One day, when I was a freshman1 in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd2."
I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged3 my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping4 him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.
My heart went out to him. So, I jogged5 over to him and as he crawled6 around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks7. " He looked at me and said, "Hey, thanks!" There was a big smile on his face.
It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out8, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now.
I have never hung out9 with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack10 of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles11 with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian12 of our class. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself13 during high school. He filled out14 and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back15 and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.
中学一年级的某一天，我看到一个同班同学放了学正往家里走。他叫凯尔。看上去他好像把所有的书都抱在怀里。我心想：“谁会在周五把所有的书抱回家呢？这人一定是个书呆子。”
我已经把周末安排得满满当当了（好几个聚会，第二天下午还要和几个朋友踢足球），于是我耸耸肩，走我自己的路。
正走着，我看到一群孩子朝他跑去。他们追着他，撞掉他怀里的书，再将他绊倒，让他跌倒在地，眼镜也被撞飞了，落在离他10英尺的草地里。他抬起头，眼里满是可怕的悲伤。
我很同情他。于是，他趴在地上找眼镜时，我小跑来到他身边，看到了他眼中的泪光。我把眼镜递给他说：“这帮家伙真混蛋。”他看着我说：“嗨，谢谢！”脸上有了开心的微笑。
这是那种真心实意表达感激的微笑。
我帮他把书捡起来，问他住在哪儿。原来他住的地方离我家很近，我便问以前怎么一直没见过他。他说来这儿以前他上的是私立学校。
我以前从来没有与私立学校的孩子一起玩过。我帮他抱着一些书，一路上聊着走回家。他样子其实很酷。我问他愿不愿意和我的朋友一起踢球。他答应“好的”。整个周末我们都在外面玩，而且我越是了解他，就越喜欢他。我的伙伴们也有同感。
星期一早晨，凯尔又抱着一大堆书出现了。我拦住他说：“好家伙，你打算真的每天用这堆书练肌肉吗！”他只是一笑，分给我一半书。
后来的四年里，凯尔和我成了最好的朋友。到了高年级，我们开始考虑上大学的事了。凯尔打算报考乔治敦大学，我想上杜克大学。我知道我们俩永远会是好朋友，那点距离不会成为问题。他要学医，我则要靠一笔足球奖学金学习工商管理。
凯尔后来代表我们班做毕业致辞。他得准备毕业典礼的演讲稿。我总是取笑他像个书呆子。
我很高兴上台演讲的不是我。毕业典礼那天，我看到了他。他看上去真帅。他是那种中学期间就能找到自我感觉的人。他人长魁梧了，带上那副眼镜显得很精神。和他约会的人比我多。而且女生们都很喜欢他。好家伙，有时我还真嫉妒。
今天我就很嫉妒他。看得出来他为讲稿很紧张。我于是拍着他的肩说：“嘿，大个子，你一定会顺利过关的！”他看着我，又是那种眼光（真正感激的那种），笑着说：“谢谢。”
1． freshman n． 一年级新生
2． nerd n． (美俚)书呆子
3． shrug v． 耸肩
4． trip [trip] v． 跌倒，绊倒
5． jog over 跑过去
6． crawl v． 爬
7． jerk n． 混蛋
8． turned out 结果是
9． hang out (美俚)闲荡
10． stack n． 一堆
11． build some serious muscles 练出真正的肌肉
12． valedictorian n． 致告别辞者
13． find oneself 发现自己所处的状态，发现自我
14． fill out （原来瘦小）变得较胖、较大
15． smack sb． on the back 轻拍某人的肩膀以示鼓励