Lara Bergen: Sophie the Daredevil

Then she looked down. Her shoes were sneakers. That was okay. But her socks? They were rainbow striped and polka-dotted. Would a boy ever wear those? No way!

She should have jumped up onto the toilet seat. But she guessed it was too late.

So she just stood there, very, very still. She held her breath and waited for the boy to finish up and go.

Then she suddenly heard humming. Sophie was sure she knew that tune. She listened even harder? Was it the ABC song? Hmm …

Sophie couldn’t help it: She had to see who the boy was. She put her eye to the space between the stall and the door.

What?

It wasn’t a boy! It was the grown-up principal!

He was washing his hands at the sink. Okay, don’t panic, Sophie told herself. But what if he saw her? And she had to go to his office? That would be two trips to the principal’s office … that week!

At last, she heard the water turn off. The hand dryer came on with a whrrrrr! The ABC humming stopped. And — crrreak — Principal Tate opened the door.

He had just come in to wash his hands! Phew! Sophie let out her breath.

Now that’s what being a daredevil’s all about! she told herself.

She couldn’t wait to get back and tell Kate. And everyone else!

But — oh, right — she still had to find Toby’s note. She reached for the toilet paper and pulled. But there wasn’t any note on it. And there wasn’t any note in the next stall.

Had Toby forgotten?

Or was he trying to play some dirty trick?

Or maybe Sam had used the toilet paper. Ew. Sophie guessed that could be it.

It didn’t matter, really. What mattered was that she had nothing to show. She had nothing to prove that she had done the dare!

Sophie was so mad she stomped her foot.

That was when she saw it: a piece of toilet paper on the floor. Were there words on it? Yes!

Sophie bent down to read what they were.

I dare you to pick this up.

Yuck! The paper was wet!

Sophie sighed. She should have known that Toby would make this an extra-hard dare.

Is touching it worth it? she asked herself. Of course it is!

After all, she was Sophie the Daredevil! The harder the dare, the better! Right?

She stuck out her tongue and picked up the paper with two fingers. Then she hurried to the door. But at the very same time, a kindergartner walked in. He looked up at her and the sign on the door.

“If you’re wondering, I can read,” she said, running past him. “I’m just a daredevil. Get used to it!”

Sophie had some explaining to do when she got back to room 10.

“What took you so long?” Ms. Moffly asked.

Sophie could feel a huge smile busting out. She bit her lip to keep it in.

“I’m sorry. I tried to be fast,” she said. It was the truth. Wasn’t it?

Ms. Moffly shook her head and turned back to the board. Sophie held up the toilet paper and the other kids cheered.

“I didn’t know you were all such big fans of fractions,” Ms. Moffly said, spinning back around. “But let’s hold our applause until the end. Okay, class?”

Sophie giggled and went back to her seat. She shared a table with Kate and Sydney and Grace. As Ms. Moffly started writing out fractions again, Sophie laid the soggy toilet paper square out for them to see.

“There really isn’t a dare you won’t do, is there?” Kate said, patting her back.

Grace shook her head. “I wouldn’t have done it. That’s for sure.”

“You have to tell us everything,” Sydney whispered, leaning in.

And Sophie did, when it was free time. That was Sophie’s favorite part of the day. That’s when they got to start their homework, or read, or play games. Today, of course, it was the time for Sophie to tell everyone everything.

“I can’t believe you did it!” Eve said.

“I can’t believe you didn’t get caught,” said Grace.

“That’s the best part!” Sophie told them. “I almost did! Isn’t that great?”

She told them about how Sam had seen her. And how Principal Tate had come in. “And guess what,” she added. “He hums the ABC song while he washes his hands!”

A few of the kids laughed. Sophie’s grin got very big.

“So tell us about the boys’ room!” Kate urged. “What was it like?”

“Well …” There’s not much to say about it, really, Sophie thought. “It’s kind of just a bathroom, like ours,” she began.

But she could see that the girls were disappointed. So she decided to say a little more.

“But our bathroom is so much better in so many ways,” she went on.

“Yes!” The girls pumped their fists.

All the boys frowned.

Still, even the boys were impressed by her amazing, daring feat — Toby and Archie included. Sophie could tell. And it felt great!

Ben even said, “Sophie, you really are a daredevil!”

There was only one person who did not seem to care. And that person was Mindy VonBoffmann, the snootiest girl in room 10.

Of course, none of Sophie’s great names had impressed Mindy before. So why should this one be different? Sophie wasn’t sure.

Maybe it was because she had been so daring this time. After all, no other girl had ever gone in the boys’ room before.

Or maybe it was because she was just tired of being ignored. She wanted her name to be one that everyone called her.

So a little later, back at their table, Sophie talked about it with Kate.

“I don’t get it,” Sophie said. “I’ve done six different dares today. And Mindy hasn’t said a thing.”

Kate shrugged. “You know Mindy. If it’s not about her, she doesn’t care. Now, if your name was Sophie the Mindy, she’d be into that, I bet!” She grinned. It was a joke. But it was kind of true, too.

Sophie sighed. “Yeah, I guess. But I still wish Mindy thought I was a daredevil. Hey!” She felt a great idea pop into her head. “Should I ask her to dare me? What do you think of that?”

Kate put down her pencil. (They were supposed to be writing answers — in complete sentences — to social studies questions right then.) She turned to face Sophie. “I think that would be a really big mistake,” she said.

“Yeah, probably.” Sophie nodded.

Besides, who cared what Mindy thought?

Oh … Sophie couldn’t help it. She did. A lot.

After the bell rang at the end of the day, Sophie walked up to Mindy. “So, Mindy,” she said.

Mindy was zipping her jacket. It had a furry collar and cuffs. She fluffed her hair and looked at Sophie. “So what?”

Mindy’s best friend, Lily Lemley, stood beside her. Lily fluffed her hair, too. “Yeah, so what?” she said, like there was an echo in the room.

Mindy looked down her nose. “We still don’t want to see your toilet paper, Sophie, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she said.

“Oh, no.” Sophie slid the toilet paper into her pocket and shook her head. “I was just wondering, since I am a daredevil, if you had a dare for me.”

Mindy frowned a pinchy frown. It almost looked like she was mad. But then something happened. Half her frown turned upside down.