Amy’s scalp went hot in frustration; suddenly, the room was stuffy, and all she could smell was pencil erasers. Like she didn’t know the scientific process!

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she answered back, and walked out into the hall.

Part of what frustrated her was that Mr. Heindecker couldn’t see her full idea—but then again, that was her fault. She didn’t want to give away what exactly she had planned for Rover, in part because it was kind of outlandish—even she could admit that—and in part because if she announced it now, he might urge her to work on something more traditional. But if she showed it to the entire school, on the spot, it would be astounding. And that’s what would get her the blue ribbon.

Marguerite jogged up next to her as she was leaving class. “Man, you’re walking really fast,” she said with a laugh. “Did Heindecker not like your science fair idea?”

“Just wait,” said Amy. “He’ll see. I’ll show him.”

“Aw, you’re going to stop at I’ll show him?” asked Marguerite. “Nah, come on, go full Doc Frankenstein.”

“I’ll show them all!” said Amy, shaking a fist in front of herself and playing it up for her friend. “Call me mad, will they? They’ll see! Heindecker will kneel before my science project!”

Marguerite laughed. “There we go.”

And Amy had to admit: She felt better.

It was a crazy idea. She barely believed it herself.

So she’d make them believe. She and Rover both.

But she quickly realized there was one obstacle she hadn’t planned for:

Katie.

“You’re not going to shock Rover, are you?” her little sister asked that night at dinner, stirring around her mac and cheese. Amy had just explained to her family what she was hoping to do.

“I’m not shocking him,” Amy replied. “I’m going to see if I can teach Rover some advanced communication skills. But no, I’m not going to hurt him at all.”

Mom and Dad glanced at each other across the dinner table.

“And you’re sure that this counts as a science project, right?” Mom asked. “You ran this by Ms. Feliz?”

“We have Mr. Heindecker in sixth grade,” said Amy, trying to show Mom just how little she knew. “And yes, it counts. I’m not teaching Rover to shake hands—I want to see if he can use technology to talk to us.”

“Like how?” asked Mom. “Is he using his paws to type on the computer?”

Amy looked down at her plate and pushed her broccoli with her fork, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn’t make her sound like an idiot. Leave it to Mom, a real estate lawyer, to follow Katie’s lead and ask a bunch of on-point questions. Dad, a graphic designer, had just said, “Cool!”