3 Tickled Pink

CHAPTER THREE Tickled Pink Potassium iodide (noun). A white salt made up of crystals. It's used in photography and the medical field. It turns yellow because it reacts with the oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air. I guess then you could call it mellow yellow. THE SLIDE SHOWED A SCIENTIST in a hot pink lab coat, her arms raised in a champion salute. Her eyes shone behind pink goggles. For a moment, there was a stunned silence. I definitely recognized that lab coat. And those goggles. "Dr. Caroline!" I shrieked, popping out of my seat. Kids whispered and pointed at Dr. Caroline's picture. Others stood up and cheered. And I was cheering the loudest. Dr. Caroline is my favorite scientist on YouTube. She does all of these really cool demos. My favorite is how she makes puking pumpkins

using a solution of hydrogen peroxide and dish soap, just like we did with Ms. Daly at the Fall Festival this year. I learn something new every time I watch Dr. Caroline. With the puking pumpkins, I learned about catalysts, things that speed up a chemical reaction. In this case, the catalyst was potassium iodide. So cool! I've watched all of the episodes on her channel at least a dozen times. Okay, sometimes more. I've pretty much memorized them. I'm pretty much her number one fan. Suddenly, my mom headed back to the microphone with a really wide smile. "I have some wonderful news," she trilled. Hard to believe there could be anything more after this. "Our school has won a special community grant, which is allowing us to fly Dr. Caroline here to judge the science projects and get you guys all fired up about science," said Mom. I turned to Birdie and she turned to me. We both mouthed "no way" at the same time. "And the best part," continued Mom. "The winner of the competition will get a thousand dollars to do something special for the school. Second place will get five hundred dollars, and

third place will get two hundred and fifty dollars. So our whole school community will benefit from this grant, not just because we get to meet Dr. Caroline and have our very first STEM Night, but because three of you will get to choose a special way to make our school better for years to come!" I jumped up and down like I was on a trampoline. The clapping in the auditorium grew louder. STEM Night. A science competition AND I was going to meet Dr. Caroline live-and-in-person. Sure, I might have lost Jeremy's dumb bet. But that was okay. Because from my point of view, I had already won something much better than any bet.