Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 After the assembly, all the kids gathered around me, asking about what happens next in my story. "Where do all the space bugs go?" Katie asked. "Do Sarah and James blast them into outer space with their laser beams?" Ryan asked. "I bet their blood is green and slimy, like snot," Luke Whitman said. I have to admit, it was fun to be in the spotlight. I hadn't gotten so much attention since I threw up cake frosting at my four-year old birthday party. Boy, that was messy. One minute, no one was looking at me. The next,

集会结束后，所有的孩子都围着我，问我的故事接下来会发生什么。 “太空虫都去哪儿了？”凯蒂问。 “莎拉和詹姆斯会用激光束把他们炸到外太空吗？”瑞恩问道。 “我敢打赌他们的血是绿色的，粘稠的，像鼻涕一样，”卢克·惠特曼说。 我得承认，站在聚光灯下很有趣。 自从我在四岁生日派对上把蛋糕上的糖霜吐出来之后，我还没有得到过这么多的关注。 天啊，真是一团糟。前一分钟还没人看我。 下一个,

everybody was running at me with paper towels. I lowered my voice and told all the kids to lean in close. I didn't expect them to get that close. "Hey, guys, give the man some breathing room," Frankie said. "Yes," Ashley added. "Hank's creativity needs space." "Okay," I began, "here's what happens next. The space bugs start to vibrate and make a high sound like a screeching siren. Then a rock turtle, found only on Jupiter, falls from the ceiling of the cave. This kind of turtle has no shell, just dry, cracked skin." "Eeuuw," said Katie Sperling. "That's gross." "You haven't heard anything yet," I said. "The space bugs sting the turtle, and hair sprouts from its skin and eyeballs. It looks like it has a shell of hair." "A hair shell," said Luke Whitman. "That's cool."

每个人都拿着纸巾朝我跑过来。 我压低声音，告诉所有的孩子靠得更近一些。 我没想到他们靠得那么近。 “嘿，伙计们，给他点喘息的空间，”弗兰基说。 “是的，"艾希礼补充说。“汉克的创造力需要空间。” “好吧，”我开始说，“接下来是这样的。 这些太空虫子开始振动，发出刺耳的警报声。 然后一只只在木星上发现的岩龟从洞穴的天花板上掉了下来。 这种龟没有壳，只有干裂的皮肤。” “呃，”凯蒂·斯珀林说。 “这是恶心。”“你还没听到什么呢，”我说。 “太空虫叮了这只乌龟，它的皮肤和眼球上长出了毛发。 它看起来像长了一层毛。” “一个发壳，”卢克·惠特曼说。 “这很酷。”

From the corner of my eye, I could see Ms. Adolf stomping over to us. I knew I had to wrap up the story fast. "So then, the space bugs swarm underneath the turtle and lift it off the ground. They carry it deep into the darkness of the cave, and it was never seen again." Unfortunately, Ms. Adolf heard that last part of my story. Let's just say she wasn't a fan of hairy turtles. "Henry," she said sternly. "Principal Love is waiting for you in front of the WELCOME, PAULA HART sign. Now follow me, and stop wasting time." "Come on, Zip," Frankie said. "This is when we get our picture with Paula Hart." He didn't have to say that twice. I was super ready.

从我眼角的余光，我可以看到。 阿道夫向我们走来。 我知道我必须尽快结束这个故事。 “然后，太空虫子在乌龟下面聚集，把它从地面上抬起来。 他们把它带进了黑暗的洞穴深处，再也没人见过它。” 不幸的是，阿道夫女士听到了我故事的最后一部分。 这么说吧，她不喜欢毛龟。 “亨利，”她严厉地说。 “爱校长在欢迎宝拉·哈特的牌子前等你。 现在跟我来，不要再浪费时间了。” “来吧，次波，”弗兰基说。 “这是我们和宝拉·哈特合照的时候。” 他不用再说第二遍。 我已经准备好了。

"I've got to go," I said to all the kids. "I'll tell you more later." Frankie, Ashley, and I hurried down the hall after Ms. Adolf. Principal Love was standing in front of the colorful welcome sign, chatting with Paula and holding his camera. "Hey, kids," Paula said. "Was that assembly fun, or what?"

“我得走了，”我对所有的孩子说。 “我以后再详细告诉你。” 弗兰基、希礼和我跟在她后面匆匆穿过大厅。 阿道夫。洛夫校长站在彩色的欢迎标牌前，拿着相机和宝拉聊天。 “嘿，孩子们，”宝拉说。“那个集会好玩吗？”

"The most fun ever," I answered, and I meant it. "Let's get on with the picture," Principal Love said. "Ms. Hart has a plane to catch. She's visiting another school in Seattle." "Lucky kids," Ashley said. "Ms. Hart, you stand in the middle, and kids, you gather around her," Principal Love suggested. As I took my place next to Paula, I started to smell something bad, like someone had burped up a rotten banana. It didn't seem like a burp that Paula Hart would make. It was more like a Nick the Tick burp. Oh no! I turned around and there he was, in all his stinky rotten banana-ness. "I thought I'd come and add some good looks to this picture," McKelty said. As the words came out of his mouth, so did his hot breath all over my neck. "You're not invited, Nick," Frankie said. "Please step to the side, Nicholas," Ms. Adolf snapped.

“有史以来最有趣的，”我回答，我是认真的。 “我们继续拍照片吧，”洛夫校长说。 哈特女士要赶飞机。 她正在访问西雅图的另一所学校。” “幸运的孩子，”艾希礼说。 “哈特女士，你站在中间，孩子们，你围在她周围，”洛夫校长建议道。 当我在宝拉旁边坐下时，我开始闻到一股难闻的味道，就像有人把腐烂的香蕉打嗝了一样。 这看起来不像是宝拉·哈特会打的嗝。 那更像是蜱虫尼克的打嗝。 噢,不!我一转身，他就在那儿，浑身散发着臭气。 麦凯尔蒂说：“我想我应该来给这张照片增添一些好看的东西。” 话从他嘴里说出来的时候，他的热气也在我脖子上喷了出来。 “你没有被邀请，尼克，”弗兰基说。 “尼古拉斯，请站到一边去。” 阿道夫厉声说。

"Fine with me," McKelty answered. "I don't want to be in a picture with Zipperbutt, anyway. His face is going to break the camera." That did it for me. I had been feeling so good from the assembly, and I wasn't about to let this turkey ruin my moment, my day, or my year. "You know what I think, McKelty?" I said. "I think you're mean right down to your toes. You must know what it feels like to be called names. I don't understand why you call me names every single day. All I know is it stops here and now." "Way to stand up for yourself," Paula Hart whispered, giving me a fist bump. "I'm going to call you anything I want," McKelty said, putting his nose in my face. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

“我没问题，”麦凯尔蒂回答。 “反正我也不想和拉链屁股一起合照。 他的脸会把相机弄坏的。” 这对我起了作用。我在集会上一直感觉很好，我不想让这只火鸡毁了我的时刻，我的一天，或者我的一年。 “你知道我是怎么想的吗，麦凯尔蒂？”我说。 “我觉得你刻薄到极点。 你一定知道被人骂是什么感觉。 我不明白你为什么每天都骂我。 我只知道这一切到此为止。” “为自己挺身而出，”保拉·哈特低声说，并和我碰了一下拳头。 “我想叫你什么就叫什么，”麦凯尔蒂把鼻子凑到我脸上说。 “你对此无能为力。”