3 TWO LATE TO CLASS

CHAPTER 3 TWO LATE TO CLASS Alexander sprinted up the escalators. He was out of breath by the time he reached the ninth floor. He rushed into his classroom. Alexander looked around. Students were talking, laughing, and running all over the place. "You sure picked the right day to be late, Salamander!" someone shouted. "There's no teacher!"

上课迟到亚历山大冲上了自动扶梯。 他上到九楼时已经上气不接下气了。 他冲进教室。 亚历山大环顾四周。学生们有说有笑，到处跑。 “你真是挑对了迟到的日子，蝾螈！”有人喊道。 “没有老师！”

Alexander turned to see Rip holding a big yellow box that said HANDS OFF! "Dr. Tallow is even later than you are!" said Nikki, rushing over. "What kind of teacher "Guys!" Alexander interrupted. He lowered his voice. "I saw a balloon goon!" Nikki's eyes widened. "You did?! Where?" "Behind the school," said Alexander. "No way!" Rip said. "Did you pop it?" Nikki asked. "Well, no," said Alexander. "I mean, I tried to— I ran after it. But it just vanished! I ended up slashing a garbage bag instead."

亚历山大转过身来，看见里普手里拿着一个黄色的大盒子，上面写着“放开手！””博士。 塔洛甚至比你还晚！”妮基冲过去说。 “什么样的老师啊！”亚历山大打断。 他压低了声音。“我看见一个气球打手！”妮基睁大了眼睛。 “你? !在哪里?”“在学校后面，”亚历山大说。 “不可能!”Rip说。“你把它弄坏了吗？”尼基问道。 “哦，不，”亚历山大说。 “我的意思是，我试着——我追着它跑。 但它就这么消失了！结果我砍断了一个垃圾袋。”

"I hate to burst your bubble, Salamander," said Rip, "but balloon goons can't just disappear." "Maybe the garbage bag looked like a balloon goon?" suggested Nikki. "But—" Alexander began. "So, Salamander," said Rip, "before you fought the garbage bag, did you finish your animal report? Bet it's not as awesome as mine!" Rip shook his yellow box. "Yep, I finished it," said Alexander. "It was fun!" "For you, maybe," said Nikki. "I had to write about crummy goldfish." "Pfft! Whatever!" said Rip. "You're just jealous because Dr. Tallow likes me more than you!" He pointed to the board.

“我不想打破你的幻想，蝾螈，”里普说，“但是气球打手不能就这么消失。” “也许垃圾袋看起来像气球打手？”尼基建议道。 “可是——”亚历山大开口了。“那么，蝾螈，”里普说，“在你和垃圾袋搏斗之前，你完成你的动物报告了吗？ 我打赌它没有我的好！”里普摇晃着他的黄盒子。 “是的，我完成了，”亚历山大说。 “很有趣！”“对你来说，也许吧，”妮基说。 “我不得不写可怜的金鱼。” “啐!随便啦！”瑞普说。 “你只是嫉妒，因为Dr。 塔洛喜欢我胜过喜欢你！”他指着黑板。

The door swung open. Dr. Tallow walked in. "Sorry I'm late," she said, rubbing lotion on her hands. "I left my lotion in the car! My skin dries right up without it." But most students didn't hear her. They were still chatting loudly. Dr. Tallow clapped her hands. CLAP! CLAP! CLAP-CLAP-CLAP! The students echoed her clap back to her. "That's better," said Dr. Tallow. She turned to Nikki, smiling. "Except for you. Your claps were a teensy bit late." Dr. Tallow went to the board and added a nineteenth X beside Nikki's name. Nikki tugged on her hoodie strings until only her narrowed eyes were visible.

门开了。塔洛医生走了进来。 “对不起，我迟到了。”她一边说，一边在手上擦乳液。 “我把乳液忘在车里了！”没有它，我的皮肤马上就干了。” 但是大多数学生没有听到她的话。 他们还在大声地聊天。 塔洛医生拍了拍手。 鼓掌!鼓掌!CLAP-CLAP-CLAP !学生们也跟着她拍手。 “这样好多了，”塔洛医生说。 她微笑着转向妮基。 “除了你。你们的鼓掌有点晚了。” 塔洛医生走到黑板前，在尼基的名字旁边加了第十九个X。 妮基拉着连帽衫的线，直到只看见她眯起的眼睛。