10 Looking for Answers

CHAPTER TEN LOOKING FOR ANSWERS Critical point (noun). The moment when you can't tell the difference between two phases, like a liquid and a gas. For example, when water is at a really high pressure and temperature (like 800°F), water and steam look the exact same. How crazy is that?! BY FRIDAY I STILL HADN'T FIGURED OUT what was up with Birdie. We still talked, sat next to each other in the beanbag chairs during free read, and ate lunch together, but it didn't feel right. She was too quiet. I had to start our conversations. Sometimes during recess, which was outside this week since it wasn't too snowy, Birdie would just stay in the classroom and draw in her sketchbook. But now after school at chemistry club, we were all excited to begin working on our rockets, since we had been collecting materials for them all week. By the front counter, Elijah, Memito, and Jeremy Rowe were using stencils to put their rocket names onto the tube part of their rockets (Pewter Scooter, Thunder Kiss, Mad Missile 13). Julia Yoon and Skyler Rumsky were cutting out fins. Avery, Phoenix, and Tala were making nose

第十章 寻找答案 关键点（名词）。 当你不能分辨两种相的时候，比如液体和气体。 例如，当水处于非常高的压力和温度（如800华氏度）时，水和蒸汽看起来完全一样。 这有多疯狂？！到了星期五，我仍然没有弄清楚小鸟到底是怎么回事。 我们仍然聊天，在自由阅读时坐在豆袋椅上，一起吃午饭，但感觉不太对劲。 她太安静了。我必须开始我们的谈话。 有时在课间休息的时候，因为雪不是太大，所以这周是在室外，小鸟会呆在教室里，在速写本上画画。 但是现在，在化学俱乐部放学后，我们都很兴奋地开始制作我们的火箭，因为我们整个星期都在为他们收集材料。 在前台，以利亚、梅托和杰里米·罗正在用模板把他们的火箭名字印在火箭的管状部分上（锡制摩托车、雷霆之吻、疯狂导弹13）。 茱莉亚·尹和斯凯勒·拉姆斯基在剪鱼鳍。 埃弗里、菲尼克斯和塔拉在做鼻子

cones with a bunch of fourth graders. Ms. Daly scurried around the back of the lab, organizing supplies. With a hot glue gun, I was about to stick on a piece of paper over my plastic bottle. "Light blue's nice, right?" I asked Birdie. "I don't know," she said. "It might blend into the sky." Birdie shrugged. "It'd make the rocket hard to see." I pulled out a violet sheet of paper. "How about this? Mighty Purple Force—activate!" Birdie just sort of shrugged again. She didn't giggle like she usually did when I brought up our old make-believe game. When we were in kindergarten, we used to pretend we were superheroes with purple capes and elemental control, which was a fancy way of saying we could control the weather. "Now with my powers, I can make sure it's going to be warm and sunshiny." I nodded over at Tala, who was showing Phoenix and Avery how to roll their nose cones for their rockets. "Like in California." "Sure," said Birdie. "That would be nice." But she didn't sound convinced. She didn't sound like she thought anything was nice. Suddenly, I wanted some answers. I had to ask the one question that had started to grow bigger and bigger in my mind like a weed that wanted to overtake all of my other regular thoughts.

和一群四年级学生一起吃甜筒。 戴利在实验室后面忙着整理用品。 我正要用热熔胶枪把一张纸粘在塑料瓶上。 “淡蓝色不错，对吧？”我问伯迪。 “我不知道，”她说。“它可能会融入天空。” 小鸟耸耸肩。“这样就很难看到火箭了。” 我拿出一张紫色的纸。 “这个怎么样？”强大的紫色原力——激活！”小鸟又耸了耸肩。 当我提起我们以前的假装游戏时，她没有像往常那样傻笑。 当我们在幼儿园的时候，我们常常假装自己是穿着紫色斗篷、能控制元素的超级英雄，这是一种说我们能控制天气的花哨说法。 “现在有了我的超能力，我可以确保这里温暖又阳光明媚。” 我朝塔拉点点头，他正在教菲尼克斯和艾弗里如何转动火箭的鼻锥。 “比如在加州。”“当然，”小鸟说。 “那太好了。”但她听起来并不信服。 她听起来不像是觉得什么都好。 突然，我想要一些答案。 我必须问一个问题，这个问题已经开始在我的脑海里变得越来越大，就像一株杂草，想要超越我所有其他的常规想法。

"Is it because you think Tala doesn't like you?" I asked. "Because she does. She said your art was amazing." "Sure." "No, really. She went on and on." Birdie didn't look up at me. She studied the silver sequins on the body of her rocket. "The only reason she's across the room with Phoenix and Avery right now is because she thinks you don't like her." I inspected the now purple middle section of my bottle rocket. "I don't know Tala," said Birdie. "So how can I not like her?" "True, but you could get to know her." I stepped closer to Birdie and lowered my voice. "Could you tell me what is really going on? Honestly, I'm trying to guess what's wrong, but I'm getting kind of tired of it. It's like trying to detect that moment when ice melts and becomes water. You just can't quite see it." "You're getting tired of guessing?" she squeaked. "A little. Maybe. Yeah." This whole conversation was making me uneasy. Maybe because we were in the middle of the lab with others around. I studied the flecks in the tiles on the floor. I glanced around the room. And

“是因为你认为塔拉不喜欢你吗？”我问。 “因为她有。她说你的艺术太棒了。” “当然。”“不,真的。她说个不停。” 小鸟没有抬头看我。 她仔细研究了火箭机身上的银色亮片。 “她现在跟菲尼克斯和艾弗里在房间对面的唯一原因就是她觉得你不喜欢她。” 我检查了我的瓶子火箭现在紫色的中间部分。 “我不认识塔拉。”小鸟说。 “那我怎么能不喜欢她呢？”“没错，但你可以了解她。” 我走近小鸟，压低了声音。 “你能告诉我到底发生了什么吗？” 说实话，我在试着猜出什么问题，但我有点厌倦了。 这就像试图探测冰融化变成水的那一刻。 你只是看不清。” “你猜腻了？”她尖声说。 “一点点。也许吧。是的。”这整个谈话让我很不安。 也许是因为我们当时在实验室中间，周围还有其他人。 我仔细研究了地板上瓷砖上的斑点。 我环视了一下房间。 和

then I spotted Memito and Elijah arguing about something, and I realized exactly what I needed to do.

然后我看到米托和以利亚在争论什么，我意识到我需要做什么。