Possess the teacher

The cool night air hit them as they slipped out Cody's back door, the three of them moving with a newfound, silent confidence. The suburban street was quiet, bathed in the orange glow of the streetlights. It felt different now. Less like a sleepy neighborhood and more like a playground, and they were the only ones with the keys to the equipment.

"Okay, so who's our first victim?" Hailey whispered, her voice buzzing with excitement. She was practically vibrating on the balls of her feet. "I still vote for Jessica Miller. She told everyone I got a B on my history test on purpose."

"**** is a dish best served... later," Aaron said, trying to sound wise. "We need a test subject. Someone low-risk. We can't just jump into the head cheerleader and make her bark like a dog on our first try."

"He's right," Cody conceded, much to Hailey's disappointment. "We need to see if our powers work together. What if I try to possess someone and you accidentally try to possess the same person? We don't know what happens."

"Good point," Hailey sighed. "So, who then?"

They walked for a few blocks, staying in the shadows of the neatly trimmed lawns. The world looked different from this perspective, like they were observers, separate from the normal flow of life. They were just approaching the main intersection when they saw him.

Mr. Henderson.

Their notoriously strict calculus teacher was locking up the local pharmacy. He was a man in his late forties, with a perpetually tired expression and a combover that defied gravity and logic. He was the kind of teacher who took personal offense to a rounded decimal.

"Perfect," Aaron and Hailey said in unison.

Cody grinned. "Oh, this is too good. What's the plan, genius?"

"Simple infiltration," Aaron whispered, his mind racing. "I'll go in first. I'll get control, make him walk back towards the school. You two stay invisible and follow. Once we're somewhere secluded, like the football field, we can have some real fun."

"And what do we do?" Cody asked.

"You're my backup. If I start losing control, you can be ready to... I don't know, pull me out? And Hailey, you're on lookout. Make sure no one sees a zombie Mr. Henderson wandering the streets at night."

"Deal," Hailey said, already starting to fade into her translucent orange form.

"Let's do this," Cody added, his green form shimmering into existence.

Aaron took a deep breath and focused. The familiar pull, the tingling sensation, and then he was floating, a purple wisp of consciousness. He darted across the street, silent as a thought. Mr. Henderson was just fumbling with his keys, muttering about the price of antacids. It was too easy.

Aaron flowed into him from behind. The sensation was jarring but familiar. The world snapped into a dull, aching focus. His back hurt. His knees creaked. He could smell the faint, minty scent of toothpaste on his breath.

"Whoa," Aaron mumbled in Mr. Henderson's raspy voice. He looked down at the teacher's drab khakis and sensible shoes. "Okay, I'm in. Heading to the field."

He started walking, a slightly stiff, robotic gait that he hoped passed for normal. He could feel the presence of Cody and Hailey flitting around him like invisible guardian angels.

They reached the darkened high school football field, the goalposts standing like silent sentinels under the moonlight. Aaron, in Mr. Henderson's body, walked to the center of the fifty-yard line.

"Alright, I'm stable," he announced to the air. "Cody, your turn. Try to... I don't know, piggyback? See if you can influence my arm or something."

Cody's green ghost floated closer. He reached out a spectral hand and placed it on Mr. Henderson's shoulder. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Aaron felt a strange tug, like a second set of impulses were trying to move his arm.

"It's... working," Aaron grunted, straining. "It's like trying to write with your left hand. I can feel you trying to move it."

Suddenly, Mr. Henderson's right arm shot up into the air, his middle finger extended proudly towards the empty bleachers.

"Whoops," Cody's voice echoed with a laugh. "Slipped."

Aaron **** the arm down. "Okay, okay, that's enough. Hailey, you're up. What can you do?"

Hailey's orange form zipped around them. "I have an idea," she chirped. She didn't touch the body. Instead, she flew directly in front of Mr. Henderson's face and concentrated. Aaron felt a strange pressure in his head, and then words started forming in his mouth, words he wasn't thinking.

"The derivative of cosine is negative sine," Mr. Henderson's voice declared, but it was higher, faster, and filled with Hailey's playful intonation. "And anyone who thinks otherwise is a big fat doody-head!"

Aaron lost control, and the three of them burst out of the teacher's body in a cascade of purple, green, and orange light. Mr. Henderson stumbled, blinked, and looked around the empty football field, utterly bewildered. He shook his head, patted his pockets, and started walking home in a daze, muttering about needing to get more sleep.

The three of them hovered in the air, laughing so hard they were practically glowing.

"Oh my god," Hailey gasped. "His face! He had no idea what was happening!"

"That was incredible," Cody said, zooming around a goalpost. "We can work together! We're like... the Super-posse-sion Squad!"

"Never call us that again," Aaron said, but he was grinning from ear to ear. "But yeah. This is going to be the best thing that ever happened to us."

They flew back towards Cody's house, their spirits high. They were more than just three friends with a weird secret; they were a team. A weird, ghostly, super-powered team. And the world was their oyster.