Lara Bergen: Sophie the Sweetheart

Let’s see…

Sophie put on her favorite necklace, the one with the cat with the sparkly eyes. Sophie was pretty sure they were real diamonds, so she wore it only at special times.

Then she spotted the ladybug brooch from her Great-aunt Maggie. Perfect! She pinned it on.

And the ring from Mia’s party goody bag.

And the glow-in-the-dark bracelets she had won at the school fair. (She had set a school record at the ringtoss!)

Then Sophie looked in the mirror and practiced some smiles. And some “Who? Me? I’d love to be your flower girl!” faces, making sure to look surprised.

“What are you doing?”

Sophie turned. Hayley was standing in the doorway.

“Nothing,” Sophie said. “Just getting ready for tonight.”

“Did Mom say we had to dress up?” Hayley asked.

Sophie struck a very fancy pose. “No. I just thought it would be nice.”

Hayley grinned. “Well, if you’re going to wear that, I think you need your hair up. Don’t you?” She picked up her brush and her box of bobby pins.

“You’re the best!” Sophie cried. “But don’t worry,” she quickly added. “I won’t tell anyone.”

A little later, Sophie hurried back to the kitchen with her hair up in a tight bun. She looked just like the girl in Hayley’s ballet poster, except she had bangs and that girl did not.

By then, her dad was home. He was fixing a salad in the big wooden bowl. “Wow!” he said as soon as he saw her. “Sophie, sweetheart, is that you?”

Sophie smiled and straightened the earrings she’d found in her old Pretty Princess game. “Of course it’s me, Dad! Is anybody else here yet?” She looked at the clock.

“No, sweetie. Relax. We still have an hour,” answered her mom.

Sophie groaned. A whole hour! Sixty minutes! How could she ever wait that long?

“Hey, Sophie, I have an idea,” her mom said. She nodded to Max. He was standing by the watercooler, turning the water on and off. “Why don’t you take Max outside before we have a flood?”

“Mom.” Sophie held out her skirt. “I can’t take Max outside like this.”

Her mom smiled. “I guess you’re right. Maybe I can get Hayley to play with him. How about you set the table, then? Everything’s in the dining room, all ready to put out.”

“Great!” Sophie skipped into the dining room. She loved eating in there. It was a pretty funny name, though, for a room they dined in only a few times a year.

Her mom had already laid out a tablecloth — the white one with the lace trim. Sophie carefully picked up the clinky good plates and set them out, one at a time.

Then she moved on to the silverware. Did forks go on the left? Hmm. The right?

Oh, I’ll do them both ways, Sophie finally decided. Then at least only half would be wrong.

There! she thought when the last place was set and all the napkins were folded into fans. (She had learned that trick from the nice waiter at the Chinese restaurant in town.)

But something was missing.

Candles! Of course. Every dinner date needed a bunch of those!

Sophie dashed back into the kitchen, calling, “Mom! Dad!” But her parents weren’t there. So Sophie went ahead and poked around. There had to be candles somewhere.

All she could find were birthday candles. Well, they’re better than nothing, she thought.

What could she put them in? Not the big candlesticks. (She tried. It didn’t work.)

Think! Sophie told herself.

Then she remembered Max’s Play-Doh in the cabinet and ran to pull it out.

She took some purplish dough and squished it down until she had a big, flat heart. Then she stuck all twelve birthday candles in and put it in the middle of the big table. Ta-da!

Much better! she thought. Now, I’ll sit here, and Ms. Moffly will sit there, and Mr. Bloom will sit there and … huh?

Wait. Sophie counted the places. Why were there eight?

Sophie held up five fingers for her family. Then she put down one for Max. He still sat in a high chair, so he didn’t really count. Then she put one up for Kate, and one for Ms. Moffly, and one for Mr. Bloom. That was seven. She counted once more. Yep. Seven. For sure.

So why were there eight places at the table? Her mom must have counted wrong. Unless …

Oh, no!

Unless someone had asked if they could bring their own date and Sophie’s mom had said yes!

Then Sophie would have to get rid of the date. Right away. But how? She looked at the extra plate. She could always take it off. And the extra chair. She could hide it. If the date couldn’t sit down, then there was no way the date could stay…

But before she could do anything, Sophie heard a soft ding-dong.

The doorbell!

Her mom called, “Hey, Sophie, could you please —”

But Sophie was already in the front hall. She pulled open the door. There was Kate in her best dress. Sophie hugged her. “Hi!”

“Hi, Sophie!” said Kate’s mom. She was beside Kate, holding a tray. “My goodness! You look so fancy! Do you think I look okay?”

Sophie shrugged and nodded. “Yes.” She looked fine, Sophie guessed, for dropping off Kate.

Then her own mom walked up and hugged Kate’s mom. “Susan! Come on in! I’m so glad you could come!”

Ah! Sophie added that up. So Kate’s mom was number eight. Phew! Plus she’d brought her special brownies. They had chocolate chips inside. And mint icing on top. Yum!

Kate’s mom followed Sophie’s mom into the kitchen just as the doorbell rang again.

“We got it!” Sophie hollered. Oh, boy! This was it.

Sophie made sure her jewels were perfect. Kate made sure her socks were up. Then they flung the door open together.

“Hi there!” said Mr. Bloom.

He still had on his bike helmet. And jeans, of course. But in his hand was a big bunch of yellow roses. Mmm! Sophie could smell them from the porch.

He’s no Prince Charming, thought Sophie. But the flowers helped. A lot.

“Hi, Mr. Bloom,” she said. “I’m Sophie, Hayley’s sister. Remember me?”

He grinned and reached out to shake her hand. “Ms. Moffly’s little snake charmer!” He winked. “How could I forget?”

Sophie blushed. She wished he would forget about the time she’d borrowed the snake from his classroom. She needed to change the subject. Fast.

“This is my best friend, Kate,” she said. “She’s also in Ms. Moffly’s class.”

Mr. Bloom gave Kate’s hand a shake, too. “Pleased to meet you, Kate.”

“Ms. Moffly likes to shake hands, too!” said Sophie. “We both love her. Don’t we, Kate?”

“Oh, yeah!” Kate nodded hard. “She’s the best teacher we’ve ever had! She’d make a great wife, I bet!”

It was Sophie’s turn to nod. “I agree! Are those flowers for her, by any chance?”

“These?” Mr. Bloom looked at his roses. “Oh, no, these just help me ride my bike.”

Huh?

“How?” asked Sophie and Kate together.

“I use the petals.” Mr. Bloom grinned.

Sophie smiled. Ha! She got it.

Kate laughed and laughed.

Just then, Sophie’s mom walked out. “Mr. Bloom, hello! Girls, stand back and let the poor man in!” She took the roses he offered her. “Why, thank you. They’re beautiful!”

Then she took his arm. “Come into the kitchen. There’s someone you just have to meet!”

Sophie watched them go, then turned to Kate. “Okay, now where’s Ms. Moffly?” she asked.