I trudged along to English class and sank down into an empty seat in the far back. Mr. Stephenson had just begun roll call. I rested my head on the desk and began to drift off…

"Buttercup Utonium!"

I jerked my head up and hit it against something. The whole class exploded in laughter. I looked up to see Mr. Stephenson holding his bloody nose, grimacing with pain.

"Sorry," I mumbled before simply lowering my head.

"I'll be right back, class—remain calm! It shall only be a minute!" the teacher ordered as he rushed out of the door.

As the uproar of laughter began to die down to quiet giggles, I grabbed my lime green iPod out of my binder and plugged in the earplugs, closing the rest of the world out. I grinned as one of my favorite songs came on. I closed my eyes and hummed along, drifting off into my own imagination…

[ . . .Rocketeer by Far east Movement. . . ]

Here we go…

Come with me…

There's a world out there that we should see

Take my hand…

Close your eyes…

With you right here I'm a rocketeer

Let's fly …

Up, up here we go

Up, up here we go

Let's fly…

Up, up here we go

Where we stop nobody knows

Where we go we don't need roads

And where we stop nobody knows

… To the stars if you really want it…

Got-got a jetpack with your

name on it

Above the clouds in the clouds in the atmosphere

Say the words and we outta here

Hold my hand if you're feeling scared

… We flying up-up outta here …

Here we go…

Come with me…

There's a world out there that we should see

Take my hand…

Close your eyes…

With you right here I'm a rocketeer

Let's Fly …

Suddenly a firm tap on my shoulder awakened me from my dream.

'I must have fallen asleep…' I thought. I looked up to see Mr. Stephenson, a deep frown underneath his bandaged nose.

"Miss Utonium, electronic devices are not allowed in the classroom."

I scoffed at him as I reluctantly placed my iPod back into my binder.

As I sat down with my lunch tray by Hanna and Bella, my mind kept tracing back to the dream in English. 'Was I asleep? Was I simply daydreaming? Did it have a meaning? Or was it all an illusion, a hallucination, due to my dreary mind? Did it have a significant meaning? I couldn't even fully remember the whole dream, just tiny fragments.

"Uhh… Buttercup? You okay?" Butch asked, his concerned voice shattering my thoughts.

"Ohhh… huh? Yeah, yeah—I'm alright," I answered groggily.

"You sure? You dozed off in English today," Mitch said.

So it was a dream.

"She was probably tired. If she says she's okay, then she's okay," Melvin said, smiling.

" She's tough."

I attempted to grin a bit.

"Besides… I bet she'll be back in action in P.E.

I think we're playing dodge ball today…"

My eyes lit up at the thought of P.E.

As I mentioned previously, I loved P.E.

It was the only class I ever enjoyed. And I was tough. The guys all wanted me on their teams. The girls were all pretty frightened. But most of them were scrawny and only cared about their makeup and hair. So they got their asses handed to them.

The bell rang, somewhat startling me. I languidly rose from my seat and headed for the double-doors.

The Dream -

I looked up at the cool, midnight sky. The moon was glistening a vibrant, frosty white, the stars dancing around the moon in an unknown rhythm, a rhythm that the gentle breeze whispered of, a rhythm of harmony.

"Are you ready?"

I turned my head slightly to the voice, a familiar voice, a voice that soothed and calmed me.

The owner of the voice I could not see, due to the light mist surrounding the roof of which we were standing on. I could, however, make out a head of full raven hair, rustling in the cool breeze.

Then, he lifted himself from the surface, floating over towards the edge of the building. He looked back at me, silently pleading, urging me to follow. And I did follow. He took my hand in his, and we soared into the night, flew as if we had done it all our lives.

But something was wrong. Through the happiness and excitement and euphoric bliss, something was off.

The light mist we had easily soared through now became thicker, suffocating. It was an obstacle that was rather difficult, near impossible. Instead of leading us through the fog, he fell. We fell. Spiraling down faster and faster… for an unknown reason… it couldn't have been the fog. It was something significant, more meaningful than I could comprehend. But I couldn't understand…

Mitch's Point of View –

I glanced over nervously at Buttercup. Though I barely know her, I know that she's been acting strange today. Her head was slightly turned to the left to where I could clearly view her face, her cheeks twitched as she mumbled unknown words, her eyebrows furrowed in irritation, her expression troubled. Then the bell rang.

She frowned, indicating that she was disturbed, but was still asleep. I got up and shook her gently. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Then, remembering that it was time for P.E., she shot out of her seat and out of the door, leaving a trail of papers and assignments behind. I smirked after her.

Buttercup's Point of View –

I darted out of the changing rooms and into the gymnasium, wearing my gray Soffe shorts and my navy blue tee shirt. About five minutes later, everybody else reluctantly slumped out of the changing rooms in their gray and navy gym uniforms. I was about the only girl actually excited for this period.

After Coach Martin assigned teams, I rushed to my position. I was slightly annoyed that I wasn't the one throwing the ball, but I was soon content.

Marcus Simmons launched the ball towards my direction. I arched my back and flipped over the ball, showcasing my skills, challenging him to return my determination.

"You missed me!' I teased.

Marcus' face reddened from frustration as he served another ball. I dropped down low and rolled over to the right.

"Aw, Marcus! Too bad!"

After several more failed attempts, Marcus blew up.

"I give up! She's too quick!" he snarled, throwing the ball down in impatience.

"You can't quit! Buttercup isn't the only person in the game! You quit my class, you fail!" Coach Martin argued after blowing his whistle.

"Everybody has tagged everybody! Nobody has tagged Buttercup! Nobody! Ever!" Marcus whined heatedly.

"Well I guess—"

"I can get her out."

Everyone but me looked in the direction of the voice. I was furious. And, sure enough, it had to be Mitch.

"Get real, Mitch!" Marcus sneered.

Mitch had a mischievous glint in his eyes as he smirked and lifted a ball.

"Everyone else either sit on the sidelines or go wash up," Coach Martin demanded. No one dared to go to the showers. They all sat down in silence, watching intently, the majority of the students relieved of the change of plans.

And with that, the game began.

Mitch hurled the ball at me. I swiftly sprang over to the right as the ball bounced against the wall behind me. I retrieved it and tossed it back at him.

"Surely you can do better, huh Mitch?"

His eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he heaved another ball towards me. My arrogance caught up with me when I was caught off guard. I dove for the left side just as the ball nearly grazed my foot. He was pretty good.

But not good enough.

The game continued like this for fifteen minutes. He would throw, I would dodge—in that order, in repeated cycles.

Mitch lobbed the final ball at me. I bounded onto my left side, and upon seeing another ball flying towards me, I faked a right turn, then swiveled to my left, certain that I was clear out of the way.

That was where I made my mistake. The ball shot left in my direction and thumped against my head. I flipped over from the impact and landed on my stomach.

The rest of the students gazed in awe, obviously dumbfounded and astonished. He simply smirked back like the little arrogant bastard he was.

"Mitch is awesome!"

"Nobody has ever gotten BC out before!"

"Mitch, you're amazing!"

The praises he received made me sick to my stomach, nauseous with envy and resentment. Here I was, the undisputed dodge ball champion, defeated by a novice. Clearly I had underestimated him.

'No,' I thought to myself.

'He cheated. Nobody beats BC, Buttercup Utonium, a Powerpuff girl, without cheating. The nerve of this asshole!'

At the same time, I couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of him. To defeat Buttercup Utonium was a definite accomplishment. And, even if he did cheat, he still had the nerve and the intelligence to actually go through with it without being caught! I smirked to myself.

Maybe he wasn't so worthless after all.

Author's Note: The dream I was explaining was the one that Buttercup had in English, based off of the song Rocketeer.

Remember that dream because it's a form of foreshadowing the latter events to come! Stay alert and look for others, too. ;]