"Hey, Eric," I called.
"嘿，埃里克，"我招呼道。
"Hi, Bella."
"嗨，贝拉。"
"What's up?" I said as I was unlocking the door. I wasn't paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next words took me by surprise.
"什么事儿？"我边开门边问。我没有注意到他语气中的不自在，所以他的下一句话令我大吃了一惊。
"Uh, I was just wondering… if you would go to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke on the last word.
"呃，我只是在想……你愿不愿意跟我一起去参加春季舞会？"他说到最后一个字的时候都声如蚊蚋了。
"I thought it was girls' choice," I said, too startled to be diplomatic.
"我想是女孩子说了算吧，"我惊讶得口不择言了。
"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced.
"唔，对，"他承认道，一脸的羞愧。
I recovered my composure and tried to make my smile warm. "Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Seattle that day."
我恢复了镇静，想尽力笑得温暖一些："谢谢你邀请我呀，可那天我打算去西雅图。"
"Oh," he said. "Well, maybe next time."
"哦，"他说，"嗯，也许下次吧。"
"Sure," I agreed, and then bit my lip. I wouldn't want him to take that too literally.
"一定，"我同意道，然后咬住了嘴唇。我不希望他把我的话理解得太死了。
He slouched off, back toward the school. I heard a low chuckle.
他垂头丧气地走开，回学校去了。我听见了一声吃吃的暗笑声。
Edward was walking past the front of my truck, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together. I yanked the door open and jumped inside, slamming it loudly behind me. I revved the engine deafeningly and reversed out into the aisle. Edward was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of me, cutting me off. He stopped there — to wait for his family; I could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. I considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo, but there were too many witnesses. I looked in my rearview mirror. A line was beginning to form. Directly behind me, Tyler Crowley was in his recently acquired used Sentra, waving. I was too aggravated to acknowledge him.
爱德华正打我的车前经过，眼睛盯着正前方，抿着嘴。我猛一把拉开了车门，跳了上去，随手砰地一声又把车门带上了。我猛踩了一脚油门，轰得发动机山响，然后倒出来上了出口通道。爱德华已经上了车，距我两个车位，稳稳当当地将车溜到了我的前面，把我给挡住了。他停在了那里，等他们家的其他几个；我看见他们四个正朝这边走来，但不过才到自助餐厅那里。我恨不得把他那辆亮闪闪的沃尔沃的屁股撞成个稀巴烂，可惜边上的人太多了。我看了一眼后视镜，后面已经排起了长队。紧接在我后面的是泰勒·克劳利，他坐在自己最近新买的一辆二手森特拉 上向我挥手。我当时正在气头上，全当没看见，没有理他。
While I was sitting there, looking everywhere but at the car in front of me, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rearview mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was stiff. I got it halfway down, then gave up.
我坐在车上等的时候，四下张望着，唯独就是没有看前面的那辆车，我听见有人敲了一下副驾驶那一侧的车窗。我一看，是泰勒。我又看了一眼后视镜，怔住了。他的车没熄火，开着车门。我侧着身子够过去，想把车窗摇下来。可是很紧，我摇了一半，就放弃了。
"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." I was annoyed — obviously the holdup wasn't my fault.
"对不起，泰勒，我卡在卡伦后面了。"我很烦——一看就知道，这堵车又不是我的错。
"Oh, I know — I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.
"噢，我知道——我不过是想趁我们堵在这儿的工夫，问你点儿事儿。"他露齿笑道。
This could not be happening.
这倒是有点儿出乎我的意料。
"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.
"你愿意请我参加春季舞会吗？"他继续说道。
"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler." My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remember it wasn't his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up my quota of patience for the day.
"我那时不在城里，泰勒。"我的话听上去有些冲。我得记住这不是他的错，谁叫迈克和埃里克已经把我今天的耐心耗尽了呢。
"Yeah, Mike said that," he admitted.
"是，我听迈克说过了，"他承认道。
"Then why —"
"那你干吗——？"
He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."
他耸了耸肩："我以为你只不过是在委婉地拒绝他？"
Okay, it was completely his fault.
得了，这下就彻底是他的错了。
"Sorry, Tyler," I said, working to hide my irritation. "I really am going out of town."
"对不起，泰勒，"我说，竭力掩饰住自己的愤怒，"我真的要出城去。"
"That's cool. We still have prom."
"那好。我们还有班级舞会。"
And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car. I could feel the shock on my face.
我还没来得及回话，他已经在回自己车上去的路上了。我能感觉到我脸上的震惊。
