8 The Right Stuff

CHAPTER EIGHT THE RIGHT STUFF Baking soda (noun). A substance that reacts with acids (like vinegar) to form carbon dioxide gas. The scientific name for baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and when you bake with it, it makes your cookies all soft and fluffy. Science sure can taste good! "WELL, I THINK WE SHOULD do two kinds of rockets," said Tala. After school, we had planted ourselves at the kitchen table. Right away I had given her a tour of our house, and she had met Liam. Steaming mugs of hot chocolate sat in front of us. "For Liam's party, you could make double balloon rockets," continued Tala. "And for the chemistry club, I think we should stick to baking soda bottle rockets." After she explained the difference between the two, I told her it sounded like an awesome idea. For the balloon rockets, you needed long balloons like the kind for balloon animals and a few other supplies. And she said that when it was done, the rockets would whoosh all over the living room. Dribble stood next to me, sniffing the hot chocolate, his brown eyes hopeful he would get some. I petted him behind his ears. "None for you, buddy. Bet you can't

wait for the balloon rockets. You'll chase them all over, barking like mad. Of course, Liam's friends will love it." As if he could understand, Dribble thumped his tail. I glanced at Tala as she blew on her hot chocolate. "Hey, will you tell me the secret ingredient for the baking soda bottle rocket?" She tapped her chin. "Hmm. You like figuring out things, right?" "Oh, yeah!" With a sly smile, she nodded. "So you'll have to figure out the secret yourself." "Well, I just solved a mystery," I said. "Last month Ms. Daly came up with an escape room. We were locked in a lounge at school and couldn't get out until we found an image of a deadly virus before this bad guy did. Even though it was nerve-racking, we were able to solve all the puzzles. It was awesome!" Tala took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Wow. I'm bummed I missed that. But it sounds like you'll have no problem learning the secret ingredient for the bottle rocket." "I like the way you think," I said. Then I explained how I was planning on telling Ms. Daly how safe and fun the chemistry club rockets would be. Plus, Ms. Daly had access to almost all the supplies in her lab. It was important to let her know that our plan would be simple

ish, fun, and require materials that would be easy to access. "I like the way you think, too," said Tala. I grabbed one of Dad's yellow notepads. "I guess we can get started." Tala wrote out a list of the items we would need for Liam's balloon rockets. And then a list of materials to make the rockets for chemistry club, including empty soda bottles, vinegar, baking soda, a cork, and a rocket base. Then, with a big grin on her face, she drew a giant X for the secret material. "Is it a stopwatch?" I asked. "To see how long it takes for the rocket to explode?" "Well, it's always good to time stuff. But no." "A test tube?" I asked. "No." "Orange soda?" I asked. "Nope." "Paint? A dime? A wire?" "No. No. No." She giggled. "All right. I'm going to have to think about this. Let's move on to the balloon rockets for Liam's party." "I heard my name!" screeched Liam as he sped into the kitchen. Then he eyed our steaming ceramic mugs. "Hey! You got hot chocolate. No

fair." I gestured at a lion-head-shaped mug across from me. It was a present from Grandpa Jack for Liam's birthday last year. I swallowed hard, remembering how sad Liam had been when his party was canceled. "Who do you think that mug is for?" I asked. "An imaginary friend?" guessed Liam. "You, silly!" I shook my head. He picked up the mug of hot chocolate and blew on it. "Thanks, Kate. It's got marshy mellows." "Marshmallows," I corrected with a wink. "Look, Liam," said Tala. "Here's a list of materials you'll need for the double balloon rockets for your birthday party." "Cool!" shouted Liam. She read out the list: "Balloons, straws, light clamps, fishing line, cardboard rolls, clear tape, a balloon pump, scissors." I clapped my hands. "Yay! We've pretty much got everything. Dad has tons of fishing line." Jumping up, I paced around the table. "The cardboard rolls sound perfect for the rocket body." Tala sipped her hot chocolate. "Yup, since it's got to be aerodynamic." "What does that mean?" asked Liam, who plopped down in a seat across from Tala.

"Well, aerodynamics is the study of forces and how easily an object goes through the air," said Tala. "Pretty easy!" Liam picked up a gooey marshmallow out of his mug and tossed it into his mouth. "Like this!" "Exactly," I said with a snort. "Between the two of you, it's like I've entered the astronaut zone. Right now, I feel like my life is out of this world." I covered my mouth. "Wow. I've turned into Ms. Daly. Sorry about that. I can't stop making corny jokes." "I forgive you," said Tala. "I don't." Liam crossed his arms. "Space isn't funny. It's serious. 'Cause it's for my party. And it's going to be the awesomest with the yummiest ice cream cake. Even better than Desmond's dinosaur one." "We know," I said. A few minutes later, Tala and I got started getting the supplies ready for Liam's double rockets. We figured we'd decorate the toilet paper rolls so they would look extra cool. Luckily, in our house we always save rolls for art supplies. I dragged out tempera paint so we could paint the rolls sky blue. While I laid down newspaper on the table, Tala grabbed brushes, and Liam waited with his smock on. All of the art supplies made me think of my best friend. I felt a weird tightness in my throat like I was getting a cold. But it wasn't a cold.

"I wish Birdie was here," I admitted. "She'd know how to mix the blue and white to make the perfect color." "Yeah, judging from that tattoo she made, she's an incredible artist," said Tala. At first Birdie had said she was going to come over after school, but then she backed out at the last minute because she had to help her sister. She wouldn't tell me what they had to do though. Honestly, I was starting to get kind of worried. But if something was really wrong, Birdie would have told me. We always tell each other everything. Just a couple of weeks ago, Birdie had confessed that she borrowed her mom's new headphones without asking. And I admitted that while shopping I had dropped my gum and could only get 90 percent of it off the mall floor. So yeah, we always tell each other everything. "Too bad Birdie couldn't be here," said Tala. "Yeah, well, she told me that something came up." I shrugged and tried not to let it bother me. "I wish I were better when it comes to art like Birdie," said Tala. "But you made that atom tattoo that was so cool." Mine had washed off over the weekend but it had been pretty awesome.