hall she could feel all three Delos boys staring holes in her back,
but it didn?t make her the least bit nervous. She was so pleased
with herself that she even forgot to slouch.
Tuesday wasn?t much better, but at least Helen had stopped trying
to alter her schedule to avoid the Delos kids. Instead, they were
altering their schedules in order to avoid her . . . so, of course, she
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was running into them all day long. It seemed like every time she
turned down a hallway she bumped into one of them.
To make matters worse, her friends were starting to get annoyed
with her. Claire thought Helen was being a spineless wuss. Matt
got all sullen and huffy every time Helen flinched because she and
Lucas had made eye contact.
On Wednesday, the Delos clan changed tactics. First thing in the
morning, Helen went to her locker and found Jason waiting for her
there, leaning up against the wall like he?d been put there to decorate
the place. Jason had the kind of body that was built to lounge,
very catlike, as if he was capable of stretching out and taking a nap
at any given moment. He was more gracefully built than his cousin
or his brother and when he stood next to them he seemed small,
but in the same way a panther is small when compared to a lion or
a bull. To Helen, seeing him by himself in the relatively empty hallway,
he was big. She forced herself to keep walking forward, and
when he glanced over at her she noticed that he had the most outrageously
long eyelashes she?d ever seen on a boy.
?Do you have a
sec?? he asked in a stiff but polite manner. Helen
could see him concentrating, probably trying as hard as she was to
block out the Furies.
?All right,? Helen answered, keeping her eyes on the floor. She