“I see,” said Ms. Moffly. She put one finger on the side of her chin, and Sophie admired her pink nail polish. “Well, let’s see how good a reporter you can be, then, Sophie. Try to find out something you didn’t know before!”
She smiled down at Sophie. It was the same smile Sophie’s mom had whenever she gave her a new chore.
Sophie turned and sulked off slowly.
She couldn’t believe it. How could she be awesome now, when she was paired with the worst partner in the class?
Chapter 8
Sophie slumped down in the desk next to Toby. She looked at the questions in her notebook, but she didn’t say a word.
“Go ahead already,” Toby groaned.
“Okay, okay,” said Sophie. She knew all the answers already. But since Ms. Moffly was watching, she had to play along.
“Favorite color?” she asked Toby, trying not to look at him.
“Red,” Toby said.
Sophie sighed a bored sigh. Of course, she thought.
“Favorite ice cream?”
“Chocolate.”
“What?” Sophie must have heard him wrong.
“Chocolate,” Toby repeated.
“I thought you hated chocolate,” said Sophie.
Toby shrugged. “Not anymore.”
Sophie frowned as she wrote down chocklit. Something about it didn’t look right. But she left it and moved on.
“Do you have any pets?” Sophie asked. She pictured Toby’s two cats and his dog, Barnaby, in her head.
“Two cats,” he said.
“And one dog,” Sophie added. She rolled her eyes.
But Toby shook his head. “No. Just two cats,” he said. He looked at his lap and took a deep breath. “Barnaby … died this summer.”
“Really?” Sophie said. Oh. “I’m so sorry….”
Good old shaggy, smelly Barnaby. Dead? She hadn’t known.
“He was old,” said Toby softly. Then he frowned. “Are you done?”
“Uh, not quite,” Sophie told him. She tried to read her next question, but it was hard. She was still so stunned.
“Um …” she said at last. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Sophie held up her pencil. “A baseball player, right?”
“Maybe,” said Toby. “Or maybe a reporter.”
Sophie could feel her jaw drop. “Really? Me too!”
“Or maybe not,” Toby said. He made a face and tilted his chair back. “My turn.”
“Hang on!” Sophie said. She looked down at her paper. She still hadn’t asked the last question she had added: Who is the most awesome person you know? It had been perfect for Kate, her best friend in the world. But Toby?
“Ask your dumb question already!” he groaned.
“Never mind,” mumbled Sophie. “Go ahead.”
Toby grinned. Of course he had made up very different questions. They included:
“What’s your favorite football team?”
“What’s your favorite baseball team?” and
“Who’s your favorite basketball player?”
Talk about dumb questions!
She answered, “Giants,” to them all.
“There is no player named Giants,” said Toby.
“Prove it,” Sophie said.
“Whatever,” Toby said back, slouching in his seat. “Okay. Last question. Do you have a nickname? Sophster? Sophmeister? Sophoraptor?” Toby laughed and put down his pencil. “Never mind. I know you don’t.”
Sophie looked at him. “Oh, yeah?” she said. She did too have a nickname. And it didn’t sound like a dinosaur’s name, either. “Sophie the Awesome!” she blurted.
She grinned with satisfaction. Then she noticed Toby’s face. Before, it had looked grumpy. Now it looked like it would burst with laughter.
And then it did. Toby totally cracked up!
“Toby!” called Ms. Moffly from across the room. “Please lower your voice. And sit down!”
Oh, no, Sophie thought. This was not good. Not at all.
Chapter 9
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! What had Sophie done?
She had gone and put her precious new name in the grubby hands of Toby Myers. That was what!
She heard Ms. Moffly tell the class that their interview time was over. And she watched Toby go back to his desk and start laughing with Archie right away.
Of course he was making fun of her. Sophie could just tell. She wanted to scream! This was not at all how Sophie the Awesome was supposed to start!
Of course, it wouldn’t have been so bad if she had set the jump-rope record. Or if she had done anything awesome so far that day. Then her awesomeness would have been proven. But Sophie could feel it in her guts. She should have waited till the next day to tell everyone her new name.
She had made a BIG mistake.
Maybe, if it was almost three o’clock, Ms. Moffly would let them wait and do their reports tomorrow. Sophie looked at the clock. It was only two-fifteen.
Sophie’s stomach got all knotty as Ms. Moffly called the first group up.
“I interviewed Mindy,” said Jack.
Mindy stood up and took a bow, and Lily applauded loudly.
“Anyway,” Jack went on, “I asked her if she has any brothers and sisters. She doesn’t. I asked her what her favorite sports are. She said gymnastics and ice-skating.”
“And horseback riding!” Mindy added.
“You didn’t say that,” said Jack.
“I just remembered,” said Mindy.
“And horseback riding,” Jack repeated. “And I asked her how many teeth she lost. Six.”
“That’s all?” called out Archie. “I’ve lost eight.”
The whole class giggled.
“I meant eight,” said Mindy quickly. “Is it my turn now?”
“Yes, Mindy,” said Ms. Moffly. “Thank you, Jack. And, class, please be respectful. You all know better than to interrupt.”
The whole class nodded. That didn’t stop the giggling, though.
There was giggling when Mindy said Jack had never had a dessert that was on fire before.
There was giggling when Grace said Ben’s favorite cartoon character was Tweety Bird.
There was giggling when Eve said that Dean was afraid of butterflies.
There was even giggling when Sophie A. said that ants on a log were Kate’s favorite snack. Sophie did not know what was so funny about that. Those things were good!
Sophie could only imagine how much giggling there would be when her nickname came up. It would ruin the whole name thing! Inside, her whole body groaned.
And then it was her turn.
“Sophie M.,” said Ms. Moffly, “why don’t you share with us now? And no more giggling, class, please.”
Sophie looked at the clock. It was only two-forty. Could she make her report last twenty minutes? Long enough that Toby would have to wait till tomorrow? She would have to try.
“Sophie?” said Ms. Moffly. The teacher waited, then leaned toward her. “Sophie?” she said again.
There was giggling. Sophie pointed to herself and looked surprised.
“Huh? Who, me?” she said.
“Yes, you,” said Ms. Moffly patiently.
“Oh, sorry.” Sophie shrugged. “I thought you meant Sophie A.”
“No,” said Ms. Moffly. “I think I said ‘Sophie M.’ And Sophie A. already went.” She cut her eyes across the room. “No giggling, please!”
“So it’s my turn?” said Sophie. She sighed and stood up with her paper.
She cleared her throat.
She counted to three.
Then four. Then five.
“Anytime, Sophie,” said Ms. Moffly.
“Thank you,” said Sophie. “Thank you very, very, very, very, very —”