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The Yellow Sticker Girl (Graded Reader), Chapter 4. An Unexpected Ally

Chapter 4. An Unexpected Ally

I wanted to be happy too but all the way home on the bus, I had a heavy heart. My phone pinged as soon as I got in the house. Tagged again. I thought about this week's hashtag … #foodbankgirl? #nomoney#nosupermarket?

I didn't want to look but I wanted to know what people were saying about me. Be brave, Meghan! Ok, here goes. I looked at my screen. There was another big photo of me and the hashtag #theyellowstickergirl#totalcharitycase. The worst thing was the comments though: ‘Disappear, you sad loser!' and ‘Tell your lazy dad to get a job!' That was it, I couldn't read any more. I threw my phone on the floor and lay on my bed crying into my pillow. Why were people so horrible? My poor dad wasn't lazy, he was fantastic. After a few minutes, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. It was mum.

‘Come and have a vanilla yoghurt, love,' she said as she came into my room but she stopped when she saw me on the bed.

‘What's wrong, Meggie?' she asked. ‘Come here, love.'

Mum gave me a big hug and I really wanted to tell her about Kyla and the other kids at school.

‘Remember, you can tell me and dad anything Meggie,' mum continued.

‘I know but you and dad have enough problems at the moment,' I said.

‘Listen to me, Meggie,' mum said in her serious voice. ‘Your dad and I have some money problems, that's all. The most important thing for us is that you and Leah are happy. Now, tell me what's wrong.'

Between my tears, I told mum everything. I told her about the photos at the supermarket, at the bus stop and outside the food bank. I told her about my new nickname, ‘The Yellow Sticker Girl' and about how everyone laughed and pointed at me.

Mum listened quietly and then she finally said, ‘Ok, don't worry about anything, Meghan. I'll go to school on Monday morning and talk to the headteacher.'

No! No! No!

‘Mum, please don't go to school. Everyone will see you!'

Mum agreed not to go to school …YET… but there were two conditions: I had to tell her everything from now on and I had to speak to my form teacher about the situation. Great! Lucky for me, I got a bad cold that week and stayed home from school. TV in bed? Tick! No homework? Tick! No bullies? Tick. What a great week! By Saturday I was better and decided to go to the food bank with mum after work. I liked Maureen and I really wanted some more vanilla yoghurt. But my good luck was about to end … as soon as we entered the hall, I saw Kyla! What was she doing here?! Mum saw her too and waved. Kyla was with her mum and two little brothers and they all came over. No! Please! Kyla didn't look like her usual self though and she certainly wasn't laughing now. ‘Is everything ok?' mum asked Kyla's mum. ‘No, not really,' Kyla's mum replied sadly. ‘My husband is unemployed at the moment.' ‘Don't worry,' mum said. ‘We're in the same situation but everyone here is really friendly. Meghan, go and show Kyla what to do.' What? Me? I was about to protest but mum gave me one of THOSE looks. I knew I didn't have any choice. Kyla didn't look very happy either but I took her over to a table where there was some rice and pasta in a box and gave her a shopping bag.

I thought mum was crazy! I didn't want to talk to my bully and I definitely didn't want to help her. I wanted to be mean to Kyla. I wanted to make her feel embarrassed. I wanted to make her feel as bad as she made me feel at school. I wanted to … I stopped and looked at Kyla. She looked so sad and scared.

‘Look, Kyla,' I said. ‘It's not…'

Kyla interrupted me, ‘No, Meghan, there's something I need to say first: I'm sorry.'

Sorry? Wow! I wasn't expecting that!

‘You're sorry?' I asked.

‘Yes,' replied Kyla. ‘Really sorry.'

‘Why did you do it?' I asked.

‘I didn't want people to know that my dad hasn't got a job and that we haven't got any money,' she confessed. ‘I didn't want people to laugh at me so I got them to laugh at you.'

Great! I was a distraction!

I was still a bit mad but then Kyla started to tell me about her situation at home and it was terrible. Her mum was sick so she couldn't work and then her dad lost his job last year. They didn't have enough money to pay the rent or bills and she was worried about her two little brothers.

I still didn't really understand why she bullied me but I understood how it felt to want to protect a brother or sister. Maybe me and Kyla had more in common than we thought. I decided to give her a chance.

‘Look, let's start again, Kyla,' I suggested. ‘We were friends at primary school, maybe we can be friends again.'

‘Really? Thank you, Meghan,' she replied.

We were talking about all the fun we had in Miss Murphy's class at St. John Fisher Primary when Maureen interrupted us.

‘Girls!' she shouted. ‘We have a small problem. Two of our volunteers are sick today and can't come in and help. Saturdays are our busiest day so I need two new volunteers.'

Kyla and I looked at each other.

‘Do you mean…?' started Kyla.

‘You want us to…?' I asked.

‘Yes, yes. Come on girls,' replied Maureen. ‘You are my two new volunteers. Remember: smile, bag, food and smile again.'

Kyla and I laughed and followed Maureen to one of the tables. We passed mum on the way and she gave me a thumbs up. Why are mums always right? !

Our first customer was Mrs Worthing, a sweet old lady. She lived on her own and didn't have any family. We tried to fill her bag with tinned goods but she only wanted a couple of things.

‘Save the good stuff for the kiddies,' she said. ‘I'm fine with a couple of tins of beans.'

There were lots of other people after Mrs Worthing. Some of them were new to the food bank and some of them were regulars. But not all the people who came that day needed food, some of them BROUGHT it. Mr Polonski from the mini-market brought some sandwiches and biscuits; Mrs Duffy from the greengrocer's brought some bananas and Mrs Singh from the chemist's brought some nappies and shampoo. It wasn't only local business people who donated things to the food bank; I saw a couple of families from my street coming in with parcels.

‘Look,' I said to Kyla. ‘There are so many people who want to help.'

‘I know,' she replied. ‘It's amazing, isn't it?'

I looked around the hall and suddenly felt happy and proud that I was helping too.

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Chapter 4. An Unexpected Ally Kapitel 4. Ein unerwarteter Verbündeter Κεφάλαιο 4. Ένας απροσδόκητος σύμμαχος Capítulo 4. Un aliado inesperado Chapitre 4. Un allié inattendu Capitolo 4. Un alleato inaspettato 第4章.予期せぬ味方 4장. 예상치 못한 동맹 Hoofdstuk 4. Een onverwachte bondgenoot Rozdział 4. Nieoczekiwany sojusznik Capítulo 4. Um aliado inesperado Глава 4. Неожиданный союзник Bölüm 4. Beklenmedik Bir Müttefik Розділ 4. Несподіваний союзник 第 4 章 意外的盟友 第 4 章 意外的盟友

I wanted to be happy too but all the way home on the bus, I had a heavy heart. 我也想快樂,但在回家的公車上,我的心情很沉重。 My phone pinged as soon as I got in the house. 我一進家門,手機就響了。 Tagged again. 再次標記。 I thought about this week's hashtag … \#foodbankgirl? \#nomoney\#nosupermarket?

I didn't want to look but I wanted to know what people were saying about me. 我不想看,但我想知道人們是怎麼評價我的。 Be brave, Meghan! 勇敢一點,梅根! Ok, here goes. 好的,開始了。 I looked at my screen. There was another big photo of me and the hashtag \#theyellowstickergirl\#totalcharitycase. The worst thing was the comments though: ‘Disappear, you sad loser!' and ‘Tell your lazy dad to get a job!' That was it, I couldn't read any more. 最糟糕的是評論:“消失吧,你這個悲傷的失敗者!”和“告訴你的懶爸爸去找份工作!”就這樣,我無法再讀下去了。 I threw my phone on the floor and lay on my bed crying into my pillow. 我把手機丟在地板上,躺在床上,靠在枕頭上哭泣。 Why were people so horrible? 為什麼人們如此可怕? My poor dad wasn't lazy, he was fantastic. 我可憐的爸爸並不懶惰,他非常棒。 After a few minutes, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. 幾分鐘後,我聽到有人敲我臥室的門。 It was mum.

‘Come and have a vanilla yoghurt, love,' she said as she came into my room but she stopped when she saw me on the bed. 「來杯香草優格吧,親愛的,」她走進我的房間時說道,但當她看到我躺在床上時,她停了下來。

‘What's wrong, Meggie?' she asked. “怎麼了,梅吉?”她問。 ‘Come here, love.'

Mum gave me a big hug and I really wanted to tell her about Kyla and the other kids at school. 媽媽給了我一個大大的擁抱,我真的很想告訴她關於凱拉和學校其他孩子的事情。

‘Remember, you can tell me and dad anything Meggie,' mum continued. 「記住,梅吉,你可以告訴我和爸爸任何事情,」媽媽繼續說道。

‘I know but you and dad have enough problems at the moment,' I said. 「我知道,但你和爸爸現在的問題已經夠多了,」我說。

‘Listen to me, Meggie,' mum said in her serious voice. 「聽我說,梅吉,」媽媽用嚴肅的聲音說。 ‘Your dad and I have some money problems, that's all. 「你爸爸和我有一些金錢問題,僅此而已。 The most important thing for us is that you and Leah are happy. 對我們來說最重要的是你和莉亞幸福。 Now, tell me what's wrong.' 現在,告訴我出了什麼問題。

Between my tears, I told mum everything. 我含著淚水,把一切都告訴媽媽了。 I told her about the photos at the supermarket, at the bus stop and outside the food bank. 我告訴她超市、公車站和食物銀行外面的照片。 I told her about my new nickname, ‘The Yellow Sticker Girl' and about how everyone laughed and pointed at me. 我告訴她我的新綽號“黃貼紙女孩”,以及每個人如何嘲笑我並指著我。

Mum listened quietly and then she finally said, ‘Ok, don't worry about anything, Meghan. 媽媽靜靜地聽著,最後她說:“好吧,別擔心任何事情,梅根。” I'll go to school on Monday morning and talk to the headteacher.' |||||||||||principal 週一早上我會去學校並和校長談談。

No! No! No!

‘Mum, please don't go to school. Everyone will see you!' 每個人都會看到你!

Mum agreed not to go to school …YET… but there were two conditions: I had to tell her everything from now on and I had to speak to my form teacher about the situation. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||form teacher||| 媽媽同意不去上學……但是……但有兩個條件:我必須告訴她從現在開始的一切,我必須向我的班主任講述這種情況。 Great! Lucky for me, I got a bad cold that week and stayed home from school. 對我來說幸運的是,那週我得了重感冒,沒去上學。 TV in bed? 床上看電視? Tick! check mark No homework? Tick! No bullies? Tick. 打鉤。 What a great week! 多麼美好的一周啊! By Saturday I was better and decided to go to the food bank with mum after work. 到了星期六,我的情況好多了,決定下班後和媽媽一起去食物銀行。 I liked Maureen and I really wanted some more vanilla yoghurt. But my good luck was about to end … as soon as we entered the hall, I saw Kyla! 但我的好運就要結束了……一進大廳,我就看到凱拉了! What was she doing here?! 她來這裡做什麼? Mum saw her too and waved. 媽媽也看到了她,向她揮手。 Kyla was with her mum and two little brothers and they all came over. 凱拉和她的媽媽以及兩個弟弟一起來了。 No! Please! Kyla didn't look like her usual self though and she certainly wasn't laughing now. 不過凱拉看起來並不像平常,而且她現在肯定沒有笑。 ‘Is everything ok?' mum asked Kyla's mum. ‘No, not really,' Kyla's mum replied sadly. 「不,不是真的,」凱拉的媽媽悲傷地回答。 ‘My husband is unemployed at the moment.' ‘Don't worry,' mum said. “我丈夫現在失業了。” 「別擔心,」媽媽說。 ‘We're in the same situation but everyone here is really friendly. 「我們的處境相同,但這裡的每個人都非常友好。 Meghan, go and show Kyla what to do.' What? 梅根,去告訴凱拉該怎麼做。什麼? Me? I was about to protest but mum gave me one of THOSE looks. 我正想抗議,但媽媽用那種眼神看著我。 I knew I didn't have any choice. 我知道我別無選擇。 Kyla didn't look very happy either but I took her over to a table where there was some rice and pasta in a box and gave her a shopping bag. 凱拉看起來也不太高興,但我把她帶到一張桌子旁,盒子裡裝著一些米飯和麵食,然後給了她一個購物袋。

I thought mum was crazy! 我以為媽媽瘋了! I didn't want to talk to my bully and I definitely didn't want to help her. 我不想和欺負我的人說話,我也絕對不想幫助她。 I wanted to be mean to Kyla. 我想對凱拉刻薄。 I wanted to make her feel embarrassed. 我想讓她感到尷尬。 I wanted to make her feel as bad as she made me feel at school. 我想讓她感覺像她在學校讓我感覺一樣糟糕。 I wanted to … I stopped and looked at Kyla. 我想……我停下來看著凱拉。 She looked so sad and scared. 她看起來非常悲傷和害怕。

‘Look, Kyla,' I said. ‘It's not…' '它不是…'

Kyla interrupted me, ‘No, Meghan, there's something I need to say first: I'm sorry.' 凱拉打斷了我,“不,梅根,我首先要說的是:對不起。”

Sorry? Wow! I wasn't expecting that! 我沒想到會這樣!

‘You're sorry?' I asked.

‘Yes,' replied Kyla. ‘Really sorry.'

‘Why did you do it?' I asked. '為什麼要那麼做?我問。

‘I didn't want people to know that my dad hasn't got a job and that we haven't got any money,' she confessed. |||||||||||||||||||||admitted 「我不想讓人們知道我爸爸沒有工作,我們也沒有錢,」她承認。 ‘I didn't want people to laugh at me so I got them to laugh at you.' “我不想讓人們嘲笑我,所以我讓他們嘲笑你。”

Great! I was a distraction! 我是一個幹擾!

I was still a bit mad but then Kyla started to tell me about her situation at home and it was terrible. 我還是有點生氣,但凱拉開始告訴我她家裡的情況,這很糟糕。 Her mum was sick so she couldn't work and then her dad lost his job last year. 她媽媽生病了,所以她無法工作,然後她爸爸去年失業了。 They didn't have enough money to pay the rent or bills and she was worried about her two little brothers. 他們沒有足夠的錢支付房租或帳單,她很擔心她的兩個弟弟。

I still didn't really understand why she bullied me but I understood how it felt to want to protect a brother or sister. 我仍然不太明白她為什麼會欺負我,但我明白想要保護兄弟姊妹的感覺。 Maybe me and Kyla had more in common than we thought. 也許我和凱拉的共同點比我們想像的還要多。 I decided to give her a chance. 我決定給她一個機會。

‘Look, let's start again, Kyla,' I suggested. 「聽著,讓我們重新開始吧,凱拉,」我建議。 ‘We were friends at primary school, maybe we can be friends again.' “我們在小學時是朋友,也許我們可以再次成為朋友。”

‘Really? Thank you, Meghan,' she replied.

We were talking about all the fun we had in Miss Murphy's class at St. 我們正在談論我們在聖路易斯墨菲小姐的課堂上度過的所有樂趣。 John Fisher Primary when Maureen interrupted us. 當莫琳打斷我們時,約翰費雪小學。

‘Girls!' she shouted. '女孩們! '她喊道。 ‘We have a small problem. Two of our volunteers are sick today and can't come in and help. 我們的兩名志工今天生病了,無法過來幫忙。 Saturdays are our busiest day so I need two new volunteers.'

Kyla and I looked at each other. 凱拉和我面面相覷。

‘Do you mean…?' started Kyla. '你的意思是…?凱拉開始了。

‘You want us to…?' I asked.

‘Yes, yes. Come on girls,' replied Maureen. ‘You are my two new volunteers. Remember: smile, bag, food and smile again.' 記住:微笑,拎包,食物,然後再微笑。

Kyla and I laughed and followed Maureen to one of the tables. 凱拉和我笑了,跟著莫琳來到其中一張桌子。 We passed mum on the way and she gave me a thumbs up. 我們在路上經過媽媽,她向我豎起大拇指。 Why are mums always right? 為什麼媽媽總是對的? !

Our first customer was Mrs Worthing, a sweet old lady. 我們的第一位顧客是沃辛夫人,一位可愛的老太太。 She lived on her own and didn't have any family. 她獨自生活,沒有任何家人。 We tried to fill her bag with tinned goods but she only wanted a couple of things. 我們試圖在她的包包裡裝滿罐頭食品,但她只想要一些東西。

‘Save the good stuff for the kiddies,' she said. ||||||children|| 「把好東西留給孩子們,」她說。 ‘I'm fine with a couple of tins of beans.' “我吃幾罐豆子就可以了。”

There were lots of other people after Mrs Worthing. 沃辛夫人之後還有很多其他人。 Some of them were new to the food bank and some of them were regulars. 他們有些是食物銀行的新手,有些是常客。 But not all the people who came that day needed food, some of them BROUGHT it. 但那天來的人並不都需要食物,有些人自己帶了食物。 Mr Polonski from the mini-market brought some sandwiches and biscuits; Mrs Duffy from the greengrocer's brought some bananas and Mrs Singh from the chemist's brought some nappies and shampoo. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||diapers|| It wasn't only local business people who donated things to the food bank; I saw a couple of families from my street coming in with parcels. |||||||||||||||||||||||||packages 向食物銀行捐贈物品的不僅有當地商人,還有很多人。我看到街上有幾個家庭拿著包裹進來。

‘Look,' I said to Kyla. ‘There are so many people who want to help.' “有很多人想要提供幫助。”

‘I know,' she replied. ‘It's amazing, isn't it?' “太神奇了,不是嗎?”

I looked around the hall and suddenly felt happy and proud that I was helping too.