秘密伙伴

杨宇宸

你是否精心準备过这样一份礼物，只为看到那个人露出惊喜的笑容？不论准备的过程多么耗时，在看到对方拆开礼物那一瞬间的欢欣与感动，便觉得一切都是值得的。

我参加的军乐队，每年都有一个“秘密伙伴”的传统项目：每个新手都会被指定一个老生作为“秘密伙伴”——当然，新手们不知道对方是谁——而被选中的老生要在每次比赛前为指定的新手准备一份小礼物，由队长转交到他们手上。

今年，我作为一名“新晋老生”，有幸成为一名新生S的“秘密伙伴”，S是吹黑管的。刚刚得知这个消息时我很兴奋，然而冷静下来后又有些忐忑——我与她并不熟，万一她不喜欢我的礼物怎么办？我应该先摸清她的喜好才对！

抱着这个想法，我开始留意S。我发现她的乐器盒、名字卡、书包、饭盒和手机等物品上都贴满了各式各样的猫咪贴纸，看来她很喜欢猫咪和贴纸。一次午餐后，我看见S一边吃着巧克力，一边用铅笔在本子上画着什么。难道她喜欢甜食和素描？

忙碌的日子飞快地流逝着，我惊觉离第一场比赛只剩一周了。我看了眼自己记录下来的内容：猫、贴纸、甜食（巧克力）、素描。该准备什么样的礼物呢？我突然想起了之前在网上看到过的制作素描本教程，便有了灵感。

大致构思了一下，我马上开始准备材料：打印纸一沓、硬纸壳两张、针线、胶带和胶水。我在网上搜索了详细的制作教程，一步一步地跟着做。先把打印纸一张张对折，对齐后用夹子固定，然后再用针线沿着对折的边缝起来。自制本子不难，只是耗时费力。准备的过程中，我有几次想放弃，但是一想到S可能会很喜欢这个礼物，便又有了动力。

接下来就是准备本子的封面了。我想让本子看起来精致又有质感，因此打算尝试喷漆。先用胶带剪出猫咪的形状，粘在纸壳上，然后拿到院子里喷上黑色的漆。待漆干透，我用胶水把封面和内页组合起来。

将做好的素描本装进礼品袋，我又往里面放了些巧克力和我从国内带的猫咪手账贴纸。我拿出一张卡片，开始写给S的留言：

“亲爱的S，祝你第一次比赛好运！这是我给你的一点小礼物，希望你比赛时不要紧张。本子是我亲手做的，希望你喜欢哦！”

我又检查了几遍，确认礼物都放进去了，我也没有暴露自己，这才放心。

比赛前，我把礼物给了S的队长。当他把礼物交给S时，我偷偷地在远处观察。即使猜到了S会很开心，但亲眼看到她惊喜的表情时，我还是止不住地笑了。

Secret Rookie Buddy

Have you ever prepared a gift just to make the recipient smile？ No matter how time-consuming the preparation is， you will find it worthy when that person opens your gift with joy.

I am part of the Marching Band at my school. Every year， we have a tradition called "Secret Rookie Buddy"： Every rookie gets a vet as their "Secret Rookie Buddy"-of course， the rookies dont know their vets - the chosen vets must prepare a gift for their rookies before each competition， which will be given to the rookies via their captains.

This year， as a vet， I got a secret buddy， S， a clarinet player. When I first got the news， I was excited. But then I got a little worried - I didnt know her well， so what if she didnt like my gift？ I need to figure out what she liked first！

With this in mind， I began to pay attention to S. I noticed there were cat stickers on all of her objects - instrument case， ID card， backpack， lunch box， and cell phone. So she liked cat and stickers. One day after lunch， I saw S eating chocolate while sketching something with pencil in her journal. Did she like sweets and sketching as well？

As the busy days passed by， I suddenly realized that there was only one week left before the first competition. I took a peek of what I had： cat， stickers， sweets （chocolate）， sketching. How should I prepare the gift？ All of a sudden， I remembered the DIY sketchbook tutorial I have seen online and came up with an idea.

After a brief brainstorm， I began preparing materials： a dozen printing paper， two pieces of cardboard， needle， thread， tape， and glue. I found a specific tutorial online and followed it step by step. First， I folded every piece of paper in half； I aligned the edges and used a clip to hold them in place； then， I used the needle and thread to sew along the folded edge. DIY sketchbook was not difficult but quite timeconsuming. During the process， I wanted to give up several times， but I reminded myself how much S would like this gift and gained motivation again.

Next， I needed to make the cover. I wanted the sketchbook to look fancy and high-quality， so I decided to try spray paint. First， I cut a piece of tape into the shape of a cat and sticked it onto the cardboard， then I spray-painted the cardboard with black paint in the backyard. After the paint dried， I removed the tape and attached the cover to the blank pages.

After putting the sketchbook into the gift bag， I added some chocolate and cat stickers that I bought in China. I took out a notecard and started writing to S：

"Dear S， good luck in your first competition！ This is my little gift for you， dont be nervous during the performance. I made the sketchbook myself， hope you like it！"

I checked the gift several times， making sure I put everything in and didnt expose my identity； I reassured myself.

Before the competition， I gave the bag to S captain. I observed from a distance when he gave the gift to S. Although I guessed before that S would be happy， actually seeing her surprised smile still made me laugh.