Allie waved both arms, whooping, “Woo-oooo!” Charlie raised her hand; it happened to have a bunch of grapes dangling from it. Trevor raised his hand, and then some other kids did, too. Izzy held her breath and, Yes! she thought joyfully, because Marie raised her hand as well.
Mr. Delmonico said, “Okay, everybody’s who’s interested in a STEM team, go see…” He turned back to Izzy, asking, “What’s your name?”
“Izzy Newton,” said Izzy. Her voice was faint, but it didn’t matter because Allie and Charlie called it out with her at the same time.
“Go see Izzy Newton and write your name on her sign-up sheet,” said Mr. Delmonico. As kids headed over to do so, he went on, “I’m not saying it’s a definite go, but the more names on the list, the more the board is likely to approve it. Include the list with your research, Izzy.”
Izzy nodded. Allie flung her arm around Izzy’s shoulder with a smile a mile wide, and Charlie tilted her head toward where Marie was standing. Izzy looked at Marie and met her glance. Was that an infinitesimal smile on Marie’s face? Yup. But it didn’t last long; the new girl next to Marie said something to her and Marie’s smile slipped off fast.
But, Oh, boy! thought Izzy, pleased to have caught Marie’s interest. Izzy sat at the end of a cafeteria table. She printed STEM TEAM at the top of the paper and under it she wrote: 1. Izzy Newton. Then she turned the paper around and handed the pen to the first kid crowded up next to the table. Allie took charge of the rest of the kids who wanted to sign up, corralling them into one orderly line. Charlie sat next to Izzy and instructed everyone to print neatly so that all the names would be legible.
Izzy was hardly aware of the happy commotion. She felt weak with relief and, at the same time, proud. It might seem insignificant to other people, but to Izzy, her victory over shyness was huge. It was, she thought happily, one small victory for friendship.
* * *
Right after lunch, Izzy went to her locker to put the sign-up sheet away. It had 24 names on it. Marie had not signed the sheet, but Izzy was sure she’d show up if the STEM team took off. Izzy’s locker was easy to find because it was near the cafeteria, in the same hall as Allie’s and Charlie’s lockers. And her combination was easy to remember: 3-14-16, which was pi, rounded to the nearest ten-thousandth. Then Izzy went to the Girls’ Room, which was even more of a freezer than the cafeteria. Izzy was surprised the water in the toilets hadn’t turned to ice! She was in a stall when she heard two girls come in.
“So that’s the girl you told me about, right?” Izzy heard an unfamiliar voice say. “That intense girl?”
“Mm-hmm,” the other girl answered.
“She’s out there! I mean, it’s like she just didn’t get the memo about what’s cool and uncool in middle school,” the new voice went on. “She wants to be on the ice hockey team? And on top of that, she’s a science nerd. I’m like, ‘Whoa! That girl’s toxic.’ Hey, by the way, I saw you raise your hand, but you know you can’t join that STEM team thing of hers, right? It’s impossible.”
The other girl’s response was lost in the rush of water as the girls washed their hands. But it didn’t matter. Izzy knew that the girls had been talking about her. She froze solid in the stall, because when she looked down, she saw Marie’s glowing shoes! And then she heard Marie say, “Come over to my house this afternoon. We’ll hang out.”
“Okay,” said the new girl as she and Marie left the Girls’ Room together.
Izzy leaned her forehead against the cold metal door of the stall, thinking: So the new girl can go to Marie’s house and have fun, but Charlie, Allie, and I can’t. And what’s worse, Allie’s right: Marie thinks I’m a giant loser.
So, should she give up her hopes for renewing her old friendship with Marie? Izzy didn’t know. But Izzy was sure that there couldn’t be any worse feeling in the world than thinking that she’d lost an old friend, especially one who used to really get her and like her in all her weirdness—a friend who liked the real Izzy and seemed to know that real Izzy better than she did herself. It was unusual to have a friend who liked you because of your unique quirkiness, down to your soul. That’s who Marie had been. That’s whom Izzy was pretty sure she’d lost. Because Marie now thought Izzy was a dork, somebody to avoid because she was—what was the word the new girl had used? Toxic.
The next day, Friday, was blissfully Forensics free. Izzy, Allie, and Charlie all stayed after school. Charlie bundled up in a hoodie and vest because of the cold weather outside and headed to the field to try out for the track team. Allie set out on a marathon of club meetings. Izzy went to the library and media center to gather information about STEM teams to present to Mr. Delmonico.
Izzy always loved libraries. They were usually quiet but humming with ideas and, best of all, full of Izzy’s favorite stuff: books, computers, and other things to read. Since it was after school, there were lots of kids in the library playing games on the computers and doing homework even though it was uncomfortably cold; there seemed to be a polar vortex whistling through the bookstacks. Izzy saw Trevor sitting on the floor near the windows, but he had the hood of his parka pulled up and was so deep into his book that she didn’t think he saw her. Izzy noticed that Trevor was reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which was her favorite book in the series. She reminded herself not to tell Allie that she and Trevor liked the same book. Allie was sure to read too much into that fact.
“May I help you?” asked Ms. Okeke, the Atom Middle School librarian and media specialist. She was tall, and her bright blue gele made her even taller.
“Yes, please,” answered Izzy. “I’m looking for information about STEM teams.”
Ms. Okeke smiled. “You are the girl who suggested a team, aren’t you?”
Izzy nodded.
“The school I worked in back in Nigeria sent a team to the global competition,” said Ms. Okeke. “Come on. Let’s find information to convince Mr. Delmonico and the school board that Atom Middle School should have a team, too.”
With Ms. Okeke’s enthusiastic help, Izzy found several excellent articles to show Mr. Delmonico. “I think this one’s the best,” said Izzy. She showed Ms. Okeke an article about a team of girls who called themselves “the Hoppers.”
Sixth-Grade Girls Win STEM Contest
The seven sixth-grade girls call their STEM team “the Hoppers” in honor of Grace Hopper, a computer pioneer. The Hoppers invented a compost receptacle that’s biodegradable. They won their regional STEM tournament and their state tournament, and then they went to the World Finals and competed against kids from 25 countries. Every team was allowed only $145 for all their materials.
“Only a hundred and forty-five dollars for materials,” said Ms. Okeke. “That should help Mr. Delmonico feel better about the budget.”
Izzy printed copies of the newspaper articles they had found. She attached the STEM Team sign-up sheet to it. Then she wrote a note and attached it to the articles, too: