20 Something Sweet

CHAPTER TWENTY SOMETHING SWEET Melting point (noun). This is the temperature at which a solid will melt. The melting point of chocolate is between 86°F and 90°F. Which is definitely the sweet spot. Especially when it comes to a chocolate bar melting with the gooey marshmallow on your graham cracker. THIS TIME WHEN I STROLLED along the sidewalk, even though the sky was still pink and looked like maybe it would snow, I didn't mind. Because I'd just made the best mint-flavored astronaut ice cream. And I'd finally been able to reconnect with my BFF. "I'm so glad you're coming," I said. "Me too," she said. "For a little bit, I thought maybe you didn't like me anymore because I was boring. That I didn't know anything about outer space. That maybe art wasn't cool." "Are you kidding? Did you know that the first person to ever do a spacewalk was also an artist? Tala told me about him. His name was Alexei Leonov. After his spacewalk, his pressure suit inflated and he spun uncontrollably, yet Alexei miraculously got back to the airlock safely. Then, when he was hurling back to Earth in a cramped little capsule, he created the first piece of

art in space. He tied colored pencils to a piece of string to prevent them from floating around the capsule and sketched an image of the sunrise. It looked like a rainbow curving over the world." "That's so cool," said Birdie. "Yeah," I said. "Sometimes art and science are the same thing," said Birdie. "Sometimes." I stared at the lovely pink sky. "By the way, thanks for saving me back there. I mean it. You know me so well. Remembering the astronaut ice cream was perfect. I should have thought of it, though." "That's what best friends are for," whispered Birdie. "To remember things." We walked in silence for a few minutes before Birdie exclaimed, "Look!" She pointed upward, and I could see flurries drifting from the sky. "I knew it. The pink sky." And I explained how the light changes before it snows. "Of course you would know that," said Birdie. "Sometimes we know different things," I said. She nodded. "That's a good thing." She nodded some more. When we got to Brewster's, all the kids from the chemistry club and Ms. Daly were there.

"Take a seat at a table," said Ms. Daly. "With our club treasury, I ordered everyone hot chocolates. Oh, and there's s'mores to be made." "Awesome," I said. "I'm sorry you missed the rocket launch," she said. "It was a great success." "That's okay." Then I explained how I had launched double balloon rockets at home as part of my brother's party. That's when Elijah, Memito, and Jeremy waved to us. I thought about sitting with them. But instead we slid in with Phoenix, Avery, and Tala. I wanted Tala and Birdie to have some time together. Soon enough, a waitress brought over hot chocolate. And there were already all the fixings for s'mores—graham crackers, chocolates, and marshmallows. In the middle of the stone table sat a mini firepit/Bunsen burner thing that was powered by propane. Another example of chemistry in action! As I toasted my marshmallow on a little metal stick over the flame, I nudged Tala. "Hey, I told Birdie about the Alexei guy. You know, the first person ever to do a spacewalk. And how he was an artist." "That sounds so awesome," said Birdie. "I could totally see that as a graphic novel."

"What? Same here," said Tala. "I love graphic novels." "I do, too," said Birdie, and soon they were wrapped up in a conversation about their favorites. I couldn't help smiling. Seeing them chatting like that was the best. Plus, I was about to make the perfect s'more. It was a scientific fact. Once my marshmallow got toasty brown but not burned, the crisp outer shell combined with the soft inside made the best combination on the planet. I smushed my gooey marshmallow onto the graham cracker and gave it a second to melt the chocolate, before popping it into my mouth. "Mmmm," I said. "So good." Elijah came over. "I like your birthday shirt." "What?" I looked down and saw that it said LIAM'S SPACE CREW. "Oh no! I somehow forgot to change out of it." I had been so focused on brushing some ice cream out of my hair that I'd completely forgotten about my shirt. "It's cool," said Elijah. Honestly, I breathed a sigh of relief that it was the only thing that actually ended up going wrong today. Well, that and the fact that we still had to pick up Liam's cake later on this evening. I thought about how today got a little bit mixed up and how it wasn't so bad. Life is a lot like chemistry. When you mix things up, everything changes.

Sometimes—like with astronaut ice cream—mixing things together makes it taste even sweeter.