Dave Casler
PO Box 98
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Young Adult Novels by Dave Casler...
I've been told by publisher after publisher that there's no market for Young Adult novels. I think they're wrong! So I'm putting my novels on-line for you. Forget the publisher! Read to your heart's content--it's free! And, I'd like to hear from you, too! Contact Page.
You're reading About Dan. Be sure to check out About Phillip here.
Dan is a normal kid who loves his soccer. Except everything goes wrong. Everything.
About Series Home
About the About Series
Index to All Chapters
Here are all the chapters, disguised as asterisks. Hover your mouse over an asterisk to see the title of the chapter. Click on the asterisk to go straight to that chapter.
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(About Dan Home) (Last) (Next)
The Bad Chemistry
"Peter, I need to talk with Dan. You can start the lab by yourself," said Dr. Jensen. "Please deposit him in my office."
The chemistry office was as messy as Dan’s room. The framed diploma declared that Dr. Jensen received his doctorate in physics from Columbia some thirty years before. Technical journals and textbooks were tumbled in heaps, some on bookshelves, some on the floor. Dan saw that Dr. Jensen had authored one of them, Thermodynamic Equilibrium in Laminar Gas Flows at High Pressures. He had no idea what it meant.
Dr. Jensen closed the door quietly.
"Dan," he began, "we need to talk turkey about your progress this semester. Do you know how you did on your last test?"
"Sorry, sir," he said weakly.
"51%. Even on a curve it’s somewhere between a C and a D."
Dan leaned forward.
"Sorry, sir. My other tests are ok and my labs have been ok, haven't they?"
Dr. Jensen riffled through his notebook. Dan shrunk into the wheelchair.
"I think you have a B. But the trend is downward."
Dan hated that gaze.
"Now," continued Dr. Jensen, " you've lost two weeks of class."
Like it's my fault, thought Dan. He managed to stammer a simple "yes."
"What would you like to do about that?" Dr. Jensen leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.
It didn’t look good.
"Can I make up the lost work?"
"I don't think so. Most of it involved lab work done in class. The apparatus has been taken down." He looked at Dan.
Dan was flustered and didn't say anything. To his surprise, Dr. Jensen suddenly smiled.
"I used to play soccer when I was in Germany in the Army. I have a bum knee as a result. You probably didn't know that."
He didn't.
"So here's what I'll do for you." He handed Dan a piece of paper. "If you'll write this research paper, I'll give you credit for the lost work."
"Yes, sir," said Dan weakly.
"Don't underestimate how hard you'll have to work. I suspect you’re well behind in your other classes. So I'm going to give you until Christmas break to get this turned in. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you sir."