Read Online Sprinkles and Secrets by Lisa Schroeder - Free Book Online Page B

laughs. “Me? Why is it my fault? Wait, if we get an A, is that my fault too?”
    â€œAbsolutely not.”
    â€œYou are funny, Sophie Wright. I wish you were a boy.”
    I start to ask why, but then I think of him eating alone.
    â€œDo you always eat by yourself at lunch?” I ask.
    He looks down. Oh no. I’ve embarrassed him. Iinstantly feel bad and wish I could take it back.
    â€œYeah. Most of the time.”
    â€œEver since you’ve been in middle school?”
    He looks back at me. “No. See, last year me and Hikaru were friends. Did you know him? He was cool. But over the summer, his family moved.”
    Now I get it. First he lost Michael. Then he lost Hikaru. He’s lost two good friends the past two years. That’s tough.
    Mr. Leonard steps up to our desk. “Nice work, Sophie and Dennis. You did do your share, correct, Mr. Holt?”
    I jump in before Dennis has a chance to talk. “We both did the work. He did as much as I did. Maybe even more.”
    â€œI’m glad to hear it.”
    He puts the paper on our desk. We got an A minus.
    â€œI should be partners with you more often,” Dennis says. “I’ve never gotten anything higher than a B in this class.”
    I grab the paper and start flipping through it, reading Mr. Leonard’s comments.
    â€œOh, before I forget,” Dennis says, “I brought you something.”
    I look up. He reaches into his binder and pulls out a movie. “I thought you might want to watch this. It’s really good. You can watch it for research, you know? Since you want to be an actress.”
    I take the movie and read the title on the case:
Bridge to Terabithia.
    â€œIsn’t there a book with that title?” I ask.
    â€œYeah. I’m reading it right now. My mom bought the movie the other day, because it was on the five-dollar rack. She asked me if I wanted to watch it with her, so I did, and while we were watching it I thought,
I bet Sophie would like this movie.”
    I smile. “Well, it’s better than a bird’s foot, that’s for sure. Thanks, Dennis. I’m curious to see if I’ll like it as much as you think I’ll like it.”
    â€œYou will,” he says confidently. “You’ll like Jess and Leslie, I know you will.”
    â€œOkay, kids,” Mr. Leonard says. “Get to work on those paragraphs. Or I’m calling your parents and telling them no pumpkin pie or chocolate cream for you. Only mincemeat!”
    The whole crowd groans. Dennis leans in and whispers, “I like mincemeat.”
    I shake my head. Oh, Dennis.
    I sneak my dream notebook out of my binder and quickly write down another dream.
    Dream #6 –
I dream that Dennis will make
new friends. Besides me.
Yes, this is me actually admitting
I’m Dennis Holt’s friend.
    I think of Dennis as I stare at the table of pies at my aunt Georgina’s house. There’s the traditional pumpkin and mincemeat, both of which my grandma loves. I stare at the mincemeat and wonder if Dennis was joking about liking it. It looks pretty disgusting. Do I dare try it? No. Maybe next year. Or maybe never. Mom brought an apple pie, because that’s Dad’s favorite. And then for the kids, there’s chocolate cream and banana cream.
    Some of the adults are going back for seconds on the turkey and side dishes. But not the kids. We’reready for dessert. There are seven of us, five boys and two girls. All of the boys are in front of me, getting their pieces of pie so they can finish eating and get the annual football game started in the backyard. My uncle Pete, who’s athletic and played football in college, is standing in front of me, trying to keep the boys from rushing the pies and tackling them to the ground.
    â€œUncle Pete, how long do we have to let our food digest before we can start the game?” Hayden asks him.
    â€œProbably an hour.” He turns to me. “You