10 A Science Spell

CHAPTER TEN A SCIENCE SPELL Liquid (noun). The molecules are waving their arms and sidestepping because they have more space than they do when they're a solid. Like the difference between chocolate milk and brownies, sort of. IT WAS MY FAULT. I hadn't tightened the cap on the bottle of glue in Mom's bag. I had checked, and it had been loose. Now I had to deal with a sticky mess. In the family room after play rehearsal, Liam and I watched Dr. Caroline. Normally, I love Dr. Caroline. Normally, I binge-watch it. But today, my mind was completely stuck on the globs of glue wedged inside Mom's bag. To make things worse, Mom clanked around the kitchen, scrubbing the sink. Which meant she was stressed. Which meant I had to wait until she was gone before digging under the sink to find something to

clean her bag. "Look! Dr. Caroline is doing something dangerous," cried Liam, waving at a tub of boiling liquid nitrogen on the computer screen. This was one of my favorite experiments. Basically, Dr. Caroline dunked balloon animals into chilly liquid nitrogen. Actually, super-freezing—as in four times colder than the North Pole in the middle of a blizzard. "Will she get hurt?" asked Liam, a little too enthusiastically. "Don't worry. She's got extra-special gloves. Plus, she's wearing goggles and a lab coat." In the kitchen, Mom rinsed out all of the soap in the sink. Hopefully, she would scoot into her office really soon. "Hey, Dr. Caroline's doing a spell!" said Liam, fixing his eyes on the computer screen. The balloon animals shriveled like raisins when they hit the sizzling liquid nitrogen. When Dr. Caroline scooped them out of the tub, they blew back up again. "It looks like magic, but it's just science." Charles' Law to be specific. As the temperature dropped, the volume went down, causing the balloons to shrink. As temperature rose, the volume increased, causing the balloons to plump back up again.

Mom stopped running the water. "Kids," she called out, glancing down at her phone. "Good news. I just found out that the school's a finalist for that community grant I applied for." "Yay!" cried out Liam. "I knew it!" I said. Humming happily, Mom polished the sink with a soft dry cloth. "They're going to interview me tomorrow. I want to bring in those scrapbooks showing off the school garden. The grant committee can visualize our farm-to-table lunch program." "Our school's turning into a farm?" asked Liam, bouncing off the couch. "Well, sort of." Mom folded up the cloth. "Kids can harvest veggies. In the fall, the plan is to eat lunch from the garden once a week. That is, if we win the grant." "I want to be a harvest kid," exclaimed Liam.

"You can!" Mom hung her gloves under the sink. "Kate, you know that leather backpack you borrowed? I'd like it back for the meeting tomorrow. It'd be perfect to load up with the scrapbooks." "Sure," I said, hoping my warm face wasn't giving away my inner panic. What should I do? Tell her the truth? Her happiness would shrivel up faster than the liquid nitrogen balloon. Plus, she would think I was irresponsible. "Um, it's in my room. The bag, I mean. I'll get it for you in a sec." My throat swelled with worry. Normally, my mom thought I was pretty responsible, which is why she let me do lots of stuff on my own. But after last week's glass bowl explosion in the kitchen and now the glue in the backpack, I wasn't so sure. Maybe she would tell Mrs. Hansberry I shouldn't be the assistant director. Then I couldn't be with Birdie or Elijah. "I'm sorry to snatch that bag back." Mom strolled over to the couch. "I feel terrible." "Oh, don't. Seriously." I rubbed my chin. "But... maybe you could use a more official- looking bag. Like a briefcase?" "Hmmm. I thought about that, but it'd look too corporate. Like the school doesn't need the money. A nice backpack is perfect."

Actually, her backpack was the opposite of perfect right now. "Thanks, honey." Mom kissed my forehead and then Liam's cheek. "You guys are the best—just sitting there watching a science show." She clasped her hands, beaming down at us. "How did I ever get so lucky?" I opened my mouth to tell her that she didn't get that lucky, but my lips stuck together as if they'd been glued. As soon as Mom left, I barreled into the kitchen. "Hey," said Liam. "Can we do that Dr. Caroline spearmint together?" "It's called an experiment. And no, it's too dangerous without a grown-up around and the proper gear. But I have another experiment, and it's called cleaning. Want to try?" "No way!" That's exactly what I thought, and what I was counting on.