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school is the only one in the state that still makes all the kids give cards to one another. Last year I was actually looking forward to the card swap. The night before Valentine's Day, I spent a lot of time making an awesome card for this girl named Natasha who I kind of liked. Beloved Natasha- For you, a fire blages in my heart so strong that the embers alone could bring a thousand hot tubs to a boil So intense that it causes snowmen everywhere to despair Let the bonfire of my love wrap you in its warmth Only your kiss could quench the flames that so consume me To you I pledge my love, my desire, my life Greg I showed Mom my card to check for spelling errors, but she said what I wrote wasn't "age appropriate." She told me maybe I should just get Natasha a little box of candy or something, but I wasn't about to take romantic advice from my mother. At school everyone went around the room and put their Valentine's cards in one another's boxes, but I delivered my card to Natasha personally.

学校是这个州唯一一所还让孩子们互相赠送卡片的学校。 去年我其实很期待卡片交换。 情人节的前一天晚上，我花了很多时间为一个叫娜塔莎的女孩做了一张很棒的卡片，我有点喜欢她。 亲爱的娜塔莎——为你,我心中的火骗取如此强大的余烬就可以把一千热水浴缸煮沸如此敏感,导致到处雪人绝望让我包你的爱的篝火的温暖只有你的吻能扑灭大火,所以消耗我对你承诺我的爱,我的欲望,我的生活格雷格我给妈妈我的名片来检查拼写错误,但她说我写的不是什么“年龄合适。” 她告诉我也许我应该给娜塔莎买一盒糖果什么的，但我不打算接受我母亲的浪漫建议。 在学校里，每个人都绕着房间走，把他们的情人节贺卡放在彼此的盒子里，但我亲自把贺卡交给了娜塔莎。

I let her read it , and then I waited to see what she made for me. Natasha dug around in her box and pulled out this cheap store-bought card that was supposed to be for her friend Chantelle, who was out sick that day. Then Natasha scribbled out her friend's name and put my name on it instead.

我让她看了，然后等着看她给我做了什么。 娜塔莎在盒子里翻来翻去，拿出一张从商店买来的廉价卡片，这张卡片本来是要送给她的朋友尚黛尔的，她那天请了病假。 然后娜塔莎把她朋友的名字草草划掉，换上了我的名字。

To: Chantelle From: Natasha Dreg I think you're FAR OUT Anyway, you can probably see why I wasn't too enthusiastic about the card exchange this year. Last night I came up with a great idea. I knew I had to make a card for everyone in the class, but instead of being all mushy and saying things I didn't really mean, I told everyone exactly what I thought of them.

不管怎样，你可能明白为什么我对今年的卡片交换不太感兴趣了。 昨晚我想到了一个好主意。 我知道我必须为班上的每个人都做一张卡片，但我没有愁云满面，也没有说一些言不由衷的话，而是把我对他们的看法准确地告诉了每个人。

Dear James, You smell. A few of the kids complained about the cards to our teacher, Mrs. Riser, and then she went around the room trying to figure out who sent them. I knew Mrs. Riser would think that whoever didn't get a card was the culprit, but I was prepared for that, because I made a card for myself, too. Dear Greg, I hate your guts. After the card exchange came the Valentine's Dance. The dance was originally supposed to be at night, but I guess they couldn't get enough parents to volunteer to be chaperones. So they put the dance smack in

亲爱的詹姆斯，你闻起来。有几个孩子向我们的老师，立弗夫人抱怨这些卡片，然后她在教室里走来走去，想找出是谁送的。 我知道Riser夫人会认为没有收到卡片的人就是罪魁祸首，但我对此有所准备，因为我也为自己做了一张卡片。 亲爱的格雷格，我恨死你了。 交换卡片之后是情人节舞会。 舞会本来是在晚上举行的，但我猜他们找不到足够多的家长自愿陪伴。 所以他们把舞蹈放进去了

the middle of the school day instead. The teachers started rounding everyone up and sending them down to the auditorium at around 1:00. Anyone who didn't want to cough up the two bucks for admission had to go down to Mr. Ray's room for study hall. But it was pretty obvious to most of us that "study hall" was basically the same thing as detention. The rest of us filed into the gym and sat in the bleachers. I don't know why, but all the boys sat on one side of the gym, and all the girls sat on the other. Once everyone was inside the gym, the teachers started the music. But whoever picked out the songs is seriously out of touch with what kids are listening to these days.

而是在上学的时候。 大约1点的时候，老师们开始把大家集合起来，把他们送到礼堂。 谁要是不愿意付两块钱入场费，就得到雷先生的房间去自习室。 但对我们大多数人来说，很明显，“自习室”基本上和关禁闭是一回事。 我们其他人鱼贯进入体育馆，坐在露天看台上。 我不知道为什么，所有的男孩都坐在体育馆的一边，所有的女孩都坐在另一边。 当所有人都进入体育馆后，老师们开始放音乐。 但不管是谁选的这些歌，都与现在孩子们听的音乐脱节了。

For the first fifteen minutes or so, no one moved a muscle. Then Mr. Phillips, the guidance counselor, and Nurse Powell walked to the middle of the gym and started dancing. I guess. Mr. Phillips and Nurse Powell thought if they started dancing, all the kids would come down onto the floor and join them. All they really did was guarantee that everyone stayed in their seat.

在最初的15分钟左右，没有人动一动肌肉。 然后，指导顾问菲利普斯先生和鲍威尔护士走到体育馆中央，开始跳舞。 我猜。菲利普斯先生和鲍威尔护士认为，如果他们开始跳舞，所有的孩子都会下来和他们一起跳舞。 他们所做的只是保证每个人都待在座位上。