Distant Admirer

佚名/Anonymous

卡瑞是大学里非常受欢迎的篮球明星，几乎人人都知道他。正因为如此，他成了学院的骄傲，男同学嫉妒他，女同学把他当成英雄来崇拜。有一个名叫娜勒的女孩，是他众多仰慕者中的一个。

娜勒是约翰逊教授的女儿，她与卡瑞是同班同学。在家里，约翰逊先生是一个很严厉的父亲，而一个体育明星在这样的家庭是得不到太高评价的。因此，娜勒在家中从未提过卡瑞的名字。在学校里，两个人几乎很少说话，并且彼此之间总是保持一定的距离。

娜勒的家就在大学校园里，她家附近有一个很大的操场。每天下午放学以后，卡瑞都会在那里练习至少一个小时的篮球，然后才回家。娜勒的家住在三楼，她从阳台上就能看到操场。每天放学回家后，娜勒总是习惯坐在阳台的椅子上，读书或者做作业。有时，她会抬起头，看着卡瑞投篮，或者数他进了多少次球。

然而，卡瑞似乎没有注意到阳台上的娜勒。

一天下午，外面起风了，娜勒就把椅子搬到了房间里。但是，她仍然能够听到操场上传来的声音。突然，球声消失了，操场变得非常安静。于是，娜勒透过窗子向外看，因为她觉得这有点儿反常。

她看见卡瑞蹲在操场上，手里拿着一支粉笔在地上写着什么。娜勒很好奇，“他在写些什么呢？”写完之后，卡瑞站起身，背起书包，拖着缓慢的步子回家了。

见卡瑞离开了，娜勒迅速地跑下楼，悄悄地来到了操场上。当走到卡瑞刚才待的地方时，她看到地上写着这样的话：“娜勒，你为什么不看我打球呢？”

娜勒把地上的粉笔头拾起来，在那句话的后面加上了这样一句话：“可是，我真的看了呀。”

Cary is very popular in his college and nearly everybody knows him. He is a basketball star. And for this reason， he has become the pride of the college， envy of the boys， and hero of the girls. Among his many admirers is a girl called Nola.

Nola is Cary's classmate， and Professor Johnson's daughter. Mr. Johnson is a strict father， and in a family where a sports star is not so highly regarded， Nola never dares to mention Cary's name. In the school， they seldom speak to each other and always keep a certain distance.

Nola's family lives on the campus and there is a big sports ground near their house. Every afternoon， after school， Cary would spend at least one hour practicing basketball before returning home. Nola lives on the third floor， and from their balcony she can see the sports ground. As a habit， Nola would sit in a chair on the balcony， reading or doing her homework every day when she comes home. Sometimes she would raise her head to watch Cary shoot or count how many times he can hit the basket.

Cary doesn't seem to pay any attention to Nola on the balcony.

One afternoon， Nola moved her chair into the room to avoid the breeze outside. But she could still hear the noise from the sports ground. The noise suddenly stopped and the sports ground became very quiet. Nola thought it strange and looked through the window.

She saw Cary bending down there writing something on the ground with a piece of chalk. What was he writing？ She wondered. Cary finished writing and stood up. He picked up his bag and dragged his way home.

After Cary left， Nola came down quickly and walked quietly to the sports ground. When she got to the place where Cary had just stayed， she found these words： "Nola， why didn't you watch me play？"

She picked up the chalk end on the ground and added below the line："But yes， I did."