Green Algae and Bubble Gum Wars

by Annie Bryant

  “My sister?” Isabel said, confused. “What did she do?”

  “She just happened to be shopping there with Cammy, and she totally saved the day. She showed me where they hide the really adorable, ‘age appropriate’ bras. FYI, it’s in the back, next to the socks.”

  “She was probably happy to help you, since she hasn’t been able to pass on any words of wisdom to me yet on that subject,” Isabel said. I’m light years away from that experience, figured a glum Isabel as she crossed her arms.

  “Um, Isabel, everyone gets one sometime,” Katani reminded her.

  “Right!” Avery agreed.

  Maeve turned to Isabel and Katani. “You guys are so lucky you have big sisters to help you out with this stuff. Don’t get me wrong, my mom was great, but her style’s, well, kind of boring. Moms are aaaaall about being practical, when sometimes you just want to be fun!”

  “See, having a sister would solve everything,” Charlotte agreed. “Hey guys, I have an idea. Since some of us don’t have any sisters to help us out, maybe we can all be each other’s substitute sisters when it comes to this whole bra thing.”

  “I think that’s an excellent BSG project!” Katani chimed. “Whenever you wanna go bra shopping, Iz—or anybody—I am happy to volunteer my services.”

  Avery giggled. “I see what’s up. Now that Maeve’s officially Queen of Romance and I’m Queen of Gum, Kgirl wants to be Queen of Underwear.”

  “Har har…” Katani rolled her eyes.

  “Thanks for the offer, Kgirl,” Isabel said with a smile.

  Maeve felt a warm glow inside, and it wasn’t just because she had her back to the fireplace. She knew she was so lucky to have the BSG. Who else could she talk to about such personal stuff and not feel completely embarrassed?

  “You guys are the best substitute sisters ever!” she squealed, giving her fluffy pink pillow a tight squeeze of pure delight.

  CHAPTER 18

  Red Hair, Green Thumb

  First things first. Who’s hungry?” Bailey plopped a huge bag on a table in the MIT greenhouse. “I, for one, cannot work on an empty stomach. Plus, I took the liberty of raiding the deli and dessert sections at the dining hall.”

  Matt’s face lit up as he dug into the basket. “What do I owe you?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Bailey said, with a wave of her hand. “You got the pizza the other day, so this one’s on me. Now how about you, Maeve? I have some blueberry muffins. On the other hand, I also have a turkey sub on a French baguette.”

  “Ooo, turkey for me, please.” Maeve wrapped her mouth around the enormous sandwich and took a giant bite. Forget Matt. Bailey can win me over with deli any day!

  “So Matt says your project is coming along well. Let’s see your daffodils…,” Bailey said. Maeve and Matt had carried three trays of plants all the way from her kitchen window at her mom’s apartment to the MIT greenhouse. Maeve was totally proud of her healthy-looking sprouts. She couldn’t wait to see what Bailey had to say about them.

  As Bailey inspected the plants carefully, leaning down so that her nose almost brushed the leaves in order to check them out from roots to buds, Maeve held her breath and clasped her hands tightly to keep from biting her nails. She had heaped so much love and care on her plants over the past week. She even kept an exact record of how many times she watered and fertilized each plant. Bailey just had to say they were doing okay!

  After what seemed like hours to Maeve, Bailey finally stood up. “Maeve, these look very promising, but I think they are going to need a little more light and warmth. You can keep them in the corner of the greenhouse till the science fair, if you want. That way you’ll have something very impressive to show your teachers and classmates.”

  “But how will I take care of them?” Maeve objected, lovingly patting the moist soil around the base of the smallest plant, almost as if she were tucking it into a snuggly, dirt bed. “Don’t my sprouts need my attention? I mean, how will I record their progress? My little darlings need me!” She flung herself over the tray, being extra-careful not to bend even one of the growing stalks. After a couple seconds of silence, she opened one eye and peeked at Matt from under her arm.

  He and Bailey were smiling. “Think of it this way, Maeve. It’s for their own good,” he advised her. Maeve stood upright and folded her arms, considering her options.

  “Well, if it’s what I must do, then it’s what I must do,” she said with her head held high, feeling just like a classic film heroine. Even more noble than that, actually—Audrey Hepburn never had to make a decision like this!

  Still, Maeve didn’t feel totally comfortable leaving her plants here in the greenhouse. On the way over on the T, the trays had bounced up and down in her lap. It took all of her concentration to make sure nothing and no one knocked them off her lap, and for once she didn’t even care about getting dirt on her jeans! If her plants were living at MIT, would she still be able to give them the same kind of attention? “They’re still kind of small,” Maeve explained to Bailey, taking some of the plastic containers off her tray and placing them gently underneath a special greenhouse grow lamp.

  “These really are great, Maeve!” Bailey complimented her again. “Are those the control?”

  “Yessss,” Maeve replied uneasily, glancing at Matt, who gave her an affirming nod. “Control” meant the ones she hadn’t given organic fertilizer. Those plants were much smaller.

  This news seemed to delight Bailey. “I knew it! I knew it!” she squealed, clapping her hands and dancing around.

  Matt laughed. “I haven’t seen you this happy since that time you figured out how to program an in-ground water system for your greenhouse!” he joked.

  “Hey!” Bailey said. “Who loved that crop of tomatoes more than you?”

  Maeve covered her mouth. Matt and this Bailey girl were actually funny when it came to science. She didn’t know that such a thing was even possible. And Matt obviously thought Bailey was practically his dream girl…even though Maeve still couldn’t imagine putting one toe outside her bedroom in some of the stuff Bailey wore. It was clear—Matt was meant for Bailey, not Maeve. Now if only Maeve could find a dude who thought movies and raising amazing flowers were cool. Maeve had a growing feeling in the pit of her stomach that between her and Bailey, those daffodils were going to rock and roll.

  I guess science to Matt and Bailey is like what movies and plays and getting all dressed up are to me—exciting and fun, Maeve thought. Although people romance is way more exciting than plant romance. Maybe someone could write a movie about both. There could be this girl who grows the most amazing flowers with her own special organic fertilizer and some handsome guy who owns a big fertilizer company wants to buy her formula…and they fall in love and save the world, too. “Love and Blooms.” She could see her name just below the title…or maybe above.

  “I think you’re in excellent shape for the big fair, Maeve,” Bailey decided. “A few days under these grow lamps and you’ll really see the effects of the special fertilizer.”

  “Thanks,” said Maeve. With the morning sun streaming into the greenhouse, Maeve saw Bailey in a whole new light. In here, her strange, hippy outfit, funny hairdo, and serious knowledge about growing things made her seem like some kind of wise Earth caretaker among her beautiful greenhouse plants. Getting to know her might actually be kind of fun—after all, Maeve loved meeting new people.

  Bailey poured a test tube full of tangerine-colored liquid over one of her large flowering plants that was hanging from a ceiling beam. “This is a new nutrient I’ve been watching compost for months—lemon juice, orange peels, carrots, and of course my secret ingredient.”

  Matt smiled slyly and teased, “Hey Bail—are you still trying to get out of eating your fruits and veggies?”

  “Hey, I have an idea,” Maeve offered. “Do you two want to come to our environmental science fair?” She almost couldn’t believe the words were coming out of her mouth.

  “You want to?�
�� Bailey asked Matt, her face lighting up.

  “Definitely!” Matt exclaimed. “Thanks for the invite, Mix-Master-Curl.”

  “Oh, you’re welcome,” Maeve sang sweetly. If this wasn’t growing up, then she didn’t know what was!

  “Let’s get your plants all settled in over here. Your dad said he’d pick you up outside,” Matt urged. Maeve could have wandered around the greenhouse forever, but it was lunch at Dad’s and she didn’t want to keep him and Sam waiting. With Bailey and Matt’s help, she was ready in a jiff and out the door. She had to hand it to Matt—he picked a great girlfriend.

  Listening In

  “What in the world are you doing, Charlotte?” asked Mr. Ramsey. Charlotte was lying flat on the Oriental rug in their den with her ear pressed to the floor.

  “I’m trying to see if Miss Pierce is still awake. I want to run down and talk to her about my project.”

  Mr. Ramsey chuckled. “Do you really think that’s such a hot idea, Char? It’s nine o’clock.”

  “But Dad, I want to update her on how my project is coming and return this—ah hah! I just heard footsteps. She must still be up.” Charlotte shot up from her post and ran into the kitchen. Thirty seconds later she returned carrying a tray with a teapot full of hot cocoa and a plate of sugar cookies.

  Mr. Ramsey looked at his daughter in awe. “I know I don’t say this a lot, but this is exactly something your mother would’ve done. She was always very thoughtful to friends and neighbors…particularly older people.”

  Charlotte smiled. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Charlotte, what are you doing still awake?” Miss Pierce asked when she opened the door. Charlotte heard beautiful music from inside the apartment, like a Spanish guitar. Miss Pierce was wearing a long, white nightgown and holding a book called The Chemistry of Cakes.

  “Is this a bad time? I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  “No, not at all. I was having a little trouble sleeping, actually, so I decided to catch up on my reading. I’m learning all about the science of food. Fascinating.”

  Charlotte beamed. “Well, I have just the thing for trouble sleeping. Hot cocoa made with milk. My dad used to give this to me to help me fall asleep when we traveled.” Charlotte loved all the adventures she and her dad had had, living all over the world, but she was very happy now that she had a place to call home.

  Charlotte poured herself and Miss Pierce two dainty little cups of cocoa and took a seat on the couch.

  “So, Charlotte, to what do I owe this pleasant surprise?”

  “Well,” Charlotte began, “I just wanted to tell you that I’m making really good progress on my part of the project. In fact, I’m almost finished!”

  “Why, Charlotte, that’s wonderful!” Miss Pierce exclaimed. “I’m so proud of your work on this project. Sometimes you remind me of myself as a girl, do you know that?”

  Charlotte felt herself glowing with pride. “If I decide to become a scientist, I hope I can be as good at it as you are, Miss Pierce,” she said softly.

  “I am quite certain that you will be even better!” Miss Pierce assured her with a smile. “As long as you are never afraid to ask questions…and never afraid to go out and find the answers.”

  Charlotte nodded, then remembered one of the reasons she had come down in the first place.” Oh!” Charlotte pulled something out of her purse. “Here’s the book you loaned me. It really helped. Avery took a look at it too. You saved our lives!”

  “Oh, Charlotte!” Miss Pierce exclaimed. “I’d hardly call what I did life saving. Besides, you did all that work yourself. I just lent you a book.”

  “Well, it was very helpful, then,” Charlotte insisted. “Really. Nick and Chelsea and I never would have come up with the great idea for our project if it hadn’t been for you!”

  “Chelsea…” Miss Pierce scratched her forehead. “Now she’s the lovely girl who takes all the pictures for your paper?”

  “That’s right!” How easily Charlotte could forget that although Miss Pierce kept to herself a lot, she still knew just about everything going on in the Beacon Street neighborhood.

  “And Nick…is that young Nicholas Montoya?”

  Charlotte felt her cheeks burning. “Yes.”

  Miss Piece smiled. “I remember that boy when he was just a little tyke. Back when I used to frequent Montoya’s Bakery. What a handsome young man he is now, though. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  Charlotte shrugged and into her tea cup mumbled, “I don’t know…I guess…maybe so.”

  Miss Pierce raised an eyebrow and gave Charlotte a wink. “Maybe so, indeed.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Blue Sludge

  Avery felt like a gum zombie as she lugged her enormous backpack and a giant, foldable foam core poster down Beacon Street to Abigail Adams Junior High. Her feet might as well have had lead blocks tied to them at the rate she was going.

  “Hey, Avery! Wait up!” sang a voice behind her. It was Maeve, jogging as fast as she could, which was a pretty hilarious scene. Her wild red hair was blowing everywhere in the sharp, spring wind, and the long, pink scarf she was wearing (a gift from Katani) kept blowing up into her face. “Blegh! I got cotton in my mouth!” she groaned, batting at the fabric. “So what’s with all the stuff?”

  “Science project,” Avery managed. “Stayed up all night to finish. Tired. Very tired.”

  Maeve nodded. For once she’d finished all her work on the assignment early. She’d turned in her lab reports and had set up her station the day before. Partly it was due to Bailey and Matt’s enthusiastic encouragement. But Maeve had actually done all the grunt work herself. She had actually really enjoyed taking care of her plants. Maybe if she didn’t make it in Hollywood, she could have a back-up career as a horticulturalist actress. So many options. Maeve was comforted by that thought.

  It felt amazing to be home free before anyone else. She wanted to brag a little, but her mom always told her nobody likes a bragger. Plus, this might just be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. After the science fair project was done, Maeve might be right back doing the procrastination thing, just like Avery. She didn’t want to jinx herself.

  It wasn’t often that Maeve could outrun, let alone outwalk Avery. She glanced back to see if maybe someone had attached heavy chains to her speediest friend’s feet. She was a little surprised by what she saw instead. “Ave, so this shoe business…are you trying to make a statement, or are you just losing your mind?”

  “Huh?” Avery glanced down. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” On one foot she was wearing one of her favorite bright orange running shoes, and on the other she had a bright blue high-top. “I look like a crazy person.”

  Maeve smiled and threw her arm around Avery’s shoulder. “Well, you’re my favorite crazy person. C’mon, let’s go.” And the girls skipped the rest of the way, perfectly in sync.

  They arrived at school and made a beeline straight for the gym, where their classmates were hard at work setting up their projects. Maeve was thrilled to be done—it gave her a chance to mosey around the room and check out the cool things that other kids had come up with. Some projects were really awesome, but others, she thought, were kind of lame—like Pete Wexler’s cloud diorama, which was supposed to show how jet fuel can pollute clouds but was really just some cotton balls in a shoe box. Anna and Joline had teamed up to do a project about which brand of eyeliner lasted the longest. Their poster looked a little like Maeve’s face after she cried so much about Matt. “Uh, just wondering, but what does this have to do with the environment?” Maeve asked them.

  “We only used eyeliners that weren’t tested on animals,” Anna haughtily explained.

  “Duh,” added Joline.

  Maeve had to muster up all of her strength not to burst out laughing. Joline was wearing green eyeliner with big gobs of tacky glitter, and Anna was sporting bright neon blue. The girls looked like they’d escaped from a clown colony. Now she knew what her mom meant by too much makeup. And what did produ
cts not tested on animals really have to do with the environment? But actually, looking more closely at Anna and Joline’s poster, Maeve had to admit their research was pretty good. They had tested just about every eyeliner on the market.

  The Trentini twins had made an exploding minivolcano. Maeve thought it was really cool to see it explode over and over again, and interesting to read about how volcanoes put gases into the atmosphere that could have effects in a totally different part of the world. The twins’ poster informed her that in 1815, a volcanic eruption in Indonesia caused frosts during July in Europe, halfway around the world! “Did you see this?” Maeve asked Charlotte, pulling her friend over to the twins’ booth.

  Charlotte, however, had seen a ton of science fairs. She said with a laugh, “You know, I’ve gone to school in Paris and Australia and no matter where on earth I turn up…someone always makes a volcano for the science fair.”

  Isabel’s artistic study of phytoplankton was absolutely breathtaking. She’d done an informative and thorough study of how global warming affected the algae, and the important role the algae played in the health of the oceans. It seemed that all her viewers were so captivated by her radiant illustrations they were actually getting really interested in her research, too.

  “Well, if I learned anything today, it’s that art can really inspire people to care about something. That’s so cool!” Isabel gushed.

  “Totally,” Avery agreed. “If I had any artistic talent, I would definitely use it to get everyone fired up about all kinds of important causes.”

  “That’s why we all have to stick together,” Maeve proclaimed. “So we can all use our different talents to help each other do whatever we want to do.”

  “I like that!” Charlotte agreed.

  “Example: as the ultimate gum chef slash wizard, I can provide you all with a lifetime supply of Avery Madden’s Green Tea Lime Fusion gum!” Avery cried. Everyone laughed. “C’mon. Come with me.” Avery led Charlotte, Maeve, and Isabel to the massive stand she had prepared in the corner. It looked like a gum shrine—she had tried to document every kind of gum that she had created by sticking goopy wads all over the poster.