by Lara Bergen
“Favorite color?” she asked Toby, trying not to look at him.
“Red,” Toby said.
Sophie sighed a bored sigh. Of course, she thought.
“Favorite ice cream?”
“Chocolate.”
“What?” Sophie must have heard him wrong.
“Chocolate,” Toby repeated.
“I thought you hated chocolate,” said Sophie.
Toby shrugged. “Not anymore.”
Sophie frowned as she wrote down chocklit. Something about it didn’t look right. But she left it and moved on.
“Do you have any pets?” Sophie asked. She pictured Toby’s two cats and his dog, Barnaby, in her head.
“Two cats,” he said.
“And one dog,” Sophie added. She rolled her eyes.
But Toby shook his head. “No. Just two cats,” he said. He looked at his lap and took a deep breath. “Barnaby … died this summer.”
“Really?” Sophie said. Oh. “I’m so sorry….”
Good old shaggy, smelly Barnaby. Dead? She hadn’t known.
“He was old,” said Toby softly. Then he frowned. “Are you done?”
“Uh, not quite,” Sophie told him. She tried to read her next question, but it was hard. She was still so stunned.
“Um …” she said at last. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Sophie held up her pencil. “A baseball player, right?”
“Maybe,” said Toby. “Or maybe a reporter.”
Sophie could feel her jaw drop. “Really? Me too!”
“Or maybe not,” Toby said. He made a face and tilted his chair back. “My turn.”
“Hang on!” Sophie said. She looked down at her paper. She still hadn’t asked the last question she had added: Who is the most awesome person you know? It had been perfect for Kate, her best friend in the world. But Toby?
“Ask your dumb question already!” he groaned.
“Never mind,” mumbled Sophie. “Go ahead.”
Toby grinned. Of course he had made up very different questions. They included:
“What’s your favorite football team?”
“What’s your favorite baseball team?” and
“Who’s your favorite basketball player?”
Talk about dumb questions!
She answered, “Giants,” to them all.
“There is no player named Giants,” said Toby.
“Prove it,” Sophie said.
“Whatever,” Toby said back, slouching in his seat. “Okay. Last question. Do you have a nickname? Sophster? Sophmeister? Sophoraptor?” Toby laughed and put down his pencil. “Never mind. I know you don’t.”
Sophie looked at him. “Oh, yeah?” she said. She did too have a nickname. And it didn’t sound like a dinosaur’s name, either. “Sophie the Awesome!” she blurted.
She grinned with satisfaction. Then she noticed Toby’s face. Before, it had looked grumpy. Now it looked like it would burst with laughter.
And then it did. Toby totally cracked up!
“Toby!” called Ms. Moffly from across the room. “Please lower your voice. And sit down!”
Oh, no, Sophie thought. This was not good. Not at all.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! What had Sophie done?
She had gone and put her precious new name in the grubby hands of Toby Myers. That was what!
She heard Ms. Moffly tell the class that their interview time was over. And she watched Toby go back to his desk and start laughing with Archie right away.
Of course he was making fun of her. Sophie could just tell. She wanted to scream! This was not at all how Sophie the Awesome was supposed to start!
Of course, it wouldn’t have been so bad if she had set the jump-rope record. Or if she had done anything awesome so far that day. Then her awesomeness would have been proven. But Sophie could feel it in her guts. She should have waited till the next day to tell everyone her new name.
She had made a BIG mistake.
Maybe, if it was almost three o’clock, Ms. Moffly would let them wait and do their reports tomorrow. Sophie looked at the clock. It was only two-fifteen.
Sophie’s stomach got all knotty as Ms. Moffly called the first group up.
“I interviewed Mindy,” said Jack.
Mindy stood up and took a bow, and Lily applauded loudly.
“Anyway,” Jack went on, “I asked her if she has any brothers and sisters. She doesn’t. I asked her what her favorite sports are. She said gymnastics and ice-skating.”
“And horseback riding!” Mindy added.
“You didn’t say that,” said Jack.
“I just remembered,” said Mindy.
“And horseback riding,” Jack repeated. “And I asked her how many teeth she lost. Six.”
“That’s all?” called out Archie. “I’ve lost eight.”
The whole class giggled.
“I meant eight,” said Mindy quickly. “Is it my turn now?”
“Yes, Mindy,” said Ms. Moffly. “Thank you, Jack. And, class, please be respectful. You all know better than to interrupt.”
The whole class nodded. That didn’t stop the giggling, though.
There was giggling when Mindy said Jack had never had a dessert that was on fire before.
There was giggling when Grace said Ben’s favorite cartoon character was Tweety Bird.
There was giggling when Eve said that Dean was afraid of butterflies.
There was even giggling when Sophie A. said that ants on a log were Kate’s favorite snack. Sophie did not know what was so funny about that. Those things were good!
Sophie could only imagine how much giggling there would be when her nickname came up. It would ruin the whole name thing! Inside, her whole body groaned.
And then it was her turn.
“Sophie M.,” said Ms. Moffly, “why don’t you share with us now? And no more giggling, class, please.”
Sophie looked at the clock. It was only two-forty. Could she make her report last twenty minutes? Long enough that Toby would have to wait till tomorrow? She would have to try.
“Sophie?” said Ms. Moffly. The teacher waited, then leaned toward her. “Sophie?” she said again.
There was giggling. Sophie pointed to herself and looked surprised.
“Huh? Who, me?” she said.
“Yes, you,” said Ms. Moffly patiently.
“Oh, sorry.” Sophie shrugged. “I thought you meant Sophie A.”
“No,” said Ms. Moffly. “I think I said ‘Sophie M.’ And Sophie A. already went.” She cut her eyes across the room. “No giggling, please!”
“So it’s my turn?” said Sophie. She sighed and stood up with her paper.
She cleared her throat.
She counted to three.
Then four. Then five.
“Anytime, Sophie,” said Ms. Moffly.
“Thank you,” said Sophie. “Thank you very, very, very, very, very —”
“Sophie!” Ms. Moffly cut in.
“Much,” Sophie said.
She breathed in. Then out. She looked around the classroom.
“Get on with it!” Archie yelled.
“Archie,” Ms. Moffly said sharply. Then she turned back to Sophie. “It’s okay to be nervous, Sophie. That’s not usually like you,” she added. “But please, just relax and go on.”
Relax. Right. Sophie would do that. She would relax. And go slow.
“Okay … sooooo … I interviewed Toby. Toby Myers. You all know Toby, right?”
“Yes!” the class yelled.
Sophie cleared her throat again. “Okay. Sooooo … I interviewed Toby. Aaaand …”
Sophie carefully studied her paper. Then she picked at some green paint on the back of her hand.
“Yes?” said Ms. Moffly.
Sophie looked at the teacher. “And I found out what his favorite color is.”
“Yes?” said Ms. Moffly again.
Sophie cleared her throat one more time. “Toby Myers’ favorite color is … not blue,
” she said.
Giggles popped up all around the room. But Sophie didn’t care. The longer it took for her to give her report, the better.
It was two forty-five. She just had to make her report last fifteen more minutes.
“That’s enough, class,” said Ms. Moffly. “Sophie, please go ahead.”
“Toby … Myers’ … favorite … color … iisssssss …” Sophie put a long pause between each word.
“Red!” Toby yelled.
The whole class clapped and cheered.
“And my favorite ice cream is chocolate! And I have two cats! And I want to be a reporter or a baseball player!” he added.
“Toby!” said Ms. Moffly.
“Sorry.” He shrugged. “She was just going so slow. I was trying to help.”
Help? Sophie glared at Toby harder than she’d ever glared before. She could feel laser beams shoot from her eyes. Well, almost. If they really had, that would have been awesome!
“I’m very sorry you were interrupted, Sophie,” said Ms. Moffly. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?”
There sure was! Sophie wanted to tell everybody that Toby Myers was a big, giant pain in the neck! She wanted to tell them not to listen to anything else he had to say. She wanted to tell them that no matter how hard he and the whole class laughed at her that day, the next day she would earn her awesome new name.
But she didn’t. She just said, “No,” sat back down, and waited for Toby to ruin her life.
“I interviewed her,” Toby said. He pointed a thumb in Sophie’s direction.
“The name’s Sophie Miller,” Sophie muttered.
Everyone laughed.
Toby snuck Sophie a teasing look. He was thinking about her nickname. She just knew it. He was thinking about how he should say it, to make it sound as silly as he could.
Sophie put her head down on her desk.
Why did Toby have to be her partner?
And why did she have to tell him, of all people, her awesome new name?
Why couldn’t she have kept her big mouth shut until the next day?
She did not feel like Sophie the Awesome. She felt like Sophie the Dumbest Girl in the Whole World.
“Anyway,” Toby went on. “I found out that she says her favorite baseball and football teams are the Giants. But she probably doesn’t have a clue, because that’s just really weird.”
“It’s crazy!” yelled Archie.
“Archie! Toby!” Ms. Moffly said.
“Well, it is,” Toby said. “And she says her favorite basketball player is a giant. I mean, they’re tall. But giants? Come on.”
He laughed, and a bunch of the boys joined him.
“That’s enough,” said Ms. Moffly. “And remember, Toby, your job as a reporter is to stick to the facts. Are there any other facts you’d like to add?”
Toby looked at Sophie.
Her face felt red. She could only imagine what it looked like. She waited for him to say her new name, and for the whole class to laugh. Again.
But Toby just shrugged and went back to his seat. “Nah. Nothin’ else. She’s way too boring,” he said.
Of course, everyone started giggling. Everyone except Sophie. She had never been so happy to be called boring in her whole life!
Had Toby really just finished his report without making fun of the name Sophie the Awesome at all?
Sophie pinched herself. Ouch! Okay, she wasn’t dreaming.
She didn’t look at Toby, just in case it might remind him. But she silently thanked him. Who would have thought that Toby could do something so … awesome?
The next thing Sophie knew, school was over. And she was glad. It had been a long day! She didn’t know what had stopped Toby from making fun of her name in class, but it worried her. He could still change his mind and ruin everything. Any minute!
And if he didn’t? What then? Did Sophie really have to thank him?
Ugh! That might be worse.
Sophie grabbed her backpack. She just wanted to get on the bus as soon as possible. Then she could start making plans with Kate for the next day—the day when she’d finally prove her awesomeness!
On the bus, Sophie pulled Kate to their favorite seat in the back row. Then she scrunched down, hoping that Ella wouldn’t see her.
Ella Fitzgibbon was in kindergarten. She lived next door to Sophie … and she never left Sophie alone.
“SOOOO-PHIE!”
Her squeaky voice was getting closer.
“There you are!” Ella plopped down in the seat across from Kate and Sophie. Then she scrunched down, just like them. “Who are we hiding from?” she asked.
“No one.” Sophie sighed. But Kate giggled. For some reason, she seemed to think Ella was cute. Sophie wondered if Kate would feel the same if Ella stuck to her like glue.
“Hey, what’s in the box?” Kate asked.
Ella held up a boot-sized shoe box with crayon writing on it. Sophie read the scribbly letters. They spelled: ELLAS SLINKYS. Huh?
“It’s my Slinky collection!” said Ella as the bus pulled away from the school. “I brought it in for show-and-tell. I have twenty. And a half. Want to see?” she asked.
“Sure,” said Kate. “Cool!”
“Kate!” Sophie whispered before Ella’s box was opened. “We have things to discuss.” She turned Kate’s shoulders toward her. “Ella, you’ll have to excuse us,” she said.
But Kate looked puzzled. “What do we have to discuss?”
Sophie sighed. “‘Sophie the Awesome.’ Remember?” she whispered.
“Oh, right,” Kate said. “But I thought you were just going to jump rope tomorrow.”
“Yes,” said Sophie. “But I was thinking, if we go out to the yard in the morning, I could try then, before school even begins. Then I can start the day as Sophie the Awesome!” Before Toby can say anything to anybody, she added silently to herself.
Kate thought for a second. Then she nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
“Sounds good to me, too!” said Ella. She was leaning across the aisle, grinning. “What are you talking about, anyway?”
“Nothing,” grumbled Sophie.
“What do you mean, ‘nothing’?” Kate said. “We’re talking about breaking the all-time jump-rope record! That’s something, isn’t it?”
Sophie had to admit that Kate had a point.
“Wow! That’s awesome!” Ella said. “What’s the record?”
Sophie got very serious. “One hundred and thirty-four,” she said.
“Wow!” exclaimed Ella. “ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR!”
Everyone on the bus turned around.
“No yelling on the bus!” called Mrs. Blatt, the driver.
“Wow!” Ella whispered loudly. “That is a lot!”
Maybe Ella wasn’t so bad after all.
That was when Sophie’s big sister, Hayley, spoke up.
Hayley didn’t speak to Sophie all that much. She was in fifth grade and usually too busy doing something else.
On the bus, she was usually whispering with her friend Kim.
In school, she was usually following the boy she liked, Sam.
After school, she was usually at ballet class or at Kim’s house.
And at home, she was usually on the computer or on the phone talking to Kim about Sam … or ballet … or … that was about it.
That left Sophie to keep Max, their two-year-old brother, out of trouble. But that was a whole other story!
“What’s ‘one hundred and thirty-four,’ Ella?” Hayley asked, turning around in her seat a few rows up.
“It’s the all-time jump-rope record!” said Ella proudly. “Sophie’s going to break it. And I’m going to help her! Isn’t that awesome?”
Sophie couldn’t help it: She patted Ella on the head. Ella was a pest, but she sure knew what to say.
Hayley, meanwhile, turned to Kim. They shared a we-know-everything-and-they-know-nothing look. Sophie knew it very well.
“That’s not th
e record,” Hayley said.
Sophie felt her heart skip. “It’s not?” she asked.
“No!” said Kim. “Jenny Brown, in our class, has gone way over a thousand. She sets a new record, like, every day.”
Sophie could feel every drop of awesomeness in her body draining away.
“I didn’t know that,” she whispered to Kate. “Did you?”
Kate shook her head.
“It’s probably because you’re just in the third grade,” said Hayley. “But it’s true. That’s the all-time record. I mean, I guess you could try to break it.” She laughed. “But no one has ever even come close.”
Then Hayley and Kim turned around and started whispering again.
Sophie leaned against the seat in front of her. “A thousand jumps? I can never beat that!” she moaned.
“Sure you can!” said Ella. She grinned at her. “You can do anything, Sophie!”
But Sophie wasn’t sure. Being awesome was turning out to be a lot harder than she’d thought!
“Hey, knock-knock,” said Kate.
“Not now,” sighed Sophie.
“Who’s there?” Ella said.
“Yukon,” said Kate.
“Yukon who?” asked Ella.
“Yukon do it, Sophie!” Kate said. She gave Sophie a quick hug. “Here’s our stop!”
The bus breaks hissed and the door folded open. The kids from Sophie’s stop began to unload.
“Come on, Soph,” said Kate. “How about you come over to my house and we make a new plan?”
Sophie nodded. “Okay,” she said glumly.
“Can I come, too?” asked Ella, climbing down the steps behind them.
“I don’t think so, Ella,” Sophie said. Making big plans like this was no job for kindergartners. “This is too important.”
The bus roared away, and Sophie and Kate started up the hill to Kate’s house. Sophie could hear Ella behind them.
“Wait for me!” Ella cried. “It’s hard to run with all these — Oh, no! My Slinkys!”
Sophie whirled around to see Ella standing on the sidewalk. She was holding an empty box. And she was watching with wide, wide eyes as all twenty and a half Slinkys slinked down the street.
“My Slinkys!” Ella cried again. And she started running … right toward the road!
Sophie didn’t even stop to think.
“No, Ella!” she cried. “Stay out of the street!”