Chapter 29: Art supplies (pt. 1)

Slowly Jeffrey became comfortable with talking to kids about his Oobleck project. At the beginning there was always this sense of self doubt and taking things personally when he was rejected. The weird stares and annoyed looks he received often made him sad and a little depressed.

Jeffrey often thought, "Is Oobleck really not cool?"

However whenever he looked at the material that he painstakingly made with his own hands, he felt that his time and energy was worth something.

Jeffrey had spent some time teaching Preston and Samantha the recipes and ratios for crafting Oobleck. There were a lot of quality control steps to ensure that they were able to get the right containers and photocopy logos, but soon Jeffrey wasn't the only one making it now.

Jeffrey had organized the science project trip at Preston's house.

That Saturday, Jeffrey was dropped off at 618 Clementine Dr.

He got out of his family's Honda Odyssey van. Preston's door was a painted and orange lacquered wooden door with an old lamp hanging above the front entrance.

Jeffrey rang the doorbell.

*Ding dong*

Jeffrey could hear the footsteps of someone approaching the door. Preston's parents welcomed him in.

"Come in, come in", Preston's father greeted Jeffrey.

"I heard about the science project and that you're the one leading it. I hope its going well", Preston's dad said to him.

"Preston's upstairs getting dressed, he slept in", Preston's dad explained.

"Yeah, no problem. My sister had a competition later today, so I got here early", Jeffrey said.

"Well you can wait here or head up to see your friend if you want", Preston's dad headed into the kitchen to cook some breakfast.

Jeffrey headed up the stairs and saw Preston in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Morning", Jeffrey nodded at Preston.

"Haah, morning" Preston said with a yawn.

"What have you been up to lately?", Jeffrey asked.

"Nothing much, just school, piano, math circle, tennis and video games", Preston said in one breath.

Jeffrey saw math textbooks from kumon and art of problem solving opened and half filled, alegbra and geometry problems half scribbled in. Preston's tennis racket was partially buried under a pile of clothes.

Soon the doorbell rang again and Samantha arrived with a light jacket and a pair of tennis shoes. She had a simple hair clip and was well dressed. Samantha looked much nicer and cleaner than the two boys. However Jeffrey thought that might not last long, if she hung around people with no fashion sense like him and Preston.

"Hi Preston. Hi Jeffrey", she greeted them.

"Hi Samantha", Preston said being surprisingly comfortable talking to a girl.

"Awesome you're here", Jeffrey said a little excited.

They briefly talked about the materials they'd have to collect, data they wanted to measure, and if they had time Jeffrey wanted to get them ready about the second phase of the project.

Taking over the dining area, Jeffrey started taking photos of the Oobleck viscosity test. Tracking the distance traveled and grabbing a few household liquids such as liquid dish soap, detergent, water, milk, and Oobleck, it took a greater part of the morning and 3 hours into the afternoon to finish.

They still had to work on the poster boards, presentation and other logistical issues.

It was well past lunch time so they decided to get something to eat. Preston's Dad cooked some shrimp scampi pasta for lunch and they discussed how the second phase was going to work.

"So Samantha, you feel comfortable with selling Oobleck?", Jeffrey asked

Preston was enjoying his father's cooking especially after the repetitive nature of doing science.

"Uhh, to be honest I'm not. However it's probably a lot easier compared to what you two have done when you first started", Samantha replied.

Preston praised Samantha's eloquence, "Good answer!"

Jeffrey could feel Preston looking to side with Samantha to oppress his momentum.

"Yeah, well it was difficult at times but it's going ok. I just want to make sure that you're ready and prepared", Jeffrey explained.

Preston, "Yeah all I got was two sentences of encouragement and then I was thrown to the wolves."

Jeffrey saw Preston's mischievous eyes and knew he was here to make trouble, "Your classmates aren't wolves Preston, plus you're not a sheep."

Samantha took a few bites watching the two of them.

Jeffrey coughed and continued.

"I prefer you guys to have a little more freedom and find your own methods to talk about it rather than just copying me. It's better to have you're own ideas and get a good experience dealing with problems", Jeffrey took a few more bites.

"So, how was trying to make Oobleck?", Jeffrey asked.

"It's a lot harder than I expected", Samantha replied.

"Yeah, I can kind of understand why you're selling it for $20", Preston added.

"The logos, the jars, the supplies and just making it is quite difficult", Preston talked about his time trying to make it.

"I had to make the recipes from scratch as well, although once you have a good recipe you can make a lot all at once instead of making them one jar at a time", Jeffrey reaffirmed their experiences and struggles.

"Anyway, I'm still saving the money we earned for more supplies and project expenses. As much as we can ask our parents to drive us around, sometimes we're going to need to travel on our own", Jeffrey mentioned.

"I'm working on getting everyone a new cellphone so we can talk and meet up. We could also get a bus card or get a taxi", Jeffrey started mentioning all these ideas.

Preston interrupted, "shouldn't we focus on buying supplies first?"

"Oh yeah", Jeffrey stopped himself.

"How are you guys planning on buying the materials for Slime and Oobleck?", Jeffrey asked.

"Do you have something in mind?", Samantha could see that Jeffrey had something he wanted to say.

"Uhhh, how about you guys tell me some of your thoughts first", Jeffrey looked a little embarrassed to be the only one talking.

Preston suggested, "Our parents?"

Preston looked at Jeffrey

Jeffrey responded, "I think that's a good place to start, but it's going to be a little bit awkward asking our parents over and over again to buy the same thing. So when we starting making a little money, I think it's best for us to buy it ourselves."

Samantha asked, "I think that's great and all, but how are we going to buy it and with who's money?"

Jeffrey spoke up, "yeah, that's a difficult question. How do we want to split it up and do we want to involve our parents."

Both Samantha and Preston shook their heads no the last question.

"I'd prefer we just keep this between us. I mean they know that we're working on a project. However I want this to be our project", Preston said.

Samantha agreed, "Yeah, I don't really want to get my parents involved."

Jeffrey laughed, "So we can agree on that then."