BUTTERFLY BRAINS

The next morning, I sit in the dining hall, shaping my scrambled apples into a circle. My teammates are talking about something, but all I can think about is how unfair it is that we have to solve this task using all six categories.

“Kia, what’s wrong?” asks Jillian. “Why are you so quiet?” Her hair is pulled over one shoulder into a fishtail braid.

“The teams who competed all the other years only had to use skills from one category to solve their task. Like Colorado, the team who made the floating air purification sparkles. They had to use what they knew about Earth and Space to solve that problem and I’m pretty sure the team from Tennessee who built Mabel only had to use information from their New Technology class. It stinks that we have to use all six.”

“I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

“Why not? It’s going to take us forever to include skills from all six. I think we should ask Master Freeman to change the rules or something.”

“Kia! Are you crazy? He’ll think we’re lazy or not smart enough to figure it out.”

“I am not lazy!”

Jillian’s eyes get big. “I didn’t say you were lazy. I just don’t think you should complain to him. We have to work harder, that’s all. We can figure it out.”

Now I feel stupid for saying it. I’m not afraid of extra hard work. That’s what got me to this camp in the first place. Besides, I don’t want anyone thinking I’m not smart enough to be here. “I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.”

“That’s okay. I am too.”

“You are?”

Jillian quick looks over at Mare like she’s afraid she’ll hear what she’s about to say. But Mare’s talking to the boys, not even listening to us.

“Well, yeah,” she says. “I want to win just as bad as you do.”

I think about that for a second. Jillian never looks worried about anything. I mean I can tell she likes being here, and really wants to do a play, but I never thought about why she would want to win or if she was worried we wouldn’t. “Are you afraid to get programmed?”

Her mouth turns into a frown. “Yeah. I’m probably going to be put into Earth and Space. I always score the highest in that category, but I really want to be put into Art Forms. At least if I win and enroll at PIPS, I’d get to work on some artistic stuff. It would be better than Earth and Space, that’s for sure.”

I smile and her frown disappears. It’s nice knowing she really wants to win like I do.

We walk down the hall to Meeting Room Twelve with the rest of our team. The same chair I’ve sat in all week is waiting for me. I’m glad I only have to sit in it for a few minutes though. Seraphina doesn’t mind if we sit on the floor or even on the table.

We’ve already decided on the theme for our play—ghosts! We agree that if we’re trying to answer the question, Where do humans go after they die? then using ghosts as tour guides will be perfect. We’ve decided who our characters will be too, and now we’re working on what our play could be about.

After our morning meeting, Gregor leads us on a jog around Piedmont University. Ander tries to run ahead but Gregor won’t let him. When we get to the pond at the far end of campus, we climb onto a pile of rocks. Gregor says that fresh air and exercise encourage a creative mind. I think he’s right. The breeze has filled my head with lots of ideas about our play. So have the butterflies fluttering near me.

If only our team could fly to heaven, then we could spy on the dead people and know for sure if that’s where they went—because maybe it isn’t heaven. Every single person in this whole world wants to know what will happen to them after they die, and I think I know why we all want to know—because we’re scared. Maybe if we knew, then we wouldn’t be scared at all.

My brain swirls in fast motion. Maybe we could invent a robot like Mabel who could travel with a dead person and give us the answer. Maybe we could capture a dead person’s spirit and analyze it under a microscope. Or we could analyze a dead person’s cells under it instead. My ideas are swirling in my brain. As soon as I think of a new one, I forget the old one. I feel like a pinball machine. I could really use a brain organizer.

When our break is over, Gregor leads us on the run back. Seraphina instructs us to work in small groups in our bedchambers until lunch. Mare and Jillian want to start planning costumes. The boys want to plan the sets. I want to do both, but I decide to work with Ander and Jax. We have to come up with an awesome backdrop for our play and there’s no way I’m going to miss this part. Besides, Ander will probably take too many breaks, so I think I need to make sure that he doesn’t.

When we step into the boys’ bedchamber, the laser board jumps to life, and the beams rearrange themselves. It startles me every time I speak. Ander says I’m jumpy. I’m not jumpy. I’m just not used to laser creatures flying around every time I make a sound.

Jax sits down at the planning table and folds his hands. I want to remind him there are no teachers here—he can relax a little bit, but then I wonder, maybe he can’t relax. Maybe he’s nervous around us. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t ever talk unless he has to. I sit across from him and try my best to not be scary or hard to talk to.

Ander grabs his notebook from the bin and puts one foot on the chair. “Okay, Big Guy, what kind of set should we build?”

Jax shifts in his seat.

Ander tilts his head. “Come on. We want to hear your idea. What do you think?”

“You want to hear what I think?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Why wouldn’t we?”

Jax turns red. “I’m not used to people listening to me.”

“How come?” Ander asks.

Jax looks down at the table. “I guess I figure since I’m quiet people don’t want to hear what I have to say. But I guess maybe I don’t give them the chance.”

I smile as big as I can. “Well, now you have the chance to say whatever you want.”

Jax lets out a breath, like he’s been holding it in his whole life. “We could make a back drop like they do in theaters. The frame could be made out of metal, and we could hang fabric from the top like curtains.”

“It would have to be big though,” Ander replies.

“We can make it as big as we want.”

I try to imagine a large, curtain-like backdrop. “That would look good, I guess. I mean it’s a great idea, Jax. But is that as creative as we can get?”

“I don’t know,” he replies.

I feel an idea ready to burst. “What if we build a set that moves or something instead?”

“Yes!” Ander points to me. “It could spin or change shape.”

“Exactly! The whole point of the play is to answer the question of where people go after they die. What if our set is the object that rotates?”

Jax looks confused. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“We can use our set to show examples of where humans go after they die.”

“Yeah,” says Ander. “We could build a set that turns into a coffin!”

“Or the boxes the Egyptian Pharaohs used to be put in for all of eternity,” I say.

“Right!” he shouts. “That could be the object that rotates. But, since none of us is exactly sure where people go after we die, we have to show where we think they go—or where the ghosts think they go.”

Jax pulls the printed copy of the task out of the bin and flips through to the description page. “The task states that we need to build an object that changes three times and then goes back to its original place—in the form of a circle. I don’t see how we can make the object our set.”

“We already know we’re going to show ghosts giving a dead person a tour of choices—where they can go after they die,” I say.

“And,” says Ander, “the rules don’t say it has to be an actual circle. What if the ghosts use a giant object to show the different places dead people could go? Like . . . we could make a big rectangular box. The first side could show all three choices, like a gallery or something, then the next side could show the first choice, a casket that gets buried in the ground.”

“And then it could rotate to the next side—a giant oven where your body gets cremated and sprinkled throughout the air,” I say.

Ander walks near the sound board. The lasers are freaking out. “And then it could switch to the last side which is the third choice . . . a rocket that sends your body into space!”

“Yes! That’s perfect!” I answer, walking around the room in circles, resisting the urge to jump up on Ander’s bed. This is going to be so great!

Jax is finally smiling too. “But it has to go back to its original spot at the end.”

“Okay,” says Ander. “At the end, it can rotate back to the first side with all the picture choices. That’s when the dead person-ghost makes his decision.”

“That would be awesome!” I squeal.

“What do you think, Jax? Do you like that idea?”

“Yes, and I think the judges would like it.”

“I like it,” says Ander.

“Me too!” I say. “None of the teams will create a rotating set and a play. I know they won’t.”

We high-five each other and check the clock on the wall. It’s almost lunch time. The boys and I make a run for it through the halls of Piedmont Chamber to meet Mare and Jillian. When we enter the dining hall, Jillian runs over and drags us to the table.

“Okay, so Mare and I planned the materials we need to make costumes, all of them creepy and ghost-like. Jax you’re the serious ghost guide. Mare is his ghostly assistant. I am the dramatic ghost. Ander you’re the silly ghost, and Kia, you’re the little ghost girl, new to the after-life, who must choose a way to spend eternity. What do you guys think?”

“Oh! I love it,” I say. “That’s perfect!”

“Awesome,” says Ander. “I can be silly, weird, and strange.”

“I’m fine with that too,” says Jax.

“Okay, good,” says Jillian. “We were hoping you’d all agree.”

We reach the New York table where Mare is waiting. “We like the character ideas, and the boys and I figured out the set,” I say. “It can be our rotating object that shows all the places a ghost could go to spend eternity. We were thinking a coffin, a crematory oven thingy, and a rocket ship that sends your body to space. What do you guys think?”

“I like it,” says Jillian.

“Me too,” says Mare. “But I want to be the one to show the ghost girl the oven thing and since I gave in on the play idea, I get my way with this.”

I want to roll my eyes but I don’t.

“Fine,” says Ander. “I call the rocket ship!”

“Then I’ll show the coffin,” says Jillian, “And Jax, you can show all the choices at the end, since you’re like the head ghost.”

He nods and we end up all talking at the same time. I can’t tell who’s the most excited about their character. Through the chatter, I picture myself as a little ghost in a ragged costume. I’m twirling around, looking at my choices for the after-life. I twirl and twirl and that’s when I figure out what to choose. Soon though, I snap out of my daydream and look around the room at all the other teams talking and eating their lunches too. For the first time, I don’t feel so overwhelmed. We’re going to ace this task. I just know it!