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.

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.

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?"

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."

"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.