16 Blastoff!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN BLASTOFF! Thermal energy (noun). This is energy in the form of heat. Basically, when the temperature rises, atoms move faster and bump into each other more frequently. Think of it like a fun game of bumper cars! I PARKED THE WAGON ON THE SIDEWALK, scooped up my rocket, and raced to where everyone congregated on the field. Well, everyone except my best friend. I tried to push away my worried thoughts. I had made it to the launch just in time. Ms. Daly, who stood with her back to the gym, held up her watch. She was bundled up in a puffy down jacket. "Glad you could make it, Kate," she said. "Thanks," I said, breathless, as I set my rocket down next to Tala and Elijah. The tips of the grass were frosted. And I could see my breath in the air.

"It's so cold," said Elijah, squeezing his hands. "And I forgot to bring gloves." "It's freezing," said Phoenix. "I have an extra pair in my truck. I'll go get them," said Ms. Daly, and she ran off. "We need to make some thermal energy," I said. "Like this!" Then I started doing jumping jacks. Tala and Elijah joined me. "Hey, this is helping," said Elijah. Soon everyone in the club was doing jumping jacks. "Where's Birdie?" he asked. "I don't know," I admitted. "Is something wrong?" He looked concerned. "I mean, between you guys?" "No," I said. At least, from my point of view, nothing was wrong. Except that I was worried. "I really don't want to talk about it," I snapped. "Okay, sorry," said Elijah, and I immediately felt bad for being grumpy. But I couldn't help it. Because most of all I hoped that Birdie was okay. But if she wasn't okay, she would let me know. Eventually. I swallowed hard. Maybe a family thing came up? She has a huge extended family and they get together a lot since a bunch of them live in Michigan. Maybe one of her cousins had another baby or something and she forgot to tell me.

Ms. Daly returned with the extra pair of gloves and handed them to Elijah, who told her he actually wasn't cold anymore. "Because of thermal energy." "Me neither," I said, breathless. "Yay!" said Tala, and she started to shake, shimmy, and do her happy dance. We all joined in, including Ms. Daly. When we were all toasty, Ms. Daly said it was launch time. "Pilots often talk to their planes before a flight," said Ms. Daly, who sometimes told us stories of her days in the air force. "They'll speak aloud to their planes and say things like "Take care of me." So before you launch, I'd like everyone to talk to their rockets." Some of the kids started to giggle. I tried to smile, too. "Hey, it's a tradition," said Ms. Daly. "I'd advise that you say something nice." "You better go higher than Memito's rocket," said Elijah to his rocket. "And Jeremy's." "You better go to the moon," said Memito to his rocket. "You better prepare to lose the race," said Jeremy to his rocket. I felt too upset to say anything to my rocket, so I sort of petted it like it was Dribble. "Some pilots won't point at the sky because they believe it will cause bad weather," said Ms. Daly. "But

we all know that bad weather is caused by a low-pressure system." Phew. I was secretly glad that Ms. Daly didn't believe in superstitious stuff like that. "But I've seen pilots give a big ole hug to the nose of their plane," she continued. "So feel free to give your nose a little hug, too." She grinned. "Nose?" asked Memito. I pointed to the cone of the rocket. "This is the nose." "Oh, right! I forgot." Memito shook his head. "I'm not hugging it or kissing it," he said. "No way!" Meanwhile Avery and Phoenix were hugging their noses. I looked to see if Birdie had finally made it to the field. But I didn't see her anywhere. Maybe her cousin really did have a baby? "Does everyone have their cork with them?" asked Tala, who had popped up to stand next to Ms. Daly. "Because you need something to seal your bottle." She held up a cork. "Does anyone need a new cork?" Julia raised her hand. "There you go." Ms. Daly handed her an extra cork. "Now remember, if the cork is too loose, it will fall out. Shake, shake, shake your bottle to test to see if it will stay in."

Julia shook and the cork tumbled out. Her face fell. "Oooops," she said. "That's okay," said Ms. Daly. "We can fix it. With a bit of tape, you can wrap it around the cork until it's a bit bigger, and then you'll get a nice and tight fit. And you'll be ready to launch. I've got some extra tape in my car. I'll go and get it." "Thanks," called out Julia. "That would be great." "Tala can help you while I get the tape," said Ms. Daly, who started to dash back to the parking lot. Tala gave a thumbs-up. "Let me know if you need any assistance getting set up." For a moment, I felt just a tiny bit jealous. Ugh. My emotions were all over the place today. Usually I'm the one who gets to explain things in chemistry club. But really, I was mostly glad for Tala. After all, it was cool how much she knew about rockets. And as the new girl, she was really fitting in super quick. Almost as if she could read my mind, she called my name. "Kate, can you help me explain a little bit about the chemistry of these rockets?" "Absolutely!" I zipped over to Tala. "So here's the deal with our rocket 'fuel.'" I pointed to the plastic bottles of white vinegar on a card table. "You've got the acetic acid, what we call vinegar, over there and you need to pour it into your bottle. Then we add the sodium bicarbonate—the baking soda. When vinegar and baking

soda mix together, you get a chemical reaction and it produces carbon dioxide. You'll know your rocket is working when you start to see some fizzing." Tala clapped her hands. "Thanks, Kate. Once you've filled up your bottle halfway with vinegar, you're going to drop in your toilet-paper packet of baking soda, put in the cork, and then move away from the rocket fast. I'm going to demonstrate first with my bottle rocket. And then you all can do it, too." She pointed to the jugs of vinegar. "Everyone, if you haven't already, fill up your rocket with acetic acid." Along with other kids, I raced over and filled up my rocket. "Got your fuel pack?" asked Tala. "Yes," kids chorused, pulling the packets out of their pockets. Ms. Daly waved at us as she emerged from the parking lot with the tape. She soon handed it to Julia, who looked grateful. "Yay!" I said, trying my best to be cheerful. "I'm glad you're not going to miss out on the big launch." "Thanks," she said Opening up the cap, Tala squeezed in her packet, added the cork, and then bolted from the rocket. I scooted away along with everyone else. "Okay, is everyone ready to start counting?" A chorus of voices, including mine, chanted, "Yes!"