At last the big day arrived. Hundreds of kids gathered at the convention center for the big Science Trivia Tournament. There were schools from all over the state here. Frink checked in and was placed with others at the beginning level. Questions at this stage were extremely easy. Name the three types of rocks. Who invented the light bulb? Where did the Wright brothers make their famous flight? Name an invention by Leonardo da Vinci. Frink rattled off the answers easily defeating his first opponent.
"Igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary. Thomas Alva Edison. Kitty Hawk North Carolina. The Ornithopter. Goh Hay!"
He quickly advanced through the intermediate levels in a similar fashion sending his school into the finals.

Frink was very happy and excited. This was the best he'd ever preformed out in public. The students were taking a recess from the tournament and Frink met up with his friend Timmy.
"Wow, Frinky. You're knocking them dead!"
"Hey look." Said Frink as he pointed to the wall. "The list of the finalists is up. Let's find out what I'm up against."
The two went over to a small crowd of children that had gathered to see who still remained in the game. Frink's eyes scanned the list quickly. As he reached the bottom he let out a huge gasp and stepped back from the group. Tim walked over concerned about this odd behavior.
"What's wrong? You just lost all your color." Asked Tim as he watched Frink get all jittery.
"Owen's on the list. Cripes I didn't even know he was here!"
"He must have signed up after you. But hey don't worry, there's still a chance he might lose. Or you could lose to the next kid and not face him." Frink frowned at his friend when he heard that.
"Sorry. I'm just trying to help. Hey here's something good. He's competing in the other set. You won't have to face him at all, and surely some other kid in that group's got to be able to beat him out."
"You're right. I need to relax."
"Don't worry besides you're smarter than him." Added Tim.
"You wouldn't think so from my experiment record." Said Frink still unsure of himself.
"So you've accidentally blown up a few things. It happens to everyone."
"A few? Everyone?"
"Look let's just enjoy the break then worry about it. Come on, we can get some snacks over there." Said Tim as he headed of to the concession stand. Frink smiled and followed him.

The final rounds began. The questions got steadily more difficult, yet Frink held his ground against the other competitors. Lucky for him, the last set of questions was in chemistry and he easily defeated the top student from Blue Hills High. The audience clapped loudly and Frink couldn't believe he was the winner of his section. This meant there were only two students left and he was one of them.
"Oh my gosh! That was great Frink!! I can't believe it, you floored him."
"I got lucky, the questions were about chemistry." He said modestly.
"Luck? I don't think so. Come on let's find out who won from the other sector."
The two boys walked down the hall to the other auditorium. The doors were shut as the contest was still going on. They along with everyone else had to wait outside, for to open the doors now would disturb the contestants. The wait wasn't long and soon they heard similar cheers and clapping that had occurred when Frink had won. The doors open and the crowd poured out. The two boys pushed their way through but when they finally made it into the auditorium the contestants had already left the stage. Their curiosity was soon answered as the sound system cracked on and the voice of the announcer was heard throughout the building.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to announce the two finalists in our Science Trivia tournament. The winner from Section 1 is Jonathan Frink."
A cheer rose from the crowd of intellectuals.
"The winner," Continued the announcer. "From Section 2 is Owen Marsh. Please join us in an hour in the main hall for the final competition to determine our Science Trivia champion.
Frink's heart sank. He just stood with his mouth agape staring at nothing.
In an adjacent room Owen stood in a similar fashion though his expression swiftly melded into anger.
"What? That freak made it this far? There's no way he's beating me. He's smart I have to give him that, but he's easily unnerved. I think I have the one up on little Frinky this time." He said with a devious smile.
Frink sat on a bench slouched down with his head leaning on the wall. His arms were out to his sides, palms up and he sat limp.
"Frink what are you doing? Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Asked Tim.
"I can't go out there."
"Why not?"
"I can't beat Owen. I should have known he'd make it to the top."
"You never know until you try. You've beaten everyone else, why stop now? You've been preparing for this for months, you can't just quit cold turkey at the last second. Come on! This is your chance to show up that jerk." Said Tim sternly. He saw the trace of a simile on Frink's face. Deep down, he knew he'd like to see his rival lose.
"Perhaps you're right, Tim." He said as he stood up. The two headed down the hallway and as they rounded a corner they came face to face with Owen.
"Ah! Hi ya, Owen." Said Frink nervously. Tim just gave the blond kid a nasty stare. "Congratulations on taking Section 2." Continued Frink.
Owen said nothing and just eyed Frink for a moment with a cold hard look. He pushed the glasses back up on his face and said, "Thank you, what did you expect. Oh I am truly surprised you even made it this far, Frinky. I hope you studied hard, because you don't stand a chance. I'm gonna mop the floor with you." He then shoved Frink to one side and continued on his way.
"Ahhh! I'm doomed, goh hay din hay. That wasn't very nice."
"No it wasn't." said Tim angered. "He probably cheated the whole way though. Don't listen to him. You wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't any good."
A bell chimed announcing the start of the tournament.
"Well I guess this is it." Said Frink as he made his way back stage.
"Good luck. I'll be cheering for ya." Said Tim as he went to find a seat.

Frink walked on stage and took his place behind the podium. Owen walked up to his from the opposite side with a confident look on his face. Not long after, the announcer walked out onto center stage.
"Now, then. I'll take turns asking you upper level questions form the different fields in the sciences. The one with the most points at the end wins. I shall begin with you Owen." He turned toward the blond boy, and read the question from the card he had in his hand.
"From Chemistry. In an alkene the H-C-H bond angles are closest to what?"
"That's upper level?" said Owen. "The angels are close to 120 degrees."
The announcer looked at his notes a moment then said, "That is correct. Ok, John. From Microbiology. When conducting an acid fast stain _____ is used as the primary stain which may be decolorized via application of _____?"
Frink breathed a sigh of relief. This wasn't so bad after all.
"Carbolfushin and Acid-alcohol wah hey."
"Very good. Owen. From Cell Biology. Enzymes that catalyze the addition of deoxyribonucleotides are termed what?"
"DNA Polimerase." Responded Owen calmly as he looked at his nails.
"Yes. Alright. John. From Chemistry. What are Enantiomers?"
"Two structures, having the same molecular formula, glayvin, same connectivity, mirror image of each other and are nonsuperimposable, um hey."
"Correct. Owen. From Genetics. What is the difference between a Transition and a Transverstion?"
"Transistion is a substitution between a pyrimadine and another pyrimadine, while a Transvertion is the substitution for a pyrimadine for a purine or vice versa."
"Yes. John, from taxonomy. In Class Aves, Order Cuculiformes what Family has only one genus and one species?"
Lucky for Frink he'd seen a documentary on this species not too long ago so he knew this one. Had he not, then he would have been in trouble.
"Family Opisthocomidae."
The announcer looked at him surprised. No one had ever gotten that one correct. This went on for several questions and they seemed to be getting nowhere.
"Well boys." Said the announcer. "It seems you two are pretty much evenly matched. So to break the little stalemate we've got here we are going into our timed Elimination Round."
"Timed?!" blurted out Frink nervously. A huge smirk crept across Owen's face. This was just the break he had hoped for.
"Yes timed." Continued the announcer. "You will have only a few seconds to answer the question." The student that can answer the question correctly first or with the most correct answers will win. First question. From Geology. John please list the ages of the late Cretaceous starting form oldest to most recent."
Frink knew these! He just had to relax and say what they were.
"Cenomonian, goh hay, Turonian, glavyvin….Coniacian…"
Owen listen as Frink rattled them off, he smiled because now he knew Coniacian. He always forgot that one.
"Oh I'm sorry but time's up John." Interrupted the announcer.
"What? No, I'm not done, um hay din go hay din. I know this."
"Sorry but time's up. Owen please tell us the ages including the last ones."
"No problem. Cenomonian, Turonian, Coniacian, Stantonian, Campanian and Masstrichtian." He said smugly.
"That is correct. John, from anatomy. What are the five subdivisions of the brain?"
He was now sweating bullets. How could this happen? Good at least he knew this one too, but could he get out the answers in time.
"Telencephalon, um blay hum hey, dienenchephalon, uh hey geh hoy, mesen…."
"Time. Owen please answer the question."
"Telenchephalon, dienenchephalon, mesencephalon, metencephalon and myelencephalon."
"That is correct."
Frink was shaking now. He would never close the huge gap that had formed between him an Owen. What was happening? He knew these. It was like he would start them and Owen would finish them for him. It wasn't fair and the further on they went the more he freaked until he couldn't answer at all. It was over. Owen finished off the last question and took first place. The crowd cheered and clapped, as the lights shone bright on the first and second place winners. To Frink it felt like he'd been tossed into a dark room where everyone was taunting him. They were handed their trophies and had their pictures taken before the on lookers. Owen stepped down from his podium and walked over to Frink who was just staring at his feet.
"Hey though break Frinky. Perhaps if you had studied you would have known what the answers were." He said in a mocking voice. Clearly angered by this Frink yelled at him,
"But I DID know them!"
"Oh really?" Said Owen reveling in his anger. "Well that's too bad. Then perhaps if you didn't have that speech impediment, then you could have done better."
"Speech impediment?"
"See you later, second best." Said Owen with a laugh and he walked off stage. Frink stood there holding the smaller trophy. Mr. Hoffman's words from English class now came back to haunt him. "You will find yourself in a situation where you will need good English skills." He had been right. If it hadn't been for that, Frink would have won, and he had no one to blame but himself. There was nothing he could do about it though. This was part of who he was and he had long ago accepted it. Yet Frink promised he'd never put himself in a situation like this ever again.

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