1 Getting Spooked

Kater THE CHEMIST THE GREAT ESCAPE DR. KATE BIBERDORF WITH HILLARY HOMZIE

CHAPTER ONE Getting Spooked Beaker (noun). A glass piece of equipment used to hold chemicals. It's used to store and pour things and is heat, cold, and crack resistant. It's made from a super-strong type of glass, almost like a superhero glass. "WHO'S READY TO UNLEASH some ghosts?" asked Ms. Daly. "I am!" My feet bounced, along with my ponytail. And every atom in my body. We weren't going to release real ghosts though. Actual spooky stuff scares me. Instead, we were going to create ghosts in our science lab at school. Ms. Daly stood in the front of the class in her blue lab coat, safety goggles around her neck. "Don't forget to put on your gloves," she said. "This might be a competition, but safety comes first." Ms. Daly was teaching a special week of science classes for our Fall

Science Challenge. She's a retired air force flight engineer. Normally, she's in charge of the after-school chemistry club, which I never ever miss, but this week she was there during the school day, too. "It's show time!" Ms. Daly pulled on her goggles, adjusting the strap around her short silver hair. Plucking a stopwatch out of her pocket, she peered out at the nine of us. Basically half of my fifth-grade class. While we were doing the Fall Science Challenge, the other half of my class was drumming with Mr. Graham. It would be our turn to drum tomorrow. "Okay, in your places," said Ms. Daly. "We're going to start in three minutes. All the materials are right here." She pointed to a rectangular table next to her filled with things like plastic soda bottles, food coloring, baking soda, and lemons. Thrusting my chin forward, I checked out the supplies and wondered what to expect. I had to be prepared for anything. The Ghost was our first challenge, followed by something called Moon Rocks, and then Neon Brains. "Jeremy's team already has their bottle," called out Phoenix Altman, who was on my team. "That's definitely not fair!"

"I agree," said Julia Yoon from the table diagonally across from ours. Everyone's eyes zoomed in on Jeremy Rowe. He's hard to miss, because he's big with a purple streak in his blond hair. Arms folded, he stood next to his teammates, Memito Alvarez and Elijah Williams. The three blinked as if someone had taken a photo with a really bright flash. "Boys, I strongly suggest you put the bottle back," said Ms. Daly in a firm voice. Brushing a curl off his forehead, Jeremy said extra sweetly, "I didn't know we weren't supposed to take it yet." Sometimes he charms teachers, but luckily Ms. Daly doesn't fall for stuff like that. "Cheating makes me so mad," I said under my breath to my teammates, Birdie Bhatt and Phoenix. "I can't believe he thought he could get away with it," whispered Birdie, who happens to be my very best friend. "I can," Phoenix said, fiddling with the macramé bracelet on her wrist. "Jeremy makes up his own rules." Smoothing her tie-dye shirt, she sighed dramatically. "Boys," said Ms. Daly. "If you don't put back what you took, your grade will suffer." Memito smacked the bottle into Jeremy's hand. "Dude, hurry," Memito whispered with a

worried frown. But Jeremy just strolled back toward the equipment table. Meanwhile, his teammate Elijah peered up at a poster about molecules. He's my other best friend, and I know he'd never purposefully cheat. "Mr. Rowe, you're moving slower than pond water." Ms. Daly waved her glove-covered hand. "You wouldn't want to be the cause of your team being disqualified from winning the prize, would you?" All at once, Jeremy zipped across the floor. Then he banged down the bottle. "That prize is going to be ours," he announced all matter-of-factly. "Sorry, but FYI, that's going to be our team," said Julia, crossing her arms. She is student council president and knows a thing or two about winning. She flicked her eyes knowingly at her teammates, Avery Cooper and Skyler Rumsky, the tallest and also quietest boy in the fifth grade. "Actually, it's going to be us." I curled my arms around Birdie and Phoenix. I really wanted our team to win the prize—the chance to do the Vomiting Pumpkin demo at the Fall Festival this weekend. This year is our last Fall Festival at

Franklin, since we'll be in middle school next year. So it's got to be epic. And yes, the demo is as cool and disgusting as it sounds. Green foaming goop oozes out of a jacko'- lantern's mouth. I've seen Dr. Caroline, my favorite chemist, do it on YouTube. I hoped that the Ghost we were about to make for the Fall Science Challenge would be just as awesome. I had been looking forward to the Science Challenge for weeks. All right, months. It was a tradition at Rosalind Franklin Elementary School. It came right before the Fall Festival, so in my opinion, it was the very best time of the year. Why? Well, some kids are into stuffed animal collections. Others are into certain video games. Or art, like my BFF Birdie. I—Kate Crawford—am all about science, especially chemistry. I was so ready to start that my mouth watered. You see, I wasn't just ready to start the Science Challenge. I was ready to win it.