Naomi's first week at her new school passes in a blur of wrong turns and half-remembered names. On Thursday morning, she opens locker 37 and finds a small folded note taped inside the door. "You're doing better than you think," it says, in handwriting she doesn't recognise. There's no name attached.
娜奥米在新学校的第一个星期，就在走错路和记不全名字的一团混乱中过去了。星期四早上，她打开37号储物柜，发现柜门内侧贴着一张折起来的小纸条。“你做得比你想的要好，”上面写着，字迹她不认识。没有署名。
She assumes it's a mistake at first, meant for whoever had the locker before her. But on Friday, there's another note, about the maths test she'd been dreading: "Nervous is normal. You'll be fine." Nobody could have known about that test, except someone paying closer attention than Naomi realised.
起初她以为是搞错了，是写给她之前那个用这个柜子的人的。可是到了星期五，又有一张纸条，说的是她一直担心的数学测验：“紧张很正常。你会没事的。”除了比娜奥米意识到的更留心她的人，不会有谁知道那场测验。
She starts watching the students near locker 37, trying to work out who keeps writing to her. Her suspicion settles on Malik, a quiet boy from her English class. He always seems to be nearby at the right moment, and she's noticed he writes with the same slightly slanted letters as the notes. She spends an awkward lunch deciding whether to say something, and almost does, twice.
她开始留意37号储物柜附近的学生，想弄清楚是谁一直在给她写纸条。她的怀疑落在了马利克身上，他是她英语课上一个安静的男生。他似乎总是在恰当的时候出现在附近，而且她注意到，他写字的笔画也和纸条上一样略微倾斜。她纠结着要不要说点什么，度过了尴尬的一顿午饭，有两次差点开了口。
By the third week, curiosity finally wins. Naomi asks the school counsellor, Ms. Petrov, whether new students at this school always seem to have a guardian angel. Ms. Petrov smiles in a way that suggests she already knows exactly what Naomi means.
到了第三个星期，好奇心终于占了上风。娜奥米问学校的心理辅导老师彼得罗夫女士，这所学校的新生是不是总像有个守护天使。彼得罗夫女士笑了笑，那笑容让人觉得她早就明白娜奥米在说什么。
It turns out the notes are part of an unofficial tradition, run by a small group called the Locker Club. Its students volunteer to leave encouraging messages for anyone new that year. Malik isn't part of it at all; his slanted handwriting was a coincidence. His frequent presence near locker 37 was simply because his own locker is right beside it, not because he was watching her.
原来，这些纸条出自一个非正式的传统，由一个叫“储物柜社”的小团体负责。社里的学生自愿为当年每一位新来的同学留下鼓励的话。马利克根本不是其中一员；他那倾斜的笔迹只是巧合。他经常出现在37号储物柜附近，仅仅是因为他自己的柜子就在它旁边，并不是在盯着她。
The real author, a quiet senior Naomi has barely spoken to, admits it a little shyly when Ms. Petrov introduces them. She explains that she remembers exactly how lonely her own first weeks here had felt.
真正的作者是一位安静的高年级女生，娜奥米几乎没和她说过话。彼得罗夫女士把她们介绍给彼此时，她有点害羞地承认了。她说，她清楚地记得自己刚来这里的头几个星期有多孤单。
That afternoon, Naomi signs up for the Locker Club herself, printing her name carefully on the sheet by the office door. She doesn't know yet whose locker she'll be assigned. But she already knows what she wants to write, and for the first time since arriving, the empty corridors don't feel quite so unfamiliar.
那天下午，娜奥米自己也报名加入了储物柜社，在办公室门边的登记表上认真地写下了自己的名字。她还不知道自己会被分到谁的柜子。但她已经知道自己想写什么了，而且自从到这里以来，这是第一次，空荡荡的走廊看上去没那么陌生了。
