9 Secrets to Keep

CHAPTER NINE Secrets to keep Metabolism (noun). A chemical process that happens in cells and organisms to convert food into energy. Or how your body converts that hot dog you ate into a cartwheel. AFTER SCHOOL, I GRABBED A chocolate chip granola bar that I hadn't eaten during lunch from my backpack. Plopping down in a chair, I considered when the best time would be to tell my parents about what happened during the Science Challenge. There didn't seem to be a good time. But it was a good time for getting some energy out. I guess you could say I was ready for an exothermic reaction. In chemistry, that's when energy is released into an environment. So I headed to the backyard to kick a soccer ball against a wooden practice wall that my dad had built for me, where I definitely released a whole bunch of energy. After that, I tried doing my math homework on the kitchen table. Only we had to answer questions about the role of base numbers versus exponents.

第九章保持新陈代谢的秘密（名词）。 在细胞和有机体中将食物转化为能量的化学过程。 或者你的身体如何将你吃下的热狗转变成侧手翻。 放学后，我从背包里拿了一块中午没吃的巧克力片格兰诺拉燕麦棒。 我扑倒在椅子上，想着什么时候告诉父母科学挑战赛上发生的事情是最好的。 似乎没有什么好时机。 但这是一个释放能量的好时机。 我想你可以说我已经准备好进行放热反应了。 在化学中，这是能量释放到环境中的时候。 于是我走到后院，对着爸爸为我建的一堵练习木墙踢足球，在那里我释放了大量的能量。 在那之后，我试着在厨房的桌子上做数学作业。 我们只需要回答底数和指数的作用。

Like we had to explain 72 meant the same as 7 x 7. And that 7 was the base number and 2 was the exponent. Why couldn't we just have regular math homework? I would really love some busywork right now. As I stared at the blank page in my workbook, a delicious aroma filled the kitchen. On the oven top, a whole chicken and a bunch of roasted vegetables were cooling. It looked like Dad had gotten everything ready for dinner, except for setting the table, which was my job. My dog, Dribble, trotted to the oven. "Smells good, right?" I said. "It's not for you, silly. It's human food." His fluffy rust-colored tail wagged back and forth. I really shouldn't have said that word. Food. When we first adopted him last year from the animal shelter, he had the biggest appetite. And nothing's changed. He always thinks it's dinnertime. Dribble nosed over to me, and I scratched him behind the ears. I felt so guilty about even mentioning food, I plopped a handful of dog treats into his bowl. "This is your pre-dinner snack," I told him. My feeling of guilt didn't lift though. Chewing on my knuckle, I thought about the Science Challenge, Jeremy, and the detention.

比如我们要解释72等于7 × 7。 7是底数，2是指数。 为什么我们不能做常规的数学作业？ 我现在真想干点杂活。 当我盯着练习本的空白页时，厨房里弥漫着一股香味。 在烤箱顶上，一只整鸡和一堆烤蔬菜正在冷却。 看起来爸爸已经为晚餐准备好了一切，除了摆桌子，那是我的工作。 我的狗，运球，小跑到烤箱。 “闻起来很香，对吧？”我说。 “这不是给你的，傻瓜。这是人类的食物。” 它那毛茸茸的铁锈色尾巴前后摇摆着。 我真不该说那个词。 食物。去年我们第一次从动物收容所收养它的时候，它的胃口特别大。 一切都没有改变。他总是认为现在是晚饭时间。 小运球朝我走过来，我挠了挠他的耳后。 我甚至对提到食物都感到很内疚，我扑通一声把一把狗粮放进他的碗里。 “这是你的餐前小吃，”我告诉他。 但我的内疚感并没有减轻。 我咬着我的指关节，想着科学挑战赛，杰里米，还有关禁闭。

I should probably tell Mom and Dad the awful details after they had eaten some of their dinner. You see, nobody in my family is easygoing when they're hungry. Not even my dog. Dribble crunched his treats down in practically one swallow. He looked at me with sad and hopeful doggy eyes. I knew exactly how he felt. I heard a chair scrape against the floor above me. Dad was in his home office going over paperwork. He's a therapist and has a ton of paperwork. That means when he's in the zone of filling out forms, I'm pretty much safe from him asking me too many questions. I glanced up at the clock on the microwave. It was already 6:15 p.m. Mom should be home any second. Ugh. Today, Mom had an extra-late meeting after school. I almost never get a ride home with her, because once school is over, she's usually at a meeting. But I do go home with her on the days I have after-school activities, like chemistry club. Or, I guess, if I get detention. I flopped back in my chair, and my thoughts spun. What if Mom already knew about the incident? What if Ms. Daly had already told her, and the entire staff at Rosalind Franklin Elementary was horrified that her usually pretty

等爸爸妈妈吃完晚饭后，我应该把这些可怕的细节告诉他们。 你看，我家里没人在饿的时候是随和的。 甚至连我的狗也没有。Dribble几乎一口就把他的食物嚼碎了。 他用悲伤而又充满希望的狗眼睛看着我。 我完全了解他的感受。 我听见椅子擦着我头顶上的地板。 爸爸在家里的办公室里看文件。 他是个心理医生，有一大堆文书工作要做。 这意味着当他在填写表格的时候，我基本上不会被他问太多问题。 我抬头看了看微波炉上的时钟。 已经是下午6点15分了。妈妈马上就回来了。 啊。今天放学后，妈妈有一个特别晚的会议。 我几乎从不搭车送她回家，因为一旦放学，她通常都在开会。 但在我参加课外活动的日子里，比如化学俱乐部，我会和她一起回家。 或者，我想，如果我被留堂的话。 我扑通一声倒在椅子上，思绪万千。 如果妈妈已经知道这件事了呢？ 如果戴利老师已经告诉她了，罗莎琳德·富兰克林小学的全体员工都被她平时漂亮的

well-behaved, science-obsessed daughter had gotten into trouble? Someone thudded into the kitchen. Someone not very big but very loud: my five-year-old brother, Liam. "Want to see my Lego ship?" he asked. It was more of a command than a question. "Sure." He dragged me into the family room, where he had an entire fleet of Lego spaceships. "See, that's the refueling station," he said, pointing to a flat gray piece with multicolored squares on it. "Wow." "And that's where they get secret weapons. They're invisible." "Uh-huh." "You're not listening." He flopped to the floor and folded his arms across this chest. He sounded and looked just like a miniature version of Dad. However, everyone knows Liam is my brother because we have the exact same hair color. Light brown with bright gold highlights. Liam made such a cute grumpy face that I laughed.

乖，痴迷科学的女儿惹上了麻烦？ 有人咚咚地走进厨房。 不是很高大但很吵的人：我五岁的弟弟，利亚姆。 “想看看我的乐高船吗？”他问。 与其说这是一个问题，不如说是一个命令。 “当然。”他把我拖进了家庭活动室，那里有一整支乐高宇宙飞船。 “看，那就是加油站，”他指着一块灰色的平板说，上面有五颜六色的方块。 “哇。”“他们就是在那里获得秘密武器的。 他们看不见。”“嗯。” “你没在听。”他扑通一声倒在地板上，双臂交叉在胸前。 他的声音和长相就像爸爸的缩小版。 然而，大家都知道利亚姆是我哥哥因为我们的发色完全一样。 浅棕色带亮金色。 利亚姆做了个可爱的臭脸，我笑了。

"Sorry," I said. "I'm tired." Tired of trying to figure out what to do next, that was. Suddenly, Mom peeked into the family room. I hadn't even heard her car pull up the driveway. Or the click of her heels as she headed into the house. "Are you coming down with something?" she asked, placing the back of her hand on my forehead. "You don't feel warm, Kate." "I'm fine," I said, which wasn't exactly true. "Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded my head emphatically. "Let's just keep an eye on things," she said in the quiet voice she uses when her voice is strained at the end of a long day. After Mom changed into her comfortable clothes and I set the table, it was time to eat. And for me to face the jury, aka my parents. Mom complimented Dad on the chicken. "You roasted it perfectly," she said. "Oh, and you made cauliflower rice. Thank you, honey. My fitness boot camp ladies will be proud." I really wanted this meal to speed up so I could get the bad part over with. My parents did their usual routine, asking about everyone's day. Mom asked Dad how things went at work. Since Dad's a therapist, he can't give away details

“对不起，”我说。“我累了。” 厌倦了想知道下一步该做什么，那是。 突然，妈妈朝客厅里偷看了一眼。 我甚至没有听到她的车停在车道上的声音。 或者她走进屋子时脚后跟的咔哒声。 “你是不是得了什么病？”她把手背放在我的额头上，问道。 “你不觉得暖和，凯特。” “我很好，”我说，这并不是真的。 “你确定？”她问。 我使劲地点了点头。 “让我们留意一下情况，”她用平静的声音说，当她在漫长的一天结束时，她的声音很紧张。 妈妈换上舒适的衣服，我摆好桌子后，就该吃饭了。 让我面对陪审团，也就是我的父母。 妈妈称赞爸爸做了鸡。 “你烤得很完美，”她说。 “哦，你做了花椰菜饭。 谢谢你，亲爱的。我的健身训练营女士们会为我感到骄傲的。” 我真希望这顿饭快点吃，这样我就能把最糟糕的部分做完了。 我的父母像往常一样，问大家今天过得怎么样。 妈妈问爸爸工作进展如何。 因为爸爸是心理医生，他不能透露细节

about his patients. But he can give an overview. When Dad turned to Mom and asked about her day, she looked a little pale. "It was great," she said, though her voice sounded tired. "I think our third- grade team is really onto something special with their cross-curricular use of pumpkins for everything from math to social studies. And the Fall Festival is shaping up. But—" Mom blinked. She massaged her forehead. "I've got a headache. It started in the middle of the faculty meeting. I should have grabbed something for it. But I didn't." She winced. "I think it's getting worse. It's all the budget stuff at school coupled with the Fall Festival planning." "The Fall Festival!" cried Liam. "Can we go! Can we?" "Of course," said Dad, "but right now let's use our inside voice. Mom's not feeling so great." Mom winced, almost apologetically. I wasn't the one not feeling well. It was Mom. Dad immediately got up to dim the lights. "Honey, I'm sorry. You should have told me." He turned to look at me and Liam. "Be right back. I'm getting your mother something." He went upstairs and returned with a couple of Tylenol. "Here you go."

关于他的病人。但他可以给出一个概述。 当爸爸转向妈妈问她今天过得怎么样时，她脸色有些苍白。 “太棒了，”她说，尽管她的声音听起来有些疲惫。 “我认为我们三年级的团队真的很特别，他们把南瓜用于从数学到社会研究的各个学科。 秋天的节日正在形成。 可是——”妈妈眨了眨眼睛。她按摩前额。 “我头疼。事情开始于教员会议的中途。 我应该拿点东西给它的。 但我没有。”她皱起眉头。 “我认为情况正在变得更糟。 这是学校的预算问题，加上秋季节日的计划。” “秋天的节日！”利亚姆叫道。 “我们可以走了吗？”我们能吗?”“当然，”爸爸说，“但现在让我们用内心的声音。 妈妈不太舒服。” 妈妈皱了皱眉头，几乎带着歉意。 感觉不舒服的不是我。 是妈妈打来的。爸爸立刻站起来把灯调暗。 “亲爱的，我很抱歉。你应该告诉我的。” 他转过身来看着我和利亚姆。 “马上回来。我要给你妈妈买点东西。” 他上楼拿了几片泰诺回来。 “给你。”