Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Love Comes in All Shapes and Sizes cliché (n) an overused expression that lacks power because it is so familiar; for example: "as bright as a penny" or "love comes in all shapes and sizes" or "one smart cookie" After school, the guys wouldn't stop teasing Evan about being in love with Megan. "I am not in love with Megan Moriarty!" he shouted at them as he pedaled his bike away from the playground, furious and embarrassed. Suddenly he felt that there were so many things he was ashamed of. He was ashamed that he liked Megan. He was ashamed that he liked poetry. And he was ashamed that he was the only one in the class who got store-bought candy hearts

爱有千姿百态(n)一种被过度使用的表达方式，因为太熟悉而缺乏力量；例如：“像便士一样聪明”或“爱有各种各样的形式和大小”或“一块聪明的饼干”放学后，男孩们不停地取笑埃文爱上了梅根。 “我没有爱上梅根·莫里亚蒂！”他一边骑着自行车离开操场，一边对他们喊道，既愤怒又尴尬。 突然间，他觉得有那么多事情让他感到羞耻。 他为自己喜欢梅金而感到羞愧。 他为自己喜欢诗歌而感到羞愧。 他感到很惭愧，因为他是班上唯一一个从商店买到心形糖果的人

when everyone else got special messages written just for them. When it had happened the first time on Monday, he hadn't thought much about it. Candy was candy. Who cared if his hearts just said FOR YOU? But now it seemed as if whoever was giving out the candy was purposely pointing out that he was not very special. It made him feel the way he did when his grandmother forgot him but remembered everybody else. On the way home, he rode right by Megan, and he didn't even say hello. He rode fast, as if he didn't see her right there on the sidewalk looking at him, one hand raised and smiling. And why didn't Jessie know whether Megan had drawn the heart in the girls' bathroom? How hard was it to find that out? "Just ask her, for Pete's sake," he'd said to Jessie in the hallway after recess. But Jessie had waved the taped-up survey box in his face and said, "I'm a little busy, you know!"

其他人都收到了专门为他们写的留言。 星期一第一次发生这种事的时候，他并没有想太多。 糖果就是糖果。谁会在乎他的心是否只是对你说？ 但是现在，分发糖果的人似乎是在故意指出他并不是很特别。 这让他感觉就像他的祖母忘记了他，却记得其他人一样。 回家的路上，他从梅根身边经过，连招呼都没打。 他骑得很快，好像没看见她就站在人行道上看着他，一只手举起微笑着。 为什么杰西不知道梅根是不是在女盥洗室里画了那颗心？ 找到这一点有多难？ “看在老天的份上，去问她吧，”课间休息后，他在走廊里对杰西说。 但杰西在他面前挥舞着用胶带粘起来的调查箱，说：“你知道，我有点忙！”

He decided to loop the long way home so that he could pedal out some of his frustration. More than anything else, he wished he had basketball practice that afternoon. But it was Thursday, so no practice. By the time he got home, Jessie was already there. They walked through the front door together and found Mrs. Treski in the kitchen, pouring hot water from the kettle into a mug. "Grab the mail, will you?" she said, so Evan doubled back and pulled a stack of letters and catalogs out of the mailbox by the front door. "I've got stuff to do," said Jessie, heading straight for the stairs. "No interruptions!" "Yeah, right," said Evan, dropping the letters on the kitchen counter. "What's that about?" asked Mrs. Treski, flipping through the mail. "Just some extra credit project she's doing," said Evan glumly. "Hmm. That's Jessie. Hey, look. Here's

他决定绕行很长的一段路回家，这样他可以骑车发泄一下他的沮丧。 最重要的是，他希望那天下午能有篮球训练。 但那天是星期四，所以没有练习。 他到家的时候，杰西已经在那里了。 他们一起穿过前门，发现特雷斯基太太正在厨房里把水壶里的热水倒进一个杯子里。 “把信拿过来，好吗？”她说，于是埃文折回去，从前门的邮箱里拿出一堆信件和目录。 “我还有事情要做。”杰西说着，径直朝楼梯走去。 “不打扰!”“是啊，没错，”埃文说着，把信扔在厨房柜台上。 “这是怎么回事？”特雷斯基太太一边翻邮件一边问。 “只是她正在做的一些额外学分项目，”埃文闷闷不乐地说。 “嗯。这是杰西。嘿,你看。 这是

something for you." She held up a small square envelope with red lettering on it. Evan's heart did a 360 backflip. Had Megan sent him a valentine? Should he open it in front of his mother? Did he even want it? His mom held up another envelope that looked exactly the same. "And here's one for Jessie." She looked puzzled. "I wonder why..." Evan tore open the envelope, not sure what he hoped to find inside. It was a card with a picture of Snoopy hugging Woodstock, and the message inside read, "Love comes in all shapes and sizes." "It's from Grandma," he said. "I know. I could tell from the handwriting." "Look what she wrote," said Evan, holding out the card. "Dear Evan, I love you and miss you and think of you every day. Hope you have a great Valentine's Day. See you soon! Love, Grandma." Evan looked at his mom, and they both started to laugh. It was hard not to, living with

给你的东西。”她举起一个方形的小信封，上面写着红字。 埃文的心脏做了一个360度的后空翻。 梅根送他情人节贺卡了吗？ 他应该当着他妈妈的面打开吗？ 他真的想要吗？他妈妈拿出另一个看起来一模一样的信封。 “这是给杰西的。” 她看上去很困惑。“我想知道为什么……” 埃文撕开信封，不知道里面会有什么。 那是一张卡片，上面有一张史努比拥抱伍德斯托克的照片，里面写着：“爱有各种形式和大小。” “是奶奶送的，”他说。 “我知道。我可以从笔迹上看出来。” “看她写了什么，”埃文说着，把卡片递了出来。 “亲爱的埃文，我爱你，想念你，每天都在想你。 祝你过个愉快的情人节。 再见！爱,奶奶。” 埃文看着他的妈妈，他们都笑了起来。 很难不去忍受

Grandma. Her brain worked in crazy ways these days. Sometimes she thought she was twenty years old. Sometimes she forgot she lived in the same house with the Treskis. Sometimes she didn't even remember who they were. And sometimes she was just fine. Evan went to the cupboard and got down everything he needed to make hot chocolate: a mug, a spoon, hot chocolate mix, and mini- marshmallows. As he scooped the mix into his cup, his thoughts returned to the gloom that hung over him on the bike ride home. And that made him think of other things, too, and so he asked his mother, "Did you get a valentine?" Mrs. Treski laughed. "Now, who would send me a valentine?" "I don't know," said Evan, stirring the hot water and chocolate mix in his cup. "Maybe... Dad?" His mom took a sip of her tea and looked at him closely. "No. No valentine from Dad. Were

奶奶。这些天她的大脑运转得很疯狂。 有时她觉得自己只有20岁。 有时她忘了她和特雷斯基一家住在同一所房子里。 有时她甚至不记得他们是谁。 有时她也很好。 埃文走到橱柜前，拿出了做热巧克力需要的所有东西：一个马克杯、一个勺子、热巧克力粉和迷你棉花糖。 当他把混合物舀进杯子时，他的思绪又回到了骑车回家时笼罩在他身上的阴郁。 这也让他想到了别的事情，于是他问妈妈：“你收到情人节礼物了吗？”特雷斯基太太笑了。 “现在，谁会送我一张情人卡呢？”“我不知道，”埃文一边说，一边搅拌着杯子里的热水和巧克力混合物。 “也许……爸爸?”他的妈妈喝了一口茶，仔细地看着他。 “没有。没有爸爸的情人节礼物。 是

you hoping I'd get one from him?" Evan shrugged, watching the billows of steam rising from his stirring spoon. "Well, you were married, right?" "Yep," said Mrs. Treski. "We were." "So..." Evan dropped a fistful of minimarshmallows into his cup. His mother opened her mouth as if she was going to say something about that, but then she closed it again. "How does that work?" asked Evan. "How can you be in love and then not in love anymore?" "You know, I'm not sure about that myself." "Maybe it was never love? Maybe you just made a mistake." "No, it was definitely love. Believe me. For both of us. But—it didn't last. Sometimes love doesn't." Evan shook his head. "All the poems make it sound like love is forever. It's bigger than anything and the most important thing in the

你希望我从他那里得到一个吗？”埃文耸了耸肩，看着搅拌勺里冒出的滚滚蒸汽。 “嗯，你结婚了，对吧？”“是的，”特雷斯基太太说。 “我们”。“所以……”埃文往杯子里倒了一把小块软糖。 他妈妈张开嘴，好像要对那件事说些什么，但又闭上了嘴。 “这是怎么回事？”埃文问。 “你怎么能在恋爱之后又不再相爱呢？”“你知道，我自己也不确定。” “也许这从来就不是爱？”也许你只是犯了一个错误。” “不，这绝对是爱。 相信我。为了我们俩。 但这并没有持续多久。有时候爱情不会。” 埃文摇了摇头。“所有的诗都让人觉得爱是永恒的。 它比什么都重要，也是世界上最重要的