15 Liam’s Comet

CHAPTER FIFTEEN LIAM'S COMET Occlusion (noun). In chemistry, this is what forms when you have one molecule within another. For example, that means you could find an impurity trapped inside a crystal. Guess you could no longer say it was crystal clear! ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES LATER, the doorbell rang with the arrival of the first guest, a girl who was dressed like an astronaut. She looked awesome and carried a huge gift that Liam guessed was a spaceship model or a mini drum set. A steady flow of kids arrived, and the house grew louder and louder. Liam handed out alien antennae with silver Styrofoam balls for all of the kids to wear. I still hadn't heard from Birdie. Soon, Mom had me helping with pin-the-tail-on-the-comet. I plonked some antennae on my head and then told the kids to line up. Naturally, I had the birthday boy go first. He placed the comet's streaky yellow tail all the way by the light switch. Then Desmond pinned the tail on our lamp. Another ended up on my elbow.

Spinning the kids and watching them dizzily trying to place the tail in the right place kept me distracted in a good kind of way. I explained that comets are made of rock, dust, ice, and gases. "Does that mean that comets fart?" asked one boy with two missing front teeth. "Well, they have plenty of sulfur," I said, plugging my nose. "So they're probably stinky." The kids starting giggling. I was actually having fun, so when my watch alarm went off, I was surprised. It was time to get to the rocket launch. And it looked like it would be without Birdie. I tried to ignore a sinking feeling in my stomach. "My boots!" I cried aloud. I wanted to wear my pink cowboy boots. Rummaging through my closet, I couldn't find them anywhere. After letting out a huff of frustration, I dove into my closet, throwing shoes, pushing past pants. Oh, my boots were on a shelf. I slipped them on and instantly felt a little better. Downstairs, I scooped up my bottle rocket and put on my winter coat. Then I grabbed our wagon from the garage, carefully placed my rocket on it, and called out,

"Goodbye!" Of course, the house was noisy with birthday guests, so nobody could hear me. As fast as I could pull the wagon, I tore off down the street. Glancing at my watch, I saw that I was supposed to be on the field in ten minutes. If I jogged, I could make it there in time. As I raced past our mailbox, with Liam's planet balloons, our elderly neighbor, Mrs. Schlesinger, was out getting the mail. "How's the party going?" she asked. "Good!" I said, jogging down the sidewalk. "Aren't you going in the wrong direction?" she asked. "Yes!" I called out. "But I'll be right back. I'm going to the school." "Be careful," she called out. "It's icy!" "I will," I said. Casting my eyes down, I scanned for black ice. Black ice forms on the surface of roads. And because it's transparent, it looks just like the road, only shinier. I read about how it has no trapped air bubbles, or occlusions. That's the science word for trapped bubbles in ice. Snow that's melting can get onto the sidewalks and become black ice when it refreezes. And then you can really slip. I know this because I have done it like a thousand times.

And because my parents warn me about it every time I go outside. With an eye out for black ice and giant cracks in the sidewalk, I ran as fast as I could. Looking at my watch, I could see that the club was going to start Operation Rocket Launch in five minutes. I jogged faster. Looking both ways, I crossed Brooke Avenue and made my way to the school, the red wagon clonking behind me. Finally, I made it to the field with three minutes to spare. I spotted my friends: Elijah, Phoenix, Avery, Tala, and Memito. Even Jeremy. Plus, Skyler and Julia as well as a bunch of fourth graders. But no Birdie. What happened to her and where was she?