HarperCollins Publishers
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Chapter Eleven
Helen rode her bike to school the next morning, giving
her dad instructions to tell Lucas that she had a few
things to do before homeroom. Jerry was a little put
out that Helen refused to call Lucas to explain it herself,
but she honestly couldn?t make herself listen to his
voice.
?Did something happen at dinner last night?? Jerry asked. She
ran out the door and pedaled off before he could get a straight answer
out of her.
The cool autumn wind felt good on her face, which was puffy
from staying awake half the night with her eyes leaking. She hadn?t
really cried, and never got that explosive release that comes from a
good old fashioned weep-a-thon. Lying there, she?d been too
shocked to sob. She felt like an idiot. She knew there had to be
worse things in the world than being dissed by the boy of your
dreams, but at that moment, she couldn?t think of any of them.
Kate, Claire, even her dad had asked her repeatedly what was going
on between her and Lucas, like it was expected that the two of
them would get together eventually, but no one had ever asked Lucas
what he thought about being paired off with Helen. Now Helen
knew for a fact that he ?would never touch her.? Those words kept
coming back to her, not just the words, but how passionately he
had said them. The way he had spoken about her made it seem as if
the very thought of kissing her was disgusting to him, and Helen
was just as confused by this as she was hurt. How could he want to
hold her hand all the time if he thought she was repulsive?
Helen got to school, locked up her bike, and took an alternate