Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

headache.?

?Why are you the only person in school that isn?t interested in the

Delos family? Aren?t you even curious to

get a look??

?No! And I think it?s pathetic that this entire town is standing

around gawking at them like a bunch of hicks!? Helen shouted.

Claire stopped short and stared at her. It wasn?t like Helen to argue,

let alone start yelling, but she couldn?t seem to stop herself.

?I?m bored to death of the Delos family!? Helen continued, even

when she saw Claire?s surprise. ?I?m sick of this town?s fixation

with them, and I hope I never have to meet, see, or share breathing

space with any of them!?

Helen took off running, leaving Claire standing by herself on the

trail. She finished first, just like she?d promised, but she did it a

little too quickly; Coach Tar gave her a shocked look when she recorded

the run time. Helen blew by her and stormed into the locker

room. She grabbed her stuff and bolted out of school, not bothering

to change or say good-bye to any of her teammates.

On the way home, Helen started crying. She pedaled past the

neat rows of gray shingled-sided houses with their black or white

painted storm shutters and tried to calm down. The sky seemed to

sit particularly low on the scoured land, as if it was pressing down

on the gables of the old whalers and trying to finally flatten them

after a few centuries of stubborn defiance. Helen had no idea why

she?d gotten so angry, or why she?d abandoned her best friend like

that. She needed a little peace and quiet.

There was a car accident on Surfside; some gigantic SUV had

tried to turn onto a narrow, sandbanked side street and turned

over. The drivers were okay, but their beached whale of a car

blocked off traffic from end to end. Annoyed as she was, Helen