Sophie Under Pressure by Nancy N. Rue

Author:Nancy N. Rue
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zondervan

Eight

Daddy didn’t say anything until they got into the truck, and Sophie didn’t ask him any questions. But as soon as he pulled out into Hampton traffic, he said, “I thought we had a deal.”

Sophie readjusted her glasses to peer at him. “We do!” she said. “I’m not even making any C’s right now.”

“You will be soon if you pull another stunt like you did in school today.”

A mental picture of Julia showing up at the LaCroix’s front door telling all flashed through Sophie’s mind.

“Ms. Quelling called to tell me that you almost tackled somebody to catch a pea some kid shot out of a straw, just to get the kid in trouble.”

“That isn’t what happened!” Sophie said.

“I know that isn’t what happened. What happened was you got so wrapped up in one of your daydreams you started acting it out, and suddenly there you were, sprawled out on the floor with a smashed vegetable in your hand.” Daddy pulled up to a red light and lowered his eyebrows at her. “That’s what happened, right?”

“Yes!” Sophie said. “But it won’t happen again. I promise.”

“Do you need a little reminder? Do I need to take the camera away for a while?”

Sophie tried to remain calm, although she had to clutch the door handle to do it.

“No,” she said. “Dr. Peter helped me with that today.”

Daddy was quiet for a few blocks. Sophie chewed her hair and swung her legs against the seat. Her feet didn’t touch the floor in Daddy’s truck as it was, and she was feeling smaller by the minute.

“It isn’t just about your grades, Soph,” Daddy said. “I told you I didn’t want you upsetting your mother.”

“Does she know about this?” Sophie said.

“No. Ms. Quelling called me at work.”

“She interrupted you trying to save the planet to tell you that?”

Sophie thought she saw the corners of Daddy’s mouth twitch.

“Yeah,” he said. “And I think she enjoyed it.” He shot Sophie a Daddy-look. “But that doesn’t mean you didn’t mess up.”

“Am I going to get a punishment?” she said.

“Definitely.”

Sophie felt her heart take a dive. It probably wasn’t going to be as bad as banishment from the planet, but still.

“Tonight, after you finish your homework,” Daddy said, “you have to bring a glass of milk and exactly twelve cookies to my study and stay there until they’re all gone.”

“I can endure that.”

“Is that a Fiona word?” Daddy said.

“Yes, sir,” Sophie said.

She waited until she got up to her room after supper to really sigh, so Daddy wouldn’t think that she thought she was getting off easy. The feeling didn’t last long though. Fiona called, puffing like a bull on the other end of the line.

“Huntsville, we have a problem,” she said.

“What is it, Jupiter?” Sophie said.

“I just went up to Freedom 4 to get my backpack I left up there after we were working today — and the robot arm was totally torn off.”

Sophie gasped. “Did the wind do it?”

“There was no wind today.”

“Didn’t we attach it right?”

“It didn’t happen by itself,” Fiona said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.