by Nancy N. Rue
Maggie looked at Darbie with hopeless eyes. “You wouldn’t say that if you were more like me. Any of you.”
“But we ARE like you!” Kitty said.
“We’re all alike in the important things,” Sophie said.
“Yes!” Darbie pulled her eyebrows together. “Tell us what they are, Sophie.”
Sophie got up on her knees so she could look right into Maggie’s dark, sad eyes. “None of us are perfect,” she said. “But we ALL try to follow our rules — like we’re all mostly loyal and we don’t do bad stuff to people like the Corn Pops even though they do it to us — and we TRY to do the right thing. When we fight, we always make up because — ”
Sophie stopped and slid her eyes toward Kitty — whose parents “didn’t believe in church.” She was pretty sure Jesus would want her to go ahead anyway.
“Because what?” Kitty said.
“Because love is always where it starts with God.”
Willoughby stuck her hand up. “If you call Julia and them Corn Pops,” she said, “what do you call yourselves?”
Darbie and Fiona and Kitty whipped their heads toward Sophie.
“Willoughby totally helped us,” Sophie said. “Of course we can tell her. We’re the Corn Flakes.”
Willoughby gave a nod that bounced her wavy bob. “Then I want to be one.”
Fiona looked at Maggie. “Mags?” she said.
“Yeah,” Maggie thudded.
Sophie suddenly felt a little squirmy. “Just one thing,” she said to Willoughby. “We’re not like some clique. I mean, we have other friends too.”
Willoughby looked down the table at Gill and Harley.
“Yeah,” Darbie said. “The Wheaties.”
“And don’t forget the Lucky Charms,” Sophie said.
Question marks formed in Corn Flake eyes, until Fiona said, “OH — Jimmy and those guys. But I thought we said no boyfriends.”
“They aren’t boyfriends,” Sophie said. “They’re boys who are friends. I think it’s our time for that.”
“Yes!” Kitty said. “They are our Lucky Charms!” She high-fived Sophie and Darbie and Fiona. And then even Maggie put up her hand and let Kitty slap it — about fifteen times.
Dr. Peter WAS right, Sophie thought. Love IS always where it starts with God.
They got word later that day from Willoughby, who just seemed to know everything that happened at Great Marsh Elementary, that the Fruit Loops were suspended for the rest of the year. And the dance was cancelled.
“There isn’t going to be a dance after all,” Sophie told her parents when Daddy got home that night. “I figure you’re happy to know that.”
They seemed more than just happy. They looked the way they did when everybody finally woke up on Christmas morning.
“We have a surprise,” Mama said.
Sophie looked back and forth between them. Daddy was sporting a major grin.
“You wanted a dance,” he said, “so you’re going to have one — you and the rest of the Corn Flakes.”
“At Fiona’s house,” Mama said. “It’s being decorated as we speak.”
Daddy nudged Mama. “Don’t tell her everything!”
“I’m excited!” Mama said. She was all but clapping her little elfin hands. “Your dress is upstairs, all finished. You need to go get into it — your date will be waiting.”
“My date?” Sophie said. “But I thought — ”
Mama nodded at Daddy, who was holding up his hand. “Will I do?” he said.
“Are all the dads — ?”
“Yes,” Mama said.
“And Darbie’s uncle Patrick?”
“Yes.”
“But what about Maggie?”
“Boppa to the rescue,” Daddy said. “IF she can get him away from Miss Odetta.”
“Of course she can,” Mama said. “This whole thing was Miss Odetta’s idea.”
“No WAY!” Sophie said.
“There’s only one problem.” Daddy shuffled his feet. “I’m not a dancer.”
Sophie felt a grin spreading across her face. “That’s not a problem. I can teach you.” She put her arms out. “We’ll start with a waltz.”
Daddy lifted her so her feet were on his and leaned down to get into position.
“It’s one-two-three, one-two-three,” Sophie said, and they began to move.
“I want to be the most important guy in your life for a while longer, Soph,” Daddy said in a soft voice she didn’t even know he had.
“You are, Daddy,” Sophie said.
And then she thought, You and Jesus.
With that, Sophie decided not to think of a new mission, now that the old one had been accomplished. She just swept across the kitchen, dancing with her daddy.
Glossary
a.k.a. (ay-kay-ay) a cool way of saying “also known as”
accommodate (a-KAH-mah-date) make room for something
alter (ALL-ter) to fix or change a piece of clothing so it fits better
astonishingly (a-STOHN-ish-ing-lee) a word that describes something done so incredibly well that people can’t help but be amazed
blackguards (BLAG-ghards) very rude and offensive people
class (klas)not a group of students, but a word that means something’s really cool
demerit (di-MARE-it) kind of like traffic tickets for your behavior; if you get too many of them, you are punished
disdainful (dis-DANE-full) when you think you’re better than someone else, and look at them with so much disgust that you show your feelings on your face
enchanting (in-CHANT-ing)something that is so charming and fantastic that it casts a spell on you
flagellating (FLA-gel-late-ing) constantly bringing up something you did wrong to punish yourself; kind of like beating yourself up
flick (flik) a fun word for “movie”
foil (foyl) to keep something from happening, usually through some sort of plan
formidable (for-MI-da-bull) a problem so big and scary that there doesn’t seem to be any way to avoid or defeat it
inconsiderate (in-kon-SI-dehr-ret) not thinking about other people, and doing what you want instead
irresponsible (ir-e-spahn-se-bule) not doing the things you’re supposed to do, such as chores, coming home on time, or your homework
keening (keyn-ing) crying really loud, like when someone dies
nostalgic (na-STALL-jick) something old that makes you all mushy inside, so that you want to live in the time period it’s from
resilient (re-zill-yent) someone who is really tough, and can bounce back quickly from difficult things
scandalized (SKAN-duhl-eyzed)what happens after people are totally shocked by something. Sometimes, these people are very mean to the person who is “shocking,” and spread gossip about them.
scornful (scorn-full) hateful, in a I’m-better-than-you way, and making sure people know how you feel
steely (STEE-lee) to look at someone in a cold way, like when you’re disappointed in them
succumb (suh-come) when you finally give into something more powerful than you
surveillance (sir-VAY-lents) to secretly follow and spy on someone closely in order to gather special information on that person
Victorian (vic-TORE-ee-an) literally something that was made during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901), when everything was really fancy. Victorian homes in America are usually pastel, and have a lot of fancy stuff on the outside.
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