8 Things Couldn’t Get Much Worse

CHAPTER 8 Things Couldn't Get Much Worse Penny wasn't in carpool with us that morning. That's because she wasn't going to school. Because she was really nervous and wanted to practice her lines. "Dawn got these jitters, too," Mom said. "Show business is not a good business for kids." Now I actually agreed with her! Evie was in carpool. "Let me see your note," I said.

第八章 情况糟得不能再糟了 那天早上拼车的时候佩妮没和我们一起。 因为她没去上学。 她太紧张了，想要在家练习台词。 “唐也有过这种紧张到坐立不安的情况哦，”妈妈说。 “演艺圈可不适合小孩子待。” 现在我可完全同意她的话了！ 伊薇来坐拼车了。 “给我看看你的假条呗。”我对她说。

She handed it over. It was in Mrs. King's loopy handwriting, in cursive. Dear Mrs. Finkel, Please excuse Evie from school today at twelve o'clock. She will be picked up by David Batts, Stella's father. Thank you, Julie King It was weird that Evie was going to be picked up by my dad, and I would be staying behind at school. There should be a Ground Rule against that. At snack time, Mrs. Finkel clapped her hands and Evie gathered up her stuff to leave for the day. "Bye, Evie!" everyone called. "Take lots of pictures!" Pictures?! She'd get a picture with

她把假条递给了我。 上面是金老师写的花体字，连笔的哦。 亲爱的芬克尔老师：请允许伊薇今天十二点离校。 会来接她的是斯特拉的爸爸大卫·巴茨。 谢谢您，朱莉·金 我爸爸要接伊薇走，我却得留在学校，这也太奇怪了吧。 就该定条班规禁止这种事。 点心时间到了，芬克尔老师拍了拍手，伊薇就收拾好东西，准备今天提前离校啦。 “再见，伊薇！”大家都喊道。 “多拍点照片呀！” 照片？！ 她会和大明星山姆合照吗？

Superstar Sam?! "Take lots of notes," Lucy added. "That way you'll remember everything that happens." Taking notes is like writing and that's usually MY job. "Bye, Stella," Evie said. "Bye," I said from over by my desk. We weren't all gathering by Evie's desk that day since she was leaving. "Knock knock!" Talisa said. "Who's there?" "Us." "Us who?" "All of us at your desk!" It was true. She was standing there with our other usual snack-time hang-out friends Lucy and Arielle... and Joshua? Why was he always hanging around with

大明星山姆？！ “多记点笔记呀，”露西补充道。 “这样你就能记住发生的所有事啦。” 记笔记就和写东西差不多，这平时可都是我的活儿呀。 “再见啦，斯特拉。”伊薇对我说。 “再见。”我在自己的课桌那边回应她。 那天伊薇要走，我们都没围到她的课桌边去。 “咚咚咚！” 塔莉萨说道。 “谁呀？” “我们呀。” 我们是谁呀？” “我们所有人都在你课桌边呀！” 还真是。 她和我们平时点心时间一起玩的朋友露西、阿丽尔站在一起……还有约书亚？ 他怎么总凑过来和

us? Especially if he hated me so much. Sometimes I think of questions in my head but I don't ask them out loud because they're not very nice. Except now Joshua and I had so many wrongs piled up, it's not like one more wrong could make any difference. Things couldn't get any worse! "Why do you always hang out with us at snack time if you hate me so much?" I asked. "Yeah," Lucy said. "Aren't you going to watch the show being made anyway? You said your uncle was the boss of it. Were you lying about that?" "No!" he said. "Smell—I mean Stella— met my uncle! He really is the boss! And it's her fault I'm here and not there." And with that he stomped his foot, and Mrs. Finkel had to call out, "Joshua, this may

我们一起玩呀？ 他明明那么讨厌我。 有时候我脑子里会冒出好多问题，但我不会问出口，因为那些问题不太友好。 可现在我和约书亚之间的矛盾已经堆得像小山一样高了，再多一件好像也没什么差别。 情况已经不能更糟了！ “你既然那么讨厌我，为什么点心时间总过来和我们一起玩？” 我开口问他。 “对呀，”露西附和道。 “你不是本来就会去看节目录制吗？ 你还说你舅舅是节目组的负责人呢。 你是不是在撒谎呀？” “我才没有！”他说。 “臭——我是说斯特拉——见过我舅舅的！ 他真的是负责人！ 我待在这儿没法去现场，全都是她的错。” 他说完就重重跺了下脚，芬克尔老师只好出声提醒：“约书亚，现在虽然

be the talking part of snack time, but outbursts are still not allowed. That's a Ground Rule." "Besides it's not my fault," I said. "I'm not the boss of you." If I were, I'd make up a whole lot more Ground Rules for Joshua. Starting with: Don't ever call me Smella again, not even the beginning syllable of calling me Smella, or else... or else... "It is too your fault," he said. "After I got off the phone with you last night, my mom said I had been rude and she was taking away privileges—starting with the privilege of going to the show today. Which is fine with me, because Superstar Sam's just a dumb show anyway, and—" "Wait," I interrupted. "Are you saying now there's an extra seat at the filming?" "Yes," Joshua said. "Actually three extras

是点心时间的聊天环节，但是也不能大喊大叫哦。 这是班规哦。” “再说这根本不是我的错，”我说道。 “我又管不着你。” 要是我能管得着他，我肯定要给约书亚定一大堆新班规。 第一条就是：不准再叫我臭拉拉，连开头那个臭字都不许提，不然……不然…… “本来就是你的错！”他说。 “我昨晚和你打完电话之后，我妈妈说我太没礼貌了，要取消我的福利——第一个取消的就是今天去看节目录制的福利。 我才不在乎呢，《大明星山姆》本来就是个傻兮兮的节目，而且——” “等一下，”我打断了他的话。 “你是说现在录制现场多了一个空位？” “对呀，”约书亚说。 “其实多了三个空位