Free Sophie the Chatterbox by Lara Bergen Page A

“Hero”
or
“Honest”! And that was good, since her mom said not to write on shirts anymore.
    “Maybe it’s not an exciting name. But it isimportant,” Sophie told Kate. “Just think about George Washington!”
    “What do you mean?” Kate asked.
    “I mean, why was he so great?” Sophie said.
    “Because he was our first president?” Kate guessed.
    “No.” Sophie shook her head. “Because he was so honest!” she said. “Remember when he cut down his father’s cherry tree? And his father asked what happened, and George Washington said, ‘I cannot tell a lie. I did it’?”
    “No,” Kate said. “But hey! Is that where he got his wooden teeth from?”
    Sophie shrugged. “I don’t know. But that’s not my point. My point is that the story shows how important it is to tell the truth. They’ll talk all about it on our field trip today, I bet!”
    “Okay …,” Kate said. But her mouth was still twisted.
    Sophie sighed. “What?” she asked.
    “Well,” Kate said, “you’re right. Telling the truth is important. But is it really such a big deal?
    I mean, I tell the truth, too. Like right now.” She grinned. “Your epidermis is showing!”
    Sophie rolled her eyes. She had heard that joke before. (From Kate.) It meant that her
skin
was showing. She made a face.
    “But can you tell the truth
all
the time?” Sophie asked her friend. “No matter what the
consequence
is?”
    Sophie knew that was a hard question. She and Kate didn’t like
consequences
very much.
    She stood up. Then she yelled across the bus: “I cannot tell a lie. I left a banana peel on the lunchroom floor. On purpose!”
    She sat back down and winked at Kate.
    Then she heard her teacher’s voice. “Who said that?” Ms. Moffly asked.
    Sophie stood up again. “I did!” She waved her hand.
    “Sophie Miller,” said Ms. Moffly. She was standing at the front of the bus. And she was not alone.
    Oops.
    She was with Grace’s mom. And Sydney’s dad. They were the field trip chaperones. They were looking like moms and dads, crossing their arms and shaking their heads.
    The kids in her class were looking like kids. They were all turned around, staring at her.
    “I have to say, I am surprised by you,” Ms. Moffly told Sophie. “If that’s true, I think a consequence is in order. Don’t you?”
    Sophie nodded. Bring on the consequence! “Yes, Ms. Moffly,” she said.
    “You will stay in for recess tomorrow,” Ms. Moffly told her. “Now turn around, everyone. Take a seat. It’s time to go.”
    Sophie sighed and sat down. No recess? That was too bad. Sophie hadn’t planned on
that
consequence.
    She looked at Kate. “See? It’s not so easy being honest,” she said.
    Kate patted her on the arm. “You are definitely Sophie the Honest!”
    They felt the bus lurch forward. A round of“On Top of Spaghetti” started up, but Sophie and Kate did not sing. Sophie was tired of that song, for one thing. Plus the “no recess” consequence was still sinking in.
    And
she had some more Sophie the Honest stuff to tell Kate.
    “So, guess what? I am so honest, I even told my mom and dad about taking the fifth graders’ snake. And that was before my big sister, Hayley, could say anything,” Sophie said.
    Kate looked a little surprised. And a lot impressed.
    “Did you get in big trouble?” she asked Sophie.
    Sophie grinned and shook her head.
    “No! That’s the best part,” she said. “My mom and dad were so proud of me for being honest they didn’t punish me or anything—just like George Washington’s father!”
    And that was not all Sophie had told her parents. She also told them about the squash stuck to the bottom of the dinner table (by her—every time they had squash for dinner).
    “Wow!” Kate said. “And how about your basement? Did you tell them why it stinks? That we were making potions?”
    “Oh … that,” Sophie said. She had forgotten about that. Kind of. “I haven’t told them about that yet.”
    “Well,