Don't Teach Kids Murder

Mild Family Issues

"I'm telling you, it's a great idea!" Nora exclaims to Addie's heavily skeptical expression. All around them are the bangs and crashes of the other pairs' experiments exploding, imploding, or just generally causing havoc. Meanwhile, the stun gun lies on the table in front of them, shining with all the deathly light a weapon can possibly bring.

Deathly? Nora thinks, then mentally slaps herself. No, idiot, it's not meant to kill stuff! That's Uzi's fantasy, not- okay, okay, breathe. Stunning stuff, that's the word. In more ways than one. Ha ha. She can't help but admire how great it looks, the work of almost three weeks poured into the sleek device.

Addie scoffs. "Yeah, right. You want me to come over after school. Think about it - we're going to be ready, Nora! There's-"

"Two. DAYS. Left." Nora presses. "I know the stun gun's done, but we still have to test it! What's your problem with coming over anyway? I get it, maybe my desk isn't as great a workplace as the labs here, but I've still got all the stuff we need to tweak anything!"

"That's not the problem and you know it," Addie says, lowering her voice. "You know what Uzi thinks of me hanging out with you."

Nora mentally winces at the mention of their last conversation. Sure, maybe she got a ton of hell from her for literally just standing and talking with Addie in the middle of the school hallway. No, no no no. I'm allowed to talk with my friends! Well - friend, singular, but that doesn't matter. Nora feels a brief flash of resentment that Uzi's contagious unpopularity has massively rubbed off on her, before shoving it down.

"I don't care what Uzi thinks," Nora bulldozes. "Dad won't have a problem, honestly, he'll be overjoyed. Come on, I'm allowed to invite friends over!" A genius idea pings on her visor. "Wait, if you really don't want to come over to my place, can't I go to yours?"

"...Sure," comes the reluctant answer.

Nora squints. "Hey, what's your problem? You know I'm not going to judge you for having a messy room, right?"

* * *

"I am totally judging you for having a messy room," Nora says with absolute sincerity, leaning the stun gun against a very precariously stacked pile of books. "Like, you can't even deny it. This is a whole new level of messy. Like SHOCKINGLY messy."

Addie sighs through her teeth. "Harsh."

"No, it really isn't," comes the reply. Nora reaches out and pokes a stack of papers rising, well, almost up to the ceiling. A blanket of dust comes wafting down, mostly onto her, and she shakes her arm to get it off. "Seriously, how long have these papers just been sitting around? I'm starting to see why you didn't want me to come over."

"I have a lot of stuff," Addie says, looking mildly uncomfortable. "Can we just get to work? Look- there-"

Addie hurriedly sweeps her hands across the top of a crowded desk in the corner, sending the equivalent of maybe five years' worth of dust scattering down onto the already messy floor. Nora winces as a cable snags on something and a complex-looking structure comes crashing down from the ceiling with the typical drawn-out whine of screeching plastic. A few lightbulbs smash.

"Robo-god," Addie whispers, covering her eyes and letting out a breath. "Too much noise. Way too much noise." She picks up the stun gun, dusts it off and lays it down on the newly cleared space.

"Uh... maybe we should work somewhere else?"

"No," Addie says a little too quickly. Her eyes dart around the room, almost as if there's something bugging her. Something she's not telling Nora. "Seriously, everywhere else is just as crowded. Trust me, there's enough free space here. Just- we might want to be a bit more quiet..."