7 A Galaxy of Disappointment

CHAPTER SEVEN A Galaxy of Disappointment Scientific Fact (noun). A simple observation of the world that does not change over time. Unlike fashion, which changes all of the time. And, of course, the weather. NOTHING WAS GOING RIGHT. During lunch, I sat at the end of a long table with Birdie, Phoenix, and Avery. Nobody was speaking. I stared at my bologna sandwich. Ugh. Bologna. Ham is my favorite lunchmeat. It's square, my favorite shape, because I like defined edges and corners. The circular bologna was covered with a piece of crisp lettuce. I could only take one bite and then stared at an unopened bag of potato chips. To make things worse, Fall Festival posters lined every wall of the cafeteria. "I can't believe we're not going to be able to do the Vomiting Pumpkin demo at the festival," I said, closing my

科学事实（名词）。 对世界的简单观察，不会随时间而改变。 不像时尚，它一直在变化。 当然，还有天气。 一切都不顺利。午餐时，我和伯迪、菲尼克斯和艾弗里坐在一张长桌的尽头。 没有人说话。我盯着我的腊肠三明治。 啊。博洛尼亚。火腿是我最喜欢的午餐肉。 它是方形的，是我最喜欢的形状，因为我喜欢棱角分明。 圆形的腊肠上覆盖着一片脆生菜。 我只能咬一口，然后盯着一袋没打开的薯片。 更糟糕的是，餐厅的每面墙都贴满了秋季节日的海报。 “我不敢相信我们不能在节日上做呕吐南瓜的演示，”我说，关上了我的

eyes so I didn't have to be tortured by the sight of the posters featuring grinning jack-o'-lanterns. "The festival will still be fun," said Birdie. "Face painting, caramel apples." "Bean bag toss, the cakewalk, and the costume photo booth," said Phoenix. "Sack races, the bouncy houses, fun cheesy prizes," added Avery. "I just can't get happy about it," I admitted. "It's because of the"—I could barely say the word —"the detention." After opening her stainless-steel container, Phoenix dipped a stick of celery into the hummus inside. "I didn't know that detentions were a thing at our school," she said. "They're not." I could hardly swallow. "I guess you would know," said Avery. "Since your mom is the principal." "Thanks for pointing that out," I mumbled. Sometimes Avery knew how to poke a sore spot. I mean, of course I knew that my mom was the principal. I've only lived with her for all ten years of my life. And of course I was freaked out about having to report after school tomorrow for what appeared to be a detention. Did she really need to rub it in? Already I was regretting eating with Avery. But when you decide to eat with Phoenix, it

这样我就不用被那些画着咧着嘴笑的南瓜灯的海报折磨了。 “这个节日仍然会很有趣，”小鸟说。 “脸部彩绘，焦糖苹果。” “扔豆袋，走蛋糕，还有服装照相亭，”菲尼克斯说。 “麻袋赛跑，充气屋，有趣的俗气奖品，”艾弗里补充道。 “我就是不高兴，”我承认。 “这是因为” -我几乎说不出这个词- “关禁闭” 菲尼克斯打开她的不锈钢容器后，把一根芹菜蘸进里面的鹰嘴豆泥里。 “我不知道我们学校有关禁闭的事，”她说。 “他们不是。”我几乎无法吞咽。 “我想你会知道的。”艾弗里说。 “因为你妈妈是校长。” “谢谢你指出来。”我咕哝着。 有时候艾弗里知道怎么戳别人的痛处。 我是说，我当然知道我妈妈是校长。 我只和她一起生活了十年。 当然，我很害怕明天放学后要去报到，好像是被关禁闭了。 她真的有必要戳我的痛处吗？ 我已经开始后悔和艾弗里一起吃饭了。 但当你决定和菲尼克斯一起吃饭时

also means eating with Avery. They're bonded like atoms in a molecule. Phoenix crunched on a celery stick. Birdie started to doodle in her notebook. Well, not really doodle—she was furiously drawing spirals. She whispered, "Do you think your mom will be really mad, Kate?" I sagged into my chair. "I don't even want to think about it." Not only would my parents be unhappy, but I was truly disappointed in myself. A whole galaxy of disappointment. Normally, Elijah eats with us too, but today he was eating with Jeremy and Memito at the far end of our long rectangular table. Honestly, I was surprised that they weren't sitting at the opposite end of the cafeteria. Or the universe. "I heard detentions go on your permanent record," called out Memito, twirling the lid of his thermos on his finger. "Then in middle school you get labeled as a troublemaker. And it follows you to high school, too." "That's not true," I said. "It would have to be way more serious for that to happen." Nearby, one of the monitors, Ms. Giosso, was directing kids to throw away their recycling in the proper bin. For a moment, her eyes scanned our table. Suddenly I wondered if she had heard about our detention.

也意味着和艾弗里一起吃饭 它们像分子中的原子一样结合在一起。 凤凰在一根芹菜杆上嘎吱作响。 伯蒂开始在笔记本上乱涂乱画。 嗯，不是真的涂鸦——她在疯狂地画螺旋。 她低声说：“你觉得你妈妈会真的生气吗，凯特？”我瘫坐在椅子上。 “我连想都不想想。” 不仅我的父母不高兴，而且我对自己也很失望。 一整个星系的失望。 通常，以利亚也和我们一起吃饭，但今天他和杰里米和米米托在我们长桌的另一端吃饭。 老实说，我很惊讶他们没有坐在自助餐厅的另一头。 或者宇宙。“我听说关禁闭会被记入你的永久记录。”梅托喊道，用手指转动着保温杯的盖子。 “到了中学，你就被贴上了捣蛋鬼的标签。 它也会跟着你到高中。” “那不是真的，”我说。 “如果发生这种情况，情况会严重得多。” 就在附近，其中一名监测员朱丽？ 乔索正在指导孩子们把回收物扔进合适的垃圾箱。 她的眼睛扫视了一下我们的桌子。 我突然怀疑她是否听说了我们被关禁闭的事。

"Staying after school is not good," said Elijah, staring glumly at his applesauce. "Yeah, it's not awesome," agreed Jeremy, although he didn't look all that sad. "But it's not the biggest deal." "I think it's a big deal." Memito made a farting sound by sticking out his tongue. Elijah laughed. "Eh." Jeremy shrugged. "It'll be just another afternoon at Franklin Elementary." "I don't think so," said Phoenix, waving her hand, which had a Band-Aid where the cactus needles had pricked her palm. "Mmm, these fries are tasty," said Jeremy, dipping a french fry in some ketchup. Leaning back, he tipped his chair like it was a rocker. Jeremy hardly seemed disturbed, which wasn't like him. "How can you be happy?" Just as the lunch monitor stepped closer to our table, Phoenix flung a crumpled napkin over at Jeremy. Ms. Giosso marched right up to our table. I braced myself. Phoenix was about to be written up. The monitor stopped at the head of the table. Her eyes locked with Phoenix's. "Did I just see you throw a napkin?" she asked. "Yes, you did!" said Phoenix, pronouncing each word like she was on stage. She smiled proudly. "I just learned how to throw a curveball. And I was

“放学后留下来不太好，”以利亚说，闷闷不乐地盯着他的苹果酱。 “是啊，一点也不可怕。”杰里米同意道，尽管他看起来并不那么悲伤。 “但这不是最重要的。” “我认为这是件大事。” Memito伸出舌头发出放屁的声音。 以利亚笑了。“嗯。”杰里米耸耸肩。 “这只是富兰克林小学的另一个下午。” “我不这么认为。”菲尼克斯说，挥舞着她的手，她的手掌上有一个创可贴，上面的仙人掌针扎了她的手掌。 “嗯，这些薯条很好吃，”杰里米说着，把一根薯条蘸上番茄酱。 他向后一靠，把椅子像摇椅一样倾斜着。 杰里米几乎没有感到不安的样子，这可不像他。 “你怎么能快乐呢？”就在午餐监督员走近我们的桌子时，菲尼克斯把一张皱巴巴的餐巾扔给了杰里米。 乔索女士大步走向我们的桌子。 我鼓起勇气。凤凰城马上就要被报道了。 班长在桌子前面停了下来。 她的眼睛紧紧地盯着菲尼克斯。 “我刚才看到你扔餐巾了吗？”她问。 “是的，你说了！”菲尼克斯说，每个字的发音都像在舞台上一样。 她骄傲地笑了。“我刚刚学会了如何投弧线球。 我是

practicing a two-seam grip. My cousin's on the softball team at Sonoma State, in California, and showed me via Skype." "Really?" Ms. Giosso patted her throat. "I played softball in high school. You're looking at the shortstop." She glanced at the glass wall overlooking the playing field. "Next time, practice that curveball out there. Okay?" "Oh yes, will do," said Phoenix as Ms. Giosso headed over to the salad bar, where some kids were tossing tongs. Memito pretended to mop his brow. "Phew," he said. "That was too close." Jeremy rolled his eyes. "If that had been me, I would have gotten a detention on the spot." "Please don't say that word," I begged. "Detention." "Kate, don't worry," said Elijah. "Maybe it's not an actual detention. Maybe it's just a special chemistry club meeting." "Good try," I said. "Except chemistry club was canceled this week because of the Science Challenge." "I don't think it could be anything else but a detention," groaned Memito. "Let's get real," said Jeremy. "Ms. Daly is kind of old. And back in the olden times, they did stuff

练习双缝握法。 我表姐是加州索诺玛州立垒球队的队员，她通过Skype告诉我的。” “真的吗?”乔索拍了拍自己的喉咙。 “我在高中时打垒球。 你看到的是游击手。” 她瞥了一眼可以俯瞰运动场的玻璃墙。 “下次，在外面练习弧线球。 没事吧?”“哦，是的，我会的，”菲尼克斯说。 乔索走向沙拉吧，那里有几个孩子正在扔夹子。 梅托假装擦了擦额头。 “呸，”他说。“太接近了。” 杰里米翻了个白眼。“如果是我的话，我可能会被当场关禁闭。” “请不要说那个词，”我恳求道。 “拘留”。“凯特，别担心，”以利亚说。 “也许这不是真正的拘留。 也许这只是一个特殊的化学俱乐部会议。” “好样的，”我说。“只不过这周化学俱乐部因为科学挑战赛取消了” “我想除了关禁闭，别无他法。”梅托呻吟道。 “让我们面对现实吧，”杰里米说。 “戴利有点老了。在古时候，他们做了一些事情

like that." "Ageism!" accused Phoenix, wagging her finger as Jeremy made a face. "That's prejudice against older people. Girls, I'm thinking we should sit at a different table." "Yeah," I said. "Agreed," said Birdie. Then the bell rang. And it was too late. "Well, you can try to avoid us, Phoenix," said Jeremy. "But we'll be seeing all of you at your doomsday tomorrow afternoon." He threw back his head, smirking. "Bye-bye!" he said getting up to go with Elijah and Memito. "Hey! It's your doomsday too," I said. Jeremy gave us a thumbs-up, then disappeared along with Elijah and Memito into the crowd leaving the cafeteria. Popping off my seat, I turned to Phoenix and Birdie. "There's something going on with him. I don't know what it is. But I'm going to figure it out."

像这样。”“歧视老年人！”菲尼克斯指责道，杰里米做了个鬼脸，她摇了摇手指。 “这是对老年人的偏见。 姑娘们，我想我们应该换张桌子坐。” “是的，”我说。“同意，”小鸟说。 然后铃响了。但为时已晚。 “好吧，你可以尽量避开我们，菲尼克斯。”杰里米说。 “但明天下午，我们将在你们的世界末日见到你们所有人。” 他把头往后一仰，傻笑着。 “再见！”他说着站起来，要跟以利亚和米多走。 “嘿!这也是你的末日，”我说。 杰里米对我们竖起大拇指，然后和以利亚和梅托一起消失在离开自助餐厅的人群中。 我从座位上跳起来，转向凤凰和小鸟。 “他有点不对劲。 我不知道那是什么。但我会想办法的。”