Sophie the Hero (4 page)

T
he next day, in the lunch line, Sophie took a banana. It had some brown spots. But for once, that was okay.

Sophie and Kate sat down, but not at their usual table. They sat at the one by the trash can, near the tray rack.

Sophie quickly ate her banana. It tasted better than it looked. At the same time, Kate dug into her food. It was her favorite: breakfast for lunch.

“Are you really going to do it?” Kate asked. She slurped some syrup off her spoon.

Sophie nodded. When the coast was clear, she tossed her banana peel onto the floor.

Then Sophie stuck a finger into her syrup and licked it. But she was too excited to eat more. Besides, she liked pancakes with chocolate chips. But plain? Not so much.

Sophie sat back and waited. She had everything planned out. All the students had to walk by her to put away their trays. She just needed someone to slip on the banana peel. Then Sophie would jump up and save the person. She would be a hero again! (And she’d drawn an
H
on another shirt to be ready.)

It was hard for Sophie to wait for everyone to finish eating. But at last, some kids got up to clear their trays.

Sophie moved to the edge of her seat. “This is it!” she whispered to Kate.

Except it was not. Because nobody slipped.

Sophie stared hard at the floor, and even harder at the banana peel. At least a hundred feet stepped over it—but not one touched it.

“I can’t believe it!” Sophie told Kate.

“I know,” Kate said. “Hey, are you going to eat that?” She pointed to Sophie’s pancakes.

Sophie slid them over. “Go ahead.”

“Thanks! We sidekicks have to keep up our strength,” Kate said, digging in.

Of course, Sophie was glad that some people did not slip. Like Dean, since he was the biggest kid in her class. Could Sophie really catch him if he fell?

She wasn’t sure about that.

And then there was Mindy, who walked by with Lily. They were pointing and giggling and Mindy’s foot
almost
touched the peel.

Phew!
Sophie was glad it missed! She knew she could save Mindy, but she did not really want to. That would be as bad as saving Archie or Toby, who walked by next.

Sophie held her breath and kept her eyes down. She watched their sneakers step up to the peel … and stop.

“Check it out,” said Archie. “There’s a banana peel on the floor!”

Sophie felt Kate kick her under the table. Her throat got very tight, and her heart beat a little faster. Was Archie going to pick it up and ruin her plan?

But Archie had something different in mind. “Geronimooo!” he yelled as he jumped and landed—
SPLAT!
— right on the banana peel.

To Sophie’s surprise, he did not slip. He just jumped off.

“Sweet!” Toby yelled.

The boys high-fived and walked away.

“Aw. Too bad,” said Kate.

The peel looked darker and flatter. But more slippery, too, Sophie thought.

“No, it’s okay,” Sophie told Kate. “The next person that steps on it will slip for sure!”

The only thing was almost every kid in third grade — except Sophie and Kate—had already put his or her tray away.

Ms. Moffly was walking around the cafeteria. “Time to go, class,” she called.

Kate licked the last drop of syrup off her plate and stood up. “Come on, Sophie,” she said. “Recess time. We’ve got to go.”

“I know,” Sophie said slowly. And she sighed — half because she had eaten a brown banana for nothing, and half because she had not gotten a chance to be a hero.

Then, suddenly, Sophie saw something that made her grab Kate’s shoulder. Ms. Moffly was headed straight for the banana peel!

“Uh-oh,” said Kate under her breath.

But Sophie shook her head quickly. Kate did not understand. There was a very clear picture in Sophie’s mind — a picture of her saving Ms. Moffly. If she did that, she would be the biggest hero in the world!

Sophie stood up and pushed in her chair. She was ready to spring into action!

But Ms. Moffly did not slip. Instead, she stopped, bent down, and picked up the peel. The
teacher shook her head and tossed the banana peel into the trash can. Then she turned and smiled at Kate and Sophie.

“That was close. I might have slipped!” she said. “Now hurry and clean up, girls. It’s time for recess.”

“That
was
close!” Kate said as they watched Ms. Moffly walk off.

“I know,” Sophie groaned. “If only she
had
slipped. That would have been awesome!”

Kate looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I could have saved Ms. Moffly!” Sophie said. “Then I would have been
her
hero!”

Sophie sighed as she picked up her tray and walked over to the trash can. “Oh, if only she had sli —
AGH!”

And that was when Sophie stepped right on the slippery spot where the banana peel had been. Her feet flew up. Her tray flew back. And she landed—
OUCH!
— smack on her bottom.

Kate ran to her side. “Are you okay, Sophie?” she asked.

Sophie looked down at the syrupy plate stuck to the front of her shirt. The big
H
was completely covered.

“I guess. But I might need to use your set of Emergency Clothes today,” Sophie told Kate glumly.

Then Sophie looked up to see the fifth graders coming in. It was time for their lunch. Sophie’s sister, Hayley, was walking next to Kim.

“Hey, Hayley,” said another girl. “Isn’t that your sister?”

Sophie quickly closed her eyes. She did not want to see Hayley laugh. Or roll her eyes. Or shake her head.

But then she felt a hand on her arm. “What happened?” Hayley asked.

Sophie shrugged. “Just trying to be a hero. That, and the floor’s a little slippery, I guess.”

Hayley almost rolled her eyes then. But instead, she helped Sophie up.
“Try
to be more careful,” she said.

“I will,” said Sophie.

Kate patted Sophie’s shoulder. “I’ll make sure she does,” Kate said. Then she added, “Hey, how’s Rumplesnakeskin?”

Hayley smiled. “Oh, he’s good. But he sure freaked out our student teacher today,” she said with a laugh. Then Hayley gave a little wave, flipped her hair, and went back to her friends.

That was when Sophie smiled the biggest smile she’d smiled all day. Not just because she really loved Hayley. But also because her sister had given her a super-amazing, totally heroic idea!

S
ophie and Kate headed outside for recess, but Sophie did not plan to stay for long. She had a different plan: to sneak inside her sister’s classroom while the fifth grade was at lunch. She’d find their snake and borrow it to take back to her own classroom.

Then the fun part would start!

Sophie would hide the snake somewhere Ms. Moffly would surely find it. And when Ms. Moffly did find it—and freaked out! — Sophie would run up, grab Rumplesnakeskin, and save the day. Then she would be Ms. Moffly’s hero!

It was simple!

All Sophie had to do was tell the yard monitor that she had to go inside to use the bathroom. And she
would
go to the bathroom eventually (to wash her hands when she was done moving Rumplesnakeskin).

“Okay, I’m ready! Let’s go,” said Kate.

But Sophie shook her head.

“You know only one girl can go to the bathroom at a time,” she told Kate. “If we both go, then people will know that something is up.”

Kate nodded.“But what if I
really
have to go to the bathroom?” she asked. “Then what?”

Sophie bit her lip. That was a good question. “I guess you’ll have to hold it,” she said.

“I’ll
try,”
Kate groaned, trying not to smile.

“Thanks.” Sophie knew she was very lucky to have such a good sidekick. “Okay, wish me luck,” she went on. “I’m going in.”

Sophie got the bathroom pass from the yard monitor. Then she went back into school and
hurried toward the bathroom … but she did not go in.

Instead, she turned right and went up the stairs to Hayley’s classroom.

Sophie slipped inside the room and sighed two big sighs. One sigh was because she had just run up three flights of stairs. The other was because no one had stopped her. Yay!

Then Sophie looked around.
Wow. Poor Hayley,
she thought. Hayley always made fifth grade sound so cool. But it did not look half as much fun as third. For one thing, there were no games. Not anywhere. Not one. And no reading corner with a cozy rug. There were no self-portraits of each student. And no chart to tell you what special job you got to do that week.

All Sophie saw were desks and chairs and maps and charts and boring posters with tons of words. And lots and lots of cursive writing all over the board. Plus thick books that looked like they had four pictures inside — at the most.

Still, Sophie had an urge to sit at Hayley’s desk, just to see what it felt like to be her. But there were no name tags on the chairs to tell Sophie which one was her sister’s.

Oh, well. That was okay. Sophie did not have time to sit. She had to find Rumplesnakeskin.

It was not hard to find his tank at the back of the room. It was big and had a sign on the bottom with his name. But it was hard to find Rumplesnakeskin!

All Sophie could see inside the tank were shredded newspapers, a shoe box, and a bowl of water. She could not believe it! Had someone stolen the fifth graders’ snake before she could?

But then she saw something orange poking out from the shoe box.

“Aha!” she said out loud. “There you are!”

She lifted the top of the tank and carefully picked up the shoe box. Underneath was the snake!

Wow! He’s so pretty!
Sophie thought. Rumplesnakeskin was bright orange and white and
yellow. And he was all twisted up. He looked like a candy-corn rope. Almost.

The snake’s eyes were open … but he was not moving.

Maybe he was napping. Hooray! That was fine with Sophie. If the snake was sleeping, this would be even easier than she’d hoped!

Sophie had never touched a snake before. She was a little nervous. But if her mom and Hayley could do it, so could she. It was in her blood!

Sophie reached in and picked up Rumplesnakeskin. Hayley was right — snakes were not slimy. They were dry and smooth and scaly.

Sophie held him up to get a closer look. Suddenly, his tongue flicked out.

“Ah!” Sophie yelped. She couldn’t help it. His body began to move and twist and wrap around her arm.

Sophie looked down at her new thick orange bracelet. Boy! The snake liked her—a lot!

Rumplesnakeskin reached his head out. Then he flicked his tongue toward her shirt.

Sophie looked down at the spot near her
H.
“That’s syrup,” she told him.

Unfortunately, Sophie did not have time to stand around chatting with Rumplesnakeskin. She had to get back to room 10 and hide him before recess was over.

But it was one thing for someone to see her running around the halls during recess. It was another thing for someone to see her running around the halls during recess with the fifth graders’ snake.

What if somebody stopped her?

It was not easy to hide a bright orange snake. Especially when he was on your arm (and slowly making his way to your shoulder).

Somehow, she had to hide him.

Sophie looked around the room quickly and spotted Hayley’s pink jean jacket on a hook. It was Hayley’s favorite. She would be
so
mad if Sophie stole it. But Sophie was not stealing. She was borrowing. And she would make sure Hayley got it back.

And then she could be
Hayley’s
hero!

Sophie smiled as she draped the jacket over her shoulder to cover the snake. Then she hurried into the hall and down the stairs to room 10.

She was almost there when she heard someone say, “Sophie Miller?” Uh-oh.

Sophie stopped and turned around. Ms. Bart, the art teacher, was walking up behind her. She had a lunch box in her hand. (It was covered with paint. Of course.)

Sophie quickly checked Hayley’s jacket. It was doing its job. Good.

Then she froze. What was Rumplesnakeskin doing? Was he moving up her arm?

No! No! Not to her underarm! Sophie was ticklish there! But the snake did not care.

“I thought that was you,” Ms. Bart went on as Sophie squirmed. “I’m glad all that paint came out of your hair. Believe me, I know how hard it is to wash out.”

Sophie wanted to say, “I’m glad, too.” But she could not.

Instead, she laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

The snake was tickling her worse than her mom or dad or cousin Will ever had!

“I’m glad you can laugh about it,” Ms. Bart said. “That’s how I am, too.”

Sophie laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed some more.

“Okay, well …,” Ms. Bart said. She looked at Sophie a little funny. “I’m going to go eat my lunch now.”

Sophie nodded. She was still laughing and trying to catch her breath. She ducked into her classroom as fast as she could.

Phew!
That was a close one. But Sophie did not think about that too much. All she could think about was getting Rumplesnakeskin out of her armpit!

She gently took him into her other hand. Now she had to hide him somewhere in the classroom, fast! Recess would be over soon.

Sophie looked around. Then she saw just the place. Ms. Moffly’s desk.
Bingo!

She walked up and opened a drawer. But when she tried to put Rumplesnakeskin inside, he did not want to go.

“You’re as bad as Tiptoe,” Sophie told him as he slid back up her arm. “But it’s okay. I’ll get you out soon, I promise. Look, there’s a box of tissues in there. It will be almost like home.”

Finally, the snake turned to the drawer and flicked his tongue. Sophie hoped the drawer smelled good to him. She guessed it did when he slid in and curled up next to Ms. Moffly’s hairbrush.

“Good snake!” Sophie said.

Sophie squeezed her hands together. She felt a tingle. This was such a good plan! She was going to be a hero — a big one — again very soon!

Then Sophie looked down at her hands. Oh, yeah. She’d better wash those.

Sophie said good-bye — for now—to Rumplesnakeskin and ran to the bathroom.

She stood by the sink. And she looked in the mirror. Her smile was big. But she made it even bigger.

Perfect!

That was just the smile Sophie would use when Ms. Moffly called her “My hero!”