Green Algae and Bubble Gum Wars (11 page)

M
aeve, are you ready for Matt?” Maeve's mother called down the hall. “Have you got your math groove on?”

“Almost!” Maeve shouted between giggles. Her mother could be so weird sometimes.

What her mom really meant, Maeve knew, was did she have all of her books and papers ready…had she gone over the material beforehand…had she done as much of her homework as possible so Matt could swoop in and conveniently fill in the blanks. Of course what
Maeve
meant by ready was…was her light pink blush shimmering on her cheeks just so to give her a lovely glow?

Maeve ran a tube of glitter gloss over her mouth. “There,” she said, pleased with what she saw in the reflection. She studied her entire outfit. She'd changed out of her school clothes into a pink terry cloth track suit—the kind that all the celebs in her
Teen Beat
magazine were wearing. Underneath her hoodie, she was wearing a lime green T-shirt. The green shade went wonderfully with her red hair and blue eyes.

“'Kay, Mom, I'm ready!” Maeve grabbed her backpack, which for the first time in her life was pretty much in order.
Maybe watching all those science girls at the festival has inspired me,
she thought as she headed to the kitchen. “Mmm…something smells fabuloso in here, Mom. What is that?”

Ms. Kaplan furrowed her brows. “Angel hair pasta with marinara…um, Maeve, where do you think you're going…a rock concert?”

“Um, nooo…” Maeve replied innocently, spreading out her schoolwork neatly—for her—on the kitchen table.

“So then why do you look like you're about to take a glamour-shot for that
Teen Beat
magazine?”

“Do I?” Maeve giggled as she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the china cabinet.

“You do.” Ms. Kaplan poured the pasta into a colander and shook out the excess water. “Maeve, honey, I don't care what you wear to study, but Matt is here to help you with schoolwork. You need to be prepared.”

“Well, obviously…”

“And you know that the most important thing should be that you have all your math and science work ready…not your hair. Right?”

Maeve shrugged. “Duh, Mom.”

Ms. Kaplan kissed her daughter's forehead. “Just checking.” She poured the marinara sauce into the pot with the pasta. “Sam and I are going to have an early dinner in the other room so we don't interrupt you guys.” As she walked out of the kitchen she heard her daughter singing “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from
Grease
. “Oy…,” Ms. Kaplan mumbled.

Maeve stared at her books and pink, glow-in-the-dark pens all lined up on the table. Something was missing. She needed something…atmospheric. “That's it!” Maeve said out loud, catching sight of the tiny log cabin on the window ledge. She lit the scent cone inside and very soon the entire kitchen smelled like pine needles and Vermont fireplaces. “Absolutely
Little Women
perfect!” she decided. It was just the way she imagined the cozy family home in the movie of
Little Women
would smell. The original vintage version of course, with Katharine Hepburn as Jo March. It was one of Maeve's favorite classic romantic movies of all time.

When the doorbell rang, Maeve jumped up to greet Matt.

“Mix-Master-Curl, MK-T!” Matt cried, slapping Maeve five. “Wow, Maeve. You look very…pink. Even more than usual. That can't be easy.”

“Ha ha, it wasn't!” Maeve laughed—maybe a little too hard.

Matt took a seat at the table. “Okay, great news. Bailey gave me some awesome science project ideas…ah—aah—
choo
!” Matt sneezed so hard it nearly knocked him off the chair.

“Bless you!” Maeve cried, leaping up to find him a tissue. Hearing Bailey's name out loud made Maeve feel like she needed to move around.

“Thanks. As I was saying, I think that doing a project on the plants would be a great idea for you. When I was in high school I…ah—aah—
aah
—
choo
!”

Maeve gave him another tissue. Matt sniffled. “What is that? I smell pine needles.”

“Well, yeah…I lit the scent cone in our little log house….” Maeve pointed to the window ledge. “I thought it would smell Vermont-y.”

Matt covered his nose with the tissue. “Pine!” he exclaimed. “I'm very allergic to pine. First it starts with sneezing, then I break out in hives.” Maeve quickly ran over to the window and ran the whole house under the faucet. Just to be safe, she put it outside on the fire escape to dry. Matt went on, “Wow, that was incredibly uncomfortable.”

Maeve felt a little embarrassed as she skulked back to the table.
Guess my domestic goddess-ing skills still need a little work,
she thought. “Is that better?”

Matt nodded and dabbed his eyes. “Yes. Sorry. Thanks. Now, let's get started. I noticed that at the festival you had a little spark when we were looking at the exhibit on peonies and organic fertilizer.”

Maeve's face lit up and she forgot all about Bailey and Matt for the moment. Those peonies
had
spoken to her at the festival. She could practically smell their aroma now. “Matt, those flowers were so beautiful. Isn't it funny how things start off small and plain, like bulbs and seeds? Then it's like, overnight, there's a beautiful pink flower! I don't think I have ever seen a flower as beautiful as a peony. I think peonies are even more beautiful than roses,” she rhapsodized.

“Yeah, they are pretty cool looking,” a less-dramatic Matt answered. Maeve blinked away her mood-setting fumble with the incense and concentrated all her energy on what Matt was saying. She wondered if he noticed how grown-up she seemed. Besides, plants were more interesting than math problems.

“But it's not exactly overnight, Maeve. Every day plants grow very, very slowly. It's hard to tell that they've changed at all sometimes.”

Maeve twirled a ringlet around her pencil. It really wasn't hard for her to act like she was paying attention, because what Matt was saying was actually pretty interesting. It was neat to think about those little baby peonies growing up into beautiful blossoms providing perfume to the world. A science project on flowers might actually be…
fun.

“But they do grow up…the plants,” she said. “As long as they have enough love, proper light, water and food, right?”

“Exactly!” Matt exclaimed. “Maeve, I think we're totally on the same page here!”

Maeve knew she must be absolutely glowing. “We are?” Had Matt finally picked up her hints that she was worlds more mature than most seventh graders…that she was practically a full-fledged teenager?

Matt ruffled his hair. “Yup. My girlfriend was right. She thought that a plant-growth experiment would be just perfect for you. She said she thought you might have the soul of a botanist.”

Botanist! Really?
But Maeve's moment of excitement quickly turned to despair.
Girlfriend?

“Bailey is your girlfriend?” she spit out.

Two red circles appeared on Matt's cheeks. “Well…
yeah
. At first we were just pals, you know? Then we realized that we had a lot in common. We both love science. She got me involved in the whole eco movement. She's got a cool laugh, and a beautiful voice…she sings in a science a cappella group at MIT called ‘Sonic Pollution'…isn't that funny?” A
smitten Matt seemed overcome with the fabulous Bailey.

“Adorable,” Maeve grumbled, shoving an Oreo into her mouth.

“And you know what I like most about her?” asked Matt.

“Her, um, unique sense of style?” Maeve suggested. She knew that might have been a little mean, but she couldn't help it. How could Matt go and get a girlfriend behind her back when it was so obvious that the perfect woman for him was
her
…not
Bailey
.

“Yeah, you noticed that, too.”

Maeve nodded miserably. “Uh-huh.”

“But no. To be honest, I really couldn't care less about clothes. What I like the most about Bailey is how thoughtful she is. Did you know that after she met you and your friends at the Sally Ride Science Festival she went to the trouble of putting together a few preliminary ideas for projects that you, Maeve, would be interested in?”

Maeve looked up. “She did?” It was bad enough that Bailey was a part of Matt's life, but now she was becoming a part of Maeve's science fair project. But she did need a project…
and it was kind of nice of her to think about a project for me,
a suddenly confused Maeve tried to reason.

“Yeah. When Bailey noticed how much you loved the flowers, she figured maybe you could use her organic fertilizer. Your work would help her research, and the environment, too.”

“Huh? How can I help the environment? Make plants more beautiful?” Maeve was baffled.

“Well, there's that, too. But even better, trees and plants
give off oxygen and take in some of the CO
₂
from the air. Too much CO
₂
in the atmosphere is causing big problems, like global warming. Plus, with Bailey's organic fertilizer you avoid pesticides that can get absorbed into the earth and into our water supply.”

Maeve couldn't believe that growing beautiful flowers could help protect the environment, but if it could, she definitely wanted to be part of it! “Count me in,” she said finally.

“Great! I know Bailey would love to help you out with that. Listen, here is Bailey's phone number. She said if you want to, you can call her tonight and she'll help you decide on a project. She's happy to meet with you at her lab this week too.”

“That's so nice,” said Maeve, her voice cracking. The love of her life's girlfriend was going to help her? There was something wrong with that picture.

“So…should I tell her to expect your call?” asked Matt.

Maeve managed a weak, “Sure.” She supposed if there was a smart college girl willing to help her, she should probably take her up on it. Maeve knew that putting together a science project would be a serious challenge for her. And Matt was right…it was very sweet of Bailey. But still…she couldn't believe that her dream boy had found a dream girl, and
it wasn't her
. It felt like her heart was going to burst into a million pieces.

E
ver since Charlotte Ramsey was a little girl, she had always loved looking at the night sky. It made her feel like she was part of something much bigger than just her house, her town, even her country, or her planet. The stars went on forever and ever…Charlotte wondered just what was out there. Plus, the stars were so beautiful they always took her breath away, as they sparkled against the black blanket of night in their reliable constellations. To Charlotte, the stars were like old friends, always waiting in the sky to greet her at the end of a long day.

There was one very important star that got a lot of attention, and it was that star that Charlotte wanted to do her science project on: the sun. It made perfect sense to Charlotte that the enormous star that all our solar system's planets orbited around would be the star to give energy and life to everything on Earth.

But she couldn't for the life of her think of a really great idea, and she was starting to panic. She really wanted to
understand solar energy and how it could be part of solving global warming. She had been intrigued by the model car powered by solar energy, but she wanted to do something original, something creative. Something to go along with the cool “solar power” T-shirt she wanted to design. Katani would be so proud of her when she heard her idea.

Luckily for Charlotte, she lived right above a woman who was a real, live astronomer. Not only that, but an astronomer who was one of the nicest, sweetest ladies ever. After Charlotte had gone over her brainstorming list for the umpteenth time and decided she was completely and utterly stuck, she made up her mind to head downstairs and consult the expert. Charlotte didn't even need to cross her fingers that Miss Pierce would be in, because Miss Pierce was
always
in during the day. Her work started when the stars came out. Her life was astronomy and making amazing cookies; the astronomer was also a truly wonderful baker.

Charlotte rang Miss Pierce's bell and waited impatiently. She was so excited to hear everything Miss Pierce knew about the sun that she was practically jumping from side to side.

“Good afternoon, Charlotte. I'm so sorry, was I supposed to watch Marty today?” asked Miss Pierce with an apologetic laugh. Miss Pierce had taken quite a liking to the little dude. How could she not? It was pretty much a universal fact that the Marty Man was positively irresistible.

“No, no, not at all!” Charlotte exclaimed. “Marty's upstairs, napping in my dad's office. Actually, I'm here to ask you a few quick questions about my school science project. It's an environmental theme, and I want to do something about solar energy, but I just don't know what…and I've been racking my brain for hours. I promise it won't take but a few minutes. Really.” She gave her mentor a hopeful look.

“Well, Charlotte, I am very busy with some calculations…but…I always have a few minutes for scientific
inquiries.” Miss Pierce broke into a warm smile. “Come on in. I just made some banana bread. Would you like a piece?”

Charlotte clapped. “Ooh, yum! I was wondering what that delicious smell might be!” Miss Pierce moved a giant pile of books and papers off the cozy sofa so Charlotte could sit down, then went into the kitchen. While she was gone, Charlotte looked at Miss Pierce's rows and rows of books. One book, called
Stargazers Through Time
, especially caught her eye. The title sounded interesting, but not as interesting as the author: Dr. Sapphire Pierce!

Miss Pierce came back with a giant slice of banana bread slathered in honey. “Here you go, dear. Ruby just shared this recipe with me recently. It's from her family, I believe.” Miss Pierce and Katani's grandmother, Ruby Fields, were lifelong friends and the founders of the original Beacon Street Girls…many years ago.

Charlotte bit into the moist, sweet bread. “This is delicious!” Then she held up the book she'd found and grinned. “Thank you,
Dr.
Pierce. You never told me you were a PhD—and a writer, too! Are you famous?”

Miss Pierce just smiled. “I know many scientists who are also writers, Charlotte,” she said simply. ‘It's very important not only to do valuable work, but to be able to explain it to others. Science and writing can go hand in hand…something I'm sure a budding young writer/scientist like you is already discovering.”

Charlotte nodded. “So ask me your questions,” Miss Pierce went on. “You need to do a science fair project, and it must be environmentally focused….”

“Exactly,” Charlotte affirmed. “I'd like to do something
about solar energy, because, you know—my love for the sky. The only problem is I want my project to be unique. It seems like all the solar projects for kids I can find are like building model solar cars.”

A wide grin graced Miss Pierce's face. “Ah. You're interested in photovoltaics. I might have a book or two—”

Charlotte shook her head and interrupted. “No, Miss Pierce…this is supposed to be environmentally-themed. On solar energy.”

“Charlotte, dear,” Miss Pierce explained, “photovoltaics literally means ‘light electricity.' People convert the sun's energy into electricity using photovoltaic cells. You might know them as solar panels.”

“I think I've heard of them,” Charlotte said, a little embarrassed that she had jumped in and cut Miss Pierce off. “Miss Pierce, I'm sorry. It's just that Avery has been sending me all these articles on the rain forest and I really thought I should get started on saving the planet,” she apologized.

Miss Pierce smiled kindly. “That is an admirable aim for a young scientist…and for an old one like me. Let's put our heads together and see if we can come up with something creative. Show me what you've got so far.”

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled out her brainstorming notebook. With Miss Pierce on her team, she just knew her project would be great!

Gumming It Up

Avery was the fastest runner in Ms. R's class. She knew this because she made a point of challenging everyone to a race whenever she got a chance, and so far, no one had
beaten her. Lucky for her, because Avery was very late. She'd stopped on her way home to get supplies for her brainstorm.

She sprinted home faster than she knew her legs could move. She arrived on the steps of the Maddens' large, colonial-style house and checked her stopwatch. “Four minutes and seventeen seconds!
Whooo-hoo!
That's an Avery Madden record!” She bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time, burst into her bedroom, and collapsed on her bed. “I'M BEAT!” she shouted.

“Knock, knock,” Scott said, rapping on her open door.

Avery turned her head so she could see her brother and squinted one eye at him. “You may enter.”

“Hey…you're totally late, but it's cool. Mom's running late too.”

“Thanks,
Dad,
” Avery chided sarcastically, dragging herself up until she was sitting cross-legged on the bed. “I already called Mom's cell. So you don't need to
worry
about me.” Avery dumped out the contents of her grocery bag and spread them out over her comforter. There was a Make Your Own Chewing Gum kit from Glee Gum, confectioner's sugar, rice syrup, and lots of different brands of gum.

“What's all that?” asked Scott. He picked up a piece of watermelon flavor BubbleFun and began to rip open the package.

“Hey! What do you think you're doing? Gimme that!” Avery cried, snatching the gum from her brother's hand.

“Easy, killer. I just wanted a piece of gum. What's the big deal, anyway? You have like, five
hundred
packages!” Scott grumbled.

“It just so happens these are for school. My science fair project grade depends on it, Scott, so keep your
paws off
!”

“Okay, okay…,” Scott mumbled. “So…science fair. You get some good ideas at that festival the other day?”

Avery shrugged. “Yep, and I got more ideas from the Queens of Mean, who think that Tru Blu Gum is more important than the health of the planet.” Avery's brainstorm, inspired by Kiki Underwood and her minions, was to create her own brand of gum made from natural ingredients that could out-taste that Tru Blu ickiness Kiki was promoting. She wanted to make it in the shape of a long roll so that people could break off one piece at a time, with no need for all that individual packaging that would just end up in a landfill somewhere.

“So you had fun at the festival, huh?” asked Scott.

“Oh, yeah! Wicked fun. There was this awesome thing where you could make your own slime. Mine turned out to be—”

“So, uh, you think your friends had a good time?” Scott interrupted. “You know, Maeve…Elena Maria…”

Avery let out a huge groan and looked up from her gum. “I know you like Elena, Scott.”

Scott looked appalled. “Oh, no way. No. I mean, she's a cool girl and all, but like—”

Avery rolled her eyes. “You mean, besides the fact that you two were making goo-goo eyes at each other like aaaaall day…”

“We were not—”

Avery put a hand in the air. “Dude! Get real. Besides the eye thing, besides the way you were like staring at her on the
T, besides the whole you-both-go-ape-over-cooking thing…Scott, it's okay if you like Elena Maria. Really.”

Scott shook his head, looking down and turning red. “Well, maybe…” he started weakly, then trailed off.

Avery shrugged. “Hey, I'm just telling it like it is.”

Scott sat down on the bed beside Avery. “So what am I supposed to do? Elena Maria is still dating that dork-face.”

“That guy Jimmy.”

“Ugh, I hate that dude. He's like a total washout who happens to think he is so cool because he is on the indoor lacrosse team.”

Avery pinched her nose and said in a voice that sounded freakishly similar to their mother, “Now, Scott. Hate is a very negative and unpleasant word.”

Scott groaned. “I very, very, very strongly dislike him. He's not good for Elena and I don't know what she sees in him.”

Avery let out a long sigh. “Now, I'm seriously no expert on…you know…the love-bug thing. I actually think it's a huge snooze-fest.”

Scott stood up. “Fine, fine, I get it. I'm going.”

“Hold on, dude! Even though the whole romance thing gives me a headache, because you're my brother, and I think you and Elena Maria would probably be perfect for each other…I'm gonna help you.”

Scott smiled. “That's my sis!”

“But if you tell anyone that I am playing matchmaker…
bleeeegchy…
well, the consequences will be dire, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

Avery unwrapped the watermelon gum and popped out a piece for Scott and a piece for herself. “Here. I guess I can
spare
one
piece for you. Now, listen up. According to Isabel, Elena Maria and Jimmy are sort of on the rocks.”

“They are?”

“Yup. Isabel says he's only interested in talking about himself, and Elena Maria is getting fed up with him. He doesn't call when he says he will…he blows her off to hang out with his friends…he gets really grouchy…it's not good.”

“Awesome!” Scott exclaimed. “I mean…that's so sad for her…”

Avery continued. “Look. I'm gonna get to the point here. It's really easy. Maeve is like an expert on romance, right? I mean, she's definitely done her homework with all those romantic old movies she watches. So anyway, Maeve says there's one major thing that stops guys and girls from getting together…”

“Bad breath?” Scott blew into his hand. “Phew, watermelon.”

“Nooooo! For a guy to date a girl,
he needs to ask her
!”

Scott gazed off into nothing and echoed, “He needs to ask her. Whoa. You know what, Avery? That's so crazy it just might work. So how do I ask her?”

Avery covered her eyes with her fists. “You can't ask her yet, she has a boyfriend. Ugh, even
I
know that much.”

“But I thought—”

“
No
. First you have to make her see that you would be a much cooler boyfriend than Jimmy. Then she will dump Jimmy, leaving room for you to swoop in like a knight in shining whatever and win her heart.”

“I could totally manage that!” Scott grinned as he threw a foam ball at his sister's head.

“Well,” Avery said with a smug smile as she dodged the ball, “I am sort of a genius.”

“I'm gonna start by making her my double-chocolate nut cupcakes…I mean, you like those, right? And you're a girl.”

Avery shook her head. “Maybe you should start a little smaller, okay? Try hanging out with her. Call her. IM her. Not too much all at once. Like save the cupcakes for week two. Then when she realizes that you are paying more attention to her than her own boyfriend, the work will be practically done for you.”