Free Sophie Hartley and the Facts of Life by Stephanie Greene Page A

and laughing. They moved toward tables in small packs.
    â€œI can’t believe what we have to do,” one of them squealed. She whispered something to another girl and they both shrieked.
    â€œIt was so embarrassing,” said another.
    â€œWhat’s Destiny up to now?” Jenna said as Destiny moved slowly down the table next to theirs, stopping behind each girl to say something and make a mark in her notebook.
    â€œKnowing Destiny, she’s checking her RSVPs,” Sophie said.
    â€œWhat if you don’t find Nora’s book tonight?” Alice asked.
    â€œI will,” Sophie said.
    She didn’t feel at all confident, however. Time was running out. She had to either find the book or ask Nora herself. The idea of Nora’s reaction was excruciating, but Sophie was desperate. All she could hope was that Nora would be in a good mood because of her date. That would make it two nights in a row if she was, which was rare, but a miracle might happen.
    Sophie really needed a miracle.
    Â 
    A miracle did happen. Two miracles. Well, one thing that made Sophie feel relieved, and one miracle.
    The first was that Sophie talked to her mother on the phone.
    â€œDid Dad tell you Mrs. Dubowski’s coming to dinner tonight?” Sophie said.
    â€œYes. That was nice of Dad to invite her,” said Mrs. Hartley. “Her husband died when he was very young. She had to raise two children on her own and now she’s raising her grandchild.”
    â€œGrandchild?” said Sophie. “I thought she was the young, good-looking one.”
    Mrs. Hartley laughed. “Leave it to your father,” she said. “Gina McFarley was the one we ran into at the mall. Mrs. Dubowski is a lovely woman. You’ll enjoy her.”
    â€œWe were joking with Dad about it being a date,” Sophie said.
    â€œTell that to Mrs. Dubowski. She’ll get a kick out of it.”
    The second miracle was that when Nora got home from school, she was in great spirits. After Sophie handed the phone to their father, Nora reported that when she’d told Ian her brother was Thad from soccer camp, Ian had said that Thad was a really great guy.
    That was all it had taken. One “really great guy” and Nora was floating on air.
    â€œThat means they like each other, so when Ian picks me up, Thad won’t try to embarrass me,” she told Sophie. “At least, he better not.”
    â€œNora!” Mr. Hartley called from the kitchen. “Mom wants to talk to you.”
    â€œIt’s probably about my date.” Nora rolled her eyes, but Sophie could tell she didn’t mind. “I’m sure Mom wants to give me all sorts of advice.”
    Nora came back with the phone pressed to her ear and wandered around the family room as she talked. Sophie worked on the computer and tried to act as if she weren’t eavesdropping.
    â€œDad keeps calling it an
official
date,” Nora said. “Like there’s an unofficial date.”
    She seemed to like saying
date
—she’d been repeating it a lot. While Mrs. Hartley answered, Nora walked over to Mr. Hartley’s favorite chair to inspect her face in the mirror above it. She smoothed first one eyebrow and then the other with the tip of her finger. “I know . . . I know . . . Did you tell him not to tell any corny jokes?” Nora gathered her hair on top of her head with one hand and smiled at herself in the mirror. She was practicing smiling at Ian. Sophie had watched her do that many times when they’d shared a bedroom.
    Nora never smiled like that at anyone in the family. They all would have thought she was sick.
    â€œGood,” Nora said. “And I don’t have to worry about Thad. He’s going on a date too.”
    There it was again.
    Then, “Mom! I already know that.”
    Sophie looked up, alarmed. Nora sounded more like her old annoyed self.
Please please please,
Sophie pleaded