Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

route to her locker. It was longer, but she knew it would be Delosfree,

and therefore worth all the extra steps. She had left her house

so early that even with the longer walk she beat everyone to

homeroom.

When Claire arrived, she noticed immediately how awful Helen

looked. Like the good friend she was, she forgot all about the argument

they were supposed to be having, asking Helen a dozen questions

about her red face and ratty hair before she had even put

down her book bag. Helen lied as best she could, but so halfheartedly

she never would have gotten away with it if Matt didn?t

back her up by explaining how sick Helen had been the day before.

It didn?t help that Zach kept making scoffing noises as Helen tried

to put Claire off. Helen ignored him, as she usually did, but she

could still feel him watching her with a sneer plastered on his face.

Helen kept her head down all day and did her work. She found

now that she simply didn?t care anymore if she did well in class,

drew attention to herself, and potentially got the cramps. As she

walked to lunch she considered faking the stomach pain if it could

get her farther away from Lucas. She didn?t want to go into the

cafeteria and face everyone, but she still had to go somewhere, and

the auditorium door was right next to her. It had been left ajar, so

Helen pushed it open and went in. Helen knew whe wasn?t allowed

in there. Any room that was unsupervised by a teacher was off-limits

to students, but that didn?t stop her. She really didn?t care if she

got caught?she just needed a moment alone.

There was only a dim light onstage, and it was very quiet, exactly

what Helen was looking for. She sat down on the apron of the stage

and unpacked her lunch box. Chewing, Helen glanced around, taking

note of all the new sets that were just beginning to be built. The

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