Life  was  too

weird  (怪異的)

for  Jeff

to  return  (回到)

to  class.

---

Anytime  you  want

to  talk  again,

Carla  had  said,

please  feel  free

to  come  and

see  me.

---

Even  if  you

just  feel  like

getting  out

of  class

for  a  while.

---

He  hoped  she

had  really

meant  it.

---

He  had  a

lot  he

wanted  to  say

to  her,

beginning  (開始)

with  “I’m  sorry.”

---

He  slowly

walked  to  her

office.

---

He  hoped  she

wasn’t  with

somebody  else.

---

He  knocked.

---

Carla  opened

the  door

and  smiled

when  she

saw  him.

---

“Hello,  Jeff.”

---

He  smiled.

---

“Hi,  Carla.

I’m  –  ”

---

He  stopped

because  he

saw  somebody

else  sitting

at  the

round  table.

---

“I  believe

you  two

know  each

other,”

said  Carla.

---

Jeff  lowered  (垂下)

his  eyes.

---

“Hello,  Colleen,”

he  muttered  (低聲說).

---

Colleen  Verigold

covered  her  face

with  her  hands.

---

“You  don’t  mind

if  Jeff  joins  us,

do  you,  Colleen?”

Carla  asked.

---

Colleen  shook

her  head

with  her  hands

still  over  her

face.

---

Jeff  awkwardly  (笨拙地)

sat  down.

---

“Mrs.  Ebbel

doesn’t  know

I’m  here,”

he  said.

---

“I’ll  write

you  a  note,”

said  Carla.

---

Colleen  peeked  (偷看)

out  from  between

her  fingers.

---

“I’m  not

supposed  to  be

here  either,”

she  said.

---

Carla  turned

to  Colleen.

---

“So  what’s

the  big  emergency  (緊急情況)?

Can  you  say  it

in  front  of  Jeff?”

---

“He  already  knows,”

said  Colleen.

---

She  looked

at  Jeff.

---

“You  better  not

tell  anybody!”

---

“I  won’t,”

Jeff  promised.

---

“Tell  anybody  what?”

asked  Carla.

---

“Colleen  walked

into  the  boys’

bathroom,”

said  Jeff.

---

“I  was  there

washing  my  face.”

---

“Jeff!”

Colleen  exploded  (爆發大喊).

---

“You  just  promised

you  wouldn’t  tell!”

---

“Oops,”

said  Jeff.

---

He  blushed  (臉紅).

---

“It  was  only  Carla.

You  were  going

to  tell  her

anyway,  weren’t  you?”

---

Colleen  smiled

at  him.

---

“I  didn’t  go

there  on  purpose  (故意),”

she  explained

to  Carla.

---

“It  was  an

accident  (意外).”

---

“I  don’t  believe

in  accidents,”

said  Carla.

---

Colleen  stared

at  her

in  amazement  (驚訝).

---

She  wondered  (想知道)

how  Carla  knew

she  had  gone  in

after  Jeff

on  purpose.

---

She  turned

to  Jeff.

---

“I’m  sorry

for  saying  hello

to  you

when  you  didn’t  like

it.”

---

“That’s  okay.”

---

“Anyway,  how  was  I

supposed  to  know

you  didn’t  like

it?

---

You  always  said

hello  back.”

---

“I  know.

---

I  can’t  help  it.

---

Whenever  anybody  says

hello  to  me,

I  always  have  to

say  hello  back.”

---

He  looked

at  the  picture

of  the  green  monster

with  six  hands

hanging  on  the  wall.

---

“If  a

big  scary  monster

said,  ‘Hello,  Jeff,’

I’d  probably  say

hello  back

to  it,  too.”

---

Colleen  laughed.

---

“Well,  what’s  wrong

with  that?”

demanded  (強硬地說)

Carla.

---

“If  a

monster  says  hello

to  you,

you  should  say

hello  to  it.

---

If  you  don’t,

then  I  have  to

wonder  which  one

of  you  is  really

the  monster.”

---

Colleen  frowned.

---

She  suddenly

remembered  that

Bradley  Chalkers

had  said  hello

to  her

at  the  beginning

of  the

lunch  period

and  she  had

walked  away

without  saying  hello

back.

---

It  made  her

feel  terrible.

---

“You  can  say  hello

to  me

whenever  you  want,”

said  Jeff.

---

She  smiled  again.

---

“Hello,  Jeff,”

she  said.

---

“Hello,  Colleen,”

said  Jeff.

---

“I  read  somewhere,”

said  Carla,

“that  in  Zen,

the  most  important  rule

is  that

when  one  person  says

hello  to  you,

you  have  to

say  hello  back.”

---

“What’s  Zen?”

asked  Colleen.

---

“A  religion  (宗教),”

answered  Carla.

---

She  got  a  book

from  her  bookcase.

---

“Here  it  is.”

---

She  read  aloud  (大聲地)

from  Raise  High  the

Roof  Beam,  Carpenters

by  J.D.  Salinger:

---

“ ‘In  certain  Zen

monasteries  (禪寺),

it’s  a  cardinal  (最重要的)  rule…

that  when  one  monk  calls  out

“Hi”  to  another  monk,

the  latter  (後者)  must  call  back

“Hi!”  without  thinking.’ ”

---

“Jeff  should  be

a  Zen  monk!”

Colleen  exclaimed  (驚呼)

with  delight  (喜悅).

---

Jeff  laughed.

---

“I  already  say  hello

to  anybody

who  says  hello

to  me,”

he  said  proudly  (自豪地).

---

“Can  girls  be

Zen  monks  too?”

Colleen  asked.

---

“Why  not?”

asked  Carla.

---

Colleen  laughed

with  delight.

---

Then  she  said,

“Jeff,  do

you  want  to  come

to  my  birthday  party

next  Sunday?”

---

“Yes!”

said  Jeff.

---

“That’s  the  second

most  important  rule

about  being

a  Zen  monk.

---

Page  139

---

Whenever  another  Zen  monk

invites  you

to  a  birthday  party,

you  have  to

say  yes!”

---

Colleen  laughed  again.

---

“You’re  the  only  boy

so  far,”

she  said.

---

“I’ll  invite  one  more,

but  only  one.

---

I  can’t  invite  too

many  boys.”

---

Suddenly  she  looked

very  serious.

---

She  knew  what  she

had  to  do.

---