Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

Helen winced at the compliment. ?Is that it? Lucas didn?t say

anything else?? Helen?s hands were curled up into fists. She found

it hard to so much as say his name without wanting to punch

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someone in the head. Obviously, she either still had heatstroke or

she really was going out of her mind.

?Hasn?t said a thing. But I did hear a rumor that Zach was talking

trash about you and Lucas shut him down hard.?

?Really?? Helen said, perking up. ?Shut him down in what way??

?He wouldn?t let anyone say anything bad about you, is all. You

know how Zach and Gretchen are. But Lucas wouldn?t hear it. He

kept saying you felt like you had a really bad fever when he . . . did

that thing that he did. What would you call that, anyway? A backassed

bear hug??

Helen groaned and buried her face in her hands.

?It?s all right,? Claire said, patting her back consolingly. ?He?s not

going around telling everyone you?re monkey-butt crazy, so at least

you brutalized a seriously sweet guy.? Helen groaned louder and

tried to crawl into the sofa while Claire had a nice, long laugh at

her expense.

That night, Helen had another nightmare about the dry land.

When she woke she was so tired and sore that for a moment she almost

believed that she had been walking for days, just like she had

dreamed. She had always been good at ignoring strange things

about herself, and she tried to convince herself that this was no different,

but her hands shook as she bundled up her dirty sheets and

took them to the laundry room.

Helen washed the grit off in the shower and tried to focus on

school, though that was no comfort, either. As soon as she walked

into Nantucket High, it was going to be open season on the freak,