Mr. Flock’s class was louder than usual. Tess could hear the commotion as she walked down the empty hallway, back from the dentist. When she got to the room, every student was up at the whiteboard, all talking at the same time.

The Project

Tess blinked, confused, and looked around for her Puppy Pack. Cora, Jacob and Emily were excitedly talking while Scarlett and Zach were trying to inch their way to the whiteboard for a look at a piece of paper that was posted up, crooked, with a thick piece of clear packing tape.

“Mr. Flock never was one for technology,” Tess thought as she rushed to the closet and threw her bag and coat in the general direction. Her backpack landed on the floor with a thud.

“Why is everyone so excited?” Tess asked, standing on her tippy toes trying to see the paper. With all the heads in the way, she couldn’t make out any of the words.

“Mr. Flock posted the announcement for the Pine Grove Science Fair!” said Cora giddily. “And the best part is, you can design anything you want!” She did a little happy dance.

Last year, the projects were picked for them, and Cora got stuck with a worm farm. Tess chuckled out loud, remembering the face Cora made when someone had accidentally tipped over her worm-filled jar and she had to pick them up one by one with her bare paws. “My worms!” she’d squealed, grossed out, but worried for the slimy creatures.

“And we can work together!” Zach added as he came up behind Emily, putting a paw on her shoulder.

Emily blushed and looked at her feet. Scarlett followed close behind, already taking notes.

“I think the best part is the prize!” Emily said. “First place is free tickets to the movies!” Emily was a sucker for musicals and her favorite, Fur Gel, was coming out in theaters that weekend.

Tess thought the Puppy Pack would be a great team for the project. If they worked together, they were sure to win! Tess loved her friends. They always had so much fun together.

“Does anyone have an idea for a project?” Tess asked.

Several members of the pack started to talk at once, making Tess dizzy as she glanced from pup to pup.

“A working model of lungs!” shouted Scarlett.

“The breakdown of chemicals needed to develop film!” Jacob called.

“Let’s build a robot!” Zach chimed in, mimicking robotic arms and making beeping

sounds.

“A model of space!” Emily called out, holding up her current book.

Tess glanced at Cora and giggled. Each of the suggestions was the perfect representation of each of their friends.

“How about we think about it and pick something tomorrow at recess?” Tess suggested as she took her journal to the board to write down the details. She was excited because parents were invited to come watch. Her grandma loved science.

Tess struggled for a moment to find a clean page; her journal was bursting with ideas, quite like herself. Most of her journal was already full. She loved creating art and writing down interesting ideas. Sometimes, if she found something she really liked in a magazine, she would cut it out and paste it in. Her journals always started out a normal size, but by the time they ran out of clean space, they were triple the width.

Flipping past a realistic-looking drawing of a frog, a collage of magazine cutouts of new room ideas and a sad-looking cat wearing a Christmas outfit design, Tess finally found a clean page. She looked at the flyer.

Tess’s stomach dropped and all the excitement for the upcoming project fell away. Thursdays were the hardest day for her mom to take off because that was her 24-hour shift: 12 hours on, followed by 12 hours on call. Most of the time her mom couldn’t request time off. Tess thought of two years ago when their car had broken down. Her mom had to take the bus, which was more time away from home. Her mom finally got a different car, but then several of the other nurses left, and she was still working extra hours to make up for the shortage. Some weeks it felt as though she didn’t see her at all.

Sighing, Tess walked back to her desk with her head down. She knew her mom always tried her best to get time off so that they could spend time together. Every once in a while, her mom would skip sleeping during the day after a night shift. But she stopped doing that after Tess told her it made her stomach hurt to think her mom was driving while she was tired.

As Tess passed Cora, she felt a paw reach out.

“You all right, Tess? You look sad,” Cora said, concern on her face.

“I’m okay,” Tess responded, and forced herself to smile, though she didn’t feel okay. She wanted to feel excited about this project; all her friends were. But Tess couldn’t help feeling like it wouldn’t be much fun if her mom wasn’t going to see it.

The Plan

The next morning, Tess wandered slowly into school. Her mom had promised she would try to make it to the Science Fair but told Tess not to hold out hope. Tess had cried, which made her mom’s eyes water too. Before she went to sleep, they hugged and settled on the idea of Tess’s grandmother attending and recording the presentation and awards. Tess made sure to wear her pajamas inside out and cross her fingers before falling asleep for extra luck that someone would take her mom’s shift.

With all the worrying about her mom making it to the presentation, Tess had forgotten to come up with an idea to give the Puppy Pack at recess. Rather than listen to Mr. Flock’s history lesson, Tess sketched in her journal and tried to think of an idea for the Science Fair. The only thing she could think of involved frogs, but she knew Cora would never agree to that.

When recess rolled around, the Puppy Pack got together and discussed project ideas. Tess pulled out her journal and turned to a clean page. It was almost the last one! While it made Tess a little sad to finish a journal, she was excited to pick out a new one. Her mom always made it a special event. They would go out for brunch and to the bookstore.

As all her friends pitched their ideas, Tess drew some picture notes. Little planets for Emily’s, lungs for Scarlett’s, a rocket for Cora’s, and a robot for Zach and Jacob’s. She was putting the finishing touches on the robot when she looked up to see everyone staring at her.

“Well, what’s yours, Tess?” Cora asked as she inched closer to look at Tess’s sketches.

“Oh, uhhh…” Tess racked her brain for an idea but couldn’t think of an idea that all her friends would like. She was used to individual projects. “Actually, I liked Cora’s idea of a rocket better than mine anyway.”

Cora smiled wide, and everyone started talking at once. After several minutes of conversation without getting close to a decision, Scarlett motioned for silence.

“I think we should vote,” she said tactfully, taking some scrap paper from her pocket and ripping off a bit of paper for each pup in the group. “You can vote for anything but your own idea.”

With some muttering “Good idea,” they all wrote their votes down.

Zach pulled his hat off his head, and everyone folded their paper and put them inside. He gave it a mix. Tess created a little square next to each doodle for tally marks.

“Okay, someone read them off,” she said, pen ready to make a tick.

“Rocket, rocket, space, rocket, robot, rocket,” Zach said as he pulled each slip of paper from the hat.

“Aw, no one voted for mine?” Scarlett looked upset.

Tess threw an arm around her shoulders. “Sorry, Scar.”

“It’s okay,” Scarlett said. “Rocket it is, I guess. Let’s make a plan.”

By the end of recess, the pups had decided they wanted to try to improve the design

of the last compressed air rocket winner and beat the school’s record rocket height. If they beat the record, maybe they would win the Science Fair!

It was decided that each pup would have an even amount of work that reflected their skills. Everyone would help with the research under Scarlett and Emily’s direction since they spent the most time in the library. Zach would take the lead on the build, with Tess helping draw up the design and “schematics,” a fancy word Scarlett explained meant building plans. Jacob was in charge of documenting the launch practices, and Tess would be in charge of making the poster board. Cora was their announcer, presenting the final product to the judges. Happy with their plan, they all got started.

In the library, the group looked toward Scarlett and Emily. Emily pushed her glasses up her nose and consulted a list.

“Okay, pay attention, scholars!” she said in a wonderful impression of Mr. Flock. “Tess and Zach, you are going to find these four books.”

Scarlett handed Tess a slip of paper with some numbers and letters. Tess and Zach stood up and walked to the stacks, looking for the reference section.

“They would give us the dewy decimal system as opposed to the titles of the books,” Tess said, rolling her eyes and looking for the start of the 600s.

“Okay…618…almost there…uhhhh, 646, too far…here it is: 629,” said Zach.

Tess turned around. “Will you read me the rest of the numbers?” Tess asked.

Zach rattled them off.

After a few minutes of mild frustration, they found the books and headed back to their table. They cracked them open and started to read. It wasn’t long before they pulled out their journals and started doodling. The others had their roles set and they decided to use the Puppy Pack group chat to share information. The pups planned to meet up in a few days. Everyone took home a book and some website addresses to use for their part of the project. The Puppy Pack planned to meet up on Saturday for a practice launch.

Working Separately

Tess eagerly awaited information from Scarlett and Emily on rocket design and schematics, and soon after arriving home, the messages came rolling in non-stop.

Tess worked on the model sketch while her grandma cooked dinner. She drew it on graph paper so it was to scale. Making sure all the math was correct was tough, and it took her a little longer than expected. She was a little worried about messing it up, so she handed it off to Scarlett for corrections.

“I added some gemstones for flare,” Tess added with a grin. “I used some of the other

pups’ favorite colors,” she said proudly.

“I love it! It represents our Puppy Pack,” Scarlett said.

Scarlett promised to look over them and send them on to the boys right away so they could get started building the rocket.

“Why aren’t the plans ready yet?” Zach asked as Tess walked into Mr. Flock’s class Friday morning. She jumped. “I want to get started on the model,” Zach said. His eyes were all big and his face was closer to hers than usual.

Tess took a step back. “They are ready,” Tess said. “I gave them to Scarlett to check over Tuesday morning,” she said, glancing toward Scarlett, who was already in her seat.

“I did check them over!” Scarlett said, her voice squeaky and shrill. “I sent them to Jacob.” She pointed toward Jacob’s desk, but he wasn’t there. “Where’s Jacob?” Scarlett asked the other members of the Puppy Pack, but they didn’t hear her question.

“Don’t be mad at me!” Tess squealed as Zach flipped through her notebook, ripping some of the pages as he searched for the sketch.

“I’m not the one taking ages checking the math!” Zach sighed when he located the original sketch and silently went back to his desk to look it over. “I think I can get this made by Saturday morning for the trial launch,” he grumbled.

Practice Makes Perfect?

There was anxiety in the air when the pups arrived at Zach’s house that Saturday for the practice launch.

“Zach’s still ‘prepping,’” his papa said as he let the Puppy Pack into the foyer and handed them mugs of hot chocolate. He then walked them through the house, to the sliding door at the back, and out into the backyard.

Tess hugged herself as she waited for him to bring out the rocket. She felt a knot forming in her stomach, worried her sketch might have been wrong and Zach might not have been able to make the rocket at all. When he finally appeared in the backyard, Zach was smiling proudly as he pulled the finished rocket out of his jacket.

“Here it is!” he said, placing it on the cement patio.

Jacob was perched and ready to take photos, and the girls huddled together for warmth in the cool autumn breeze. Everyone held their breath as Zach launched the rocket. It took off fast, but its momentum quickly died and only went up about six feet. It nosedived into a nearby bush, pulling some yellow leaves with it and falling to the ground with an unsatisfying thump.

“I don’t understand!” Tess screeched, feeling her face get hot.

“The math was perfect!” Scarlett added.

Zach’s dad looked around at the gaping faces of the group. “Better luck next time?” he asked with a nervous chuckle, going over to join Emily’s aunt and Tess’s grandma on the picnic blanket he’d laid out.

The group followed him down but kicked the grass instead of sitting, while Emily’s aunt spread out a feast. She had packed a celebratory rocket “launch,” as she called the lunch she made. The group rolled their eyes at the pun, and no one seemed interested in eating it.

After several silent minutes, Tess stood up and collected the rocket. She brought it to the blanket and sat down. She looked at all her friends’ sad faces and thought hard about how to make them all feel better.

Zach’s face turned red, and he looked straight at Tess, his eyebrows furrowed. “So much for working so hard on the design,” he said angrily.

“Hey!” Tess said, a lump forming in her throat. “Scarlett was supposed to be checking to make sure it was okay!” she said, pulling away and looking at Scarlett, who burst into tears and ran back into Zach’s house.

“We should have just stuck to a plain design,” Zach said, annoyed. “We spent too much time on the decorations and not enough on the rocket itself.”

Tess’s stomach dropped. She felt like she’d let her team down. Jacob set down his camera and hung his head.

“But it’s so pretty,” Emily said, trying to cheer everyone up. “Look at the shiny silver and purple gemstones!” she said, petting the rocket.

“Who cares what color it is if it doesn’t work?!” screeched Cora. She stormed off into Zach’s house to call her mom and go home.

It turned out Science Fairs were not as much fun as Tess had thought, but she was determined to fix the rocket.

“I’ve got this,” she said, taking the dented rocket from Emily and placing it gently in her jacket pocket. “Let’s make a new plan,” she said, pulling her journal out of her backpack and flipping to the page with one of her draft sketches.

Emily sat beside Tess and put her arm around her. The remaining members of the group joined, and they got to work discussing what could have gone wrong.

That evening, Tess sat down at her desk to begin reworking the rocket design. “Prototype 2,” she wrote at the top of a clean sheet of graph paper and texted it through their group chat. She felt heavy from seeing all her friends feel disappointed. She was determined to fix it and make all her friends happy again. She hated to see them upset and fighting; it made her tummy hurt.

“We need a change,” Tess thought, rolling up her sleeves and pulling her filled journal from her closet. Tess was already busy redesigning the rocket when her grandmother interrupted and asked if she wanted a drink.

“No thanks, Grammy,” Tess said in a strained voice.

When Tess set her mind to something, she rarely got sidetracked until it was done. She sent a picture of the blank page to the Puppy Pack group chat.

“Starting fresh!” she sent with the photo.

Emily immediately reacted with a heart emoji and Cora sent a smile. She smiled back at Cora’s emoji. She pulled out all of her colored pencils and her ruler and got to work.

About half an hour into designing, Tess heard her mom’s key in the lock of the front door. Tess glanced at the time on her phone. It was four hours before her mom was due home. Seconds later, her mom was in her room.

“Hi, Tessy!” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “What are you working on?”

“The rocket for the Science Fair, Mom!” Tess exclaimed, showing her the picture.

“Wow, that looks great,” her mom said, admiring the drawing. “I’ve got a surprise for you,” she said. “I got the evening off and thought we could play some cards together!” her mom exclaimed, grinning widely.

Tess looked up at her mom and then back down at the rocket sketch.

“I can’t play cards with you, Mom!” Tess said, her voice high and squeaky. She cleared her throat and tried to steady her voice. “If I don’t get the design right, our team will lose the Science Fair!” It still came out a little louder than she’d meant it to, and her mom winced. Tess sighed, imagining all of her friends’ faces if they lost because of her.

“I’m sure your friends will understand, sweetie,” she said, putting a paw on Tess’s shoulder.

“No, they won’t!” Tess exclaimed, tears pricking her eyes. She didn’t want her mom to see her cry, so she swallowed hard and focused back on the drawing. “You should’ve seen their faces, Mom,” Tess said.

“Sweetheart,” her mom continued, sitting on her bed beside her desk. “I don’t think this is what Mr. Flock intended for the Science Fair.”

Tess kept drawing, not looking up.

“Sweetie,” her mom tried again. “Teamwork is about everyone working together,” she said softly, “not one person saving the day.”

Tess was too focused on her work to hear her mom clearly. She looked up from the

drawing and said, “What did you say, Mama?”

“It’s okay, Tessy,” her mom said, rubbing her shoulder. “I can see you are very focused and working so hard. I’ll give you time to work on your design,” she said, kissing her on the forehead. Tess’s mom’s kisses were always warm, and she felt her body relax.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said.

Tess’s phone pinged later on and she noticed it had gotten dark outside. It was a message from Emily.

“I figured it out!” the message read. “If the rocket is too heavy, it changes the amount of thrust it will need to lift it into the air. The gemstones added weight to the rocket that we didn’t include in our initial calculations.”

Another message pinged through. “Thrust: the amount of force needed to move an object in an upward motion,” it said, with a link to the website where Emily had found the information.

Tess remembered reading something about thrust in one of the large books Scarlett made her take home. She flipped through the post-its until she found the page and began modifying the plan to account for the added weight of the gems.

Tess’s mom came back later carrying a tray with milk and chocolate chip cookies.

“Snack break?” she asked.

Tess looked up from the rocket, putting the finishing touches on the color. She sat back and admired her work.

“Yes, please,” Tess said.

She took a picture of the design with her phone and sent it in the Puppy Pack group message.

“Finished!” she wrote with a rocket emoji.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said, cuddling up beside her with a cookie.

Tess awoke the next morning with a half-eaten cookie in her paw and a blanket pulled up over her shoulders. She jumped up out of bed.

“Mama?” she called down the stairs.

“It’s just me, Tessy,” Tess’s grandma called from the kitchen. “Your mom is already at work.”

“Oh,” Tess said, a lump forming in her throat.

She picked up the rocket sketch and placed it gently in her backpack before heading downstairs to eat breakfast.

Teamwork

A week later, it was the day of the Science Fair. Tess woke up early and sat at her desk in her PJs. She felt a weight on her shoulders. She just wanted to get the Science Fair over with and apologize to her friends so they could all be happy like they used to be.

When she got to the classroom, it was empty. Not even Mr. Flock was at his desk. She had seen him in the teacher’s room, pouring coffee from a glass coffee pot into a large mug and getting everything ready for the Science Fair with Ms. Barken, the P.E. teacher.

Tess wound her way around desks until she got to Zach’s. When she got there, she pulled her journal out and carefully removed the page she had worked on this morning.

“It’s ready!” Zach shouted as he ran into the classroom.

It looked just like Tess’s design. The purple stripe matched the gemstones at the bottom and the pearl-white glitter paint glistened in the sun.

“That’s definitely going to break the record!” Jacob said as he walked into the room, already taking pictures with his camera.

Tess had a tummy ache when she thought about the Science Fair. She wasn’t so sure the rocket would break the record, or even lift off.

“What’s this?” Zach asked, noticing Tess’s note on his desk. On it was “I’m sorry,” written in the special letters she had created for Zach’s video game. She had colored it in with all his favorite colors: grey, purple and midnight blue.

“Sorry I snapped at you at the practice launch,” Tess said, walking toward Zach. “I felt like you were blaming me and I didn’t want to disappoint everyone,” Tess said, her voice cracking. She turned away as a tear fell from her cheek.

“I’m sorry too,” Zach said, smashing into her a little too hard with a big hug. “And it’s not your fault,” he added, squeezing her a little tighter. Tess squeezed him back.

“I’ve been so stressed since we started this project,” Zach said. “My papa says it’s because I am putting too much pressure on myself to get it perfect and not relying on the team,” he said, releasing Tess from the hug and looking at her. “And I think you are too,” he said.

Tess nodded in agreement. “I just want everybody to work together,” she said, wiping her eyes. “And I think I have a plan to fix it.”

At recess, Tess called the Puppy Pack together. Everyone held their heads down. Once they were all sitting in a circle on the grass, Tess stood up tall and took a big breath, looking at the other pups. She motioned to Zach, who stood beside her.

“We’re not going to do a final trial launch,” Zach announced.

“What? Why?” Cora asked.

“I was thinking,” Tess said, “about how we used to have so much fun together as a pack,” she said. “I think,” she continued, “what we need is a nice bucket.”

The group looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

“What’s a nice bucket?” Cora asked with a chuckle.

Scarlett giggled and Jacob let out a big belly laugh.

“I thought you were going to say the project was off!” he said, relieved.

“A nice bucket, my friends, is a container we use to put positive thoughts about our

friends into,” Tess explained.

“I love that idea!” Emily squealed, jumping up. “Where’s the bucket?!” she asked excitedly.

Tess opened her backpack and dumped her pencil case on the ground in front of her.

Jacob laughed. “What are you doing?” he asked, motioning toward Tess’s pencils and cutely-shaped erasers strewn across the dirt.

“Well, I didn’t have a bucket,” she said, giggling, and placed it in the middle of the circle. “We each write a positive thought about the person to our left on a slip of paper, then fold it, toss it in, and mix them up. My mom said it helps build teamwork and morale.”

“What’s ‘morale?’” Cora asked.

“It’s, well, it’s…,” Tess stuttered.

“Morale is the confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or group,” Scarlett said, reading from her tablet.

Everyone nodded and mmmed in agreement.

Tess ripped off small pieces of paper from her notebook. Scarlett handed each pup a pencil. When they were finished writing, Zach mixed up the folded papers and pulled one out.

“Cora makes everything we do fun,” Zach read aloud to the group.

Emily blushed and smiled at Cora. “That was mine,” she said, looking down at her paws.

“Thanks Emily,” Cora said, smiling widely. “I’m sorry for being mean the other day.”

Emily put her arm around Cora. “It’s okay, Cora,” she said. “We understand.”

Everyone nodded and Zach pulled out another paper. “Jacob always figures stuff out,” Zach continued.

Jacob nodded silently. “Sorry I wasn’t able to figure this project out,” he said sadly.

“It’s not your fault, Jacob!” Scarlett said, squeezing his neck in an awkward but

meaningful hug.

“Emily always knows the right answer,” Zach said, reading off the next slip of paper, and Emily grinned down at her paws.

“Thanks,” she said, barely audible.

“You’re welcome,” Tess said, beaming. “And I’m sorry for obsessing so much over getting the design right that I didn’t take the time to work together with my friends,” she added. Tess thought back to the evenings working alone in her room. She remembered turning her mom down for game night and a lump formed in her throat.

“Tess is the most creative pup I know!” Zach read, bringing Tess back from her thoughts.

“Thanks, Zach,” Tess said, feeling a bit better.

“It’s true,” he said before pulling out another folded-up paper.

“Scarlett is a genius,” he read.

Scarlet blushed. “Hardly!” she said, giggling, but smiled widely. “Sorry I couldn’t use my ‘genius’ brain to figure out the rocket,” she said.

“There’s still time!” Jacob said jokingly.

“I’m sorry for blaming you for taking so long on the blueprints,” Tess said. She and Scarlett exchanged small smiles.

“Zach always helps me when I need it,” the final note read. Zach smiled at Tess. He knew her handwriting. His face fell a bit.

“Zach, what’s wrong?” Tess asked, concerned.

“But I didn’t help you when you needed it,” he said. “I just complained and yelled at you,” he said with a chuckle.

“It’s okay, Zachy,” Tess said, putting a paw on his shoulder. “You were just frustrated.”

Zach nodded. “I think we all were,” he said.

“That was fun!” Cora said after the pack had finished reading the notes and huddled together to discuss the official launch. “We should make a team mantra!” Scarlett shouted.

“How about, ‘Better Together?’” Tess suggested proudly, stretching her arms around Emily and Scarlett on either side of her.

“Better together,” Zach repeated. “I like it.”

The Puppy Pack was the first group at the fair. Scarlett and Emily had their notebooks and pens ready for notes; Jacob had his camera; Tess with her journal; Zach brought the rocket with the pups’ notes inside; and Cora came ready to explain the project to the judges. Tess was nervous and a bit sad that her mom wasn’t able to get the afternoon off to come, but her grandmother was there, wandering around and looking at all the displays. She was ready with her phone for when it came time for them to present. Cora was pacing and muttering to herself, practicing her script. Scarlett and Emily had rearranged the display five times. Zach kept tinkering with the rocket, and Jacob was busy taking pictures for the school website.

Tess felt her friends’ excitement buzzing around her. The jewels glistened in the sunlight. Each friend did their best to keep calm, and they repeated their new mantra together as the judges approached. “Be-tter together, be-tter together!”

Tess’s stomach fluttered as the judges approached their table.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Principal Zoober asked, motioning toward the shiny rocket.

“It’s the rocket that’s going to break the school record!” shouted Jacob, too excited to hold back.

“Very impressive,” said Mr. Flock, examining the rocket from all angles and scribbling something on his notepad.

“And there’s something extra special inside,” Cora said, lifting the rocket off its stand and flipping it upside down so the judges could see the folded-up notes inside. “We learned that if we work together, everything is better,” she said, explaining the nice bucket.

“It was Tess’s idea,” Zach said.

“What a wonderful example of teamwork!” Ms. Barken exclaimed, jotting down a note on her notepad.

The judges glanced at each other, nodding.

Tess put her paw out and the others followed, covering her paw in the middle of the circle.

“Three, two, one: be-tter together!” the pups shouted in unison, and the rocket shot into the air with a pop.

The rocket shot up so high that Tess had to squint to see it and eventually lost sight of it before it made its way back toward the ground.

“Heads up!” Zach shouted, catching it in a box with a proud smile plastered on his face.

The crowd roared. Everyone was clapping and shouting. Zach’s Papa whistled from the front and winked.

After ooing and ahhing at a few more projects, Mr. Flock’s voice boomed above the crowd.

“It’s time to announce the winner of the 10th Annual Science Fair!”

Tess’s tummy flipped.

“In third place,” Mr. Flock bellowed.

Tess thought if they won third place, she would still be happy, but hoped for at least second.

“For the flying monkeys,” Mr. Flock continued.

Tess smiled. They still had a chance at first or second place.

“The Dogglers!” he announced, and the Doggler team shouted and collected their trophy.

The quicksand group won second place. The crowd went silent for the announcement of the first-place winner.

“And for first place,” Mr. Flock began, dragging out his words, “at the 10th Annual Science Fair,” he continued, referring to his notes.

Tess held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

“For an excellent display of teamwork, and the new record-breaking rocket,” he said.

Tess gasped at the realization. They’d broken the record, and they’d won first place!

“The Puppy Pack, with the Better Together Rocket!” said Mr. Flock.

She barely heard Mr. Flock’s words over the ringing in her ears. She felt all the air leave her lungs and realized she was screaming. When she opened her eyes, she saw Emily’s face bouncing up and down, and she jumped in a circle with the other pups, holding paws.

“Be-tter together!” they all chanted, and the entire crowd joined in. “Be-tter together, be-tter together!”

When she glanced out at the crowd, she noticed a familiar face. “You made it!” she squealed and ran to give her mom a big hug.

“I’m so proud to see you and your friends working together,” she said, wrapping Tess in her arms.

Tess hugged her mom tight. Tess felt conflicted. Even though the Puppy Pack had won the prize, she felt bad for missing out on the time with her mom while she worked on the rocket.

“I’m so sorry, Mom,” she said, cupping her face in her paws.

Her mom enveloped her in a big hug. “For what, Tessy?” she asked, looking down at her.

“For making the Science Fair project more important than you,” she squeaked, hugging her back.

“Oh, Tessy,” her mom said. “Don’t worry about that! I’m so proud of you, and I love watching you follow your dreams. You are such a talented and driven pup!” she said, pulling back and looking into Tess’s face.

Tess grinned up at her, feeling proud.

“Just like someone else I know,” Tess’s grandma added, winking at her mom. “And your hard work paid off!” she said, motioning toward Tess’s friends, who were holding up the Science Fair trophy.

Emily noticed and ran over to Tess.

“What’s wrong, Tess?” she asked when she saw her red eyes.

“I chose to work on the project instead of spending time with my mom,” she said, looking down at her paws. She knew her mom worked hard and felt bad for not spending time with her when she could.

“Hmm,” Emily said. “I’ll be right back.”

She ran to Mr. Flock. Tess saw them talking, and Mr. Flock handed Emily an envelope. Emily ran back over to Tess and her mom.

“Here you go,” she said, handing Tess the envelope.

Tess opened it and found two tickets to Fur Gel inside.

“You can have mine,” Emily said. “So that you can go with your mom.”

Tess gasped. “But Emily, you want to see Fur Gel more than anyone!” she exclaimed. “You can’t just give up your ticket! You worked so hard for it.”

“I worked hard for our Puppy Pack,” Emily said with a small smile.

The other pups ran over, embracing the girls in a big hug. Tess giggled. “Guys, I can’t breathe!” she joked, hugging them back. Her mom was right; working together was much better than working separately.

“I’m so glad I have friends like you guys,” Tess said. “Thanks to this project, I learned that it’s not about winning; it’s about teamwork,” Tess said, looking into her friends’ smiling faces.

“Thanks for helping us learn to work together,” Zach said, squeezing Tess a little too tightly.

Tess giggled. “I just had to figure it out for myself first,” she said.

Tess realized that she wouldn’t even have cared if they’d won or lost. She had her mom, her grandma, and all of her friends around her, and that was much better than any prize.

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