by Lara Bergen
Sophie sighed. She wished that just once Hayley would remember this was her room, too. But she wasn’t going to let that bother her. At least, not so much.
“Don’t worry. That’s not my question,” Sophie told her. “We just want to know Mr. Bloom’s first name.”
“His first name?” Hayley pulled her top drawer open. “Mike.” Then she turned as Sophie started scribbling. “Why do you want to know?”
“Well …” Sophie shared a look with Kate. They both shrugged at the same time. Why not tell Hayley? Sophie thought. She would find out soon enough!
“Here! You can read for yourself.” She proudly showed Hayley her new letter. “I’m going to give it to Ms. Moffly. And she’ll think that it’s from … Mike. And when they get married, they’ll invite everybody. Your class, too, I bet! And they’ll live happily ever after. It’s pretty sweet of me, don’t you think?”
She waited for Hayley to answer. She was excited. But nervous, too. She knew that this was a great idea. But Hayley didn’t always see how great Sophie’s ideas were at first.
At last, Hayley’s mouth twisted sideways. “This is interesting,” she said.
Yes! Sophie took the letter back. Hayley liked her idea!
“I wonder if they’ll ask their best students to be in the wedding,” Hayley went on.
Be in the wedding? Ooh! Sophie hadn’t thought of that! “Like a flower girl?” she asked. She had always wanted to be one of those!
Hayley nodded, then tossed her hair back. “You third graders might be flower girls. I’d be a junior bridesmaid, I’m pretty sure.”
“Oh, I hope it’s not a long engagement,” said Sophie. “Let’s see…. If I give this note to Ms. Moffly first thing in the morning, how long will it take? A week? Or two?”
That’s when Hayley’s eyes got serious again. “You can’t give that to her.”
“What? Is it my handwriting?” asked Sophie. She sighed. “Is it still too neat?”
“No.” Hayley shook her head. Then she tilted it. “Well, Mr. Bloom’s handwriting is a lot messier, yes. But I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about what happens when Ms. Moffly says, ‘Yes.’ And Mr. Bloom says ‘Huh?’ because he doesn’t even know he asked.” Oh.
Sophie nodded. “I see,” she said, thinking hard. “So do you think the note should be from Ms. Moffly, instead?”
“No.” Hayley shook her head again. “Besides, don’t you read or watch TV? People go on dates first. They don’t just get married.”
“They don’t?” Sophie frowned. She thought that was exactly what they did.
“No.” Hayley rolled her eyes. “You’ll know that when you’re ten.”
Sophie turned to Kate. She could tell this was news to her, too. But if Ms. Moffly and Mr. Bloom had to go out on a date first, then that’s what they would do.
Sophie slapped the paper down on her lap desk. Then she took her pen and went back to work.
Dear Ms. Moffly, Lila,
I love you.
Will you marry me? Go on a date with me?
Sinseerly, Mr. Bloom Mike
P.S. Then will you marry me?
When she was done, Sophie showed it to Hayley. “Better?” she asked.
Hayley shrugged. But she didn’t look so sure.
Also Available
Finding the right name isn’t easy!
See what else Sophie tries out….
1: SOPHIE the AWESOME
2: SOPHIE the HERO
3: SOPHIE the CHATTERBOX
4: SOPHIE the ZILLIONAIRE
5: SOPHIE the SNOOP
6: SOPHIE the DAREDEVIL
7: SOPHIE the SWEETHEART
About the Author
Just like Sophie, Lara Bergen would love to find a name that describes her perfectly … but for now she’ll settle with being the author of this great series and many other books for children — and, before that, the proud editor of many more. She lives in the Big Apple, New York City, with the best husband and two children in the world.
Copyright
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Text copyright © 2011 by Lara Bergen
Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Scholastic Inc.
Cover art by Laura Tallardy
Cover design by Tim Hall
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First printing, July 2011
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eISBN: 978-0-545-38895-5