humiliation.
She had no choice?she was just going to have to walk past them.
Gretchen and Zach didn?t say a word and their faces didn?t show
any expression at all as Helen hurried by with her shoulders practically
in her ears. At least Lucas wasn?t there, she thought, ducking
into the cafeteria.
?Stand up straight! You?re going to give yourself scoliosis,? Claire
scolded when Helen got to their table.
?Sorry. I just had to go by his locker,? Helen explained quietly.
Matt made a disgusted sound.
?You can calm down, Lennie,? he snapped. ?None of them are
here today.?
?Supposedly they all took the day off because the aunt and the
eldest Delos kid finally got to the island this morning,? Claire said.
?Oh yeah, great,? Helen mused. ?There?s another one.?
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?Hector. He?s a senior,? Claire added helpfully, although she
could have no idea that saying his name didn?t help Helen at all. In
fact, for some inexplicable reason, it ticked her off.
?No news on him yet. Zach will probably call me with an update
this weekend,? Matt said with a shrug. ?He always knows where
everyone is and what they?re doing.?
The rest of the day dragged by, although there was some relief in
knowing that she wasn?t going to bump into the Delos kids or the
wraiths that seemed to appear whenever they did. She even started
to enjoy herself during track practice as she ran through the fog
and splashed in muddy puddles with Claire. Coach Tar didn?t say a
thing about Helen?s pathetically slow run time when she came in,
although Helen knew she wouldn?t be able to get away with that for
much longer. She had an athletic scholarship to win, and Coach