*****
Michaela was ready when the tapping at her window came this time, pulling Jaden though and onto solid ground almost before he’d started knocking.
The smell of vinegar still hung heavily in the air, and the plush white rug they’d sat on earlier was gone. Michaela closed the window, not quite looking at Jaden, and Jaden looked at the now bare hardwood instead of at Michaela.
“Is your dad really mad?”
“A little,” Michaela said, sighing. “He said he was too mad to look at me and that I was going to have to spend the weekend at Mama’s, but when he came to get me…”
She shook her head, and Jaden realized the noise she’d been hearing in the background was two voices overlapping, both hissing in anger and speaking rapidly. Something smashed downstairs, and Michaela flinched.
“I’m sorry,” Jaden said, horrified and guilty. “It was stupid to do the volcano in your bedroom, I should’ve–”
“It’s fine,” Michaela said quickly, shaking her head. “They’ve forgotten all about the rug by now. And me. Mama will storm out soon, anyway.”
“I’m sorry,” Jaden said again, still feeling guilt heavy in her stomach. “I can go–”
“No,” Michaela blurted, startling Jaden into looking up at her. This time it was Michaela who dropped her eyes, reaching up and twisting a curl between her fingers. “You don’t have to, I mean. Pops won’t notice. And the volcano was very cool.”
“It was?” Jaden asked, her grin a bit more shy than usual. “I mean, duh, of course it was. Good old acid-base reactions.”
“They are,” Michaela nodded, smiling. “I have also heard of a, um, ‘coke and mentos’ thing?”
“You’ve never…” Jaden’s mouth gaped for a second before he quickly shook his head, waving her hands. “Nope. I’m not going to suggest it, especially not right after I got you in trouble, but…seriously?”
“Maybe show me another time?”
“Totes,” Jaden said, beaming. “Maybe outside, though?”
“Yeah maybe,” Michaela teased back. “But you can. Stay. If you want. We could…” She gestured to the bag that Jaden always seemed to have on him. “Talk about more ideas for the fair?”
“Yeah, okay. If you want,” Jaden said, sitting cross-legged on the floor, the scent of vinegar forgotten. Michaela joined her a moment later. “Okay, so there’s this one…”
*****
Jaden and Michaela’s project–isolating the DNA from a piece of banana, along with detailed notes on the process and a mention of how the golden ratio could be found in the molecules–won first prize in the science fair by a landslide.
Gordon Sullivan and Becky Smith’s volcano won second.
*****
“I really feel like we should have a celebratory party or something. This is huge,” Mike whisper-shouted in Sadie’s ear as they cheered their kids.
Sadie shook her head, “That isn’t necessary. We could just do pizzas.”
“Nope. Your son’s won this fair three years running, fair and square. Don’t you think he needs to be celebrated?”
Sadie opened her mouth to protest but then stopped. Why was she protesting? Was it the party idea itself or was it planning it with Mike that daunted her. And what did that say about her? She smiled instead, glancing up at the pastor.
“Okay then,” she said.
Besides; he was right. Jaden deserved to be celebrated.