Green Algae and Bubble Gum Wars (6 page)

Katani read the sign more closely. “Maeve, that's not just any astronaut…that's Sally Ride herself—the first American woman to go into space!”

Maeve looked excitedly at Katani. “Should we follow?”

Katani shivered. “Girl, are you kidding me? Take a look at that monster line. I say we stay right here and wait for Charlotte to do her thing.”

Maeve's eyes twinkled. “Or…head on over to our workshop? Matt said we'd get to make bracelets based on our DNA…whatever that is.”

Katani checked her wristwatch and smiled. “Yep, it's almost time for the workshop to start. Let's go! FYI, DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It's basically your genes.”

Maeve stared at Katani. Her friends were so smart. She started feeling like a loser-brain when all of a sudden she remembered that Thursday afternoon she'd gotten all her math problems correct. That made her stand a little taller as the girls strolled over to the volunteer holding a sign for their workshop.

On the other side of the festival, Avery and Isabel were in
a workshop that had them totally captivated by phytoplankton. Another college student, or as Avery insisted on calling her, “Genius MIT professor,” was showing a captivated group all about how phytoplankton was crucial to the health of the ocean and how someday algae might even be a source of energy.

“I cannot believe that something that looks like pond scum can actually be a source for energy!” Avery remarked. “Just amazing.”

After the workshop, Isabel wanted to know more. “I just can't believe how interesting these plants are under a microscope,” said Isabel, her mind already ticking with how she could illustrate phytoplankton in her sketchbook.

“Excuse me, Professor Sullivan,” Isabel started, reading the workshop leader's last name off her nametag.

“Actually, I'm just a grad student,” the woman said with a kind laugh. “I hope I'll be Professor Sullivan one day! But for now, Emily is fine.”

Isabel blushed. “Would I maybe be able to take some pamphlets with me about the um…phytoplankton?”

Emily laughed cheerfully. “Well, of course. That's what they're there for.” Isabel began stuffing her (and Avery's) arms with all the free info she could find about phytoplankton.

Meanwhile, Matt had his hands full trying to collect the BSG.

“Katani! Maeve!” he huffed. “Great—I found you.” Matt jogged over to the girls, who were proudly admiring their handcrafted DNA bracelets. Next to him were a grinning Sam and an excited-looking Charlotte Ramsey.

“You guys are not going to believe this.” She held up her
journalism notebook. “I was almost late for my workshop, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get
this
. Right here, smack on the front page. Look!”

Maeve leaned in and read slowly, “‘Dear Charlotte. Reach for the stars. Sally K. Ride.' Whoa…you got Sally Ride's
autograph
?” In Maeve's world, anyone who was worthy of an autograph meant serious celebrity. She couldn't help feeling a tad jealous, although before today she honestly had no idea who Sally Ride was. Now she knew that she was someone very important.

“It's more than an autograph. It's called astro-encouragement. I'm definitely adding Sally Ride to my role model list—right next to Miss Pierce!” Miss Pierce, Charlotte's landlady who lived in the first floor apartment of the house they shared, was an astronomer who had worked on the design of the Hubble Space Telescope. She and Charlotte shared a passion for space and stars. “Sally Ride thinks that if I really wanted, I could be an astronaut someday, too!”

Maeve giggled. “If becoming a world-famous writer doesn't work out.”

Katani shrugged and slung an arm around Charlotte's shoulder. “Hey, who knows…maybe she'll do both!”

Matt looked around anxiously and ran his fingers through his hair. “Four down, two to go…” he murmured through clenched teeth. “Where could your buddies be?”

“Well,” Katani said thoughtfully, “I do know that Avery was pretty excited about seeing more environmental stuff.”

Matt clapped his hands. “Okay—follow me.”

Maeve wished Matt would be a little more concerned with getting some romantic alone time with her instead of
always trying to locate the group, but she knew her brave tutor was only being his usual responsible self. Just being with him made Maeve feel more responsible, too. As they walked along, she offered her hand to her little brother. “Want to hold my hand, Sam?” she asked sweetly.

“Nope. Dad said Charlotte's my babysitter today, remember?” He stuck out his tongue at Maeve and slipped his hand into Charlotte's, pulling her ahead.

Maeve couldn't believe it. First Matt practically ignored her, and now she was being ditched by…her little brother?!

I
love Matt's shirt. Don't you just love his shirt?” Maeve whispered to Katani, admiring her tutor's trendy maroon and yellow striped tee.

“It's cool, I guess.”

“And what about his eyes? Don't you just love Matt's eyes? I could look at them for hours.” Maeve swooned quietly, as they trailed behind him through the crowd.

Katani frowned. “His eyes might be fascinating, but his jeans are kind of boring, don't you think? They're just straight-leg, double-pocket, non-pleated, stone-washed jeans. Pretty ordinary, really.”

Maeve knew Katani was right, but she rushed to Matt's defense anyway. “I know, but on him they just look so…so…uncommonly dreamy.”

“I think you're the one who's dreaming,” Charlotte said.

“Ha ha,” Maeve replied. “You guys just don't know what it's like to be…oh never mind.”

They didn't mind. Maeve's mega crushes changed at least
once a month; her friends had gotten used to it. They didn't doubt that Maeve was serious about her feelings…she just had, well, a lot of feelings.

Matt finally stopped in front of a booth that had a big, covered aquarium with a heat lamp shining on it like the sun. It was sort of a mini greenhouse, overflowing with lush, beautiful flowers in every color of the rainbow. Tiny purple buds and green leaves grew over the edge like a jungle curtain. Leading the exhibit was a tall girl with tortoise-shell glasses, freckles, and long brown hair worn half up in a messy bun. She had on a loose, flowing skirt, a silky light green shirt, a single beaded necklace, and a jean jacket.

Matt ran right up to the girl and swallowed her up in a big bear hug. “Everyone…I want you to meet my friend.”

“Hi, girls. I'm Bailey.”

Maeve gulped. Bailey? Why had she thought that Bailey was a boy? For a split second she wondered if maybe Bailey was
more than a friend
. But then she shook that thought away. Bailey was cute enough and everything, but she definitely didn't have Maeve's chic sense of style and glamour. No. No way would this girl be Matt's type.

“Bailey and I met last summer in our environmental biology class,” Matt explained. “I took a class at MIT, and guess who was my lab partner?”

“I still can't believe I was stuck with this slacker,…” Bailey chided with a grin, fighting off Matt, who was trying to give her a noogie.

“Bailey, this is Maeve. The girl I was telling you about,” said Matt.

Suddenly, Maeve felt like the sun was pouring down on
her and her alone.
The girl I was telling you about…
So Matt had been talking about her!

She held out her hand very properly and said, “Pleased to meet you.”

“Your display is absolutely gorgeous,” Katani interjected. “These colors are just…delicious.” She pointed to a particularly vibrant pot of tangerine-colored blossoms. “You could not get fabric in
this
shade.”

Bailey laughed and suddenly looked embarrassed. “These are my prizewinning peonies. I developed a custom-made fertilizer from compost—I used leftover food from the school cafeteria. It's 100 percent organic.”

Matt shook his head. “Bailey's Magic Plant Juice. I swear you should sell this stuff.”

Bailey shrugged and giggled. “C'mon, Matt. You know I need to do more research…but someday, I hope.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Puh-lease. Even Professor Sutter asked her for her secret formula. This is actually a lot more intense than it looks. Bailey bred all these flowers from baby seedlings. She pollinated them in a lab.”

“It took me three whole semesters to get it right,” Bailey explained. “The lighting, the soil, the fertilizer…. But the good news is, now that I know what I'm doing, I think I might really be onto something.”

Maeve gazed at the flowers, feeling slightly sorry for herself. Science came so naturally to some people, but it was so difficult for her. If only she had the talent to grow beautiful flowers from tiny seeds. She glanced over and noticed that Sam was busy reading Bailey's lab report.
Grr
, she thought.
He probably understands all this stuff.

“Bailey, I'd love to stick around for a while, but we're actually on a bit of a scavenger hunt here. I'm trying to round up some kids. One of them has a real passion for the environment, so we thought maybe she'd be at your booth.”

Bailey scratched her head. “Hmm…I've seen like a million kids today. What do they look like?”

Charlotte had a writer's eagle eye for details. “One is about up to here on me,” she described, holding her hand up to her shoulder, “and was wearing a side ponytail and a soccer jersey with the number five. The other one is a little taller than I am, with long, shiny black hair, brown eyes. She was wearing this bird T-shirt. It said, um…what was that…oh, yeah: ‘Polly want a little piece and quiet at the Boston Public Library.'”

Bailey laughed. “I think I'd certainly remember if I saw a T-shirt like that around. Sorry, though…no such luck.”

“We have three of the girls now…,” Matt said, scanning the room.

“Three?” asked Bailey. “I'm only counting two.”

“Shoot!” Matt exclaimed. “Don't tell me we lost another one!”

Sam, Maeve, and Charlotte looked around. “Katani?” Maeve called.

“Don't panic,” Charlotte said soothingly. “Isn't that her over there in the yellow scarf?”

Maeve sprinted over to retrieve her. When they returned, Katani had a huge smile on her face. “Too bad they're packing up to go. I wish you could have checked out that booth, Char. If you thought the hydro-car was cool, you'd just flip over the waterwheel that spins and creates electricity. It reminds me of some stuff my dad showed me.”

Matt used the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe sweat off his brow. “Keeping track of you kids is impossible. It's like herding cats,” he said. “Now where in the world are Avery and Isabel?”

Maeve tried to ignore the fact that he just said “you kids.” He must have meant everyone
but
her.

“Maybe their workshop ran a little late,” Katani suggested.

“You're probably right,” Matt agreed. “So I guess we'll just head back to the entrance and wait for them. I sure wish they'd hurry up, though. I promised to have you guys back in plenty of time for dinner, and if I'm going to show you the tunnels—”

Sam's hand suddenly shot into the air. “Ooh, ooh! Pick me! Pick me! I have an idea!”

Maeve groaned. “This isn't school, Sam. You
don't
have to raise your hand, you know.”

“Let him talk, Maeve,” instructed Matt.

Maeve felt stung and took a step back. Matt was totally treating her like a little kid!

Sam, like his big sis, cherished being the center of attention and explained as slowly as possible. “Wellllll…if we're just going to be waiting around for…we could see the tunnels now, and then meet them.”

“But Avery really wants to check out the tunnels,” Maeve protested. “We can't do it without her!”

“Actually, I think Sam has a good idea, Maeve,” Matt replied. “If we don't go now, nobody's going to get to see the tunnels. We'll just meet them back at the entrance to the festival like we planned—
after
a little underground adventure!”
Matt playfully threw an arm around Sam's shoulders. “Forward, troops. To the tunnels we go. You coming, Bailey?”

She shook her head. “Can't. Someone's got to stay here and pack up the peonies.”

The crew waved good-bye to Bailey and went off on their mission. Maeve walked slowly between Katani and Charlotte. She couldn't believe that Matt was paying more attention to her pesky little brother than her.

“What did you think of Bailey?” she whispered to Charlotte and Katani.

“Very nice,” Charlotte remarked. “And very smart. Her fertilizer formula was pretty genius, really. Everybody wants to be green these days.”

“I like her style, too,” Katani noted.

Maeve gasped. “Seriously? Those clothes looked like they were from 1969! I swear, my mom has like, a thousand of those hippie skirts in boxes in our attic.”

“Gosh, Maeve.” Katani sighed. “Hippie chic is totally in vogue right now. The style's called
boho
. Short for bohemian.”

“Boho,” Maeve tried out the strange-sounding word. “More like
hobo,
if you ask me.”

“Maeve!” Charlotte gasped. “Be nice!”

A wave of shame came over Maeve when she realized how catty she'd sounded. She didn't know what was wrong with her.

“C'mon guys!” Matt called. “We can get into the tunnels through this building right over here.”

Maeve's stomach did a flip-flop. It suddenly occurred to her that she was going to be going underground. What
if the tunnels were filled with spiderwebs? “Umm…if it's okay with you guys, maybe I should just stay right here, you know?”

Matt folded his arms. “Absolutely not, Maeve. From this point on we are sticking together. Understand?”

“Yes.” She grabbed Charlotte's wrist as the girls descended down the stairs.

“Ouch! Maeve, you're hurting me!” Charlotte squeaked.

“Sorry,” Maeve said, loosening her grip. “It's kind of hard to go down stairs in these boots—I don't want to fall!”

Katani had to laugh at that one. “Honey, you have got your arm on the wrong girl!” Klutzy Charlotte was the most disaster-prone girl in the seventh grade, but she didn't really mind. It was just something she learned to deal with. Sometimes she even cracked herself up with her crazy mishaps.

The insides of the tunnels were dimly lit, and the sounds of their footsteps echoed eerily on the ancient tile floor. “This would be the perfect setting for a scary movie,” Charlotte admitted, squeezing Maeve's hand.

“Do you think this place might be a little bit haunted?” Maeve whispered. She heard creaking noises, and just when she thought it was safe, a little bug scuttled out in front of her feet. “Eeek!”

“Maeve, is that whining noise coming from you?” Katani accused.

“I can't help it,” Maeve said in a breathless voice. “It's spooky down here. I feel like I might faint.”

“You are such a drama queen, Maeve,” Katani moaned. “It's just a tunnel. Hundreds of students must pass through here every day.” Katani would not let a few butterflies in her
stomach blow her cover of always being cool, confident, and composed.

“Chin up, Maeve!” hollered Matt. “I thought that Mix-Master-Curl was the toughest cookie on the block.”

Maeve felt her mouth curl into a smile. He truly was a prince.
If I did happen to faint,
Maeve told herself,
surely Matt would catch me in his arms and carry me to safety.
Still, the creepy clangs and creaks wouldn't stop. “There is no way we're alone down here,” she murmured.

All of a sudden, classical music started to play. Katani, Maeve, and even Sam jumped into the air and grabbed each other.

“Isn't that—” started Matt.

“Beethoven's Fifth!” Charlotte exclaimed as she shuffled through her purse. “It's my cell phone, you guys. My dad downloaded the ringtone online. I know, it's wicked dorky.”

Maeve clutched her heart. “Char, you have got to tell your dad to choose something, like, ten times less creepy.”

“I don't think Beethoven would like his music being called creepy.” Charlotte laughed, flipping open her phone. “Hello? You're where? No! We're in the tunnels! No…don't come back. Stay right where you are.” She flipped her phone closed. “That was Isabel, using Elena Maria's cell phone. She said she and Ave and Scott and Elena Maria are outside the entrance. They already checked out the tunnels—Avery was kind of disappointed. Isabel said they didn't get very creeped out.”

“Well, I'm creeped out enough for all of us! Let's get out of here!” Maeve said. The group did an about-face and hurried towards the stairs that led into the building above.

“Can you believe it?” moaned Isabel, when everybody
was reunited. “These two went to the holography exhibit without me!”

Elena Maria and Scott giggled like they'd been up to serious mischief.

Matt just shrugged casually. “Well, good. See, I told you there'd be something for everyone here.”

Avery rolled her eyes and whispered to the BSG, “I have a feeling that the only thing here my bro is interested in is Elena Maria!”

On the way home on the T, everyone was still totally jazzed about the festival. Their brains were definitely ticking over all the fascinating things they had learned and the cool people they'd met, but they weren't exactly as happy and light as usual. The festival had given them a lot to think about.

“Look at these photos,” Isabel breathed to Maeve and Avery, who were sitting on either side of her. “How beautiful are these plants? But if people don't make more of an effort to control global warming, these algae will change. Then the fish that need them for food might not eat them. It's complicated…you know, it's a food web thing,” Isabel said with a gulp.

“I know,” Avery exclaimed. She was majorly into all issues environmental, and sometimes got pretty fired up about it. “People don't realize how small things can make a big difference to the health of our planet!”

“Like you, right, Ave?” Katani teased her short friend.

“You betcha!” Avery shot back with a grin.

Maeve squeezed Isabel's hand. “Maybe there's something you can do?” she said.

Isabel nodded. “I sure hope so. I'm going to e-mail Emily Sullivan when I get home.”

“It's too bad that the AAJH science fair can't be all about the environment,” Avery lamented.

Charlotte stopped chatting with Sam in midsentence and whipped around. “Well, why can't it?”