12. I’m Sorry

Chapter 12 I'm Sorry Marvin tapped the red post—for luck—then bravely walked to school. He entered his classroom. Mrs. North wasn't there. "Have you talked to Mrs. North yet?" asked Casey. "What are you going to say to her?" Marvin shrugged. "Man, I can't believe you're here," said Clarence. "If I were you, I'd be in Mexico." No one got close to him, not even Nick or Stuart. No one wanted to be seen with him when Mrs. North walked in. The bell rang. Marvin kept his eyes on the door. "She probably can't stop crying," said Melanie. "That's

马文轻敲红色柱子以求好运，然后勇敢地走向学校。 他走进教室。诺斯太太不在那儿。 “你和诺斯太太谈过了吗?”凯西问。 “你要对她说什么?”马文耸耸肩。 “伙计，我真不敢相信你来了，”克拉伦斯说。 “如果我是你，我就在墨西哥。” 没人能接近他，尼克和斯图尔特也不行。 诺斯太太走进来的时候，谁也不想被人看见跟他在一起。 铃响了。马文一直盯着门。 “她可能哭个不停，"媚兰说。 “这是

why she's not here." Maybe she never came home, thought Marvin. That's why she never called. Maybe she had such a good time on her trip, she decided to stay forever! Maybe she fell in love with someone. And she's sailing around the world with him. Mrs. North walked through the door. "Good morning, everyone," she said. "It's nice to see you again." She glanced at Marvin, then turned her head away. He looked down at his desk. He thought he saw a flash of hatred in her eyes. "Well, let's see if anyone learned anything while I was gone," she said. "This won't be graded. I just want to see how far you got. Gina." Mrs. North handed a stack of tests to Gina, and Gina passed them out. Marvin set right to work. He didn't dare take his eyes off the paper. Mrs. North was walking around the room. Marvin wasn't looking, but somehow he knew. She was coming toward him. He could feel it in his bones.

为什么她不在这里。”也许她根本就没回家，马文想。 这就是她不打电话的原因。 也许她在旅途中玩得很开心，她决定永远呆在这里!也许她爱上了什么人。 她要和他一起航海环游世界。 诺斯太太走进门来。 “大家早上好，”她说。 “很高兴再次见到你。” 她看了马文一眼，然后转过头去。 他低头看着自己的桌子。 他觉得他看到了她眼中闪现的仇恨。 “好吧，让我们看看我不在的时候有没有人学到了什么，”她说。 “这不会被评分。我只是想看看你走了多远。 吉娜。”诺斯夫人递给吉娜一叠试卷，吉娜把试卷分发出去。 马文马上开始工作。他不敢把目光从报纸上移开。 诺斯太太在房间里走来走去。 马文没有看，但不知怎的他知道了。 她向他走来。 他能从骨子里感觉到。

The room got very quiet. She was getting closer. He tried to focus on his work. She was right beside him. He could see her shoes.

房间变得非常安静。她越来越近了。 他努力把注意力集中在工作上。 她就在他身边。他能看到她的鞋子。

He closed his eyes. Her cold hand touched the back of his neck. "Come on, Marvin, we need to talk."

他闭上了眼睛。她冰冷的手摸着他的后颈。 “来吧，马文，我们得谈谈。”

He stood up. Every eye in the classroom watched as Mrs. North led him outside. There was dead silence. "I'm sorry," said Mrs. North. "You're sorry?" said Marvin. His legs were shaking. "It was unfair of me to ask you to take care of such an old—" She stopped. "I just didn't want to put him in a kennel. You must have felt awful!" The next thing Marvin knew, Mrs. North was hugging him. "The plane was very late," she said, still hugging him. "Otherwise I would have called you last night. You probably thought I hated you." "Maybe a little," said Marvin. She let go of him. "I spoke to Dr. Charles this morning," she said. "He told me what you did. I'm so glad Waldo had someone like you." Marvin noticed her eyes were wet. "Liver was his favorite," said Mrs. North. "He died happy." She paid him the money she owed him. She gave him twenty-five dollars, as promised.

他站了起来。诺斯夫人领他出去时，教室里的每只眼睛都注视着他。 一片死寂。“对不起，”诺思太太说。 “你很抱歉?”马文说。 他的腿在颤抖。“我让你照顾这样一个老——”她停了下来。 “我只是不想把它关在狗窝里。 你一定很难受吧!”马文知道的下一件事是，诺斯太太拥抱了他。 “飞机晚点了，”她说，仍然拥抱着他。 “不然我昨晚就给你打电话了。 你可能以为我恨你。” “也许有一点。”马文说。 她放开了他。“我和他谈过了。 “今天早上查尔斯，”她说。 “他告诉我你做了什么。我很高兴沃尔多有像你这样的人。” 马文注意到她的眼睛是湿的。 “肝是他的最爱，”诺思太太说。 “他死得很开心。”She paid him the money she owed him. 她如约给了他25美元。

"I'd like to do something special for you, too," she said. "How about I take you out to lunch this weekend? You pick the restaurant." "Okay," said Marvin. She hugged him again. "He had a good life," she said. They walked back into the classroom. Everyone was watching. And wondering. Marvin kept his head down. Let them wonder, he thought. He sat at his desk and returned to his test. Casey Happleton stared at him. Her ponytail stuck out of the side of her head. Her finger was in her mouth. "Wait, let me get this straight," Nick said at recess. "She's taking you out to lunch because her dog died." "Twenty-five dollars!" said Stuart. "And he only had to take care of the dog for five days instead of seven." "What restaurant are you going to choose?" asked Nick. Marvin shrugged. "Man, you're so lucky," said Nick. "It's unfair. Some people have all the luck."

“我也想为你做点特别的事，”她说。 “这个周末我带你出去吃午饭怎么样?” 你来选餐厅。”“好吧，”马文说。 她又抱住了他。“他过得很好，”她说。 他们走回教室。 每个人都在看。和好奇。 马文一直低着头。 让他们去猜想吧，他想。 他坐在书桌前，继续做试卷。 凯西·哈普尔顿盯着他。 她的马尾辫从脑袋的一侧伸出来。 她的手指在嘴里。 “等等，让我搞清楚，”尼克在课间休息时说。 “她带你出去吃午饭，因为她的狗死了。” “25美元!”斯图亚特说。 “而且他只需要照顾狗五天，而不是七天。” “你打算选哪家餐馆?”尼克问。 马文耸耸肩。“伙计，你真幸运，”尼克说。 “这是不公平的。有些人就是这么幸运。”