Sophie the Daredevil

by Lara Bergen

  “I’m sorry. I tried to be fast,” she said. It was the truth. Wasn’t it?

  Ms. Moffly shook her head and turned back to the board. Sophie held up the toilet paper and the other kids cheered.

  “I didn’t know you were all such big fans of fractions,” Ms. Moffly said, spinning back around. “But let’s hold our applause until the end. Okay, class?”

  Sophie giggled and went back to her seat. She shared a table with Kate and Sydney and Grace. As Ms. Moffly started writing out fractions again, Sophie laid the soggy toilet paper square out for them to see.

  “There really isn’t a dare you won’t do, is there?” Kate said, patting her back.

  Grace shook her head. “I wouldn’t have done it. That’s for sure.”

  “You have to tell us everything,” Sydney whispered, leaning in.

  And Sophie did, when it was free time. That was Sophie’s favorite part of the day. That’s when they got to start their homework, or read, or play games. Today, of course, it was the time for Sophie to tell everyone everything.

  “I can’t believe you did it!” Eve said.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t get caught,” said Grace.

  “That’s the best part!” Sophie told them. “I almost did! Isn’t that great?”

  She told them about how Sam had seen her. And how Principal Tate had come in. “And guess what,” she added. “He hums the ABC song while he washes his hands!”

  A few of the kids laughed. Sophie’s grin got very big.

  “So tell us about the boys’ room!” Kate urged. “What was it like?”

  “Well …” There’s not much to say about it, really, Sophie thought. “It’s kind of just a bathroom, like ours,” she began.

  But she could see that the girls were disappointed. So she decided to say a little more.

  “But our bathroom is so much better in so many ways,” she went on.

  “Yes!” The girls pumped their fists.

  All the boys frowned.

  Still, even the boys were impressed by her amazing, daring feat — Toby and Archie included. Sophie could tell. And it felt great!

  Ben even said, “Sophie, you really are a daredevil!”

  There was only one person who did not seem to care. And that person was Mindy VonBoffmann, the snootiest girl in room 10.

  Of course, none of Sophie’s great names had impressed Mindy before. So why should this one be different? Sophie wasn’t sure.

  Maybe it was because she had been so daring this time. After all, no other girl had ever gone in the boys’ room before.

  Or maybe it was because she was just tired of being ignored. She wanted her name to be one that everyone called her.

  So a little later, back at their table, Sophie talked about it with Kate.

  “I don’t get it,” Sophie said. “I’ve done six different dares today. And Mindy hasn’t said a thing.”

  Kate shrugged. “You know Mindy. If it’s not about her, she doesn’t care. Now, if your name was Sophie the Mindy, she’d be into that, I bet!” She grinned. It was a joke. But it was kind of true, too.

  Sophie sighed. “Yeah, I guess. But I still wish Mindy thought I was a daredevil. Hey!” She felt a great idea pop into her head. “Should I ask her to dare me? What do you think of that?”

  Kate put down her pencil. (They were supposed to be writing answers — in complete sentences — to social studies questions right then.) She turned to face Sophie. “I think that would be a really big mistake,” she said.

  “Yeah, probably.” Sophie nodded.

  Besides, who cared what Mindy thought?

  Oh … Sophie couldn’t help it. She did. A lot.

  After the bell rang at the end of the day, Sophie walked up to Mindy. “So, Mindy,” she said.

  Mindy was zipping her jacket. It had a furry collar and cuffs. She fluffed her hair and looked at Sophie. “So what?”

  Mindy’s best friend, Lily Lemley, stood beside her. Lily fluffed her hair, too. “Yeah, so what?” she said, like there was an echo in the room.

  Mindy looked down her nose. “We still don’t want to see your toilet paper, Sophie, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she said.

  “Oh, no.” Sophie slid the toilet paper into her pocket and shook her head. “I was just wondering, since I am a daredevil, if you had a dare for me.”

  Mindy frowned a pinchy frown. It almost looked like she was mad. But then something happened. Half her frown turned upside down.

  Sophie held her breath and waited. Mindy was thinking; Sophie could tell. She bet she was thinking of something Mindyish. Something like, oh, kissing her shoe. But if that was what it took to make Mindy think she was a daredevil, then that was exactly what Sophie would do.

  Bring it on, Sophie thought.

  But Mindy did not.

  Instead, she said, “Let me think about it. Here. Take my backpack, Lily. Let’s go.”

  Hmph!

  The next day was Saturday. Yay! That meant a bunch of great things:

  No school.

  TV in the morning.

  And chocolate chip pancakes!

  Plus this Saturday there was one more great thing: Mia’s birthday party. Hooray!

  Well, it was a half-great thing, really. The great part was that the party was at the brand-new rec center pool. But boys were invited, which made it half horrible, too.

  None of the girls had been happy when Mia told them that news. At first, Sydney even said she wasn’t going. Boys ruined everything, according to her.

  Mia told them she couldn’t help it. She said her mom had made her invite the whole class. But Sophie knew the real reason the boys were invited: Mia had to invite Ben because he was her best friend. And parents seemed to have this rule that when you invited one boy or girl, you had to invite all of them.

  Sophie thought that was another good reason not to have a boy for a best friend.

  Oh, well. No party was perfect. And Mia said it was a very big pool. Maybe there was even a baby pool for the boys to use. (Ha! Kate had told her that joke. Sophie thought it was pretty good.)

  Still, Sophie could hardly wait for the party. She dug out her bathing suit as soon as she got up in the morning. The party didn’t start until two. But she put it on, anyway.

  The suit was Sophie’s favorite — a blue-green tankini with lots and lots of butterflies. But … Hmmm. Sophie guessed she had grown since the summer. She didn’t remember it feeling so tight.

  And look…. There was her belly button. She didn’t think that had showed before.

  No, her suit didn’t look — or feel — as good as it used to. But that was okay. At least it matched her hair that day!

  “Your hair!” her mom had exclaimed as soon as she’d seen it the night before.

  That was pretty much what her dad had said, too. But he added, “Is it real?!”

  Yes, it was real. Real hair — that was really blue!

  Why? Because her sister, Hayley, had said, “I dare you.”

  Sophie had asked her for a dare. And Hayley had blue hair spray left from last Halloween.

  “I dare you to do it. And wear it all weekend,” said Hayley.

  So of course Sophie did!

  She really liked it, too. It looked super-daring, just like a daredevil’s hair should!

  Sure enough, when Sophie got to the rec center, her hair got oohs and aahs right away.

  “Too bad you have to wear a swim cap!” Kate said.

  Yes, it was too bad. But what could she do? Sophie could dare to break the swim cap rule, but she’d just get kicked out of the pool.

  She put on her white rubber swim cap. (Ugh. It was even tighter than her suit.) Then she grabbed Kate’s hand, and they followed Grace and Sydney to the pool.

  It really was big! And it was indoors, which was so cool!

  The only other indoor pool Sophie had been to was in a hotel she had stayed in last spring break. That was definitely the best part of her family trip to Washington, D.C. But th
at pool seemed like a puddle now. This pool was a million times bigger, at least!

  Sophie walked — she didn’t run—to the edge. (That was a pool rule, she knew.) Some of her friends were already swimming. Sophie couldn’t wait to jump in, too!

  But just then, Mia and Eve and Ben walked up.

  “Yay! You’re here!” said Mia. “Want to try the slide with us?”

  Slide? Sophie turned. Wow! Talk about cool! There was a real waterslide. And it was swirly, too! But that wasn’t all. There was something else at the end of the pool. Not one, but two diving boards. And one of them was super high!

  Sophie crossed her arms. She knew something right then for sure. No matter how many boys came, this would be the best party in the world! Why? Because there were millions of dares to do in this pool!

  Dares like holding her breath underwater. And going down the slide headfirst. And what about the high dive? Who would dare her to jump from that?

  Sophie couldn’t wait to find out. And she didn’t have to!

  Mia saw her staring at the high dive. “Hey, Sophie. What would you do if I dared you to jump from there?”

  Sophie put her hands on her hips. “I’d do it. Of course!” she said.

  “Whoa!” Ben looked surprised.

  Kate made a “really?” face. “Are you sure? It’s pretty high, you know.”

  Sophie stuck out her chin. “You know there’s not a dare that I won’t do! That high dive has my name all over it!”

  “Hey, everyone!” Mia shouted. Most of the class was now in the pool. “Guess what. I dared Sophie to jump off the high dive. And she’s going to!”

  “Wow!”

  “Ooh!”

  Sophie grinned and took it all in. She felt like she’d been wrapped up in a warm towel. She took a quick bow. Then she walked — she didn’t run — across the deck to the diving boards.

  She reached the ladder and bowed again. She heard a few more whoops and cheers.

  Then she heard a whistle. “Hey, you! Not so fast!”

  Huh? Sophie looked over her shoulder. A lifeguard was staring at Sophie from her chair.

  “How old are you?” the guard asked.

  “Um … eight.” Couldn’t she tell?

  “Well, if you’re under twelve, you have to pass a high-dive test,” the lifeguard said.

  Then she pointed to a sign. It said pretty much the same thing.

  “Oh …” A test? Really? thought Sophie. “So … what does that mean?”

  The lifeguard explained that it meant she had to swim the looong way across the pool. Then she had to tread water. In the deep end. For a whole minute.

  But that was no problem! “I can do that!” Sophie said.

  She had done exactly the same thing in the old, outdoor rec pool. She had never liked taking swim lessons very much. But now she was glad her mom forced her to.

  She jumped in and started swimming … and treading water … until she passed the test. Then she climbed out of the deep end. Whew.

  “I did it!” Sophie called.

  “The diving board’s all yours,” the lifeguard replied. Then she leaned out of her chair. “Hey, kid! You’re blue! Are you alright?”

  Blue? What was she talking about? Sophie looked down. Sure enough, a bright blue puddle was forming below her on the tile.

  Oh, no! What’s wrong with me? Sophie worried. But a second later, she knew. It was Hayley’s blue hair spray. It had washed off in the pool!

  Hayley had never said if it was waterproof. And Sophie had never thought to ask. Now she didn’t have to.

  She wiped her face off with her hands. Yep. They were blue, too.

  The lifeguard pointed to the locker room. “I think you need a shower,” she said, “before you get back in this pool.”

  Sophie came back from the shower clean and ready to jump. But there was one big problem. No one was watching anymore. Now everyone was playing Marco Polo in the shallow end.

  Sophie waved. But nobody saw her. “Yoo-hoo!” She waved again.

  At last, Kate noticed her. “Hey!” she yelled. “Sophie’s back! She’s going to try again!”

  Sophie grinned and waved “thanks” to Kate. Then she took another bow. Then she grabbed the ladder and started climbing. One rung … two rungs … until she started slowing down.

  Wow. This diving board really was high! How high had she climbed? She stopped to look down.

  Agh! She was way, WAY off the ground.

  Sophie quickly looked back up. The top was still far away. A lump was lumping in her throat. She tried to swallow it. But it stayed.

  “Go, Sophie!” she heard kids shout. And suddenly, she wished she were down with them, splashing and playing in the shallow end.

  Then she stopped. What was she thinking? If she were there, who would she be? She sure wouldn’t be Sophie the Daredevil anymore. She wouldn’t be special. And she wouldn’t be unique.

  She swallowed her lump (or at least most of it). And she started to climb again.

  “Go, Sophie, go!” she heard. And it helped a little bit. Still, Sophie couldn’t help shaking. She wondered if everyone could tell. And would her trembling, slippery hands hold her? She was almost surprised that they did.

  Finally, she got to the top.

  “Yay!” the kids in the pool below cheered.

  Yay … and HELP! Sophie thought.

  She closed her eyes and reminded herself, I am a daredevil! There’s not a dare I won’t do. I’ve already worn a hat that Archie licked. And I stuck my nose in Dean’s shoes. (Ew!) I’ve even been in the boys’ bathroom. And dyed my hair blue! Dares aren’t supposed to be easy. They’re supposed to be hard. And they’re supposed to give you tingles. Even if the tingles don’t feel good.

  Okay. That seemed to work. A little. She could do this. She could. She just had to open her eyes and step forward. So she did….

  AHHHH!

  She stepped back as fast as she could.

  What was she thinking? She could not look over the edge. She was at least a mile high. She needed a parachute for this!

  Meanwhile, her friends were waving. They looked far away … and small. And the water below her? It looked far away … and hard.

  I have to jump. And I will! Sophie thought.

  Just as soon as I count to ten. One … two … three …

  She got to ten. And didn’t move.

  She still wasn’t ready. So she tried it again … but it still didn’t work.

  Maybe if she counted backward?

  Ten … nine … eight …

  Her mind was saying, “Jump, Sophie the Daredevil! If you can go in the boys’ room, you can jump in a pool!” But it didn’t matter. The rest of her was saying, “Don’t move!”

  Meanwhile, a brand-new handstand contest had started in the shallow end. Everyone had gotten tired of waiting — except for Kate. She put her hands up as if to say, “What gives?”

  “Hey, kid,” the lifeguard called. Sophie was way above her now. “You’ve got to jump, you know. If you can’t, you’ve got to climb down. Those are the rules.”

  Sophie bit her lip. Climb down? Would Sophie the Daredevil really climb down?

  Now she didn’t know which was worse: risking her life by jumping, or risking her name by giving up!

  “Bwock! Bwock! Look! It’s Sophie the Chicken! So there is a dare she can’t do!”

  Sophie’s eyes zoomed around and landed on Toby and Archie. Grrrrr! Her hands made fists.

  Archie was pointing and laughing. But Toby was doing something worse: He was flapping his bony elbows and totally making fun of her!

  Sophie stopped trembling. Completely. Sophie the Chicken, huh?! She put her hands on her hips. “I am not a chicken, either!” she called. She took a step forward. “I am a — AGGHHHH!!!”

  Oh, no! What had she done?

  Had she stepped off the edge of the board? She hadn’t meant to step that far!

  Sophie’s eyes were shut tight … but yes, she was pretty sure that
was what she had done.

  She was falling through the air. Her arms flapped, but they could not keep her up. At least she wasn’t screaming — now that her stomach was in her throat.

  Sophie wondered how long it would last. How long did it take to fall a whole mile? Should she try to open her eyes? Should she try to hold her nose? Should she try to stop waving her arms and legs before she —

  Smack!

  — hit the water?

  Ouch!

  Sophie opened her eyes then. She was underwater. Way under, in fact. She pulled and kicked until she popped to the surface. She gulped for air. Hooray! She was still alive.

  And then it suddenly hit her: She had done the dare! She was still, without a doubt, for sure, the most daring kid in her whole class!

  Sophie beamed as she climbed out of the deep end.

  Kate was there to meet her. “Are you okay?”

  Sophie nodded. “Of course! I’m awesome! So? How was my jump?” she asked.

  Kate’s mouth twisted. Her nose wrinkled. “It looked like it hurt,” she said.

  Sophie pumped her fist. “Yes!” she said. “That makes it even more daring! Doesn’t it?”

  She stood up, dripping, and fixed her bathing suit. (The jump had — oops — twisted it some.)

  “I sure showed Toby and Archie, didn’t I!” she told Kate.

  “Um … yeah …,” Kate said. But she didn’t look so sure.

  Sophie turned to bow to the shallow end, just like any great daredevil should.

  “Yeah!”

  “Yay!”

  Wow! Were those cheers?

  “Listen to that!” she said to Kate.

  But Kate did not look thrilled. Instead, she pointed up. Sophie followed her finger. The next second, her jaw dropped.

  Toby was standing up on the high dive! He did a strong-man pose. Then he yelled, “Ay, caramba!” and ran … and jumped!

  Sophie couldn’t believe it.

  He didn’t!

  But he did.

  Kate put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “Who cares? You were the first,” she said.

  Right. Sophie nodded. That was the truth. Anyone could go second. Daredevils went first.

  Plus Toby’s jump didn’t even look like it hurt!