at me. “Karlie! Yoo hoo! Over here!”
    I walked up to her and she was still jumping up and down and waving.
    “Mora…” I sighed. “I see you.” I joked.
    “I know!” She squealed and hugged me. “Ooh! I’ve missed you so much!”
    “I can’t wait ‘till we get to my house!” Mora continued.
    I had just come home from a long trip to France while I visited my parents. My father was a doctor and my mother was an author. Both of my parents were born and raised in France, until two years after they had married they had moved to America and when I was fourteen my parents had said that they couldn’t stand being away from France anymore. I told them that I wanted to stay in America and strangely, they didn’t argue. They let me live with Mora and I have lived with her ever since.
    “What do you want my mom to make for your ‘Welcome Home’ dinner?” Mora asked me. I could barely hear her. I was in my own little world.
    “Did you even hear what I said?” Mora snapped.
    “What? Oh-oh yeah.” I mumbled.
    “So what do you want to eat for dinner?” Mora stamped her foot. She’s such a drama queen.
    “I don’t know. Surprise me.” I told her without enthusiasm. I wasn’t in the mood.
    “Ok.” She said dejectedly.
    The rest of my trip home was mostly silent except for the normal “How was your trip?” “Was France fun?” and “What’d you buy?”


    When Mora and I had finished our meals we walked up the 12-foot staircase to Mora’s and my room.
    “So…” Mora muttered. “What’d you do when you were in Paris?”
    “Well I…” I abruptly stopped. The words just wouldn’t come out. I tried again. I only sounded like a choking moron.
    “Come on. Spill” Mora pretty much commanded.
    Don’t tell her ANYTHING!
    A voice in my head commanded.
    You can’t tell ANYONE ANYTHING from your trip. I WON’T let you! The harsh voice screamed.
    “Uh…” I moaned.
    “Are you ok?” Mora asked.
    “Oh. Yeah. Fine.” I mumbled.
    “So… What did you do in France?” Mora repeated.
    Don’t you EVER dare tell ANYONE! The voice hissed. He calmed down and said, Make up a lie.
    “Oh. Nothing really.” I lied. “I mean… I just pretty much hung out with my parents and went sightseeing.”
    “Ooh Lala.” Mora said with a fake French accent. “What’d you see?”
    “Uh… You know, the Eiffel tower and other stuff.” I lied again.
    Good. The voice purred.
    Mora pouted and whined. “Okay, then.” And she pulled her blanket up over her ear. In a matter of minutes she was snoring softly.
    Good, Karlie. The voice cooed.
    Who is this voice and why can’t I do whatever I please around it?

    Chapter 2- Interrogations
    The first thing I heard when I woke up was,
    Good Morning, Karlie. I’ve been waiting for you to wake. Remember: you mustn’t tell anyone of your trip or of me or of YOUR LIFE.
    I figured that the only way I could communicate with this voice was to think.
    Who are you? I thought.
    I am Rolan, your conscience.
    Okay. And I take it you already know me?
    Yes.
    Okay… Um… How can you um… you can… well… control my actions?
    I’m your conscience. Rolan laughed and said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
    Oh. I said a little embarrassed. And since he was annoying me, I said, Well cut it out!
    Rolan stopped laughing and his voice suddenly became serious.
    I am the ONLY ONE who you can tell your secrets to! Rolan roared inside of my head. You MUST remember that! And Rolan stopped talking altogether.
    I sat up in my bed and looked around my room. When I looked at my clock, I gasped at the bright red numbers that said 2:00 AM.
    I groaned softly and got up from my bed.
    I unplugged my charging laptop and brought it back to my bed.
    I googled ‘conscience’ and I clicked on one of the related topics. It took me to a page called ‘Mind Controllers’ I read through it many times before I decided to shut my laptop off and try to sleep again.
    As I lay in my bed I thought about what the website had said.
    It had said that in some cases the conscience could control the minds and actions of its host. The conscience may also tell its host to keep to themselves or to stay single etc. And unfortunately, one of those commands applied to me.

    Chapter 3- A New Day“Hmm. What should I wear, today?” Mora asked me while picking out many dresses and hanging them over her arm.
    “It’s school, not a fashion show.” I joked. I was trying so hard to get my mind off of Rolan, but I couldn’t.
    Mora went on and on about what she was going to wear while I started to think.
    Rolan, I thought. I know you can hear me. I don’t get why you can control me. And I don’t get why I can’t open up to anyone. Not even Mora. Is this a privacy issue? Because I know that Mora will keep my secret. She’s practically my sister. And anyway, why do you even care about my privacy? If anyone finds out, it’s really not that embarrassing and why do you even care? You can’t get embarrassed. You are my conscience. You are such a mystery and since I seem to not be able to open up to people, can you open up to me?
    I stopped thinking in time to hear Mora ask, “Does it look good?”
    I nodded, but not to approval (though she looked gorgeous) but to shake any thoughts of Rolan from my confused mind.
    “I know, huh?” Mora started turning in happy circles almost like she was doing some modeling.
    “Yeah.” I mumbled.
    We finally got to school with Mora wearing a strapless red mini-dress and red wedges and her cherry-red hair straight down, and me wearing a red T-shirt that says ‘Kiss Me I’m Not Her’ and a pair of black skinny jeans and red converse. Between Mora’s and my choice of clothes: Big Difference.
    “Karlie!” A soft and velvety voice called behind me. “Hey, Karlie! Wait up! Stop!”
    Wait. Hold on. I know that voice. But he’s never talked to me before. Is this even possible? I pivot around to see him, and I see an angel. An angel without wings—that is.
    “Oh…Thomas” I said uncomfortably. “Hi.”
    I wasn’t sure, but I thought that I had just heard a growl in my mind.
    “Um…Hey, Karlie.” He ran his fingers through his perfect, silky black hair.
    “Well…Um do you want to hang out tomorrow?” Thomas continued. “That new mall just opened on El Street. So do you want to someday…You know…go with me?”
    “Um…Did you just ask me out?”
    “Yeah, kind of.” He half-laughed.
    “Well…Yeah! Of course!”
    “Ok. Cool. See ya’” He walked away backwards so he could still see me and I continued to stare at him. He finally waved and turned around.