15 On the Table

CHAPTER FIFTEEN On the Table The Periodic Table (noun). A chart listing elements in order of their atomic number. The atomic number is the number of itty-bitty particles called protons in each atom. And just like fingerprints are unique to each human, the atomic number is unique for each element. A VOICE I ASSUMED WAS ROSALIND FRANKLIN'S was whispering in my ear. But no, it couldn't be. Because the voice coming from the handset sounded creepy and said, "Hellooooo. I must warn you there's a ghost. A ghost in the WC. Be very careful." I set down the receiver. My heart beat a million times per second. "So?" asked Phoenix. "Did you hear anything?" "Something that could help?" asked Birdie. "Not to me," I stated. "Figures," said Jeremy. Then I motioned Phoenix and Birdie to follow me over by the corner. "Look, I heard a voice on the phone. A really spooky one," I whispered. "And it gave me the creeps. But I think that was the only point." "What did it say?" asked Phoenix.

第十五章元素周期表（名词） 按原子序数顺序列出元素的图表。 原子序数是指每个原子中被称为质子的微小粒子的数量。 就像每个人的指纹都是独一无二的一样，每个元素的原子序数也是独一无二的。 一个我以为是罗莎琳德·富兰克林的声音在我耳边低语。 但不，不可能。因为手机里传来的声音听起来很吓人，好像在说：“你好。 我得警告你，这里有鬼。 厕所里有个鬼。一定要非常小心。” 我放下听筒。我的心每秒钟跳动一百万次。 “那又怎样？”菲尼克斯问。“你听到什么了吗？”“有什么能帮上忙的吗？”小鸟问。 “对我来说不是，”我说。“数字。”杰里米说。 然后我示意凤凰和小鸟跟着我到角落里去。 “看，我听到电话里有声音。 一个非常可怕的故事，”我低声说。 这让我浑身起鸡皮疙瘩。 但我认为这是唯一的意义。” “它说什么？”菲尼克斯问。

I closed my eyes and sighed. "That there's a ghost in the lab. And for us to be very careful. Actually, it said the ghost was in the WC." I shrugged. "Whatever that is. I bet the idea was just to scare Dragas. You know, that bad guy." "But what's a WC?" asked Birdie. "That's what people in England call the bathroom," said Phoenix in a loud dramatic whisper. "It stands for water closet!" Jeremy stomped over to us and stopped in front of Phoenix. "I heard everything you all were saying," he said. "Me too," said Elijah, and his voice sounded a little hurt. Memito nodded. "You shouldn't keep secrets," said Elijah. "I think Kate should be the one to go into the haunted water closet," said Jeremy. "To check it out." "Fine," I said, but I didn't feel fine. My heart was pounding. And my mouth felt dry. "I'll go with you," whispered Birdie, who could obviously tell I was just a little freaked out. A moment later, we creaked open the door to the water closet. Birdie shone a light so it wouldn't be so dark. "I hear something," I said, whirling around.

我闭上眼睛，叹了口气。 “实验室里有鬼。 我们要非常小心。 实际上，它说鬼魂在厕所里。” 我耸了耸肩。“不管那是什么。 我打赌这只是为了吓唬德拉加斯。 你知道，就是那个坏人。”“但是厕所是什么？”小鸟问。 “这就是英国人对浴室的叫法。”菲尼克斯戏剧性地低声说。 “它代表抽水马桶！”杰里米迈着沉重的步子向我们走来，在菲尼克斯门前停了下来。 “你们说的我都听到了，”他说。 “我也是。”以利亚说，他的声音听起来有点受伤。 Memito点点头。“你不应该保守秘密，”以利亚说。 “我觉得应该是凯特去闹鬼的厕所，”杰里米说。 “去看看。”“很好，”我说，但我并不觉得很好。 我的心怦怦直跳。我感到口干。 “我和你一起去，”伯迪低声说，她显然能看出我只是有点吓坏了。 过了一会儿，我们嘎吱嘎吱地打开了抽水马桶的门。 伯迪点亮了一盏灯，这样就不会那么黑了。 “我听到了什么声音，”我转过身说。

"It's called pipes. It's normal," said Birdie as she flicked on the light switch. The cramped WC remained dark. "Of course there's no light bulb," I said. "The idea is to completely terrify us, so our brains don't work. Birdie, I'm so glad you're with me right now. I hope you're no longer mad at me." "Me mad at you? What gave you that idea?" "You've just been so quiet and acting a little different." "Because I'm afraid of small spaces," she whispered. "And we're locked in an escape room." "Then why are you here with me right now?" I asked. "The WC is extra small." "Because you're my best friend and you're afraid of ghosts. And we've got to catch one in here." "Aw, Birdie," I said, giving her a hug. "You're the best, seriously." "Thanks, Kate. Right back at you. If anything, I thought you might be upset with me." Birdie opened the drawers under the sink. "It's probably dumb to look since Elijah and Memito were already here." She shrugged. "But they might have missed something." I shone the light over a roll of toilet paper that was randomly covered in plastic wrap. "So please

“这叫管道。“这很正常，”小鸟边说边打开电灯开关。 狭窄的厕所仍然黑暗。 “当然没有灯泡，”我说。 “这个想法是为了让我们完全害怕，这样我们的大脑就不会工作了。 伯迪，我很高兴你现在和我在一起。 我希望你不再生我的气了。” “我生你的气？”你怎么会有这个想法？”“你一直很安静，表现得有点不一样。” “因为我害怕狭小的空间，”她低声说。 “我们被锁在密室里了。” “那你现在为什么和我在一起？”我问。 “厕所特别小。”“因为你是我最好的朋友，而且你害怕鬼。 我们必须在这里抓一个。” “哦，小鸟，”我说着，给了她一个拥抱。 “说真的，你是最棒的。” “谢谢你,凯特。也来找你。 如果有的话，我想你可能会生我的气。” 伯蒂打开了水槽下面的抽屉。 “也许去看是愚蠢的，因为以利亚和梅托已经在这里了。” 她耸耸肩。“但他们可能漏掉了什么。” 我把灯照在一卷厕纸上，厕纸上随机地盖着保鲜膜。 “所以请

explain why you think I might possibly be mad at you?" "Because I'm the one who got us in trouble. I spent all the time picking out colors and got us behind during the Fall Science Challenge. If we hadn't been behind, then you wouldn't have gotten in a mood and done the tug-of-war with Jeremy—" "That's ridiculous. You're not to blame." I tapped my chest. "Me. I'm the one. I totally forgot the most important rules in a lab: be careful, and no fighting. I have to learn to be patient." I wiped my forehead. I was actually sweating as if I had been running. "I'm really nervous," I admitted. "Me too," said Birdie. "That's because you believe in ghosts." She shook her head. "No, because I was worried about... us." I put my arm around her shoulders. "No way. We're best friends and—" "What's that?" asked Birdie, pointing to a small gray appliance sitting on a shelf across from the faucet.

解释一下你为什么觉得我会生你的气？”“因为是我让我们陷入麻烦的。 我把所有的时间都花在挑选颜色上，让我们在秋季科学挑战赛中落后了。 如果我们没有落后，你就不会有心情和杰里米拔河了——”“这太荒谬了。 这不能怪你。”我轻拍胸口。 ”我。我就是那个人。我完全忘记了实验室里最重要的规则：小心，不要打架。 我必须学会耐心。” 我擦了擦额头。我实际上在出汗，好像我一直在跑步。 “我真的很紧张，”我承认。 “我也是，”小鸟说。“那是因为你相信有鬼。” 她摇了摇头。“没有，因为我担心…… 我们。”我用胳膊搂住她的肩膀。 “没门。我们是最好的朋友，而且——”“那是什么？”伯迪指着水龙头对面架子上的一个灰色小器具问。

I strode over and cautiously picked it up. "Looks like a cross between a hair dryer and a watering can." Running my fingers along the base, I found an on-off switch. "I wonder what it does?" "I'm not sure. "It looks familiar. And yet not so much." Birdie snapped her fingers. "It's a steamer. My nani uses it to quickly dewrinkle her clothes when she travels for work." Nani is Birdie's grandma on her mom's side. She's an economist and sometimes travels to conferences. Economists use numbers to predict trends in the economy, like sales. Right now, if I had to make a prediction based on numbers, I'd say things were looking shaky. And then Memito shouted, "Fourteen minutes!" That didn't give us much time to figure things out!

我大步走过去，小心地把它捡了起来。 “看起来像是吹风机和喷水壶的混合体。” 我用手指摸了摸底座，找到了一个开关。 “我想知道它是干什么用的？”“我不确定。 “看起来很眼熟。但又没有那么多。” 小鸟打了个响指。 “这是一艘轮船。我奶奶出差时就用它快速去皱衣服。” 纳尼是小鸟妈妈那边的奶奶。 她是一名经济学家，有时会出差参加会议。 经济学家使用数字来预测经济趋势，比如销售。 现在，如果我必须根据数字做出预测，我会说情况看起来不稳定。 然后梅托喊道：“十四分钟！”我们没有多少时间来解决问题！