âNo! You guys need to tell me I canât do it!â
Mom laughs. âSophie, why would we do that? Donât you want to do it?â
âThatâs not the point. The point is that Iââ
And then I stop. Because suddenly, Iâm not sure what the point of arguing with them is exactly.
âLook, honey,â Dad says, âif you want to do the commercial, do the commercial. Itâs not like youâre doing it to spite your best friend. Youâre doing it because itâs a good opportunity. And no one would want to deny their best friend a good opportunity. If it was the other way around, Iâm sure youâd encourage her to go for it. Right?â
I stand up. âI donât know. I guess I thought you guys would see it the way I see it.â
Mom stands up and gives me a quick hug. âSweetheart, I see where youâre coming from. But this is the kind of thing that could lead to bigger thingsâthings that could help make your dream come true. At the very least, go to the audition and see what itâs like.â
âI agree,â Dad says. âIf nothing else, itâs good practice for the next time.â
âSophie,â Hayden says, âmaybe theyâd let you hold a cupcake in one hand and a brownie in the other.â
If only it were that easy.
âDo you want any dessert?â Mom asks.
âI do!â Hayden says.
âNo, thanks,â I tell her. âDessert is the last thing I want right now.â
I go to my room.
Dream #4 â
I dream of the ability
to do the right thing,
even when itâs hard.
The next day, I do my best to avoid Isabel. I hang out in the library before school and go straight to science first period without going to the locker first.
Dennis catches me in the hallway outside of the classroom. âTheyâre called feet,â he tells me. âNot talons. At least on regular birds. You were wrong.â
âWhatever,â I mumble.
âHey, I apologized to Isabel like I promised. I really am sorry. I didnât mean to upset her. Or you. So, weâre good now, right?â
I look over at him. He seems to mean it.
âAnyway,â he continues, pushing his glasses up with his finger, âI thought you might want to know birds do have feet. Not that I wanted to prove you wrong or anything. I was just, you know, curious.â
âItâs fine. Iâm probably wrong about a lot of things.â
And as soon as the words are out, I stop in my tracks.
âWhat?â he asks. âWhat is it?â
I shake my head. âNothing.â I look at Dennis. âOkay, have you ever thought you were absolutely, positively right about something? But then everyoneelse tells you maybe you arenât right after all, and you start to second-guess yourself, even though you
know
youâre right?â
He gives me a blank stare. âNo. Not really. Hey, do you think birds have ears?â
I laugh. I canât help it. Itâs so ridiculous, and I canât believe Iâm spilling my guts, in a roundabout sort of way, to Dennis Holt.
âI have no idea,â I tell him.
âMaybe we can research it,â he says. âWeâre still doing homework at my house later, right?â
Oh no. With all of the stuff going on about the audition, I totally forgot. Well, at least if I see Isabel after school, I have a reason to rush off. âYeah. I rode my bike. You donât live very far from here, right?â
âYou remember! My birthday party in first grade was pretty awesome, huh?â
I shake my head. âYou had a Power Rangers cake, Dennis. That was not awesome. At least, not to all the girls you invited.â
He laughs. âPower Rangers, activate!â
The warning bell rings, so we start walking toward our classroom.
âIâll meet you at the bike rack after school,â he says.
âOkay. And hey,