Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 It was one day until the school dance, two days until his father was going to move out and Charlie had a LOT of explaining to do to his friends. 'OK,' said Wogan. 'Let's go through this one more time. You turned into a tiny worm and you jumped on to Dylan? And then you saw him open his locker?' 'That's right,' said Charlie, licking his dry lips. 'Exactly how small were you?' asked Mohsen. 'You must have been absolutely tiny for us not to be able to see you.' 'Yeah, I was really teeny-tiny,' said Charlie. 'So how did you jump on to Dylan? Because worms really can't jump very far. At all. Especially not teeny-tiny ones.' 'I… erm… Well, I… erm…' 'He's erming, Wogan,' said Mohsen, eyeing Charlie. 'Some seriously suspicious erming there.'

离学校舞会还有一天，离他父亲要搬出去还有两天，查理要向他的朋友们解释很多事情。 “好吧。”沃根说。让我们再过一遍。 你变成了一条小虫子然后跳到迪伦身上？ 然后你看到他打开储物柜？“没错，”查理说着，舔了舔干嘴唇。 “你当时到底有多小？”莫森问。 “你一定很小，我们才看不见你。“是的，我真的很小很小，”查理说。 “那你是怎么看上迪伦的？” 因为蠕虫真的跳不了很远。 在所有。尤其是那些很小很小的。“我……呃……嗯，我……呃……”“他来了，沃根，”莫森看着查理说。 “那里有一些非常可疑的东西。”

'I told you what happened,' said Charlie, crossing his arms. 'If you don't want to believe me…' 'We want to believe you,' said Wogan. 'I just think your story has more holes than my favourite underpants.' Mohsen shuddered. 'Ugh, yes, those pants do have a lot of holes. You should really think about throwing them away.' 'Fine! Don't believe me!' growled Charlie. 'We do, Charlie! We do! Anyway,' said Flora, desperately changing the subject, 'isn't it great you can finally control what animal you change into!' 'I guess so… I mean, I think I've cracked it, although–' 'Because, you know, you wanted to change into something tiny, and then– hey presto!– you turned into a mysterious, invisible jumping worm,' added Mohsen. 'Yes,' said Charlie, glaring at Mohsen. 'Are you sure you're telling us everything?' Flora said, looking concerned. 'You know you don't have to keep secrets from us. It's better to share–' 'I can't,' said Charlie in a small voice. 'You can!' 'I can't,' Charlie said with an air of finality. 'Oh come on! It can't be as bad as being dropped in a bath of Wogan's wee!' said Mohsen. 'It's worse. It's actually the worst thing possible.' 'Worst thing possible?' said Wogan. 'No way. It's not like Dylan accidentally ate you and farted you out! Now that would be the worst thing possible.'

“我告诉过你发生了什么事，”查理交叉着双臂说。 “我们愿意相信你。”沃根说。 “我只是觉得你的故事比我最喜欢的内裤漏洞还多。”Mohsen战栗。 “啊，是的，那条裤子确实有很多洞。 你真该考虑把它们扔了。“好啊!别相信我！查理咆哮道。 “是的，查理！”我们所做的!“不管怎样，”弗洛拉说，拼命地转移话题，“你终于可以控制自己变成什么动物了，这不是很棒吗？”“我想是的……我的意思是，我想我已经破解了，尽管——”“因为，你知道，你想变成一个小东西，然后——嘿，转眼之间！”——你变成了一条神秘的、看不见的会跳的虫子。”莫森补充道。 “是的，”查理瞪着莫森说。 “你确定你会把一切都告诉我们吗？”弗洛拉关切地说。 “你知道你不必对我们隐瞒什么。 还是分着吃比较好——”“不行，”查理小声说。 “你可以!“我不能，”查理语气坚决地说。 “哦，得了吧！”总不会比掉进沃根的尿里更糟糕吧！莫森说。 这是更糟。这实际上是最糟糕的事情。“最糟糕的事？”沃根说。 “不可能。迪伦又不是不小心吃了你然后放了你出来！那将是最糟糕的事情。”

Charlie made a strangled noise of shock. "HOLYYYY MACKEREL!' gasped Wogan, mouth flapping, fish-like. 'That's what happened, isn't it?' Charlie looked at the floor, his face bright red. He didn't reply. He wanted the ground to swallow him. 'That is actually, ACTUALLY the most amazing thing I have ever heard. You're the first person ever to go inside a human body! Wow!' Wogan slapped Charlie on the back. 'Charlie McGuffin, you are the most awesome person in the world!' Charlie let out a shy smile. Suddenly he didn't want the ground to swallow him. Suddenly he felt quite proud and lucky to have such good friends. He felt tears of happiness prickling in his eyes.

查理吓得发出一声窒息的声音。 “HOLYYYY鲭鱼!沃根喘着气说，嘴巴扇动着，像鱼一样。 “事情就是这样，不是吗？”查理看着地板，脸涨得通红。 他没有回答。他想被地面吞没。 “这是我听过的最不可思议的事情。 你是第一个进入人体的人！哇!”沃根拍了拍查理的背。 “查理·麦高芬，你是世界上最了不起的人！”查理害羞地笑了笑。 突然，他不想被地面吞没了。 突然间，他感到非常自豪和幸运，有这样的好朋友。 他感到幸福的泪水刺痛了他的眼睛。

'So Dylan had a bear costume in his locker?' said Mohsen quickly. 'He's always up to no good!' Charlie nodded. 'Yup.' 'Now we have proof it's definitely him pretending to be animals. He is trying to set you up, to make it look like you're eating them. But why is he keeping them in the basement and what is he going to do at the school dance?' asked Flora, her brow furrowed. Charlie's heart ached at the thought of the Great Catsby, trapped in the basement, so close to him. 'Why don't we just tell the teachers?' he asked. Flora shook her head. 'Dylan would just deny he put the animals down there and we'd get the blame.' 'Get the blame for what?' asked Daisy suddenly from behind the four friends. 'ARGH!' yelped Flora in surprise, spinning to face Daisy and Lola. 'How do you two keep doing that? You're so silent!' Charlie quickly explained what he'd discovered to Daisy and Lola. 'So we have one day to get the key off Dylan and the animals out of the basement before he carries out his plan!' Flora added. 'OK!' said Daisy. 'That's all great and super- interesting and everything, but I was actually just here to ask if Wogan would go to the dance with me?' Flora buried her face in her hands and groaned. 'I'm confused now,' said Wogan. 'I thought you'd already asked me and–' 'YES OR NO?' snapped Daisy.

“所以迪伦的储物柜里有一件熊的戏服？”莫森赶紧说。 “他总是不怀好意！”查理点了点头。 “是的。“现在我们有证据证明，这绝对是他假扮的动物。” 他想陷害你，让你看起来像是在吃他们。 但他为什么要把它们藏在地下室他要在学校舞会上做什么？弗洛拉皱着眉头问道。 查理一想到被困在地下室里、离他这么近的伟大的猫比，心里就难受。 “我们为什么不直接告诉老师呢？”他问。 弗洛拉摇了摇头。“迪伦会否认他把动物放在那里，我们会受到指责。“为什么受责备？”黛西突然从四个朋友身后问道。 “啊!弗洛拉吃惊地叫道，转身面对着黛西和萝拉。 “你们俩是怎么做到的？” 你这么沉默！”查理很快向黛西和萝拉解释了他的发现。 “所以在迪伦实施他的计划之前，我们有一天的时间把钥匙从地下室和动物身上拿出来！”植物补充道。 “好吧!黛西说。“这一切都很棒，非常有趣，但我其实是来问沃根愿不愿意和我一起去舞会的？”弗洛拉双手捂着脸，呻吟着。 “我现在糊涂了，”沃根说。 “我想你已经问过我了——”“是还是不是？”黛西厉声说。

'Yes,' nodded Wogan, his look of terror badly disguised behind a smile. 'Great!' said Daisy. 'Do you and Moh want to practise dance moves in the playground?' 'We can't,' said Wogan glumly. 'We have to find a way into the basement!' 'It's OK, you go!' said Charlie, a smile on his face. 'Flora and I will get our thinking caps on and try to work out how to get the key from Dylan.' Mohsen and Wogan walked out, chattering to Lola and Daisy, leaving Charlie and Flora alone. A moment of weighty silence stretched out between them. 'So… Flor… I was wondering–' Charlie began, before Flora interrupted him. 'Charlie, would you go to the dance with me?' Charlie tried playing it cool but he couldn't help his beaming smile. 'I was just about to ask you– yes! Yes, I would. Definitely.' 'Great!' Flora returned Charlie's smile with a grin just as big.

“是的。”沃根点了点头，脸上的微笑掩盖不住他的恐惧。 “太好了!黛西说。“你和毛想在操场上练习舞步吗？”“我们不能，”沃根闷闷不乐地说。 “我们必须想办法进入地下室！”“没关系，你去吧！”查理说，脸上带着微笑。 “弗洛拉和我会认真思考，想办法从迪伦那里拿到钥匙。”莫森和沃根走了出去，跟萝拉和黛西闲聊着，留下查理和弗洛拉单独在一起。 他们之间沉默了一会儿。 “那么……弗洛尔……我在想——”查理在弗洛拉打断他之前开口了。 “查理，你愿意和我一起去舞会吗？”查理试图装酷，但他还是忍不住露出了灿烂的笑容。 “我正要问你——是的！”是的，我会的。 肯定。“太好了!”弗洛拉也对查理报以同样灿烂的笑容。

'Great!' replied Charlie, still smiling from ear to ear. Charlie's smile lasted through doublemaths and geography, all the way until the end of the school day, right up until he bumped into Dylan on the way home. They squared up to each other. 'Looking forward to the dance tomorrow, McGuffin?' 'Get lost, Dylan. I know you're up to something. But we'll stop you,' said Charlie. 'Stop me? You don't even know what I'm planning!' Dylan scoffed. 'Well, isn't this the moment you reveal your plan and tell me there's nothing I can do about it?' 'Oh no, McGuffin. I'm not telling you a thing.'

“太好了!查理回答，仍然笑得合不拢嘴。 查理的笑容一直持续到双数学和地理，直到放学，直到他在回家的路上遇到迪伦。 他们摆好了架势。 “期待明天的舞会吗，麦高芬？”“滚开，迪伦。” 我知道你在密谋什么。 “但我们会阻止你的。”查理说。 “阻止我吗?你甚至不知道我在计划什么！”迪伦嘲笑。 “好吧，难道现在不是你向我透露你的计划，告诉我我无能为力的时候吗？”“哦，不，麦高芬。” 我什么也不会告诉你的。”