But today the library was also different. Today every book she found made her feel worse!
The Birthday Bandit
A Daring Disaster
I’ve Got a Secret
Growing Pains
(This last book didn’t remind her about Mia’s present, actually. It reminded her that her bathing suit was tight and she needed a new one ASAP.)
And then, down at the post office, what did she see? “Wanted” posters, that’s what!
Sophie looked at the wall of criminals and suddenly thought, That could be me!
And she was still thinking that later, as she and her dad walked down the street.
Her dad stopped outside her favorite ice cream store and said, “So, what’ll it be?”
Sophie loved ice cream as much as anything. Especially cookie dough ice cream. With hot fudge. And whipped cream. But ice cream was for kids who didn’t take other kids’ gifts. It was bad enough that she had taken a lollipop (even if it was brown). No way did she deserve ice cream. Or any other treat.
She looked down at the sidewalk. “I don’t want anything, Dad.”
“Mr. Charlie was right,” her dad said. “You are not yourself today.” He put his hand on her forehead. “Hmm. Feels okay to me. But let’s go home and let your mom check.”
Back at the car, Sophie climbed in. Her tote bag was still there. She tried hard not to think about it. But not hard enough.
Because Mia’s gift was all she could think about, no matter what.
Sophie bet Mia had opened her other gifts by now. She was probably thinking, Where’s Kate’s?
In fact, she’d probably even called Kate to ask where it was. And Kate had probably said, “I don’t know! Someone stole it, I think!”
And Mia had probably told her parents. And they’d probably checked all the pictures they’d taken. And they probably had one that showed Sophie by the table with the gifts. And another one, just after that, showing that Kate’s gift had disappeared.
And by now, Mia was probably crying her eyes out. And her parents had probably called Sophie’s house. And Sophie’s mom had said, “She’s not home yet.” And Mia’s parents had said, “She’ll never get away with this. We’re going to call the police —”
WEE-oo! WEE-oo! WEE-oo!
Wait! What was that? WEE-OO! WEE-OO! WEE-OO!
It was a siren! And it was getting closer — fast!
Sophie was wrong. Mia’s parents weren’t thinking about calling the police.
Mia’s parents had called the police!
Sophie could feel her dad pulling over. He probably thought they were stopping him, like on their trip to Washington, when he had driven a little too fast. She wondered what he would do when they said that she was the one under arrest.
He would be glad he hadn’t bought her ice cream. That was for sure. He’d probably make her give back her root beer lollipop, too. Honestly? That was fine with her.
And then Sophie started to wonder: What would the police do with her? What were the consequences for doing dares? Would the judge be easy? Or tough?
After all, she had just done what Mindy had told her to do. Daredevils had to do things they didn’t want to sometimes … right? Yes, of course.
But what if the judge didn’t think so? What if they took her away?!
It was too horrible to think about. But Sophie couldn’t stop.
“I’m sorry, Dad!” she cried out. The words jumped right out of her mouth. “I didn’t mean to do anything bad! Don’t let them put me in jail! Please!”
That was when the siren sound passed by them and faded away.
Sophie looked out the window to see a fire truck speeding down the street. It wasn’t a police car after all!
Phew! She sighed. She was still free.
Then Sophie saw her dad’s face. It was worried, and puzzled, and a few more things, all at once.
“What are you talking about, Sophie?” he asked.
Sophie looked at him and gulped.
Chapter 9
Where should she start? Sophie wasn’t sure. So she just skipped to the end part.
“I have Mia’s present. In my bag,” Sophie told her dad.
Then she closed her eyes and waited. What would he say back?
But all he said was “Did you forget to give it to her?”
“No, Dad.” He didn’t understand. “It’s not my present for her. It’s Kate’s,” she said.
“Oh … So did she forget to give it to Mia?”
Sophie shook her head. “No, Dad.” Then she took a deep breath. “I kind of … took it … from the gift table … at the party,” she confessed.
Okay. Now her dad’s forehead was wrinkling. He was getting it at last.
“Why did you take Mia’s present?” he asked.
“Because Mindy VonBoffmann dared me to.” Sophie’s voice sounded very small. “And now that I’m a daredevil … I kind of … had to, Dad. You know?”
“You had to take Mia’s present?” Her dad looked her straight in the eyes.
Sophie looked straight back at him. “Yeah,” she said. “Didn’t I?”
Her dad rubbed his chin for a minute. They were still stopped on the side of the road, so he turned the car off. He took off his glasses and cleaned them. That meant only one thing, Sophie knew. It was time to Have a Talk.
“Being a daredevil, Sophie — what exactly does it mean?” he asked.
Was that a trick question? Didn’t everyone know?
“It means doing things that no one else would dare to do. No matter what they are.”
“But don’t you think there are sometimes good reasons why people don’t do things?” her dad replied.
Sophie thought for a minute. “Do you mean because they’re chicken?” she asked.
“No.” Her dad shook his head. “I mean sometimes people don’t do things because they know they’re not right.”
Oh.
“In fact, I always thought you were that kind of person,” he went on.
“I am, Dad!” Sophie told him. Or at least … she used to be. She looked down at her tote bag. It was not the bag of someone who always did the right thing.
“I’m sorry, Dad.” She sighed. “I made a big mistake.”
He reached over and took her hand. “We all do. It’s okay.”
That made Sophie feel a little better. But she knew she had a long way to go. She’d never truly feel better until Mia had her present back. And she knew the longer she waited, the harder it would get.
“Dad?” She winced. It almost hurt to say what came next. “Do you think we could make one more stop on the way home?”
Mia’s house was outside of town, on the same big road as their school. Sophie didn’t know the number of her house. She just knew that it was yellow. And there was a big basketball hoop in the driveway.
They drove by and she saw it. “That’s it!” she yelled.
Her dad stomped on the brakes, made a U-turn, and pulled in.
Together, they walked to the front door. Sophie squeezed her dad’s hand. He squeezed hers back, nice and hard. Then Sophie reached out and rang the bell.
Mia’s mom answered the door. “Why, Sophie! Hi!” she said.
“Hi, Mrs. Carr.” Sophie bit her lip. “Um … is Mia here?”
“Why, sure. She’s in her room. Go on up,” Mia’s mom said. Then she turned to Sophie’s dad. “We have a lot of leftover basketball cake. Would you like a piece?” she asked.