17 A Bad Luck Streak

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN A BAD LUCK STREAK Cohesion (noun). How well a bunch of molecules stick together. It's like when a coach calls for a huddle in soccer. Can the team bunch together and listen? Or is everyone doing their own thing? EVERYTHING WAS FALLING apart. Avery stood in the back row of the auditorium with Phoenix. I could hear Avery whispering and giggling. She was probably laughing at me. That was enough. I marched right up to Avery. "Thanks a lot for stealing my Cheetos!" "Your Cheetos? What are you talking about?" "They were there." I pointed to my backpack. "And now they're gone. Give them back." "I don't have them!" On the side of the stage, Mrs. Hansberry stood discussing something with Ms. Daly. "This isn't funny, Avery. I need them." "Wow. Someone really needs a snack," said Elijah from the lighting booth.

第十七章霉运（名词）。 一堆分子粘在一起的程度。 这就像足球比赛中教练要求大家聚在一起一样。 团队能团结起来倾听吗？ 还是每个人都在做自己的事？ 一切都在崩溃。 埃弗里和菲尼克斯一起站在礼堂的后排。 我能听到艾弗里的窃窃私语和咯咯的笑声。 她可能在嘲笑我。 这就够了。我径直走向艾弗里 “谢谢你偷了我的奇多！”“你的奇多吗? 你在说什么？”“他们在那里。” 我指着我的背包。“现在他们走了。 还给我。”“我没有！”在舞台的另一边，汉斯伯里太太站在那里和约翰逊夫人讨论着什么。 戴利。“这并不好笑，艾弗里。 我需要它们。”“哇。有人真的需要吃点零食，”以利亚在照明亭说。

"The Cheetos aren't for me to eat. They're for the special effects for the dragons." I put out my hand, palm facing up. "Give. Them. To. Me." Avery stomped her foot. "I already told you, I don't have them." Phoenix jiggled her charm bracelet. "Avery doesn't even like Cheetos. She wouldn't take them." "Wouldn't take what?" asked Mrs. Hansberry from the stage. Next to her, Ms. Daly stared at me in surprise. "Cheetos," said Avery, rolling her eyes. "Kate thinks I took them. Just because she can't find them." "Well, I don't know where else they could be." I once again rummaged through my backpack. "The bag was in here. I promise." I glanced up apologetically at Ms. Daly, who came in especially to help me out today. "I'm so sorry," I said, my cheeks heating up. I could practically feel that hormone signaling my veins to open up. My cheeks were probably now phenol red. That's a special dye that chemists use to see if something is an acid or a base. "I don't know what happened." My eyes darted over at Avery. It had to be her.

“奇多不是给我吃的。 它们是用来给龙做特效的。” 我伸出手，掌心朝上。 “给。他们。出现。我。”埃弗里跺着脚。 “我已经告诉过你了，我没有。” 菲尼克斯抖动着她的手镯。 “艾弗里甚至不喜欢奇多。 她不肯接受。”“不接受什么？”汉斯伯里太太在台上问。 在她旁边，戴利女士惊讶地盯着我。 “奇多。”艾弗里翻着白眼说。 “凯特认为是我拿的。只是因为她找不到。” “嗯，我不知道他们还能在哪里。” 我又一次翻找我的背包。 “袋子在这里。我保证。” 我抱歉地抬头看了一眼。 戴利，今天特地来帮我的。 “我很抱歉，”我说，我的脸颊开始发热。 我几乎能感觉到荷尔蒙在向我的血管发出扩张的信号。 我的脸颊现在可能是酚红的。 这是一种特殊的染料，化学家用它来判断某种物质是酸还是碱。 “我不知道发生了什么。” 我的目光掠过艾弗里。 一定是她。

"I would send someone to the store to buy a bag, but there just isn't enough time," said Mrs. Hansberry. "Well, we have plenty of other things to do." "I can come back tomorrow," said Ms. Daly. "Sorry," I mumbled, staring at the floor, which was dusty. That was probably my fault, too. I should have noticed and swept it up so that none of the crew slid while they were working in the dark. "It's okay," said Ms. Daly. But it wasn't. I could hear the disappointment in her voice. "I guess we should get back to work, folks," said Mrs. Hansberry. The cast headed back onstage. Only as soon as Birdie whinnied and threw back her mane, her unicorn horn slid off her forehead and toppled onto the floor. "I'll re-glue. Don't worry." I grabbed a bottle of the stage glue donated by Avery's dads. Then I

“我本想派人去商店买个包，但时间实在不够，”汉斯伯里太太说。 “嗯，我们还有很多其他的事情要做。” “我可以明天再来。” 戴利。“对不起，”我嘟囔着，盯着满是灰尘的地板。 那可能也是我的错。 我应该注意到并把它扫干净，这样船员在黑暗中工作时就不会滑倒了。 “没关系，”戴利说。 但事实并非如此。我能听出她声音里的失望。 “我想我们应该回去工作了，伙计们，”汉斯伯里太太说。 演员们回到了舞台上。 小鸟刚发出一声呜呜声，鬃毛向后一甩，她的独角兽角就从额头上滑了下来，倒在了地板上。 “我会re-glue。别担心。” 我拿了一瓶艾弗里爸爸们捐赠的舞台胶水。 然后我

squirted a blob on the end of the horn and handed it to Birdie. "There. Just hold it in place." "I hope this works," Birdie wished out loud. Another groan. This time from Mia. Her horn slid all the way down her forehead. It bumped over the top of her nose, dangling on her chin until she pulled it off. "Oh. Hold it! I'll grab more glue for you, Mia." Soon the rest of the horns toppled off as well. And no extra amount of glue helped. The horns just got more slippery. "The glue's not working," stated Mia, which was pretty obvious. "It can't be dragons vs. horses," moaned Jeremy. Mrs. Hansberry strolled closer, frowning thoughtfully. "I'm afraid you're right—Dragons vs. Horses doesn't quite have the same ring to it." Avery wrinkled her nose. "I don't get why this is happening." "It's probably just not strong enough glue," I said. "But it's theatrical quality," said Avery with a huff. "My dads use it to stick feathers on masks." "Masks, did you say?" said Mrs. Hansberry. She inspected the bottle. "Hmm, perhaps this is the

在角的一端喷了一团，递给了小鸟。 ”。只要稳住它就行了。” “我希望这能成功，”小鸟大声地说。 另一个呻吟。这次是米娅。 她的角一直滑到额头上。 它在她的鼻尖上颠簸，在她的下巴上晃来晃去，直到她把它扯下来。 “哦。抓住它!我去给你拿点胶水，米娅。” 很快，其余的角也掉了下来。 再多的胶水也没用。 牛角变得更滑了。 “胶水不起作用，”米娅说，这是很明显的。 “不可能是龙对马。”杰里米呻吟道。 汉斯伯里太太踱近一些，沉思地皱着眉头。 “恐怕你是对的，龙对龙。 马的名字就不一样了。” 埃弗里皱了皱鼻子。“我不明白为什么会发生这种情况。” “可能是胶水不够强，”我说。 “但它有戏剧效果。”埃弗里气呼呼地说。 “我爸爸用它把羽毛粘在面具上。” “你是说戴面具吗？”汉斯伯里太太说。 她检查了瓶子。“嗯，也许这就是……

wrong sort of glue. Since ours needs to act as an adhesive on skin." "But not peel anyone's skin off," I said. "We could tie rubber bands to the horns," suggested Mia. "Or stick them on headbands." "But these golden horns are perfect," said Birdie. "And the rubber bands or headbands would look so goofy." "These horns have to work," I said. Suddenly, the stage went completely dark. "Sorry!" yelled Elijah. "Something's wonky with the lights." "How are we going to rehearse the dance?" cried Birdie. "With the dragons and unicorns. I mean horses. We can't even see!" She did have a point. "Oh my. Children, let's try to remain calm." Mrs. Hansberry sighed dramatically. "I can see that things are heading in the wrong direction." "And I didn't even say good luck." I clapped my hand over my mouth. "Oh. Sorry! Didn't mean to say that." Birdie rolled her eyes, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. What bad thing was going to happen next?

用错胶水了。因为我们需要在皮肤上起到粘合剂的作用。” “但不要剥别人的皮，”我说。 “我们可以在喇叭上系上橡皮筋，”米娅建议道。 “或者把它们粘在发带上。” “但是这些金角是完美的，”小鸟说。 “橡皮筋或发带看起来会很傻。” “这些角必须起作用，”我说。 突然，舞台上一片漆黑。 “对不起！”以利亚喊道。“灯有点不太对劲。” “我们怎么排练舞蹈呢？”小鸟叫道。 “有龙和独角兽。 我是说马。我们甚至看不见！”她说得有道理。 “哦我。孩子们，让我们尽量保持冷静。” 汉斯伯里太太戏剧性地叹了口气。 “我可以看到，事情正朝着错误的方向发展。” “我甚至都没说祝你好运。” 我用手捂住嘴。 “哦。对不起!我不是那个意思。” 伯迪翻了个白眼，我很清楚她在想什么。 接下来会发生什么坏事呢？