"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.

"Very."

"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"

"Three or four times a year."

"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.

"Sunny," I told him.

"You don't look very tan."

"My mother is part albino."

He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds
and a sense of humor didn't mix. A few months of this and I'd forget how
to use sarcasm.

We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym.
Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.

"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have

some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.

I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.

The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry
teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the
subject he taught, was the only one who made me stand in front of the
class and introduce myself. I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own
boots on the way to my seat.

After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each
class. There was always someone braver than the others who would
introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I
tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot. At least I never
needed the map.

One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me
to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my
five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of
the difference between our heights. I couldn't remember her name, so I
smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes. I didn't
try to keep up.

We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she
introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them.
They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from
English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.

初见9

 "这么说，这儿跟凤凰城很不一样喽？"他问。

    "非常不一样。"

    "那儿不怎么下雨，是不是？"

    "一年三四次。"

    "哇塞，那会是个什么样子？"他感到很惊讶。

    "阳光灿烂，"我告诉他。

    "可你晒得也不怎么黑呀？"

    "我母亲是半个白化病患者。"

    他担心地审视了下我的脸，我叹了一口气。乌云跟幽默感似乎不相溶。几个月下来，我已经不会说挖苦话了。

    我们绕着自助餐厅往回走，去往南边体育馆边上的教学楼。埃里克把我一直送到门口，尽管楼号标得清清楚楚。

    "好了，祝你好运，"我拉把手的时候他说，"说不定我们还会一起上别的课。"他说得满怀期待。

    我给了他一个生硬的微笑，进了楼门。

    这天上午余下的时间，基本上都是这样过去的。教我们三角的老师是瓦纳先生，不说别的，就因为他教的这门课，我无论如何都会很讨厌他的，他也是唯一一个要我站到全班面前做自我介绍的老师。我说话结结巴巴的，脸也红了，而且回到座位上去的时候还让自己的靴子给绊了一下。

   两节课下来，每个班上我都已经认得好几张面孔了。总有某个胆子比其他同学都大一点的同学，会向我做自我介绍，问我喜不喜欢福克斯。我试图回答得很圆滑，但绝大多数时候我不过是说了一大堆谎话。起码，我从来就没需要过那张校园地图。

    有一个女同学上三角和西班牙语这两门课都坐在我的旁边，她还和我一起去自助餐厅吃午饭。她个头很小，比我五英尺四的个头儿要矮好几英寸，但她那一头乱蓬蓬的鬈发把我们在身高上的差距缩小了不少。我记不住她的名字，所以她唧唧喳喳地谈论老师和同学时，我都会微笑和点头。我并不想听下去。

    我们和她的几个朋友坐在一起，我和她坐在桌子的一头，她把这几个朋友都介绍给了我。他们的名字，她说完了我也就全忘了。他们似乎很钦佩她跟我说话的勇气。英语课上的那个男同学埃里克，在餐厅的另一头冲我挥了挥手。