Andi Under Pressure

by Amanda Flower

  The building’s front door slammed behind us as we ran for the stairwell.

  “Andi, we completely missed the opening and are late for chemistry,” Colin hissed as we climbed the stairs to the third floor. “Bergita will ground me for a week if she finds out we skipped camp.”

  I frowned at him. “We didn’t skip. We’re just a little late.”

  Colin ran his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you tell me about that piece of plastic?” There was hurt in his voice.

  I pushed open the heavy metal door onto the second floor and turned to look at him. “I forgot about it yesterday until after I left your house, and then I was reminded of it again when we saw Polk.”

  “If we are a team, we can’t keep secrets.”

  “I’m not,” I said, feeling a blush on my cheeks. “I forgot, honest.”

  Colin walked by me into the hall and grinned. “Oh, okay. Let’s go. If we’re kicked out of camp, it will go on our permanent record.”

  I hurried after him, relieved he was no longer angry. “Permanent record? What permanent record?”

  Our footfalls echoed in the quiet hallway. The only doorway open was the chemistry lab in the middle of the hall. All the other classrooms were closed for the summer. I tried to imagine how busy the hallways must be during the school year when students and professors rushed back and forth to class.

  Colin’s shoes squeaked as we moved down the hall.

  “If we are going to keep investigating, you’d better wear less noisy shoes tomorrow,” I whispered. “How can we sneak around when everyone can hear you coming a mile away?”

  Colin frowned at his shoes. “They’re my new ones for school. Bergita wanted me to break them in.”

  I shook my head.

  Two doors led into the lab. Through the first door, we heard Dr. Comfrey say, “Today, we will talk about the glucose, or simple sugar, in your favorite drinks. Using the Bunsen burner and Benedict’s solution, a combination of sodium citrate, sodium carbonate, and copper sulfate.”

  In silent agreement, Colin and I tiptoed past the first door and slipped through the classroom’s back door into our seats.

  Dr. Comfrey arched her eyebrows at us but, thankfully, didn’t say anything. The professor cleared her throat. “Everyone, please put your safety goggles on.” She stared pointedly at Colin and me. I glanced around the room. Everyone already wore safety goggles, including Dr. Comfrey, who was at the front lab table near her desk. On the countertop, she had a Bunsen burner, a can of cola, a bottle of apple juice, a bottled sports drink, a small blue bottle, and a row of test tubes.

  Colin shoved goggles into my hand, and I slid them onto my face.

  Dr. Comfrey selected one of the test tubes from the rack and poured a small amount of apple juice into it. “Apple juice first,” she said, looking at us over her safety glasses. “Then we add two drops of the solution.” She filled the dropper from the blue bottle, and added two drops of the liquid to the apple juice. “Final step, heating it over the flame.”

  I wished I’d sat closer to the front of the room for a better view of the experiment.

  “Ava,” Dr. Comfrey said. “Please stay in your seat. Everyone will have time for a closer look in a moment.”

  Ava was halfway off of her stool. I guessed I wasn’t the only one wishing for a better view of the reaction.

  She waited for Ava to return to her seat before she turned on the Bunsen burner’s gas.

  Dr. Comfrey smiled. “Here we go.” The professor picked up the metal striker. A flame caught on the burner. As she moved the test tube over the flame, the burner exploded, and the classroom erupted into screams.

  CASE FILE NO. 12

  Flames ran up the sleeve of Dr. Comfrey’s lab coat and across the papers on the lab table. The fire alarm went off. Kids covered their ears and watched in horror as Dr. Comfrey tried to muffle the fire on her left arm with her right hand.

  The gas for the Bunsen burner was still on and the flame grew bigger. Dylan ran to the front of the room and shut off the gas. “Outside! Get outside!” Dylan shouted and ripped the fire extinguisher off the wall.

  Kids ran from the room. Colin pulled on my sleeve. “Andi! Come on!”

  Dylan sprayed Dr. Comfrey with the extinguisher. White foam covered the professor and lab table. Tears ran down the teacher’s face as she slid to the floor.

  The fire alarm wailed, and out in the hall, red emergency lights pulsed.

  Dylan squatted down beside her. He removed his cell phone from his pocket. “Yes, I’m at Michael Pike University. There’s been a fire in the chemistry lab.” Dylan caught me staring. “Andi! Go outside.”

  I turned and ran. In the stairwell, I nearly collided with Kip, the security guard. “What are you doing in the building? Didn’t you hear the fire alarm? Get outside.” He didn’t wait to see if I followed his orders as he took the steps two at a time to the second floor. I lingered in the stairwell for a few minutes trying to see if I could hear anything upstairs above the scream of the fire alarm. But it was no good. I ran down to the lobby and out the door.

  Outside, two fire trucks and an ambulance already sat on the grass next to the science building. Dr. Ruggles and Dr. Lime, the ecology professor, stood near the truck speaking with the fire chief. Three other firemen had their masks down over their faces and marched into the building. The EMTs removed a stretcher from the back of the ambulance.

  “Andi, what were you doing still inside?” Susan asked me. “Go over there with the others under the tree.”

  As I was about to join my classmates, I heard Madison ask, “Where’s Dylan?”

  “He’s with Dr. Comfrey,” I said. “He put out the fire.”

  Madison swallowed and looked away from me.

  “Is Dr. Comfrey hurt?” Luis asked.

  I nodded.

  “Go sit with the other kids,” Madison ordered.

  I wanted to ask her what was going to happen to camp, but her glare gave me second thoughts.

  The campers from all element groups gathered beneath a huge oak tree. I fell onto the grass next to Colin, scanning the grounds for any sign of Polk.

  “Who are you looking for?” Colin asked under his breath.

  “Polk.”

  Colin pushed his bangs out of his eyes. “You don’t think Polk — ”

  I shifted into a more comfortable spot on the ground. “No. Of course not.”

  Dylan came out of the building. There was soot on his T-shirt, and his hair stuck up in every direction.

  Madison ran over to him. He held up his hand to stop her before she could touch him. I wished I could hear what they were saying. Dr. Ruggles marched over to the two college students.

  “What happened?” a kid from Helium asked. Gavin and Spenser began talking at the same time.

  “Boom!” Spenser bellowed. “Fire and glass everywhere. We had to dive under our desks to avoid being burnt alive.”

  Gavin nodded. “It was heavy stuff. We could have been killed. Or at least barbequed,” he added wistfully.

  “The flames were huge. Dr. Comfrey was on fire,” Spenser said.

  The other campers fell silent.

  Ava, who leaned against the oak tree, snorted. “Please, Spenser. You’re making most of that up. There was a small explosion and Dr. Comfrey’s lab coat caught on fire.” Her dark eyes flicked in my direction. “It seems highly suspicious to me that the lab was going fine until Andi and Colin showed up late. When they walked into lab, the Bunsen burner blew up.”

  Colin opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish.

  I stood and folded my arms. “What are you trying to say, Ava?”

  She shrugged. “I’m just telling the others the chain of events. Chain of events is important in the sciences, you know. I particularly find them interesting.”

  The other campers watched Ava and me. I could feel the blush creep up my neck, across my face, and into my hairline. I stomped to a neighboring oak tree about ten yards away and sat at
the base, facing away from the other students.

  Behind me I heard the other kids laughing.

  Colin dashed across the yard and fell into a spot next to me. “Are you okay?”

  I frowned. “I’ll be okay. I just wish Ava would leave me alone. Doesn’t she care that Dr. Comfrey might be seriously hurt?”

  Colin’s brow wrinkled. “I’ve known Ava since first grade. I’ve never seen her act like this before. Something about you gets on her nerves.”

  Was that supposed to make me feel better?

  The door to the science building opened. It was Dr. Comfrey on a stretcher. Two firemen carefully lifted the stretcher down the three steps to the sidewalk. There was a piece of gauze, which had bled through, on the professor’s face.

  I stood up.

  “Andi, where are you going?”

  “I have to get closer,” I whispered and inched toward a trash can that was halfway between Colin and the professors.

  Dr. Ruggles stomped over to the chemistry professor and Dr. Lime hurried after him, followed by Dylan. “Meg, what happened?”

  The chemistry professor groaned. “I don’t know. We were just doing the glucose experiment. I’ve done it a thousand times. The Bunsen burner just blew up.”

  Dr. Ruggles brushed spittle from his lip with the back of his hand. “Did you check the burner?”

  She touched her left arm and then winced. “Of course, I did. The hose was fine.”

  Dr. Ruggles frowned. “Do you have any idea what implications this has for Discovery Camp? Not to mention the School of Sciences. What am I supposed to tell the dean?” He dropped his hand to his side. “We’ll have to call the children’s parents and cancel camp for the rest of the day.”

  “But — ” Dylan began to protest.

  “Don’t argue with me, Mr. White. This is a serious matter. If one of the children had been injured, do you realize what a disaster that would be for the university? The thought of a wrongful death lawsuit ties my colon up in a knot.”

  “No one died,” Dr. Comfrey said through gritted teeth.

  The older professor ignored her. “We will have to receive the university’s approval to reopen camp tomorrow and to keep the program going as planned.”

  “Not all of their parents will be able to pick them up early,” Dylan said.

  “Then you and other counselors will think of something to entertain them until their parents do arrive that does not involve explosions, understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” Dylan said.

  Dr. Comfrey closed her eyes. “I suppose you’re right. Their parents should be told and going back into Colburn is out of the question for the rest of the day.” She opened her eyes again. “Kip says the building will be closed for the rest of the day as it is. They have to determine what caused the accident.” She scowled as she said the head security guard’s name.

  “Ma’am,” said one of the medics holding the stretcher. “This isn’t a good time for talking. We have to take you to the hospital about those burns.”

  “Yes, I apologize,” said Dr. Ruggles, straightening up. “Dr. Comfrey, go with the medics to the hospital and get stitched up. I’ll take care of everything here. Unfortunately, I’m used to cleaning up other people’s messes.”

  Dr. Comfrey touched her bloody bandage on her cheek and bit her lip as the stretcher rocked along the bumpy sidewalk to the ambulance.

  Dr. Ruggles gathered the camp counselors into a small pack. “Camp is over for the day,” he said. “Call the parents of each of your students. I’m going back inside to talk to Kip and the fire chief. Hopefully, I will have something sufficient to report to the university about how this happened.”

  I ran back to Colin and pulled him back to the rest of the class under the oak tree as the counselors joined the students.

  “Hi, kiddos,” Susan said, giving us a huge smile. She practically hopped in place. I could see her running back and forth on the basketball court and never breaking a sweat. “Because of the little incident in the chemistry lab, we’ll be outside for a bit. That’s not so bad, is it? It’s a great day. Anyone want to play tag?”

  “Does she think we are five?” a boy whispered to his lab partner.

  Madison held her clipboard close to her chest. “We’re not going to play tag.” She glowered at Susan. “We need to call all of your parents to tell them what happened and assure them that you are safe.”

  “Are we going to have to go home?” a boy from Luis’s group asked.

  “That will be up to your parents. Colburn is off limits. Anyone caught inside there will be kicked out of camp,” Madison said, her voice firm.

  Did that just mean if you go inside but don’t get caught?

  Colin bit his lip. He knew what I was thinking.

  I glanced up to find Dylan watching me with a little frown.

  “Will camp be canceled?” a tiny girl from Helium asked.

  Goosebumps popped up on my arms. It never occurred to me that camp might be canceled permanently over the explosion.

  Luis smiled. “Naw, don’t worry. Maybe you will get to go home early today, but tomorrow, we will be back in action.”

  I hoped he was right. The last thing I wanted was camp to end before I figured out what was going on in the science building. All the incidents in Colburn must be related. They had to be.

  Dylan clapped his hands and looked more like his old self. “All right, so you guys hang here for a second while we call your parents.”

  The four counselors moved to the second oak tree, pulled their binders from their backpacks, and started making calls.

  “Can I have the casebook?” Colin whispered. “I might as well update it while we wait.”

  I dug into my backpack for the casebook. I covered it with my hands as quickly as possible, glancing around at the other kids in the group to make sure no one had seen it before passing it to Colin.

  Polk and Curie appeared around the side of the library. The janitor pushed a rolling cart of cleaning supplies.

  Colin’s glasses sat crookedly on his nose, and the tip of his tongue stuck out of his mouth while he recorded the day’s events.

  “Colin,” I hissed.

  “Hmmm?” He didn’t look up from his notebook.

  “Colin.”

  He blinked at me from behind his glasses.

  “Two o’clock.”

  Colin found the position two o’clock from where we sat like I knew that he would. His eyes went wide and his mouth made an “o” shape.

  “We have to tell him to stay away from Colburn,” I breathed.

  Colin gave me a slight nod.

  I felt eyes on us and found Ava watching us with narrowed eyes. Luckily, just then Polk and Curie disappeared back behind the library.

  “What are you two whispering about?” Ava wanted to know.

  “None of your business,” I snapped.

  “Then, I will make it my business,” she said.

  I took that as a threat.

  CASE FILE NO. 13

  Dylan held his cell phone away from his ear as a woman on the other end shouted at him. He took a deep breath. “Yes, yes, I understand your concern, Mrs. Harper, but I can assure you that the students weren’t anywhere close to the fire.” He paused. “Yes, you are welcome to come and pick up Brady now if you would like.” He sighed. “Okay, we will see you in a few minutes then.” He hit the “end” button on his cell phone, then smoothed the crinkled piece of paper on the grass. I saw my name on the paper with Amelie’s name and cell phone number. Colin’s was there too with Bergita’s, and so were the names and parents of the rest of those in our group. I glanced over to Madison. Her list was in a highlighted and tabbed binder.

  “What is it, Andi?” Dylan asked.

  I held my aunt’s library books in my arms. “Would it be all right if I went to the library for a minute? I promised my aunt I would return these books for her. Since we aren’t doing anything — ”

  His cell phone rang, and he groaned
when he saw the number. “Mrs. Harper,” he muttered. “Fine, fine, go return the books, but don’t waste your time over there. Come straight back.”

  “No problem.” I smiled.

  He eyed me. “If you’re gone more than ten minutes, you’re in a heap of trouble. Why don’t you take Colin with you? He can be your timekeeper.”

  “Okay!” I said and ran back to Colin before the counselor changed his mind. I pulled my friend to his feet.

  He stumbled forward. “Where are we going?”

  “To return Amelie’s library books.”

  “I’m starting to think that is some kind of code. Every time you say ‘return Amelie’s library books’ we go after Polk.”

  “Shhh! Dylan said we only have ten minutes to run to the library. Let’s go.”

  He followed me across the green.

  Thankfully, the main door to the library was on the opposite side of the building, so Dylan wouldn’t see when we didn’t go inside. I dropped Amelie’s books into the book drop, and they fell into the metal container with a thunk.

  “Now that you returned the books, what will you use as your Polk-spying excuse?” Colin asked.

  I smiled. “I’ll think of something.”

  As we walked back the opposite direction around the library, we saw Polk sitting near the library’s emergency exit, taking a break. Curie was at his feet.

  “Polk!” Colin yelled.

  Polk struggled to his feet, clutching his chest.

  “Colin, you almost gave him a heart attack,” I said.

  “I’m sorry.” Colin ran over to the older man. His backpack bounced on his back while he went. “Are you all right?”

  Polk scratched his chin. “Not to worry, young man. Yes, you did startle me, but I have a strong ticker.” He tiptoed down the steps to his cleaning cart and gripped the handle.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what was inside the cart, other than mops and cleaning supplies. Could the platinum be there? I hated to think Polk was responsible for the robbery, but I had to admit there weren’t many other suspects on the list.

  “Polk, we have something to tell you, but we don’t have much time,” I said.