Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

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