Lara Bergen: Sophie the Awesome

But that was okay. She had ten whole minutes to figure something else out!

“Look out!” hollered Sophie. “Coming through!”

At last, music was over. The final ten minutes had felt like a year. But now Sophie’s class was on their way back to their classroom. And Sophie was on her way to awesomeness. She was sure of it.

She grabbed the stairway banister and swung herself down to the landing.

“Ouch!” someone yelped.

“Oh, sorry,” said Sophie.

She hadn’t meant to land on Sophie A.’s foot. But had Sophie A. seen how far she’d jumped?

“Did you see how far I jumped?” Sophie asked her.

“No,” Sophie A. said.

“I did, and that was nothing,” said Toby, trotting down the stairs behind them. He grabbed the same banister and leaped over the landing. “Check that out!” he said.

Then he ran back up the stairs and did it again.

Sophie gave him an I’ll-show-you face and ran back up, as well.

“Hey, guys, you better stop that!” Grace said. She was the class Caboose that week. That meant she walked at the end of the line wherever the class went. “You know you’re not supposed to goof around on the stairs.”

“Yeah,” added Mindy, who was not the Caboose. Sophie thought that meant she should really keep her mouth shut. But she never did. “Cut it out, or I’m telling Ms. Moffly when we get back to the room,” Mindy said.

“Me too,” said Lily.

“You’ll make us lose our hall privilege,” Mindy went on.

“Yeah, you will,” said Lily.

But Sophie wasn’t goofing around at all. She was trying to prove a point: that she was awesome … at jumping down the stairs.

“Hey, everybody!” she called out. “Look at this!”

“Mindy and Lily really will tell on you,” Kate warned her in a low voice. “You know they will.”

But Sophie didn’t care. She backed up to the second, then the third, then the fourth step. She waited for a minute, until almost every eye was on her. Then she jumped.

“Ta-da!”

Toby followed her.

“Ta-da shma-da. Anyone can do that,” he said.

Oh, yeah? thought Sophie. She ran back up to the fifth step. But Toby was already there.

“Ay, caramba!” he hollered, leaping. He landed and grinned. “Five steps. New school record. Beat that, Sophster,” he said.

“Guys!” Grace groaned. “Let’s go now!”

But Sophie wasn’t ready to go. She ran up to the sixth step.

“What are you doing?” Kate asked.

Sophie held out her arms. “Behold! I am about to perform the most awesome step jump ever.”

“Are you crazy?” said Kate. “You can’t jump six steps. You’re going to break your neck!”

“You’re going to be in big trouble!” said Mindy.

But Sophie just grinned. “I can do it!” she said.

Then she made the big mistake of looking down. What was she thinking? Six steps was way too much!

But Sophie could never, ever say she was awesome if she gave up now.

She closed her eyes and … wait! What was she thinking? She had to look!

So she opened her eyes and jumped.

The good news was that Sophie landed on her feet. The bad news was that she also landed on her bottom. Ouch! Dumb, slippery new shoes. Boy, that hurt. A lot.

Sophie did not want to cry. But it was hard not to when she looked up at Kate.

Kate knelt down beside her. “Would you like to go to the nurse?” she asked softly.

Sophie sniffed and nodded. “Yeah, maybe,” she said. And not just because her bottom hurt. It would also get her away from everyone. Including Archie and Toby.

“Ha-ha!” Toby laughed and gave Archie a high five. “Crash landings don’t count. I still have the record!”

Sophie made a face at him. Good old Kate stuck out her tongue. Then she helped Sophie up.

“Out of our way,” Kate said. “Could someone tell Ms. Moffly I took Sophie to the nurse?”

“Oh, we’ll tell her, all right,” said Mindy, grinning smugly.

Kate held Sophie’s hand and led her back up the stairs toward the nurse’s office.

“Hey. Knock-knock,” she said after a second.

“Who’s there?” Sophie sighed.

“Orange,” said Kate.

“Orange who?” Sophie asked.

“Orange you glad you didn’t break your neck?”

Sophie sighed. Yes, she was glad she had not broken her neck. And she was glad that she did not have to go back to her classroom yet — and see Ms. Moffly.

Plus she needed time to think of something else awesome to do.

Kate left her at the nurse’s office. Mrs. Frost, the nurse, crossed her arms in front of her. She had a very big front to cross. But somehow it worked.

“Well, if it isn’t Sophie Miller. What happened to you?” asked the nurse.

“I, um, fell on the stairs,” Sophie said.

Mrs. Frost clucked her tongue. “I hope you weren’t jumping,” she said.

Sophie filled her cheeks with air.

“Tell me, where does it hurt?” asked the nurse.

Sophie pointed to her backside, and the nurse took a look. She made Sophie bend and squat and twist.

“Looks like you’ll be fine,” said Mrs. Frost. “Do you want me to call your parents?”

Sophie thought for a minute. Then she shook her head. She was already feeling better. And she really didn’t want her day to end like this. She’d had a rocky start at being awesome. But she wasn’t giving up yet!

“Could I maybe just lie down for a little while?” Sophie said. That would give her time to think. And time for her face to get less red.

The nurse had Sophie lie facedown on the cot in the corner. It was lumpy, but cool and clean. Sophie tried not to think about all the throw-up it must have seen. (Like hers. Last year. The day after Halloween.)

Suddenly, Sophie felt a chill on her bottom. She jumped.

“Ice pack,” explained the nurse. “Now be still. Do you need another?”

“No, thanks,” Sophie answered. One was plenty cold enough.

She lay there for a few minutes and tried to think of more ways to be awesome. But it was kind of hard with a freezing-cold ice pack on her bottom.

Sophie looked up at the big white clock on the wall. Twelve o’clock. Her stomach rumbled.

“Uh, Mrs. Frost?” she said.

“Yes?” answered the nurse. “Did you change your mind about that second ice pack?”

“Um, no,” Sophie said. “I was just thinking that I feel better. Can I go to lunch now?”

“Very well,” said the nurse. She took back the ice pack and helped Sophie to her feet. “So, what lesson did you learn today, Sophie?” she asked.

Sophie rubbed the back of her pants. “I guess I learned my bottom is not that tough,” she said.

Sophie was still a tiny bit sore when she got to the lunchroom. But the smell of hot food helped a lot. Kate did, too.

“Hey, Sophie!” Kate called. She waved her over to the lunch line. “Sophie! Over here!”

“Excuse me!” said Mindy. She was standing just behind Kate. “No cuts!”

“Yeah,” said Lily, who was behind Mindy. “No cuts.”

Kate turned to them. “I was saving this place. So it’s not cuts.” She took Sophie’s arm and pulled her in. “Besides, give her a break. How are you feeling, Sophie?” she asked.