Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

but hurried away as they left the room. Feeling guilty, Helen realized

that she hadn?t spoken to him yet. She hadn?t meant to ignore

him, especially not on the first day of school.

According to Claire, ?everyone? knew that Matt and Helen were

?supposed? to be together. Matt was intelligent, good looking, and

captain of the golf team. He was still sort of a geek, but because

Helen was practically a pariah ever since Gretchen had started

spreading rumors about her, it was a compliment that everyone

thought she was good enough for someone like Matt.

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Unfortunately, Helen never felt anything special for him. Zero

tingles. The one time they had been shoved into a closet together at

a party to make out, it had been disastrous. Helen felt like she was

kissing her brother, and Matt felt like he was being rejected. Afterward,

he was sweet about it, but no matter how many times he

cracked jokes, there was a weird tension between them. She really

missed him but she worried that if she told him he would take it

the wrong way. It feels like everything I do lately is being taken

the wrong way, Helen thought.

The rest of the morning Helen wandered on autopilot from class

to class. She couldn?t concentrate on much of anything, and every

time she tried to make herself focus she felt nothing but irritation.

Something about the day was off. Everyone?from her favorite

teachers to the few acquaintances she should have been happy to

see?was annoying her, and every now and again while she was

walking down the hall she would suddenly feel like she was inside

an airplane at ten thousand feet. Her inner ear would block up, all

the sounds around her would become muffled, and her head would

get hot. Then, as suddenly as it had come on, the discomfort would

go away. But even still, there was a pressure, a pre-thunderstorm