Sophie Under Pressure (6 page)

“There isn't gonna be a fight, morons!” she said. “Go crawl back under your rock.”

“She's dissin' you, man,” Colton said to Tod. “You gonna let her get away with that?”

“She won't get away with it,” Tod said. He turned like a basketball player doing a pivot, snapped his fingers in the air, and sauntered off toward the building with Colton and Eddie trailing him.

Colton walked backward and called to the Corn Flakes, “You heard him. He isn't kidding.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Fiona shouted back to him.

“Imbeciles,” Maggie said.

“Definitely,” Fiona said.

Sophie let all the air go out of her. At least they agreed on something. And for the moment, they seemed to have forgotten what it was they'd been about to fight about.

“So is it true you guys tried to kill each other in the hall this morning?” Harley said at the lunch table.

“Right in front of the office?” Gill said.

Nikki and Vette looked like they were totally convinced that it was the gospel truth and were prepared to take flight at the first sign of face scratching and hair pulling.

“It was out on the playground,” Maggie said.

“Then you DID get in a fight?” Harley said.

“No, we almost did,” Fiona said. She glared at Maggie.

Sophie groaned inside. So much for them forgetting why they were mad at each other.

Kitty smothered a gasp with her hand.

“What?” Fiona said. “Why are you freaking out?”

Kitty pointed toward the Corn Pops' table.

The Fruit Loops were sitting with them, talking and waving their arms all around like they were running for office.

No boys ever sat with girls. But the Fruit Loops looked like they were right at home.

Why not?
Sophie thought.
They're all rich and popular and mean.

Still, with the seven of them teaming up, it couldn't be good.

It couldn't be good at all.

That night after Zeke was tucked in, Mama went out to her Loom Room over the garage. When Sophie went downstairs to check out the flight food in the space kitchen, Daddy was in front of his computer again. Sophie wondered what could possibly be so interesting on there for hours on end.

When she came out of the kitchen with a neat stack of Mama's double-fudge brownies and a glass of milk, Daddy called from his study, “Hey, Soph. What are you up to?”

“Just having a little snack,” Sophie said. She headed for the stairs.

“Come in here a minute.”

Sophie turned reluctantly toward the study. Maybe she shouldn't have helped herself to quite so many brownies.

Daddy took one look at her plate and said, “A little snack?

Were you planning to share that with Lacie?”

“No,” Sophie said.

Daddy grinned. “I love that honesty. Lacie wouldn't eat those anyway. She's now decided that boys don't like her because she's fat.”

“She's not fat.”

“I know that, and you know that, but you can't convince her of that.” Daddy nodded toward the recliner next to his desk. “Let's have at those brownies.”

Sophie climbed into the big chair and tucked her feet up under her. She put the milk on Daddy's desk so they could both dunk.

“How's that science project coming along?” Daddy said. “You need any more info?”

Daddy had been as good as Boppa about helping the astronauts, only instead of showing them how to make things, he taught Maggie how to set up a system for keeping track of their data — that's what he called their results — on the computer. He even gave Kitty an official NASA clipboard so she'd feel more scientific when she was following Fiona around the space station, writing down what Fiona told her to.

“I do have a question for you,” Sophie said.

Daddy churned a brownie around in the milk and said, “Shoot.”

“Do you ever have people on your crew disagreeing with each other?”

“Are you kidding? That's how we get to the truth of things, by debating. That's the way scientists work.”

Sophie nodded in her most scientific way. “Are they ever mean to each other?”

“Some people might say that. Tempers can get pretty hot.”

“What do you do then?”

Daddy chewed thoughtfully on another mouthful. So far he'd eaten three brownies to Sophie's one. They were going to need a milk refill soon.

“I tell people to go cool off,” he said finally. “Then I get them back together and we look at the ideas again.” Daddy grinned. “Sometimes I take a batch of your mother's cookies in with me. That almost never fails.”

“Do you ever take a vote?” Sophie said.

“We vote on things like where to have lunch. Most of our decisions are made scientifically though. It's whatever is best for the project we're working on. You want some more milk?”

Sophie nodded, and Daddy headed for the kitchen. He was whistling.

That was a scathingly brilliant conversation
, Sophie thought.

“I put a little chocolate syrup in it,” Daddy said as he set the glass down between them again.

Sophie was glad he hadn't brought two different glasses. Sharing was — well, it wasn't scientific, but it felt good.

“So what else you got on your mind?” he said.

“Well.” Sophie formed her words carefully as she watched Daddy consume another brownie. He'd also brought another stack of those from the kitchen.

“Deep subject,” Daddy said.

“I just would like to know — if — everything is okay with you and Mama.”

Daddy stopped with a brownie soaking in the milk. He held it in there so long Sophie was surprised it didn't fall apart.

“You don't need to worry about that, Soph,” he said.

“Then everything IS okay.”

“It isn't perfect. But it's going to be okay, and you don't need to worry about it.”

But from the look on Daddy's face, Sophie was more convinced than ever that she did need to worry about it. His cheeks looked like they were pinching toward his ears as he set the brownie on the plate, where it wilted in a puddle of milk.

“Soph,” he said, “Mama is upset. But if you keep doing what you're doing, staying in the GATE program and making those good grades and not getting in trouble, she'll feel better. Deal?”

“Deal,” Sophie said. But she didn't feel like eating any more brownies. “I think I should go to bed now,” she told Daddy.

“Mama will come kiss you good-night when she comes in.”

Sophie hurried to her room and curled into her pillows and squeezed her eyes shut and wished she'd never asked Daddy that question. Because whatever wasn't “perfect” between Mama and him was because of her.

Captain Stella Stratos buried her face in her hands
,
but only for a moment. This was tragic
,
yes
,
but she had a space station to run
,
and a world to save. She had to sacrifice worrying about her personal problems for the good of the planet.

When that didn't do much to uncurl Sophie from her pillows, she closed her eyes again and imagined Jesus. She saw his kind eyes that understood stuff she didn't even get. His soft smile that was like Boppa's only even more pure. And his broad chest, like Daddy's, where the answers were hidden, was just a prayer away.

“Jesus, please,” Sophie whispered. “I need to know how to keep Mama and Daddy from getting a divorce because I'm their problem child. And I have to keep the Corn Flakes from splitting up because of Maggie and Fiona — and ruining our whole science project and getting me kicked out of GATE. If I wait really patiently and listen for you to answer, will you tell me what to do to change everybody's mind? I figure you'll help me, because you always do.”

Then she started to cry, straight into the pillows. When she heard Mama coming up the stairs, she pretended to be asleep. Seeing Sophie bawling would only upset her some more. She didn't want to imagine what would happen then.

Six

A
stronaut Stella Stratos orbited through Sophie's thoughts almost all the next day at school. Fiona had to give her the cough signal twice in Ms. Quelling's social studies class — not a good place to be caught staring into the atmosphere and grabbing onto her chair so microgravity wouldn't send her floating up to the ceiling.

But at least by the time the astronauts gathered in the space station that afternoon, Stella — and Sophie — had a plan.

She announced that they were having a crew meeting.

“Why?” Maggie said.

“Because she's the captain, Nimbus,” Fiona said. “She can call a crew meeting any time she wants to.”

“You ready for a snack, space travelers?” said a voice from below.

Sophie leaned over the railing to see Kateesha on the ground, hooking a plastic bag over the crook in the robot-arm cane.

“Beam it up,” Sophie called down.

“Roger,
Freedom 4
,” Kateesha said.

Kitty giggled. “That's so cool.”

“Thank you, Huntsville,” Sophie said.

“Why did you call her ‘Huntsville'?” Maggie said. “Her name's Kateesha.”

“Our home base is in Huntsville,” Sophie told her. “That's who we communicate with while we're in outer space.”

They helped themselves to cookies shaped like moons and stars and rockets. Kitty giggled every time she popped one into her mouth.

“Do they eat these in space?” Maggie said.

“They do now,” Fiona said.

“If I could have your attention,” Captain Stella said. “Now that our space station is almost completed, we must come to a decision about comparing gravity to microgravity. I would like for each one of you to present your reasons why you want it done one way or the other and then we will vote on which idea sounds the best.

“We'll start with you, Nimbus. Please tell us your idea — ”

The words instantly began to thud from Astronaut Nimbus's mouth. “I think we need something besides just building the space station to compare. The only difference is that things don't stay put in microgravity and they do here.” She furrowed her forehead. “That means there's nothing for me to write down. I say we add some plants and see how they grow here and how they grow in space. I'll do that. I know about gardening. My mom and I — ”

“It sounds like it's all about you,” Astronaut Jupiter said.

“I can't help it if I came up with the best idea.”

“What about yours, Luna?” Sophie said.

There was silence.

“Kitty,” Sophie whispered.

“Oh — yeah — I'm Luna, huh?” Kitty giggled. “I'm Fiona's assistant, so I'm going to vote for whatever she says.”

“Not fair,” Maggie said.

“It is too fair,” Fiona said. “She's taking her job very seriously.”

“So what is your idea?” Captain Stella said to Jupiter.

Fiona pushed the hair out of her face. “If we try to grow plants out here, they'll freeze at night. I say we just stick with the space station.”

“But then I don't get to be the record keeper,” Maggie said. “It's not fair.”

“It isn't about what's fair,” Sophie said. “It's about what's best for the project.”

“Then let's vote,” Fiona said.

“All for Maggie's idea, raise your hand,” Sophie said.

Maggie's arm went straight up in the air.

“All for Fiona's idea?”

Kitty and Fiona raised their hands, and Kitty grabbed Fiona's, the way Sophie had seen people running for president do with their wives on TV.

“Not fair,” Maggie said.

“How is that not fair?” Fiona said. “It's two against one.”

“Sophie didn't vote.”

They all looked at Captain Stella, who swallowed a large lump of a moon cookie.

“Whose side are you on?” Maggie said.

“Like I said, I want what's best for the project,” Sophie said.