Sophie had a feeling in her stomach. It was buzzy, like a beehive. It was spreading to her neck. And it did not feel good at all.
This was something Sophie had not thought of. What if someone asked her how the snake got into room 10? It was bad enough that she had missed her chance to be Ms. Moffly’s hero. She really did not want to get in trouble, too.
Ms. Moffly was walking toward her.
“Sophie,” she said, “by any chance, do you know how the snake got into our room?”
“Um … why do you ask?” Sophie said quietly. She made her eyes really wide so it would look like she had no idea.
“Well,” said Ms. Moffly, “you’re the only student who does not look surprised to see the snake. And that is a little unusual. Since the snake came from your sister’s classroom, I thought that I would ask you.”
“Oh,” said Sophie. Ms. Moffly had a point. “So?” said Ms. Moffly. “So,” Sophie repeated.
She knew what she should say: “Nope. I do not know!” That would be so easy.
But it was not easy. Not when she looked up at Ms. Moffly. It was like looking at her mom or dad. Lying to them was hard, and it never worked out as she hoped.
Sophie looked at the floor. Then at the ceiling. Then out the window. Then she looked back at Ms. Moffly.
“I took him and brought him here,” she said with a sigh.
The whole class said, “Ah!”
Then “Ooh!”
“I knew it!” said Mindy.
“Me too!” Lily added.
“Why’d you go to all that trouble and just leave it on a chair?” Toby asked.
“Quiet, class. Why did you bring the snake here, Sophie?” Ms. Moffly asked.
Oh, not that question! And not with everyone staring.
Sophie wished she were getting a shot at the doctor. Or sitting in the audience at one of her sister’s boring ballet recitals. Anywhere else in the world would be better, really.
How could she tell Ms. Moffly (and the whole class) that she took Rumplesnakeskin so that she could be a hero again?
Ms. Moffly put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “Was it because you wanted our class to have a snake?” she asked.
“Um …” Sophie thought about that. “Kind of,” she said.
Ms. Moffly nodded. “I understand. You know, I’ve thought about getting a pet for our class.” She glanced at Rumplesnakeskin and shivered. “But never a snake!”
“Really?” said Kate and Eve and Mia and a few other kids in the class.
“Really,” Ms. Moffly said.
“How about a bearded dragon?” Archie suggested.
“Oh, yeah!” said Toby. “I love it when they eat crickets and spit out the legs!”
“I was thinking maybe guppies,” said Ms. Moffly. “Or a bunny. But we’ll see.”
A bunny! Sophie perked up. How fun would that be?
But then Ms. Moffly’s eyes were on her again. Her stomach bees started buzzing.
“Sophie,” said Ms. Moffly. “I think you know that taking a snake is not a minor infraction.”
Sophie nodded. Yes. She did know that. Whatever that meant.
“And there will be consequences,” Ms. Moffly went on.
Consequences. Ugh! Sophie knew that word, unfortunately.
“Tomorrow you will stay in at recess and do extra math,” Ms. Moffly said.
The bees in Sophie’s stomach settled down a bit. She hated to miss recess. But math? She kind of liked that.
Ms. Moffly smiled and folded her hands.
“Still, I want to commend you for your honesty, Sophie. I’m proud of you for that,” Ms. Moffly said. “It is important to tell the truth. Always.”
Suddenly, all the bees in Sophie’s stomach flew away. And what they left felt like warm honey. It spread to the tips of her toes and her hands.
Sophie was honest — about taking the snake, anyway — and it felt good. Almost as good as being a hero!
“Now, I think you should return the snake to Mr. Bloom,” Ms. Moffly said. “I want you to tell him what happened, and that it will never happen again.”
“No problem.” Sophie nodded. Then she crossed her heart. “I will tell the truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth,” she said.
“Very good,” Ms. Moffly said with a smile.
Then Sophie remembered Hayley’s jacket. She had hung it on her hook. She ran over and grabbed it. She could take it to Hayley and tell the truth about that, too!
She put the jacket over one arm and walked up to Toby.
“I’ll take Rumplesnakeskin now,” she said, holding out her arms.
“Here you go,” he said. He handed the snake over and stuck out his tongue.
Sophie stuck her tongue out, too. Very quickly. Like Rumplesnakeskin.
“Oh, and for the record, I did not leave him on the chair. I put him in a drawer and he crawled out,” she said.
Sophie smiled at Rumplesnakeskin. Humph! Toby thought he was a hero. Anyone could hold a snake. But could anyone tell the truth? All the time? About everything? That was the question!
And Sophie knew the answer—she could. And she would.
She would be Sophie the Honest from now on!
She smiled down at the sticky H on her shirt. She didn’t even have to change her shirt to fit her new name!
(But yeah, she should probably wash it.)