Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Love Stuff assonance (n) a poetic technique in which the middle sound of a word (usually a vowel) is repeated in words that are next to the word or near it, such as silly little chimps Evan was grabbing a plastic spoon at the utensil table in the cafeteria when he saw Jessie walk up to Megan, who was near the front of the line. It was noisy in the cafeteria, the way it usually was, but Evan was close enough to hear Jessie's voice, which was always loud and clear. "Do you love Evan?" Evan's head snapped in the direction of Jessie's voice. He saw Megan's back stiffen and her face turn bright red. The dozen or so kids closest in

“爱的东西”谐音（名词）一种诗歌技巧，其中一个单词的中间音（通常是一个元音）在单词旁边或附近的单词中重复，如愚蠢的小黑猩猩埃文在自助餐厅的餐具桌上拿着一个塑料勺子，这时他看到杰西走向梅根，梅根站在队伍的最前面。 像往常一样，自助餐厅里很吵，但埃文离得很近，能听到杰西的声音，她的声音总是响亮而清晰。 “你爱埃文吗？”埃文的头朝杰西声音的方向一闪。 他看见梅金的背僵了，脸变红了。 离我们最近的十几个孩子

line straightened up and turned their full attention to Jessie and Megan. Tessa squealed, her hands flying to her mouth. Scott Spencer started laughing, and several of the boys erupted in a chorus of "Oooh." Evan felt his face flame and his stomach drop. He wanted to run out of the cafeteria. Salley Knight, who was standing right behind Megan, said, "You're not supposed to say something like that!" "Why not?" Jessie asked, still talking in her usual loud way. "Because..." Salley threw her hands up, shaking her head. Evan walked quickly back to his assigned seat at his lunch table, careful to keep his eyes down. The kids at the table hadn't heard what Jessie had said, but by the end of lunch, the news had traveled up and down the aisles. There were lots of jokes about kissing. Malik turned two soggy french fries into lips and squeezed them open

队伍直起身子，把全部注意力转向杰西和梅金。 泰莎尖叫着，双手捂住了嘴。 斯科特·斯宾塞大笑起来，几个男孩齐声“哦”。 埃文感到他的脸在燃烧，胃在下沉。 他想从自助餐厅跑出去。 萨莉·奈特站在梅根的后面，说：“你不应该说这样的话！”“为什么不?”杰西问，仍然用她惯常的声音大声说话。 “因为……”莎莉举起双手，摇着头。 埃文很快地走回他在午餐桌旁的指定座位，小心翼翼地把眼睛放低。 餐桌上的孩子们没有听到杰西说的话，但午餐结束时，这个消息传遍了过道。 有很多关于接吻的笑话。 马利克把两根湿漉漉的薯条变成了嘴唇，把它们挤开

and closed while making loud smooching noises. A bunch of girls started to sing "My Heart Will Go On," so loudly that the cafeteria ladies told the whole class that they were the worst group of the day and were in danger of losing recess. Even that didn't stop the snickering and poking. Evan wished the floor would swallow him whole. When the doors to the playground were finally opened and the horde of noisy fourth-graders ran outside, Evan stayed behind and cornered Jessie at the trash can. "What are you doing? How come you said that?" He wanted to shake her, as if that would make her understand what she'd done. "Said what?" asked Jessie. Evan dropped his voice to a dangerous whisper. "That Megan and me are in love." "I did not say that!" "Well, that's what everyone is saying now. What's with you, Jess? Come on! Even you—"

合上的同时发出巨大的接吻声。 一群女孩开始唱《我心永恒》，声音如此之大，以至于食堂的女服务员告诉全班同学，她们是今天最糟糕的一群人，有失去课间休息的危险。 即使这样，也没有停止窃笑和戳戳。 埃文希望地板能把他整个吞下去。 当通往操场的门终于打开，一大群吵吵闹闹的四年级学生跑到外面时，埃文留了下来，把杰西逼到垃圾桶边。 “你在干什么？”你怎么这么说？”他想摇一摇她，好像这样能让她明白自己做了什么。 “说什么？”杰西问。 埃文把声音降到了危险的低语声。 “梅根和我相爱了” “我可没那么说！”“嗯，现在每个人都这么说。 你怎么了，杰西？来吧!甚至你——”

"All I did was ask a simple question. All I did was ask Megan if she loves you because that's what it says in the girls' bathroom." Evan felt his stomach drop to his knees for the second time that day. He tried to ask Jessie what she meant, but it was as if he'd forgotten how his tongue worked. It just lay there in his mouth, unable to form words. "C'mon! Line up!" shouted one of the cafeteria ladies to the last few stragglers busing their trays and throwing out their trash. Evan placed both hands on Jessie's shoulders and bent his head down close to hers. In a whisper, he asked, "What does it say in the girls' bathroom?" Jessie put her hands together, both thumbs meeting in a downward-facing point to form a perfect heart. "M.M. plus E.T.," she said. Evan felt another wave of heat rise up from his shirt collar. The noise of the cafeteria swirled around him.

“我只是问了一个简单的问题。 我只是问梅根她是否爱你，因为女厕所里都是这么写的。” 埃文感到他的胃在这一天第二次垂到膝盖上。 他试图问杰西她是什么意思，但好像他已经忘记了他的舌头是如何工作的。 只是躺在他嘴里，说不出话来。 “来吧!排队！”餐厅里的一位女士对最后几个拿着盘子、扔垃圾的人喊道。 埃文把双手放在杰西的肩膀上，低下头靠近她。 他低声问：“女厕所里写什么？”杰西双手合十，大拇指朝下，形成一个完美的心形。 “M.M.加上e.t.，”她说。 埃文感到又一股热气从他的衬衫领子里冒了出来。 自助餐厅的嘈杂声在他周围盘旋。

"Did Megan write that... that thing in the bathroom?" Evan asked. "No. I don't think so. I don't know! How am I supposed to know?" "Can you find out?" "Why?" asked Jessie. "What is it with all this love stuff?" Evan again had the feeling of wanting to shake Jessie. Why didn't she understand things that everyone else did? "Just find out, would ya? Ask her. And then tell me. But don't tell her I asked you to find out. And don't tell anyone else. Swear it!" Evan headed for the playground, wanting to shake off this almost-sick feeling. He pushed open the door and shouted, "Hey!" as Ryan ran by on the blacktop. "Wait for me!" He could count on Jessie to find out the answer, but how long would that take? Valentine's Day was just four days away, and Evan needed answers.

“是梅根写的吗……浴室里的那个东西？”埃文问。 “没有。我不这么想。我不知道！我怎么知道呢？”“你能查出来吗？”“为什么？”杰西问。 “这些爱的东西是怎么回事？”埃文又有了一种想要甩掉杰西的感觉。 为什么她不能理解别人都能理解的事情？ “去弄清楚，好吗？”问她。 然后告诉我。但别告诉她是我让你去查的。 别告诉别人。 发誓!”埃文朝操场走去，想摆脱这种近乎病态的感觉。 他推开门，喊道：“嘿！”瑞安在柏油路上跑过。 “等等我！”他可以指望杰西找到答案，但这需要多长时间呢？ 离情人节只有四天了，埃文需要答案。