8 Making Lemonade

CHAPTER EIGHT Making Lemonade Materials (noun). An exact description of what is needed for a project or experiment. It should be clear enough that someone could copy your project. Think of it like a list of the ingredients in chocolate chip cookies. You can't leave anything out (especially not the chocolate chips!). AFTER SCHOOL, I RACED TO THE FRIDGE to find more lemons. In one drawer, I dug through lettuce, carrots, and celery. In another, I found apples, pears, and even a persimmon. "Not one? Really?" Outside, the clouds sat low and gray. It was beginning to drizzle. I hoped that didn't mean soccer practice would be canceled. I so badly needed to kick a soccer ball right now. I paced in circles. Didn't Mom always have lemons around for her herbal tea? How could we be out? "I don't believe it." Liam popped into the kitchen. "What don't you believe?" "No lemons. And I need them for my science project."

"You need lemons so Norbert can do karate, right?" Liam chopped the air with his hands. "I wish." Jumping up to sit on the counter, I swung my legs side to side. "I'm sorry. But I can't use your robot. Lemon batteries don't have enough power." "Don't worry, Kate." Liam grunted and made muscles. His face turned as red as the maple tree in front of our house. "I got power for you!" "You do. Lots." I laughed. He started bouncing and spinning. And spinning some more. "Have you been eating sugar?" I asked. "Four grams," he said with a serious face. "Where did you come up with that number?" "Actually, I ate twenty hundred million grams. My friend Gracie gave me a giant marshmallow." He motioned with his hands to show me. "Oh, that explains everything." He giggled. Then he got a serious look on his face. "Can't you go shopping for lemons? Maybe you could buy a whole lemon tree?" I glanced at the clock on the microwave. "Avery's mom is picking me up in fifteen minutes. I've got soccer practice. At least, I hope I do. I'm worried the rain might make them cancel."

"Daddy and I can go shopping. He's finishing up some work in his office." Liam pointed to the kitchen doorway leading to Dad's home office. He's a psychologist. "I heard my name," said Dad, striding into the kitchen. "How was school today?" Oh boy. My dad isn't one for keeping your feelings to yourself. He encourages us to talk about pretty much everything. So I told him what happened today at school. All of it. Even the very embarrassing part. "What a great experience," he said, smiling so his mustache waggled. "Realizing you made a miscalculation and that you need to try again." "Great?" Maybe in Opposite Land. That's a land that Birdie and I made up when we were little. "All great scientists learn by what doesn't work," said Dad. "You know that." "Yeah, I guess." That's when I told him about the missing lemons. "Maybe they rolled onto the floor," suggested Dad. "Or maybe somebody was hungry for lemonade." Liam mimed drinking. "You mean thirsty." Dad ruffled Liam's hair. "What's something else you know about science?" asked Dad. "Especially conclusions?"

"You don't jump to them," I said. With a giggle, Liam jumped up onto a step stool. "Like this." "Be careful, Liam." Dad pulled off his slippers and put on his running shoes. "I have another problem." I pulled Ms. Daly's calculator out of my backpack. She said I could borrow it until STEM Night. "Powering it up doesn't seem like enough. I want to do something really cool that will impress the judges. Especially Dr. Caroline." "Maybe you can add something special?" suggested Dad. "Hot Wheels cars!" shouted Liam, making a vrooming sound. "With lots of jumps and ramps." Then he pointed to the stack of board games on our shelves. "It could crash into dominoes like in that Dr. Caroline video." "Hey, that's a very interesting idea!" And that's when I remembered something high on the shelf right above my bed. "I'll be back in a sec!"