Sophie Metcalf

Sophie Metcalf is a main character in Leslea Wahl's The Perfect Blindside, along with Jake Taylor. She appears in the short story "More Precious than Gold" in the novel Secrets: Visible and Invisible, as well as Unlikely Witnesses.

## The Perfect Blindside

### **Personality**

Sophie is very religious, shown when she attends weekly Sunday Mass, prays regularly, and helps the younger children in her church in Bible Study in the summer.

She has a daring streak, evidenced when she goes in the abandoned mine and rescues Jake from his captors despite the obvious dangers.

Her downside is her rigidness, which is hinted at when Father Scott reveals that she was unhappy when he arrived due to the change, and is shown when she is upset at Jake's arrival and the ripples that affect the town after.

### **Plot**

Sophie lives in Silver Springs, Colorado. At the beginning of the novel, Sophie resents Jake and sees through his confident demeanor as a lazy slacker who doesn't want to be in Silver Springs.

When Jake asks her to do his homework for him, she sees this as an opportunity to expose him for who he really is and accepts the offer without intending to actually help him.

Later, when they are in the library together, Sophie shows him a secret passage that connects the library to the abandoned mine. Impressed by Jake's sincerity that he thought the evening was fun, Sophie starts to second guess whether she should sabotage him or not.

Sophie can't lie to herself about her attraction to Jake. She explores the abandoned mine with him, and once they return, his tires are slashed.

The next day they investigate who could have done it while the culprit plants marijuana in Jake's jeep. Ironically, she is the only one who believes Jake is innocent (while at the beginning she was the only one who disliked him).

When Jake goes missing, she receives a text in '49ers code that hints that he is the abandoned mine and in danger.

Once she arrives, she sets off firecrackers to distract the kidnappers while she rescues Jake.

After they flee (and are pursued by Deputy Grady), they are caught by Sheriff Miller. When Sheriff Miller suggests going to the mine to see what happened, Deputy Grady starts to attack him as they engage in an old-fashioned Western shootout. Thankfully, Sheriff Miller wins.

The book ends as Jake and Sophie attend the Snow Ball together.

## More Precious than Gold

### **Personality**

Sophie is more laidback than before, but still is intimidated when girls her age state that they have Jake's calendar in their bedroom. She is receptive and warm to Josie and the kids.

#### **Plot**

Sophie goes to a summer camp to help disadvantaged children with Jake, Ryan, and Ryan's girlfriend Josie. She is the first to be interested in the surrounding's neighborhood's history and thus initiated the hunt for the missing golden cross.

## Trivia

* Sophie was the highest scorer on her second grade soccer team
* Sophie's favorite pastime is photography
* She is the photographer for the Yearbook while Kate is the writer
* She is a fan of Dante Foxx
* Sophie is 16-years-old
* Ryan tried to teach her how to skateboard when they were younger