Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

happened so he doesn?t mark you late. And you should eat

something. You didn?t eat any lunch yesterday,? he reminded her.

Helen was a little surprised he remembered that, but Matt was

good at details. He wanted to be a lawyer, and she knew that

someday he would be a great one.

Claire drenched Helen in the girls? room, dumping cold water all

the way down her back when she was supposed to just wet her

neck. Of course they wound up having a gigantic water fight, which

seemed to calm Claire down because it was the first normal response

she?d had out of Helen in a few days. Helen herself felt like

she had passed an exhaustion barrier and now everything had become

funny.

Her

gie wrote them hall passes, so the two friends took their time

getting to their first classes. Having a hall pass from Mr. Hergeshimer

was like getting one of Willy Wonka?s golden tickets?a student

could go anywhere and do anything for a full period and not

one teacher would put up a stink.

In the cafeteria they got oranges for Helen?s low blood sugar, and

while they were at it they split a chocolate chip muffin. Helen

choked it down and miraculously started to feel better. Then they

went and stood in front of the six-foot-tall fan in the auditorium to

40/395

cool down, taking turns singing into the whirling blades and listening

to each other?s voices get chopped into a hundred pieces until

they were both laughing their faces off.

Helen felt so giddy after playing hooky on a Hergie hall pass and

eating raw sugar on an empty stomach that she couldn?t even remember

what class she was supposed to be going to. She and

Claire were casually strolling down the wrong hallway at the wrong