Chapter 1

Storm Chasers by Theanne Griffith.

1 Drip! Drop! Drip! It was a rainy Monday morning at Newburg Elementary. Dark clouds filled the sky as rain splattered on the ground. "I wish we could go outside today," said Violet. She rested her chin on her hands as she looked out the foggy window of Mr. Eng's third grade classroom and sighed. "I don't mind the rain," replied her best friend, Pablo. "It reminds me of Puerto Rico and summer storms. I loved playing in my abuela's backyard when it rained. She has this big mango tree. And I

would catch the water drops that fell off its leaves in my mouth." Violet smiled, then looked back out the window. "No mango trees in Newburg," she said. "Just mud and wet grass that I can't play in." "Well, at least there aren't hurricanes in Newburg. Puerto Rico is beautiful, but sometimes storms turn into hurricanes," Pablo said. "It rains a lot, and the wind blows so fast and strong. Once, my tio's car got blown to the end of his street during a hurricane! He wasn't in it, though." "Whoa, sounds scary!" Violet replied. "I wonder why Puerto Rico gets them and not Newburg." "I'm not really sure." Pablo shrugged. "But my abuela always says it's because the ocean is so warm." "Hmmmm," Violet thought out loud. "Warm water and hurricanes…" Mr. Eng interrupted her thinking. "Okay, class," he called from the front of the room. "As you can see, we won't be able to go outside today.

But…" He raised his pencil in the air. "I do have a special surprise for you all." The students' eyes grew wide. The room hummed with whispers of excitement. "First, let's go over to the Science Space," Mr. Eng continued. "Yes!" Violet and Pablo cheered. They stood up with the rest of the class and headed toward the back of the room. Violet and Pablo were science-loving best friends. One day, Violet was going to be a famous scientist and run her own lab. Pablo loved space and wanted to become an astronaut. But even when they weren't talking about science, Pablo and Violet were always together. They played soccer or double Dutch at recess. They also ate lunch with each other every day. And anytime they were in the Science Space, they worked in the same group. Today, Violet and Pablo sat down at one of the round tables with the twins, Skylar and Devin. They looked exactly alike. Except Skylar had

puffball pigtails, and Devin had a buzz cut with a lightning bolt shaved into the side of his hair. "I wonder what the surprise is!" Violet said as she sat down. "I bet it's going to be cool," replied Pablo. "We always do fun stuff in the Science Space." Skylar nodded and smiled. But Devin just looked at his hands, which were folded in his lap.

Pablo tilted his head and asked, "Are you okay, Devin?" Devin raised his eyes and offered a small shrug. "Yeah. I was just thinking." "It's because—" began Skylar.