Lara Bergen - Sophie the Chatterbox

But the truth was it was hard not to. Sophie missed Kate so much.

She missed Kate when the class watched a movie about the metric system. Sophie and Kate usually braided each other’s hair during movies. Especially during boring ones like that. But Kate kept every centimeter of her hair to herself.

Sophie missed Kate in gym when they played Partner Is Always It.

“Find a partner!” Mr. Hurley, the gym teacher, hollered.

Sophie looked around. She wasn’t used to picking a partner. She and Kate were always a pair.

Ben was standing next to her. He was the nicest boy in her class. She turned to him and sighed.

“Want to be my partner?” she asked.

“Sure, Sophie,” he said. “But I should warn

you —”

Just then, Mr. Hurley blew his whistle and hollered, “Begin!”

Sophie started to run. “Go, go, go!” she shouted to Ben.

The object of the game was easy: Tag everyone who was not your partner. If you got tagged, you had to sit down. Only your partner could free you by tagging you again.

If both partners got tagged, there was only one way to free each other. You had to look around until you saw each other. Then you both had to give a thumbs-up.

Sophie saw Ben get tagged. But Toby tagged her before she could free him.

She sat down and waved … and waved … and waved … and waved to Ben.

Then Sophie noticed something. Ben wasn’t wearing his glasses.

Sophie sighed. He couldn’t see her, so they couldn’t give each other the thumbs-up! She watched the other kids run around. And she sat for the rest of the half hour.

Then it was time for lunch. Sophie knew she would miss Kate then. And she did.

She even missed Kate back in their classroom. And they were sitting next to each other!

“Sydney, would you please ask Sophie to pass the blue pencil?” Kate said.

They were sitting at their table, using their measurements to make maps of the classroom. This was something surveyors like George Washington did, too.

“Huh?” Sydney looked up at Kate. “Why don’t you ask her?”

“Because I’m not talking to Sophie,” Kate said simply.

“Oh.” Sydney nodded. She shared a look with Grace. “Um, Sophie, Kate says to pass the blue pencil.”

Sophie looked down at the blue pencil in her hand. She honestly couldn’t stand having Kate mad at her like this!

“Tell Kate that if she wants it so bad, she should ask me herself,” Sophie said.

Sydney sighed and turned back to Kate. “Sophie says if you want it so bad, you should ask her yourself.”

Kate rolled her eyes. Then she took a green pencil from the basket.

“Never mind. I don’t need it. Tell Sophie to keep it,” Kate said.

Sydney nodded and looked at Sophie. “Kate said never mind. You can kee —”

Sophie threw her pencil into the basket.

“I heard her!” she said.

By the end of the day, Sophie was sure of one thing. This had been the worst day of her whole life. All eight years!

Sophie wished she could call her mom to come and pick her up. Then at least she wouldn’t have to ride the bus home again. Sophie wasn’t sure what was worse: Kate not talking to her for the whole bus ride, or Ella talking too much.

And then there was Hayley. She was already on the bus when Sophie climbed aboard. Sophie tried to sneak by, but Hayley spotted her.

She pointed to Sophie.

“You!” she cried.

Sophie sighed. Not again!

Sophie wished she could get off the bus. But it was too late. There was a whole line of kids behind her.

“Find a seat! Keep it moving!” Mrs. Blatt, the bus driver, called out.

Sophie plopped down in the seat across from Hayley. She cleared her throat once. Then she cleared it again.

“Look, Hayley, I know I ruined your life. And I am really, really sorry. But if it makes you feel better, my life is ruined, too,” Sophie said, looking down at her hands.

Then Ella’s head popped up. She had crawled under the seats to Sophie. She wiggled and pulled herself up.

“Hi, Sophie! I found you,” she said.

Great.

Sophie slumped down in her seat and held her head.

“What’s wrong?” Ella asked.

“Yeah, what’s wrong, Sophie? Who said you ruined my life?” Hayley asked.

Sophie looked up at her sister. “Um, you did.”

“Did I?” Hayley turned to Kim and giggled. “Well, then I take it back. Because guess what? When Sam found out I liked him, he decided that he liked me back!”

She waved a piece of paper. It was folded up tight. “It’s all in this note!” she said. “So really, you made my life better. Thanks, Sophie!”

Wow.

That was not something Sophie thought she would hear. Ever. The truth was her sister didn’t thank her much. And she never thanked her in front of Kim.

Sophie got a feeling inside her. It was like when the sky was cloudy and the sun suddenly came out.

Sophie the Honest had made the world better! Her shoulders felt a little lighter. Her eyes didn’t burn so much.

Then Kate climbed onto the bus. She walked by without a word and sat as far away from Sophie as she could.

The bus lurched forward and Sophie’s heart began to pound. She got another feeling, like the clouds had just come back. And now it was raining. Hard.

So what if the world was a better place for Hayley? For Sophie, it was worse. Honestly, it was no fun being Sophie the Honest all alone.

Then again, she wasn’t alone. Ella was beside her.

Ella grabbed Sophie’s arm and tugged it. “Can you come play again today?” she asked. Sophie sighed. Yes. She could. And as Sophie the Honest, she should say so. But the truth was she just plain didn’t want to.

Then, all of a sudden, a big thought hit Sophie. Bam! She had been honest to everyone else … but she had been lying to herself.

The truth was she didn’t really want to be Sophie the Honest anymore!

She didn’t want to answer every question. Every time.

She didn’t want to stop pretending. For the rest of her life.

She didn’t want to have to tell secrets. Not when she promised not to, at least.

And she didn’t want to hurt people’s feelings. There was nothing worse than that!

What Sophie really wanted, more than anything else, was to be Kate’s best friend.

“So?” Ella tugged some more. “Can you play? Can you?”

Sophie looked down. She shook her head.

“No. I’m sorry, Ella. I can’t play today,” Sophie said. “I have something important to do.”

And that was not a lie at all. That was the truth.

When the bus reached Sophie’s stop, she got off. But she didn’t head home.

She said good-bye to Ella. And she waved to Hayley and Kim. Then she stood by the curb and waited for Kate.

As soon as Kate saw her, she frowned and walked by without a word. But Sophie was expecting that. She ran to catch her.

“Kate! Wait for me! I have to talk to you,” she called.

Kate stopped and turned around. She crossed her arms. “Go ahead.”

Sophie took a deep breath. She had so much to say she wasn’t sure where to begin.

“I want to say that I’m sorry, Kate. Really, really sorry. And I’m not just saying that because I want to ride a horse. Even though it is my lifelong dream. But I’m sorry I was such a big mouth. I didn’t mean to make everyone mad or hurt anyone’s feelings. And I won’t let you down again. You can trust me. I promise. You’re my best friend in the whole world! Honest!”