Sophie the Sweetheart?
Sophie wasn’t sure if she was glowing. But she kind of thought she was!
She started to say, “You’re welcome. I am a sweetheart. How did you know?” But before she could, two more hands reached for the box. Sophie looked up. They were Mr. Bloom’s.
Mr. Bloom was another teacher (a teacher who wore jeans and no tie). He taught Hayley’s fifth-grade class. And he rode to school on a bike, like a kid.
He had his helmet on now, in fact. So Sophie couldn’t see much of his hair. But she could see the deep dimples on each side of his big grin.
“Here, Lila. Let me help you,” he said.
“Oh, thank you,” Ms. Moffly said back.
Sophie wondered if she would call him a sweetheart, too.
She held her breath and waited … but Ms. Moffly didn’t. Sophie sighed, relieved. She wanted to be the only sweetheart around.
Or wait … did she?
Maybe not!
Maybe it would be nice if Ms. Moffly called Mr. Bloom sweetheart — in a different kind of way.
And maybe Sophie the Sweetheart could help that happen…
How sweet would that be?
Preview
Sophie’s new name is going to be super-sweet!
Dear Ms. Moffly,
I love you.
Will you marry me?
Sinseerly, Mr. Bloom
There. Sophie put down her pen. That should work! She grinned. Then she turned to her best friend, Kate Barry. Did she agree?
It was all part of their big plan. A plan they’d just made that afternoon in Sophie’s room. A plan to get their third-grade teacher, Ms. Moffly, to marry the fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Bloom.
At first, Kate had thought it was a little crazy. “Ms. Moffly? And Mr. Bloom? Doesn’t he wear jeans? I don’t think Ms. Moffly even has those.” Then Sophie explained how much the two had in common: “They both teach at Ordinary Elementary School!”
And she explained how cool it would be if they got married: “That means a wedding! And of course that means we get to go!”
“Oh!” That made Kate’s eyebrows bounce. Then she thought of something, too. “Hey! Know what else that means?”
“What?”
“It means a honeymoon!”
Sophie nodded. “You’re right! Do you think we’d get to go on that, too?”
“Probably not.” Kate giggled and rolled her eyes. “But it might mean no school.”
Oh. Well, that was almost as good. It fact, it was pretty great. But not as great as the other thing Sophie was hoping for: an awesome, perfect name!
Sophie was tired — exhausted even — of being Sophie the Most Average Girl in the Whole School. And she was determined to start being Sophie the … Anything Else. Just something that made her stand out from the rest of the world.
And now she had the best idea! She had gotten it at the end of school that day. Ms. Moffly had been struggling with a box, and Sophie had run up to help.
“Sophie, you’re such a sweetheart,” Ms. Moffly had told her.
And that was it!
Sophie the Sweetheart! Who could ask for a better name than that? All she had to do was keep being sweet and helpful to Ms. Moffly. And everybody else.
Sophie figured it wouldn’t be too hard. At least not as hard as living up to some other names had been. She was pretty good at being sweet, really. She just forgot now and then. But this time she would remember, every second of every day. And what could possibly be sweeter than helping Ms. Moffly get a sweetheart of her own?
“So do you think it’s enough?” Sophie asked Kate. She held the letter up for both of them to read.
Kate nodded. “Yeah, it sounds good.” Then she frowned. “But what about the handwriting?”
Huh? Sophie studied the page. “I tried to be so neat. And look, there’s a heart above the ‘i.’”
She could have written it in cursive, she guessed. But those f’s were so hard to make!
“I think it might be too neat,” Kate said. “Grown-up writing never looks as neat as that.”
Oh … right. Sophie thought about her mom’s handwriting. That was a mess.
“Okay.” She reached for a clean sheet of paper. “Let me try again.”
“Hang on. There’s something else,” Kate said.
Sophie’s pen froze.
Kate went on. “I wonder if we should use first names. Like maybe say ‘Dear Lila,’ instead.”
“Good idea!” said Sophie. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
“‘Dear Lila …’” She started writing. Then she stopped. “Uh-oh. Do you know what Mr. Bloom’s first name is?” she asked Kate.
Kate did not. Too bad.
But someone else does! Sophie remembered when that someone walked in right then.
“Hayley!”
Sophie’s big sister just happened to be in Mr. Bloom’s class. Sophie waved her pen as her sister brushed past her bed. “I have a very important question for you!” she said.
Hayley kept walking toward her dresser. “No, I will not play Monopoly with you,” she said. “You guys always gang up against me, and anyway, I’m way too busy right now. I have to change for ballet.”
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.