Read Online Sophie Hartley and the Facts of Life by Stephanie Greene - Free Book Online Page B

him.
    â€œAt Sammy Brown’s house,” Nora told him. “Mom knows Sammy from our old ballet carpool. Her parents will be there. And it ends at ten o’clock. Ian’s mom will bring me home.”
    â€œThat sounds all right, then.” Mr. Hartley polished off his baked potato and put his fork and knife on his plate. “How about you, Sophie? I suppose you have a date for Friday night too?”
    â€œI’m never getting involved with that dumb boy-girl stuff,” Sophie said.
    â€œDon’t be so sure of that,” said Nora.
    â€œI’ve been learning yoga,” Sophie said. “I like it a lot. I’m good at it, too. A person can use their brain to control their whole body.”
    â€œEven her mouth?” said Mr. Hartley.
    â€œWait a minute,” Nora said. “Isn’t that negative?”
    â€œNot at all,” said Mr. Hartley. “I was just commenting on an interesting fact.”
    â€œYeah, right . . .”
    â€œThey’re talking about having the football team do yoga,” said Thad. “Maybe you can show me a few moves.”
    â€œThey’re called poses.”
    â€œI have my own news,” Mr. Hartley announced. “I invited Mrs. Dubowski to dinner Thursday night.”
    The young, good-looking Mrs. Dubowski?
thought Sophie. Without their mother home?
    â€œYou mean, like a date?” she said.
    â€œNo, Sophie, not like a date,” said Mr. Hartley. “She dropped Maura off at lunchtime, and we started talking about food because I was fixing dinner. Mrs. Dubowski said she was making stuffed cabbage, so I told her that my mother used to make stuffed cabbage all the time when I was young and that I love it. She said she’d make enough for the whole family and drop it off on Thursday, so I invited her to stay and enjoy it with us.”
    â€œI want peanut butter,” said John.
    â€œDoes Mom know?” said Sophie.
    â€œWhat’s to know?” Nora said, rolling her eyes.
    â€œRelax, Soph,” said Thad. “If Mrs. Dubowski tries anything, Dad’ll have five chaperones here to protect him.”
    They all laughed.
    â€œProtect him from what?” said John.
    â€œNothing, John,” said Mr. Hartley. “Your brother’s being a wise guy. Eat up.”
    They finished the meal listening to John tell a long story about how he and Trevor had built a fort in the playground during recess and were having a really fun time playing war, but then this boy Jeffrey came along and tried to knock it down, so Trevor and John had done their tae kwon do on him and they’d all ended up being sent to the principal’s office.
    â€œWay to go, defending your territory,” said Thad.
    â€œThat wasn’t so bad, now, was it?” Mr. Hartley asked when dinner was finished. “Wait. Before everyone gets up, I want each of you to say something nice about the meal.”
    There was a short silence. Then Thad said, “The food was good.”
    â€œThe food
was
good,” said Nora.
    â€œThe food was
very
good,” said Sophie.
    â€œThe food was very, very, very—”
    â€œOkay, John. We get the picture.” Mr. Hartley laughed. “I guess I asked for that. You did a fine job, all of you.”
    â€œWhew!” Nora said while they were clearing the table. “I don’t know if I can take the pressure of too many more dinners like this. I’m exhausted.”
    â€œI may have to go a few rounds with the punching bag after being so nice,” said Thad. He snatched the last two french fries off John’s plate as he stood up.
    â€œHey, you big bully!” John shouted.
    â€œPICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!”
    Everybody looked at Maura in astonishment.
    â€œWay to go, Maura!” said Thad.
    â€œThat’s what the mouse says in the book!” Sophie cried. “It worked! I did it! I taught her how to talk!”
    â€œNow tell him to back