Sophie the Awesome

by Lara Bergen

  “It wasn’t me,” said Toby, pointing to his drum.

  “That was Sophie M.,” piped up Mindy matter-of-factly. “And it wasn’t even right.”

  Grrr! Sophie wanted to growl at her very much.

  “Sophie,” said Mrs. Wittels. She shook her head. “Please don’t play so hard. You could break the tambourine.”

  Hmm. Sophie doubted that. She had seen Archie do much worse. Her hand was another story, though. Ouch! She shook it out and hoped it wasn’t broken.

  “Let’s switch instruments now, shall we?” Mrs. Wittels suggested. “And, Mindy, why don’t you choose who leads the rhythm next.”

  The kids set down their instruments, and a few raised their hands, hoping Mindy would pick them. But Sophie didn’t bother. Instead, she scanned the floor for a new instrument. Something awesome, but with a little less pain and more gain. Besides, she already knew who Mindy would pick.

  “Lily,” said Mindy.

  Of course.

  Lily Lemley looked nothing like Mindy VonBoffmann. But she tried as hard as she could.

  She wore a headband, just like Mindy. Every single day. Unless Mindy didn’t wear a headband. Then Lily took hers off.

  She wore mismatched socks, just like Mindy. Even though Sophie and Kate had totally thought of doing it first.

  She had the same shoes as Mindy. And the same backpack. And the same TV show lunch box. And the same “I love Disney World” sweatshirt. Even though Sophie knew for a fact that Lily had never gone there. Not once.

  Lily held up the triangle she’d picked and tapped it. Ting, ting, ting-a-ling-a-ting-ting.

  It was Mindy’s rhythm all over again. Exactly.

  Mrs. Wittels shook her head. “Lily, remember when I told you last week to make up your own rhythm?”

  “Um, okay,” Lily said.

  Everybody waited. And waited a little more.

  “Just do something!” Mrs. Wittels said.

  Lily held up her triangle. Ting, ting … ting, ting-a-ling-a-ting-ting, she went at last.

  “Wonderful,” sighed Mrs. Wittels. “And-a-one, and-a-two, and-a—”

  CLACK, CLACK … CLACK, CLACK-A-CLACK-A-CLACK-CLACK! went Sophie, banging her claves as awesomely as she could.

  She looked around proudly. She’d gotten that right, she was sure. But no one seemed impressed. Sophie sighed. How could she really prove her awesomeness by copying someone else’s rhythm, anyway?

  She’d just have to wait for her own turn to lead. And, of course, her turn came when it usually did. Not at the beginning. And not at the end. But somewhere in the middle.

  “Sophie M.,” Kate said as soon as her turn was over.

  Sophie grinned, and her heart beat faster. She was suddenly a little nervous. But there was no looking back now. Her time to be awesome had come! She dove for the new instrument she’d had her eyes on.

  “Are you sure about those?” asked Mrs. Wittels.

  Sophie waved her cymbals and nodded. Of course she was sure. Let the world’s most awesome rhythm begin!

  CRASH-CRASH-CRASH, CRASH-A-CRASH, CRASH-A-CRASH, CRASH-A-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH, CRASH, CRASH, CRASH, CRASH-A-CRASH-A-CRASH, CRASH-A-CRASH, CRASH, CRASH, CRASH, CRASH, CRASH, CRASH-A-CRASH-A-CRASH-A-CRASH-A—

  “Sophie!” cried Mrs. Wittels.

  Sophie stopped, mid-CRASH, smiling widely. Mrs. Wittels had noticed her awesomeness! And she wasn’t even done yet.

  Sophie made one final CRASH! Then she peered around at her classmates. She guessed they were too amazed by her awesomeness to clap. Then she noticed that their hands were over their ears. Even Kate’s.

  “Sophie!” Mrs. Wittels repeated. “Please put down the cymbals! That is quite enough!”

  Sophie looked up at the teacher. Her face was very white except for the pink circles on her cheeks. Her whole body was shaking. So was her pink bow.

  Slowly, Sophie did as she was told. She wondered if Mrs. Wittels was just stunned by her awesome performance. But something in Sophie’s stomach told her no.

  Toby lunged for the cymbals. “Do we get to copy her rhythm now?” he asked.

  “No!” snapped Mrs. Wittels. She snatched the cymbals away. “I think we’ve had enough rhythm for one day.” She rubbed her forehead. “We have ten more minutes, class. Let’s just sit quietly until then, shall we?”

  “But I didn’t get a turn!” Jack complained.

  “Me neither!” said Grace.

  Mrs. Wittels held up her hand. “We’ll start with you next week.”

  “Thanks a lot, Sophie,” groaned Dean.

  Sophie sighed and looked at the floor. So maybe she wasn’t awesome … at music.

  But that was okay. She had ten whole minutes to figure something else out!

  “Look out!” hollered Sophie. “Coming through!”

  At last, music was over. The final ten minutes had felt like a year. But now Sophie’s class was on their way back to their classroom. And Sophie was on her way to awesomeness. She was sure of it.

  She grabbed the stairway banister and swung herself down to the landing.

  “Ouch!” someone yelped.

  “Oh, sorry,” said Sophie.

  She hadn’t meant to land on Sophie A.’s foot. But had Sophie A. seen how far she’d jumped?

  “Did you see how far I jumped?” Sophie asked her.

  “No,” Sophie A. said.

  “I did, and that was nothing,” said Toby, trotting down the stairs behind them. He grabbed the same banister and leaped over the landing. “Check that out!” he said.

  Then he ran back up the stairs and did it again.

  Sophie gave him an I’ll-show-you face and ran back up, as well.

  “Hey, guys, you better stop that!” Grace said. She was the class Caboose that week. That meant she walked at the end of the line wherever the class went. “You know you’re not supposed to goof around on the stairs.”

  “Yeah,” added Mindy, who was not the Caboose. Sophie thought that meant she should really keep her mouth shut. But she never did. “Cut it out, or I’m telling Ms. Moffly when we get back to the room,” Mindy said.

  “Me too,” said Lily.

  “You’ll make us lose our hall privilege,” Mindy went on.

  “Yeah, you will,” said Lily.

  But Sophie wasn’t goofing around at all. She was trying to prove a point: that she was awesome … at jumping down the stairs.

  “Hey, everybody!” she called out. “Look at this!”

  “Mindy and Lily really will tell on you,” Kate warned her in a low voice. “You know they will.”

  But Sophie didn’t care. She backed up to the second, then the third, then the fourth step. She waited for a minute, until almost every eye was on her. Then she jumped.

  “Ta-da!”

  Toby followed her.

  “Ta-da shma-da. Anyone can do that,” he said.

  Oh, yeah? thought Sophie. She ran back up to the fifth step. But Toby was already there.

  “Ay, caramba!” he hollered, leaping. He landed and grinned. “Five steps. New school record. Beat that, Sophster,” he said.

  “Guys!” Grace groaned. “Let’s go now!”

  But Sophie wasn’t ready to go. She ran up to the sixth step.

  “What are you doing?” Kate asked.

  Sophie held out her arms. “Behold! I am about to perform the most awesome step jump ever.”

  “Are you crazy?” said Kate. “You can’t jump six steps. You’re going to break your neck!”

  “You’re going to be in big trouble!” said Mindy.

  But Sophie just grinned. “I can do it!” she said.

  Then she made the big mistake of looking down. What was she thinking? Six steps was way too much!

  But Sophie could never, ever say she was awesome if she gave up now.

  She closed her eyes and … wait! What was she thinking? She had to look!

  So she opened her eyes and jumped.

  The good news was that Sophie landed on her feet. Th
e bad news was that she also landed on her bottom. Ouch! Dumb, slippery new shoes. Boy, that hurt. A lot.

  Sophie did not want to cry. But it was hard not to when she looked up at Kate.

  Kate knelt down beside her. “Would you like to go to the nurse?” she asked softly.

  Sophie sniffed and nodded. “Yeah, maybe,” she said. And not just because her bottom hurt. It would also get her away from everyone. Including Archie and Toby.

  “Ha-ha!” Toby laughed and gave Archie a high five. “Crash landings don’t count. I still have the record!”

  Sophie made a face at him. Good old Kate stuck out her tongue. Then she helped Sophie up.

  “Out of our way,” Kate said. “Could someone tell Ms. Moffly I took Sophie to the nurse?”

  “Oh, we’ll tell her, all right,” said Mindy, grinning smugly.

  Kate held Sophie’s hand and led her back up the stairs toward the nurse’s office.

  “Hey. Knock-knock,” she said after a second.

  “Who’s there?” Sophie sighed.

  “Orange,” said Kate.

  “Orange who?” Sophie asked.

  “Orange you glad you didn’t break your neck?”

  Sophie sighed. Yes, she was glad she had not broken her neck. And she was glad that she did not have to go back to her classroom yet — and see Ms. Moffly.

  Plus she needed time to think of something else awesome to do.

  Kate left her at the nurse’s office. Mrs. Frost, the nurse, crossed her arms in front of her. She had a very big front to cross. But somehow it worked.

  “Well, if it isn’t Sophie Miller. What happened to you?” asked the nurse.

  “I, um, fell on the stairs,” Sophie said.

  Mrs. Frost clucked her tongue. “I hope you weren’t jumping,” she said.

  Sophie filled her cheeks with air.

  “Tell me, where does it hurt?” asked the nurse.

  Sophie pointed to her backside, and the nurse took a look. She made Sophie bend and squat and twist.

  “Looks like you’ll be fine,” said Mrs. Frost. “Do you want me to call your parents?”

  Sophie thought for a minute. Then she shook her head. She was already feeling better. And she really didn’t want her day to end like this. She’d had a rocky start at being awesome. But she wasn’t giving up yet!

  “Could I maybe just lie down for a little while?” Sophie said. That would give her time to think. And time for her face to get less red.

  The nurse had Sophie lie facedown on the cot in the corner. It was lumpy, but cool and clean. Sophie tried not to think about all the throw-up it must have seen. (Like hers. Last year. The day after Halloween.)

  Suddenly, Sophie felt a chill on her bottom. She jumped.

  “Ice pack,” explained the nurse. “Now be still. Do you need another?”

  “No, thanks,” Sophie answered. One was plenty cold enough.

  She lay there for a few minutes and tried to think of more ways to be awesome. But it was kind of hard with a freezing-cold ice pack on her bottom.

  Sophie looked up at the big white clock on the wall. Twelve o’clock. Her stomach rumbled.

  “Uh, Mrs. Frost?” she said.

  “Yes?” answered the nurse. “Did you change your mind about that second ice pack?”

  “Um, no,” Sophie said. “I was just thinking that I feel better. Can I go to lunch now?”

  “Very well,” said the nurse. She took back the ice pack and helped Sophie to her feet. “So, what lesson did you learn today, Sophie?” she asked.

  Sophie rubbed the back of her pants. “I guess I learned my bottom is not that tough,” she said.

  Sophie was still a tiny bit sore when she got to the lunchroom. But the smell of hot food helped a lot. Kate did, too.

  “Hey, Sophie!” Kate called. She waved her over to the lunch line. “Sophie! Over here!”

  “Excuse me!” said Mindy. She was standing just behind Kate. “No cuts!”

  “Yeah,” said Lily, who was behind Mindy. “No cuts.”

  Kate turned to them. “I was saving this place. So it’s not cuts.” She took Sophie’s arm and pulled her in. “Besides, give her a break. How are you feeling, Sophie?” she asked.

  Sophie stretched out a smile. “Awesome,” she said.

  “Whatever,” Mindy scoffed. “We’ll give you a break, Sophie. ’Cause we know Ms. Moffly’s not going to.” Then she giggled, and Lily chimed in.

  Sophie turned to Kate. She suddenly wasn’t feeling as awesome anymore. “Am I in really big trouble?” she whispered.

  Kate bit her lip and shrugged. “Actually, we all are,” she whispered back. “Ms. Moffly says no hall privileges for the whole class for the rest of the week.”

  Sophie sighed. That was too bad, and not just because she liked hall privileges. It was too bad because it made being awesome even harder.

  Kate kindly handed Sophie a tray. “Hey, knock-knock!” she said brightly.

  “Who’s there?” Sophie said.

  “Kenya,” Kate said.

  “Kenya who?” said Sophie.

  “Kenya hand me one of those milks, please?” Kate laughed.

  Sophie smiled a little again. She was glad she had a friend like Kate to cheer her up.

  “Keep it moving!” shouted Grace from the back of the line.

  Sophie handed Kate a carton of milk and slid her tray to where the lunch lady stood, waiting. She offered Sophie a plate full of fish sticks and French fries.

  Sophie’s smile quickly faded. Fish sticks? How could something so blah have smelled so yum? It was probably the most unawesome lunch she could think of.

  She set the plate down on her tray, then took a roll and a dish of carrots.

  Then, suddenly, an idea hit her — and it was awesome!

  “Hey, give me your tray!” she told Kate. Sophie grabbed it before Kate could stop her. “Sydney, give me yours, too!”

  “Huh?” said Sydney. She was just about to walk out to the tables.

  “I mean, won’t you please let me carry your tray out for you?” said Sophie. She smiled a big and helpful-looking smile. “You too, Sophie A.”

  “Why?” the girls asked together.

  “Because,” said Sophie, “I just want to be helpful. Plus, carrying four trays would be pretty awesome, don’t you think?”

  She grinned at Kate. If she could have winked, she would have. It was too bad that it looked like something was stuck in her eye whenever she tried.

  “Are you sure you can do it?” asked Sydney.

  “No problem!” said Sophie. She moved Kate’s tray to her left arm and balanced it just above her elbow. Then she took Sydney’s tray in her left hand and Sophie A.’s in her right.

  Ugh. She tried not to groan. The trays were much heavier than she’d expected.

  “Uh … put my tray right here, will you?” she asked Kate.

  “Like this?” said Kate. She balanced the tray in the crook of Sophie’s right arm.

  “Perfect,” said Sophie.

  “Are you sure you can do this?” Sydney asked one more time.

  I hope, Sophie thought. “I am sure,” she said.

  In fact, maybe she could carry five trays. One on her head! Like that lady carrying water in the desert on TV.

  But then she looked around. The nearest tray was Mindy’s.

  Four trays would be awesome enough.

  “Okay! Let’s go!” Sophie said.

  Sophie led her short line of trayless friends toward the girls’ usual table. Her arms were starting to shake. But she held her head high.

  She waited for the whole cafeteria to notice her. To stop midchew and stare. To yell, “That is awesome!”

  But no one did.

  Sophie guessed they needed prodding.

  “Coming through!” she began to holler. “Hot fish sticks! Look out!” Suddenly, Dean scooted his chair out in front of her. “Seriously, look out!” she cried.

  Dean scooted his chair back in. “No, you look o
ut,” he said.

  “What are you doing?” asked Jack, who was sitting beside him.

  Sophie reached her table at last and smiled. “I,” she said, “am carrying four—count them—four trays!”

  She wanted to bow, but of course she couldn’t. So Sophie decided to set the trays down. But she couldn’t do that, either.

  The minute she leaned forward, the plates started sliding. The silverware started rolling. And all four trays started moving on their own!

  “Help me, Kate!” Sophie cried.

  Kate quickly slipped her hand under Sydney’s tray and set it down. Sophie A. and Sydney hurried to grab the others—just in time!

  Sophie waited for her heart to start beating normally again. Then she held up her arms. “Ta-da!” she called. She looked at all the kids around her. “What do you think? Wasn’t that … awesome?”

  She thought there would be cheering or clapping. But there was not.

  “You almost dropped them all,” said Sophie A.

  “You spilled my carrots,” said Sydney.

  “What’s so awesome about carrying four trays, anyway?” asked Mindy. She had just walked up behind them, carrying her own tray. “You know, I went to a restaurant last night where the waiter carried all five plates out at one time. It was for my grandmother’s birthday and it was very fancy.” Mindy turned and flashed Sophie one of her squinty, no-teeth smiles. “And he set the dessert on fire!”

  “Really?” said Kate. “On real fire?”

  Sophie nudged Kate with her elbow.

  “Sorry,” said Kate, shrugging. “But that does sound pretty awesome.”

  “I’ll tell you what else is awesome,” Toby piped up suddenly. He was sitting at the boys’ table and holding up a handful of fries. “Look at this!”

  He opened his mouth as wide as it could go. (Yuck! thought Sophie.) Then, one by one, he began to shove in French fries.

  “One … two … three …,” Archie counted.

  Soon the whole boys’ table had joined in, soft enough so that no lunch monitor would hear.

  “… twenty-one … twenty-two … twenty-three!”

  Toby pumped his arms. That was about all he could do with a big mouthful of fries.

  “Twenty-three!” cheered Archie.