6 A Strange Reaction

CHAPTER SIX A Strange Reaction Exchange Reaction (noun). This is a chemical reaction where material gets broken down and put back together. It would be like one kid building a new castle out of blocks while his brother was kicking the old one down. DOWNSTAIRS, I PLOPPED in front of the family computer. It was Friday afternoon, and my parents let me spend a little more time on the computer during the weekend. The first thing I did was to look up why the steam from Tala's soup burst out of her thermos. I found out that was because water vapor condensed in the cooler air. I peered out my window to think about what I had just learned. The water vapor must behave more like clouds than smoke. And, scientifically speaking, water vapor is different from steam. That's because steam is just water in the gas phase, and you can't actually see it. I could see the cloud above Tala's lunch because it was made up of

little droplets of soup. Yum! I thought about how delicious it would be if the clouds in our skies were made from giant vats of chicken soup. I laughed aloud at my silly thought. It seemed like a Memito idea. The next thing I did was start my T-shirt plan. I figured if I ordered a Shedd Aquarium T-shirt before our field trip, then I'd have a shirt just like all of my friends. As I studied the items on the aquarium store site, I noticed something. They didn't have all of the T-shirts from the actual gift shop. They had a really fun shark T-shirt. And a cute beluga whale tee, but no penguin ones. On the website it said that they had a few select items and to visit the aquarium gift shop for a full selection. Ugh! I scrolled again, looking at the beluga T-shirt. It was okay. But it wasn't a cute rockhopper penguin with bright yellow feathers. I guess I'd just have to wait and buy a penguin T-shirt at the aquarium. I counted my money in my atom bank. I'd been saving for a really loooong time. All my chore money for the entire fall. Forty dollars. That was more than enough money to buy myself a wonderful penguin T- shirt. Plus, I could surprise Liam and buy him a stuffed animal since he likes them so much.

Even though I wouldn't have an aquarium T-shirt right away, I'd have one in less than two weeks. I could live with that. That is, if we had enough chaperones to go to the aquarium. But we would. I was sure of it. Maybe Dad could be our second chaperone. Then we'd just need two more. From my room, I grabbed Mr. Penguin, my stuffed animal that my parents bought for me at the Shedd when I was little. He's been ripped up and sewn back together a couple of times—my mom even found a new beak for him from another penguin that she had bought at a garage sale. After all these years, Mr. Penguin was basically the result of a complicated exchange reaction. Where old parts were taken away. And new parts were added. And then suddenly, I knew exactly what I would do with Mr. Penguin. At dinner I hid Mr. Penguin behind my back. "So guess where my class is going in two weeks?" I said in a mysterious voice. "Well, as long as we get enough parents to chaperone."

Mom looked like she was going to say something, so I gave a warning look. "You're not allowed to guess. So the rest of you—guess!" "A planetarium," said Dad. "To the moon," said Liam. "Sure, in our imagination." I giggled. "I'll give you guys a huge clue." Then, with a flourish, I whipped out Mr. Penguin from behind my back. Liam leaped for it, but I yanked Mr. Penguin away. "My Spidey sense tells me you're not going to the South Pole," said Dad. "Unless your mom has applied for a really large grant. And while I believe your mom can do anything, chartering a plane to take the entire fifth grade to one of the coldest places on Earth might be stretching it just a bit." "I am pretty good at grant writing." Mom smiled as she chewed her salad. I held up Mr. Penguin in front of my face and put on a pretend high voice. "So any real guesses?" "How about the aquarium?" said Dad. "You got it!" I tossed Mr. Penguin up in the air so he did a complete twirl. "It's going to be awesome. Liam, did you know that there are thirty-two thousand sea creatures there? And not just fish? Also snakes, birds, and even insects."

"Wow. You sound like a brochure," Dad said, biting into his chicken leg. "Well, we've been learning about it. I mean, you guys know that they have whales. Not every aquarium has that. Belugas, which are sort of like dolphins, only bigger. Plus that Caribbean Reef exhibit with ninety thousand gallons of water. It's got a bonnethead shark, stingrays, and huge fish called tarpons." "Oh, I remember that exhibit," said Mom. "There was a sweet green sea turtle in there." "Yes," I said. "He's still there. His name is Nickel, and they have this diver who will go into the tank and talk to people. I'm so excited to go to the aquarium for a second time." "Correction," said Mom. "Your third time. Dad and I brought you when Grandpa Jack and Grandma Dort visited from Texas. You were two, and we pushed you around in a stroller. You kept on yelling about the penguins." Dad shook his head and laughed. "Not much has changed." "Hey, no fair." Liam slumped back in his chair. "I haven't even gone once." He harrumphed.

"You'll get your chance, Liam," said Mom. "Maybe we'll go this summer. It's just that I'm so busy during the year." Mom looked at Dad, who was glancing down at his phone. "Greg, wouldn't July be perfect?" Midsummer is basically the only time that Mom is actually free. In early and later summer, she has meetings. Liam grabbed the penguin from me and clutched it to his chest. "Hey, can Snowie be mine again?" Even though Mr. Penguin was mine, Liam had loved him so much that I said he could borrow him sometimes. And whenever he borrows him, he renames him. I'm fine with that, honestly. I'm not a go-to-bed-with-a-stuffed-animal kind of person anyway. "So, Dad, I bet you'd like to see all that great stuff at the aquarium," I said enthusiastically. "Plus, it's in Chicago. You could wave hi to the Bulls." "Well, you can definitely wave for me." "No, I mean in person. As a chaperone." "When is it again?" asked Dad. "Two weeks from today. Say yes, please? The zebra shark is a threatened species. Which means if you don't see it at the Shedd, it'll be hard to see anywhere. And it's a great opportunity to support them. The sharks, I mean." And then I started listing