17 Seeking Solutions

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Seeking Solutions Erlenmeyer flask (noun). A container with slanted sides and a narrow neck named after the chemist Emil Erlenmeyer. Since they're often made of special material that doesn't break under heat, you could easily make hot chocolate in one over the stove. IT WAS WEDNESDAY, and a day had passed since Birdie had figured out how to solve the mystery. Now there were more and more volunteer parents helping out in the classroom because STEM Night was just two days away. How could we find an opportunity to test our samples without getting caught? It seemed impossible. Inside the classroom, my eyes scanned the poems on the bulletin board for the hundredth time. Specifically, the poems in blue written by the suspects: Avery, Jeremy, Elijah, and Rory. "Is everything okay, Kate?" asked Mrs. Eberlin.

"Yes, it's fine. I'm just thinking." "About your STEM project, I bet." "I was." Although more about how to catch a culprit messing up my project. "Well, I was glad to see that your squashed strawberry got fixed," she said. "Luckily"—she glanced up at the clock—it's lunchtime. If you want to get in some extra minutes for your project, you can eat your lunch in the lab. Ms. Daly will be there." Normally, I would jump at that offer. But for the first time ever, I didn't want to go to the lab. Instead, I wanted to stay behind and test the ink. But for now, that didn't seem like it was going to happen. Mrs. Eberlin usually ate her lunch at her desk. So I left the room to meet Birdie in the cafeteria. After I gobbled down my ham sandwich, I headed to the lab with Birdie to work on finishing up my poster. I had all of my materials. And my explanation on how my Rube Goldberg machine worked was almost done. I was proud of the fact that my demonstration would touch on engineering, physics, earth science, geology, botany, and, of course, chemistry. Six sciences total. "Your strawberry makes the machine seem extra yummy," I said.

"I think Dr. Caroline will love it," said Birdie. "She's going to love yours too." "Maybe." Birdie sighed. "But the tissue paper keeps tearing. It's not going to look good." "Why don't you use a coffee filter instead?" I pulled out a bunch of filters from my bag. "I tried it out for my Rube Goldberg machine and it was too strong when it got wet. The little arm wouldn't pop up to hit the calculator. But it would be perfect for you. Filters are pretty tough." I pulled on one to demonstrate. Birdie's eyes brightened. "That's a great idea, Kate. Thanks so much." "No, thank you," I said. "No, thank you." And then we got into a huge thank-you contest and burst out laughing. That's when Memito and Jeremy strolled into the lab. Memito stopped in front of my poster. "Hey, what are you laughing about?" he asked. Birdie and I looked at each other. "You sort of had to be there," I said, grabbing the strawberry. "Hey, that looks so real." He patted his stomach. "Luckily, I just ate my lunch. Otherwise, I'd be hungry."

"Luckily, your project happens to be fruit leather," said Birdie. Memito smacked his lips. "On STEM Night, a taste of my delicious fruit leather will make people hungry for more. You better hope nobody tries to eat that strawberry." Or smashes it, I thought. But I didn't say anything. "Kate shouldn't even be allowed to use that." Jeremy pointed to my calculator. "Because it's a teacher's." "That's ridiculous," I said. "What about your project? You borrowed flasks from the classroom." "That's different." Jeremy folded his arms. "Those are classroom ones for the science lab. Yours is Ms. Daly's personal calculator." From halfway across the room, Avery pressed her lips together. Today, they were peach colored. "I saw the calculator come off of Ms. Daly's desk too," she said. "Yes, but a calculator is for educational purposes." I studied the flasks. "I don't see the difference between your flasks and my calculator. They're both being borrowed. Anyway, the point is —I made two actual batteries with lemons!" Avery waved her little tin of lip gloss. "So far my peach gloss has stayed on for forty-two minutes,

just as long as the store-bought one. Can't wait to see how much longer it lasts. But either way, it looks great." Phoenix smiled at Avery. "It really does." "And it isn't made of bad chemicals." Avery smacked her lips. "I think I'm going to win because Dr. Caroline and Mrs. Eberlin both wear lipstick." "Ms. Daly doesn't," I pointed out. "Anyway, lip gloss and lipstick aren't the same." Avery shrugged. "I'm sure the other judges will outvote Ms. Daly." She tilted her neck as if someone were taking a photo of her. "I'm going to use the prize to get new curtains for the theater." She looked at me expectantly. "What will you do if you win?" She said it like I couldn't possibly come up with anything good. "Maybe we should upgrade the science lab?" I realized that my voice lifted in a question. I was still unsure. And that really bugged me. "Are you saying our lab isn't good enough?" asked Avery, loud enough for Ms. Daly, who was in the back of the classroom organizing equipment for STEM Night, to hear. "I didn't mean it like that." I could feel my cheeks turning pink. I felt bad about even the possibility of hurting Ms. Daly.

And then it hit me. Avery sounded really upset. Could she be the one who was sabotaging my stuff?