1 The New School

The alien next door. The new kids

隔壁的外星人。新来的孩子

THE NEW school. The new KID SAT ALONE IN the back of the bus. He was on his way to his first day at a new school. Once again.

新学校。新来的孩子独自坐在公共汽车的后面。 他在去新学校的第一天的路上。 再一次。

He watched as the other kids fooled around. They giggled and yelled. No one else seemed to be just sitting in their seat. Except him. The new kid. Once again.

他看着其他的孩子胡闹。 他们又笑又叫。似乎没有其他人只是坐在他们的座位上。 除了他。新来的孩子。再一次。

Taking this "bus" thing to school with everyone else is really dumb, he thought. Back home we got to school on our own. And much faster than in this clunky yellow hunk of metal. And instead of messing around the whole way like these kids, we had time to think and prepare for learning. But this... The new kid shook his head. No one on the bus seemed to even notice that he was there.

他想，和其他人一起坐“公共汽车”去学校真是太蠢了。 回到家，我们自己去上学。 而且比在这个笨重的黄色金属堆里快得多。 我们没有像这些孩子那样一直瞎折腾，而是有时间思考和准备学习。 但这…新来的孩子摇了摇头。 公共汽车上似乎没有人注意到他在那里。

Here we go again, he thought. Will anyone like me? Will I make any friends? Why do my parents have to move so much? The new boy sighed. He knew why they were always moving. They were research scientists. Their work took them from place to place. And every time they moved, he had to start over in a new school. He had to make new friends. He had to learn how things were done in a new place.

又来了，他想。 会有人喜欢我吗？我会交到朋友吗？ 为什么我父母要经常搬家？ 新来的男孩叹了口气。他知道他们为什么总是在移动。 他们是从事研究的科学家。 他们的工作把他们从一个地方带到另一个地方。 每次搬家，他都得在新学校重新开始。 他必须结交新朋友。 他必须学会在一个新地方做事。

"Hey, Charlie!" one kid shouted at his friend. "Did you finish last week's homework?" "I finished it this morning," another kid shouted back. "Right on time!" The bus rocked with laughter. The new kid didn't understand.

“嘿，查理！”一个孩子对他的朋友喊道。 “你完成上周的作业了吗？”“我今天早上完成的，”另一个孩子喊道。 “准时！”公共汽车在笑声中摇晃。 新来的孩子不明白。