"Is it normal for the... Cullens"—I kept my eyes on the shoes—"to be out of school a lot?" “这是不是很正常……对卡伦家的孩子来说，”我的眼睛盯着她的鞋子。“就是，经常不来上学？”

I failed miserably in my attempt to sound nonchalant. 我试着让自己的声音显得漠不关心，却悲惨地以失败告终。

"Yes, when the weather is good they go backpacking all the time—even the doctor. “是的，当天气晴好的时候他们会把所有的时间都花在徒步旅行上——甚至包括医生本人。

They're all real outdoorsy," she told me quietly, examining her shoes, too. 他们都非常喜欢户外活动。”她平静地告诉我，依然在检查她想鞋子。

She didn't ask one question, let alone the hundreds that Jessica would have unleashed. 她甚至没有问一个问题，更别提杰西卡会连珠炮似的发问的成百个问题了。

I was beginning to really like Angela. 我真的开始喜欢安吉拉了。

"Oh." I let the subject drop as Jessica returned to show us the rhinestone jewelry she'd found to match her silver shoes. “哦。”当杰西卡折返回来向我们展示她发现的那件可以搭配她的银色鞋子的人造宝石项链时，我丢下了这个话题。

We planned to go to dinner at a little Italian restaurant on the boardwalk, 我们计划去观光大道上的一家意大利小餐厅吃晚饭，

but the dress shopping hadn't taken as long as we'd expected. 但买衣服所花的时间并没有像我们期待的那样长。

Jess and Angela were going to take their clothes back to the car and then walk down to the bay. 杰西和安吉拉打算把她们的衣服拿回车里，再走到海港那里。

I told them I would meet them at the restaurant in an hour—I wanted to look for a bookstore. 我告诉她们一个小时以后在餐厅里等她们——我想去找一家书店。

They were both willing to come with me, but I encouraged them to go have fun— 她们都很乐意陪我去，但我鼓励她们去玩得开心点——

they didn't know how preoccupied I could get when surrounded by books; it was something I preferred to do alone. 她们都不知道当我被书包围的时候我会多么的沉迷。这是我更情愿一个人做的事。

They walked off to the car chattering happily, and I headed in the direction Jess pointed out. 她们向车子走去，开心地闲聊着，而我则直奔向杰西所指的方向。

I had no trouble finding the bookstore, but it wasn't what I was looking for. 我毫不费力就找到了那家书店，但它并不是我想找的那种书店。

The windows were full of crystals, dream-catchers, and books about spiritual healing. 橱窗里摆满了水晶球，捕梦网，以及关于精神治疗的书。

I didn't even go inside. 我甚至不想走进去。

Through the glass I could see a fifty-year-old woman with long, gray hair worn straight down her back, 透过玻璃，我能看到一个五十岁左右的女人，灰色的头发直直地耷拉在她的背上。

clad in a dress right out of the sixties, smiling welcomingly from behind the counter. 她裹着一条六十年代时就已经过时了的裙子，站在柜台后露出热烈欢迎的微笑。

I decided that was one conversation I could skip. 我认为我完全可以跳过和她对话这一步。

There had to be a normal bookstore in town. 镇上一定还有一家更正常的书店。