How could she?

How could she what this time?

“How could you tell Sam that I had a crush on him?” Hayley whispered.

Sophie sat back in her seat. She had not known that a whisper could sound so mad.

“But I didn’t!” Sophie said quickly. She had never even talked to Sam!

“Then how did he find out?” asked Hayley.

“I don’t know.” Sophie shrugged. “Maybe Dean told him.”

Oops.

Sophie should have stopped, maybe, after “I don’t know.”

“Did you tell Dean?!” Hayley asked her. Sophie tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Two times. But it did not work.

“Yes. I did. But I had to. He asked me,” Sophie said.

Hayley flipped her long hair over one shoulder. “Thanks a lot for ruining my life, Sophie!” she cried, storming off to sit with her best friend, Kim.

“What was that about?” Ella asked, nibbling on her apple.

Sophie sighed and rubbed her eyes. “That was about being honest,” she said. “And don’t eat your shrunken head, Ella. That’s disgusting!”

Sophie’s bus ride home took fifteen whole minutes. That gave her a lot of time to think about things.

Things like:

If honesty was the best policy, why had everything turned out so bad?

And why did Kate have to ignore her?

And why did Hayley have to give her dirty looks?

And why did Ella have to ask so many questions?

By the time the bus got to Sophie’s stop, she was tired of thinking … and very tired of having to answer Ella’s questions with the truth.

Questions like:

“Why is Kate sitting all the way over there?”

And “Why is she mad at you?”

And “Why did you tell everybody something Kate didn’t want you to?”

And “If Kate’s not talking to you, are you free to play after school?”

And “Yay! Should we play at my house or yours?”

But what could she do? Sophie the Honest had to tell the truth.

“I guess we should play at your house,” Sophie told Ella.

Hayley was so mad. Ella’s house would be safer, Sophie was pretty sure of that.

It had been a long time since Sophie had been to Ella’s house. Mostly because Sophie had made up good excuses not to go.

That didn’t keep Ella from coming over to Sophie’s house. But it did keep Sophie from having to play Stuffed Animal Beauty Salon in Ella’s bubble-gum pink room. Or worse, Sleeping Beauty. That had been Ella’s favorite game for months, ever since she had seen the movie.

When they reached Ella’s house, Ella opened the back door. “Mom-my!” she called. “I’m home! I have a shrunken head! And Sophie!”

“What a treat,” Ella’s mom called back. “I’ll be there in a sec!”

Ella took Sophie’s hand and dragged her into the kitchen.

A second later, Mrs. Fitzgibbon walked — no, waddled — into the room.

“Sophie, how nice to see you!” she said. “My, you have grown!”

Sophie stared. She could not help it. “So have you, Mrs. Fitzgibbon!” she said. It was the truth.

Ella’s mom grabbed her round middle and laughed. Ella laughed, too.

“She’s having a baby, silly!” said Ella.

Oh!

“So, are you girls hungry?” Mrs. Fitzgibbon asked.

“Yes!” Ella answered.

Sophie said yes, too. But she knew what saying yes meant. It meant vegetables for snack. That was another reason Sophie did not love visiting Ella’s house.

Sophie was glad that Ella’s mom had not asked, “How was school?” That was not an honest answer she wanted to give.

Mrs. Fitzgibbon filled a plate with green stuff, and Sophie reached for a celery stick.

“Ah-ah-ah!” Ella’s mom wagged her finger. “Have you washed your hands yet?” she asked.

Sophie almost said yes. That was what she wanted to do. But she still had to be honest, so she shook her head and said no. Then she went to the sink and washed up.

“Girls, why don’t you go play now?” Mrs. Fitzgibbon said after their snack. She held up Ella’s shrunken apple. “I’ll find a place to hang this precious little head!”

Ella grabbed Sophie by the hand. But Sophie knew how to find Ella’s room all on her own. It was the one so pink that it glowed.

Inside, Ella dove for a pile of dress-up clothes. She chose a pink dress and put it on. Then she gave Sophie a sword, a witch hat, and a magic wand.

“Let’s play Sleeping Beauty!” Ella said. “I’ll be Sleeping Beauty. And you pretend to be everyone else. Okay?”

Sophie put down the sword and the witch hat. (She kind of liked the magic wand.) Then she looked at Ella.

“No, it’s not okay. I want to play something else,” Sophie said very honestly. “And besides, I can’t pretend.”

Ella looked confused. “Why not?” she asked.

Sophie crossed her arms. “Pretending is not honest,” she said.

“Oh,” Ella said. She was quiet for a minute. “Okay.” She brightened up. “Let’s play Stuffed Animal Beauty Salon instead!”

“Sorry.” Sophie shook her head. “That’s pretending also.”

Ella’s chin started to tremble. “But there’s nothing else to do!” she cried.

A second later, she was sobbing. Stuff started to leak out of her nose.

“Okay! Okay! I’ll pretend!” Sophie told her.

Ella sniffed. She looked up at Sophie. Her eyes were dry. Her chin was still.

“Really?” she said. “Goody! I’m Sleeping Beauty. You’re the witch.”

Sophie sighed and nodded. She knew the drill. Ella pricked her finger. Then she fell to the floor.

After a minute, Sophie nudged her. Yep. Ella was really asleep. Same thing every time.

Sophie plopped down on Ella’s pink bedspread. She found a stuffed horse and hugged it tight. She tried to think about something, anything else. Like Tiptoe. Or even her homework.

But it wasn’t any use. All she could think about was Kate.