Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Charlie was busy in the kitchen on his laptop, glumly designing a 'Missing' poster for the Great Catsby (who still hadn't turned up) when his parents dropped their latest, and worst, bombshell. SmoothMove was sitting next to him, playing Zelda on his Nintendo Switch, when their mum and dad walked in, solemn looks on their faces. 'Guys,' said Dad. 'I've something to talk to you about.' What now? thought Charlie. From his dad's tone of voice, it sounded like more bad news and Charlie didn't think he could face more bad news. 'So,' continued his dad. 'I've been looking for somewhere to live once I move out and I've found a nice flat. It's happened a bit quicker than I'd have liked but I didn't want to lose it, so I've put the deposit down.'

查理正在厨房里用笔记本电脑忙着，闷闷不乐地为伟大的猫比（他还没有出现）设计一张“失踪”的海报，这时他的父母扔下了最新的、也是最糟糕的重磅炸弹。 SmoothMove坐在他旁边，在他的任天堂Switch上玩《塞尔达传说》，这时他们的爸爸妈妈走进来，脸上带着严肃的表情。 “孩子们，”爸爸说。“我有事要跟你说。”现在该做什么? 认为查理。从他爸爸的语气中，听起来像是有更多的坏消息，查理认为他不能再面对更多的坏消息了。 “所以，”他爸爸继续说。“我一直在找搬出去后住的地方，我找到了一套不错的公寓。 这件事发生得比我希望的要快一些，但我不想失去它，所以我已经交了押金。”

SmoothMove said 'Great' sarcastically under his breath and turned back to his Nintendo. Charlie sat in stunned silence. He had a million things to say but knew if he started speaking, the words would break up in his throat. 'It's a new build,' his dad continued. 'On the estate on the other side of town.' That's miles away! thought Charlie. I'll be miles from my friends when I'm staying with him. 'It's right by a lovely park.' 'When are you moving out?' SmoothMove asked. 'April 21st,' their dad replied. 'You'll both be spending every Wednesday night and weekends with me. And you'll get to share a bedroom. Which will be fun,' he finished, unconvincingly.

SmoothMove低声讽刺地说了一句“太好了”，然后转身继续玩他的任天堂。 查理呆呆地坐着，一言不发。 他有一百万件事要说，但他知道，如果他开始说话，这些话会在喉咙里破裂。 “这是新造的，”他爸爸继续说。 “在城镇另一边的庄园里。”那有好几英里远呢！认为查理。 我和他在一起的时候会远离我的朋友。 “它就在一个可爱的公园旁边。“你什么时候搬出去？”SmoothMove问道。 “4月21日，”他们的父亲回答。 “你们俩每个星期三晚上和周末都要和我在一起。 你们可以共用一间卧室。 “那会很有趣的。”他说完，口气不太令人信服。

Again, Charlie wanted to say so much: That's the day after the school dance! How am I supposed to enjoy that now? And, If I'm at Dad's every weekend, how can I play with my friends? And, Have you even thought about me? And, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? WHY? Charlie couldn't bring himself to ask any of those questions, though. He could only turn back to the laptop, hiding his face from his family, blinking back tears. His mum came up behind him and placed a soft kiss on the top of his head. Try as he might, Charlie couldn't stop the tears beginning to roll down his

查理又想说：那是学校舞会后的第二天！我现在要怎么享受这一切？ 而且，如果我每个周末都在爸爸家，我怎么能和我的朋友一起玩呢？ 还有，你想过我吗？ 为什么会这样呢？ 为什么?然而，查理无法让自己问出这些问题。 他只能转身回到笔记本电脑前，把脸藏起来，不让家人看见，强忍着泪水。 他的妈妈走到他身后，在他的头顶上轻轻地吻了一下。 尽管查理尽了最大的努力，他还是忍不住流下了眼泪

cheeks. He wiped his eyes, hoping no one had noticed. Charlie knew he wasn't in danger of changing: he wasn't feeling stressed or afraid or anxious or even angry. Right now, he was just feeling hopelessly sad. Please stop being kind to me, Charlie thought. If you don't stop, I'm going to cry again and I don't want to do that in front of Dylan. Charlie was in the playground, his friends huddling round him. 'There's nothing wrong with crying,' said Flora, seeming to read his mind. 'I know,' said Charlie. 'It's just–' Mohsen nodded. 'Flora's right. I cry all the time. Like when my grandma died.' 'And like when my older brother went to university. I cried loads,' said Flora. 'Yeah!' said Wogan. 'And like when I went to the toilet last week and caught my winky in my zip. I cried for ages then.' 'Wogan!' gasped Flora. 'What is wrong with you?' 'Yes, what's wrong with you, Wogan?' said Mohsen. '"Winky"? That's a very babyish name for it. It's called your "dangly-wangly".' 'No, it isn't! It's called a "winky"!' shouted Wogan. 'Although my cousin calls it a "ding-dong",' he continued thoughtfully. 'So I–'

脸颊。他擦了擦眼睛，希望没有人注意到。 查理知道他没有改变的危险：他没有感到压力、害怕、焦虑，甚至没有生气。 现在，他只是感到无可救药的悲伤。 请不要再对我那么好了，查理想。 如果你不停下来，我又要哭了我不想在迪伦面前哭。 查理在操场上，他的朋友们围在他身边。 “哭也没什么不好，”弗洛拉说，似乎看透了他的心思。 “我知道，”查理说。“只是——”莫森点点头。 “植物是对的。我一直在哭。 就像我奶奶去世的时候。”“还有我哥哥上大学的时候。 “我哭了很多次，”弗洛拉说。 “是的!沃根说。“就像上周我去厕所的时候，我的眼睛被拉链夹住了。 我哭了很久。“Wogan !弗洛拉喘着气说。 “你怎么啦？”“是的，你怎么了，沃根？”莫森说。 “闪闪”?这名字太幼稚了。 这叫你的“晃-晃”。“不，不是的！”它叫“闪闪”！沃根喊道。 “虽然我表弟叫它‘叮咚’，”他若有所思地接着说。 “我——”

'Can you STOP talking about winkies and danglywanglies and ding-dongs?' blurted Flora. 'What is wrong with you? We are trying to make Charlie feel better, if you hadn't forgotten!' 'What are you four imbeciles talking about then?' Dylan had sidled up without anyone noticing. He still had a plaster on his face. 'Nothing!' they all replied instantly. 'Yeah, that doesn't sound suspicious at all. Anyway,' said Dylan, 'Charlie, I want a word with you. Alone.' Charlie shrugged at his friends and walked into the corridor with Dylan, who Charlie noticed was limping. 'Why are you limping?' 'I… erm… don't know.' 'What do you mean, you don't know?' 'I mean, of course I know! I have a sore leg because… I fell off a… unicycle.' 'You fell off a unicycle?' 'Look, it doesn't matter. That's not why I wanted to talk to you.' 'Yeah, what do you want, Van der Gruyne?' Charlie eyed Dylan suspiciously. 'I just heard your parents were separating.' 'And?' 'Well, I know what it's like.' 'How?' Charlie snapped. 'Your parents are still together.' 'I know. But sometimes I don't think they should be.'

“你能不能别再说什么闪闪发亮的东西了？”弗洛拉脱口而出。 “你怎么啦？”我们是想让查理感觉好点，如果你没忘记的话！“那你们四个笨蛋在谈什么呢？ ”迪伦悄无声息地溜了过来。 他脸上还贴着一块膏药。 “什么!他们都立刻回答。 “是啊，这听起来一点也不可疑。 “不管怎样，”迪伦说，“查理，我想和你说句话。 孤单。”查理对他的朋友们耸耸肩，和迪伦一起走进走廊，他注意到迪伦一瘸一拐的。 “你为什么一瘸一拐的？”“我……嗯……不知道。”“你不知道是什么意思？”“我是说，我当然知道！”我腿疼，因为我从独轮车上摔下来了。“你从独轮车上摔下来了？”“听着，没关系。” 这不是我找你的原因。“是啊，你有什么事，范德格鲁恩？ ”查理怀疑地看着迪伦。 “我刚听说你父母要分居了。“然后呢?“嗯，我知道那是什么感觉。”“怎么了?”查理。 “你的父母还在一起。”“我知道。 但有时我觉得他们不应该这样。”

A long look passed between them, deep and unspoken. 'Oi, Charlie!' Wogan shouted suddenly, breaking the silence, his head poking out of the classroom door. 'When you've finished talking to that useless sack of soggy broccoli, can you help me with the spellings?' Dylan was back to sneering at Charlie, as if he had just remembered he hated him. 'But don't think this changes anything between us, McGuffin,' Dylan snarled, extra venom in his voice. 'We're still mortal enemies.' 'But why?'

他们长时间地相互凝视着，深沉而无言。 “Oi,查理!”沃根突然喊道，打破了沉默，他的头从教室门探了出来。 “你跟那袋没用的湿透的花椰菜说完了话，能不能帮我拼写一下？”迪伦又开始嘲笑查理，好像他刚刚想起自己恨他。 “但别以为这会改变我们之间的关系，麦高芬，”迪伦咆哮道，声音里透着额外的怨恨。 “我们仍然是死敌。“可是为什么呢？”