7 Getting Energized

CHAPTER SEVEN GETTING ENERGIZED Fuel (noun). In scientific terms, fuels are molecules that have energy stored within their bonds, and can be found in pasta or cheesecake. Your body burns the molecules in food, and for many, fueling up is the best part of the day, especially if the fuel comes from dessert! MONDAY MORNING HAD BEEN way too Mondayish. Outside, it was gray, without a hint of sun or snow. In class, Birdie had been quiet, like she had caught the blahs. I wanted to do something to cheer her up but couldn't get her to crack a smile. It made me nervous. During lunch, when Birdie and I sat down at our usual table, Memito and Elijah were already there, along with Avery and her best friend, Phoenix Altman. "Anyone want to guess what's in this mystery meat?" asked Memito, pointing to his lunch tray. "No thanks," said Phoenix, who's a vegetarian. She bit into her bean burrito. "I don't care if it's a cooked shoe," said Elijah, stabbing his meat loaf. "I'm super hungry, so I'm going for the mystery meat." "You're brave." I laughed. Birdie sort of smiled.

第七章加油（名词）。 用科学术语来说，燃料是一种分子，其化学键中储存着能量，可以在意大利面或芝士蛋糕中找到。 你的身体燃烧食物中的分子，对许多人来说，补充能量是一天中最好的部分，特别是如果能量来自甜点！星期一的早晨太像星期一了。 外面灰蒙蒙的，没有一丝阳光，也没有雪。 在课堂上，伯迪一直很安静，就像被感染了一样。 我想做点什么让她高兴起来，但她却笑不出来。 这让我很紧张。午餐时，当我和伯蒂在我们常坐的那张桌子旁坐下时，梅托和以利亚已经在那里了，还有艾弗里和她最好的朋友菲尼克斯·奥特曼。 “有人想猜猜这个神秘的肉里有什么吗？”梅托指着他的午餐托盘问。 “不，谢谢，”菲尼克斯说，她是素食主义者。 她咬了一口豆卷饼。 “就算煮熟了，我也不在乎。”以利亚一边说，一边戳着他的肉饼。 “我超级饿，所以我要吃神秘肉。” “你勇敢。”我笑了。 小鸟微微一笑。

After a giant bite of my ham sandwich, I began to feel better. It was chemistry, of course. Once the sandwich arrived in my stomach, it plopped into a vat of acid, which converted my sandwich molecules into glucose—basically fuel. Yup, I could feel myself getting energized. "Hey, isn't that the new girl?" said Avery. She nodded over at Tala, who was holding up a lunch bag, peering around at all of the tables as if she didn't quite know where to go. "Hey, Tala, over here," I called out. Leaning forward, Tala peered over at the drink station, looking a little confused. Immediately, I popped out of my chair. Then I waved my arms over my head like I was directing a plane at the airport. Tala was so cool, and I really wanted Birdie and the gang to get to know her better. Smiling, Tala headed over to our table. "Sit here!" I patted my seat. "Thanks." She set down a lunch bag. Today, her long wavy dark hair was pushed back in a bright yellow headband. Somehow, it made me think of the sun, which made me think of California, where she was from. Plopping down in the empty seat on her other side, I said, "Welcome." Tala was sitting between me and Birdie. I quickly made introductions, because she was in

吃了一大口火腿三明治后，我开始感觉好多了。 当然，这是化学反应。 三明治一进我的胃，就扑通一声落入一大桶酸中，酸将我的三明治分子转化为葡萄糖——基本上是燃料。 是的，我能感觉到自己变得精力充沛了。 “嘿，那不是新来的女孩吗？”艾弗里说。 她朝塔拉点了点头，塔拉手里拿着一个午餐袋，环顾着所有的桌子，好像不知道该去哪里。 “嘿，塔拉，在这儿。”我喊道。 塔拉身体前倾，朝饮料站那边看了看，看上去有点困惑。 我立刻从椅子上跳了起来。 然后我在头上挥动双臂，就像在机场指挥飞机一样。 塔拉太酷了，我真的想让伯迪和我的伙伴们更好地了解她。 塔拉微笑着朝我们的桌子走过来。 “坐在这里!”我拍了拍我的座位。 “谢谢。”她放下一个午餐袋。 今天，她又长又黑的波浪状头发用亮黄色的发带扎在脑后。 不知何故，它让我想起了太阳，让我想起了加州，她来自那里。 我扑通一声坐在她另一边的空座位上，说：“欢迎。” 塔拉坐在我和伯蒂之间。 我很快就做了介绍，因为她也来了

Mrs. Que's fifth-grade class and we were all in Mrs. Eberlin's class. Out of her lunch sack, Tala pulled a sandwich, an apple, a granola bar, and a small plastic container with the most delicious-smelling rice in it. "Yum, what's that?" asked Memito. "Garlic rice," said Tala, "leftovers from dinner. It's my lola's recipe." "I want to meet your lola," said Memito. "What's a lola?" Tala laughed. "She's my dad's mom. And you'd have to fly to the Philippines, but sure." Tala grinned, and I couldn't help grinning, too. "I'm so excited you're here," I said to Tala. "Thanks," she replied. "Seriously. I've been thinking about what you said about black holes. Like all weekend. And now my little brother wants black hole doughnuts for his birthday party. And black hole key chains as party favors. Well, not actual black holes but photos of them." Meanwhile Birdie closed up her lunch bag, even though she had hardly eaten. She's honestly the slowest eater on the planet. But she usually finishes up everything, even if it's just as the bell rings. "I forgot

Que夫人的五年级班级，我们都在Eberlin夫人的班上。 塔拉从她的午餐袋里拿出一个三明治、一个苹果、一根格兰诺拉燕麦棒和一个小塑料容器，里面装着最香的米饭。 “嗯，那是什么？”Memito问。 “大蒜饭，”塔拉说，“晚饭剩下的。 这是我萝拉的食谱。”“我想见见你的罗拉，”美托说。 “萝拉是什么？”塔拉笑了。 “她是我爸爸的妈妈。你还得飞到菲律宾去，不过没关系。” 塔拉咧嘴一笑，我也忍不住笑了。 “你能来我太兴奋了，”我对塔拉说。 “谢谢，”她回答。“严重。 我一直在想你说的关于黑洞的事。 比如整个周末。现在我弟弟的生日派对想要黑洞甜甜圈。 还有黑洞钥匙链作为派对礼物。 嗯，不是真正的黑洞，而是它们的照片。” 与此同时，小鸟盖上了她的午餐袋，尽管她几乎没有吃东西。 她真的是世界上吃得最慢的人。 但她通常会做完所有的事情，即使是在下课铃响的时候。 “我忘了

something I have to finish in the art room," she murmured. "Okay," I said, smiling a bit. But honestly, I felt disappointed that Birdie wasn't getting a chance to talk with Tala. I glanced up at the clock. "You've got seventeen minutes. I hope that's enough time." "Yeah." Birdie stuffed her lunch bag into her backpack. "Good luck!" called out Tala. Birdie nodded and then headed out of the still-crowded cafeteria. "When it comes to art, Birdie doesn't need luck," I explained to Tala. "She's super talented. Even something she sketches for two minutes looks better than anything I work on for hours. I'm even bad at stick figures." "Me too," said Tala. "I can't even draw a straight line unless I use a ruler. And even then, I mess up." Tala laughed. For someone into serious stuff like astronomy, I could tell she knew how to have fun. Birdie, for one, needed to have some more fun right now. The rocket launch could be just the answer. I turned to Tala. "Hey, I'm going to talk to Ms. Daly about the rocket launch idea tomorrow," I said. "She's in school all day on Tuesdays to work with the

我必须在美术室完成的东西，”她喃喃地说。 “好吧，”我说，微微一笑。 但说实话，我对小鸟没有机会和塔拉交谈感到失望。 我抬头看了一眼钟。 “你有17分钟。 我希望有足够的时间。” “是的。”伯蒂把她的午餐袋塞进背包里。 “祝你好运！”塔拉喊道。 伯迪点了点头，然后走出了仍然拥挤的自助餐厅。 “说到艺术，小鸟不需要运气，”我向塔拉解释道。 “她非常有才华。即使是她花两分钟画的东西看起来也比我花几个小时画的东西要好。 我连简笔画都画不好。” “我也是。”塔拉说。“我甚至不能画直线，除非我用尺子。 即使那样，我也会搞砸。” 塔拉笑了。对于一个喜欢天文学这样严肃的东西的人来说，我可以看出她知道如何玩得开心。 比如，小鸟现在需要更多的乐趣。 火箭发射可能就是答案。 我转向塔拉。“嘿，我要去找。 “明天再谈火箭发射的事，”我说。 “她周二一整天都在学校，和孩子们一起工作。

lower grades on science, and I've been thinking about it all weekend." "That's great," said Tala, "because it sounds like the rockets—" "Did someone say 'rockets'?" asked Elijah. "Yup," I said. Then Tala explained how she did a rocket launch with her old science club. "Rockets use so much fuel," said Phoenix. "Although I've read that they have reusable rockets now!" "These aren't real rockets," I said. "Rockets made from soda bottles," explained Tala. "Baking soda, vinegar, and other stuff. Plus, for real height, you need to make a launchpad." "Like how high will the rocket go? Your knee?" joked Elijah, pointing to his leg. Tala threw up her arms. "Way, way high. Two stories, for sure." "Whoa!" said Memito, gazing up at the ceiling. "That's cool," gushed Avery. "One time at my dads' theater, we were doing a show about the Apollo moon landing, and instead of building model rockets, the set designer projected videos of them blasting off onto a backdrop." "Actually, there's a secret to making the rockets really blast off," said Tala, "which is—"

科学成绩较低，我整个周末都在想这件事。” “太好了，”塔拉说，“因为听起来像火箭——”“有人说‘火箭’吗？” “是的，”我说。然后塔拉解释了她是如何和她以前的科学俱乐部一起做火箭发射的。 “火箭要消耗很多燃料，”菲尼克斯说。 “不过我听说他们现在有可重复使用的火箭了！”“这些不是真的火箭，”我说。 “火箭是用汽水瓶做的，”塔拉解释说。 “小苏打、醋和其他东西。 另外，为了达到真正的高度，你需要做一个发射台。” “比如火箭能飞多高？” 你的膝盖？”以利亚指着自己的腿开玩笑说。 塔拉举起双臂。“非常非常高。 肯定是两个故事。”“哇！”梅托凝视着天花板说。 “太酷了。”艾弗里滔滔不绝地说。 “有一次，在我爸爸的剧院里，我们正在做一个关于阿波罗登月的节目，布景设计师没有制作火箭模型，而是把火箭发射的视频投影到背景上。” “实际上，让火箭真正升空有一个秘密，”塔拉说，“那就是——”

"Shhhh." I put my finger to my lips. "Don't tell them. They'll have to work on their rockets to find out." "Oh, I'll figure it out." Elijah thumped the table like a drum. "Me too," said Memito. "We'll see about that." I turned to Tala. "I think Ms. Daly will say yes to the rocket launch. But it's always better if you can give her as many reasons as possible. She likes to know the science behind stuff. And to make sure it's all safe. Do you want to come over after school so we can work on the plan? And the rockets for the party?" "Definitely," she said. "That sounds like a blast!" "A rocket blast, that is," I said, giggling at my own joke.

“嘘。”我把手指放在嘴唇上。 “别告诉他们。他们得改进火箭才能找到答案。” “哦，我会想办法的。”以利亚像敲鼓一样敲打着桌子。 “我也是，”梅托说。“我们走着瞧吧。” 我转向塔拉。“我想。 戴利会同意火箭发射。 但如果你能给她尽可能多的理由就更好了。 她喜欢了解事物背后的科学原理。 确保一切安全。 你放学后要不要过来，我们一起制定计划？ 派对用的火箭呢？”“当然，”她说。 “听起来像爆炸！”“是火箭爆炸，”我说，为自己开的玩笑咯咯地笑起来。