"Ada Lame Maxwell!" he proclaimed at the top of his lungs. "When I get my hands on you..."

"Watch your language, old man!" Diversity called him. "Ada here is far from lame."

"He is not old," I explained to her. "He is in his forties. And the word 'Lame' is my actual middle name."

"Seriously? Gee, I feel sorry for you. Who is he anyway? How do you two know each other?"

I sighed heavily. "This man is my father."

She gasped. "You are kidding."

I shook my head, and my "father" stormed over to where we were. Diversity got in front of me and held out her arms to her sides, protecting me. As much as I appreciated the gesture, I pushed her back. She stumbled, but managed to keep her balance.

"Hey. What is the big deal, Ada? I am afraid that he will hurt you."

"My dad will do no such thing," I protested. "He has punished me...severely, but not to the point where he would kill me, his own daughter."

The truth was that I knew that my own father, the one who created me, would torture me and possibly murder me if he had the chance. When I was first created, he said that he would kill me in whatever way that was convenient for him if I did not be the perfect daughter that he dreamed of having.

I am sorry, but if I have to wear the same dress and shoes every day and keep my hair up in a stupid bun and eat the same foods every darn day and get whipped as punishment, perfect was not worth it. I wanted to dye my hair and eat other foods and wear different clothes and have my hair down and...be myself.

I glanced at my feet. More precisely, the socks and flats. This is who I was. A girl who would rather wear flats than some lame heels.

Without giving it much thought, I threw the heels at Dr. Maxwell. Dr. Maxwell stopped in his tracks and shielded his face as what used to be my shoes hit his elbows. The shoes fell to the floor, and he lowered his arms and growled.

"You are receiving the whipping of your lifetime, young lady!"

"Only if you catch me!" I spat. I ran in the opposite direction.

"Letting you know that announcing what you are going to do to your poor, innocent daughter was a dumb idea!" Diversity added. She followed me.

"Nobody is in this store except the clerk whose brain is the size of a walnut!" Dr. Maxwell argued as he chased after us.

The three of us ran all around the shop, and Diversity caught up to me. I asked her if she could buy me some time, and she said that she could. I skidded to a stop and hid in one of the changing rooms. I waited to see if my "father" happened to witness me sneaking in and would come in without my consent.

I cupped my hand around my ear and waited to hear him. Seconds later, I heard footsteps and heavy breathing - his footsteps and heavy breathing - and they faded from my hiding spot. Sweet. He did not notice.

The only reason that I was hiding was because I wanted to pull myself together and come up with a plan for me and Diversity to lose Dr. Maxwell. Sadly...no, not sadly. Surprisingly, that is not how it went down.

Like most changing rooms, if not all, this one had a long and narrow mirror on its wall. I did not even take note that the mirror was there until I saw it from the corner of my eye. I turned to it - and was startled at what was staring back at me.

It was me. But I did not have brown hair. I had blonde.

I wanted to shriek, but managed to hold it in and thought about my predicament. With a shaking hand, I reached up and yanked off my scrunchie that had been holding up my hair. My hair fell to my back, and I ran my thumbs and fingers through it. My new and improved hair.

How did this happen? Why did it happen? I am not a blonde! I am supposed to be a brunette!

I am supposed to be.

I calmed myself down and thought about my blonde hair. I was overreacting. Having different colored hair was not the end of the world.

I winked at my reflection and flipped my hair.

Besides, I looked better in blonde. I could not wait to see the look on my "father's" face when he saw that I had blonde hair.

I poked my head out of the changing room and called for Diversity, and as if she were the fastest person alive, she scurried to my side in an instant. I crept out from my hiding spot, and Diversity was a bit taken aback that my hair was blonde.

"The heck did you do to your hair, Ada? Is that where you were? Dying your hair yellow because it was already changing to yellow?"

"I did not dye my hair. Honest. It was like this when I hid. The only question that I have is...why?"

Dr. Maxwell took us by surprise by jumping behind us. His shadow loomed over us, and he growled at us. His eyes were filled with fury.

"Ada!" He grabbed my wrist, and his eyes widened. "No! Your hair is hideous!"

"It is magnificent!" Diversity defended me.

He released me. "The information said that you would come out wrong. Oh, why did I not listen? Why?!"

"'Come out wrong'?" I repeated the phrase.

Dr. Maxwell aimed his laser gun at me. "You need to go away once and for all."

"No!" Diversity cried as she pounced on him.

The two of them fell back, and a red laser shot out and hit my eye.