After successfully escorting my project into our gym, and running over some other kid's Utopian city of fluff pairings, we headed back to our dorm to catch some sleep for the next day. I was nervous. Not about tomorrow, of course that would go perfectly. I meant my invention all alone in the gym. Unguarded. Susceptible to foreign touch or even breath. A Utopian fluff supporter's revenge.

I lay awake in my bed clutching my teddy bear. Miss Professor Principal Morgen was so kind to let us bring it in early. Usually they want the place cleared so custodians can clean it of any gum and used tissues. But since it was so big, and because she got another tray of lasagna, I was able to reserve a spot.

"Well, Miss Richter. I see you've brought your-project," she smiled. I looked out from behind it, panting as Moriah and I pushed it along the floor.

"Yep. This machine won't just take the cake, it'll take the whole Easter bunny," I grinned at her. Miss Morgen adjusted her glasses with the chain and cleared her throat.

"You know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense dear."

"Doesn't have to. Hey, uh Miss Morgen? Would you be ever so kind as to let us keep this here tonight? I know the Final isn't until tomorrow, but I just wanted to make sure it was here early. You know how I am about punctuality," I snickered. Miss Morgen let out a single laugh, one that clearly meant, 'You silly little girl, those aren't the rules.'

"Miss Richter, you know the policy about the Final. You have done it fifteen times now," she stated. I sighed and moved my goggles to my head.

"I know, that's why I-"

"Look at this. Filth." She held up her finger and showed me a coat of dust she swiped from a table. "You probably don't want your project to sit in here all night. It'll grow dust and cobwebs and..." She gazed around her with disgust. "Teen boy underwear."

"Listen. My project was built in that wonderful little base-lab you gave me, and I wanted to thank you so much for that."

"You're welcome," she smiled nodding.

"And it's extremely big. And hard to lug back down the elevator, especially when one of us is very out of shape."

"Hey!" Moriah piped up. I held my hand up again.

"So Miss Morgen...dear, sweet, caring Miss Morgen? It would be of most importance that I keep my project here until tomorrow. That is, if it's all the same to you."

"Miss Richter, you know the rules-"

"I'll throw in another tray of lasagna."

"Done." I grinned in victory as she walked past me and started complaining about the dust to some random teacher not important to this story. All the plans of my ultimate success, not to mention a good grade, came pouring back to me. Fictional meets realistic, men in suits signing me over to other men in suits who give me hundreds of thousands of dollars for my design, and all that free food!

A finger tapping on my shoulder knocked me out of my thoughts. "What?" I asked annoyed. A crushed, newly changed to Dystopian society was held in front of my face.

"I spent two months putting this together! Look at it!"

"I can't help but look at it. There's pieces all over the floor I could step on." I walked over to my machine and wheeled it over to the corner where it would be safe. That upset student followed me.

"Yeah, no thanks to your stupid invention."

"Hey! This is not some prototype hogwash piece of machinery. This is bound to change the course of all mankind! Much better than that paper mache volcano from last year." I glanced around me for Moriah, hoping she wasn't nearby.

"Looks like a piece of junk to me."

"It is not!" I pulled the kid aside and lowered my voice. "How would you like to have your favorite fictional character come to life?" He cocked his head. "You know, that girl from your silly mystery novels everyone knows you read in the boys' bathroom every morning."

"How did you-"

"Imagine. Her by your side each and every waking hour. You know her better than anyone, so of course you would have to show her around and keep her from getting too lonely. What's her name? Bianca Jaynes?" The boy blushed and glanced upwards. As if he could see the possibilities right in front of that freckled face. A smile appeared and lasted a little much longer than I was comfortable with. I shook him out of his state. "Pretty neat huh?"

"So what you're saying is that this machine will get me the girl of my dreams?"

"And much more, simple boy! Which is why I must keep it in here, so it's here first thing. Don't want to be late for my-" I struck an evil pose. "Presentation."

"You better hope that thing works or you've got a lot of explaining to do," he said putting his hands in his pockets. I glanced at him.

"Of course it will work. It just needs to be plugged in-with this-very long extension cord..." I wrapped up the cord in a bunch of loops and set it beside my machine. "I hope the school doesn't mind a little higher electric bill," I mumbled. I turned around and saw the boy still staring at me. "Can I help you?"

He shook his head and carried his broken dollhouse to the other side of the room where it would stand alone. And broken. Why didn't he go and fix it? Oh well. Time to get some shut eye. Moriah came up beside me with a juice pouch.

"This place is such a popsicle stand, I can't believe anyone would show up to this," she told me.

"It's only the most important event in the name of sci-fan," I told her rolling my eyes. She gave me a quizzical look. "Science Fandom. It's secret lingo."

"I see. So how'd it go with Mister Mystery over there, huh? Seemed pretty upset."

"Oh please, he'll be fine. Maybe cry himself to sleep, but he'll be over it in a snap," I assured snapping my fingers. Which of course resulted in a bruised thumb.

"You sure? He might try to sabotage your 'ingenious creation'," she mimicked. I waved her off.

"Don't worry, it's completely monkey proof. It got past you didn't it?" I left her and her appalled stare behind as I made my way to our dorm.

What if she was right? What if Willy-What's-His-Name wanted revenge? God knows what he does when he's by himself, he could destroy everything! I must not let that happen... I must...stay...awake...

My eyes shot open and veered to the clock on my wall. Only 7:30. Good, I wasn't late. But my lab coat was still part purple. Maybe no one would notice. Oh who am I kidding? They're not all dumb. Better just wear the white one. My second favorite...

Now then. On with the show.

The gym buzzed with gawkers and onlookers in every direction. Of course the majority of them found the exhibits with free food samples, but as soon as those ran out, they came to our side of the room. I had found my machine in perfect condition, but just to make sure I checked my wire box. Everything looked good, every wire white and working. Moriah stood by me with her umpteenth cup of grape juice and a sample of cheese on a stick.

"If only we didn't get here so late," she said to herself.

"If only you didn't get here so late," I reminded her.

"Whatever. I would have gotten more than one piece of cheese." I took the stick from her.

"Moriah, this cheese has obviously been sitting in an open refrigerator where all the cold was let out overnight."

"But-"

"Now I wouldn't want you to suffer the consequences of ignorance on spoiled dairy so-" I popped it in my mouth and smiled. She huffed and sipped on her juice leaving a purple mustache.

Professor Morgen and a group of teachers I'd never seen in my life gathered around my project. I fixed my lab coat and goggles and smoothed out my gloves. It was my time to shine. Stepping out to the front I cleared my throat.

"Dear Professor Morgen, and you-other guys... I'm proud to announce all those months in the ba-laboratory have finally paid off. And as a result, this!" I pulled off the white cloth revealing my beautiful masterpiece. A group of astounded faces was all I needed. I continued. "This is no regular device contrary to popular rumor. This is my Fictional-Character-Come-To-Life...inator! It has the power to bring any and all fictional characters to this world in which we stand. By the power of blending molecules and my largish brain, I have created a machine so powerful, that this school's gonna need to stock up on more toilet paper." I held up the remote control in my hand and backed up. "You might want to stand back. There's no insurance here for what may happen." The teachers stood back to watch my invention in action. Lowering my goggles, I laughed an evil laugh which I practiced all morning, and pressed the button. And pressed it again. And again.

Nothing happened.

Glancing around, I noticed I hadn't plugged it in. Silly me. After a few embarrassing adjustments, I returned with a laugh larger and more evil than before. The machine sparked up and blasted a beam of neon hue to the center of the gym. It was magnificent. I set the controls to bring Felix the Cat into our realm and waited to see a black feline appear. Moriah tugged on my sleeve and pointed to my machine. A yellow glow emitted and sparks were flying everywhere.

That wasn't good.

I raised my goggles and banged on the machine but nothing happened. My professors were astounded by what they were witnessing.

"It's incredible!"

"I can't believe it's actually working!"

"I didn't even have to get high this time!" I wanted to accept their adoration but my plan wasn't going all that well. It had begun to overload, and I was too far to unplug it.

"Nikki! What's happening?" Moriah shouted over the commotion.

"It seems to have a mind of its own!"

"Is that a good thing?"

"Not really!" I grabbed Moriah and pulled her to the ground. "Everybody get down!" They all did as I commanded and for good reason. My invention blasted a huge beam and hit the bleachers. A horrendous explosion sounded and would have knocked everyone off their feet if they hadn't listened. A wave of heat washed over the room and a chilling silence followed. I didn't dare to look, but curiosity got the better of me. Oh what a mess there was. Chairs thrown here, tables tossed there, and Finals in every direction. Stooping down, I picked up a piece of Utopian society which had been swabbed with a fresh coat of paint.

Some sort of feeling welled up in my chest. Was it-guilt? I put my hand to my heart and glanced around at everyone. "Well," I laughed nervously. "At least no one got kill-"

"Look! Nikki the Ticki screwed it all up!" a voice called from the back. A couple jeers and agreements came from the same place.

"No I- it was supposed to work! I didn't screw anything up! Honest!" Few of the kids pointed at me and laughed. All of them chanting 'there goes Nikki the Ticki.' I cursed myself for even being born with a tick. It didn't happen all the time, only when I was frustrated or scared. And right now, I could have been mistaken for a wind up toy.

"Miss Richter, that's enough. I'm sure you meant well, but the state that this room is in is no excuse. I'm afraid you'll have to do your Final over. Again," Professor Morgen stated. The room got hot as I glanced at my peers.

"She's such a loon!"

"Won't she ever quit?"

"I knew it wouldn't work!" My breathing quickened and my heart just about burst. It was the fifth grade science fair all over again. After being teased at for ten years because of my tick, I came up with a solution. A Tick Remover. It was designed to help anyone with a tick lose it and they'd never be laughed at again. Well, it was just one disaster after another. And the more I failed, the more I got teased. So much for that.

"Nikki, you okay?" Moriah asked. I looked at her and shook my head. And before anyone could corner me, I ran out of the room.

The door slammed behind me as I hid myself in the supply closet. This is where I hid for over half my life in every school I went to. Sure it was musty and smelled of expired Pine Sol, but anything to avoid the mocking. My gloves were removed in anger and shoved in a mop bucket along with my goggles. I sat down and just cried. Silently, as sobs draw too much attention. You learn that the hard way.

They were right, they were all right. I was a complete and utter failure. None of my inventions worked in the past, why should it work now? And I made a real fool of myself for being so sure of it and arrogant. My ticks were out of control now, and I made sure I locked the door behind me. No one could see me like this, not even Moriah.

How Moriah put up with me, I'll never know. She was the new kid and knew nothing about my habits. I took this moment to my advantage and took her under my wing. She became my one and only friend and stuck with me even after all my derogatory comments and under the breath judgements.

I didn't deserve her.

Hours ticked by and the closet got darker. Voices wandered by the door all going back to their rooms after a long day of cleaning up my mess. I kept as quiet as I could until I was sure they were all away in bed, past curfew. When the coast was clear, I stepped out. The halls were ghostly dark and the path to the gym was haunting.

A well done job of clean up I must say, although the soiled pants in the corner remained untouched. My machine stood in the moonlight under the window, making me tick. That sickly piece of crap had done enough. I was gonna take it apart and destroy the pieces. Then after that, no more sci-fan. Or even regular science.

Stomping up behind it I unplugged it and threw the cord over it. Back to the basement with you. I wheeled it over to the elevator and shoved it in all while squeezing myself inside. If I wasn't so disappointed I would have hummed along to the universally talked about but never really heard elevator music.

When the doors dinged open I shoved the machine into a corner of the moldy basement. Starting with the wire box, I pulled the case open, which was too easy. It didn't even take a screwdriver. Upon closer inspection, I never closed it after I checked it this morning. And one of the wires was a pale purple. Smelled an awful lot like-grape juice.

The juice from Moriah's cup must have dripped inside. And that's why it didn't work. But if it didn't work, then why were there four men standing behind me?

"Hello love."