by Lara Bergen
She counted them. Twelve. And she felt a little better. No, it wasn’t money. But it was close.
Sophie smiled and climbed onto the bus with Kate. They walked to their favorite seat in the back. Sophie sat down. She shook the rain off her coat and rubbed her sore hand. But she forgot to scrunch down to hide from Ella Fitzgibbon … until it was too late.
“SOOO-PHIE!” called a squeaky voice. It was Ella’s. Of course.
The kindergartener ran down the aisle to them and hugged Sophie. Hard. “My hero!” she said.
Sophie sighed. She couldn’t help it. Ella’s hug was sticky, as usual. But that day it was also drippy wet, from all the rain.
“You know, you don’t have to call me that anymore, Ella,” Sophie told her.
Sure, Sophie had saved Ella’s life the week before. But that seemed so long ago now. Being a hero had been fun — for a while. But it was hard to keep up!
Ella plopped down in the seat across from Sophie. “Aw, but I like it!”
Kate leaned over. “Sophie’s a zillionaire now, Ella,” she said.
“Really?” Ella’s eyes got big. “How much money do you have?”
Sophie sat up straight. She looked down at Ella. “Almost a hundred dollars,” she said.
She waited for Ella to say, “Wow!” Or “Whoa!” Or “Oh, boy!”
But Ella just stared.
“One hundred dollars? Is that all?” she said.
What?
Sophie guessed that Ella had not learned big numbers, like one hundred, yet.
“That’s one hundred. One zero zero. Dollars,” Sophie said.
“I know what a hundred is,” Ella told her. “I can count all the way there. Want to hear? One, two, three, four, five, six, sev —”
“That’s okay,” Sophie said.
Ella shrugged. “I bet I have a hundred hundred dollars!” the kindergartner said.
Sophie turned to Kate and made a “what is Ella talking about?” face.
Then Sophie started to get a feeling. It was cold. And it wasn’t from her wet shoes.
Sophie was so close to having more money than Mindy. She was so close to being the richest girl she knew. But if little Ella had so much more money than Sophie did … then Sophie’s great new name was never going to work!
But no! What was she worried about?
Ella was no zillionaire. Everyone knew that. Plus everyone knew that kindergartners loved to lie. (Back when she was five, Sophie had told some good ones herself.)
Sophie smiled at Kate. Her cold feeling warmed up. (But her shoes didn’t.)
Then she patted Ella’s hand. “Good for you, Ella. I’d love to see all that money sometime,” she said.
As soon as Sophie got home, she ran to her room. She had some homework to do — like copying her own vocabulary words. Luckily, Kate had loaned Sophie her list. Sophie had been so busy copying others she had forgotten to do her own.
But she had some other important things to do first.
Sophie reached under her bed, grabbed her bank, and dumped out the money. Yep. There was still $81.80.
She added the twelve IOUs. They meant she’d have $93.80 by the next day.
Sophie did not have a hundred dollars — yet. But she was so close! And to think that a few days earlier, she’d had less than twenty dollars. If she kept making money this fast, she’d be richer than even her parents, in no time at all!
Sophie guessed her mom was right. Earning it was a pretty good way to make money. At least until she was old enough to buy a lottery ticket of her own.
And there were all kinds of things Sophie could do to earn money! But how would people know to ask her?
Hmm …
She could make a sign. But where would she hang it?
She could put an ad in the newspaper. But who looked at that?
No, Sophie needed something to give out to people. Something they could keep. Something like … business cards!
Sophie put all her money back into her bank. Then she carefully hid it under her bed again. She pulled some paper out of her desk drawer and started to cut it into little squares.
That was not easy, though. They did not turn out very great.
Suddenly, Sophie got an idea. It was better than cutting out cards. Much!
She went into her parents’ room. She looked in the nightstand. Yes!
There were her dad’s business cards. They were piled up nice and straight. And there were a zillion of them!
Sophie took the whole pile back to her room. Then she got to work.
On all the backs, she wrote her own cards. They sounded good!
SOPHIE THE ZILLIONAIRE-AT YOUR SERVISS!
PAY ME TO DO STUFF SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO!
NEW AND IMPROOVED! MORE” FOR YOUR MONEY!
(I TAKE IOUS)
Then Hayley walked in. She looked down at Sophie, who was sitting on the floor.
“What are you doing now?” Hayley asked.
Sophie smiled at her sister. “Have I got a deal for you!” she said, holding out a card.
Hayley rolled her eyes. She did not make a deal. But that was okay. Sophie was sure she’d make plenty of them the next day.
When Sophie got to the bus stop the next morning, she showed her business cards to Kate.
Sophie was so excited! (And not just because of the money, but also because it had finally stopped raining. Hooray!)
“So?” Sophie grinned. “What do you think?”
Kate read the card. “I didn’t know you could fix computers!” she said.
Huh?
Oh! Kate was reading Sophie’s dad’s side of the business card.
“No, no. Turn it over,” Sophie said.
Kate did. She read the back.
“Very cool! Can I keep it?” she asked.
Sophie smiled. “Of course! You’re my best friend!” Then she thought of something. “But if I run out, I might need it back….”
“No problem,” Kate said, linking arms with Sophie.
The bus came rolling down the street. When it stopped, the kids climbed on.
“Good morning!” said Mrs. Blatt, the bus driver.
“Good morning!” Sophie said. She handed the bus driver one of her cards.
Mrs. Blatt read it carefully. “Well, well, well! Sophie the Zillionaire, is it?” she said.
Sophie nodded. “That’s me!” she said.
She wondered what Mrs. Blatt might need her to do? Pump some gas? Fill up her tires? But before she could ask, a squeaky voice called out, “Sophie! Look what I got!”
Sophie knew who it was without turning around. But she turned, anyway. And that was when she saw it.
Ella was running up to the bus with her hands full … of money!
Sophie could not believe it!
When Ella got to the bus, she was panting. She climbed up the steps. “Hi, Mrs. Blatt! Hey, Sophie! Look!”
And that was when Sophie saw something else.
Ella’s money was not just green. It was lots of colors.
Sophie turned to Kate and they both giggled. And Sophie sighed a little, too.
Ella’s hands were full of Monopoly money.
Phew!
At school, Sophie hurried to hang up her jacket. Then she took out her IOUs. She stood by the door just as Sydney walked into the room.
Sophie waved to her. “Morning!” she called.
“Morning, Sophie,” Sydney said.
“So, did you bring in the dollar?” Sophie asked.
Sydney cocked her head. “Huh?”
Sophie held up her IOU.
“Oh, right!” Sydney nodded. Then she reached into her backpack and pulled out a dollar. She handed it over. “Here you go.”
Sophie took the dollar and grinned. Her first dollar of the day!
“Thanks!” she said. Then she reached into her pocket and handed Sydney one of her cards. “Call me if you need anything else done for you!”
Sydney read the card. “I didn’t know you co
uld fix computers,” she said.
Sophie groaned. She should have crossed her dad’s side out, she guessed.
She almost took the card back to do it. But more kids were coming in. She would have to fix her cards later. Right now she had more IOUs to collect.
Soon she had a whole pile of dollars.
Only one person so far forgot. Jack.
Then there was Grace. She did not forget. She just wouldn’t pay.
She showed Sophie her vocabulary list. “I can’t read your writing, Sophie!” she said.
Grace had a point. Sophie could not read it, either.
“Sorry,” Sophie said. She must have been tired by the time she copied Grace’s list.
After that, there was just one more kid to collect from — Dean.
Sophie took out his IOU. Then she walked up to him.
Dean held out a five-dollar bill. He looked a little sad. “This is all I have. I didn’t want to spend it. But I guess I have to,” he said.
“Don’t worry. I have plenty of change,” Sophie said.
She took the five-dollar bill and counted four dollars to give back.
Then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
“What is going on here?” Ms. Moffly asked.
Sophie turned to see her teacher. Ms. Moffly was staring at her. And she looked surprised.
“Hi, Ms. Moffly! Not too much is going on. I’m just getting money from Dean,” Sophie said.
“Excuse me?” said Ms. Moffly. She still looked surprised. But now she looked confused, too. “You can’t take money from other students, Sophie. Especially not in school.”
Huh?
“Oh … no!” Sophie got it. Ms. Moffly did not understand. “I’m not taking money. I earned it!” she explained.
Sophie reached into her pocket. She pulled out one of her cards, turned it Sophie–side up, and handed it to Ms. Moffly.
“I have a business,” she went on. “I’m going to make lots of money! I wanted to win the lottery, but my mom thinks that earning money is a better idea. So let me know if you need something done. I have deals for kids and grown-ups!”
Ms. Moffly’s eyes went back and forth from Sophie’s card to Sophie.
At last, her eyes moved to Dean. “Would you excuse us, please?” she asked. Then Ms. Moffly held her hand out toward the door. “Let’s have a talk in the hall, Sophie.”
A talk. In the hall. Sophie’s knees suddenly felt shaky.
She’d had talks in the hall before. For two different reasons.
One was in first grade when her teacher, Mrs. Smart, told Sophie that her mom had a new baby. The baby was Max. But that was before he had a name.
The other reason for talks in the hall was that Sophie was in big trouble. That had happened in lots of grades. Not just the first.
This day Sophie was pretty sure her mom was not having a baby. But how could she be in big trouble? She had not done anything bad. She had only copied vocabulary words.
Out in the hall, Ms. Moffly knelt down. She and Sophie were nose to nose. “First, Sophie, I want you to know that I admire your entrepreneurial spirit,” she said.
Sophie stood very still. She did not know what that meant. But at least it did not sound like she was in big trouble. Yet.
“But I’m afraid that school is just not the place for it,” Ms. Moffly said then. “You cannot ask other students for money. Those are the rules.”
Hang on. Those were the rules? That did not seem right to Sophie.
“But what about the penny drive?” she asked Ms. Moffly. “My sister’s whole class is asking for money from everyone in the school!”
Ms. Moffly shrugged. “Well, that’s different,” she said.
Sophie shrugged back. “How?”
“How?” Ms. Moffly repeated. She put her fingertips together. Her pink nail polish was so pretty. Sophie decided she would have to buy some, too, when she was a zillionaire.
“Well …,” Ms. Moffly went on. “Because the fifth grade is asking for money to help other people. Less fortunate people. Not themselves.”
“Oh …,” Sophie said. That was a little different. Or maybe even a lot different.
She looked down at the money — the five-dollar bill and the five ones — still in her hand. She let out a little sigh.
“And you know, you’ll have to return the money you took today,” Ms. Moffly said.
Sophie sucked her sigh back in. “I do?!”
Ms. Moffly nodded. “You do,” she said.
Sophie hung her head. She still was not sure if she was in big trouble. But she might as well have been.
Sophie knew that giving the money back would be hard. And it was. At first. One thing was for sure: Subtracting was not as fun as adding. At all!
Plus Sophie had worked hard to earn that money. Her hand was still sore. And now twelve — well, eleven — people had vocabulary lists for free. That did not seem very fair to her.
But then a funny thing happened. Giving the money back got easy. Mostly because it made everyone so happy. And that made Sophie happy, too.
“Really?” Sydney said when Sophie gave back her dollar. “So you wrote my list for free? Wow. That’s so nice. Thank you!”
“Thanks, Sophie. I can use the dollar for the book fair now!” Mia told her.
Dean was even happier. When Sophie gave back his five-dollar bill, he looked like he’d found an old friend.
“It’s the first five dollars I ever got. Thank you, Sophie!” he said.
Sophie felt kind of cozy inside. Like she and Dean had shared a hug. But they had not. Thank goodness! Dean was so big she might get crushed.
By the time she’d given all the money back, Sophie almost didn’t miss it. In fact, she almost wanted to give more of it out….
A thought was hitting Sophie. Not hard and fast, like a snowball. But slow and gentle, like a bath.
It felt good to get money. But it felt good to give it, too.
And then another thought hit Sophie. This time like a snowball. Exactly!
Maybe she shouldn’t be Sophie the Zillionaire. Maybe she should be Sophie the Giver instead!
But what about all the things she wanted to buy? She guessed she really did not need them.
And who knew? Even if Sophie made more money than Mindy, Mindy’s grandma could always give her more.
Sophie might never be richer than Mindy. But she could give more than her, for sure! What a great thing to be known for!
Suddenly, Sophie couldn’t wait to get home. To get her bank and dump the money out. To change all her dollars into pennies. And to give it all to Hayley’s class!
Or at least, a lot of it. Maybe she would keep a little. She could sure use some new rain boots. And some pink nail polish, too.
The day seemed to go on forever. Even art and gym and recess seemed slow. Finally, the bell rang and the bus took Sophie home.
She hugged Kate and said good-bye. Then Sophie ran home and up to her room. She bent down, reached under her bed, and pulled out …
Nothing.
Nothing?
Nothing!
Sophie reached back even further. She felt side to side. All around.
Finally, she crawled under the bed.
She saw lots of crumbs. And lots and lots of dust.
A-choo!
Oh. And her missing rain boot. So that’s where it was.
But where was Sophie’s horse bank?
She looked and looked and looked.
Sophie wiggled out from under her bed.
“Help! We’ve been robbed!” she yelled.
Sophie ran to find her mom. She was in her own room, down the hall.
Sophie’s mom looked up as she burst through the door. “Sophie! Hi! Have you seen Daddy’s business cards?” she asked.
But Sophie did not have time for questions!
“Mom! We’ve been robbed!” she said.
Her mom shook her head. “Now, what would robbers do with Daddy’s business cards?�
��
Sophie shook her own head very fast. “No, Mom. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about money! I’m talking about robbers coming in and taking that!”
She waited for her mom to call the cops. But her mom did not reach for the phone. So Sophie picked it up.
“Do you call 911 for bank robberies?” Sophie asked.
“Hold on!” said her mom. She took the phone from Sophie and set it down. Then she sat on her bed and pulled Sophie beside her. “What makes you think there has been a bank robbery here?”
“Well …,” Sophie said. It was very simple. “My horse bank was under my bed this morning. Now it is not. I did not touch it. So it must have been robbed. Did you lock the door when you went out today?” she asked.
“I didn’t go out. I’ve been home all day with Max,” her mom said.
“Oh.” Sophie bit her lip. Hmm. That made robbing her bank tricky. “Well, did anyone come over?” she asked.
Sophie’s mom shrugged. “Just the cable guy, and Cole, Max’s playdate.”
“Aha!” Sophie held up her finger. “Then the robber is one of them!”
“But!” Sophie’s mom held up her own finger. “Max and Cole played outside. And I was with the cable guy the whole time he was here.”
“Oh,” Sophie said. She bit her lip again.
Just then, something grabbed her foot! It came from under the bed.
“Ahh!” Sophie yelled.
The robber! He must have been hiding!
Sophie looked down. But there was no robber.
There was just Max.
“Come here, Maxie!” Sophie’s mom said. She scooped him up, but he wriggled away.
Sophie’s mom got up to follow the trail of graham cracker crumbs he left behind him. But first she turned to Sophie. “Honey, I’m sorry your bank is missing. But we were not robbed today. Trust me. You’ll find it,” she said.
Sophie sighed. That was easy for her to say.
Sophie kept looking. But horse banks did not jump up and run off by themselves. She knew that for a fact. Magic horse banks, maybe. But Sophie’s was not magic. She was pretty sure of that.