Sophie Loves Jimmy

by Nancy N. Rue

  Sophie smiled what she knew was her wispy smile. She was already coming up with a film they would show to the whole school, starring Cynthia Cyber—

  “What time is it?” Hannah said as they pulled into the school driveway.

  “Three-thirty,” Coach Nanini said. “You can still catch the late bus.”

  “There’s a line out there for it already.” Hannah sighed loudly. “I hate it when it’s so crowded. It smells the whole bus up when everybody’s been playing sports.”

  “Well, excuse them for perspiring,” Oliver said.

  Once again, Sophie and Jimmy rolled their eyes at each other. It was almost as much fun rolling them with him as it was rolling them with the Flakes, Sophie thought.

  “I think somebody’s trying to get your attention, Little Bit,” Coach Virile said, pointing through the windshield.

  Sophie grinned. It was hard to miss Willoughby, who was waving both of her red-and-white-and-blue pom-poms and yelling, “SO-phee!” in her biggest cheerleader voice.

  “How does all that sound come out of that little person?” Coach said.

  Although Willoughby wasn’t quite as small as Sophie, she was still petite, and looked even more so under her mop of darkish, wavy hair that was even now springing out of its clips as she bounced up and down shouting at Sophie.

  Sophie called good-bye to everybody in the van even as she wriggled her way through the line to Willoughby. When Sophie reached her, Willoughby grabbed her by the sleeve and dragged her away from the stream of kids waiting for the late bus.

  “You aren’t going to believe this,” Willoughby said instead of “hello.” Her very round hazel eyes were bright with excitement. “We’ve been dying to tell you all day, and I told the rest of the Flakes I’d tell you since I was the only one staying after school and we figured you’d be back to catch the late bus—”

  “What is it?” Sophie said. Sometimes Willoughby’s thoughts went as wild as her hair.

  “You will never guess who’s coming back to school.”

  “Who?”

  Willoughby sucked in a huge breath. “Eddie Wornom,” she said.

  “No WAY!” Sophie shook her head. “He’s at military school.”

  “Not anymore. At least that’s what B.J. and Cassie were saying in fifth period.”

  Sophie let out a relieved sigh. “You know you can’t trust a Corn Pop. They’re just trying to scare you.”

  Willoughby’s eyes were as big as Frisbees. “You think?”

  “I know. What do the Pops do better than anything else?”

  “Put on lip gloss?”

  “Besides that.”

  Willoughby nodded slowly. “Spread rumors.”

  “Exactly.” Sophie gave Willoughby a quick hug around the neck. “We have to just ignore stuff like that. They said that at the conference, which I wanna tell you all about, only I’ve gotta go.”

  “IM me tonight,” Willoughby said.

  “You coming or what?” the bus driver yelled.

  Sophie scrambled up the steps and hurled herself into an empty seat just as the door sighed shut and the bus lurched around the curve in the driveway. Sophie lurched with it, rocking into the person next to her.

  She looked up into the eyes of Eddie Wornom.

  Two

  Sophie pulled back and stared. She’d thought it was Eddie. It was Eddie’s sandy-blond-with-bangs hair and matching almost-invisible eyebrows. But this guy’s hair was way shorter than Eddie’s. And the cheeks weren’t Eddie’s pudgy ones, and the mouth wasn’t curled up and poised for some lame remark like, “Hey, Soapy. When’s the breast fairy gonna come visit you?”

  This kid was taller than Eddie. She could tell that even though he was sitting down. He was also thinner. And he didn’t look like he was capable of burping the alphabet. Sophie could see his now-sticking-out Adam’s apple move up and down.

  “Hi, Sophie.”

  Sophie jerked back like a startled rabbit. How was Eddie Wornom’s voice coming out of this kid’s mouth? This kid who didn’t say it like he wanted to hurl at the same time?

  “Do I know you?” Sophie said.

  “Uh, yeah,” he said.

  It was Eddie. What was he doing on the bus when he hadn’t even started back to classes yet? He’s probably just here to torment me, Sophie thought. She clutched the edge of the seat and waited for what was sure to come. Something from the you-sure-didn’t-get-any-brains-while-I-was-gone department.

  Eddie swallowed again. It looked like it hurt. “Everybody says I look really different,” he said.

  Sophie could only stare. And think of all the other times she’d been this close to Eddie Wornom. Every one of those times, she’d felt like she was either going to throw up or pass out from terror.

  The bus lurched again, this time at its first stop. As a clump of kids gathered at the door, Sophie popped up and tore down the aisle toward the back, looking for a familiar face. After all, it was only a matter of time before Eddie went Fruit Loop on her, she was sure of that.

  When she spotted two of the Wheaties, she dived into their seat and hissed, “Scoot over! Please!”

  The Wheaties were a group of soccer-playing and every-other-kind-of-ball-playing girls the Corn Flakes got along with. They were very un-Corn Pop and very cool.

  “What’s up?” said Gill, the bigger of the two. A couple of straggly strands of her lanky red hair trailed out from under the blue toboggan cap she wore pulled down to her eyebrows. Beside her, by the window, her friend Harley grunted, which was all she usually did, since Gill did most of the talking. Harley just smiled a lot under the brim of her Redskins ball cap, until her cheeks came up to her eyes and squinted them closed.

  “I got stuck sitting next to Eddie Wornom!” Sophie whispered.

  Harley grunted again.

  “I thought he was gone,” Gill said.

  “I guess he’s back.” Sophie looked furtively up the aisle to the seat she’d just vacated. “For once, B.J. and them weren’t lying.”

  Both Gill and Harley grunted this time. The Corn Flakes had never told the Wheaties that they called the popular girls Corn Pops, but they knew the Wheaties didn’t like the Pops any more than they did.

  “It’s in our Code not to put them down just because they do it to us,” the Corn Flakes had told the Wheaties more than once. But it wasn’t easy for any of them.

  “Where is he?” Gill said.

  “Second row back on the other side,” Sophie said.

  Gill rose up out of the seat just far enough to keep from getting yelled at by the bus driver and shook her head. “That kid isn’t fat enough to be Eddie Wornom.”

  “I guess he lost weight,” Sophie said. “What’s he doing now? I can’t see.”

  Gill craned her neck. “He’s got Tod Ravelli sitting with him. Colton Messik’s behind them. The Three Stooges.”

  The three Fruit Loops, Sophie thought, groaning inside. “What are they doing?”

  “Tod’s all up in Eddie’s dental work, tellin’ him something. Colton’s clapping like an ape.”

  “What about Eddie?”

  “He’s not saying anything—for once.”

  Harley grunted. She too was up on her knees, watching.

  “What?” Sophie said.

  Gill looked at Harley, and they both nodded. “We think Eddie’s smiling too big,” Gill said. “It’s like he’s straining his mouth or something.”

  “Just wait ten seconds,” Sophie said miserably. “He’ll start yelling swear words.”

  “That’s all he knows,” Gill said.

  A block later, the first two seats erupted with snorts and too-loud laughs that clearly said we’re ripping somebody apart up here. Sophie could almost see herself being shoved into a trash can, or worse.

  When the bus stopped at the corner of Odd Road where Sophie lived, she scooted hurriedly past the Fruit Loops without even glancing at them. She definitely didn’t look up from the sidewalk as the bus pulled away. She was sure
she would have seen Eddie hanging out, waggling his tongue.

  There was only one thing to do, and that was to get online immediately and find out what the rest of the Flakes knew. Fiona, Darbie, and Sophie were in different classes than Maggie and Willoughby for some periods, so Fiona and Darbie might have heard different things. Julia and Anne-Stuart were the Pops in their section, and although they didn’t talk as loud as B.J. and Cassie, they were the ones who decided what rumors were spread and how.

  But Sophie headed for the family room to check on Mama first. She was enthroned on the couch, hands folded over her pregnant tummy, dozing in front of the TV with the sound muted. Sophie watched her for a minute.

  Everybody always said Mama and Sophie looked alike with their wispy smiles and round brown eyes and pixie-like bodies. But lately Mama didn’t even look like herself, much less like Sophie. Everything about her was puffy—not just her tummy. And her usually bouncy, highlighted-to-cover-gray curls were pulled up into an untidy bun on the top of her head so it didn’t get ratty from lying down all the time.

  The doctor had told Mama she had to remain completely off her feet if Baby Girl LaCroix was going to stay put until it was time for her to be born in March. Being inside the house made Mama milky-pale, and not being involved in absolutely everything Sophie and her older sister, Lacie, and her little brother, Zeke, did kept the wispy smile from appearing as often as it used to.

  Since this was only December, Mama still had a lot more time to spend, as she put it, being a beached whale. As Sophie watched the air puff out between Mama’s lips in sleep, she felt a wave of I-need-to-do-more-to-cheer-her-up.

  Right after I check my email I’m going to bring her a snack, Sophie thought. Peanut butter and celery, with honey for dipping—

  She was about to turn and tiptoe out when Mama’s eyes fluttered open and she gave Sophie a swollen smile.

  “Hey, Dream Girl,” she said. “How was the conference? I want to hear everything.” She struggled to sit up. “Not that I would understand any of it. You know I’m computer challenged.”

  “That’s okay.” Sophie dropped her backpack on the floor and hurried to adjust Mama’s pillows. “You do a lot of other stuff really well.”

  “Not these days,” Mama said. She fluttered a hand toward the covered basket beside the couch. “And if I even look at a pair of knitting needles again, I’ll probably poke somebody with them.”

  Sophie nodded. The basket was overflowing with sweaters and booties and blankets for Baby Girl LaCroix that Mama had knit and knit until two nights ago when she said she was sick of the sight of yarn and wanted to put the whole pile down the garbage disposal. Daddy had rescued it and carried Mama upstairs to bed.

  Sophie sniffed the air, but she didn’t smell supper. “Where’s Lacie?”

  “She has the night off from cooking,” Mama said. “Daddy’s bringing home Chinese.”

  “Yes!” Sophie said. Not only did she love egg rolls, and moo goo gai pan because it was fun to say, but this meant she didn’t have to help in the kitchen, and there would be more time to find out stuff from the Flakes. She edged toward the door.

  “Why don’t you go do your thing?” Mama said. “You can tell all of us about the conference over chow mein. I’ll send Zeke up when Daddy gets here.”

  Sophie was glad Zeke was with Fiona’s grandfather Boppa. A lot of the time, she had to watch him after school, which meant endless hours playing Spider-Man.

  “Love you,” Sophie said as she backed toward the stairs.

  “Love you more,” Mama said and closed her eyes again.

  Sophie flew to her room and turned on her computer. It had been Daddy’s at one time, and when he had given it to her, he’d built a special desk for it so she could have more privacy in their busy house. It had been kind of a reward for taking more responsibility helping with Mama. It didn’t exactly go with the flowy chiffon curtains Mama had hung around Sophie’s bed or the princess lamp on the table that had given light to so many of Sophie’s daydreams, but that didn’t matter. Right now Cynthia Cyber, Internet Investigator, had work to do—

  I have to stay focused on the real world right now, Sophie told herself as she clicked on the Internet icon. And Eddie Wornom was about as real as this world got.

  Sure enough, there was a group email from Fiona—WORDGIRL—to all the Flakes. The subject was EDDIE WORNOM ALERT!!!!

  IT’S OFFICIAL, CORN FLAKES: EDDIE WORNOM IS COMING BACK TO GREAT MARSH MIDDLE SCHOOL. HEARD JULIA AND ANNE-STUART TALKING ABOUT IT 5TH. ASKED COACH YATES ABOUT IT 6TH. SHE SAID HE WAS IN THE OFFICE ALL AFTERNOON AND THE SCHOOL’S GIVING HIM ANOTHER CHANCE. WE HAVE TO BE VIGILANT. IT COULD GET UGLY.

  Sophie was just reaching for the dictionary to look up vigilant when an instant message popped up. It was from IRISH. Because Darbie was from Northern Ireland, she used IRISH for just about everything.

  IRISH: I won’t believe that blackguard is back.

  Sophie could almost hear Darbie saying that in her lilty Irish voice. She always pronounced blackguard, another word for absurd little creep, like blaggard.

  DREAMGRL: He IS back!!!! I saw him on the late bus.

  IRISH: Evil!

  Before Sophie could answer, another IM popped up, this time from Kitty. Nobody IM’d and emailed more than Kitty. Because of her leukemia and the chemotherapy that made her sick, she was being homeschooled. The Internet kept her from feeling like she was missing absolutely everything.

  MEOW: Hi, Sophie.

  DREAMGRL: Hi, Kitty. Did you hear about Eddie?

  MEOW: Yes! for once I’m glad I’m not at school!

  DREAMGRL: LOL!!!

  It had taken Sophie a while to learn that LOL meant “laugh out loud.” Now that she could spend more time online, she was getting the language down.

  DREAMGRL: I SAW him

  MEOW: Eddie?

  DREAMGRL: Yes. On the late bus

  MEOW: Was he mean?

  Sophie grabbed a hunk of her hair and toyed with its blunt-cut ends. She had to decide what to say next so she didn’t break Corn Flake Code. It was hard when you were talking about the most heinous boy on the planet.

  MEOW: Did he cuss on the bus?

  DREAMGRL: No

  MEOW: Belch?

  DREAMGRL: Nope

  MEOW: Was he even awake? LOL

  DREAMGRL: LOL!!!

  Sophie paused. It would be okay to just state a fact, right?

  DREAMGRL: He isn’t as fat as he used to be.

  MEOW: POS

  Sophie definitely knew that code. POS meant “parent over shoulder.” When you saw that, you really had to be careful about what you wrote. Sophie was glad she didn’t have that problem anymore, like she did when she’d had to use the computer down in Daddy’s study. There was always POS going on back then.

  Cynthia Cyber squinted through her glasses at the screen. She was instantly alert when she saw POS. That could mean bullying was happening that a kid didn’t want a mom or dad to know about. She cupped her hand on her mouse, finger ready to click on anything heinous that might flash before her—

  The bell sound announced another instant message. It was from Go4Gold. It took Sophie a second to realize that was Jimmy.

  Go4Gold: Sophie?

  DREAMGRL: Hi, Jimmy.

  Go4Gold: I have an idea for what Mrs C told us to do.

  DREAMGRL: For Round Table?

  GO4Gold: Ya. Wanna meet before school tomorrow?

  DREAMGRL: Where?

  GO4Gold: Library. 7:30?

  DREAMGRL: I’m there.

  “SO-phee! SUP-per!”

  Something banged against the door, as if someone had thrown a bag of potatoes at it. Sophie knew it was Zeke, probably trying to launch himself up onto the doorframe so he could climb down like Spider-Man. Meanwhile, bells were dinging on the computer.

  IRISH: You still there?

  MEOW: Where did you go?

  Go4Gold: See ya tomorrow

  DREAMGRL: Gotta go eat

&nb
sp; Sophie clicked offline and gave an impatient sigh. When Sophie slid onto her cushion at the big square coffee table in the family room, Daddy was tapping chopsticks against her plate. Never a good sign.

  “We’re not interfering with your busy schedule, are we, Soph?” he said.

  There was just enough of a gleam in his dark blue eyes to tell Sophie she wasn’t in the penalty box yet. That was what Daddy called it when they were in real trouble. He talked about everything like it was a sports event.

  “Sorry. I just had to log off,” Sophie said.

  “Could you stay off for about seven seconds after supper?” Lacie said. “I have to look something up for my history paper.”

  Daddy looked from Lacie, with her dark hair and her intense eyes, back to Sophie. “You two aren’t going to start fighting over Net time, are you?” he said.

  “We’re not fighting,” Lacie said. She gave Sophie a work-with-me-here smile and nodded so definitely toward Mama her ponytail jerked.

  Sophie got it. These days Lacie always made sure they didn’t do anything to upset Mama. Sophie knew her mother would never actually poke somebody with a knitting needle, but being pregnant did seem to make a person very emotional.

  “We’re just working out the schedule,” Lacie said to Daddy.

  “Take all the time you need,” Sophie said, smiling hard. “Just let me know when you’re off.”

  Daddy bunched his eyebrows at Sophie again. “So you can get on to do homework, I assume.”

  Sophie stifled a sigh. Every time she thought she and Daddy were going to get along forever, he did something new to make her want to take her moo goo gai pan and eat it in the closet.

  “So!” Mama said. She dunked an egg roll into the sweet-and-sour sauce with one hand while she pushed the fortune cookies out of Zeke’s reach with the other. “Tell us about the cyber-bullying conference, Sophie.”

  “Spider bullying?” Zeke said with a chow mein noodle hanging out of his mouth.

  Lacie gave him a lesson in cyber versus spider while Sophie told Mama and Daddy about the conference. When she was through, both their brows were puckered like she had the flu and they were deciding whether to call the doctor. Sophie held her breath.

  “That’s a real eye-opener,” Daddy said. He ran a big hand over his hair, which went in several different directions just the way Zeke’s did. “But it makes sense. You kids are the constantly connected generation. You always have to be IMing or emailing or chatting—”