6 Kitchen Chemistry

CHAPTER SIX KITCHEN CHEMISTRY Thermal shock (noun). When a rapid temperature change stresses a material and causes cracks. It's like when you pop out at someone and surprise them, and they totally lose it. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE?" Wide-eyed, Mom peered around the kitchen. "Nothing," I said, desperately picking up chocolate-covered glass chips with a cloth towel. "That's glass," observed Mom. "Maybe a little," I squeaked. "We were making you brownies. Really fudgy kind. For dessert tonight." "Oh, honey, you'll have to make sure there's no glass left anywhere. Liam's always running barefoot. Get the broom out of the closet. And the dustpan. And make sure to—" "Wear gloves. I know, Mom. It was a total accident." "I can see." She studied the chocolate spread all over the stove.

热休克（名词）。 当温度急剧变化对材料产生压力并引起裂缝时。 就像你突然出现在某人面前，给他们一个惊喜，然后他们就完全失控了。 “刚才发生了什么事？”妈妈睁大眼睛打量着厨房。 “没什么，”我说，一边绝望地用毛巾捡起沾有巧克力的玻璃碎片。 “那是玻璃，”妈妈说。 “也许有一点。”我尖声说。 “我们在给你做巧克力蛋糕。 很黏糊糊的那种。今晚的甜点。” “哦，亲爱的，你得确保没有杯子落在任何地方。 利亚姆总是光脚跑步。 把扫帚从壁橱里拿出来。 还有簸箕。一定要——”“戴上手套。 我知道，妈妈。这完全是个意外。” “我看得见。”她仔细研究了铺在炉子上的巧克力。

I couldn't believe we just messed up like that. Right after wanting to do something nice for Mom. It made me think of entropy, the degree in which molecules can get dispersed. And right now, there was a whole bunch of entropy in this kitchen. Our dog, Dribble, bounded over to the oven, sniffing. He loved entropy. "Down, Dribble," scolded Birdie. "You can't have any. Chocolate is bad for dogs." "I really appreciate you girls making dessert," said Mom. "But why did you have the glass bowl over boiling water? Not smart." The truth? I just wasn't thinking. But I didn't want to admit that to Mom. Not now. It probably wasn't the ideal time, but maybe I could distract her from the broken glass with Birdie's idea about chemistry camp. "Um, well, it was more than just brownie making," I said. "It was part of an experiment. And speaking of experiments, during fall break, since Ms. Daly won't be around..." As I continued to talk, Birdie kept on giving me this look, like be quiet. Only I couldn't be quiet. Once I started talking about chemistry, I couldn't stop, and plus, I was nervous about making Mom mad. "We thought I'd be the perfect person to lead a chemistry camp instead. We could make magnetic slime. And do vinegar and baking soda explosions.

真不敢相信我们就这样搞砸了。 就在我想为妈妈做点好事之后。 这让我想到了熵，分子分散的程度。 现在，厨房里有一大堆的熵。 我们的狗，Dribble，蹦蹦跳跳地跑到烤箱旁，嗅了嗅。 他喜欢熵。“下来，运球。”小鸟责备道。 “你不能吃。巧克力对狗有害。” “我真的很感激你们做的甜点，”妈妈说。 “可是你为什么把玻璃碗放在开水上面呢？” 不聪明。”真相?我只是没多想。 但我不想向妈妈承认。 不是现在。也许时机不太合适，但也许我可以用伯迪关于化学夏令营的想法转移她对碎玻璃的注意力。 “嗯，好吧，这不仅仅是做巧克力蛋糕，”我说。 “这是实验的一部分。 说到实验，在秋假期间，自从。 戴利不会在这儿……”当我继续讲下去的时候，伯蒂一直这样看着我，好像很安静。 只是我不能安静。一旦我开始谈论化学，我就停不下来，而且，我很担心会惹妈妈生气。 “我们认为我是领导化学夏令营的最佳人选。 我们可以做磁性黏液。 把醋和小苏打炸开。

Nothing would be dangerous. All of it would be fun." "I'm sure it'd be fun." Mom eyed the gloppy bubbly chocolate and shards of glass still left near the burner. "But no." I moaned. "C'mon, Mom. There's nothing else that both Birdie and I like to do—Elijah, too. And we want to spend fall break together." "I guess you'll just have to think of something else." She opened the fridge to grab a bottle of ginger kombucha, a fizzy drink that's supposed to be good for your health, unlike soda. "Hey, could I borrow a kombucha?" I asked. "It's fermented. It'd be great for an experiment." "It's my last one. You'll have to find something else, Kate." Mom glanced at the clock on the microwave. "My deadline awaits. Good luck, girls. Make sure you get all the chocolate off the stove, too." My mom was used to my messes—at least she knew I was a good cleaner-upper. After Mom went back into the office, Birdie sighed. "That didn't go so well. Don't worry, Kate. We can still make brownies and figure out what do during break. What about doing drama camp?"

没有什么是危险的。 一切都会很有趣。”“我肯定会很有趣的。” 妈妈看着黏糊糊的巧克力和还留在炉边的玻璃碎片。 “但没有。”我抱怨道。“来吧,妈妈。 没有什么是我和伯蒂都喜欢做的了，还有以利亚。 我们想一起度过秋季假期。” “我想你得想想别的办法了。” 她打开冰箱拿了一瓶姜汁康普茶，这是一种碳酸饮料，与苏打水不同，它被认为对你的健康有益。 “嘿，能借我一杯康普茶吗？”我问。 “这是发酵。这是一个很棒的实验。” “这是我最后一次了。你得找别的工作了，凯特。” 妈妈瞥了一眼微波炉上的时钟。 “我的最后期限还在等着。祝你们好运，姑娘们。 一定要把炉子上的巧克力都拿掉。” 我妈妈已经习惯了我的脏乱——至少她知道我是个很好的清洁工。 妈妈回到办公室后，小鸟叹了口气。 “事情进展得不太顺利。别担心，凯特。 我们还是可以做布朗尼，想想休息的时候做什么。 参加戏剧夏令营怎么样？”

I pictured my face full of stage makeup, hot lights burning on my cheeks all while I had to figure out how to spin in the same direction as everyone else. "I'm just not good at being onstage like that." "But you were great breathing fire! And theater camp is going to be Dragons vs. Unicorns, a short one-act musical. Mrs. Hansberry wrote it, and it'll be performed for the first time ever at the end of fall break. Unicorns. Honestly. Can it get any better? If you're a dragon, maybe you could even breathe fire." I thought about that for a moment. "One teensy problem," I said. "I'm not really good at singing or acting... and especially not dancing." I bent over to pick up the dustpan I was using and dumped the glass into the trash can. "Let's hear you sing, 'Happy Birthday,'" Birdie said as she got a sponge to clean up some spattered chocolate. I stopped by the sink and belted it out. My voice came out screechy and awful. "Okay." Birdie plugged her ears. "You're right. Maybe you're not the best singer. What if you just mouthed the words?" I sighed. "Elijah's coming over after dinner. Maybe he'll have some other fall break camp ideas."

我想象着自己化妆的脸，炙热的灯光照在我的脸颊上，而我必须弄清楚如何和其他人一样旋转。 “我只是不擅长那样在舞台上表演。” “但你是伟大的喷火！”戏剧夏令营将会是龙队对。 独角兽，一部独幕剧。 这是汉斯伯里夫人写的，它将在秋季假期结束时首次演出。 独角兽。诚实。还能再好点吗? 如果你是一条龙，也许你甚至可以喷火。” 我想了一会儿。 “一个小问题，”我说。 “我不太擅长唱歌或表演…… 尤其是不要跳舞。” 我弯腰捡起我正在用的簸箕，把玻璃杯倒进了垃圾桶。 “让我们听听你唱‘生日快乐’吧，”伯蒂一边说，一边拿起一块海绵来清理溅出的巧克力。 我在水池边停下，用皮带把水舀出来。 我的声音又尖又可怕。 “好吧。”小鸟塞住了耳朵。 “你是对的。也许你不是最好的歌手。 如果你只是口口相传呢？”我叹了口气。 “以利亚晚饭后会过来。 也许他会有其他秋季夏令营的想法。”

"It'll be okay," Birdie said, patting my shoulder. "The important thing is we're going to get to spend a whole five days together. We'll figure out something." I hoped she was right.

“没事的，”小鸟拍拍我的肩膀说。 “重要的是，我们将在一起度过整整五天。 我们会想出办法的。” 我希望她是对的。