Chapter 27

"I got it," called Terrence as he circled under the ball, waiting for it to come down. His knees wobbled.

The ball bounced¹ off his face. "Cool," he said as blood flowed out of his nose.

"That was a world's record, Louis!" exclaimed² Eric Ovens³.

Louis smiled proudly. He turned to look at Miss Nogard, but she had already gone inside,

"You like Miss Nogard, don't you?" asked Bebe.

"She seems like a nice person," said Louis.

"She's pretty too," said Eric Bacon⁴ as he nudged Louis in the side.

"Well, she is kind of cute," Louis admitted.

"Oooooh," said Joy.

"But do you love her?" asked Jenny.

Everyone giggled⁵. Louis's red face got even redder.

"You should ask her out on a date," said Eric Fry.

"No, I don't think that's a very good idea," said Louis.

"Why not?" asked Eric Ovens. "I think you two would make a real cute couple."

"Bring her flowers," said Dana.

"Buy her candy," said Maurecia.

"Tell her she's got eyes like the moon," said Bebe.

"Eyes like the moon?" asked Louis.

"Girls love it when you tell them that," said Bebe.

"Forget that gushy stuff," said Eric Bacon. "Just walk right up to her and say, 'Hey, baby! How about a date?' "

"Just like that?" asked Louis.

"This is what you do," said Terrence. "You take her to a real scary⁶ movie. And then at the scary part, you put your arm around her."

"Ooooh," said Dana and Jenny.

"No, take her dancing," said Myron. "And hold her real close."

"Ooooooh," said the three Erics.

Louis laughed. "You kids are crazy," he said.

"You're scared of her, aren't you?" asked Eric Bacon.

"You shouldn't be scared," said Eric Ovens. "You're bigger and stronger and faster than anyone on the playground."

"And you've got the best mustache too," said Eric Fry.

"I'm not afraid of her," Louis tried to explain. "It's just-" He looked up at the very tall school. "Miss Nogard is way-high-up there, and I'm way-down-low
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here. You'll understand someday when you're older."

He picked up the ball and threw it way high up. It hit somewhere between the eighteenth and twentieth story.

And never came down.

There was no nineteenth story.

1 bounced   

v.弹回( bounce的过去式和过去分词 )；（电子邮件）被退回；拒付；（朝某个方向）颠簸行进

参考例句：

• The ball bounced twice before he could reach it. 球弹了两次他才接到。
• The new car bounced along the bumpy mountain road. 这辆新车在崎岖的山路上颠簸行驶。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 exclaimed   

vt.exclaim的过去式v.呼喊，惊叫，大声说( exclaim的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "We have a good chance of winning," he exclaimed optimistically. “我们很可能获胜。”他乐观地喊道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She exclaimed in delight when she saw the presents. 她见到礼品高兴得叫了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ovens   

n.烤箱，炉( oven的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bakers bake in huge ovens. 面包师用大烤炉烤面包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cleaning ovens is a real fag. 清洗烤箱是一件累人的活。 来自辞典例句

4 bacon   

n.咸肉，熏肉

参考例句：

• He is frying the bacon.他在煎咸肉。
• This bacon is too salty for me.这块熏咸猪肉我觉得太咸了。

5 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 scary   

a.引起惊慌的；害怕的

参考例句：

• What animal do you think is the most scary?你认为什么动物最可怕？
• Are you afraid of scary movies?你害怕恐怖电影吗？