The Ooze Read Free

beaker.
    â€œBetter not,” I warned him. “You can get into real trouble if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
    â€œI’m not planning anything major,” Colin said. “Just a little stink bomb.”
    â€œI don’t know,” I said. “My mom and dad told me not—”
    â€œWe can set it off upstairs,” Colin interrupted. “Don’t you want to see your sister choking and gagging—right in front of that guy she likes?”
    That would be pretty funny. At least until my parents found out.
    â€œWhere’s the manual?” Colin asked, digging through the box.
    â€œI thought you knew how to make one!” I replied.
    â€œNo. No, I don’t,” Colin admitted. “But the instructions must be in here somewhere.
    â€œOh, sure,” I said sarcastically. “Just look under S for stink .”
    Colin found the instruction booklet and flipped through it, shaking his head. “Nothing here,” he muttered.
    â€œCome on,” I said. “Let’s go out. We can go to the mall or something.”
    â€œNo. Let’s stay here. We don’t need instructions. It can’t be that hard to make a bad smell,” Colin declared. “Your sister does it without even trying.”
    I laughed. Colin can always make me laugh. That’s one of the reasons we’re best friends.
    Colin tipped the test tube of purple crystals over the red liquid.
    â€œColin. Don’t do it,” I warned.
    He ignored me.
    He tipped the test tube some more.
    â€œColin! You don’t know what you’re doing!” I yelled.
    The purple crystals began to tumble out.
    I looked at the labels on the test tubes. “Not the red and the purple, Colin! Not those two!” I screamed. “You’ll blow up the house!”

4

    I snatched up the beaker.
    The purple crystals spilled from the test tube and scattered all over the worktable.
    â€œYou can’t mix chemicals without knowing what will happen, Colin! Those two could have caused an explosion!” I yelled.
    â€œOh,” Colin replied. “Does that mean no stink bomb—just because you’re scared of blowing up the house?”
    I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Like I said, Colin knows how to crack me up.
    â€œOkay, okay. No stink bomb.” Colin gave in. “Let’s go to the mall.”
    We started to pack up the chemistry set. “Hey!What’s this?” Colin asked as he tried to shove the test tube rack back into the carton.
    He pulled out a single sheet of paper from the bottom of the carton. “Ha! Is this good enough for you?” he exclaimed.
    I peered over his shoulder and read the paper. Directions—directions for how to make a stink bomb. Weird.
    The instructions were handwritten on a bright orange piece of paper—nothing like the plain white paper the manual was printed on. Very weird.
    â€œLet’s do it,” Colin urged. “We have all the stuff.”
    â€œWell, okay,” I finally agreed. How could I pass up the chance to embarrass Michelle?
    We measured the chemicals carefully and combined them in a clean beaker. “We’ll leave this one out until we’re in position upstairs,” I told Colin. I showed him a test tube filled with yellow powder.
    â€œGood idea,” he answered.
    We tiptoed up the stairs and into the kitchen. I peeked into the living room. Jonathan Muller stood by the fireplace, talking about some chess tournament they were organizing.
    I spotted Michelle on the sofa. She leaned forward, gazing at Jonathan across the room. The other kids were all focused on Jonathan, too. Perfect.
    â€œCome on,” I whispered. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled into the living room. Crawledto the back of the couch and hid behind it. Colin followed.
    â€œReady?” Colin mouthed, holding out the beaker.
    â€œYes,” I whispered, holding up the test tube. “Hold your